Has SanFord been replaced???!!!

That's about what my F350 with the 460 got towing a 35' 5th wheel camper. 6.2 to be exact. 

Stuff that large, MPG has a lot more to do with having the aerodynamics of a toolbox than total weight being moved.

Toyman01 said:

Another small update.

The hydraulic controls for the leveling system are reinstalled and all destroyed wiring replaced or repaired. The system once again works as it should. 

I also ran it up to the gas station to top off the tank. I was curious to see what the mileage was towing the trailer. It got 6 mpg for the 140 miles that was on that tank. I guess if you are worried about fuel efficiency, you really don't want one of these. 

The best we got when towing  the Black Jack with a GMC Motorhome  was 9 MPG but that was a strong tailwind both ways.  6 was typical with the two ton truck/ camper  pulling two cars. One on the ramp and one on the trailer. 

Speed kills mileage. If you can keep it around 55 it’s worth a sold mile per gallon better than 65 

That’s why a lot of racers are using 18 wheelers. They can get a nice 8-9 at 65-70. Plus maybe haul a buddies car in the trailer for the gas money. 

Gaunt596 said:

Stuff that large, MPG has a lot more to do with having the aerodynamics of a toolbox than total weight being moved.

Sometimes it doesn't even need to be that large. My old E-150 could get around 17 or 18 mpg on the highway provided I kept the speed at or below 65 mph. Holding 70 would see mpg drop dramatically.  Many older RVs were really designed for the 55 mph era.

Spent some time working on this beast today.

The bathroom leak was the toilet. Parts were available but I really hate the tiny, low toilets in most RVs, this one included. My ass is bigger than that. So I replaced it with a new, modern unit. The new one is the same height and size as a residential unit.

Old and crappy. Not a good picture.

New and still crappy.

The beast got 6 new tires yesterday. 

I'm going with impact damage on the ones that blew out. This is the third tire that was on side. The PO must have hit something. 

I had originally purchased two tires that I mounted at the track. It turns out the PO had put the wrong size tire on it. A F53 calls for a 235/75R16, not a 215/75R16. The 235s are rated for 600 pounds more weight per tire. 

somehow I missed this thread! Great buy, carry on :)

My Onan's fuel pump wiring died mysteriously, try jumpering power straight to the pump before you replace it.

Set up at CMP for the SCCA Time Trial national tour. 

The Beast did very well all weekend. 

It was super hot and a air conditioned place to cool off was worth every drop of fuel it took to get it up there. Not to mention not having to a hotel after the Friday and Saturday evening festivities. 

I haven't filled it back up so I don't know what the fuel economy was yet. 

I strapped two of my Honda generators to a hitch carrier so I could run the roof top A/C on the trip up and back. That worked OK at best. Better than nothing but not exactly cold inside. Fixing the dash A/C will be a priority now.

It has two roof A/C units. Due to the 30 amp service, you can only run one of them at a time. There is a switch to choose which one you want to run. At CMP there are 20 and 30 amp plugs on every pole. I'm probably going to do a little creative wiring so I can run both units while at the track. With the RV sitting in full sun on a 99 degree day, one a/c almost won't keep up. It would be fairly easy to get both units running. One on the 30 amp RV service, one on a separate 20 amp cord. That goes on the list as well.

I was a little worried about engine temps as hot as it was but they stayed rock solid for the entire trip. It has also used almost no oil since I serviced it. Initially it had a valve cover that looked like it was leaking. I checked the torque on the cover bolts and that seems to have stopped it. 

Your not convincing me to NOT look for one of these. Looks like a great setup. 

I dont see why you couldnt use some sort of switch box to separate the roof A/C’s from the rest of the system safely so you can run them both. Maybe something like a home generator transfer switch. 

I finally filled it up after the last trip to CMP. After doing the math I ended up at 8.2 mpg. I'm pretty happy about that. 

In reply to Toyman01 :

Heck, that's about the same as the last tank I got in the F-250, empty but around town.

In reply to Ransom :

That's about what my F350 got with the Alaskan camper in the back. 

That's pretty good MPG, actually.  I'm jealous!

Something that I've read about for running both A/Cs on a 30 amp coach is to break out the two legs from the campground 50-amp connector.  Use one leg for the regular coach connection (which includes one of the A/C units) and then use the other leg as a direct connection to the other A/C, just so you only have to plug in one cable. 

