Cummins Canoe (A Stepvan Story)

[PlethoraOfGuns]

The first real night in the van was a success. This thing is awesome! Time for our first road trip. Just a mini one for the holidays.

[size=small]Loaded up the fridge with all kinds of goodies.[/size]

[size=small]Made some awesome food with even better friends! Still need to put the sink in, finish the plumbing, put the floor in, and build the rest of the cabinet doors. Just a few more weeks and we'll be all done! All the progress we made so far feels really good.[/size]

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Merry Christmas from way up north!

 

[bullfrog]

Looks like your van really delivered! Lol!!! Time to enjoy it!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Haha, oh yea, it delivers all the good packages! If it fits, it ships! Test road trip is going great. We're driving this thing to the moon!

 

[nature lover]

I am still so jealous of you with that rig. What kind of mpg do you get? I didn’t go back and read the entire thread because I’m too lazy.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

It is pretty awesome. Everything runs great! Couldn't be happier. We're only on our second tank of fuel since July, so it's hard to really know what kinda mileage we're getting now with all this weight. When we first got the van, driving it 12 hours home at 55mph we were doing about 30mpg. Another week of driving and we'll fill the tank and get an accurate number. Estimating 20mpg?

 

[tx2sturgis]

[size=small] Still need to put the sink in, finish the plumbing, put the floor in, and build the rest of the cabinet doors. [/size]

Looks great and who am I to argue with success but I don't like cabinet doors...they are always in the way, they add weight, and you have to pay money for that!

Cargo netting or a thin bar or railing work far better, in my experience.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Yea we didn't want to add too much weight. You're totally right, weight=$. If it makes you feel better, all the cabinets stuff is made from 1/8" or 1/2" wood and aluminum. We do have a large floor to ceiling space behind the passenger seat we might just have shelves and use either net or elastic cord to hold stuff in.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Uh oh. This is very much not good...

Terrible vibrations and noises coming from engine. Also lost the clutch. Still "runs", got off the highway until we got stopped on a hill at a red light.

There are good people out there!

 

[bullfrog]

The adventure begins. “Lost the clutch” as in it won’t disengage or as in slips? Loose flywheel? Clutch material came loose and wedged? Chock the wheels. Can you see the clutch fork? Is it still pivoting correctly? Throw out bearing still in the fork? Well at least you have a place to stay!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Clutch pedal goes to the floor with no resistance. But this is definetely an engine issue. Feels like the clutch is a separate issue.

 

[bullfrog]

When a flywheel comes loose the engine vibrates terribly and the clutch fork gets knocked off sometimes. Is the clutch hydraulic , cable or mechanical? It is sorta of unusual to have two problems that are unrelated happen at the same time. One problem usually causes the other. Did you have the flywheel off?

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Can't be the flywheel. The engine starts back up with the starter. I popped the doghouse off in the cab and noticed the hydraulic line to the clutch slave cylinder is severed and the passenger side engine mount is broken, causing the engine to lean.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

A broken engine mount can cause vibration, usually only on acceleration

 

[bullfrog]

Can you chain, clamp, bolt or strap it down? If you can then maybe you can start it in gear and when you need to stop put it in neutral and stop. Repeat when you need to get moving. It is possible to shift while moving without a clutch usually at a much lower engine RPM than a normal shift but if you have never done it you will probably tear up the transmission. Even though it isn’t recommended if you happen to have a brass water line connector and the ends of the line are close enough you could temporarily use it to connect the broken line.

 

[bullfrog]

You might be able to use able to bolt a chain to the mount and then to the frame as well so it doesn’t move as much. Sounds like the extra weight may have taken a toll on your motor mount. I have even wedged blocks of wood between the frame and motor to hold them in place then used a chain to prevent it torquing over. Anything to just keep it from moving as when you put a load on it it will try to raise up and rotate towards the still good mount.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I don't think the broken engine mount is the issue. Pretty sure something in the engine is not right. I normally shift without the clutch, no need for the clutch if you can synchronize the rpm of the engine and trans. I was doing good getting off the highway, but hit a red light, going uphill. That's when I gave in to defeat. Got tow strapped to an abandoned movie theater. Made some soup. Will deal with this mess in the morning.

 

[bullfrog]

Make sure you didn’t damage any hoses, fan blades or the radiator as with the mount broken that is probably the only thing holding it down. It really is nice to be able to wait till daylight in your home on wheels!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Ok, I will look for all that. Going to take a closer look now that it's daylight. And yes, it's great to have a house on wheels!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Hoses, fan blades, and radiators are the least of our worries! Dropped the oil pan and found very bad things. I think we need a tow truck...