raypesek

SafeRide RV has a phone app where you enter your membership number. I don't know if the numbers change based on who provides the sale but the SafeRide RV Roadside Assistance number I see for an Escapees member is 888-502-0604. I'd give that a try because they likely can route the call if needed.

Per this iRV2 post, GM just revised the flat tow procedure for the 2023 and 2024 Equinox officially. Fortunately, they WILL still allow the AWD version to be flat towed. The copy of the correspondence from one owner's dealer is in this post: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/2023-equinox-tires-screech-in-cloverleaf-onramp-offramp-611553-23.html#post6660003 Ray

It's pretty much guaranteed that your towing capacity is not 5,000 lbs but you probably have a 5,000 lb hitch. The Tiffin 2021 Open Road Allegro brochure is found here: https://tiffinmotorhomes.com/uploads/model-brochure/Open-Road-Allegro-Brochure/2021-Open-Road-Allegro-Brochure.pdf You either have a 22,000 GVWR chassis, a 24,000 GVWR chassis, or a 26,000 GVWR chassis. Which one do you have? The formula to figure out the unrestricted towing capacity, unless artificially limited by the coach manufacturer, is GCWR minus GVWR. That means that both the 22,000 GVWR and 26,000 GVWR chassis have an unrestricted towing capacity of only 4,000 lbs, but with a 5,000 lb hitch installed. The 24,000 GVWR chassis has a GCWR of 30,000 lbs so it actually could have an unrestricted towing capacity of 6,000 lbs. But with a 5,000 lb hitch installed you would need to get it upgraded to a 7,500 lb hitch (the next size up) in order to safely tow 6,000 lbs. Is it possible for the 22,000 GVWR and 26,000 GVWR chassis to safely tow 5,000 lbs? Yes, by loading the motorhome a full half-ton less than the GVWR. Do you know what your motorhome weighs when fully loaded up? I'd also be careful with published curb weights because while they assume a full tank of gas, they assume nothing else. Zero options, not even floor mats. Our 2020 Equinox Premier AWD with the 2.0L engine has a published curb weight of 3,665 lbs. But ours is almost fully optioned. With the normal "car stuff" we carry and the towing equipment that thing was exactly 4,000 lbs on a CAT Scale. So as usual, it depends. Ray

A person on another forum posted that they got the entire PDF, or a scan of it, and it has a date of September 15, 2023. They also said they were getting a full buyback of their 2024 Equinox AWD and reimbursement of all fees. Hi, We just bought a 2024 AWD Equinox because the owner’s manual said it could be flat towed and dolly towed. After having issues with dolly towing (brakes kept engaging) I found the solution on this forum. We just needed to put the key in the RV and away from the car. Now it dolly tows fine. However, we found out you CANNOT flat tow it. The owners manual is wrong! I have attached the service bulletin and our owners manual. We were very upset because we planned on flat towing after we got everything installed. The dealership actually said they would buy the car back and cover all the expenses we had like taxes, license plates etc. Be very careful. Check with the service department. https://www.chevyequinoxforum.com/threads/towing-my-2022-equinox-ls-awd.3953/page-2#post-20065 - login required to see the PDF but I put a copy on iRV2: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/2023-equinox-tires-screech-in-cloverleaf-onramp-offramp-611553-18.html#post6630738 Ray

GM has a draft owner's manual update for this issue that only affects the 2023 (and maybe the 2024?) Equinox. They are saying to remove the battery cable after setting up for towing BUT it also says that the 2023 AWD Equinox can no longer be flat towed. A pic of that draft is here: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/2023-equinox-tires-screech-in-cloverleaf-onramp-offramp-611553-15.html#post6626234 EDIT: Attached a pic. Ray

You need to up your game:. Keep the sound off if any kiddies are nearby. Ray

If yours is a 2023 Equinox these case numbers were listed near the end of that long thread: GM case # 9-9951144997 GM case # 9-10324909390 Ray

Good thought. If it does happen be certain to open a support case with the dealer and let them know about the other cases. It'd suck if there is some front end component damage and you were denied warranty because you never reported it so they thought you caused it.

