Big Sis, Little Sis

[bobmiller1]

I like the linier idea......I think I’m going to steal that, thanks, Regards, Bob

[Smartstream]

You don't have to steel it Bob, you can have it for free. Lord only knows I've "borrowed" ideas from you and many of the other talented moho owners on this site. I've probably even "borrowed" a few from some trailer people too.

[Smartstream]

Well I spent my Saturday mounting tires, got 4 of them mounted.



Got the new water heater in last week. I don't know how it was set up before but the water heater is mounted behind a refrigerator vent door.



They framed it in with wood which I covered with aluminum. I had to trim the top and bottom flanges but it's in and sealed.



After running the 120 v wiring I was trying to figure where to put the switch. The water heater is in the cabinet next to the sink so rather than tear up the walls the switch is in the cabinet.

[Smartstream]

I got the bed lifts in and they work great.



The range hood fan was so loud it drove me nuts. I found a rheostat switch so I can slow it down a bit.



Also replaced the faucets. I don't understand why they use faucets that are so short you can't fit anything under them.



Also dug out the old PEX crimp tool and put in a drain for the water tank. The only way to drain the tank was to pump it into the holding tanks. Now I have a valve.

Nothing exciting just trying to shrink the to do list a bit.

[bkahler]

Dan, do you drink energy drinks or something? Where the heck do you find the energy to remove & install those big tires?!!

I thought retirement was where you were supposed to slow down and enjoy life

Brad

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dan, do you drink energy drinks or something? Where the heck do you find the energy to remove & install those big tires?!!

I thought retirement was where you were supposed to slow down and enjoy life

Brad

Believe it or not, because the 19.5" and 16.5" tires are not a safety rim design, they are quite easily barred on or off; especially in warmer weather.
Lifting them up that last 1/4" and rotating them onto the studs can be a bit of a bear.

Go Dan, go.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[bobmiller1]

Just curious.....if the hot water heater is where the refrigerator should be, where is the refrigerator ? Regards, Bob

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dan, do you drink energy drinks or something? Where the heck do you find the energy to remove & install those big tires?!!

I thought retirement was where you were supposed to slow down and enjoy life

Brad

No energy drinks, mostly coffee and beer, maybe a little tequila once in a while.

You have a lot of room to talk my friend, the amount of work you do on your coach and Peanut and you still hold down a job.

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

Believe it or not, because the 19.5" and 16.5" tires are not a safety rim design, they are quite easily barred on or off; especially in warmer weather.
Lifting them up that last 1/4" and rotating them onto the studs can be a bit of a bear.

Go Dan, go.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

Despite some bigger shops having big tire machines, in my day truck tires were changed by hand. The beads can usually be broken by just standing on the sidewall. Barring the first bead off is easy, the second bead is a little more fun but not too bad when you know how. Going back on is not bad. The biggest thing is the tires and wheels are heavier than your car tires.

I found 8 Goodyear's online for $250 each including shipping. The local guys don't want to mount tires unless they sell them. So I just do a couple at a time.

Tony getting the wheels back on is easy, just use about a 30" bar up against the thread and you can lift and roll the tire enough to fit the studs.

To me the worst thing is crawling under the beast to get a bottle jack under the axle to get the duals off the ground.

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

Just curious.....if the hot water heater is where the refrigerator should be, where is the refrigerator ? Regards, Bob

Bob I don't know how they had it set up as a mobile test lab but there is a refrigerator vent on both sides of the coach and no water heater vent. It had two generators so maybe they had a 110 v only water heater. There are no heaters so I'm guessing they probably used electric heat. I contacted the original company but they said anybody who was there at the time has long since retired so nobody has a clue.

I would love to have a standard water heater door but putting a large patch panel on the side isn't worth it. It seems to function just fine and I'm hoping this water heater will out last me so I'll move on to the next problem.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

To me the worst thing is crawling under the beast to get a bottle jack under the axle to get the duals off the ground.

......only to crawl under to crack the release valve on the bottle jack and find the wheels have dropped onto the air line that works the bottle jack. Now you have to go find the handle that manually jacks up the bottle jack, crawl underneath, close the valve, jack up the axle until you can get the air line out.[emoji51]

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

......only to crawl under to crack the release valve on the bottle jack and find the wheels have dropped onto the air line that works the bottle jack. Now you have to go find the handle that manually jacks up the bottle jack, crawl underneath, close the valve, jack up the axle until you can get the air line out.[emoji51]

I hate to say it Tony but my bottle jacks like me are old, no air assist. That is why it's the worst part of the job. Fortunately I don't have to do it very often so I deal with it.

I was looking around the garage the other day and realizing just about everything I own is old.

[Smartstream]

Well I got two more tires mounted and all the 280 wheels and tires are back on the 280. In addition to tires, new valve stems and a tire pressure monitoring system is going on the 345. I have a Tire Safe Guard system on the 280 so the same is going on the 345.

As of now everything is done but the tag axle wheels, maybe tomorrow.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, back in the days when I was young and poor I had to change my own tires at home. I used two tire irons that were actually factory lug wrenches with a flat tapered end on them. If standing on the tire didn't break the bead, we drove our car onto the side of the tire. It worked every time.

[Smartstream]

Careful Bob, you may be letting these youngsters onto our old time secrets.

Driving over the sidewall was a tire changing standard. We also had to be careful not to pinch the tube with the screwdriver tip.

[bkahler]

I've been using my front end loader to break the beads on tires. Works surprisingly well

[Smartstream]

My equipment choice for bead breaking is a backhoe bucket, much easier pin point control than a loader bucket. I finally broke down and bought an old Hoffman rim clamp tire machine. The guy was getting rid of it because it only goes up to a 17" wheel. Works for me on everything but truck wheels.



Today I finished mounting tires on the tag axle. The 345 has a complete set of new shoes. I guess it's time for a trip to Margaritaville.

[Smartstream]

After spending way too much time on my knees I got the Maxxfan mounted. It's interesting you can control the vent functions at the vent or with the remote but you can only control the fan speed with the remote. The older units in the 280 can control fan speed at the vent or with the remote. I guess that's progress.



It's all sealed up and running however I haven't installed interior garnish trim ring because I want to fabricate an arched wood frame to match the curve of the ceiling.

[davejay]

Hey,
I just stumbled accross this post. Soooooooo cool. This is exactly what I want to do to our 325. Someone actually makes the mounts. That's the hard part.
Question, did you buy an axle? Did it have the correct spindles on it. Will our hubs and back plates with brakes bolt right up? If so, what is the mfg of the axle. Part number. I got a trailor place 5 minutes from me. They got everything axle wise I may need. The bags. What did you use. And finally, did you have to cut the tube? Did you need the extra with, or was that a personal preference. I notice my tires are pretty close to the wheel well on the inside. Would it be possible to simply make a spacer for on the drum . I think we got enough wheel stud to do. That. I don't think it would load up the outer wheel bearing. This could be my winter project. Full air ride will make the coach ride so much better. The torsion bar setup, in my opinion, was kind of an afterthought. Nobody built that kind of stuff back then. I also like the alignment cams. Did you know that Hunter Engineering first 4 wheel alignment computer only came out in 1981. Up till then it was still the old technology,they used back to the 50s mirrors and light beams lined up to mirrors on the back wheels. Pretty primitive eh? Anyway, any part numbers of stuff would be greatly appreciated. Thanks DJ

[waninae39]

is it like this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmHLblYYNus