Koliver

One more reason to use a dolly.

Tireman: The dolly I use weighs 620 lbs (Roadmaster 2000-1), so adding that to the weight of your Elantra won't give you a hit on mileage that you will notice. The lighter dolly by Roadmaster still weighs 545 lb so the difference is like bringing your dog along, and having him sit in the towed. My mileage without a tow is difficult to measure, so when I report mileage, it is always inclusive of the tow. Presently 8.6 to 8.8 with a Cat 330.

Herman, it is called "thread creep"

Bill, relax, some of us are with you. When I bought this coach I was prepared for the $ spent on fuel. So far, driving at or very near the limits (usually the speed of the truckers, who also respect their slower posted limit by ignoring it and going the car limit or close), has not been too hard on the wallet. I am sure that slowing to 55 would save fuel. It would also add another day to the snowbird route. Maybe once we can limit our driving to an hour or two a day, 55 will win, but using the interstate to put some miles behind us, the speed limit wins. Before we bought a coach, friends who had one for years were telling us of the necessity to go 55, because we would have a tow and be restricted by the posted speed laws. Now that I have reported to them what our reality is, it comes out that they rarely slowed to 55 either. So be careful how much you believe the stories you are told. On this and many other topics, there are a lot of urban legends that only vaguely resemble the actual situation.

Before I bought my present coach, I put a deposit on one that had IFS. That deal failed, and I test drove the one I now own. It doesn't have IFS. I could tell the difference on sidewalk crossings, but otherwise, the only significant difference (to me) is turning radius.

Some states and provinces require registration and licensing of a tow dolly. I had to license in BC when I got my tow dolly (Roadmaster 2000) home from CA, where it had no license. No big deal, just one more to keep track of. As for maneuverability, I have only once been stuck where I had to unhook. That was "pilot error" and easily corrected. Like towing 4 down, when you back up, the dolly wheels will turn the way that is most inconvenient, after about 4 feet. If you can do a number of short back and forth, before the dolly wheels get sideways on you, you can get out of most situations without unhooking.

The Canadian Registrar of Imported Vehicles has a list of all of the vehicles that are approved. Nothing else will be allowed. http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safevehicles-importation-usa-vafus-menu-475.htm Transport Canada relies upon the manufacturer to meet Canadian Standards, and to go through the certification process and get their vehicles onto that list. If the Manufacturere hasn't dont the work, that is the end for that vehicle.

If you have another AC, change the cover on it, as it will be in the same, sunburned condition, as the one you lost.

Should work just fine. And you won't need to buy a brakng system for the PU, as the dolly brakes will suffice. I had the same issue, and needed to get one vehicle home (1500 miles) never to tow it again, so didn't want the expense of the gear for flat towing, or the rental of a dolly or trailer, only to have to spend for the other vihicle.

Dennis/Curley: 98 Beaver: acquired March 2011 no stereo power switch twin 2x4 solar panels wired ONLY to house batteries one 14" solar panel wired to Chassis battteries (in higher latitudes, ie Washington and BC, not enough here to keep batteries up against the draw from the ECM, radio clock. dead echo charger Result; dead batteries after only a few days fix: replaced chassis batteries: dead again in two weeks added: knife switch on neg post of chassis batteries, so no more draw when off shore power small smart charger dedicated to Chassis batteries, cheaper than fixing the echo charger, always on when on shore power. Day of reconning: Jan30, when we return to the coach, in storage in Lodi, CA, since Nov 20.

Brett, right, brain fade. Boyle's law and all. Inert is no different than non-inert.

I usually do a walk around, putting my hand on the sidewalls. I like the idea of a thumper too, but then I will need to get my ear attuned to the different pressures. I don't suppose that takes very long to get used to. I have used an IR temp meter, then need to get some info as to how many degrees increase is acceptable before panic.

Inert gas heating and expanding? Isn't that what is supposed to be inert about it? Mine are all air filled, nor do I know of any glass shops doing replacement sealed units that have inert gas equipment. In fact, the spacers contain a dessicant, to get the moisture, should your conditions at installation be too humid. Look at Country Coach, many have a gold tint. The window sites say the tint is applied to the inside surface of one of the panes, so it is protected from scratches (factory installation). Unless you are prepared to take the windows apart, you will be putting your tint on a vulnerable surface. You will pick one, inside or outside, and take your chances.

In order to avoid blocking the ladder, you can build stadoffs, to mount the plate back against the wall of the coach. Or, look around, you may find a couple of holes correctly spaced, where a previous owner had his plate attached. That happened on my coach. Al I had to do was undo the screws and attach the FMCA plate.

Looks like you are at #4 on Brett's check list.