We do not need to leave the fob in our 2020 but... You will want to review this long thread on iRV2: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/toad-tires-screech-in-cloverleaf-onramp-offramp-611553.html Several people with the 2023 Equinox are reporting that there are problems on long, sweeping turns such as an interstate cloverleaf. There are some videos that dramatically show the problem with the front tires wobbling back and forth, making screeching noises, etc. Apparently something was changed in the 2023 (including some changes to the whole braking system). Several people have opened support cases with GM and in one of the later posts it was reported that GM is investigating the issue due to all of the reports. One person reported they were asked to disconnect the battery and that did stop the problem but who knows what other problems that may cause. Ray

Or if you are really bored you could wade through every TSB that Buick has filed with the NHTSA for the 2019 Envision and see if one applies: https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2019/BUICK/ENVISION/SUV/FWD#manufacturerCommunications Click the + sign to see the general description. Click on Associated Document(s) to see the list of applicable PDFs. Then click on the PDF link to read it. There's only 414 to look at, 83 pages worth. Happy Reading!

One of the pins in the 7-pin connector provides 12 volts DC to the tow bar wiring harness so it can be used to charge the vehicle's battery. There is a corresponding pin in the 6-pin connector on the baseplate and in the tow bar harness. So a heavy gauge wire is run from the 6-pin connector through a diode and fuse or just a fuse and to the car's battery. But... I see this in the 2019 Envision Owners Manual: 4. To prevent the battery from draining while the vehicle is being towed, remove fuses 29 and 32 (Body Control Module) from the instrument panel fuse block. The reference to the BCM gives me a lot of pause. Fuse #29 disables Body Control Module #2 and Fuse #32 disables Body Control Module #1. If you're not familiar with the BCM, it's kind of a central box with a lot of circuitry to control many, many functions such as the wipers, the lights, the ABS, power windows, the electronic steering (if any), automatic parking brake (if any), you name it. Exactly what a particular BCM does depends on the car. I know what the Owners Manual says pulling those fuses is intended to do, keep the battery from dying, but there simply is no way to know if that is a dumbed-down explanation or not. For example, the pre-2018 Equinox needs one fuse pulled that disables the ABS to eliminate the possibility of the "death wobble" with the 4-cylinder engine. Killing the entire BCM in an Envision probably kills ABS as a side effect (even if the Envision has the same problem as the older Equinox/Terrain). For me, I would never risk keeping the fuses installed and just charging the battery from the motorhome. Essentially Buick is taking an "electronic guillotine" to the BCM by pulling those fuses and disabling all BCM functions. An owner has no way to know if having some of those functions being powered up while being towed will cause other problems like a "death wobble", damage to an electric steering system, an electronic shifter, or anything else. The car does not normally coast at 65 MPH with the ignition turned off for long distances. Your only hope would be to contact Buick, find someone who knows, and get them to provide an actual Buick bulletin that says a charge line is an acceptable alternative. I don't think it's going to happen. Installing a charge line is not an uncommon requirement but Buick chose another method. No one wants to end up with a dead battery so that may be why they worded it that way. But it's your car so you get to do what you want because you're the one that will suffer any consequences. Good luck.

My Equinox was made in Canada. The purpose of the diodes is to isolate the the two electrical systems, the car's and the RV's. When power to the tail lights comes from the RV to the car it can also "travel backwards" from the tail light and back into the car's electrical system if there are no isolating diodes. Or from the car back into the RV. Cars today are not like the old days with discrete wires and switches. Everything is tied to the data bus somehow. Chevy actually has a TSB for the 2018+ Equinox and Terrain where water accumulates in the right tail light and eventually causes a problem with the CAN bus wiring further upstream that prevents the car from starting or other problems: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10222667-0001.pdf Condition A customer may come in with a complaint of a no start, extended cranking time, a dead battery, a fuel pump that runs with key off, or a Service Safety Restraints message on the DIC. Cause This may be caused by water intrusion from the right side tail lamp due to a cracked or broken lens or housing. If the right tail lamp has standing water, the water may migrate through the bulb connector wire strands, and may settle at the X350 connector, the X320 connector or BCM. There simply is no way that Curt or any other third-party can be aware of all the subtle changes from model year to model year or even within a model year so it depends on what Curt really means by "system". If they are referring to the car's wiring I'd be leery. However, I suspect what they mean is that they already included the required diodes into their wiring harness and that would be great. When I did my Equinox no one had a unplug-and-insert wiring harness for the LED tail lights or I would have gone that route rather than cutting into the very small gauge wiring of the car. That looked like 24 AWG wire or so.

