We have a 33 ft 1999 Pace Arrow on a Ford frame F Series 3FCNF53S4XJ A20159 and I have a few general questions that I felt should have been easy to find answers to, but could not.
1) When should I turn OverDive off? Just under 30 mph? Going up hill? Going doen hill.
2) What is the size of the gas tank?
3) Can I setup the RV with a second gas tank? I had one unit that had 2 tanks and when I switched from one tank to the other, the gas gage would also switch.
4) Any guess, when the gage says empty, how much gas is left? We were out cruising and thought we had a lot of gas until we hit a mountain area and my 1/4 tank soon became an empty tank!
5) I here from people that I should not use my brakes going down hills, but I keep thinking a new set of brakes is a lot less expensive than a new transmissions, so why use the transmission?
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Hey Waggy: Your mileage may vary, but here's what we do on our '92 Pace Arrow (also a 33' coach). Ours has just over 100,000 miles and still going strong!
1) Overdrive? I only turn it off in serious hills. Most of our driving it on the flat, where OD is a blessing.
2) Gas tank capacity? Our '92 takes 75 gallons.
3) Second gas tank? Why? Unless you are abusing yours, 75 gallons (at 8MPG) will get you about 500 to 600 miles down the road. About 9 hours worth at 60MPH. My bladder can only make it about 5 hours before I need a rest/potty stop. Just gas up then.
4) The bottom of the tank is pretty flat, so when the gauge says empty, you still may have a few gallons in there. BTW, your generator may not run with less than 1/4 tank. Another reason to fill up more often.
5) No brakes downhill? Don't think so......use a combination of downshifting to a lower gear and "pumping" the brakes. Give them plenty of time to cool between applications. You DO NOT want to ride the brakes downhill. Lower gears and being careful of your brake use is the ticket.
Now, I'm no expert. Others may have dome different ideas. Let's hear them.
__________________
Linda 'n Jim
'92 Pace Arrow
We're right behind you!
Your fuel tank is 75 gallons. At 7-8 MPG, that's a normal days worth of fuel. A second tank full of fuel will reduce your cargo carrying capacity dramatically. Not a good ID.
Use your transmission for engine braking when going down hill. If you don't you stand a chance of boiling your brake fluid and not having any brakes. You won't like using the truck turn our lanes.
Waggy - Your chassis is probably identical to mine. A 1999 F53 V10.. Others have answered, but I;ll throw mine in anyway..
1) I usually leave it in OD. If I find I'm going up a hill and I know it will be downshifting, I may turn it off until I reach the top of the hill, just to prevent it from constant up-shift/downshift. I'll also manually downshift on long steep inclines in order to keep the rpms up. RPMs is power, and we need all of it we can get when climbing hills.
2) 75 gallons
3) You could add another tank. Probably the only time I ever wish I had extra capacity is when I know I'll be traveling in Calif and will be paying 75 cents a gallon more.
4) Immediately after I bought mine, the tank was very low. The LOW FUEL warning light did come on when it was down near empty. Personally, I don't like running mine below 1/2 tank, mainly because I always want to have enough gas in the tank so the generator will run. 1/2 tank is about 4 hours on the road for me. Its usually time to stop, eat, hit the rest room, etc.
5) On long descents, I slow down and will downshift in an attempt to find a speed / rpm so I can minimize use of the brakes. Its not the cost of a brake job, but in Aviation terms, we call this energy management.. When going down hill, because of the weight and momentum, these RVs will build up speed fast. The only way to slow down is convert that energy to heat, as in brakes getting hot. As the brakes get hot, they become less efficient and will reach a point that they are totally ineffective, as in NO BRAKES. Hot brakes can also start fires, blow out tires, etc, etc..
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