Hondo's 2006 Roadtrek 210 Popular Build

[Hondo]

Did a few things today-

The Scotch-Brite Roloc Brake Hub Cleaning Disc Kit that I ordered came in so I used it to clean the hubs and the discs so that they were free of corrosion that might throw off the runout-



It did an excellent job!

I swapped the rotors and rotated them around their hub and found good points to set the rotors that are within the runout specs.

I also applied the decals today. I should have trimmed the decal backing so that the bottom edge of the decal was even with the edge, would have been easier to align...

I used tape to create a straight edge for reference-



It came out ok...I may order another set from the ebay vendor (only $14.00 shipped) and move them up closer to the factory decals.

[BBQ]

.

You should have used "Adventurous" just to confuse the heck out of everybody.

[Hondo]

It will probably confuse Roadtrekies anyway...

[Hondo]

Today I moved the axle from the saw horses to the motorcycle lift to see if it would be a good solution for the installation.

Picked it up-



Sat it on the lift-



and moved it outside. Here it's lifted up to the maximum height-





Installation will be soon if the weather holds.

[BBQ]

.

Looking good !

[Hondo]

I installed the differential today.

After getting the Roadtrek up on the 6 ton jackstands (on the frame) I removed the wheels and began removing connected items like the shocks, parking brake cables, Air Lift airbags, and the brakes. Here is one caliper tied up-



The brake pads looked new (I compared them to a new set I had planned on installing) so I reused them.

I marked the driveshaft and the yoke on the differential as they are match balanced and the yoke will migrate to the new axle. The lowered driveshaft-



Then I lowered the Dana 60 on the motorcycle lift and rolled it out-



A few comparison shots- the Dana goes onto the blocks, the Dana 70 onto the lift-





Getting the pinion nut loose was easy on the 60 but an absolute bear on the Dana 70. I ended up cutting grooves in the nut and using an air chisle to break it free..it's going to hang on the wall in the garage!

Here's the Roadtrek 210 awaiting it's new rear end-



Installation was a piece of cake. My neighbor came over and helped me get it lined up, a relatively easy procedure even with the lift blocks.

In but shocks and other stuff to be hooked back up-



Brakes & 2 inch steel wheel spacers installed-



everything hooked up-



Tomorrow I finish the job - install the wheels, adjust the parking brake, install the anti sway bar and check the lube level once back on the ground.

Took a pic when I was all done-



That's the Dana 60 on the right - it's covered in a tarp and is going on Craigslist tomorrow.

[booster]

It will be very interesting to see what the 3.73 gears do to your shifting patterns, particularly highway downshifts. The 3.73 vs 4.10 ratio, plus an about an inch of tire diameter increase will make your setup about 1/2 gear higher for fourth gear. I would guess you will get noticeably earlier downshifting in from fourth to third. Mileage will also be interesting, as it may get better from the higher gear or lower because of the more often downshifing. You may also find the torque converter not locking as often because it is based on throttle position and the higher gear will likely require somewhat more throttle than stock. Shiftpoints going up are also based on throttle position and will also go up somewhat, I think.

[Hondo]

Originally Posted by booster

It will be very interesting to see what the 3.73 gears do to your shifting patterns, particularly highway downshifts. The 3.73 vs 4.10 ratio, plus an about an inch of tire diameter increase will make your setup about 1/2 gear higher for fourth gear. I would guess you will get noticeably earlier downshifting in from fourth to third. Mileage will also be interesting, as it may get better from the higher gear or lower because of the more often downshifing. You may also find the torque converter not locking as often because it is based on throttle position and the higher gear will likely require somewhat more throttle than stock. Shiftpoints going up are also based on throttle position and will also go up somewhat, I think.

I'll let you know how it drives this afternoon- heading outside right now to finish it up.

[Hondo]

Finished up the rear axle install this morning.

Adjusted the parking brakes shoes and then installed the 2 inch steel spacers-



Up close & personal-



Then I installed the anti sway bar -



I'm going to look for a couple of 2 - 3 inch extensions for the verticle rods- that will rotate the bar ends down & away from the exhaust on the right side.

Here is a good side view looking at the rear of the differential and the clearance with the Onan 2800 genset & the anti sway bar-



Installed the wheels-



Then the caps and lowered it off of the jack stands and checked the oil level.

Took it out for a test drive- into the mountains via I-70 and then up over Squaw Pass from Idaho Springs to Evergreen to evaluate the handling as well as the traction provided by the Powr-Lok limited slip. I found that the 3.73 gearing was fine at a level speed as well as in the climbs into the mountains on the interstate.

Stopped at the summit of Squaw Pass-



and drove it on some packed snow & ice-



I did some hard acceleration runs from a stop on the snow and it just dug in and drove straight ahead so the limited slip seems to working nicely.

[Hondo]

Booster, some RPM numbers at 65 mph-

EDIT - Red is incorrect

Original tire size

245- 75R-16 - 4.10 gears = 2992 rpm

New wheels & tires

275-70R-17 - 4.10 gears = 2,805 rpm
275-70R-17 - 3.73 gears = 2,546 rpm

Correct info GREEN

Original tire size

245-75R-16 (30.5 diam) - 4.10 gears = 2202 rpm

New wheels & tires

275-70R-17 (32.2 diam) - 4.10 gears = 2,086 rpm
275-70R-17 (32.2 diam) - 3.73 gears = 1,897 rpm

So I'm sure that the gas mileage will improve overall, that's something I will check on it's 1st trip.

