| [GMCnet] Notes on long distance wilderness travel in your gmc [message #300898] |
Fri, 20 May 2016 20:53  |
glwgmc
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Registered: June 2004
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It is nearly 4000 miles one way from our house in Southern Oregon to cover the many roads in Alaska we plan to explore. That is a lot of driving over sometimes marginal roads so have lots of time to consider things I hope will be helpful for others. In this post I want to share some observations on systems.
If you mainly drive well improved roads near where you live then much of this will be of little value. If you drive long distances, or in wilderness areas, then follow along. Because we have two coaches, each driven a lot every year, we have the ability to directly compare the benefits and tribulations from the many recent modernization offerings. Our Royale, which we are using on this jaunt, has most everything one can do to modernize a GMC. Our Clasco, home in its garage at the moment is bone stock save for FiTech EFI.
The first thing to consider for long distance wilderness driving is wheels and tires. Buy the very best you can afford and move to 16 inch wheels as soon as you can. A tire issue way out in the boonies is far more than an inconvenience. And, will swamp out any memories you might have of money saved on cheap tires that are not available way out here or trying to convince some wilderness service facility to try to being in a Firestone Transforce 16.5 for you. Over the years I have found Michelin, Toyo and BFG Commercial TA to be the top of the heap for 225-75-16 LRE tires for our coaches. Others may disagree. We did loose a BFG on this trip, a date code 2011 with little apparent tread wear, but that is the first BFG issue we have encountered and that date code is in the middle of a recall of that tire in slightly different sizes. Be absolutely sure to set the pressure correctly, which will be 65 front and 60 rear for most all 26 foot GMCs. Never, ever, ever set them at 80 psi as you will loose much of the contact patch that keeps your coach on the road.
The one ton front end provides a lot of reassurance when in the wilderness. The components are beefy, the bearings are sealed, the brakes much larger and the newer bushings keep everything well connected to the coach. All good stuff when banging over less than ideal road surfaces! The specs are not ideal for our coaches, but that is not noticeable from the drivers seat. I only am aware of that shortcoming when accelerating up hill while turning from a stop. There I can feel torque steer and wheel shudder, but the rest of the time it is pure joy. Getting your coach to factory ride height with the steering box properly centered and all six wheels running frame parallel will take 90 percent of the rut wander and fight out of the driving experience.
The six wheel reaction arm disk brakes are a mixed bag for me. The stock drum brakes on the Clasco work as well in anything but a panic stop (which I have never yet needed in real driving). The six wheel disks result in lower pedal than I like with the stock MC and the lines reversed, and it is hard to fiddle enough to get a real parking brake with my six wheel disk setup in the Royale. So, we carry a large wheel chock and periodically go through the drill to make sure Sharon knows how to access and set ip if we ever really need it in an emergency.
Before you venture more than 500 miles from home re-gear your coach if it will ever see mountains. Once out of the flat lands and into the mountains your coach can do everything you ask of it, but only if it is properly geared. 3.50 to 3.70 seems to be the sweet spot for most GMCs.
The next topic will run against the grain for many of you. I hear all the time new buyers say they want to do all the mechanical first in the name of safety and will tackle the house stuff if/when they get around to it. But, what about your partner? Does anyone want to travel long distances in a ratty old motorhome with the headliner falling down and no hot water or working furnace? Our attitude is we want the GMC to offer as close to the same comforts as home as we can when we live in here for weeks or months at a time, especially in the wilderness. So, my suggestion is, at an absolute minimum, make sure your water pump, water heater, stove, refer and furnace (and/or AC) work reliably before you venture very far from home!
Last topic is battery capacity. One 12v house battery will not hack it no matter how frugal you are with amp draw. Our experience is two 6vdc golf cart batteries wired in series or a 4D or 8D 12vdc house bank is the minimum you will need for long distance wilderness adventures. No way around that.
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
http://jerrywork.com
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
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