Explaining a Nomad clutch

[cyclecat]

Very few people seem to know how a Nomad clutch works so I am going to explain it. The following picture is 6 of the 7 clutch springs Brian has changed on his 2001 1500 Nomad. My Ruby, on the other hand, a 2003 1500 Nomad has not needed the spring changed, with over 55,000 miles on her. The 2 gold springs on the left are both Barnett springs and are also worn out and they too will wear out when you have a bad clutch. Brian finally got tired of wasting time and money, after changing his spring 3 times in one summer, so he changed out the clutch for a Gorrilla clutch and has not problems since. He does not, however, have the ‘slipper clutch’ feature that we all have gotten used to and like, so he has to be a bit careful shifting down so he doesn’t lock up the rear wheel.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/cyclecat_2009/DSC01815.jpg

The following picture is the parts that go into a Nomad clutch. They are a lot of parts but the following list are the ones that we all need to be concerned with.

92015 NUT,20MM
92033 RING-SNAP
13187 PLATE-CLUTCH OPERATING
13091 HOLDER,CLUTCH SPRING
92144A SPRING,CLUTCH
92144 SPRING,LIMITER (3)
13187A PLATE-CLUTCH OPERATING
13089 PLATE-CLUTCH, FIBER (8)
13089A/B PLATE-CLUTCH, METAL (8)

13116 ROD-PUSH,CLUTCH
13116A ROD-PUSH

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/cyclecat_2009/untitled.jpg

Here’s how the whole thing works: #92015 is the outer nut that you see when you take off the side cover. This nut will have to be removed with an impact since it is really tight. When putting the nut back on, DO NOT use the impact or you will not be able to remove the nut a second time. Brian found this out the hard way when he had to cut the nut off the second time and it cost us $8 for a new nut (only in Canada does a nut cost $8) and a weeks waiting time to get the new nut. Torque the nut with a torque wrench to the specs in the service manual.

#92033 is the snap ring that holds everything else in place once the nut is removed. #13187 pushes #13091, which pushes against #92144A (the dreaded clutch spring), which pushes against #92144, which pushes against 13187A, which pushes against #13089 and #13089A/B. When I say ‘pushes against’ that is an easy explanation when in actuality it is an exact pressure that is applied by each working part to make the clutch work smoothly.

#13166 and #13116A is the push rod that is on the very inside end of the whole clutch assembly. When you pull in the clutch lever, this push rod is what makes shifting possible. The clutch spring is concave and the when the clutch lever is pulled in, the push rod pushes the clutch plate flatter so the pressure is released off of the plates and allows us to shift up or down. Let go of the clutch lever, and the spring again goes concave and applies pressure on the plates to make us keep moving

What is happening with the spring is that we have metal on metal and the metal parts are constantly turning and wearing against each other. #13091, the damper spring holder, is sitting against the clutch spring and turning on the ‘inner teeth’ of the clutch spring. Even though we have a wet clutch, we still have metal on metal and the ‘teeth’ eventually wear down to the point where there is not enough metal left to apply the right amount of pressure on the plates and the plates begin to slip when we roll on the throttle. If you look closely at the following picture, you can see the shiny ring on the ‘inner teeth’ where the metal has been worn away. The ring is actually only half as thick as it should be so it does not create nearly enough pressure on the plates.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/cyclecat_2009/DSC01816.jpg

If you suspect you have more wrong than a slipping clutch spring, take the time to take the clutch apart to the plates and measure the plates with a good set of calipers. Get the plate thickness specs from Barnetts since I doubt any stealer will either know or tell you but Barnetts probably will. Brian's plates were actually worn down enough that his whole clutch was bad.

[BudMan]

Thanks for the info. I don't have a good understanding of a Nomad clutch, but I now know more than I did. :)

[MAS Tequila]

http://www.turbotecusa.com/VULCAN.html

The link shows my next spring. They developed this to stay together behin a 140 hp turbo'd 1500, it should do just fine on my lightly modified 1600.

MT

[cyclecat]

If it works like it should, that type of setup, instead of the crappy spring we have, will eliminate changing the springs. That's the type of clutch spring used on Kawi quads and they can take a beating and not wear out.

[ringadingh]

I really like that billet motor mount that they have available as well. That should help the bike from wallowing through corners and feeling like a bowl of Jello.

[billmac]

Some smart members in Kawanow. Thanks for the explanation and great photos Cyclecat.