Also, I'd like to publicly thank Booster for all of his help during this axle upgrade. He was quick to answer my questions in this thread as well as in private messages-

THANKS BOOSTER!

[booster]

Those rpm look quite high, especially for your tire size. Did you correct the about 6% for the tire size on the speed or take it off the GPS or corrected Scangauge?

It looks a lot like it was running in 3rd gear, or maybe in 4th gear with the converter unlocked to get the high an rpm in all 3 tests.

You might want to play with the rpm vs gear vs ratios vs tire rev/mile calculator I put in the tuner thread a while ago.

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/at...4&d=1511382370

For reference, our tires have more rev per mile than you new size and less than stock size and we would run about 2190rpm at a corrected 65mph in 4th gear and converter locked.

[Hondo]

Originally Posted by booster

Those rpm look quite high, especially for your tire size. Did you correct the about 6% for the tire size on the speed or take it off the GPS or corrected Scangauge?

It looks a lot like it was running in 3rd gear, or maybe in 4th gear with the converter unlocked to get the high an rpm in all 3 tests.

You might want to play with the rpm vs gear vs ratios vs tire rev/mile calculator I put in the tuner thread a while ago.

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/at...4&d=1511382370

For reference, our tires have more rev per mile than you new size and less than stock size and we would run about 2190rpm at a corrected 65mph in 4th gear and converter locked.

The rpms I posted were from a chart, tire size, 65 mph, final drive ratio- they were not actual scanguage 2 readings for rpm.

I'll look at your link-

[Hondo]

That link is for a spreadsheet file download...

[Hondo]

I found another calculator that uses the trans final ratio, axle ratio, tire diameter and speed to determine engine rpm-

Engine RPM / Engine Speed Calculator

Using it for these setups at 65 mph & .750 trans gearing, 4th gear-

Original tire size

245-75R-16 (30.5 diam) - 4.10 gears = 2202 rpm

New wheels & tires

275-70R-17 (32.2 diam) - 4.10 gears = 2,086 rpm
275-70R-17 (32.2 diam) - 3.73 gears = 1,897 rpm

So you're right, that's a big difference, 305 rpm between the factory setup and the 17s.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Hondo

That link is for a spreadsheet file download...

It should download a zip file with a spreadsheet in it. You fill in the blanks for gears and rev/mile (from tire rack) and it will list all the rpms in all the gears every 5mph.

The 300 rpm difference you mention calcs correct, but the over 500+rpm difference from the your first post sure looks like you were running in third gear in those tests.

[Hondo]

Originally Posted by booster

It should download a zip file with a spreadsheet in it. You fill in the blanks for gears and rev/mile (from tire rack) and it will list all the rpms in all the gears every 5mph.

The 300 rpm difference you mention calcs correct, but the over 500+rpm difference from the your first post sure looks like you were running in third gear in those tests.

I used another calculator the 1st time- it wasn't an actual test. I've gone back and edited that post and posted up the correct numbers from the more thorough calculator.

Lemme look at the spreadsheet again.

[Hondo]

I can't get that to open booster...

If you could run it with both 3.73 & 4.10 gears, 275-70R-17 tires (32.2 diam) that would be great.

[booster]

Here ya go--

[Hondo]

Awesome, thank you!

Now I gotta get my rig programmed...

[booster]

This is likely the program you have in your van, as it is a typical van stock profile. Shift point and torque converter lockup by speed and TPS position. Note this is for our drive by wire setup and your could be different, although this matched some older pickup programs that appeared to be before drive by wire. To be certain, the only way would be to read out the program you have in your van with a tuner.


What you probably want to do is set your Scangauge to read MPH, which will be the speed the computer thinks you are going, and TPS which is what the computer sees for throttle position. Then look at the charts above to match up what the Scangauge is telling you with the charts. You should be able to see when the shiftpoints and lockup should be happening based on those two readings on the Scangauge. You can also compare the rpm to the earlier spreadsheet speeds, but you will have to adjust them for speedo error. From that you will be able to tell if you are locked or unlocked on the converter.

You don't have a drive by wire setup, so you set the TPS with the pedal position. If you look at the first chart, you can see that if you have the throttle mashed to hold or gain speed (the bigger gear and tires will make this worse) you won't shift into high gear until 95 mph, which is higher than the speed limiter so could never happen.

The other thing you could set to see on the Scangauge is LOD, which is the % of power you are using compared to what is available. If it is running in the high end, 90% or so, it would indicate that the transmission will not shift up. TPS and load are directly comparable, if the throttle is at the minimum opening needed to make full hp at the given rpm. The drive by wire setups like ours is do that for you, mostly, by with pedal control you can be way high on throttle opening compared to what the engine can actually use. You should be able to tell if that is happening by watching the TPS and LOD readings on the Scangauge. If you step on the pedal the TPS and LOD should both increase. If only the TPS increases, the extra throttle you are giving is not doing anything, but could mess up the shift points.