After 4 years of working on it, 2 years of living full-time in it, I had never driven it until this past Sunday. I completed the engine bay project using High Density Basalt Board with Diamond Plate Aluminum over it and mounted the fire system. I then had a mobile service take off the 21 year-old Michelins and fit the Yokohama's.
So - it was time to move it 5 miles away, and I have to admit to being a wee-bit nervous.
With two buddies in their cars - in front and back of me- flashers on, we were off. The roads were winding and I never took it over 45 mph, but it was an absolute thrill to drive.
The CAT ran great, Allison shifted fine, but one thing spooked me pretty good.
The air brakes were very marginal in stopping power. Pressure was fine at 120-130, but something else is going on.
I should say that all the rotors are pretty rusty, and that the Coach has been sitting idle for many years. My best estimate is that it has not moved under it's own power since , maybe -1998.
It only shows 7,155 miles on the odometer.
Sure feels good to know I'm very close now to being able to drive it for summer explorations and and building memories.
Oh! Should mention that even with the e-brake released, foot on the brake pedal, and trans drive selected- the "Brake" light on the dash stayed illuminated.
Congratulations! It's good to hear it's finally on the road!
Yippee! I bet it was a thrill... Don't let a little thing like brakes stop you! Just kidding, but these brakes are second to none so I am sure you will get it figured out ^.^d . ^.^d More detail about your reinsulating the engine compartment would be appreciated, especially pictures. Was it nice and quiet while moving it?
Don
You might need to just tighten up the slack adjuster on your brakes by giving them a bit of a turn. If you've downloaded the Meritor service manual, there is a section in there about how to do it.
If he was like me when I first drove ours, my knees and teeth were shaking so much, there was no hearing how the coach was doing!
It was very quiet and smooth. I was concentrating hard on keeping it "within the lane" using the mirrors every few seconds through the curves, and getting a feel and comfort for the huge mass leaning. It was kinda trippy, the sensation of being "pushed" by all that torque. The big CAT just wanted to go, but it never shifted higher than 3rd because of my trepidation regarding the brakes. The few times I gave it a bit more throttle on the straight sections it just wanted to lurch ahead as I heard the turbo spool up.
I'll post a complete breakdown with more pics of the engine bay job.
I think you have a even wilder CAT than I do. Even ours, in #6 gear, likes to romp. When I brought her back from Phoenix on I-10, I was trying to concentrate on all the gauges & everything that was brand-new to me, looked down at the speedo, and I was doing 80 with the tach at 2500; She still wanted to gallop! Nice diamond-plate job, by the way. ^.^d
That 'BRAKE' light is for the first gen anti-lock brake system. Nobody works on them any more. electrical tape will solve that issue/
Congratulations!
As for the brakes, I would check the slide pin. This pin is known for sticking in operational coaches, let alone one sitting for so long. The calipers could have easily rusted in place and inhibit brake function. This is the same pin that uses "helper spring" to assist the caliper to release. Many threads on the subject - just search for "helper springs". The pins are used on all 4 brake positions of your 4 wheel disk brakes.
A) like mentioned, check to ensure slack adjusters are not too loose.
B) you need to use the brakes a few times to clean all the rust and gunk off the rotors...I bet they will become more effective after some nice hard stops from higher speed--I know mine do after sitting for a while
Unusual post. When I sold it new and drove it a lot it stopped very well.
Needs to be braked hard to get a fresh surface on the rotor and pads.
They are cold blooded to start with and like a warm up on every drive and even regularly during any drive.
Brakes were made for much heavier vehicles than a coach.
Glad to see marguerites coach finally getting used.
The cat is the most power in these by far. What hills?
Congrats, Michael! What a good story and great photos of the Old Girl in dress rehearsal. Keep 'em coming!
That engine bay is wicked nice!
Congrats.
Congrats Michael. Hope to see you on the road soon.
Gary
We just pulled a grade out of Death Valley a few weeks ago, and it got steeper and steeper. Bunch of trailers w/ fresh Ford 350s behind me, thought I'd have to pull over to let them by. As the grade got steeper, I noticed they all fell back, ho, ho, that CAT of ours pulled that hill at 45. The Allison got a work-out, shifting as needed. With the Airstream, on that grade, I could have walked faster.