[blowndodge]

I wonder about converting to a six spring design and what parts are no longer used. What does the pushrod push against to disengage the plates? Just wondering... At $199 seems like a very reasonable conversion.

[cyclecat]

The push rod would first push against part #92143 which in turn pushes against the parts that follow through to the clutch spring. The push rod flattens out the spring so the pressure is released off of the plates.

[blowndodge]

I was talking about the 6 spring design CC..

[cyclecat]

Yeah, I realized that after I posted, major brain fart. You'll forgive me since I did make the comments about your nice ass in another post awhile ago. LOL

Brian says the clutches he's seen with that type of clutch spring work pretty much the same way as ours do. The plate that holds the 6 springs has flex and the push rod pushes it just enough to take the pressure off the plates.

I just tried to upload a picture of the type of clutch with the 6 spring clutch spring and can't get it to work but needless to say, the clutch has a lot less parts to it and is easier to work on.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Thanks for all the good information and the pictures. That gives a person a lot better perspective of how it works.

[macmac]

6 spring clutches can fail for the same reasons SORT OF, but no cutting on the star spring would be possible since there isn't one.

I agree CC, that under cutting is 95% of the problem, but even heat and long term pressure can effect 6 spring clutches. It takes a lot longer.

My OLD 1981 xs850sh needed new coil springs. Not understanding that I replace the clutch pack as well as all the springs, but it was just all 6 springs out of spec.

Since I got that bike off a scrap yard junk heap in the metals pile, I had no idea on the history, but i did know I over heated the engine 2 times at Laconia, in a parade like traffic jam.

No spring I took out matched the spring height spec. The combined use, crushing and relief, like in a magazine for guns, the heating at over 375 degrees F, and long term pressure caused these springs to fatigue.

But that 6 spring pack will be much better than the star spring.

What kills springs is using them. In a magazine for a gun you can load it and compress that spring to max and that won't bother the spring a bit. It will not take a set.

But use that spring, and it becomes weaker and weaker untill it won't feed ammo to the last casing. This takes a long time, but it happens.

Add heat to 375' F as in oil much hotter than that, and temper is lost, little by little.

I make V springs for flintlocks and go from dead soft to make the shape to glass hard in heat treatment, so hard that a compressed spring would break like glass.

In order to make the part a spring then tempering has to take place and that heat is well over 375, closer to 625' to soften the the steel so it will flex and not break, but not be dead soft and too weak to be a spring. In flintlocks there is 3 V springs.

A slipping clutch will generate a lot of heat, just for the friction of slipping. This can bend and warp the plates, both the fiber and the steel. When that happens the warped plates make a grabby condition, which can show up trying to get moving from stopped.

Feathering in a parade or like instance will indeed raise cluth temps to well over 600 degrees.

Any time a clutch is slipping it raies the temps, and that counts for a dry clutch as well.

I have seen many types of clutches both wet and dry and seen the blueing result from over heated pressure plates many times. Some dry clutches have a similar much bigger star spring, while others have levers and coil springs, but both can turn peacock blue from being in a slipped condition, where there is no oil at all.

Since engine and tranny oil are shared and hot, all wet clutches are heated to temper loss just by the envrioment they are subject too.

If no undercutting occured, still a point in time, which would vary widely, these star springs would still fail just from flexing and heat alone. It's what springs do.

Flexing alone has ruined the ft suspention on my 83 chevy truck suspention and they were replaced. If I had wanted to bad enough, I could have saved them and hammer forged them back to be what they should be, since they were not broken, but the labor would have take me a life time. No heat there, just flexing. (leaf spring type)

Once I did brutal working to build truck spring packs from scratch in a spring shop. I cut raw stock on a gillotine press, that sheared 1/2" x 4" spring steel, then rolled the eyes with a real big torch, and the press made to roll eyes, added more leaves, and clipped the pack to be a set of leaf springs, for big trucks, fire engine, and road graders. Then I installed them.

No Fun at all...... Men made these spring packs and installed them by hand. There were no robots to lift and move a built up spring pack around. Men did it all.

[ponch]

3 springs in a summer is ridiculous. I have to wonder if the user was responsible for the premature wear, either through improper use or improper maintenance. Just wondering.

[ringadingh]

3 springs in a summer is ridiculous. I have to wonder if the user was responsible for the premature wear, either through improper use or improper maintenance. Just wondering.

