Koliver

I tow a trailer that is 8.5' wide, 8' tall, that my rear camera can see over, but only tall vehicles closer than several hundred feet back show up. I find my mirrors, properly adjusted, are all that I need to know when I have passed and am far enough ahead to pull back into the slow lane. I set my passenger side mirror up so that the front bumper of the vehicle I have just passed must be fully into the mirror before I pull in front of that vehicle. That gives him/her a 30' space behind my trailer. If I am on the road without the trailer, I can adjust the mirror down a tad and leave the same space. I also find that the mirrors are far handier to glance at than the video display, as the latter is located down on the dash, and I am always glancing at the mirrors, but only rarely at the camera. Adding a camera mounted on the back of the trailer would be a distraction that I don't need. My rig is a 2007 Monaco Dynasty 43, with trailer, 64' overall. I have side cameras too, but as those are mounted below the mirrors, the view of the vehicle that I have just passed is from way too far away to be useful. The only camera I might be in favor of would be a side camera mounted on the trailer, that displayed when the turn signal is on, instead of the ones below the mirrors. Bear in mind I have never had cameras at that location, so I might find them no better than the ones I already have.

Last year we went shopping. the coach we bought came with tile in three areas, front to behind the seats, middle in the galley and eating area and half bath, rear in the bathroom, carpet in the couch area and in the bedroom. from day 1 we were looking for the right tile to replace the carpet. this is a Monaco, 2007 Dynasty, with tile that looks a lot like dirt. Monaco said they didn't have any more, and since it was made in Italy, couldn't get any more. Since we winter in the Palm Springs area, where there are lots of tile stores, we packed the spare tiles in the car and over the first 3 months of the winter, dropped in on several stores until we found the pattern the same, in a different size, from a different manufacturer, though still from Italy. The front part of the carpet is gone, the tiles look like they were always there...a perfect match. After a break for a few weeks, the bedroom will get done too. Don't give up if the only thing keeping you from cutting out the carpet is difficult to find tiles. Worth the wait.

Well worth a look. We recently sold our 98 Contessa. Had it 3 years, fixed a few things, but moved up only to get a lot more room in a 44' coach with 3 big slides. Had a hard time finding what we wanted, since anything else had to measure up to the high standards set by the Beaver. Don't worry too much about mileage. The engines used in the 98 beavers were all very good engines. They should go 500,000 miles without a major rebuild, so what will go far sooner is the carpeting, simple to remove, the curtains and blinds, worth updating, and the shine, also simple to restore.

Steep and winding roads, not very wide, but if you want to see the fantastic scenery and explore the islands, you can do so even in a large rig. You may have to go a little slower than you would elsewhere. If you take the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, you can also see Vancouver Island and the Canadian Gulf Islands. Similar road conditions and scenery. We live in the Gulf Islands and occasionally see the 45' Prevost tour buses going past our house, on what I would class as one of the more challenging roads. I have to drive that road to get home. They come just for the views.

Same problem in my 2007 Dynasty. I did find a blade type fuse in the electrical bay, but it is still good. I also pulled the radio out of the dash looking for an in line fuse but none was found. I don't know where else one would hide. I have the electrical diagrams, but they only show one fuse, and I have already found one. Any ideas welcome.

If you are real keen to avoid Az tax, come on up to BC. If you buy your fuel within the metro Vancouver are, your tax bite will be 33.67 cents per litre. with your US gal being equal to 3.78 litres, this translates to $1.27 per gal. correcting for our $.90 dollar, you will pay only $1.1454 per US gallon. If you avoid the metro Vancouver area, you might save the Translink bite of $.17/L, reducing your tax bite to $.2267/L. Seems like you guys in AZ have it pretty easy.

You either want to keep the present coach for a long time, thus justifying the expense of a remodel, or you want something else. If you don't hang onto that coach, you should look at asking prices (better if you can get actual sales prices, just not easy to do) for similar coaches. Whether or not there has been a remodel doesn't generally affect the price. General condition will affect it at least as much, so you will see no return on that investment over the first few years.