Engraving the VIN does absolutely nothing to prevent a theft because the final buyer is taking the guts out and disposing of the case, probably in their own scrapyard. Engraving the VIN can help prove a specific catalytic converter was stolen IF the cops find it before it's gutted out. That's why the cops recommend engraving; it makes their job easier. (Some people proudly posted pics where they engraved their VIN on the heat shield and not on the catalytic converter body itself so don't make that mistake.) That video actually shows why you don't trust everything on the Internet. While they talked about the CatStrap being bonded to the exhaust, they skipped that step. To speed up their test they slipped the sawzall blade between the CatStrap and the exhaust, cut a thin band, and pulled it off. The CatStrap installation instructions explicitly warn about not having any gaps where a blade could be slipped under the CatStrap. And yes, it really does bond and no, it's not "obviously just duct tape" like they said. Duh. If your motorhome is in a storage lot where there are a lot of targets your goal really is to make the criminals move on to someone else instead. All of these methods, including rebar cages, are just deterrents. If the criminal has enough time and the proper tool set nothing will stop them. Just over a year ago Forest River had 94 catalytic converters stolen off brand new motorhomes between Christmas and New Years Day. Clearly the criminals knew Forest River had zero security and that gave them all the time they needed. An employee coming into work after the holidays noticed a hole in the fence. See: https://rvbusiness.com/94-catalytic-converters-stolen-from-forest-river-rv-plant/ The attached pics show how I installed a CatStrap on our F53 motorhome. I used their 12' strap and folded it so the CatStrap runs across the top and bottom so there are four places it needs cut, not the usual two. The CatStrap also is looped through a frame opening. On a Class A the criminal can sit underneath and cut top down rather than needing to jack the vehicle up, lie on their back, and cut bottom up, which is why I wanted to protect both the top and bottom. Unfortunately I cannot attach a PDF here with the step by step directions. If anyone wants a copy it's posted on iRV2 here: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/how-i-installed-a-catstrap-on-a-2019-ford-f-53-v10-motorhome-chassis-580567.html I also installed their CatEye motion alarm later. I also keep a Blink wireless camera underneath when we're parked at home. Perhaps some day I'll have a nice video to share, along with a recording of the criminal's voice cussing me out. So far all the camera has caught are a few cats, rabbits, and squirrels and the motion alarm made one squirrel depart very fast. That video is here and you can hear the CatEye alarm at the end if your sound is on: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AFw7TS80jxqUx_w&id=D99D84C5967D96B4!234&cid=D99D84C5967D96B4&parId=root&parQt=sharedby&o=OneUp If this slows a criminal down or makes them just move on to the next one, I'm happy. And if the motion alarm keeps a squirrel from chewing up my wiring, I'll be even happier!

To me the "bottom line" on this subject is that any deterrent you can put in place cost effectively is better than just taking a chance. - What is my insurance deductible? - What are the indirect costs of a catalytic converter theft? Anger and a feeling of having been violated, possible canceled trips and loss of deposits along with family disappointment, more anger, time lost trying to find a replacement and someone who can do the work, more anger, etc. - If I experienced a catalytic converter theft, would I then pay out of pocket for some kind of anti-theft deterrent? For me, probably. The only other alternative is to experience a conttant, nagging worry, suffer a second loss, pay a second deductible, and have all the same problems getting a replacement again. So I simply decided to cut out all of the emotional and financial impact of an actual loss and install an anti-theft deterrent on my schedule. The total cost (because I did the work myself) was less than the insurance deductible cost of $500 if I suffered a theft. I hate spending money for things like this but hopefully I've minimized the chance of a future theft. Then again, maybe I'd get a new motorhome out of a catalytic converter theft, if I could afford a new one with the insurance payout at today's prices. See: https://muskoka411.com/vehicles-flipped-over-catalytic-converters-stolen-in-severn/

Let us know how that works out for you. :) The pics are not of ours.

Perhaps in your state and that only stops honest scrapyards from accepting stolen goods. In Ohio the law limits sellers to one catalytic converter per scrapyard per day. But the law does not apply to commercial sellers. So one enterprising thief got an LLC through State of Ohio and sold several every day.

Three of the people on that thread said they called FMCA and confirmed it. They also appear to have confirmed they are FMCA members. If this is a scam, and that's a big "if", then the FMCA may have lost some member contact information.