I was wondering something like that myself Bill, or if something wasn't installed properly. It just seems very odd to use three springs that fast.

[MAS Tequila]

The original post states that the steels were worn. Sometimes we assume that our problem is the normal one. In this case he didn't check to see if anything besides the spring was bad. If the basket is out of spec it will cause the spring to wear quite rapidly.

So yes something else was wrong, but most of us would've done it similarly figuring that the first replacement was defective then the second one would have raised suspicions. But I would've put it in and killed it also.

MT

[ponch]

3 times?


The original post states that the steels were worn. Sometimes we assume that our problem is the normal one. In this case he didn't check to see if anything besides the spring was bad. If the basket is out of spec it will cause the spring to wear quite rapidly.

So yes something else was wrong, but most of us would've done it similarly figuring that the first replacement was defective then the second one would have raised suspicions. But I would've put it in and killed it also.

MT

[cyclecat]

Brian, my husband, knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to working on the Nomads. He has been riding and doing his own mechanics for over 40 years, so yeah, I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing. None of our vehicles, other than major, expensive fixes that are done on warranty, ever, ever go to a shop of any kind. Mechanics are idiots that know nothing and can fix less than nothing and get paid way too much for what they think they know.

And yes, he changed the spring 3 times the last summer he did the springs because at the time it was the quickest way to keep his Nomad on the road. The local stealer got us new springs within 2 days whereas it takes us 10 days to get anything from the States. At the end of summer, Brian finally took the whole clutch assembly apart to check the plates and found out they were worn. He still can't believe that he went through 3 springs in one summer but sh*t happens.

[macmac]

That could happen to me too. A first spring I might take as defective, or worn out, the next i woud think was a fix. When it failed i would inspect things harder, and if I found nothing out of spec, I would drop in another, but be very curious about it.

OR like I did on my 850, replace the whole bloomin clutch pack, and all 6 springs. I did that in part because the 850 had start off issues hot, not slipping in 5th. It was 365 bucks for all the parts I installed, and all I really needed was 6 new springs which were all out of spec, all being too short. I didn't test further than that, but I assume all were also weak.

With heat and time, some 24,000 miles on the clock when I grabbed that bike off a scrap heap, these springs had taken a 'set'. With no prior history, I just installed all the wear and tear items in that clutch, which cured the problem.

Back in the day with air cooled VW bugs, I could R&R and a clutch on one of them in under 15 minutes in a shop with a lift. Wish things were like that now.

Also back in the day I could R&R a clutch on a Volvo 140 series in under 45 minutes. It paid 6 hours. I did these on jack stands and knew every single tool by heart, so I could gather all the tools at once and practicly dive under the car and get it all down and down washing my hads, and back up over a pile of tools and dead parts to test drive.

[ponch]

It depends on how thorough you wish to be. May be the first time around the clutch should have been completely disassembled and checked out. There's fast, good, and cheap. Pick any two.



That could happen to me too. A first spring I might take as defective, or worn out, the next i woud think was a fix. When it failed i would inspect things harder, and if I found nothing out of spec, I would drop in another, but be very curious about it.

OR like I did on my 850, replace the whole bloomin clutch pack, and all 6 springs. I did that in part because the 850 had start off issues hot, not slipping in 5th. It was 365 bucks for all the parts I installed, and all I really needed was 6 new springs which were all out of spec, all being too short. I didn't test further than that, but I assume all were also weak.

With heat and time, some 24,000 miles on the clock when I grabbed that bike off a scrap heap, these springs had taken a 'set'. With no prior history, I just installed all the wear and tear items in that clutch, which cured the problem.

Back in the day with air cooled VW bugs, I could R&R and a clutch on one of them in under 15 minutes in a shop with a lift. Wish things were like that now.

Also back in the day I could R&R a clutch on a Volvo 140 series in under 45 minutes. It paid 6 hours. I did these on jack stands and knew every single tool by heart, so I could gather all the tools at once and practicly dive under the car and get it all down and down washing my hads, and back up over a pile of tools and dead parts to test drive.

[macmac]

With old antique bikes you just buy everything there is, if you want to get in there once. I considered myself pretty lucky to be able to get those parts all right the first time too.

Getting new old stock parts for a 1981 bike isn't always so easy.

