Search results

2) Awning Bracket Upgrade This one should have been pretty minor, but it turned out to be a surprising amount of work. Ever since I harvested parts from the 1995 LuLu Island/GTRV back on page 3, (11 years ago.... sheesh), I'd been running the pair of "custom" awning brackets that had been...

While I'm waiting for the weekend to arrive, so I can get back to the pick-n-pull for more parts to play with, I can do a quickie update on a few other things: 1) On-Board Air Update A while back I'd gone through the effort of fabbing up some brackets so I could sling a viair tank under the...

Nothing so exotic! So far, I've fitted the 22-687HD springs (the 1750lb rated version of the S10/Bravada/Blazer springs I was running previously - uprated from 1350lbs), and added a riser to the bump stop. However the new HD spring pack is thicker than the OEM spring-mounting clamshell...

Thanks much. More updates coming - as soon as I get a couple more things wrapped up, I'll do a writeup on a refresh of the rear lift. My original lift springs were overloaded and starting to sag, which lead to busting a rear shock. A fix for those two issues begat more changes, which I'm...

RV owners often use/carry a number of plug adapters for the purpose of having a single receptacle on the rig and being able to plug-in to whatever is available. CampingWorld, Amazon, etc. all carry these. EDIT: Example: https://amzn.to/2TfRORw If it were me, I'd set things up such that it...

THAT would be a controversial statement on this board. Any Engel or ARB thread brings folks out of the woodwork to brag about going 10-15+ years on their units. I got five years on my factory scratch-n-dent "Edgestar" before swapping for a different unit - AFAIK that one is still running for...

Depends entirely on the van and the lift. Sorry that it's such a trite answer, but there are entirely too many variables. Comparing just a single platform like the Econoline, there are excellent lifts and 4x4 conversions (which generally necessitate a lift) from a number of companies, and...

Not Jackery, but in addition to writing the charge-control algorithm and drivers for a number of battery-powered devices, I have repaired power supplies and DC battery chargers - two things with a lot in common with said unit. As you say, it should be an easy repair - and it would be much...

No, I want companies to publish schematics and repair/diagnostic diagrams, and not to intentionally build their products so that they cannot be repaired by 3rd parties. Since by current trend they seem unwilling to do this, I also want laws drafted to support this.

Whoops. Probably should have picked on someone else. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and 25 years in the embedded systems business, most of those spent in the employ of the world's biggest makers of cell phones, consumer electronics, and oceanographic instrumentation. I write software...

That's a hell of a leap. No, I just think that if you own a thing, you should be able to repair and continue to use the thing for as long as feasible, and that maybe not all products should be considered "disposable" at the unit level.

I don't mean to underplay the fact that you almost certainly got a badly made set of tires. Sun/heat do their thing, but that's additive damage and you should have had better life from your set.

I agree that it's a complex issue, but there are levels to "protecting their dealer service network" that get pretty close to just "protecting their profits". A common example is replacing the starter battery. This is a John Deere issue, but also affects a lot of luxury cars (not even...

A federal law would have the most reach, but if a big consumer state like CA passed a version, you would see design-for-serviceability make its way into a LOT of products in a big hurry. Imagine if Apple had to sell a different iPhone in CA? Everybody would get the benefit. That said, the...

If the failure is really at the connector, there's only a couple of things it can be: Either the crimp between a terminal and wire has failed, or the "wiper" portion of the terminal is out of position and not making contact with the opposing wiper on the other side. The APPs are symmetrical...

For anyone who is similarly miffed about things like this when they happen, I urge you to keep your eyes out for ways to support "Right to Repair" legislation with your local and Federal representatives. Various forms of this legislation is in-work in many places in the USA. Small steps like...

Truth. My driveway aligns East/West, so my van has one pair of tires that face South for all the stretches when I'm not out having fun. Even with frequent 5-tire rotation strategy, I can see a noticeable difference on the tires I pull from the South side of the van vs. the North.

There's another active thread right now that's reminding everyone to periodically inspect their tires for unusual cracks, etc. and my mind immediately came back to this thread. This is one of the reasons I like the cheap keychain deflators - the walkaround and a little time spent squatting at...

I want to speak to the manager... about that 4" bolt sticking out of your right-rear tire.

This is a great reminder, Mike! One of the best skills ever drilled into me when I was driving shuttle buses (college job), was the walk-around inspection at the start of every shift (including the 5-7 driver changes throughout the day). This is still something I do pretty regularly - every...