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RE: If you dont travel with the FW tank full???
Anacortes has some of the best quality water in the US, so we always leave home with a full tank. In a 22,000 max weight rig, 650 pounds of water isn't going to make a significant difference in mpg. Of course, on a long trip we'll end up filling someplace, but having the tank full to start out goves us some options.
We've had some pretty rotten-tasting water at some CGs, so we check it carefully before taking any onboard. We use the CG city water direct from the faucets for most things, but for drinikng or cooking, I shut the CG spigot off and use the on-board water.
I'm giving some thought to putting a solenoid valve at the water inlet so I don't have to go outside to turn the spigot off.
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frankdamp
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05/16/12 01:45pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Trip Planning Software
Todd:
It's at www.rvtravel.com. It's a weekly newsletter published by an on-line bookstore based in Edmonds, WA.
Mark:
Our netbook only runs a 1.6GHz processor, but I can live with the longer caculation times. The netbook doesn't have a DVD or CD drive. The earlier versions of the program only needed a DVD to load it. It didn't use the DVD for running the program.
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frankdamp
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05/12/12 12:10pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Motorhome Insurance Through Hartford (AARP)
I'm sure Allstate is doing it, but not for long-term customers like us. I certainly haven't seen any unusual changes in premium that would have given that impression.
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frankdamp
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05/10/12 04:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Trip Planning Software
Two Hands:
I saw the Road Trip Planner software advertised last week on the RV Traveler Newsletter at a very attractive price. Compared to the DVD version of trailer Life last year, it doesn't need as much RAM and is therefore compatible with the netbook computer we take on the road. I can live with a slightly lower processor speed.
What I haven't been able to ascertain is whether the notation "needs a DVD drive" applies just to loading it or whether it shuffles data back and forth. The netbook doesn't have a DVD drive. I use the DVD on my desktop as a slave drive and can load things to the netbook, but couldn't use a program on the road that needed access to a DVD on a frequent basis.
Can you advise whether the DVD requirement is just for loading the program or if the program accesses the DVD when it's running.
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frankdamp
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05/09/12 08:55pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Motorhome Insurance Through Hartford (AARP)
We went for a quote from Hartford/AARP for auto. RV and homeowners and got quite a run-around. They told our mortgage provider they were our new insurance before we'd signed up. When we decided not to sign with them they got very snotty about it.
My main objection was that they based the premium on your credit history, not your driving record. We've been with Allstate since 1971 and only made the inquiry with The Hartford because of their advertising in the AARP publications.
We stayed with Allstate in the end, because we have an agent only 5 miles away and she is very prompt and accurate whenever we make a change. We particularly like the option to suspend our RV's "on-the-road" coverage during the off season. It's tucked away down the side of the garage with the tail about 15' from the street during the time the coverage is suspended.
We've had good service from Allstate for over 40 years. It was part of the Sears & Roebuck empire when we first signed on with them. We'd moved from Seattle to Hampton, VA and it was a total surprise when I went to renew our car insurance to find that our insurer was Washington State only. I ended up on the VA assigned risk pool because my insurance expired before I'd had six weeks residency there. We got stuck with Geico - what a bunch of incompetent yahoos. Maybe they're better these days, since they're part of Warren Buffet's empire. An Allstate agent at the church we attended got us signed up when the assigned risk 6-month period was over and we've been satisfied customers ever since.
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frankdamp
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05/09/12 08:48pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: loss of hearing
On my old S-10 truck, the auto-return feature of the turn signal switch was broken on the left turn side and the flasher was very quiet. I went to Radio Shack and got one of their piezo-electric beepers and spliced it into the turn signal wiring.
It was so loud that I had to put a resistor in series with it to quiet it down a bit. IIRC, the beeper was about $5 and a resistor assortment about the same.
