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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Dry Camping and riding areas east of La Pine/ Bend?
If you want private dry camping East Fort Rock is the place to go. I usually look for new camping spots while riding. I don't know of any place better to ride when it's damp. The dust hits around Mid May. There is a big poker run May 5th and an ISDE race the 29th of this month in case you want to avoid crowds.
FJ60kai, I heard Prospect down by you is a good place to ride. Any places to dry camp down there with a trailer?
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DB Cooper
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04/13/12 08:01pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Changed to LED bulbs
I just did this conversion today. I bought the soft white LEDs out of China, and I had to solder the connections. If you solder, I recommend you put the stabilizers down first. Trying to solder on a ladder with kids rocking the trailer is challenging. I almost turned into the Hulk several times. Surprisingly my kids survived the ordeal.
It really brightened up the trailer. Previously I was actually thinking about putting in a sky light in an attempt to get some light in there. The soft white is really more like stark white. (very bright)
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DB Cooper
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03/31/12 07:25pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Television or Monitor?
The only issue is "sound". A TV will have speakers, a monitor won't.I can't believe I didn't think of that. I really don't want to mess around with speakers. Thanks.
I was ready to go with the Vizio 22" until I compared it to the Samsung 23". They were side by side at Cosco and I liked the Samsung a lot better. The sound is better also. I found the Samsung on-line for $160 for a factor refurbished.
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DB Cooper
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03/31/12 07:12pm |
Travel Trailers
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Television or Monitor?
I'm planning to mount a 22" - 24" LCD LED TV. We will only use it to watch DVDs. Is there any reason why we shouldn't just buy a monitor? I think you can mount them to a wall just like a TV. They may even be a little lighter and they are definitely cheaper. Thanks.
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DB Cooper
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03/30/12 06:49pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Any one have experience with Hercules tires?
I ended up going with the Gladiators since Les Schwab gave me a great trade in price for my old tires. I love that place.
I'd prefer buying tires made in the USA but not at nearly $200 ea. I'm not worried about the quality of the Gladiators since they are used on half the horse trailers in Oregon. Thanks for the replies.
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DB Cooper
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02/11/12 05:20pm |
Toy Haulers
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Any one have experience with Hercules tires?
I'm looking at a set of 4 ST225/R75-15 Hercules for $480 mounted. They have an E load rating at 80 psi. I realize they are made in China like most other tires.
Les Schwab has the same tire but in a brand called Gladiator (same size and rating) for $536. (also made in China) I've actually heard good things about this tire.
My axles are rated at 5k and my trailer is 8500 loaded.
Thanks.
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DB Cooper
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02/10/12 07:11pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Battery - State of Charge Confusion
You have verified the converter charges at 14.4+ volts right?
I suggest you verify the battery is 100% charged one time using a hydrometer.
The batteries might need to be equilized/desulfated from the old converter undercharging them.My volt meter that is connected to the fuse box reads 14.2v during charging, I need to check with a multimeter out at the battery terminals to be sure.
We did go several years without getting a full charge on the batteries with the old converter. I'm planning on replacing them next spring.
Thanks for all the help.
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DB Cooper
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09/19/11 08:11am |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Battery - State of Charge Confusion
I would say our power usage is pretty uniform and I turn everything off before I look at the volt meter. The volt meter is a cheap automotive type unit so maybe I should check with my mutimeter to see if the readings match. The only other thing I can think of is batteries my be starting to wear out.
The funny thing is, I'm totally happy with my battery and charging set up. It just doesn't seem possible to be at 50% for 2 days.
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DB Cooper
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09/16/11 02:04pm |
Toy Haulers
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Battery - State of Charge Confusion
When I did my converter upgrade last spring, I also installed a digital volt meter. Now that I'm watching my voltage I noticed that we start the weekend at about 13 volts (probably a surface charge). Usually after a few hours we are down to 12.2 or 12.3 and then we hit about 12 volts on the second day. It will read 12 volts for the next couple days.
According to the chart on "12-Volt Side of Life", a reading of 12 volts is under 50% state of charge. I don't bother starting the generator until it hits 11.5 which is rare.
My question is: Why would it drop to 50% the first night and then stay there for the rest of the weekend. My volt meter is wired to the fuse box protected with a 5A fuse.
I have a pair of Costco 6-volt batteries that are 3 years old. The converter does a nice job of charging them.
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DB Cooper
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09/16/11 11:53am |
Toy Haulers
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RE: New Converter/Charger Works!
