Hello everyone

[Kon]

Looking forward to learning as much as I can from this wonderful Van community.
We just got our new(used) 04 Roadtrek 190P . No generator though. I installed 160watt solar and upgraded to 3agm 82ah batteries so far.

Hoping to learn tips and tricks to make our adventures more fun and comfortable.
We still work so all we can do is weekend trips for now but wishing we can make the best out of it each time.
Thanks in advance for all the help everyone gives here.

[mkguitar]

cool


many pull the genny


I have one in place...have never used it at the campsite


it's extra weight I'm dragging around


so you may be better off than I !


this forum is a great spot for tips and tricks and finding little parts that make life easy



Cheers, Mike
( 2006 PleasureWay Lexor on Chev 3500)

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

HI KON and welcome to this fantastic forum. 13 months ago we bought a 2002 Dodge RT 190 P and have really enjoyed it. We spent about 45 nights in it in 2019 and currently my grandson is using it as his bedroom at his uncles house! This is our first RV, never thought or wanted one until we bought this. We did several short trips around SoCal last year than drove to the midwest via the Ozarks to Indianapolis and back. Such fun. We parked it in my sister-in-laws barn while on the farm slept in it the Missouri heat and all worked out well. Great trip. We hope to get out again this summer, Covid-19 permiting.
Also, this is a great forum to find help and used parts. Someone had removed the third seat on our RT and on this forum we found one in like-new condidion and same upholstery colors! So cool. That made it possible for our granddaughter to travel with us!
Finally, we do not have a generator and definately do not want one.
Safe and fun travels.
Steve

[Bjones7788]

Most Chevy based Roadtreks built after around 2002 have complaintys about the water tanks and their supporting brackets which hang down below the frame rails hitting the "ground". Several owners have had Moog springs installed in the front end and air bags at the rear suspension. I have had multiple Roadtreks of this model and like spacers under the front springs (Chassis-works of Las Vegas on E-Bay about $40 plus installation labor) and 3 inch spacers between rear axle and rear springs (about $50 for spacers, $40 for longer U bolts plus labor). These give an additional 2 1/2 to 3 inches of appreciated ground clearance.

The 6.0 liter Chevy gas engine is solid as they come. There was a little know service bulletin about what appeared to mimic high altitude vapor lock resulting in engine going into limp mode. This could be corrected by getting the sags out of that gas line run. There was an issue with difficulty getting gas to flow when filling the tank due to Roadtrek modification moving the filler spot to behind the rear wheel and running a narrow gas line in avariety of different ways to the tank. The sags reate back pressure tripping the fuel fill nozzle.

The engine and transmission cooling were a tad under size for really hot long up mountain inclines, solvable by adding a LARGE aftermarket transmission cooler.

We rarely stay in campgrounds and prefer traveling in hot weather so the generator can be useful to run AC. However we probably have more hours on the coach engines running at HIGH idle overnight to dash cooling which is quieter. One of our Roadtrek 190 Populars has over 200,000 miles on it running a lot at high idle overnight for dash AC with no ill effects on the engine.

djones7788@gmail.com

[Bud]

"There was a little know service bulletin about what appeared to mimic high altitude vapor lock resulting in engine going into limp mode. This could be corrected by getting the sags out of that gas line run."

Bjones7788, I don't ever recall reading about 'that' cause. Can you reference any evidence, documentation, link, .........

Thanks you.

Bud

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

"There was a little know service bulletin about what appeared to mimic high altitude vapor lock resulting in engine going into limp mode. This could be corrected by getting the sags out of that gas line run."

Bjones7788, I don't ever recall reading about 'that' cause. Can you reference any evidence, documentation, link, .........

Thanks you.

Bud

I would be interested also. I do seem to remember something about that, but the cure was an updated fuel pump?

[tomiverson]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

cool


many pull the genny


I have one in place...have never used it at the campsite


it's extra weight I'm dragging around


so you may be better off than I !


this forum is a great spot for tips and tricks and finding little parts that make life easy



Cheers, Mike
( 2006 PleasureWay Lexor on Chev 3500)

Any estimate of cost to remove? Does the resulting hole need to be filled in? Has anyone done this? Sorry, but I am an idiot. We don't boondock and even where you are allowed to use it, it is noisy and smelly.

[booster]

Originally Posted by tomiverson

Any estimate of cost to remove? Does the resulting hole need to be filled in? Has anyone done this? Sorry, but I am an idiot. We don't boondock and even where you are allowed to use it, it is noisy and smelly.

We removed ours a few years ago. If it is an underbody unit, a jack or transmission lift is nice (what I used) and you need to disconnect the wiring and fuel, but not horrible. An Onan and brackets are around 125#.

[Bjones7788]

Missed one detail - two shops I went to for the long drive in hot weather limp mode problem did mention tge service bulletin talking about high altitude vapor lock. Neither I nor the shops thought it applied because the problem was occurring in low flat country. However the underside of our Roadtreks of that era capture and hold a lot of heat due to the tight confines around the engine box pouring hot air under the middle of the van where it is kept from flowing outward by the side compartments that hang well below the frame rails and kept under the van by all the tanks, generator, plumbing. Again all the heated air simulates high altitudes with low oxygen and low air pressure.

[Bjones7788]

I apologize for not proof reading my erroneous post. I allowed rushing and several interruptions to get me way off track.The service bulletin for symptoms that mimic "high altitude vapor lock" did involve replacing the fuel pump.

The persistent fuel filler nozzle trip off for Chevy RTs around 2004 was due to relocation of the fuel filler port by Roadtrek from the sheet metal ahead of the rear wheel to the fender behind the rear wheel AND small Roadtrek installed new fuel line AND lots of variation in how that fuel line was run from the filler port to the gas tank sometimes creating sags so badly that pooled gas created enough back pressure to trip fuel nozzles. Have a shop take the sags out to solve this issue. There was an unpublished service bulletin on this that RT dealers were only supposed to use in really bad cases and at Roadtrek expense without divulging the existence of a SB to customers as it was explained toi me by a shop manager that I did a lot of business with at that time. I did not see a copy of either the vapor lock or fuel nozzle trip SBs.
BJ
443-480-1023

[Bjones7788]

Another two issues that may not have been dealt with in 2004 Roadtrek 190 with around 58,000 miles are
1. Front brake "judder" when descending long down hill grades that some folks said nearly caused loss of control - solution install commercial duty front brake components and or start long down hill grades at slow speeds and low gears to take advantage of engine braking (resistance).
2. Marginal OEM front wheel bearing and hub units that some folks found could fail without the occupants noticing any sounds of bearings going bad with as little as 50,000 miles of driving. Solution, replace front bearing and hub units - they come pres fit together as an assembly - with commercial duty units.
NAPA carries a commercial duty line of these sorts of parts. Other parts shops that deal with repair shops probably do as well.

BJ
had a 2003 RT 200 big block 8.1 liter gas engine - it ran very cool - lots of torque for towing but short wheel base and longer rear overhang from rear axle to hitch ball than the RT 190s so towing handling was not nearly as good as the more recent Chevy 190 series
2004 RT 190 Pop still have it
2013 RT 190 Pop still have it
BJ
443-480-1023