Ha! MrsGMCMotorhome felt like we were in a rough part of town (the population of Radium BC is 1,339) and wanted to show the area around the level placed I pulled over to make the repair. :-)
There is a Dutch guy who repaired the chassis of his GMC and changed to Fiat Ducato disc brakes, they are like a muscular 3.5t Sprinter here in Europe and used in slot of 6 wheel RVs here. But this meant he had decent disc brakes and hubs rather than 80s era stuff and bolts in freedom units, it's odd seeing how small the brakes are and the offset of the hub to run alco alloys. We run EV box trucks at my workplace and I have been considering using one of these as a chassis swap. Initially it was a W12 6.0 Bentley engine and gearbox locked to FWD. It's actually cheaper than a GMC engine rebuild here. I would like your opinion and data on what you drive as I think people believe an RV will be used every weekend, when in fact it might get 2 weeks out of the year, if that. Also using the RV as a battery bank for the house instead for the other 50 weeks just sitting on the driveway. I know the places I want to go to and know the charge points and as you illustrated, most camp sites have plug in points. I think the GMC would suit an EV vibe as the engine is out of sight
Mrs, GMC Motorhome here. And, yes it was a sketchy rundown part of town and my usual job as sound and camera person also included lookout on this particular adventure.
Very cool to see Edna out on the road. Looked like some awesome campsites. I just saw some videos of Banff the other day, very cool you guys got to go in person to see the area. Sorry the dash ac isn't working this year for you, hopefully that can get fixed for next year. Really glad you could trouble shoot and get everything fixed and back on the road. Thanks for sharing this new video format its really cool to see the coach on the road.
Thanks for the comment and encouragement! We still have lots of upgrades and repairs to do but we are starting to do more camping too so I think I'll have more videos like this in the future. It's nice to get to enjoy all the work we have done so far!
Oh CANADA🍁Been There 11 Times & Enjoyed It EveryTIme. Great GMC. I Don't Care For Camp Grounds. Solar Panels On Your Roof Will Power A/C Heater Pump with Lithium Batteries 24/7. You Can Charge Your Lithium Batters From Your GMC Motor When Driving Or In Idle. When Did You Last Replace The Ball Bearings? Yes A Bolt Was The Answer. Safe Travels. always, Tommy🤠
I've thought about solar panels and LiFePo batteries but that is a ways down the list, we'll see when I get there. We just replaced the front wheel bearing on the drivers front, I'll post a video on that soon. This entire 1-ton front end setup was done about 10 years and 15,000 miles ago. the parts should last much longer but maybe something was damaged or not done correctly.
I was wondering if you tow or flat tow a car? ( I see you might be traveling with a group or another chase vehicle.) I hope you can get that dash A/C fixed. I guess you can always run the Onan to power up the topside A/C while driving if it gets too unbearable. .....Russell in Shelton, WA (the southwest side of Puget Sound on Hwy. 101)
When we take a long trip like this, we like to go with someone else to provide a little backup if something goes wrong. We haven't towed with Edna and I'm not sure how well she would do. The room A/C does run great with the generator but I don't like to take the mileage hit so we usually just try to avoid driving for too long in hot weather. We are thinking about doing a trip to Olympic National Park next year so maybe we'll see you in the area!
Great question! We like how compact the BBQ is because we have limited space inside. On this trip we kept the bed made up in the back when we moved from place to place so we stored the chairs and our small aluminum table on the bed. The kept the grill under the dinette table up front because our son mostly sat on the couch. When we don't have the bed made up we store the grill and chairs on the benches and floor in the back.
@@caddyzig The grill has a disposable catch pan on the bottom. We throw that away if it's too messy and give the grill a little wipe down and it hasn't left any grease spots yet. :-)
Our motorhome still has the original engine with over 100k miles, I think she is getting a little tired. We downshift going up big hills and generally go about 35mph, similar going down hills, I downshift and keep the speed down so I don't overwork the brakes. The Banff trip didn't have an really high passes so Edna did fine, got a little warm on the hills but no overheating. When we went to Yellowstone last year we had some much larger passes and had to pull over a few times to cool down. Overall we just don't rush and the coach has done fine.
I like your style carrying survival tools with you. I have a 40 year old RV and do the same. What year and model is Edna? I live in Alberta and have driven that road from Banff to Creston. Very scenic parts of BC for sure.
We have been tracking our mileage for about 5,000 miles now and we average 8.6 mpg. When on a road trip with lots of highway miles we have got as high as 9.5 or 10 mpg.
If the engine (454 I assume) has a mechanical fan clutch you should hear it roar very loud when the engine starts heating up. Then it will disappear when the temp goes down. Let me know as I worked on a lot of those back in the day
I lost both guide pins on mine with stock frontend a couple years back on the way to the Smokies. Sounded like i was dragging the front grill down the road when I braked. Luckly the exit I got off had a parts store and I could reinstall them without removing the wheel.
