How long does your SMB / 6.0 PSD sit between trips?

flyfisher · 12-16-2009, 03:11 PM

Might be an odd question, but my SMB isn't a daily driver and in the damp gray months in the Pacific NW I might take a long trip no more than once every 6 weeks or so. The Van lives in a garage, plugged in to shore power. I run the furnance, water pump, and fridge for a while once a month, and I drive The Van about 20 miles once a month or so just to keep things lubed and turning. And during that drive will lock the front hubs in for a few miles just to keep the front end lubed. Part of me says the less I drive it the longer it will last, but then I'm not sure if that's true, any thoughts on this? In the Travel Brochure months, April through October, I'm out all the time so I don't worry about things seizing up from lack of use.

Tom

Ford_6L_E350 · 12-16-2009, 04:13 PM

Every six weeks is often enough to be 'Frequent Use'. It is on the outer edge, but acceptable.

I take mine to work once a week to keep it lubed.

Mike

EMrider · 12-16-2009, 05:19 PM

I also store my van away from the house. My routine is to drive the van and engage hubs/4x4 at least monthly. When I do drive I make sure to get everything up to full operating temps.

R

DisabledExplorers · 12-16-2009, 05:24 PM

Daily driver here as there is no way I could spend this much money and not enjoy the rig all the time

surfgeek33 · 12-16-2009, 08:00 PM

Wholy smokes Lance! Do you park your rig in the ambulance bay in the hospital? Cause I don't think it will fit in the parking structures. Maybe you have to park one mile away where the residents and students park

DisabledExplorers · 12-17-2009, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfgeek33

Wholy smokes Lance! Do you park your rig in the ambulance bay in the hospital? Cause I don't think it will fit in the parking structures. Maybe you have to park one mile away where the residents and students park

ha too funny...actually I am really lucky at the hospital I am at that the dr's parking lot is right next to the parking garage and that is where they let me park my "oversize" rig...mainly due to security digging the FJ Cruiser I used to have and the occasional Overland Journal I drop off for them to read

The WAVE really tripped them out..I am working with our Neuro/Spinal Rehab to bring the Wheelchair Accessible Van for Expeditions by for a presentation after the new year.

DUKCSUN · 12-17-2009, 08:46 AM

My van sits exactly 5 days between use (its not my daily driver but gets used every weekend)

I always plug it in as soon as we get home (it hasn't been connected to shore power at an RV site since the first night we bought it).

On the odd chance that it sits for 2 weeks I usually have an excuse to start it and let it warm up (150 deg on the scan gauge).

One thing I did notice that probably isn't an issue for others but I'll mention it:

At my old place we would notice that even though it was plugged in all the time, the house battery wasn't holding a charge that great and on cold mornings we would be running pretty low on charge out in the field.

At my new place, the charge lasts FOREVER and we rarely drop down below 12.4.

What I found out was that at the old place my van was plugged into an outside outlet and I didn't realize that the outlet was on a photocell and it turned off at night after the sun went down. So the van wasn't getting a full charge throughout the week. Now, it gets full power all the time and the house battery is as strong as it ever was brand new.

Thankfully we never left the fridge on during the week or anything like that so that battery wasn't getting bounced all that bad but it is a markedly better situation now that I figured it out.

I guess that outlet was used to run some outdoor lights or something so for those that are using an outside outlet to plug your van into, you might just want to make sure.

EMrider · 12-17-2009, 09:23 AM

Our van has been kept in a storage facility without power for over 3 years.

When I start the motor and drive it around, I also give it an overnight charge at home.

I picked up a solar charger to keep the house batteries topped off while the van sits in storage. This has worked pretty well and my batteries are usually 12.4-12.7v no matter how long I've let the van sit.

R

Ford_6L_E350 · 12-17-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryanlaws

On the odd chance that it sits for 2 weeks I usually have an excuse to start it and let it warm up (150 deg on the scan gauge).

Letting it warm up to 150 degrees may be worse than not starting it. It is not fully not, the oil is probably much cooler than the water and moisture is not fully evaporated. I don't like to drive my van unless it will be fully warmed up (20 miles or so). Short trips and cold starts are a couple of the hardest things on an engine.

Mike

**daveb** · 12-17-2009, 01:32 PM

I use my van at least every other day if not daily. Usually I travel about 10 miles but I warm the vehicle up for 5 min before taking off. Somewhere there is a thread about problems with the turbo charger if the van sits (rust) but I'm not sure there is anything to that.