I haven't updated this in a while. It hasn't been the project that SanFord was and is but some stuff has been happening.

For starters, the power converter/battery charger was burned up. The PO had wired a marine battery charger in to keep the batteries charged when parked, but at 10 amps, it didn't put out enough amperage to keep things charged when the RV was occupied. So I did a little digging and installed a 80 amp smart charger/converter. It will supply power when plugged in as well as take good care of the house batteries and keep them topped off. It took a little hunting to find the old one. It was hidden behind a false wall under the sink. 

Next on the hit list was rear brakes. Once set of pads was pretty well gone and the other set was mostly gone. I ordered rotors and pads planning to replace both. Then I found out both rear axles and hubs would have to come out to change the rotors. Suddenly they didn't look as bad as I thought they did. The side with the bad pads also had a broken caliper piston so it got a caliper as well. I sure am glad it's a Ford, even getting Motorcraft parts, they were pretty cheap. 

Just ignore the minor grooving in that rotor. It only increases surface area. 

Next up was the generator. The Onan hanging under it doesn't run. I have worked on it a little but it has more than minor problems and will need to be pulled for further work. When I bought it, it had a 4000 watt super noisy generator strapped to a hitch carrier. I got that generator running and sold it. Last trip I strapped two of my 2000 watt Honda inverter generators to it. They got the job done but were working pretty hard doing it. Ollies had a 4000 watt inverter generator on sale for just under $500 so I picked up one. It runs the RV perfectly. Unfortunately it wouldn't fit on either of the hitch carriers I owned. Instead of modifying one I had, I bought one. It holds the generator and the Segway perfectly. 

We just got back from a weekend camping trip and everything worked perfectly. While this thing isn't as cool as SanFord, it does work better as a RV. It will be staying around for a while. 

My son brought out his camper as well and we made a weekend of it. 

Maddie in her favorite place. 

Unfortunately the love bugs were out in force this weekend. A couple of times it sounded like rain on the windshield. This won't be much fun to clean. 

Oh, and I think we are going to call this one the Blunder Bus. 

Another thread reminded me I haven't updated this in a while. 

Mostly because I haven't done much to it. I did figure out that most of the AC issues while driving were caused by a failed seal at the base of the windshield that was allowing air from under the dash in. That has been fixed and the AC works much better. The rear tire blowout apparently cracked the gray water tank. It has been repaired. I also replaced the mattress.

The only other significant thing done was setting up the XJ to be towed, which it does like it's not even back there.

Other than that, it's mostly been used. It still fires up every time without fail. It still drives very well. 

If anything changes I'll try to remember to update this. 

Thanks for the update.  looks good pulling the XJ.

So, in another thread, I was considering selling the Blunder Bus, SanFord, and the CARTA bus and buying a 40' diesel pusher RV for some ridiculous sum of money. 

I have since come to my senses and decided with a little effort and a little money I can improve the issues I have with the Blunder Bus. 

One of my issues is the exterior is faded from sitting outside for 25 years. Lots of oxidation and the graphics are dying a horrible death. This week one of my sons has a project. He is stripping all the decals off the RV in preparation for polishing and applying a new graphics package and possibly some paint. Needless to say, stripping 70' of pin stripping has been a fairly long process. He hopes to be done tomorrow. Saturday I'll break out the buffer and some compound to get all the old dead paint and gelcoat off of it. 

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

Can he come pull the old vinyl graphics off mine when he's done?

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

You've chosen Wisely.

Lots of cleaning later...

All of the lower striping and mildew and grunge is gone. 

It's decision time. I can buff it out and leave it white. I can buff it out and restripe it. I can sand it all and paint it. 

While I don't hate the white from a keeping it clean and simple standpoint, it does look a little industrial. It will probably stay like this for a week or two until I figure out something different. 

Graphics kits are available for not much money. They would give the beast a little more modern look. Something like this can be had for $200+- and shouldn't be too hard to put apply. 

The other option is paint or paint and graphics. Something like this. 

The top choice would be the easy button. 

The bottom would be the coolest, but also the most time consuming and expensive. 

Not sure which way to go. 

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

You need someone to airbrush a wizard fighting a tiger onto both sides. 

I've been doing some digging for paint schemes and I think I'm leaning in that direction. 

Something like this maybe. 

Now I'm even more convinced that I need to paint it.