So, I just have one question-- Punk-- do ya feel lucky?
Information
is the one thing we all need and that's what I am trying to compile
for you here. If you have a great little tip you feel others should know,
Email me & I'd love to pass that along. Enjoy this page, I hope it helps.
You are visitor #
,
low numbers here means new stuff to look at.
So now it's on to the main course-- Did you know...
Don't let that ugly door whack ya in the head!
The entry door is always the first confrontation when going to your coach, if it looks-- well, bad, it is hard to open-- hard to close and like I said hard to look at -- no matter how much work you put into your coach-- that first impression that sticks with you was tainted. So lets look at improving both the looks and operation of your entry door. Follow me as I work on Tom's door. Click here for this info-- oh and shhhhhh-- don't tell anyone about this information, it's some of the stuff you learn after messing up doors for years!
Oil additive Information
Listen, I used to think all of these oil additives were an optional thing, you know -- they put some magic potion in an engine then empty out the oil, pour dirty in and rev the motor up to 4K and leave it there--- some gorilla tries to hold on to a screwdriver and stuff like that. Come on man, I'm not gonna piss off a primate til he sucks the oil out of my motor then spits mub back in then I need to make a fast getaway all in first gear!! I mean what does all of that really mean to me-- right? Hey, there is a minimum standard to all oils and thats enough to keep my motor safe----- right? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but mine was and now I know different. If you already know about this, you can read on but if this sounds new to you, this is an extremely important issue-- maybe even one that even though you think you know all about it you may want to read. Go to New oil formulations and don't blame me if you didn't know anything about this!
So you want to replace your late style side window rubbers-- brave man and we're here to help. Go to Window rubbers for the details.
Here's another exterior detail you should not miss, install new body molding, go here to see me install one of our precut body molding kits Body Mold
Here's a tip, whenever you have a
transmission rebuilt, they usually do not replace the governer gear, its a
plastic gear designed to eat itself in the event of a bind in the speedo cable
or governer itself
The dark area where the steel gear rides will wear over time then here you go
rebuilding the tranny and still have that worn plastic gear-- They are cheap and
I think good insurance. We replace this gear on every transmission we
build. This is Jim G. new gov gear. When this gear strips out, the
tranny does not know to shift-- and you know it won't! Dead giveaway for a
stripped gov gear is your speedometer will stop. If the speedo stops but
the tranny still shifts, that would be a stripped speedo gear, it also is
plastic and runs off of the gov. Hope this helps.
Do your wipers work on their own sometimes? Over the years, I have found that the hydraulic wiper control seems to allow the wipers to turn on slowly. In the past, my only solution was to adjust the cable or replace the motor itself. Eureka--- I've found a new solution, one that involves a slight modification the the control assembly that looks like it may have been a slight design flaw, go to Wiper mod for the details.
Got a 77 or 78 coach? Tired of
fighting the glove box door to get to the fuse box?
Well the, go to Glove box strap and check
out a new idea.
Tired of having to go through all of the hassle to change your alternator belt on the road? I mean the other 2 belt are in the way and threading the belt past the fan is a pain! Go to Alt. belt spare for a great idea.
Whats wrong there Bunky, your back side sagging?
The number one reason for an Electro-Level or EL-II system
failure or intermittent operation is a very simple fix.
Go to Air ride repair for more about this
topic.
OK, I give up, so just how DOES the fuel
system work?
Don't feel bad, the fuel delivery system and the gauge system is "unique" to the coach, thats saying it nicely. Actually, the fuel system is weird and does not use proper logic, if you ask me. Go to Fuel Tanks for more on this topic.
Rebuilding your driver/ pass. front speaker/light inserts
A long title for a small thing but if
you're looking for details in your interior restoration-- here's one for you.
The Driver & passenger speaker is incorporated into the panel which also holds
the "map" lights on either side of the front of the coach. Did I say map
light, these lights have frosted diffuser lens which light up the entire
cockpit. When driving at night, that may not be a good thing!