A sad commentary about road tripping in Alberta & BC lately is you have to go in late Spring before the wild fires start. Remember climate change is real
I like how you are at the side of the road sorting out the brakes and the person pans around as though you are being watched 😂
Ha! MrsGMCMotorhome felt like we were in a rough part of town (the population of Radium BC is 1,339) and wanted to show the area around the level placed I pulled over to make the repair. :-)
There is a Dutch guy who repaired the chassis of his GMC and changed to Fiat Ducato disc brakes, they are like a muscular 3.5t Sprinter here in Europe and used in slot of 6 wheel RVs here. But this meant he had decent disc brakes and hubs rather than 80s era stuff and bolts in freedom units, it's odd seeing how small the brakes are and the offset of the hub to run alco alloys. We run EV box trucks at my workplace and I have been considering using one of these as a chassis swap. Initially it was a W12 6.0 Bentley engine and gearbox locked to FWD. It's actually cheaper than a GMC engine rebuild here. I would like your opinion and data on what you drive as I think people believe an RV will be used every weekend, when in fact it might get 2 weeks out of the year, if that. Also using the RV as a battery bank for the house instead for the other 50 weeks just sitting on the driveway. I know the places I want to go to and know the charge points and as you illustrated, most camp sites have plug in points. I think the GMC would suit an EV vibe as the engine is out of sight
Mrs, GMC Motorhome here. And, yes it was a sketchy rundown part of town and my usual job as sound and camera person also included lookout on this particular adventure.
Glad to see that you had a enjoyable trip in spite of a little stopped on the side of the road😊
Very cool to see Edna out on the road. Looked like some awesome campsites. I just saw some videos of Banff the other day, very cool you guys got to go in person to see the area.
Sorry the dash ac isn't working this year for you, hopefully that can get fixed for next year. Really glad you could trouble shoot and get everything fixed and back on the road.
Thanks for sharing this new video format its really cool to see the coach on the road.
Thanks for the comment and encouragement! We still have lots of upgrades and repairs to do but we are starting to do more camping too so I think I'll have more videos like this in the future. It's nice to get to enjoy all the work we have done so far!
Oh CANADA🍁Been There 11 Times & Enjoyed It EveryTIme. Great GMC. I Don't Care For Camp Grounds. Solar Panels On Your Roof Will Power A/C Heater Pump with Lithium Batteries 24/7. You Can Charge Your Lithium Batters From Your GMC Motor When Driving Or In Idle. When Did You Last Replace The Ball Bearings? Yes A Bolt Was The Answer. Safe Travels. always, Tommy🤠
I've thought about solar panels and LiFePo batteries but that is a ways down the list, we'll see when I get there. We just replaced the front wheel bearing on the drivers front, I'll post a video on that soon. This entire 1-ton front end setup was done about 10 years and 15,000 miles ago. the parts should last much longer but maybe something was damaged or not done correctly.
I've visited Canada before, but never to Alberta. I'd like to one day.
I was wondering if you tow or flat tow a car? ( I see you might be traveling with a group or another chase vehicle.) I hope you can get that dash A/C fixed. I guess you can always run the Onan to power up the topside A/C while driving if it gets too unbearable. .....Russell in Shelton, WA (the southwest side of Puget Sound on Hwy. 101)
When we take a long trip like this, we like to go with someone else to provide a little backup if something goes wrong. We haven't towed with Edna and I'm not sure how well she would do. The room A/C does run great with the generator but I don't like to take the mileage hit so we usually just try to avoid driving for too long in hot weather. We are thinking about doing a trip to Olympic National Park next year so maybe we'll see you in the area!
Love how your BBQ hookup turned out. Where do you store it and your big chairs, though?
Great question! We like how compact the BBQ is because we have limited space inside. On this trip we kept the bed made up in the back when we moved from place to place so we stored the chairs and our small aluminum table on the bed. The kept the grill under the dinette table up front because our son mostly sat on the couch. When we don't have the bed made up we store the grill and chairs on the benches and floor in the back.
@@MrGMCMotorhome Gotcha. Do you wrap it up so grease doesn’t drip out?
@@caddyzig The grill has a disposable catch pan on the bottom. We throw that away if it's too messy and give the grill a little wipe down and it hasn't left any grease spots yet. :-)
wow very good trip, I would like to do the same with my GMC but I was wondering how your GMC performed on the big hill,
Our motorhome still has the original engine with over 100k miles, I think she is getting a little tired. We downshift going up big hills and generally go about 35mph, similar going down hills, I downshift and keep the speed down so I don't overwork the brakes. The Banff trip didn't have an really high passes so Edna did fine, got a little warm on the hills but no overheating. When we went to Yellowstone last year we had some much larger passes and had to pull over a few times to cool down. Overall we just don't rush and the coach has done fine.
@@MrGMCMotorhome Drag racing the Westies up the hills.
I like your style carrying survival tools with you. I have a 40 year old RV and do the same. What year and model is Edna? I live in Alberta and have driven that road from Banff to Creston. Very scenic parts of BC for sure.
Thanks for the comment! It's always good to be prepared so you can keep on the road and enjoy the trip :-) Edna is a 1977 GMC Kingsley.
If you don't mind me asking, how many MPG do you get in your rig?
We have been tracking our mileage for about 5,000 miles now and we average 8.6 mpg. When on a road trip with lots of highway miles we have got as high as 9.5 or 10 mpg.
Thank you. I'm considering the same rig if I can find a nice one like yours.@@MrGMCMotorhome
If the engine (454 I assume) has a mechanical fan clutch you should hear it roar very loud when the engine starts heating up. Then it will disappear when the temp goes down. Let me know as I worked on a lot of those back in the day
I lost both guide pins on mine with stock frontend a couple years back on the way to the Smokies. Sounded like i was dragging the front grill down the road when I braked. Luckly the exit I got off had a parts store and I could reinstall them without removing the wheel.
Wow! You never know what may happen with a vehicle this old. They are amazingly rugged and reliable considering the problems I hear about on new rigs.
A sad commentary about road tripping in Alberta & BC lately is you have to go in late Spring before the wild fires start. Remember climate change is real