Sounds impressive but to me I was able to solve over the last two days an 8 1/2 year mystery, incorporate and understand a 27 year old customers comment and remember and use mr Fores comment to me from oct. 1987.
I assume you all keep things in the back of your mind that someday might come to the front and be solved.
To explain and hopefully help some here as an aside please put up with my explanation.
When we got our coach I had the engine computer read out. 102k miles and 7.7 mpg.
Ok went to work. VPMS showed a over driven engine fan. -50+ hp. Old tires. Minus ? Restrictive muffler minus ? Valve adjustment? Cam sensor? Altitude sensor old model. Restrictive air filter.
Fixed all that 8.2 mpg for 30k miles. 70 mph tow. Downshift up hills manually with mode off.
Seems as good as its going to be.
Yesterday I thought as I had the time in this trip going from big bend national park(Terlingua, tx) to San Juan Capistrano, to try something different,
Started in Las Cruses, New Mexico yesterday morning. Went on I10 westwards and set the cruise at 65 versus my normal 70. No hurry. 729 miles to go and 3 or more days available.
Also the coach records showed the original owner had a different ECU program installed 2 years after he took delivery.
When leaving a light , dark diesel smoke showed in my drivers mirror for a few seconds. Hmmm.
Two months ago the ECU failed in southern Utah.
Flat bedded in to Vegas and the Cummins dealer.
Replaced the ECU with the correct one for the serial number. Driving the coach it seems a tiny bit slower. Hard to notice but a bit.
No smoke from a light anymore. Hmmm
Very close performance. Not enough to worry about an I am anal.
Wow 9.5 mpg VPMS some front corner winds for a 100 miles. Passed ocotillo on I8 then up the grade west. RMPG down to the 4's on the hill. By the time we flattened out near San Diego on I8 the MPG for the last 650 miles was 8.8.
By the time we got home it was 9.0 for the last 729 miles.
Then I remembered cm fore telling me at the unihome introduction on oct 87 " bob I set the coaches up for the best mpg at 65mph"Duh.
65 turns out to match the gps limited truckers so I went to 66.
Computer program and 4 mph. 10% better mpg it seems. So far.
An old customer/ buddy who had a U240 mentioned in 93 that he drove from the bottom of the steering wheel. Whatever that meant. But it always stuck in my mind.
Plus I noticed the coaches driver seats front right edge foam was squashed. Hmm
No way to grab the bottom of the wheel. Too much steering input needed, two hands on the wheel mostly.
Hmm rebuilt the steering box. Coach goes straight.
So today I moved the seat way back and tilted it way back. As far as it would go.
Bingo. Crushed foam supports my right leg perfectly. So the first three owners drove this same way.
And now that the coach goes straight I can drive it from the bottom of the steering wheel with my right hand on the bottom and my left on the left spoke of the steering wheel.
Ah at 23 years and 3,000 hours and 140k miles I now have the driving position and steering that the previous owners enjoyed.
I had to fix the running gear and tires to be able to drive the coach safely semi reclined an with more legroom.
No wonder the foam was squashed. Way more comfy.
Everything related to everything else.
The 7.7 mpg was some of the previous owners towing at 70 just like I did.
Plus maybe a hotted up ECU? Plus the mechanical differences.
Engine on cruise and mode on hit 208 on the grade up from Ocotillo and trans at 218.
Got down to low 40's mph on the hill letting the trans and motor do their own thing.
Sorry for the long post but maybe some info is of help
I generally don't check mileage, though I know I should.
On our Monaco (RIP), I experimented with seat position, and could never get comfortable. Forty-five minutes into a trip, and I was leaning forward and trying to stretch my back out. These were the usual captain's chairs we see in most coaches.
Early this year, I removed the seats, and swapped-in some back seats from a Sienna. A shop in Phoenix outfits vans, and sells the new but removed seats pretty cheap. What a difference! Nice back contour, upright the way I like a seat. I used the old mechanisms, so we still had the electric functions. They ended up a bit tall, but that could have been remedied with some light welding.