I know that I am entering this discussion late. but here are my 2 cents worth. I bought a Roadmaster 2000-1 used. I paid 1500 for it, including the new tires that it needed ( the tires were old and cracked, having been left out in the desert sun for its whole life of 9 years. They looked like a blowout waiting for a lonely road). I love it. I sit and watch guys load their 4 down, dollies, trailers, and I know now that it takes no more effort to load than anything else, done properly. I have two very different cars that I take along, a Volvo XC90 and a Volvo S70. Very different weights, width, and drivelines. The XC90 requires a power wire to the battery, as the transmission won't do neutral without the ignition on, so will take some power to avoid battery drain. I added that wire to the hitch plug. I did have a tire problem, set out in detail on another thread. I blame the balancing shop, as I believe the weights came off, and led to loss of that tire after 10000 miles. There wasn't much wear. I have learned to back up. It isn't pretty, but I can now back and get turned in a cul-de-sac that would have had me doing a disconnect last year. You just have to grit your teeth and go for it. I wouldn't dream of trying it with a car on 4 down, but the geometry of the dolly permits pushing it without anything coming in contact where it shouldn't. As for the comparison with other dollys, I note that most others have a centre pivot and the one I have has steerable wheels. There also seems to be a weight capacity difference between the two types, the center bolt style being lighter weight. I don't know how the other kind steers, but I do know that mine steers perfectly well. No contact between the fenders and the car, provided you pay attention when loading and get the car properly centred. One feature I don't have but would like, is removable ramps, as I use the BC Ferries, where every foot of length costs, and when I have taken the dolly empty, I have had to pay for that extra ramp length. Also for stowing under the overhanging end of the MH in some CGs, it would be nice to remove the protrusion. The only downside that can't be reconciled is at certain CGs there are unbendable rules prohibiting stowing the dolly at your site, so a monthly charge for off site storage is levied. I have been at two CGs so far that have done this, at one $100 a month, the other $45. You guys that tow 4 down win on that point.

Tell us more about your blowouts. I am interested because this year, on our trip south for the winter, I suffered total overheating of one of my dolly tires, which led to replacement of both. I blamed loss of balance, which led to bouncing, which led to severe cupping, which led to severe overheating, which would have led to a blowout if I hadn't stopped to take a leak, and while stopped, did a walk around with a heat gun, found the hot tire, turned around and headed for a tire dealer. Mine were replaced when I bought the dolly used, 10000 mies and two years before. I saw little wear and no cupping when leaving home a thousand miles before losing the tire, so the only thing I could think of that would explain the damage was loss of balancing weights. The other tire had also started cupping, so I replaced both. I now have 2000 miles on the next pair and they still look like new, still have their balancing weights. So tell us your story.

Dave Root is presently in Indio, and has a mobile unit. He will be at Emerald Desert resort today, to do a couple of windows on a Suncruiser (is that a Winnebago?). http://daverootrvglassrepair.com/

In my 98 Beaver, I had to fix 15 out of 20 double pane windows, as the seals had crept away from the corners and were unsightly. None had gone foggy, 13 years after installation. I don't expect to see any failures while I own this coach, whether that is for a short time or a long time, as I am satisfied that the repair was well done and will last. Those who think it is unwise to repair something that has failed, as it will fail only again are "glass half empty" people to the max. I have, in the past two years, replaced all of the double pane windows in my house, after over 30 years, due to failed seals. I was able to get a much better quality window in 2011 than existed when the house was built, so I have no worries that those too will fail while I own the house. The result certainly justifies the expense and inconvenience of the repair. In your Coaches, it will too, whether the repair is required to combat seal creep or fog.

For a Canadian, with a Canadian cellphone plan, using the phone as a hotspot is the most expensive option. So expensive that when I asked my phone provider about it, I was told "turn off the data plan" when in the US. Roaming charges will beat your fuel bill. In Canada, I use my cellphone as a wifi hotspot and it works very well. In the US, if I am staying in one place for anything over a couple of weeks, if the local wifi is no good, I have signed up for Time Warner (available in So Cal) and although a hassle to get a modem and get it working, once that hassle is done, the service is good and it doesn't cost too much, at 29.95 a month. Other providers are available in other areas.

In order to import a US built Coach to Canada, DTR has to be there, or installed before the importation in complete. For my 98 Beaver, Canadian Tire provided the installation and is the inspection contractor for the Gov, so a simple and inexpensive process. To my surprise, nothing else was required.

jcbuf: Your Saab has fog lights, and with only one hooked up, the guy behind you won't confuse your fog light with your brake lights. Now you have the spare for use while towing, but this light is bright as a brake light. ?why would you do that? All you get is one light. It could be attached to your brakes or to your clearance lights, but still, its only one light, on the curb side too, I don't see this as adding a thing.

http://www.canadasatellite.ca/Shaw-Direct-FAQs-Star-Choice-FAQs-Shaw-Direct-Satellite-FAQ-s/1245.htm

IMHO Steve: If you replace the double pane glass with laminated glass, when you sell the Coach you will need to disclose the change and take the accelerated depreciation, or face a lawsuit for the cost of the next owner going back to the proper double pane glass.