I've read of many people replacing the panel that way. But I'd suspect the controller module located in the base of the toilet more than a stuck membrane switch. If the membrane switch is physically stuck you should be able to pull the 30 amp (or so) fuse for the toilet, kill the toilet, and put the fuse back in. Or just kill all DC power for a half minute or so. If the toilet does not start up my money would go on the controller module instead. This is the controller for our Tecma Silence Plus 2G and is one of two links I found that claims to have it in stock: https://pdxrvwholesale.com/products/thetford-toilet-controller-36398 The other link: https://www.nwrvsupply.com/product/tecma-silence-plus-controller-36398/ Good luck, Ray

Sounds like a scam, right? But there are several posts on iRV2 that it's not. One person said they got a check for $177 but the check bounced and had to be replaced, which deposited OK. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f64/fmca-check-bounced-595059.html Anyone else here get a rebate check from FMCA for being a loyal customer with the hotspot, they sent me a check for $177 and I deposited it and it bounced! I contacted them and they said there was suspicious activity on their account and they were taking care of it. Right after I got the email about losing the two free nights a month at the FMCA campground? Someone needs to work on their timing... Ray

We've flat towed a 2020 Equinox Premier AWD with the 2.0L engine and the 9-speed transmission for two years. rossboyer's description of the charge line is accurate but using the RVi Towed Battery Controller as the charge controller will not work with an Equinox. People have reported the LSL one as working OK. The Equinox draws almost 8 amps out of the battery when set up for towing. Once I ripped out the RVi TBC and went to just a straight charge line with a fuse I no longer had battery problems. Based on watching Etrailer videos for the baseplate I chose the Demco baseplate and use a Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar. The braking system is the Demco Stay-IN-Play DUO. The Roadmaster also looked like a good choice. With the Premier, because it has LED lights and a redesigned taillight assembly, you cannot install the separate LED light. You must use a diode kit instead, which is what I did. Here is a recent thread on a person who had their Blue Ox baseplate fail on their 2018 Equinox while towing: https://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/base-plate-ripped-off-frame-591290.html Ray

I'm noticing something odd with the new Franklin T9. I keep it plugged in inside a cabinet because we're on our winter trip and use it every day. It will give a message of "Battery fully charged" followed later by "Charging too long" or something similar. When the second message appears I know it because every device connected including the cameras disconnect and we have no Internet access. I need to unplug the cord and plug it back in or, usually, just reboot the device. If we're in the motorhome when it happens... I found a few threads where people reported the same thing. No, it's not the "Inactive time" setting because that's set to "Always on". Outside of putting a lamp timer on the charger, does anyone have a suggestion? Does the M2000 have this problem? Thanks, Ray

Thanks for the quick response and explanation. That actually is one thing I would not have thought of, given the size of the warehouse and all of the surrounding area.

Ugh. We just went to book a spot at the FMCA Campground in Newtown, OH, east of Cincinnati, during April and were greeted with this message: FMCA Campground will be closed from 03/28/2022 to 05/24/2022 Anybody know what's going on there? Ray

Wait, what? The M2000 hotspot costs an additional $250 in Year One from Calyx, additional to the $750? The Year One difference between FMCA ($640) and Calyx ($750) is $110. (I don't know if owning the hotspot is better than leasing it for us. When our first Franklin R910 went bad we got the Mifi 8000L for no charge from FMCA. That wouldn't happen out of warranty if we owned it.) Confusedly yours, Ray

To further prove your point, we moved from Bradenton, FL where we got roughly 3 - 5 M/bps with the Sprint Mifi 8000L. With the T-Mobile replacement Franklin T9 hotspot we usually got well under 1 M/bps during the day. We're now in Crystal River, FL. This campground was kind of a dead spot for Sprint and we usually got 1 - 2 M/bps here, but the coverage matched the Sprint map well so we knew it would be weak. But Netflix etc. still worked with very occasional buffering. With the T-Mobile T9 hotspot here in Crystal River we're consistently getting 16 - 20 M/bps anytime during the day and we're almost in the same spot as last year. Unfortunately next year we'll be in Bradenton for all three months because they changed to a 3-month minimum for 2023. So now I need to decide whether to keep the FMCA plan or upgrade to the Calyx M2000 plan (which obviously could change by a year from now). FMCA for Year 1 = 50 *12 or $600 + the $40 one-time device rental for a total of $640 FMCA for Year 2 = $600 Calyx for Year 1 = $750 Calyx for Year 2 = $500 So after Year 2 Calyx currently is ahead on price a bit with a more capable device, currently. Decisions, decisions... Ray