GM make the steering column cover in one piece and it threads over the column with the steering wheel removed. To get in there to fix the return mechanism would have required a wheel puller and special tools to hold the light switch and ignition lock so they didn't fall apart. The special tools are dealer-only and an estinmate to fix the problem at the local Chevy store was $250!
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frankdamp
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05/05/12 12:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Does such a thing as a decent gasser exist?
Although it's not perfect, we're quite satisfied with our 02 Georgetown which we bought used in '09. What problems we've had have either been self-inflicted by the dumb owner (me) or relatively minor.
It rides like the 11-ton box truck it's descended from, but for 3500 miles a year utilisation, I can live with it.
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frankdamp
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05/04/12 05:23pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: RV/Marine Gutters... anyone use them?
Our Georgetown has no gutters at all. Black streaks down the sides are an issue. I was thinking aluminum J-section material, aligned just below the roof-to-side seam and attached with high-strength double-sided adhesive tape aided by a few well-sealed screws.
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frankdamp
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05/02/12 08:01am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Have 2006 Georgetown 340 Motor Home Tire Replacement?
We got Toyos on our rig, but we only need 19.5 size. They were about $2300 for a set of six. Being out West, in Les Schwab territory (a store here in town) had a lot to do with my decision.
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frankdamp
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05/02/12 07:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Looking for a place to camp near The Dalles/Hood River
Friends of ours recommend Toll Bridge County Park, which is along Highway 35, just a few miles from its juction with I-84. We haven't been out that way yet, so I can't offer a personal recommendation. They have a 36' Class A. Their only comment is that it's not a good place to stay if you don't have a toad for local sightseeing.
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frankdamp
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04/20/12 12:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Leveling with automatic jacks
The control panel on my jacking system has rocker switches that move the jacks in pairs for manual levelling. The automatic system lifts the rig too far for my comfort. It makes stepping out an adventure, too.
I normally lower the jacks so that all four are touching the ground with a little bit of lift. Then I run them in pairs (front pair, rear pair, left pair right pair) just enough to get level, as measured by two stick-on levels I can see from the driver's seat.
When I pull into a site, I look at the level gauges to see how much slope the site has. If it's really off-level, I'll ask for another site.
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frankdamp
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04/20/12 11:58am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Hi, an update and A phone question
We had Virgin Mobile for several years but dropped it in favor of Verizon when we started travelling again. Virgin is a "re-seller" of Sprint and its coverage is similar.
We only use a mobile phone when we are away from home and it's a PHONE, not a miniature computer, touch-screen device, camera or anything else. Our primary phone is a landline in a Comcast bundle with our ISP and cable TV. Virgin's pricing model fitted very well with our lifestyle before re-starting our RV life. It was $5.00 a month if you paid three months at a time with an automatic credit card payment. There was a small tax ($1.50 or so every three months). All the $5 payment went into minutes and the minutes never expire.
The minutes are expensive compared to other plans, so you need to tread carefully. If a mobile is your primary phone, even at home, Virgin would not be a good deal. We used the phone so little that, at the end of four years, we had about $120 worth of minutes in the bank. Unfortunately, we lost them when we didn't renew.
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frankdamp
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04/19/12 10:07am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Adapting a disconnect to another driveshaft
Thanks for that correction, Alan. A sectional drawing I saw on the web suggested it went at the front, with the reaction housing hooked to the back of the transmission.
Currently, there don't seem to be disconnects out there for very many vehicle models, unless there are companies other than Remco (and the outfit that is now making their units) in the business.
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frankdamp
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04/17/12 10:07am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Travelling from Los Angeles, CA to top of Washington State
I'm surprised that the AWD Pacifica is 150 pounds lighter than my Kia Sedona. To set it up for four down will run upwards of $2500. It would cost me over $3K to do the Sedona.
A few years back, U-Haul wouldn't do one-way rentals on tow dollies. Also, make sure that whatever dolly you get has brakes and can handle the Pacifica's curb weight and front axle weight. That Pacifica is too heavy to tow without brakes. Many rental dollies aren't fitted with brakes and are often limited to cars of 4000 pounds or less.