We have the added issue of last year having the lens go obsolete from GM.
So what do we do? Install a better light and add a feature! The
panels you see here have been stripped down, vinyl dyed and reassembled, they
look great but we have a broken lens-- what do we do? How bout adding a
directional aircraft "bullet" light assembly
This fixture fits perfect into the original light recess, we have them in clear
(as you see here, black and gold. They cost only $9 each and sport its own
on/off switch. Why is that important or even needed with the big chrome
original switch? Well, now that the light will control its operation we
have a switch that can do something else, in this case I use the switch to
control the 3 1/2" speaker as well as the bedroom speaker operation. In
the center position, both cockpit and bedroom speakers are off, then you can
choose to operate either speaker by flipping this original light switch-- a
great feature when you want to listen to the race on the radio while Mom is
reading a book! Besides, the light is directed wherever you want it
does not blind you and the finished panel looks great too.
Onan Generator Prime Circuit
Here is a little circuit I came up with a number of years ago to help you with waking up that old "Troll" Onan generator after a long period of sitting. Go to Onan prime circuit for the details.
Alt. light circuit rewire
Can you say, "burn down my coach"? If
you do not read this vital information and do what it says, you run this risk.
I hate people who use "doom & gloom" to attract attention but in this case the
fears are very well founded. There are others who approach this issue in
other ways and I appreciate and respect their views BUT, this issue is too
serious to wonder if you are safe or not. We totally bypass the problem by
rewiring the alternator light circuit-- take it out of the circuit to make sure
there will not be a problem--- and you should to. Go to
Alt. light circuit refit
for this
information. Please do this. There, I've said all I can about this--
its now up to you.
Rear Suspension Height Set
So whats the problem Bunky, feel kinda low in the butt?
Maybe
you feel like you're snagged on a "Skyhook". 
I tell ya what, lets put you up there with the "big rigs" 
!
Oh, you want to move TOO! Well, alrighty then-- go to
ride height adjust for a good read.
Lights for your "TOWD"
Harry has a beautiful coach and is starting to get out on the road and
enjoy his investment. 
He purchased a Saturn wagon for a towd and had it delivered to us for installation of the
towing equipment. W installed a "Blur Ox" brand fold away hitch and
modification kit. There was some cutting & drilling involved but it ended up
working well.
Here is the story for you. Normally, a large part of the install is the electrical hookups for the lights on the towd. Things can get pretty complicated and scary connecting the electrical systems of the GMC and the Saturn together. There have been terrific wire wads created from people rigging up towd lights. I do this in a KISS system. I do not connect into the towd electrical system at all. This makes mod. time less and the entire system turns out being much more serviceable and reliable.
I remove the tail light lens 
and cut a hole in the back of it to accept a 2 element socket & bulb 
and then wire those sockets to the "flat 4" harness. If you get what I am
saying, there electrical system of the coach never sees the towd electrical circuits.
There is no need to wire into, cut modify or augment the towd system, there are
separate sockets and builds mounted inside the towd car tail light assy. that is only used
when under tow. This set up actually will take less time and less risk of damage.
If you need more input or help doing this, give me a call.
Ramco electric mirror installation
Anyone out there wonder how to install Ramco electric mirrors? Go through with me the install of Peters. Ramco makes these as manual units, of course that install is pretty simple (8 bolts, but the electric models take a little more work. I'm going to break up this install in 2 parts (physical install and then the wiring. Here we go, click here Ramco Mirror ins for the details.
What is that annoying clicking noise from my wheels? If you have snap on or even bolt on hub caps, you may be hearing the grabbers on the cap scratching against the rim as it flexes. From the weight of the coach, the steel rims will flex a bit and if the hub cap is so inclined, it will creek a bit.
The test is to take off the hub caps and see if the noise goes away. If it does, wrap a layer of duct tape around the grabbers on the hub caps and the noise will usually go away.
If the noise does not go away with the hub caps off, you may have a bearing problem or at least a brake drum/rotor issue and you should have that checked right away.
