Mods/Upgrades to our 2003 Dynasty

[153stars]

Just put new. Lift Support Depot 13mm ball 250 lb struts on bed . Glad I didn't have to compress them, couldn't budge old ones with my 220 lbs on them . Kind of wished I would have bought 300lb. The new mattress is defiantly heavier than original.
The Suspa struts are great my pano doors were 220lb, if I recall but I didn't need to compress. They definitely dampen better as well , especially with tube up.
While I was looking around on my electrical board/firewall, I think I found my blown 3A "snowflake" speedometer cruise control fuse. The inline ATC kind that look like a 90s GM plug screwed to fire wall . It was inline to a self resetting one????. My M11 is an option the extra fuse is definitely not in the. diagram .

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by Scepter40

Good job as always!

What is the proper torque for the battery terminals? I noticed one of my house batteries has a terminal with a bit of corrosion on it and I probably should take care of that sooner rather than later. I’ve used the noico terminal spray on other vehicles with pretty good luck so far. I think I’ll take down all the coach terminals and use that spray so I don’t end up with issues later. My trays could use a little love as well.

The torque spec for the Deka/East Penn battery terminals is 120 in/lbs.

I have used the spray on Noco terminal protector but didn't care for the mess it made on top of the batteries as it was too hard to control precisely. I have used several brands of the brush on gel at work and really like how it is to apply. I had a couple of the smaller 4oz. brush top cans that I had purchased over the years but they have long been used up. Last year I needed some more and hunted and hunted to find the Noco or Deka brush top can and my local NAPA had a 32 oz. brush top can so I don't think I'll be running out any time soon.

Thanks for following along and for the comments.

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by 153stars

Just put new. Lift Support Depot 13mm ball 250 lb struts on bed . Glad I didn't have to compress them, couldn't budge old ones with my 220 lbs on them . Kind of wished I would have bought 300lb. The new mattress is defiantly heavier than original.
The Suspa struts are great my pano doors were 220lb, if I recall but I didn't need to compress. They definitely dampen better as well , especially with tube up.
While I was looking around on my electrical board/firewall, I think I found my blown 3A "snowflake" speedometer cruise control fuse. The inline ATC kind that look like a 90s GM plug screwed to fire wall . It was inline to a self resetting one????. My M11 is an option the extra fuse is definitely not in the. diagram .

Gotta love these snowflakes. No two are the same. I've run into similar issues with my cousin's 1998 Signature when I've helped him on a few things.

[153stars]

There are actually four different pages that include cruise control. One for King Cruise on 8.3 . Three nearly identical pages but all the cruise switches have different wire #s. These are all black more of thin high temp insulation with wire # printed every 6". POs friend knocked wires off the switches messing with genny switch and didn't want to mess anything up. One day the Speedo just quit for me. I fixed the cruise wires and got back high idle. Still had no speedo, so no cruise I suppose.
Did you ditch the wire method and go with the straps or was it a combination to compress the struts.

Originally Posted by zmotorsports

Gotta love these snowflakes. No two are the same. I've run into similar issues with my cousin's 1998 Signature when I've helped him on a few things.

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by 153stars

There are actually four different pages that include cruise control. One for King Cruise on 8.3 . Three nearly identical pages but all the cruise switches have different wire #s. These are all black more of thin high temp insulation with wire # printed every 6". POs friend knocked wires off the switches messing with genny switch and didn't want to mess anything up. One day the Speedo just quit for me. I fixed the cruise wires and got back high idle. Still had no speedo, so no cruise I suppose.
Did you ditch the wire method and go with the straps or was it a combination to compress the struts.

Haven't had to dig into the cruise control on my cousin's Sig, thank God.

The wire method worked great on the engine hatch struts but there is a nice step between the body and the end that connects to the ball on those. For the pantograph style compartment doors, the bodies of the struts were too smooth and consistent to use the wire method which is why I opted to try the strap technique. It worked but wasn't as clean and easy as the wire method because the latch/buckle for the strap kept interfering with the pantograph door hinges. I was able to get them to work but it took some "fenagling" around to keep the buckle away from the hinge and allow the end of the strut to fully seat onto the ball.

It was only four on the two pantograph style doors however, and the rest went smooth and relatively quick as they could be fully raised up enough to allow the struts to be installed without any compression.