The three diesel coaches we have had - each one had a different favorite speed. The Safari was around 58MPH. The old Foretravel was around 65. The Monaco was 64MPH - the rattly and bumpy things settled down, the transmission stayed in 6th gear pretty well, and things just seemed less frantic. I could feel the difference in my butt!
Another comfort issue... I am a bit long-limbed. It took me too long to realize that arm rests and I don't play well together. With my arms on the rests, it slightly pushes my shoulders up, and every road bump gets transmitted to the base of my neck. Just folding up the arm rests made a big difference in my comfort - my arms could hang like they are meant to.
As a further thought maybe my question should be just for my curiosity is that how many here can drive their coaches from the bottom of their steering wheel? Seat way back?
Me
10 and 2 hand positions
Chris
A little clarification here regarding my previous answer.
Yes I can drive with one hand at the bottom of the wheel.
Do I? NO!!
I drive with both hands on the steering wheel at all times, simply because one never knows what might happen in the future. A tire could blow. A strong crosswind could suddenly occur. An animal could run out in front of the coach. I might have to suddenly swerve to try to miss an object or junk lying on the road. On and on, so many situations could develop that would demand a strong control of the steering wheel.
Bob,
Old tires get better MPG than new tires of the same brand, model. It may take10-15K for tires to start delivering optimum MPG. New "green" low rolling resistance tires are good from day one but may improve slightly as they get more mines on them.
Quote from Goodyear, "Give your tires some air. Underinflated tires lower your vehicle's gas mileage by 0.3% for every 1 PSI drop in EACH underinflated tire". This is for lower pressure passenger car tires so worse fuel mileage will not be a much on higher pressure 22.5 tires.
I drive with my hands in the most comfortable position and change all the time.
Pierce
One hand, bottom of wheel, other on the arm rest. ****Unless in traffic. Seat forward and up, both hands on wheel.****
I realize it's a 300 HP Cat, but 1700 RPM's @ 62 MPH max is the sweet spot.
Anything else above 62 MPH, nets an exact -1 MPG loss. Seriously, have watched the Silverleaf a bazzion times at different RPM's.
Cat 3126 nets an average (not sometimes, but constant average) 8+ mpg.I see +11 MPG most the time.
Plenty of power for me, up hill, down hill.
Wasn't my choice for an engine, but what we got. I see now why some chose it over the Cummins 8.3 (200K warranty over 100K warranty). After all the drama (they all have issues), have fallen in love with it. 9K miles on fresh engine, no leaks, no nothing. Guess they were right. Lots of that yellow paint will fix that.
Cheers
My hands are at nine and six for long fairly straight sections with the sests way back and reclined a lot.
In more technical or more crowded sections I do move the seat closer and more upright.
Anyone have a part number for the seat controller? Mine is intermittent in response.
Can't understand why. Only 3,000 hours on the motor
I even lower my seat about 2"-3" and then snug my seatbelt up tight. Then I raise the seat with the seat control until I feel secure.
No sliding around under this restraint. Guess I am so acclimated to seat belts with shoulder harnesses that this is what I do to regain some of that feeling.
Correction to post, wasn't awake yet!
****Unless in traffic. Seat forward and up, both hands on wheel.****
I guess my point is that this driving position is possible to achieve on every uni coach made. They all were capable of this new. Judging by my drivers seats wear several of the owners before me found this out and used it.
Whether or not you can or want to do this is up to everyone and their equipments capabilities.
Brought a big grin to me and took some load off my tailbone.
Ahhhh
I would personally pay more for a used coach that drove like this.
A lot of customers paid for this kind of drive when they were new
Get you some new flex-steels with butt warmers, air lumbar, and arms that lock in 10 different positions. You'll never look back.
Fortunately I didn't have to buy them, came with coach.
You need to cruise up, and get that spare.
CW
Yes I need to. The Flexsteels have a different base bolt pattern than the Villa seats we have.
Been thinking about a chief air seat.
Villas head guy is an old buddy. Whatever that means