As far as I know, RVOTM is correct re OHIP, and Shaw Direct. My research indicates that Bell is not interested in serving Canadians that cross the border. My cell is Telus, which, for an extra $20 per month, will reduce roaming to $.25/min on calls, but their data roaming is prohibitive. Get a Magic Jack for a free phone whenever you have internet, then all you need to be concerned about is getting internet. There are still lots of good wifi around, but if you rely on using your Android phone as a hotspot, you will have to buy one for the US and one for Can. Then you will also have a cheaper plan for your mobile phone. You can buy a US health plan if you want to stay out of Canada for more than 6 months every year. I know a Canadian now living in Hanoi who has one that is quite reasonable.

There are lots of things I could spend money on. TPMS is somewhere on that list, but since I have to stop periodically to stretch my legs and have a potty break, and I have a handy IR gun, I will rename it TPMS, for now. I now know that it works!

I'll add my Carlyle experience. I bought a used Roadmaster dolly in March 2011. The tires on it were badly sunburned, so I replaced them at Americas Tire in Palm Desert before using the dolly. They put Carlyles on. After about 10k miles with no issues, the tire on the rt side lost its balance and bounced itself to death. The bouncing of the rt tire caused the left one to bounce too, so both were not safe to continue once I found the problem. I noticed this by using my IR gun to temp them and found the rt was 140 F while the car rear tires were 85F in 80F ambient temp. On examination, the rt tire showed wear patches all around the tire, up to 5 in diameter wear patches that were all the way through the tread. No cord showing, but not by much. This at Bakersfield CA. The tires were still looking new when I left home, Coquitlam BC, about 1000 miles. I put whatever Costco was selling on, not Carlyles. When I arrived in El Centro, 250 miles later, the temp was 80F, the same as the car rear tires. I think the problem was bouncing. I don't know how you could tell it was occurring, other than by watching the wear appear on the tire and reading the temperature of the tire. I don't know if the brand of tire has anything to do with it. Possibly the AM Tire installation left something to be desired, such as a loose balancing weight. I do know that I feel like I dodged a bullet by stopping and shooting the temps, so I will continue to do that. I would never expect Carlyle to step up without a lot more to indicate there was a manufacturing problem.

No chance we could give up any counter space for a dishwasher. Nor could we give up drawer space for a built-in. Helping with the drying has been adequate so far, but if push came to shove, I would do the washing too.

Great to hear about both the RM and the Garmin. Could someone please identify the "RV specific features" on the RM, for those of us who remain ignorant?

There is likely an Allison transmission service center nearby, where the Technicians will know more than the Cummins guys do about your transmission. If they say it is the transmission, they will fix it. You won't be left doubting whether they got it right, or thinking the Cummins guys are just blaming the transmission cause they haven't been able to properly diagnose your problem.

"The steering wheel lock is the only protection you have against slinging the front end into oncoming traffic" Sounds like you need an alignment. Your car will be aligned with some caster, so when towed, it will naturally track straight, and in a turn, the wheels will follow the turn. While the car is on the dolly, the wheels remain in the straight ahead position at all times, as it is the dolly that steers. The same applies to a tow dolly, which will track identically the way a car would track, unless no load is on the dolly, when there is a locking pin that keeps everything in a straight line.

Brett: I had no loss of air, just overheating due to too much bouncing, wear and friction. Not sure what the pressure was doing, but likely it was going up a bit with the temperature. So whatever story the TPMS would have told would need someone with a lot of expertise to figure out. Once I had new tires on the dolly, the temp remained the same as on the rear wheels of the car. I don't think I would want to wait for a loss of pressure before realizing there was something wrong. Regular temperature readings with the IR gun will always tell you when one tire is too hot. I also take readings on others pulled into rest stops beside me, so as to see what the heat of the day is doing generally to other rigs and trucks. Harbour Freight has an IR gun in this month's flyer for $34.99, so there is no excuse not to own one.