[BigLar368]

Hey Mike.....been awhile. Took some time to catch up on your thread. Seems like you are busy as ever...lol. Real quick question....Our house batteries are swollen up bout as bad as a 5 day old possum roadkill...lol. I'm looking for a battery that takes a little less maintenance and these are the only local AGM batteries I can find. What ya think about switching over to this style battery? I know they are pricey but I don't really care to have to add water to batteries as maintenance. Thanks in advance.


https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c.../agmgc2?pos=12

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by BigLar368

Hey Mike.....been awhile. Took some time to catch up on your thread. Seems like you are busy as ever...lol. Real quick question....Our house batteries are swollen up bout as bad as a 5 day old possum roadkill...lol. I'm looking for a battery that takes a little less maintenance and these are the only local AGM batteries I can find. What ya think about switching over to this style battery? I know they are pricey but I don't really care to have to add water to batteries as maintenance. Thanks in advance.


https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c.../agmgc2?pos=12

Hey Larry, hope all is going well with you.

I don't have any experience with those AGM's so I can't give an honest opinion pertaining to them.

Not sure how much boondocking you do but just by looking at the spec's they appear to have less amp/hours and reserve capacity than the wet cell batteries that I just installed. Is adding water really that big of a deal? I only have to add a couple times a year is all.

Thanks for following taking the time to stop by my thread.

[BigLar368]

Originally Posted by zmotorsports

Hey Larry, hope all is going well with you.

I don't have any experience with those AGM's so I can't give an honest opinion pertaining to them.

Not sure how much boondocking you do but just by looking at the spec's they appear to have less amp/hours and reserve capacity than the wet cell batteries that I just installed. Is adding water really that big of a deal? I only have to add a couple times a year is all.

Thanks for following taking the time to stop by my thread.

All is good Mike. Hope it's the same for you and the family. I been working a bunch of extra jobs. Trying to save up to get some property out in the country and try living with a little more "space"....lol.

It seems like those lead acid batteries did not last long at all. They swole up pretty quick. Was just trying to keep one more of the "to do things" at bay. I noticed they were a bit less amp hours but we do not do much dry stuff. Just the occasional overnight when going from one place to another when the weather is cool enough. I also have a Blue Sea relay that ties all the batteries together then drops the chassis batteries out when they reach 65% so with the 31P start batteries we have plenty. I may just cheap out though and buy the cheaper lead acid batteries....lol.

[153stars]

I only have to add about 1.5 gallons to 4GC and a pair of big old 8D per year, the pair and four are about the same size. I loose more water trying to keep a jug around from leaking out one way or another. The AMG will not last twice as long for twice the cost. Besides forgetting to add some the water it's just easy to damage or shorten life of the AMG batteries. The open design of my battery bay keeps any vapors from causing to much of an issue. My next set will likely be DIY built LIFEPo4 .

[TRH299]

Hey Biglar... Regarding batteries... I am as cheap as they come typically when it comes to upgrades vs original type equipment, but I ended up going with (4) Interstate AGM GC2 batteries to replace the old wet cells. My wife ordered them through her work where they get a small discount on Interstate batteries (heavy equipment and truck repair shop). Since installing last year, I have no corrosion on the terminals... no water to check and no swelling. I keep my coach inside and all winter that part of shop has been kept at about 45 degrees. About once a week when I remember, I plug in coach for about a day just for good measure. Batteries have stayed completely charged (always 95% or higher) and still look brand new with no corrosion growing on terminals.

I think they were about $100 a piece more than the wet cells.

So glad I spent the money as I hate worrying about the water level and the state of my batteries.

[BigLar368]

I'm not 100 percent certain but I think AMG batteries do not require water to be added.

[BigLar368]

Originally Posted by TRH299

Hey Biglar... Regarding batteries... I am as cheap as they come typically when it comes to upgrades vs original type equipment, but I ended up going with (4) Interstate AGM GC2 batteries to replace the old wet cells. My wife ordered them through her work where they get a small discount on Interstate batteries (heavy equipment and truck repair shop). Since installing last year, I have no corrosion on the terminals... no water to check and no swelling. I keep my coach inside and all winter that part of shop has been kept at about 45 degrees. About once a week when I remember, I plug in coach for about a day just for good measure. Batteries have stayed completely charged (always 95% or higher) and still look brand new with no corrosion growing on terminals.

I think they were about $100 a piece more than the wet cells.

So glad I spent the money as I hate worrying about the water level and the state of my batteries.

Yeah .....I may try them out. I had an AMG battery in my old race car that lasted about 8 years. I must have killed it 50 times leaving the power on. I keep our rig plugged in so it should stay topped off.

[RamiDav]

Originally Posted by 153stars

Besides forgetting to add some the water it's just easy to damage or shorten life of the AMG batteries.

I think above is what BigLar is referring to about adding water.

I'm not sure what 153 stars is saying, but it does appear he is
saying add water to AGM batteries.

Ray & Marilyn
03 Windsor

[BigLar368]

Pretty sure you don't add water to AGM batteries but I have been wrong before.