EarthRoamer XV-JP "Northwest Edition"

[Ford Prefect]

Wait, wait, hold the phone!

You have a Foretravel?


Where are the photos!?!

wow, those things are neat coaches.

 

[mhiscox]

Wait, wait, hold the phone! You have a Foretravel? Wow, those things are neat coaches.

Color me impressed with your wide knowledge.

Yep. A (short for this kind of thing) 36 foot U320 with 11 liters of Cummins M11 with a whopping 1440 lb/ft of torque and a wonderful Allison 6-speed with a very trick magnetic retarder. Huge tank capacities, 10 KW diesel generator, 800 amp-hours of house AGMs, 3KW inverter, AquaHot diesel space and water heating, automatic airbag leveling, solid walnut cabinetry . . . all the best stuff. And literally twenty times the storage of my Sprinter, including a gigantic full width underfloor bay. In fact, I think I bought it as a knee jerk reaction to all of my tiny motorhomes. Plus it's an absolute hot rod of a motorhome--powerful, fast and good handling.

I bought it a year and a half ago and haven't totally bonded with it yet, but I never stop admiring what a fantastic piece of machinery it is. I highly recommend Class As like this, and Foretravels in particular, as they were clearly one of two or three best of the circa 2000 serial production coaches (and the only company still around). Mine listed for $425K, and the equivalent coach is maybe $7-800K today, but I paid less than 20% of the original price and it works great. I certainly think it's better to get a top-of-the-line coach like this than to buy the built-to-a-price, particle-board and staples models you'd get paying half-again that much by buying new today.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

I never get tired of drooling over Mike's toys!

 

[mhiscox]

I never get tired of drooling over Mike's toys!

That's only fair. I drool over you guys' photography.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

That's only fair. I drool over you guys' photography.

I'll trade you all my photography for one of your toys

and Thank You for the compliment!!

 

[squeezer]

Dibbs in the Foretravel pulling the XV-JP as a TOAD.

Anybody want to buy Campermog ? ;-0

 

[762X39]

Part of my choice is to avoid idling the truck for long periods of time, which may or may not be anything to worry about (it was a big no-no on my Sprinter diesel camper and my worries have carried over).

Wait a minute... I would have thought that idling a diesel isn't a problem.When I was working on the highway with my F150 (splicing fiber-optic cable for highway cameras), I often idled the truck for 17 hours a day (yeah, 2 shifts).This allowed me to run the Star Warning System as well as a 1kw inverter to run the fusion splicer and tent lighting.

 

[mhiscox]

Hold the phone... I would have thought that idling a diesel isn't a problem.When I was working on the highway with my F150 (splicing fiber-optic cable for highway cameras), I often idled the truck for 17 hours a day (yeah, 2 shifts).This allowed me to run the Star Warning System as well as a 1kw inverter to run the fusion splicer and tent lighting.

You've got lots more experience than I have. However . . . the word was that a Sprinter should not be idled significantly at its 700 rpm (more or less, can't remember for sure) idle speed. If you wanted to idle for a use like you had. or for an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, you were supposed to get the "high idle" option. This consisted of a dashboard switch and a reprogramming of the engine computer. Once installed, you threw the switch and the idle speed picked up to about 2,000 rpm and all was supposed to be happy for as long as you wanted. (And the newer NCV3 Sprinters even have an option for an adjustable idle speed.) As with many things Sprinter, it was a reasonably-priced and practical option if ordered on the truck and a pain in the butt to get after the fact.

When looking at other truck spec sheets, I also often see a "high idle" option available. I've no idea whether this is because there's a problem with extended low speed idling or just to have more alternator output available.

I really don't know if there's any firm information on how terrible idling the Sprinter was. But about 5 years ago, whenever anyone had an engine problem (especially leaky injectors) with the otherwise-very-sturdy in-line five, everyone would gasp and say, "You didn't idle the truck, did you?!" "Experts" seemed to think it would take decades off the engine's life and cause blindness, too. Put the fear into me, I can tell you.

 

[squeezer]

You've got lots more experience than I have. However . . . the word was that a Sprinter should not be idled significantly at its 700 rpm (more or less, can't remember for sure) idle speed. If you wanted to idle for a use like you had. or for an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, you were supposed to get the "high idle" option. This consisted of a dashboard switch and a reprogramming of the engine computer. Once installed, you threw the switch and the idle speed picked up to about 2,000 rpm and all was supposed to be happy for as long as you wanted. (And the newer NCV3 Sprinters even have an option for an adjustable idle speed.) As with many things Sprinter, it was a reasonably-priced and practical option if ordered on the truck and a pain in the butt to get after the fact.

