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97 holiday rambler alumalite 32

Were getting our moneys worth out of it right now as we are living out of it while we get our new place built. The only complaint I have is the holding tanks are a bit small. Other than that theres 3 of us plus 3 good sized dogs living out of it right now.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
Were getting our moneys worth out of it right now as we are living out of it while we get our new place built. The only complaint I have is the holding tanks are a bit small. Other than that theres 3 of us plus 3 good sized dogs living out of it right now.
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You're lucky to be there and not here, Ferm. Woke up to a foot of snow this morning. :(
 
I'm guessing the building permits went through then...good to hear...I've been busy like a mofo...will call you soon...
 
That's a sweet trailer and it's hard to beat the HR Alumilite. The 5th wheel we had before our current one was the same vintage and an HR Alumilite. Probably the best quality of any camping trailer we've ever had. Enjoy!
 
Just got done repacking the wheel bearings and going through the brakes on her. I bought it from an RV dealer, and they touted how it had new wheel bearings, and the brakes had just been gone through. Pulled it out last week to get ready for a trip, and had almost no brakes. And she's a heavy pig to be stopping with no trailer brakes. Pulled the drums and they had put in new wheel bearings, but did the lazy bearing pack where they just dropped them in a bucket of grease, so there was only a little bit of grease in them. Got lucky and all of the bearings still looked good, so I packed them properly with some good grease(not the cheapo crap they had in them). When I got to the brakes I just shook my head. One brake wasn't hooked up, but they took the time to tape it all up and make the wires look connected. The magnet for that wheel was melted and shorted out. They had replaced one brake assembly, but didn't bother to adjust it, so needless to say it wasn't doing much. And the 2 on the other side were so far out of adjustment the brake arms were bottoming out on the shoes and not engaging. So 3 backing plates later, 4 grease seals, and a repack I have actual brakes on her.

So lesson learned, NEVER trust any other places work and guarantees the job was done. Do the job yourself so you know it's done, and safe.
 
btfarm said:
So that dealer would rather roll the lawsuit dice that nobody gets hurt... :nonod:
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Pretty much. I started to call them about it because they assured me it was all ready to go, but I know it's not worth the trouble. When I picked it up the brakes didn't hardly work, but I thought it could have just been rust in the drums not letting the magnets get any hold and pull the arms over. The mechanic(the person who they said had done all the work on it) said it was probably just rust in the drums to, but now I know he knew the brakes were shot and was just making excuses to get me out the gate.

At least it didn't cost me $500 like the fridge did. For $178 I now have working brakes, and I know the bearings are packed right. Now it's time to get out and use her.

And I almost forgot, I also built a rack to go on the front so I can carry my HONDA EU3000IS with me and have power where ever I go.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
Pretty much. I started to call them about it because they assured me it was all ready to go, but I know it's not worth the trouble. When I picked it up the brakes didn't hardly work, but I thought it could have just been rust in the drums not letting the magnets get any hold and pull the arms over. The mechanic(the person who they said had done all the work on it) said it was probably just rust in the drums to, but now I know he knew the brakes were shot and was just making excuses to get me out the gate.

At least it didn't cost me $500 like the fridge did. For $178 I now have working brakes, and I know the bearings are packed right. Now it's time to get out and use her.

And I almost forgot, I also built a rack to go on the front so I can carry my HONDA EU3000IS with me and have power where ever I go.
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I thought you already had a rack on the back bumper for that?

or was that the old trailer?
 
Pepperidge said:
I thought you already had a rack on the back bumper for that?

or was that the old trailer?
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The old trailer had the rack on the back. The way Holiday Rambler boxed and enclosed the under carriage, putting a rack on the back would have been a pain. Plus after having done one, the loss in tongue weight was a huge down side. I will take a little more tongie weight any day to not enough tongue weight.
Diesel Nut said:
nice rig. Need some air bags.
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Wit hthe ROADMASTERS and weight distribution hitch, it sits nice and level.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
. . . Pulled it out last week to get ready for a trip, and had almost no brakes. . . . One brake wasn't hooked up,. . . The magnet for that wheel was melted and shorted out. . . . And the 2 on the other side were so far out of adjustment the brake arms were bottoming out on the shoes and not engaging. So 3 backing plates later, 4 grease seals, and a repack I have actual brakes on her.

So lesson learned, NEVER trust any other places work and guarantees the job was done. Do the job yourself so you know it's done, and safe.
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Am moving my RV over to disc brakes for mostly those reasons. Aside from getting 'told' that all things are correct when they are not (had it happen to me too), I do not have good experience with electric brakes as the magnets frequently die.

Benefits to the disc brakes are they do not fade like the drums and you can actually use them as short term parking brakes while hitching and unhitching (just pull the break-away pin).