You'll probably be right at your hitch limit (assuming a typical 5000 pound hitch - maybe higher capacity on a DP), as a braked dolly that can handle that weight of car is going to be up around 850 pounds. I think your fuel consumption will be closer to 6.5 mpg with the car and dolly, if 8 mpg is typical running solo.
It sounds to me as though a one-way ticket on Allegiant to Bellingham then drive the Pacifica back to SoCal would be cheaper and quicker, but you don't get to have your living quarters and cooking facilities along or to do any sightseeing northbound. You also have to eat in restaurants and stay in motels headed south.
Having a car-carrier company haul it for you is probably the cheapest option of the lot.
A lot of variables to consider! Good luck.
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frankdamp
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04/17/12 09:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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Adapting a disconnect to another driveshaft
I've been looking at older RWD cars as four-down toads and am disappointed that so few are covered by the outfit that took over the disconnect business from Remco.
Has anyone tried to have a driveshaft modified by an automotive nmachine shop to fit a disconnect originally designed for another vehicle? I came across a good deal on a Volvo 960 wagon in our area, but Remco didn't list a disconnect for it.
Since the disconnect module is at the very front end of the driveshaft, I would think that a decent machine shop could modify the driveshaft to accept the disconnect and also put the required universal joint on the front end.
Any comments?
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frankdamp
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04/16/12 08:45pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Black Alga in Fresh water tank
Shouldn't be difficult to kill an single alga, provided you can find the little past. Billions of algae is a bigger job. I'm not sure why the male algus isn't more trouble.
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frankdamp
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04/05/12 08:05pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: How do they get to 1M?
I was involved in the building of a very nice RV for a head of state. It was based on a 747-400. Just the carpet for the main deck was over $2M.
I never saw the final numbers, but I wouldn't have expected much change out of $500M. Still, the "bare chassis" was around $180M.
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frankdamp
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04/05/12 08:00pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Due Diligence Fires
When I took a course on fire safety at the transit agency I worked for, the safety officer's position was that hand-held extiguishers are too small to extinguish a fire, they're to protect the people fleeing it.
His put was that, unless the extiguisher is a big wheeled one, just get away from the fire as quickly as possible and call 911.
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frankdamp
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04/03/12 01:09pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Day/Night Driving
Typically, we limit our day's worth of driving to 200 miles. One of the BP meds I'm one has fatigue as a side effect. It usually requires a 45-minute nap at about 16:00, so that's our "end of trip" time.
The only time we'd contiue on after that is if we're headed home, where we know the roads. Honestly, the headlights on our rig are so wimpy, I'm afraid to drive at more than 45 mph in the dark, for fear the wind will blow them out!
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frankdamp
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04/03/12 01:03pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: "newbie" mistakes
When we got our present rig, it was the first we'd had with levellers and the first with a captive (hard wired) shore-power umbilical.
I tried out the levellers on the driveway. Lots of spitzen-sparken. The left rear jack foot came down on the umbilcal and cut through it.
My second electrical disaster occurred after installing a new umbilcal. I backed off the driveway, after forgetting to stow the umbilical after I disconnected power. On my rig, the left duallies will run over the umbilical and rip it out of the transfer switch. It even tore the relay contacts out of the relay. More spitzen-sparken! A new transfer switch installation was the next job.
I now have 6" x 4" index cards with velcro dots that warn (in bright red 24 point bold font) of power cord and water hose being hooked up. They block the top half of the speedometer.
So far (2 short seasons) nothing else dumb, except nearly falling out of the driver's door when I missed that stirrup step in the wheel arch. That got me a hospital stay for spinal surgery! The only time I use that door now is when I'm parked at the side of the garage for storage. We can't open the house door in that location, so I use a step ladderat the driver's door.
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frankdamp
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04/03/12 12:51pm |
Beginning RVing
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