If you have been looking for new hub
caps to fit your 16.5" rims, you know how hard they are to find-- we got'em
$29.50 each, these will not make noise and resists falling off-- why, because
they are plastic. Give me a call and get a set while you can, these are
the only ones I know still available.
What is that "roar" sound when I accelerate, it sounds like a noisy transmission? Many people have been duped by slick transmission shops because of a loud sound like the poor tranny is coming apart! It may be the fan clutch cycling. If you have a heavy duty clutch, it will most certainly wake up the dead. For that reason, many people take off the beefier model and go back to the standard 75% rotation unit.
The fan clutch uses a bimetal spring the engages the fan when it gets hot in the engine compartment. It should only come on when it is hot. To test its operation, spin the fan by hand with the engine cold and off of course, see how it feels. Now, crank up the motor and let the engine get good & hot, you may want to go for a drive then let it sit running for 10 sec. or so. Turn off the motor and spin the fan by hand again. It should have more friction in it and should be a bit harder to spin.
If not, remove the fan clutch and inspect the center and look for oil. If you see a wet area around the bimetal spring, the clutch is leaking and should be replaced.
What is that "popping sound when I turn the steering wheel? Usually, the slip portion of the shaft assembly between the steering box and the bottom of the steering column is frozen. Have someone start the engine and slowly turn the wheel while you look at the steering shaft assy.. You may actually see it "pop" as it binds up.
Remove the assy. from the column and steering box, pull the shaft apart and clean out the slip portion. Many times, the boot covering the upper CV on the assy. will be torn, call us & we'll send you a new one. Lube the slip portion well and reinstall the unit. If the noise still persists and you can tell it is in the slip shaft assy., replace it.
How does the fuel system work, do I have 2 separate fuel tanks? A common question, you do have 2 fuel tanks under the coach but the actually act as 1.
The single fuel feed fills both tanks, the fill comes into the tanks at @ 1/4 up on the side of the tanks. Thus, the 2 tanks are physically tied together at that level and share fuel above 1/4 full.
Watch your fuel gauge, it should show the same level until you drop below the 1/4 level. Then, the gauge will show a different level when you switch to "aux" tank. If you leave the switch on "main" and run out of fuel, you will still have @ 6 gallons of fuel in the "aux" tank. The dash switch should have been labeled "reserve fuel- on/off". This way, no one would think there were 2 separate tanks, run the main dry and then freak out when they switched to the "aux" tank to find only 1/4 tank of fuel there.
Actually, the last 1/4 tank will drop the fuel needle like a rock because it is actually reading only one tank as it was reading the fuel in both tanks before. The needle will also drop quickly when you switch to "aux" because it too is only seeing fuel from one tank and will drop twice as fast as before 1/4 tank.
If this is a bit fuzzy, just remember to leave the switch on "main" and know if you have to you have another 6 gallons of so of fuel if you forget and run out of fuel if you flip the switch to "aux". GOT IT?
Why does my coach have a vibration that comes & goes around 55 MPH? Your rear wheels exchange vibrations via the common to both air bag and the sharing of weight, you need to have your tires trued & static balanced to elevate this situation. A round, balanced tire will not vibrate and thus cause this condition. Balancing alone will not cure the physical "out of round" situation all tires have. If you are interested in more information about tire truing & balancing, go to .
Yes, we have no alternator!
What would you do if your alternator went out and you had another 200 miles to go? Simple, turn on your generator and place an 8ga. jumper wire across the 2 outside terminals on your battery isolator up front. Your 110-12volt converter will be powered by your generator and will produce 12volts. The jumper will supply this power to the chassis battery to prevent it from dropping and will allow you to run on and charge the chassis battery without the alternator. Go by Radio Shack and get a heavy gauge jumper and you're set!
Another similar tip: You can place the same jumper on the isolator as above and charge your chassis battery from the living area power converter when plugged to shore power! On restorations, I install a "knife switch" there to give a simply solid connection any time it is needed. Call us if you need more explanation.
