The Automotive Thread

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I feel like there is another with the waters proximity to the illegal electrical situation, but I'm a consultant now and got to delete OSHA requirements from my brain after taking the PE exam.

We bought a 33' Keystone Passport- I picked it up in Kansas yesterday and dragged it back to Denver (we have RV dealers here but the one in KS was $6k cheaper). I averaged 21 mpg on the way out and 7 mpg on the way home. There was one particularly horrible section (probably 3 MPG average) between Colby, Kansas and Burlington, CO where I almost quit because the wind was so bad. Of course, that is the section with wind turbines right next to the highway. Those engineers definitely did their research and put them in the right place.
Yeah, the 2-prong/3-prong thing probably not a problem, but add the hose and now you've got something.

What are you towing with? I think that's where the diesel shines. We are at 8-9k pounds which is easily doable with a lot of trucks set up for towing, the diesel just doesn't have to work as hard to pull it. MPG goes down but not as drastically as a gas truck.
 
What are you towing with?
1/2 ton Silverado with a 5.3. I am aware this is not ideal, but I am within my limits and it is safe (maybe not when the wind is that bad). We are going east from Denver so the wind and elevation should be advantageous.

I was ready to get a bigger truck (would have gotten a trailer with more slides too) and a diesel but I couldn't bring myself to drop that much money and get half of what I wanted for options. I looked at used ones too, but they are skyhigh and we are in that life cycle where the affordable ones for people like me that would use them sparingly are basketcases of emissions BS. I seriously considered an old 7.3 F250, but envisioned everything but the engine failing as we try to drive across the country.
 
1/2 ton Silverado with a 5.3. I am aware this is not ideal, but I am within my limits and it is safe (maybe not when the wind is that bad). We are going east from Denver so the wind and elevation should be advantageous.

I was ready to get a bigger truck (would have gotten a trailer with more slides too) and a diesel but I couldn't bring myself to drop that much money and get half of what I wanted for options. I looked at used ones too, but they are skyhigh and we are in that life cycle where the affordable ones for people like me that would use them sparingly are basketcases of emissions BS. I seriously considered an old 7.3 F250, but envisioned everything but the engine failing as we try to drive across the country.
Sorry...what are these "emissions" you speak of? :sneaky:

I had actually been contemplating selling the truck since it was just paid off. From the prices I had been seeing, I could probably get close to what I paid for it 6 years ago. With the prices for campers being the same way, I figured one of those would be a few years down the road and just hoped that the supply would catch up with the demand by then.
 
Speaking of 5.3 Silverados, mine is driving me insane. I have a parasitic battery drain I can't find. When I'm watching it, its only pulling 15 milliamps which is within spec, but it still dies within a week or so (sitting, not driving. It charges fine). I replaced the alternator in case it had a bad diode to no success. Now on my third battery, but going to tell NAPA its got a dead cell and will see if they'll swap it for me since its been discharged so many times... All I can figure is that one of the control modules is energizing randomly. Apparently the instrument cluster is one that has problems with this, so I pulled the fuse and will try to start it again in a week to rule that out.
 
I have not had that issue. I have found www.gm-trucks.com to be a really good resource to keep mine in check. Search the forum, I bet someone has had the same problem. Persistent electrical problems are the worse, especially on these new vehicles that are so tied to the electronics.
 
I have not had that issue. I have found www.gm-trucks.com to be a really good resource to keep mine in check. Search the forum, I bet someone has had the same problem. Persistent electrical problems are the worse, especially on these new vehicles that are so tied to the electronics.

Pretty sure I've been there before. It's a common problem with that generation of GM truck. The lucky ones are able to find it by pulling fuses after seeing a really obvious amperage draw. In my friend's Silverado for example, it was the seat heater circuit. The unlucky ones like myself, it usually ends up being the instrument cluster or one of the body control modules waking up intermittently, where troubleshooting takes a week at a time...
 
If the used market wasn't so ridiculous right now, I'd probably sell it (it's crazy low mileage), and go pick up something with higher mileage crew or quad cab and a 6.0 since all I use it for is hauling/towing. But that 8 foot bed sure comes in handy more often than not.
 