We did the PD4655 upgrade this year and it is like a day and night difference. I don't think our 2 golf cart batteries had ever had a full charge since new.
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DB Cooper
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09/16/11 09:36am |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Attitude or Vortex ?
That is a hard decision. I like the floor plan on both. I prefer pulling a 96" wide trailer on narrow roads but the extra few inches of the wide body makes a big difference for room inside.
The things I like about my Tahoe (Vortex)
Sanaflush system
Integrated springs in the hinge of the ramp door
Fiberglass sides
1 piece 5/8 plywood floor
Real toilet and wood cabinets
Lightweight trailer
Things I don’t like:
No insulation in the floor (water pipes freeze)
Too low (had to flip the axles)
Parallax converters suck (had to be replaced it)
Windows are tinted too dark – makes the trailer dark inside.
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DB Cooper
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08/12/11 04:48pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Costco 6v golf cart batteries
I don't know why anyone would mess around with a starter battery for the generator. My generator will still start around 11.5 volts and you don't want to go much lower than that anyway. If you do run them to low to start, you can always start your tv long enough to get your generator started.
Wife and kids - do I really need to say anymore.....nothing like getting back from an all day ride and the first question is "when can you jump the generator" ....instead of "you want a beer, hun?"I can relate to that. I wish there was some way to rig up the light switches so only I could turn them on and off.
We actually do okay now that I broke down and upgraded the charging system. With 2 golf cart batteries we can go 2 days and then on the 3rd day we will have to run the generator for an hour or two.
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DB Cooper
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08/09/11 07:48am |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Costco 6v golf cart batteries
I don't know why anyone would mess around with a starter battery for the generator. My generator will still start around 11.5 volts and you don't want to go much lower than that anyway. If you do run them to low to start, you can always start your tv long enough to get your generator started.
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DB Cooper
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08/08/11 11:20am |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Deep cycle battery recomendations
Definitely look at your charging system. When I switched over to Costco golf cart batteries, running the generator for a couple hours did pretty much nothing. Shore power took a couple days and still didn’t get to a full charge. If you have the parallax or magnetek converter that came with the trailer then I wouldn’t waste time running the generator. You will at least want to bring a decent battery charger with you.
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DB Cooper
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07/26/11 02:31pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Mattress Recommendations
Thanks for all the help. I just found a really firm memory foam mattress at a wholesaler for great price. I think I might get rid of my Costco topper now.
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DB Cooper
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07/24/11 07:12pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Mattress Recommendations
Are you members of BJs, Sams, or Costco? If so, they usually have inexpensive mattresses there. Don't go too cheap or you'll be in the same situation you are now. 60x80 is a standard queen.We are members of Costco. They usually have a Sealy Posturepedic on sale for $499. You're probably right about going too cheap.
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DB Cooper
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07/24/11 11:44am |
Travel Trailers
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Mattress Recommendations
Right now we have the futon that came with the trailer matched with a memory foam topper from Costco. My wife and I both wake up with sore backs even if we just take a short nap. I'm not likely to spend more than $200 or so since we only camp about 12 time per year.
We were thinking that a baseline firm mattress with our foam topper might work. We also considered the Walmart 8 inch memory foam but I'm afraid that might have a hammock effect and be worse on our backs.
The good thing is we have room for a 81 x 60 which I think is a standard size queen. I believe RV mattresses are shorter. Thanks
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DB Cooper
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07/24/11 09:13am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: How is it Sleeping on a Air mattress, in your RV?
We tried a cheap Coleman air mattress and it hurt my back even with the 2 inch memory foam topper. I wouldn't mind trying one that was good quality with air baffels so it feels more like a regular mattress.
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DB Cooper
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07/12/11 01:42pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Bed and Batteries
There's no reason you can't use this incident as an excuse to go get those 2, 6-volts.
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DB Cooper
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07/03/11 04:38pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Replacing ramp non-skid with Herculiner
painting over it would sure save u alot of work. you can always try a samll strip before you go to the effort to strip it down.
y-guy has the suggestion we used to use, just carry an extra comforter and tuck it around the top and let it hang down, plus it stops the wind from blowing in when its cold.I usually drop the screen when they are sleeping. If I use garage floor paint, I could pick a lighter color to get some light in the trailer. Right now it is pretty dark back there by the door. Thanks for all the ideas.
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DB Cooper
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06/29/11 10:29am |
Toy Haulers
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