When looking at other truck spec sheets, I also often see a "high idle" option available. I've no idea whether this is because there's a problem with extended low speed idling or just to have more alternator output available.

I really don't know if there's any firm information on how terrible idling the Sprinter was. But about 5 years ago, whenever anyone had an engine problem (especially leaky injectors) with the otherwise-very-sturdy in-line five, everyone would gasp and say, "You didn't idle the truck, did you?!" "Experts" seemed to think it would take decades off the engine's life and cause blindness, too. Put the fear into me, I can tell you.

Its called "Wet Stacking" its when a diesel is run under a light enough load to not burn all the fuel in the combustion chamber. It can wash the rings down and wreak havoc with the turbo (if present...).

 

[Captain K-man]

^^ That's good to know, thanks for the information. I always thought the high idling on the ambulances I use were to keep the battery up when the emergency lights were on. Now I know & knowing is half the battle.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Now I know & knowing is half the battle.

GI Joe!



edit: To make this post somewhat informational.

What I know is that it is bad to idle a gas engine for a long time, as it will run too rich. But it is okay to idle a diesel at high idle. I do not know if different rules apply to newer ''fancy'' diesel engines.

 

[Captain K-man]

Yep. That always stuck with me... Too much tv as a kid. YO Joe....lol

 

[Ford Prefect]

For me the High Idle was something I always used on my Buses and Dumptrucks to allow them to warm up without a stall in the very very cold temps. (remember I worked in Ski Resorts for several years).

As for the Foretravel, wow, yeah, I agree 100% and the mag. retarder, totally cool! I love those things. Quiet, but still do the job so nicely. Does yours have several levels? I believe mine had something like four different levels of retardation. When I was going over the 10K + elevation passes, they made it really comfortable to come back down again and not have to worry about the brakes over heating. We also had the power chains on a few buses. Flip the switch and they start spinning and drop down so they are in front of the tires. The tire runs them over, and poof it is like driving with chains wrapped around the tire at the touch of a button. Talk about cool stuff.

The real wood work, and the superlative pusher diesel coaches (which it appears yours is) is certainly the way to go in my opinion. Many of them do not have the full height rear bedroom, but the sacrifice is, IMHO, worth it. That thing could probably pull the sprinter and the XV-JP on a trailer at the same time if you wanted to.

Class A is certainly the way to go if you can. Sadly most class A's do not have the space for a family to legitimately use. Beyond that they are swell. Being on a full bus style frame your stability if far better than many other coaches as well, of all classes. (which I am sure you knew already, but, I have to droll through my keyboard!)

Oh and I was going to tell you that I knew Foretravels from way back. My grandfather had one from the mid 80's and my mother used to love the one that parked next to her childhood home. (obviously when I was a child it was parked there, not when she was a child.)

Anyhow, very cool Mike, very cool indeed. Thanks much for sharing that with us.

 

[762X39]

I know we got off topic regarding the high idle thing but now I know why a diesel engine has to be run at a higher rpm when idling for extended periods of time (I always assumed it was to run the alternators at a speed that would produce higher levels of charge). In my own situation with my F150, at the end of each week, the truck would take a long (5 hour) highway trip to get me home and I also followed the severe duty service schedule for engine maintenance.

 

[mhiscox]

In a desperate attempt to get the thread back on topic--I hijacked my own thread, pretty much--I thought I'd show you the interesting/useful uber-Velcro I came across.

The backrest for the XV-JP's "sofa/lower berth" looks like this:



and just rests against the cabin side at whatever jaunty angle you want it at. When not moving, of course. Once you're driving, the first modest turn will fling it onto the floor. I've been dealing with this by putting the backrest on the floor before it could fall there.

While visiting Amazon perusing the Velcro section (the Jeep has Velcro everywhere, though I'm resisting replacing my shoe laces), I came across the Quakehold 15" Furniture Kit, which looks like this when you start,

and like this:

after you've attached it to the china hutch you got from Aunt Bertha to stop it from tipping over in an earthquake.

In my case, it worked out perfectly to attach the straps by putting a Seitz window screw through the grommet on each of the two straps, and to attach the fuzzy Velcro (which is self-adhesive) vertically in two spots at the top of the backrest.

So when I travel, the setup now looks like this:



But it turns out that the hooks on the strap Velcro are REALLY agressive (makes sense, I guess, given the earthquake thingie). In fact, they're so aggressive that it comes close to pulling the fuzzy Velcro strip off the backrest. So I cut a couple of small fuzzy Velcro pieces and use them to cover up about 50% of the hooks. That makes it easier to detach the straps from the backrest.



A happy solution, and the fact it came in a fetching antique brown was a plus.