2000 Beaver Patriot, Monticello, 40'

[Bob Maxwell]

Way to go Phil! I can't wait to see it and finally meet both of you. Do remember to put insulation into all your ceiling vents that you can remove easily when you want to open one. Just one insulated vent will let out a lot of heat.

 

[motojavaphil]

We have started our first trip in the Beaver and are overnighting in the DreamCatcher Campground in Deming.  We averaged 9.1 mpg.  We traveled at 60 mph for half the trip.  I had to reduce speed when we ran into sidewinds, a white knuckle event.  It was a good trip although Deming is cold, I thought it would be warmer down here.  Lots of wind here, sure be glad to get out of it.  Is it normal for a lot of wander in a MH this size in wind.  I was pleased all systems worked well.  The satellite and verizon aircard are working well.  Will be in Benson AZ tomorrow for the rest of the week.
Phil

 

[Ned]

Phil, we were at Dreamcatcher last Thursday for one night.  It's always windy in that part of NM   Also, can be quite cold at night.  We've been seeing lows in the 20s the past few days in Sierra Vista, and tonight will be no different.

 

[motojavaphil]

Ned, Were you in Space 7 at Dreamcatcher? 

Phil

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Is it normal for a lot of wander in a MH this size in wind.

I'd say no, but then it depends on how much wind. Gusty winds are always tricky, since you turn against the wind pressure and then have to quickly turn back as the gust eases off. In a strong steady wind it is not uncommon to see a large motorhome "crabbing", i.e. going down the road slightly askew as a result of having the wheel turned slightly into the wind.

 

[Ned]

Phil, we were in 42.

 

[motojavaphil]

Ned, Sorry we missed you.

Gary, The Beaver seems to go to the right with hands off the wheel.  I am going to check tire pressure in the morning.  If it persists I will get the alignment checked.  All the mechanicals were checked in the pre-purchase inspection. It has the Howard Power Assist which seems to help when it is notched up.  Any thoughts?
Phil                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Some possibilities: Uneven tire pressures, alignment, a dragging brake on one side, a bad wheel bearing. Or maybe the Howard system is out of adjustment and simply steering that way? [I know next to nothing about the Howard system.]

 

[motojavaphil]

Tire pressures were Left Front 95 psi, Right Front 85 psi, Rear Right 85 psi, Left Rear 100 psi.  I am thinking the fronts should be 95 psi and the rears 100 psi.  Does that sound about right?  Would the exisitng psi's cause problems?
Phil

 

[Ron]

The ONLY way to correctly determine proper air pressure is to weight the vehicle preferably at the four corners or in a pinch the fron and rear axles separately.  Then go to your tire manufacturers web site and check the tire inflation tables for your tire.

 

[Tom]

Ron is correct. Here's an article in our library on Correct tire inflation pressure which contains an example of how to use a tire manufacturer's inflation table.  *

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Tire pressures were Left Front 95 psi, Right Front 85 psi, Rear Right 85 psi, Left Rear 100 psi.  I am thinking the fronts should be 95 psi and the rears 100 psi.  Does that sound about right?  Would the exisitng psi's cause problems?

With the right side pressures lower than the left, there will be a tendency for the motorhome to self-steer to the right because there is slightly more rolling resistance on the side with the softer tires.

Your psi guess is as good as any and fairly typical for a DP, but weighing the front and  rear axles and inflating per the tire inflation tables is the only way to know.  Until you get it weighed, I would recommend inflating all tires to (or near to) the max load inflation shown on the tire sidewall.  That way you can be sure you have enough pressure to carry the load and avoid a tire failure. The only drawback to using max pressure is a firmer ride and eventually the possibility of increased wear at the center of the tread. That is the leastof the ills that can  reuslt from incorrect inflation and therefore the best choice until you can do it by the correct method.

 

[IwannaRV]

Pardon me but how and where do I go to weigh each corner at a time?

The ONLY way to correctly determine proper air pressure is to weight the vehicle preferably at the four corners or in a pinch the fron and rear axles separately.  Then go to your tire manufacturers web site and check the tire inflation tables for your tire.

