NCWriter
North Carolina
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Joined: 10/05/2011
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I'm no mechanic but what we learned from other owners was that the plastic turbo resonator was a part in the Mercedes engine of 2005, 2006 era Sprinters (perhaps other years too) designed to muffle noise. Tended to develop splits or cracks and sometimes rough edge cut hose as well. When the part failed, it caused the engine to go into "Limp Home Mode" so you could drive at a low speed only to get yourself into a dealer. There, you might have to wait days for the part to be ordered. Not good. Some people had this happen more than once after 10,000 miles, and the part was replaced under warranty.
Companies eventually responded to this common problem by developing a replacement metal part instead of the cheapie plastic. You can order the part online and install or carry with you. It comes with instructions. If you are not mechanical as you said in your blog, you could get the part and ask the RV dealer or a Dodge/Mercedes mechanic to install. A simple job, should not cost a lot. Maybe your used Sprinter already has a metal one in the engine. Just something to know about.
As far as that stinky slinky...we have never used one, if i understand what the other poster meant. We only hook up the black/gray hose when it is time to dump, then unhook and stow. I think i've seen big RVs use them in campgrounds when hooked up to sewer.
Thought of something else we carry. A gallon jug of drinking water from the grocery store. Most of the time, though, we drink from our fresh water tank after running the water through a Britta filter pitcher for taste. Others will tell you they never drink freshwater tank water. But we're still ptomaine free. We just flush it with bleach solution and more fresh water before trips.
2006 Leisure Travel Van Free Spirit 210B Sprinter
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yloshrk
Louisiana
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Joined: 11/20/2011
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Best advise I got on here was a legal pad and a pen. Bring this on your first trip and take notes on what you are missing.
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Escargot
California
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Joined: 10/05/2009
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What on earth is a "stinky slinky with donut?"
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"Stinky Slinky" is slang for the hose one uses to empty their black and gray tanks.
"Donut" is a donut shaped cylindrical item that fits on the end of the stinky slink and is wedged into the dump pipe to prevent methane gas and other odors from escaping into the campsite environment. You use it when you have a campsite that includes an individual dump pipe.
2003 PleasureWay Excel TD, Dodge chassis
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Roadtreking Mike
Michigan
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Joined: 03/24/2012
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I have a slinky stinky donut... found that out at the dealer and am still laughing about its name.
Meantime, I just posted a blog post about delivery and my first 60 miles
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Mike Wendland
See my blog: See my Roadtreking blog
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Escargot
California
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Joined: 10/05/2009
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Wow!! That unit is beeeeeeyooooootiful!!
Congratulations and Happy trails to you!
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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didn't some roadtreks come with a macerator pump system. if not I wouldn't go the stinky slinky route, I would get a sewer solution.
bumpy
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mlts22
Austin, Texas
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Joined: 11/15/2010
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A couple things I would recommend keeping on hand that might not have been mentioned:
A Big Buddy heater, and a couple Coleman bottles for it. If all else fails, this guarantees you have plenty of heat, provided you have a vent source, and can deal with the water it throws into the air as part of the burning process.
Good first aid kit, including stuff for broken teeth.
Some food and water stashed away somewhere. You never know if it might come into handy.
A 5 gallon bucket. Believe me, a bucket can come into handy at any time, for a lot of uses.
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McK
Arkansas
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Joined: 07/05/2006
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And a towel.
Douglas Adams
"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
Robert
2006 Sportsmobile Sprinter
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1775
NY
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Joined: 09/30/2009
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Mike - with the Roadtrek you actually need two rubber donuts. The one RT gives fits the macerator nozzle but is too small to properly fit into the dump hole at a campground. All you need is its big brother - sold at Walmart where the RV section is in the auto aisles - that fits the usual dump hole and the top is just right for the smaller donut you have that fits the macerator nozzle.
We used this setup once. It is much easier to just to hold the macerator nozzle over the dump opening and let it flow. It really has been no problem, no stench, and no splash so far doing that. Some campgrounds do require that you use the donut and have a closed connection from your RV to the sewer hole. If we encounter one, we are prepared with the two rubber donuts, which can be a PITA to get apart once you put them together.
Roadtrek 190 Popular 2011
Meryl and Me Hit the Road
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McK
Arkansas
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Joined: 07/05/2006
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A few more items:
fire extinguisher
jumper cables
channel lock pliers (useful for connecting and disconnecting the water hose)
spare engine belts
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