>
>For those of you who have changed to alloy wheels, widened your track,
>installed four air bags, installed different type oil cooler hoses, or just
>want to learn something about converters........Required reading is the
>September issue of Wes Caughlin's GMC Motorhome News.......Jim Davis
>
Jim,
I'm not certain exactly what you're driving at here. But, I guess that you're talking about "negative" opinions about
modifications to the GMC.
Just as we have to be careful about accepting advice on this mail list or in other publications, it's worth remembering that
Cinnabar has a license to uphold and protect. That doesn't mean that Wes' advice is necessarily conflicted by his GM
relationship. Quite the contrary, I've found my conversations to be of great value. And he does endorse some of the mods.
For example, the move to Alcoa wheeels is pretty much required if you have non-radial wheels and want/need to move to
radials. Wes was extremely helpful in assiting me sort through the bogus stories that I got from a number of wheel stores -
including a misguided Alcoa tech. I see the Alcoas to be a "win" all the way around, with the only downside being
incorrect handling of the wheel.
I do sometimes get frustrated by party line answers. For example, my Palm Beach has a 11,200 weight limit. Yet another model
with the same chassis has a limit at least 700 pounds higher. I care because I don't want to develop models of the GMC just
so that I can evaluate weight distribution etc. and the extra 700 pounds is of significant value to me. An "extra" 400
pounds with respect to the specification makes the difference between having to pull a towed vehicle or not. I'd rather find
out the practical answer of "the xxxx model has a max vehicle weight of ---- pounds."
I found the article on the GMC suspension to be both informative and frustrating. It doesn't take a mechanical engineer to
understand that using a greater offset on the front to move the front and rear tracks inline is a bad idea. "Normal"
automotive bearings don't need 20k mile inspection/replacement. That along should tell everybody clearly that the front
bearings are marginal in the application. Moving the lever further out from the spindle, on the face of it, is a really bad
idea. At the same time, the party line is that the hubs are adequate - and they are when serviced per specification. But
enhanced hubs are discouraged. I understand Wes' comments about suspension mods possibly being illegal as a general comment.
Still, if a new hub would strengthen the front end and extend bearing life it seems like a good idea to me. I would want to
see the engineering though.
Wes was extremely helpful when I was considering converters. Wes had suggested a West MArine unit (remarked Statpower) that
he liked. I had looked at the units at West but wanted a bit more. Fortunately when I spoke to Wes about converters right
before going to buy one, he mentioned a new unit that removed my concerns. I've had the West Marine Truecharge 40+ since
early this summer and love it. We boondock a lot, and the charger makes it practical.
Bottom line: for ALL sources caveat emptor.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (408) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (408) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com
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