 

[Tom]

Some scales, such as the ones at some landscape materials yards, allow you to to weigh each corner individually, but obviously you couldn't do this at elevated scales such as the ones I've seen at Flying J. There are also mobile scales carried by folks such as RVSEF.

 

[rhmahoney]

In Oregon there are unmanned, turned on wt stations on many side roads for the use of lumber trucks. The scale is at ground level and it is easy to put one axle or even one tire on the scale at a time.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Most people don't weigh by the corner - just front and rear axles, which is easy enough on nearly all scales. 

If you weigh only by axle, divide the axle weight by two but be sure to allow for a possible side-to-side imbalance when you look up the weight in the inflation tables. It is not unusual for there to be a 300-500 lb difference from one end of an axle to the other.  However, the weight ranges in the tables are fairly broad and it is easy enough to see if an extra 500 lbs would cause you to fall in the next higher bracket. If it would, use the higher inflation figure to be safe. Actually, it is a good practice to use the next higher bracket anyway - much better to be over inflated than under.

 

[Ross]

Hi, it was really informative and nice to read about your encounter with your new Beaver. We have fallen in love with exactly the same coach  and hope to find one this spring.
Are you still happy with your decision to buy this one? Is it something else you should have done before you left the lot?
We are reading and learning.

 

[motojavaphil]

Hi Ross, We are happy with the Beaver.  We have the two slide model which gives us a bit more room and there are a lot of features which we are still discovering.  We have only 22,400 miles on it so everything is like new.  I am changing the recliner out as the non-euro recliner lacks quality even though it is beautiful.  Other items have been the ice maker water line, a little 1/4 inch plastic line, froze in its heated compartment.  That was easily fixed and remember the cut off switch is in the passenger side compartment covered up by a carpeted wood door.  I played he__ finding that puppy.  The only major thing are the windows.  We have the SE-GI windows.  Almost all of them are snaking and will fail.  It is expensive to replace them and I guess SE-GI has a poor reputation.  Knowing what I know now it would have been a factor in my purchase.  I will never buy another rig, new or used, with those windows.  That is history for us but something you should be aware of. 
Some of the body molding has come loose which has been easily fixed with new screws and caulk.  Not a major issue but something you will need to be on top of if the rig has sat as ours did.  We replaced all of the tires, fluids and filters which is not cheap but necessary.  You'll need to evaluate that for any rig you find on a case by case basis.  Purchasing thru the dealer we were able to get a three year, $50 dollar deductible warranty.  Needless to say they do not cover windows.  The Beaver we have has the Hurricane Diesel Heating system as part of the hydroponic and heating system.  The heater was replaced by the previous owner at around 17-20,000 mile mark.  When they installed the new heater they failed to attach the exhaust tightly and it fell down.  It was reinstalled by us with carriage bolts to hopefully avoid any problems in the future.
The Cat 330 is a sweet engine and pushes the rig down the road at 65 mph without too much drama.  We have not put a toad on it yet so I am not certain as to power with a toad.  We averaged 9.3 mpg without a toad which is not bad in my book..
I'll weigh this out and get air pressures appropriate to the rig.  Thats our big project for now. 
Good luck on your search and I hope this has helped.
Phil

 

[motojavaphil]

I do not have 4 corner weights but do have front and rear weights.  Please advise if I am calculating this correctly.  The steer axles have 11080 lbs and the rear has 18420 lbs.

11080 divided by 2=5540 and the recommended pressure is 105 psi
18240 divided by 4=4560 and the recommended pressure is  85 psi

I was surprised to find the steer axles have more pressure than the rears.  Did I calculate this correctly.  I am going by the owners manual charts. I am tempted to add 5 psi to each number for an added comfort zone.  Good idea or bad?

Thanks, Phil

 

[Ned]

That's common for the single wheel tires to need more pressure than the duals as the per tire weight is more.  Many people add 10psi to the table pressures to handle the inevitable slow loss of pressure over time and to accommodate those cold days when the tire pressure will be less.