Travels, tires, winterizing (not a lot of GMC content)

grady1

New member
Sep 18, 1999
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1). Many thanks to y'all for the travel ideas, we did the Nashville, IN to
Nashville, TN tour, parked downtown on Friday night and saw Elvis at
Wal-Mart in Owensboro, KY. He still looked good, and was selling VCR's in
the electronics section.

Weather was great, making an excellent 4 day trip. Chilly at night, and the
dang DuoTherm will run fine, then stop before really warming up the
interior. I suspect low LP pressure or a bad ground. Got a little nippy for
the girls overnight. Stayed at the Opryland KOA, which was nice, but only
one modem hookup.

Saw a Glenbrook at the Louisville, KY RV dealer on I-65 where we stayed, I
see the TZE's already been given to Dave. Another GMC (white, disk style
wheel covers) on I-155 Northbound in the early afternoon, just out of range
of my 70mph bar code reader.

A very nice re-done-in-gold GMC at the campground two rows behind us, but we
were lazy and slept in on Friday morning, the couple were up and gone before
we could meet them. A group of folks in a pop-up asked if our GMC was a
prototype, we gave them a tour. Compared to the other "tall boys" that were
there, we looked very modern. A poor guy in SOB tried unsuccessfully to park
in one of the back-in's where we were at, finally gave it up and moved to a
pull through. We came back late on Friday and backed in -- between two
trees. He came over in amazement as I was plugging in to shore power.

2). I hate my new Alco's and Michelin tires, and I'm hoping it's a temporary
thing...
I know my old 65 pound polyester sidewall D rangers weren't safe, but they
were a one finger drive with no rut-running. These new tires are a white
knuckle'r all the way. Going to have to get a good 6 wheel alignment, then
decide for sure if I still hate them. I can't believe the change in handling
these tires made on our GMC. From perfect GM drive characteristics to
absolutely evil. My wife drove lots of miles on the old tires, about 15
minutes and she was done on this trip. That was the only disappointing thing
on the whole trip, and the tires and wheels were the only change I've made.
Needless to say, I've had some pretty pointed questions about the wisdom of
this change, and my only defense is to remind here that she was along when
one of the old tires blew on the OH turnpike, so something had to be done...

3). Just winterized using the Stora technique. 1.5 gallons of the pink stuff
(now minty fresh!) $1.99 a gallon for Camco at my local Ace. $2.00 for a
1/2" hose remnant. What a change from the old way! I tell you, that Emery is
one smart dude. The only thing I can add is that you can prime the pump by
blowing hard into the jug to start the whole process.

Now to make an alignment appointment at Sandusky and figure out how to get
there and back over the weekend, leaving the GMC behind for a 'work-in.'
That's a long drive in the Thing, which is all I've got to tow.

mg
 
If you have a heat pump which heats as well as cools, if the outside temperature
drops below 40 the duothrm will quit working. Too cold and it does not work.
When the weather warms up, above 40, it works great.
al

>
>
> dang DuoTherm will run fine, then stop before really warming up the
>
> interior. I suspect low LP pressure or a bad ground. >>
>
> Mark -- it could be the ground but don't forget to check the thermostat, the
> hot wire plug going to the heater, and the gas orifice. At the thermostat,
> just connect (jumper) across the two wires and see if it heats all right. If
> it does then your thermometer needs adjustment or replacement. If jumping
> the thermostat doesn't make it run any different, I'd check the electrical
> connections next and also take out the propane orifice and clean it out.
> Spiders love to built nests in the propane jet. They seem to love the smell.
> I don't have a problem with my present SolAire furnace but I had a Duotherm
> in a Travco once and found that I had to spray insecticide into the furnace
> when storing it or else I'd have to clean out the jet everytime before using
> the motorhome.
>
> Emery Stora
> 77 Kingsley
> Santa Fe, NM
 
No, its a regular LP, actually the original issue. The thermostat says
DuoTherm, but probably not the brand of the furnace proper. A slip of the
fingers on my part. Sorry for the confusion.

mg

| -----Original Message-----
| From: owner-gmcmotorhome
| [mailto:owner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of
| EMERYSTORA
| Sent: Sunday, October 31, 1999 10:40 PM
| To: gmcmotorhome
| Subject: Re: GMC: Travels, tires, winterizing (not a lot of GMC content)
|
|
|

|
| >
|
| Hi Al -- I was assuming that Mark was talking about a DuoTherm
| furnace that
| was not heating properly. Perhaps I was incorrect. Mark -- do
| you have a
| Duotherm heatpump/ air conditioner on the roof that you were referring to?
|
| Emery Stora
| 77 Kingsley
| Santa Fe, NM