[ponch]

In the case of the Nomad, this shouldn't be an issue. With old bikes, it depends on the bike. KZ900/1000 and CB750s have a decent following that you can get some things. Anything that didn't sell well to begin with or there aren't many around now is going to be a pain. Still, a job worth doing, is worth doing right the first time. Impatience is a killer.


With old antique bikes you just buy everything there is, if you want to get in there once. I considered myself pretty lucky to be able to get those parts all right the first time too.

Getting new old stock parts for a 1981 bike isn't always so easy.

[macmac]

ponch, OT.

The old 850 needed a gas cap gasket. or a rubber seal, and the parts guy looked in the books, went for the part number, brought me the box, charged 10 bucks, and i paid.

I opened the box and there was this thing in there not at all like the seal I needed.

That number was indeed the right part for some other bike. Even the part numbers were used over!

Well my parts guy then, who was good saw the problem, and went out back a while.

When he reutrned he had another old battered looking box, and with out thinking much blew the dust off in my face. Then he handed me that box for a look.

Inside that box was a brand new cap on the hinge with keys to lock, in spankin new chrome.

He said too bad the key won't match, have a great day! I asked how much? He said get out of here, no one else in the world will come here for that.

I was happy, and i was more happy than that, since it was easy to swap the locks.

I am not sure what I will do with that bike, right now it is mint, just off the road. Regiis in NH are into orbit.

[ponch]

Out here it's $20 to register a bike. My Nomad was something like $150 a year with collision. Not bad at all. NY would be over double, may be triple.


ponch, OT.

The old 850 needed a gas cap gasket. or a rubber seal, and the parts guy looked in the books, went for the part number, brought me the box, charged 10 bucks, and i paid.

I opened the box and there was this thing in there not at all like the seal I needed.

That number was indeed the right part for some other bike. Even the part numbers were used over!

Well my parts guy then, who was good saw the problem, and went out back a while.

When he reutrned he had another old battered looking box, and with out thinking much blew the dust off in my face. Then he handed me that box for a look.

Inside that box was a brand new cap on the hinge with keys to lock, in spankin new chrome.

He said too bad the key won't match, have a great day! I asked how much? He said get out of here, no one else in the world will come here for that.

I was happy, and i was more happy than that, since it was easy to swap the locks.

I am not sure what I will do with that bike, right now it is mint, just off the road. Regiis in NH are into orbit.

[macmac]

It used to be that low here for a regii, but it is more that 150 figure for a whole year, yet no one can ride here year round. A sticker is 20, Insurance is over 500. This is what happens when the Democrates take over the public service of being Govenor.

The current gov in NH is named Lynch, and i sure wish we could.

Same thing for my old cars and trucks that once cost around 28 bucks a year to regii up. No more they are over 100 each now too. These people act like money is free, and i guess to them it is.

[ponch]

Someone has to pay for their programs.


It used to be that low here for a regii, but it is more that 150 figure for a whole year, yet no one can ride here year round. A sticker is 20, Insurance is over 500. This is what happens when the Democrates take over the public service of being Govenor.

The current gov in NH is named Lynch, and i sure wish we could.

Same thing for my old cars and trucks that once cost around 28 bucks a year to regii up. No more they are over 100 each now too. These people act like money is free, and i guess to them it is.

[skeeter]

Brian can come down here where it's warm and work on my bike anytime.

[cyclecat]

Send me the money for gas; the Nomads are already in the toy hauler, all we have to do is hookup the Duramax and we're on the way. We'll even bring tools, a lift, and the tire changer if we need to. LOL

[macmac]

CC, sometims I wonder about doing that. Drive some place to fix stuff, and spend lots of time avoiding winter. Live out of a box on 4 wheels.

[cyclecat]

Brian has talked about doing just that for a few years, especially in Canada, in the summer, changing tires on motorcycles. The average cost of a tire in Canada is $250 and up and some are well over $400, if you can get them and the last time I asked, the stealer wanted $40 per tire, if we took them in off of the Nomads. Don't even want to know what the charge would be to remove them from the Nomad and put them back on. Whereas, we get our tires out of the US now and pay no more than $150 a tire. If one could get a business going, one could make money.

Another example is the price of parts. All of the aftermarket parts for motorcycles, quads, and dirt bikes are imported from the States by mainly 2 companies - Parts Canada and MotoVan - and the OEM parts are imported by the different motorcycle companies such as Kawasaki, Honda, etc. The price of aftermarket parts are anywhere from one time to double, and sometimes triple, the price we can get them for in the States.

