| [GMCnet] Alaska trip - final report at 8700 miles [message #303456] |
Tue, 12 July 2016 10:16  |
glwgmc
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma:
|
Senior Member |
|
|
We returned home last evening from our fabulous unplanned, catch as catch can trip to Alaska. The Royale performed like a champ illustrating convincingly that a well sorted out GMC can be the perfect vehicle for such a trip.
The only on road repair was occasioned by the unexpected blow out of a date code 2011 tire just as we left the highway in Spokane, WA, at the beginning of the trip. The tread unzipped most of the way around and as it flailed around it broke off the step, whacked up the side, tore up the molding around the T skirt and knocked off the bogie greasers. I was able to reattach the step well enough that it worked the rest of the trip and a trip to Costco to have them mount two new Michelin tires to replace that one and the other date code 2011 tire resolved that one issue. A few weeks into the trip we also developed a strange electrical gremlin which resulted in the chassis battery running down when we dry camped. I described that one in a previous post and have still not found the root cause. I think a failed or failing one year old Optima Red Top chassis battery may have played a role. The only inconvenience that issue posed is that we did not dry camp as much as we normally would have. As long as we were on electricity there was no issue. We eventually replaced that battery but did not test to see if that was at fault until we got home. I left the coach unplugged last night so I can do a proper diagnosis today.
With the recent posts about vapor lock I thought I would pass on the following. We experienced no vapor lock issue of any kind on the whole trip, including coming over the five passes in So. Oregon yesterday afternoon in the heat of the day. A lot of this trip was done through areas that do not have crap gas so that likely played a role. When we did encounter E10, or pumps marked, “may contain up to 10% ethanol”, then I added an ethanol conditioner to the fuel. But, from our experience with both our coaches, I think engine water and oil temps may play as much a role in whether or not one experiences vapor lock symptoms as fuel routing or delivery. The Royale has an aluminum radiator with the transmission oil routed to an external, fan assisted, cooler and not through the radiator cooler. A fitting broke on the lower line going to the radiator cooler years ago and I just by-passed the in-radiator cooler. The Clasco has an aluminum radiator with an external transmission oil cooler and an external fan assisted engine oil cooler with both routed also through the radiator coolers. The Royale is carbureted with fuel supplied via a mechanical fuel pump with JimK’s booster pump and large filter mounted outside the frame rails and no return line. The Clasco is fuel injected with a fully submerged high pressure electric fuel pump in a front mounted surge tank fed by a rear mounted Carter electric low pressure pump mounted outside the frame rails near the tank. Neither coach experiences vapor lock.
What is common to both coaches is a well baffled radiator which directs air into the radiator on both sides, both above and below the bumper. I use the puzzle style anti fatigue mat material for the baffles as it is easy to cut and easy to flex into place, yet it is stiff enough to direct the air properly. Cable ties hold the baffles in place. I think the important ones are the baffles below the bumpers on either side of the rock shield. It looks to me like a lot of air would bounce off the lower part of the radiator and go around it without those baffles. I do not have the scoop style baffles on the bottom of the radiator that some use. I also use that same material to direct air through the external oil coolers.
Both the Royale and the Clasco have stock fans with the standard duty fan clutch and two piece fan shrouds. Neither fan is noticeable unless pulling a long grade. If/when engine water temp reaches about 200 to 205 degrees indicated then the fan clutch will engage and the temps fall rapidly back to 190 to 195. Both coaches have 195 degree Robert Shaw thermostats and both coaches run 190 to 195 degrees indicated water temp in normal driving. Both coaches have strong S&J rebuilt engines. The Royale uses an RV cam mounted 4 degrees advanced and has headers and 3” exhaust. The Clasco uses the stock grind cam mounted 4 degrees advanced and has stock cast iron manifolds and 3” exhaust. Both are geared the same and use the same size tires. The Royale feels stronger than the Clasco when climbing mountain grades although neither coach requires shifting into second gear on any but the longest and steepest of grades. On the whole Alaska trip we only shifted the Royale into second gear for going down long, steep grades and only once did we shift into second for a long steep up grade when we had to enter the bottom of the grade from a stop.
Doing Alaska on your own is easy in a GMC and we highly recommend it for all of you. Sharon will be presenting a seminar showing how and why at the five club Coos Bay, OR, rally coming up this October. Should be a barn burner of a rally so sign up if you can make it. I will do two seminars there, one on the hows and whys of adding fuel injection to our GMCs featuring the newest of the cost effective, self learning after market EFI systems, and the other on the hows and whys of converting your Onan to run on propane instead of crap gas. See you there.
Alaska trip report over and out…..
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed and hand crafted in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building in historic Kerby, OR
glwork@mac.com
http://jerrywork.com
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
