Joe & Sue: Hi from Mitchell, South Dakota. Wife and I have been following these posts regarding the transmission and particularly what you've gone through concerning the TOWING. We experienced this similar towing stuff back near Denver a few yrs. ago when we had our 06 Mtn. Aire and can really sympathize with the anguish you've gone through....it sure isn't fun...eh? Fortunately, our tow guy had the right truck AND the know how, but it was just our dumb luck since we didn't know who or what we were getting. We fulltime in our "home on wheels" and it sure is distressful when your house breaks down on some lonely off-ramp or similar wilderness place. We now have an 08 Newmar Essex, and hope we'll never have to get it towed....(not very confident however). We guess we just gotta be tough to be one of these RV jockeys and you folks have really passed the test. Was it REALLY a 13'6" clearance on a FREEWAY OVERPASS????!!! Geeze. That's low. Our Essex is 13' but no spotlight but that's too close for me!! Good travelin. Steve & Lynette

We are also glad to see things are working out and will continue to follow your saga should you need assistance while in NorEaster territory.

BTW, the size of tow trucks must be Newmar related. This is the 50 ton hook used to take our 5er away after it was totaled by a tree in Florida this spring. Tried to tell them they needed a tag axel the support the front end, but it belonged to the insurance company so didn’t argue with the driver.





Good luck and stay safe.

quote:

Originally posted by Jetsmania:
Hi! Have they figured out your problem yet? Paul

Transmission ECU (aka TCU) was bad. It was reading a bad signal from the speed sensor, even though the sensor was working fine. Of course, first they had to call Spartan to even locate the TCU. It's inboard of the Oasis unit, they had to empty out the compartment forward of the Oasis to get to it. They were done about 2pm, but what with assembling all the toad gear, we didn't get out of there until about 3pm.

Of course, that was after going to the Buick/GMC dealer down the road to get them to look into the errors we were getting on the Enclave's traction control unit. They're not 100% sure what was causing it, but think it might have been brake sensor errors caused by bleed over through the diodes on the add-on wiring harness.

The tech thinks that when the KGDB activates the toad brake lights, sometimes the brake module is waking up and reading an error. I'm not sure about this, but I need to contact Blue Ox and see what they think. Might have to rewire the toad to use add-on bulbs rather than the current diode setup.

We also had a dead battery on the Buick, but I think that was my fault from leaving a light on when we were sitting in the Buick after the tow, waiting for the rain to stop so the wrecker driver could unhook.

Hey - I also learned how to replace the axle covers on the Spartan chassis. The tow driver didn't put them back on after the put the axels back in, since they were stashed in a basement compartment for the tow.

And another first - our first night at a camp Wal-mart. Officially, there's no camping at this location. Must be a county or town ordinance thing. The Wal-mart folks obviously turn a blind eye, because there's at least 25 rigs out in this corner of the lot tonight. Everything from Class A to B to C to 5ers. We're the largest rig here, by a good margin.

joe

quote:

Originally posted by Chickadee:
Was it REALLY a 13'6" clearance on a FREEWAY OVERPASS????!!! Geeze. That's low. Our Essex is 13' but no spotlight but that's too close for me!! Good travelin. Steve & Lynette

Yeah, it really was. This was southbound I-87 at Exit 6. Northbound isn't marked the same, and it was obvious as we went under it today (going North), that it was considerably shorter on the west end of the overpass. Someone messed up big time when they laid out the roadway...

joe

Hi! It's great to hear you are on the road again! As far as the height of the coach, is the King Aire 13'4" with or without the spotlight. I have a feeling the spotlight may not be figured in? Paul

Wow..usually the police move along even one. I've seen a couple on occasion. I bet it's because of the opening the race track (Saratoga) for the season. Where the heck are they putting them all? Maybe above Sam's club?

Must be hard for the tour buses to get around them all (they allow pick up there, and parking for all the people being picked up there and returned at night) unless they are all pulled out by early morning. You might see a lot of people pulling in early to catch the tour buses. That's where we pick them up for the casino's and day trips. I assume you are in the Latham Walmart.

The Walmart in Crossgate Commons, just up the road, boasts being the biggest Walmart in the world..two stories with a neat up and down thingy for your carts. That one often has half a dozen rigs at any time..along with awnings, chairs and grills.

Glad you are all fixed and soon to be back on the road.

quote:

The Wal-mart folks obviously turn a blind eye, because there's at least 25 rigs out in this corner of the lot tonight. Everything from Class A to B to C to 5ers. We're the largest rig here, by a good margin.

joe

quote:

Originally posted by Doris:
Wow..usually the police move along even one. I've seen a couple on occasion. I bet it's because of the opening the race track (Saratoga) for the season. Where the heck are they putting them all? Maybe above Sam's club?

Must be hard for the tour buses to get around them all (they allow pick up there, and parking for all the people being picked up there and returned at night) unless they are all pulled out by early morning. You might see a lot of people pulling in early to catch the tour buses. That's where we pick them up for the casino's and day trips. I assume you are in the Latham Walmart.

The Walmart in Crossgate Commons, just up the road, boasts being the biggest Walmart in the world..two stories with a neat up and down thingy for your carts. That one often has half a dozen rigs at any time..along with awnings, chairs and grills.

Glad you are all fixed and soon to be back on the road.

Joe didn't mention where we were, although the datastorm link shows our location We're in Plattsburgh, NY. Plattsburgh RV Park is full and I don't think there are any more rv parks close by until you cross into Canada, so I guess Wal-Mart is for all the overage. When we came out of the store from shopping last night there were several more rvs here and most had their slides out, if they had slides. So much for not using your slides at a Wal-Mart. I also noticed one person using his grill.

Sue

quote:

Originally posted by Jetsmania:
Hi! It's great to hear you are on the road again! As far as the height of the coach, is the King Aire 13'4" with or without the spotlight. I have a feeling the spotlight may not be figured in? Paul

You know, I don't think I ever got a definitive answer on that. I'm going to find that out when we get back to Nappanee. It's unclear if anything down the middle (AC units, sat dishes) is higher than the side rails (where the awnings park).

I probably will have the spotlight removed (or just moved). I don't really need it, and would rather avoid any more problems with low bridges, if possible.

joe

Flying Driver,
RE: Your computer errors on your car, by all means, run the seperate circuit for the tailights, as long as you have the room for the bulbs, this is the way to go. This way if a bulb goes out is is easier to isolate and you dont have to worry about back feeds and diodes going out. We just did a CRV this way and it works great.

Good luck with the rest of your travels...hopefully they will be uneventful.

Joe, while my F2 was never an issue you'd be wise to also check the "stowed height" of the F3 on the roof although I wouldn't think it to be a factor.

My LADB was 13'4" to the highest point, NOT including the CB antenna and boy, when I went in a 13'6" tunnel and that antenna whacked the ceiling it sure gave me the heebie jeebies....