OEM parts are prices so far out of whack it's hard to believe the stealers can sell anything up here. For example, I recently has to replace what is called a knuckle on the back of my quad - Kawasaki Canada price $389.92, KawasakiPartsNation.com (they get their parts from Kawasaki USA and them ship them on) price $111.09. Same part, same function, but the difference in price between Canada and the US is astronomical.

It would be worth starting a repair business in Canada for motorcycles, quads and bikes but you would never know what parts you would need on hand. On the other hand, the stealers will tell you anywhere from 4 to 10 days to get parts from the Kawi warehouse in Toronto, and I can get them from the States in that amount of time anyway and Brian is a better mechanic than what we have working in the local Kawi shop.

[sas]

"...I make V springs for flintlocks..."

My partner and I spent many an hour (9 years) building long guns from scratch. Only power tools we used was a router with hand ground bits to cut barrell channels to size, a hand drill to drill pilot holes for tennons, tang bolt holes through to the trigger plate, butt plate screws and 4 jaw lathe my partner, the metal man, used to crown each barrel. Having said all that, we used Bud Siler's small and large flint and percussion kits to make the locks for our pieces. All he and I ever shot were flint's when we hunted or competed across the Southeast and at Friendship in the mid 70's. Glad to hear there is still someone who still practices the intricate art of making lock springs.

[macmac]

In use Bud Silers locks too, but change them. Last time i saw him at a Eastern, he didn't recognize his own bloomin work. I think Jim Chambers is the retailer now for Siler.

I hope I am mistaken but think Bud passed over to the Happy Hunting ground. A great deal of my friends have at this point. One i am sure that has , which you may well have known is Chuck Lenard the sort of God father to Trade Silver.

Bikes is all I had that kept me in the 20th and into the 21st century. Other wize when the door knocker clacks you will find me right in the middle of the 18th.

More or less when I make a spring it is for right now in camp at a shoot, and somebody broke his. A little steel, a hot fire, a axe in the stump, and some file work happens. Another fire as hot, a dip in some oil, another heating and a test.

Hell if they did it back then thar's no damnned reason we can't do it now, other getting a decent hunk of steel that is.

.................................................. ..............

Traveling tech seems like a great idea, but then your still stuck getting the right parts before you know you need any. I looked at the idea. I was into the idea of a RV type traler that has a garage built in, and has living quarters too. No engines, so you need a truck to move it.

But then I lived in garages before and pretty soon you and everything you have stinks like shop. Over the years there are stinks I just don't do well, and shop stink is one of them.

I can't stand the stink of diesel, hate the feel of brake fluid, but I still don't mind smelling like wood smoke, which we did living in a tee pee 3 full years.

Rolling shops are either limited or very heavy.

Currency exchange is something i don't understand. It seems to be pointless trying to tell me.
In Montreal at a battle on the Govt building lawn there, I mean right on their lawn, where I was worried the artillery would drop windows on us all, we retreated to camp on the Ilse of St Helens.

Over there a women had a HB blanket and i happen to collect stripped blankets made of wool.

It was used, and still is used right on my bed this instant, with others, but she wanted $30 cdn for it, and I gave her $30 usd for it. I walked off in the morning very happy, but before I knew what was up she was in my camp with coffees for us, and change, lots of change, and I felt bad. She was into whats the right changes and I could have cared a less, I got what I wanted, and to me $30 usd was a steal.

Also on th bed right now is a hidious pea soup green with bright orange stripped blanket. A real horse blanket for a king size bed. Its ugly as sin, but I love how rough and warm it is.

Wish I knew who made that. I guess you might call it a 8 point blanket.

[ponch]

Get one of those toy haulers, you know, with the sleeping quarters and work area with a lift on the back? The thing is, to drive business when you are on the road. May be hook up with the AMA and/or ABATE? It could be a business and a fun one. Thing is, it's a big country...Where to start? If anyone could do it, Mac could.

[macmac]

It could be done, but the over head would be pretty stiff. You would need a customer base willing to put up with yer chit, of 3 days or so too.

That customer base would be based on limited services and 1/3rd of 365 +/- travel time.

Certain high end tuners can and do make enough to afford this life style, but it is work, lots of work, and customers that do this would have to buy something more than just gaskets and parts.

I used to deal in boats too, and knew some tuners that lived and worked off their own boats full time. All they did was tune engines, and work on fuel systems they wanted too.