And the thought of losing the trailer's brakes is the sole reason I want to get out of the 4L80E in the Burb (due to the ECM's forced unlock of the TCC when applying the brakes).
 
JayTheCPA said:
Am moving my RV over to disc brakes for mostly those reasons. Aside from getting 'told' that all things are correct when they are not (had it happen to me too), I do not have good experience with electric brakes as the magnets frequently die.

Benefits to the disc brakes are they do not fade like the drums and you can actually use them as short term parking brakes while hitching and unhitching (just pull the break-away pin).

And the thought of losing the trailer's brakes is the sole reason I want to get out of the 4L80E in the Burb (due to the ECM's forced unlock of the TCC when applying the brakes).
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I can't afford the switch to electric over hydraulic myself. And when electric drum brakes are working, they work REALLY good. It's shocking what a small brake adjustement can do for electric drum brakes. I know when I brought the trailer home, I couldn't lock up any of the tires even feeding them straight 12 volts through my PRODDIGY controller. After fixing the other 3 brakes, and adjusting the one they replaced, I can now easily lock them all up at 9 volts on my PRODIGY. So by keeping them adjusted and in shape, you can reduce alot of brake failures by the need for less voltage to the brakes. Unfortunately the Holiday Rambler has 4 inch drop axles, so adjusting the brakes involves pulling the tires off. Holiday Rambler had drums put on with 2 holes in the front to adjust the brakes through since you can't access the hole through the rear to adjust them.
 
After being on a trip with the HOLIDAY RAMBLER, I can definately say the switch over to it from our old HY-LINE was well worth it. I got 11.7 on the way up driving 70 VS the 10 I got with the old trailer, and it is ALOT more stable in cross winds and passing traffic. The drawback is I can tell she's alot heavier when I started into the mountains. The old DURAMAX actually had to earn her keep some with this one.
 
Just for reference points. I recently got 12.7 mpg on the way up to New Hampshire, and 13.4 mpg on the way home with my setup. 35 foot full sized camper. Not bad.
 
After our trip to Jersey this summer, the wife said I needed to do something about the back end of the BURB swaying around when we passed semi's and cross winds. So about a month back I picked up a PRO PRIDE hitch off of CL for $750. I've been looking for awhile, and just couldn't bring myself to spend the $2700 they wanted for a new one. With my old REESE WD hitch being worn out anyways, the $750 didn't seem so bad for a replacemnet hitch. Got it installed today, and I can tell you it does everything they say it does, and was worth the money to buy one. I was hesitant to believe it could work, but it does. I did swap out the jacks and brackets for the torsion bars to chains and snap up brackets to get clearance around my generator rack on the tongue, but it went on very easily, and cleared everything pretty well fortunately. Took a short drive up the road at 60, and a 15-20 MPH cross wind had little to no effect on it whereas before I would have to be driving with both hands in a cross wind like that.

They are expensive, but well worth the money if you have any sort of sway problems which I did. Plus it's alot quieter than the old friction sway control I had. Turning is a bit different because of the projected pivot point(tows like a longer trailer now), but didn't take much to get used to. I'm now looking forward to towing instead of getting ready for driving.10659354_788044657927139_4951464977232185304_n.jpg
 
ak diesel driver said:
the longer tongue did more than anything else
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It's only about 6 inches longer than my old WD hitch, and the added length is on the wrong side to help. I know I was hesitant to believe in it for nothing more than it is, but it does work just like they say it does. What gets me is the BURB has alot more distance from the axle to the hitch than most trucks of the same wheelbase have. So that extra length gives the trailer more leverage to drive the rear of the BURB. I know I have towed trailers with ECSB trucks which are within a few inches of the same wheelbase as my BURB, and they felt fine with not even a hint of sway to them, put the same trailer behind the BURB and crosswinds make my but eat the seat.
 
Longer trailer tongue will make a huge difference. I had 2 trailers that had terrible sway extended the tongue about a foot no more sway. I'm sure the distance from the rear Axel to the hitch is a factor as well
 
ak diesel driver said:
Longer trailer tongue will make a huge difference. I had 2 trailers that had terrible sway extended the tongue about a foot no more sway. I'm sure the distance from the rear Axel to the hitch is a factor as well
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This design doesn't lengthen the tongue of the trailer, it actually adds the 6 inches or so to the tow vehicle side. Where it changes things is the pivot point is projected forward through a mechanical linkage system. It works like a pull rite without the big huge hitch hanging down off the back of the truck. It is about as close to towing with a fifth wheel as you can get without actually going to a fifth wheel.

This is for a hensley, but they both do the same basic thing. I know it looks like voodoo snake oil, but after trying it I can assure you it works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDER3up7I_s
 
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