The Good, The Bugs, The Ugly

July 25 2009 by Darrin.

I’m home safe, after the Tuesday-Thursday break-in run in the new machine.  Overall, it was a great success.  Of course, no project of this magnitude is complete without a few little niggles, which I’ll get into in a moment.  To start off, here’s a shot of the AATREC-FM204 outside the historic LaBonte Hotel and Bar in Douglas, just before leaving town to head out…

The GOOD:

  She is a joy to drive on highway and off, with light steering effort and a solid feel.  Even in a crosswind, a couple fingers on the wheel will keep her on the road.  I had to pick some stuff up for Anna in Denver, and one stop was at Alameda and Pearl.  Even at 26′ long and 98″ wide, she maneuvered around the city streets and traffic with no worries.

• The Bosch four-wheel disc brakes are astounding!  Coming down the switchbacks on Rt. 40 into Empire, Colorado, a deer jumped out in front of me.  I’d have hit it in the FG, but it wasn’t even close in this heavier camper.  I swear, it feels like this custom FM will give a Porsche some good braking competition.
• I never touched my brakes on the ~4000 ft. drop down I-70 into Denver.  The pneumatic exhaust brake really keeps the speed under control.
• Driving home, with over 600 miles on the engine, I decided to try the cruise control.  I set it at 2500 RPM engine speed, which pushes the truck along at about 64 MPH with the 6.50:1 final drive ratio.  (max speed calculates to over 80 MPH.  That seems high to me.) The engine held that speed up all but the steepest of hills, and the ride is smooth and enjoyable at that speed.  As far as I’m concerned, knowing we can make a comfortable mile a minute is plenty good for holiday travel.
• Camping was very pleasant.  Lots of room, good heat and bug-free ventilation, fresh-baked pizza, TV, etc.
• The 600 A-Hr battery bank is plenty big.  Camping under trees for 13 or 14 hours (no solar or other charge input) results in a 12.58 VDC battery level.  And that’s under load with the fridge and furnace running in the morning.  The nights before, I had plenty of warm LED lighting, fans running, AND the inverter cranked up and a 22″ LCD TV on for a couple hours.
• Overall, it’s a total hit with the public, as many RVers came to ask what it was and other drivers gave the “thumbs up” on the road.  I gave out almost every business card in my wallet.

The BUGS:

  The fridge - a brand new top-model Norcold compressor unit, is not freezing water solid on its nearly coldest setting.  And that’s after 13 hours!  It also runs for about 11 minutes and shuts down for three.  It should run less than 50% cycle-on time at a 70ºF ambient internal camper temperature, and freeze water with ease.  Gonna have to call them Monday!

• The right rear hub was getting warmer than the others, on the first two days - and I was worrying about it.  (I worry about everything on a shake-down cruise!  Anna knows better, so she stayed home.)  The hub never got “hot”, you could leave your hand on it, but it wasn’t comfortable after ten seconds or so.  I forgot my temp gun, so had to use the old-school tamp gauge - burning flesh.  However, it seems to have settled in, and was the same temp as the others on the last day of the trek.
• One drawer won’t stay shut.  My cabinet builder installed the latch a bit too low, and it’s not making decent enough contact with the cabinet rail.  A simple fix.
• The bunk sub-floor carpet slides.  Need tape.
• The engine really stumbled when leaving the Berthoud Pass parking lot at 11,307 feet.
• After getting a warranty service bulletin taken care of in Denver at Colorado Mack/Mitsubishi, the engine ran pretty hot on the way back to Wyoming.  Also, on left turns, the coolant level warning light/buzzer started doing its thing, and I know that means that the top radiator tank is low on coolant.  For some reason, it’s not taking coolant from the expansion tank.  I’ll get to the bottom of that this weekend.

The UGLY: 7.1 MPG.  The last FM I delivered (identical to this one) managed 9 to 10 MPG on its delivery cruise to San Diego.  That’s what I was counting on.  The guys at Colorado Mack say it’s just break-in mileage, and not to worry.  They also suggested that the injectors might be dirty from the truck sitting for two years. I mentioned the stumble at altitude, and their answer to that was also “dirty injectors”.  I’m not buying it yet, but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.  It’s under warranty until July 2014, or 250,000 miles.

I was lucky enough to have the Fuso rep visiting the dealer on Thursday, and he suggested running a good ULSD additive to clean the system and increase fuel lubricity.  I fueled WITH 30 oz. of Power Service additive in Cheyenne on the way home, and I see an improvement.  The fuel gauge shows about one-sixth gone with 150 miles covered.  If that’s accurate, it’s delivering 9 MPG now.  It might even be a little better, as the top of the tanks go faster, and there’s some fuel left at “E”.  Another contributing factor is that I bought fuel in Casper in January or February and hauled it home to the chassis.  It’s possible that it was strong with #1 fuel oil, for a winter blend, which yields cruddy mileage.  I’ll stop worrying for now, and see how it plays out.

 I have a bit of video to edit into a short movie.  I hope to do that this evening and get it online.  For now, here are some more photos from the test trip, starting with the map, and Charlis-Dog trying to convince me to let him come along (he loves the campers)…

 On the way to Lake Owen Campground near Centennial, Wyoming, the wild flowers were everywhere!

 My second night was spent at 9825′ at Mizpah Campground, just after crossing Berthoud Pass at 11,307 ft. You can’t quite see it in the image below, but in the background the high ridge is above the treeline, and capped in snow…

 It’s time to go back to work - I’ve accumulated a list of things that need to be done in the next week to ten days.  After that, Anna and I are having some guests from Maryland, and Anna’s dad is visiting from Holland.  Then it’s off to Alaska!

 On a final note, we have NO CUSHIONS.  I could have ordered them online from California eight weeks ago, but gave a local guy in Casper a chance.  After three weeks thinking about it, he quoted me a few hundred $$ less, so I gave him the work around July 1st.  It was very clear that we needed our cushions by early August, and he said it would be no problem.

  Yesterday, the 24th of July, he called to say his quote was wrong, and he was $800 higher.  Now there’s no way to order elsewhere and get them on time, but pigs will fly before I give this idiot a penny.  Anna and I will likely be sleeping on air mats on this trip.  And saying friendly things about “Garry” of Corner Upholstery in Casper, Wyoming.

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