The engine bay looks great; but what happened to all of the electrical stuff that is usually on the end of the bay?
Trent
Diamond Plate Aluminum ^.^d very nice.
The engine compartment looks great. My brake light stays on until I move the coach a few feet. I agree, I think rusty rotors and maybe stuck calipers on the pins could be your brake problem. Keep up the good work, Mark
What were the horsepower and torque ratings for the Caterpillar 3176 in this application?
David....our 95 3176B is rated @ 350/1350
http://www.dwclutch.com/D&W/D&W%20Clutch%20&%20Brake%202/CAT%20TORQUE.pdf
Hans
That's a big girl, ours is only rated @ 250 hp, but plenty for us!
Thanks; that's what I thought. I was surprised when Bob wrote, "The cat is the most power in these by far."
Our 1995 U320 Cummins M11 is rated at 400@1600 RPM and 1350@1200 RPM. I wonder if the U300 design was any lighter than the U320 design?
Interestingly, our U320 #4726 was close in line behind your U300 #4719.
I asked my buddy the CAT man long ago about the apparent power versus the rated power.
He mentioned quietly that some states taxed the trucks owners based on rated horsepower. So showing lower was monetarily helpful.
Beaver Marquis 3176 at similar ratings at 37,000 pound combined weight would pull all the 6% interstate grades at 65 in high gear on a 745 Allison coach with the cruise on. Not floored.
Obviously more than 350/1350.
8.25 mpg average from multiple owners.
The Allison 745 was a 4-speed, non-overdrive transmission (if my memory is correct). I believe those coaches typically turned a significantly higher RPM in "high gear" than do the ones equipped with the 6-speed Allison transmissions (with two overdrive gears). One that I read about showed 1800 RPM @ 63 MPH. That's quite a bit different than our M11 showing about 1500 RPM @ 70 MPH. Therefore, comparing hill-climbing ability in "high gear" between the two significantly-different designs becomes an "apples to oranges" comparison.
With that, I'll do my best to go back "on topic" and comment about how beautiful that big yellow CAT looks in that nicely-remodeled engine compartment!
So Cashflash...
In your opinion what engine and chassis configuration wee the best performing Foretravels?
Rear axle was geared too low. Designed for 55mph as you surmised. I sent the new coaches to Unitrax the local axle service center and had the rear end regeared before delivery on my customers 91's.
Went from 3.91's to 3.21.
Mileage and hill ability was with the 3:21's. Beaver changed the production coaches after my factory stores good results with the change to the gillig chassis.
Would only go 68 before. Customers did not like that at all.....
Fixed.
Was going to regear my m11 but the engine so far does not seem to have enough torque or horsepower to benefit from regearing the coach compared to many other coaches I have driven over the years.
Went to a less power consuming hydraulic fan drive thermostat and installed a bit noisier 5050xl resonator.
Last step after four years of work so far is to take the coach back to the la cummins facility and dyno it again.
Still possible turbo or injector long term issues. You never know until tested or fixed.
Michael,
You can generally tell when the slack adjusters need adjusting. Parking brake on and see how many rpm's it takes to move the coach in 1st gear. Properly adjusted mine takes about 1000 rpm. You have a different engine so it may be different regards rpm. If it is less while stopped with parking brake off 1 or 2 full brake applications usually corrects that. Of course this test is only for the rear brakes, but should take out any excess slack in the front too since they are automatic slack adjusters. Great job on the engine compartment.
I wondered what became of your coach, glad to see its up and running.
Our coaches must have been following each other down the assembly line.
My 95 U320 is 4614.
This is exciting. I think I had sent a private message once to see how things were going since it was a long time with no posts.
I will always remember my first time driving a diesel pusher...it was a U300 that we didn't wind up buying. That drive and this forum (the old Yahoo version) caused us to never again look at anything but a Foretravel.
I think mine is 4618 - Oct 1994
They were pumping them out at a good rate back then. Ours is 4726 - Feb 1995.