If the used market wasn't so ridiculous right now, I'd probably sell it (it's crazy low mileage), and go pick up something with higher mileage crew or quad cab and a 6.0 since all I use it for is hauling/towing. But that 8 foot bed sure comes in handy more often than not.
I get along pretty well with the 5.5 ft bed. Helps to have an 18ft trailer for the times when the truck by itself won't quite cut it.

I've been thinking about upgrading to an F250 but the ones my friends have seem to spend a lot of time at the dealer dealing with computer issues. Also, my F150 has two things going for it: 1) everything works right now, and 2) It has the "paid-for" option installed.
 
I get along pretty well with the 5.5 ft bed. Helps to have an 18ft trailer for the times when the truck by itself won't quite cut it.

I've been thinking about upgrading to an F250 but the ones my friends have seem to spend a lot of time at the dealer dealing with computer issues. Also, my F150 has two things going for it: 1) everything works right now, and 2) It has the "paid-for" option installed.
It would be an easier decision if I had my trailer here. Because of the damned HOA, I have to store it at a friend's house, which means an hour round trip just for trailer retrieval/storage. Which is yet another reason why I need to escape this hellhole.
 
We've had enough rain that I think I can confidently say that the roof of the camper is no longer leaking...well, confident enough that I'm ready to put foam board in the walls and panelling up.

Eternabond taped the whole perimeter, replaced the vent in the front bedroom with a vent/fan and put new lap sealant around the vent and the front seams. That lap sealant and eternabond are pretty impressive stuff. The lap sealant "dries" but takes like a month to fully cure so it oozes to fill any little gaps and seal things up really well.

Next on the list is pulling up the old nasty carpet and replacing that which is a whole new thing to worry about. Leaks/rot typically come in from the top and up through the bottom.
 
So we are at my in-laws outside Cincinnati. I checked the credit card statement a couple days ago- currently averaging $0.50 per mile over ~1700 miles all but 300 or so were towing...
 
So we are at my in-laws outside Cincinnati. I checked the credit card statement a couple days ago- currently averaging $0.50 per mile over ~1700 miles all but 300 or so were towing...
Uhhh, hello...where at?

We took the boat out Saturday. I spent Sunday in the driveway trying to figure out an odd noise. Kind of a whirring sound we don't remember it having before. Ran fine while we were out, just can't figure it out. It's 35 years old, but it's a run-o-the-mill GM 4.3 so it should last forever.
 
Uhhh, hello...where at?
Honestly, not really sure. Liberty Township I think. Maybe Hamilton. Potentially Princeton. Almost Fairfield. Is Bridgewater Falls a town?

I searched all the towns listed above and none of them contain their house. The address in google maps says Hamilton, but I am 10 miles east of there.
 
Our power was out for almost the entire day yesterday. It went out the night before at 9:30. It wouldn't be so bad except it was close to 100 yesterday. I had the generator we use for our Halloween trail hooked up to the fridge and the freezer, but it was so **** hot. We were out getting some dinner and got a text from Duke saying power would be fixed by 11:59pm...the next day. Even though the bedroom isn't fixed yet, we started talking about giving up on the fridge and using the generator to run the camper and sleeping in the bunk beds. Fortunately, on the way home we started seeing houses with porch lights on so we are back among the civilized.
 
I figure the automotive thread is the best place to post, since my addiction to cars has been a big reason for my absence on the forum.
😁

I’ve picked up a few additional classic cars over the last 6 months.
I have enough small projects now to keep me busy for quite a while.

hope everyone in here is well and keeping the driving to a minimum with these fuel prices.
 
I figure the automotive thread is the best place to post, since my addiction to cars has been a big reason for my absence on the forum.
😁

I’ve picked up a few additional classic cars over the last 6 months.
I have enough small projects now to keep me busy for quite a while.

hope everyone in here is well and keeping the driving to a minimum with these fuel prices.
Whatcha get? *Ears perked up
 
Yeah...that's not Cincinnati. That's Hamil-tucky. We don't go there.
I'm not "in-the-know" on Cincinnati suburb pecking order/class order, but how does Hamilton turn into Hamil-tucky? It's the one of the furthest suburbs (you can make an argument it is not a suburb) of Cincinnati from Kentucky? Is it purely because Hamil-ianda doesn't sound as good? Geographically the Hamilton/Indiana reference makes sense.

We spent the last week in Brookville, Indiana. My wife's niece and nephew grew up in Ross. I'd rather be over there.
 
Back
Top