Hey Poncho, my dash - she no blow!
The main cause for "hi fan" failure on the dash air blower is the "hi blow relay" located near the battery isolator up front. It is a silver metal unit with 5 wires on 2 connectors plugged into it. Follow the wire from the relay to the fan motor and look for heat damage on the wire. If damage is found, replace the wire and the relay. The cross # for the relay is 2411 in the Everco brand, your local parts house should be able to cross that #. If not, give us a call and I'll send you one.
Man, I've heard of slow wipers, but this is ridiculous!
Do your windshield wipers run slow or stop for no apparent reason? The filter screen on the input side of the wiper pump could be clogged up. Actually, the screen wasn't a good design, not enough filter area. I would suggest removing the pipe looking filter threaded into the inlet of the wiper motor and remove the plug & filter. Add a new filter on the output line (the other line) coming from the wiper motor. ATP model JX160 works well and there is a Fram in line power steering filter that will also do a good job. While you're at it, replace the 2' or so outlet hose coming from the wiper motor, every one that I have worked on was hard and weathered too badly to leave in. Take a look at yours, it's not hard to replace and could cause major trouble if it were to burst or leak.
Another tip on your wiper motor for those who have slow movement, the control cable should pull the speed control arm on the wiper motor hard against the body of the motor in the "max on" position. Over the years, the cable has stretched and may no longer pull the control arm to the full on position. Loosen the adjuster set screw on the bottom of the motor and set the cable to full on the control arm. We found this situation on a customers coach that had had his coach checked for slow wipers several times.
Is "Tire Truing"
snake oil? There are
many that have had their rims (both 16 & 16.5") and tires trued here at
the Co-op. Without question, every customer that has had it done has
called back (because I asked them to) and reported on the coach ride after the
job was done has told me they could not believe the difference. OK, fair
enough but for you guys who are still on the fence about "shaving off"
tires, take a look at this: 
You are looking at 6 very new tires on Alcoa rims and the rubber I removed from
the 6 of them only. Now think about this for a minute, the tires seemed OK
before I trued them and the pile here is 3" deep. Think about how
much better they are going to run if the ride gets better every time this is
done to a set of tires? ........ Times up! The rubber you see came
from the high points only on the 6 tires. The high point was taken down to
the low point which is the max wear limit before and after the truing was done.
So, no reduction of rubber to wear, less friction because the tires are rounder
thus less wear and longer mileage. Rounder tires so you have a smoother
ride (less vibration). The laws of physics cannot be changed,
"Rounder tires - bump less". Now that the rim and tire are
round, the gravity balance will make the tire run smooth at 5mph, 50mph, 500mph
and 5000mph - the tire and rim are perfectly round and perfectly balanced - It
don't get no better than that man! These are 6 tires ready to roll!
Remember, this is not "snake oil", ask Dean, Marsh, Nelson, Dave,
Paul, Ed, Jerry, and a few hundred others - GET YOUR TIRES TRUED!
How do I find out if I need freon in my dash air system to make it cool? Locate the low pressure cut off switch, it will be on one of the AC hoses under the pass. side front hood. Pull off the 2 wire connector/rubber cover of the switch and short the 2 connections in the connector socket together with the motor on and the dash AC on. If the compressor clutch kicks in (listen for it when you short the 2 connections), you need freon.
How do I know I am getting vacuum to the dash AC control panel? With the engine running, pull off the vacuum line going to the heater control vacuum switch located on one of the heater hoses in front of the black heater box. With the dash control off, there should be vacuum on the line to the heater valve. Now, pull off the vacuum line going into the expansion tank (black sphere bolted to the right side of the heater box up front) and see if you have vacuum going in from the motor.
How do I check to see if the alternator is putting out? Use a meter and first test the center terminal on the (blue finned) battery isolator under the pass. side front hood. With the motor off, you should have no reading. If you do, the isolator itself cold be bad. Start the motor and recheck the voltage on the center isolator terminal, it should read @ 13.5 volts DC. If it does, the alternator is putting out, if not well like its not! Of course you would want to check the alternator connections to be sure they are tight before you replace the alternator.