How I knew was on occasion one would blow a spark plug out of the threads and take the treads with the plug. That's where i fit in.

I have my old bone jarred between (2) 454 boat engines more than I wanted as well. You got some rich red necks at the wheel and the other on the throttle, and me in the bilge getting a beating and burned, tryin ta' turn a screw. Not much fun, but it sounds exciting.

[ponch]

With fuel injection, tuning is a lot easier today. You'd use a laptop. :) Like I said, get hooked with some national organizations like AMA, ABATE, some of the touring associations and you'd get some business, especially on the higher end stuff, but come one, come all. Sounds like a plan.


It could be done, but the over head would be pretty stiff. You would need a customer base willing to put up with yer chit, of 3 days or so too.

That customer base would be based on limited services and 1/3rd of 365 +/- travel time.

Certain high end tuners can and do make enough to afford this life style, but it is work, lots of work, and customers that do this would have to buy something more than just gaskets and parts.

I used to deal in boats too, and knew some tuners that lived and worked off their own boats full time. All they did was tune engines, and work on fuel systems they wanted too.

How I knew was on occasion one would blow a spark plug out of the threads and take the treads with the plug. That's where i fit in.

I have my old bone jarred between (2) 454 boat engines more than I wanted as well. You got some rich red necks at the wheel and the other on the throttle, and me in the bilge getting a beating and burned, tryin ta' turn a screw. Not much fun, but it sounds exciting.

[macmac]

I'll wait till each computer has satilite and then tune them from right heya'. No dirt under my nails, no burns, no battered knuckes i could like .......that!

That would almost be like stealin.

[ponch]

Don't need satellite, just cellular technology. Verzizon has 3G most places.


I'll wait till each computer has satilite and then tune them from right heya'. No dirt under my nails, no burns, no battered knuckes i could like .......that!

That would almost be like stealin.

[macmac]

Well it's the same point but me and telephones is a no win situation. If I don't see lips move I have no idea what's bein said.

[ponch]

I can't read lips, but I can still hear a bit. May be we should team up. At least we could hear and see what was being said. ;)


Well it's the same point but me and telephones is a no win situation. If I don't see lips move I have no idea what's bein said.

[macmac]

I wouldn't say I read lips, but with then and hearing what I do I can tell about 3 words in 10.

That's all I need to totally mess up a good conversation. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[skeeter]

LOL! CC, fat chance on the fuel and the bike is runnin just fine but we have a spare room and the roads here are great. ;)

[cyclecat]

Oh come on skeeter, cough up the dough. I'm sure we could find something to fix on that Nomad and if nothing is broken, we can always do some mods. LOL

We have the toy hauler and it is outfitted for working on the Nomads and the quads. 3 years ago we got to the Oregon coast and I had my front tire go flat, so after finding a place with tires, we jacked Ruby up, tied her off, removed both wheels, and took them to have the new tire installed.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/cyclecat_2009/DSC01657.jpg

Recently I had the quad roll down a hill, break a couple of parts and we were 7 miles back in the mountains off the beaten trail. What to do? What to do? Brian went back to the trailer, jacked up his quad, took off the parts that were broken on mine, our son took the good parts back to my quad, installed them, and rode my quad out of the mountains.

Fully equipped trailer works great for emergencies and would work great for service work also. We have a 14 foot garage and 14 feet + the goose neck for living quarters. It's smaller than the big, huge toy haulers but is just right for us. It weighs half what the big monsters toy haulers weigh and is a lot easier to maneuver. And besides, the colour was almost a perfect match for the Duramax without painting.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/cyclecat_2009/DSC01659.jpg

[macmac]

Well see there, if any one could do it it's CC and her Hubby http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

CC how do you keep auto stink out of yer stuff?

[cyclecat]

We have a door between the garage and the living quarters and it seals pretty good. If the garage gets smelly, we go out the back door, into the front through the front door, and leave the door in between closed. We put the Nomads in the garage one time and when they vented, a bit of gas ran out of the overflow. We had no gas smell in the living quarters but the garage reaked so we know how well the in between door seals.

[ponch]

Nice truck. I like the duramax. Actually I like most diesels, but the allison/duramax combo is hard to beat. I just wished they weren't so expensive. I think the diesel option nowadays tacks on 8-10K.