Bill: Right on. I didn't have the room to consider that change. I spent the $ on replacing the cooling unit in November, $1025 for a new unit (not Norcold, so no more Norcold issues), 6 hrs labour $540 to install. I could have done it myself, likely in no more than 6 hrs, but I chose to watch Mike from West Wind RV service (Temecula CA) who came out to the CG we were in. Anyone who does change over to a HH will need to take out a window big enough to pass both fridges through.

Your first post: not charging from shore power. Your second post: Freedom 20 inverter will switch over and charge them for a while. Your third post: the inverter charges both sets. Either you have it all working, or you don't. If the batteries are dying, they are not getting charged. It is that simple. If your Freedom manual says it is charging, but the batteries are dying, it is defective, or not properly connected. Look in the box. If you see anything that doesn't look like new, you should get it checked for defect. If all looks like new, pull off and clean, grease and reconnect all connections. For long term storage (without shore power) get a positive disconnect on the chassis batteries. Otherwise your ECM will eat all the power that the chassis batteries can supply, and they will end up dead in a couple of weeks.

There are fuses on the circuit board that you should check. Some are visible without undoing anything,some require the cover to be removed. I had issues that were temporarily resolved by fuse replacement. Also, check with Norcold for recalls on your unit. Mine hadn't had the recalls done, and when the recall was done, the tech found other issues that needed to be resolved.

Niether of my cars show any sign of contact with the dolly ramps, despite the Volvo S70 having quite low clearance. I have towed it about 2500 miles, mostly highways, but some sidewalk crossings that would likely drop the back of the MH low relative to the dolly wheels, the only place I would expect contact.

For towing any vehicle that (FWD or AWD) can't be towed flat, so long as the back wheels down is permissible, a dolly is a good solution. You don't need a braking system for the toad, as the dolly has one of its own. I added the proportional controller, so the brakes on the dolly are applied in the same proportion as the brakes on the MH. I bought my dolly used, put new tires on it, and spent far less than equipping a flat tow vehicle would have cost. By the third time I was hooking up or unhooking, the time to do so is down to negligible, and I have complete confidence in the security of my car on the dolly, no tire wear issues on the toad, no transmission issues, no battery issues. The only con: storage for the tow dolly when not in use can sometimes be an issue. eg, in the CG we spent a month last fall, it cost me $100 for storage for just the dolly. An unpleasant surprise, and I felt ripped, as there were 40ft MH in storage for the same price. The lightwweight Roadmaster on their website has electric brakes, the same as the bigger one, so I don't see the one you are considering. The difference between the two on the site, one has steerable wheels, the other a swiveling deck. Slight capacity difference.

Having read so many posts here about transmission problems, I am pleased to use a tow dolly that raises my drive wheels off the ground and eliminates that worry. After the first few times, the loading/unloading is a breeze. No mileage accumulates. No battery drain. I bought a used Roadmaster 2000 dolly. http://www.roadmasterinc.com/products/towdolly/towdolly.html#RoadMastertowdolly. It has steerable wheels and electric brakes. I have a controller in the cab, so I can see how much braking is happening back there. I have two cars that I can tow, so only need the single expense for the dolly, rather than equipping both cars for towing. The maximum weight isn't a problem with this dolly, as it is sized adequately for my Volvo XC90. I towed it 1500 miles, without incident, and without a significant mileage penalty. I then towed the other car, a Volvo sedan, weighing a lot less, and saw a little better mileage, less than .5 mpg difference. If I change cars I only need to avoid vehicles that can't have even the back wheels down.

Once a day for me, but not early in the day.

OK Brett, what happens when you run a newer engine on LSD instead of ULSD? Will it simply shut down? Will a small mushroom cloud tell you that you have a much more serious problem?

I will assume that you have a diesel furnace. I had one on my boat that behaved the same, ie poor ignition in cold weather, to no ignition in really cold weather. Exactly when you need it most. Eventually realized that it would ignite fine after running for a while, long enough to warm the fuel in the tank that was luckily located in the engine room, alongside the furnace. I then tried using kerosene instead of diesel from the main tanks, to prove the theory. If you have only diesel #2 in your fuel tank, you will continue to have the problem. If you can move up to #1, or Home heating fuel, your furnace will perform better. I don't know if you can get an igniter that is better suited to running #2. Check with the furnace mfg. For a temp fix, try a jug of kerosene.

When I bought my coach, used, there were holes in the rear cap, with bolts in them, that didn't look unsightly, but I didn't know why they were there. When I got my FMCA plates, I found they fit. So don't worry about the appearance of unused holes. Put the plate where it looks best, let the next owner re-use the holes when he joins FMCA. On the front, there were no holes at all, not even for a license plate, which I need, here in BC. So I had to drill for the license plate. I also drilled for the FMCA plate, as I tried the inside mount and rejected it. There was a blemish in the Stainless strip that crosses and dresses up the front on my Contessa, so I covered it with the FMCA plate. Saved having to buy or repair the stainless too.