What do I do if the alternator light comes on while I'm
driving? 
When your generator is on, the power converter is charging the living area
battery, right? Well, install a high current knife switch which ties the living area
and chassis batteries together the same way the "boost" switch on the dash does
and keep driving. You can simply switch on the boost switch and do the job for a
short time, if you do this too long you risk burning out the boost solenoid. The
power converter will charge the chassis battery with the switch thrown so you can
"keep on truckin".
How do I know without a fuel gauge that I'm getting low on fuel? A standard GMC floor plan coach (not a coachman, Midas, Avion, Norris, etc. pulls fuel to the generator at the 1/4 mark on the tank. If your generator shuts down while you are driving, you may want to get some fuel because you are at 1/4 tank when the generator shuts off.
What does it mean when the dash AC system has no hi blow
on the fan? 
Well, for sure there is a problem and there could be several causes but the number one
cause id the "high blow relay" has probably gone out. The other speeds
feed directly off of the selector switch but the high selection goes through a relay
located to the right of the battery isolator. There are 5 wires (2 connectors) to
the relay. Check the red/ white streamer wire for power with the engine on. If
the wire has 12 volts, the relay is bad. If the wire has no power with the engine
on, you need to check the alternator output. The high blow relay pulls power
directly off of the alternator and will be dead if the alternator is not putting out.
Why is there heat coming from the dash when the heater is
off? 
A good one and this may also be why your AC unit
does not cool well. The heater dash control feeds vacuum to the heater
control valve until you want heat, then it cuts off vacuum and allows hot water to reach
the heater core. So, in the absence of vacuum, heat flows. Guess what, I know
its hard to believe but after so many years, the vacuum to the heater valve can many times
be weak thus you have heat. The switch could be off but with how water in the heater
core you will have heat from the vents. Install manual shut off valves on the 2 hot
water hoses going to the heater box, in the summer this will stop all hot water from
reaching the heater box.
Why does my generator shut off after about 10 seconds of running. The Onan unit has a low oil shut off circuit which will allow the unit to run briefly then shut it down. Hey, go check your oil!
What is the "Boost" switch on the dash for? A great feature, one that may save a tow. The switch temporarily ties the living area 12 volt electrical system and the chassis electrical system together. During engine starting, you can have more current to spin the starter by holding this button in during start. If either battery is low in the living area or chassis, you can "jump" the circuit by holding this button in to say start the generator start the motor. I always recommend using the boost switch while starting the motor. If your boost switch is spring loaded and returns to off when you release it, great. If yours does not, be careful to always flip the switch to the up or off position when you are not using it. The boost solenoid pulls current and given time will draw down both batteries if left on long enough.
Do I really have 2 25 gallon fuel tanks? Yes, but they act as one 44 gallon tank with a 6 gallon reserve. The tanks are tied together at the 1/4 tank level through the fill system. When your gauge shows empty, flip the fuel switch to "Aux" and you will have 6 gallons of fuel left to find a gas station. My suggestion is don't run the tank that low, its hard to push one of these babies to the next exit!
Why doesn't my system monitor panel only work on voltage?
Because the rest of the panel is old, broken and would cost a fortune to get
fixed! Yank it out by the roots and replace it with a new monitor system that does
not use floats in the tanks as senders 
The whole kit cost $75 which is
less than the replacement cost of one of the old senders. Hey, get with it and dump
that old relic hanging on the wall!
Why does my fresh water pump keep turning on and off? Put on your flotation devise located under your seat! There is a leak in the fresh water system that is dropping the pressure causing the pump to cycle. Go outside the coach and look for water leaking from the coach, go inside and try and locate the leak. If there are no leaks (for sure) and the pump continues to cycle, replace the pump, its regulator is bad.
Stay tuned here for more helpful tips on the care and feeding of your baby!!!