We have a door between the garage and the living quarters and it seals pretty good. If the garage gets smelly, we go out the back door, into the front through the front door, and leave the door in between closed. We put the Nomads in the garage one time and when they vented, a bit of gas ran out of the overflow. We had no gas smell in the living quarters but the garage reaked so we know how well the in between door seals.

[skeeter]

OOwee! Datsa nice!

[Cajunrider]

My Suburban stickered $34,000 in 2001. I was looking at the 2011's online yesterday. An LT version like we have now with the same equipment stickers $49,790. That's a heck of an increase for 10 yrs. Chrome bumpers on ours......plastic on the 2011 models.

[ponch]

My 2009 LT stickered for 44K. I don't like the 6 speed auto. It wants to upshift too quickly and sometimes when I nail it, it falls flat on it's face. It has throttle by wire and traction control. My best guess is that it is tailored for fuel economy. If I put the transmission in tow mode and turn off the traction control, it's better. Also, the 5.3 is a slug on the low end. I had a 1984 K10 with a 350 and crappy 2.73 gearing and it had better low end power. Rev the 5.3 and it comes alive big time. god only knows why they put such a small engine in a 6000lb vehicle. It should have at least 3.73 gearing in place of the 3.42 and a 7.0L v-8. Something that makes torque. I would also say I don't think it's built to last from the standpoint of interior and paint. It's already showing signs of wear that have me concerned. Shoot, I had to replace the wipers after 6 months and signal bulbs have blown. A lot of cars come with LEDs now. Not GM. I just have the inclination that GM steps on its vendors to keep a price point and it shows in quality. Originally I wanted the Expedition EL, but the local dealer didn't have one, so we looked at the Suburban. I had always been a GM guy, but no more. It isn't worth what we paid for it.

I did test drive a Ford Super Crew and it was a much nicer vehicle inside than the suburban. It didn't look cheesy and was more comfortable. The impetus for getting the burb was I have 5 kids. I hate minivans and we outgrew ours as the kids are getting too big for any minivan. In few years we'll sell the Burb and get a slightly used Q7. The Audi rocks. I have a 2001 Jetta that has been absolutely solid for over 10 years, so I guess I am now partial to german engineering and yes, Ponch will be getting a a BMW soon...





My Suburban stickered $34,000 in 2001. I was looking at the 2011's online yesterday. An LT version like we have now with the same equipment stickers $49,790. That's a heck of an increase for 10 yrs. Chrome bumpers on ours......plastic on the 2011 models.

[ponch]

Oh yeah, it's a car not a truck. I was surprised on how tight the ergos were on the burb and how it rides too much like a car. My old K10 had much more room for the driver. If you wonder why, read here:

http://www.askpatty.com/page.php?Title=Hybrids,_Heels_and_Wheels/
http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips-article/1011844_cargirl-gm-menin-dresses


My Suburban stickered $34,000 in 2001. I was looking at the 2011's online yesterday. An LT version like we have now with the same equipment stickers $49,790. That's a heck of an increase for 10 yrs. Chrome bumpers on ours......plastic on the 2011 models.

[cyclecat]

Our Duramax is an '07, and we bought it as a left over late in the fall of '07. I do not like the new body style GM trucks so I'm glad we bought the last year of the old body style. We've put an air kit on, removed the catalytic converter, and added dual exhaust so she hauls like you wouldn't believe. The trailer weighs about 14,000 lbs. fully loaded, with the Nomads inside; put the Duramax in tow mode and it will go like stink. We can pass on hills, with the cruise on, just like the new advertisement on TV, and never lose 1 mph. Only bad part was the price, $59,000 (plus the 5% federal tax) and that was almost 3 years ago but we figure it should last a long time.

[ponch]

In 07 they had both body styles. You got lucky. I hate the plastic. I backed into a snow bank and it cracked the bumper. With the old steel bumpers nothing would have happened. Take car of that Duramax and you should see at lest 300K miles.


Our Duramax is an '07, and we bought it as a left over late in the fall of '07. I do not like the new body style GM trucks so I'm glad we bought the last year of the old body style. We've put an air kit on, removed the catalytic converter, and added dual exhaust so she hauls like you wouldn't believe. The trailer weighs about 14,000 lbs. fully loaded, with the Nomads inside; put the Duramax in tow mode and it will go like stink. We can pass on hills, with the cruise on, just like the new advertisement on TV, and never lose 1 mph. Only bad part was the price, $59,000 (plus the 5% federal tax) and that was almost 3 years ago but we figure it should last a long time.