hermanmullins

2mahams, Each state has their own regulations as to operators permits for driving vehicles in excess of 26,000 lbs. If you have checked with your state MVD and they state that you do not have to have anything other then a standard operators license and your insurance company agrees then you are in compliance for your state and all other state have a reciprocal agreement that makes your license good. In Texas there are 3 classes of operator license. (1) Class "C" allows you to operate any vehicle under 25,999 lbs. (2) Class "B" allows you to operate any vehicle over 26,000 lbs. and to tow up 9,999 lbs. (3) Class "A" allows you to operate any vehicle over 26,000 lbs. and to tow over 10.000 lbs. All three are non commercial license. Many states have no such requirements. Therefore if you comply with your states requirements, you are good to GO. Safe Travels, Herman

A good friend of ours, Fred Kennedy, a past National South Central Area Vice President, says to mount with screws directly to the coach. He say that the next owner will want to cover up the holes and faded area so he will have to join FMCA so he can mount his plaque to cover this area. That amounts to covering the holes and a new member at the same time. Herman

Rick, What size of a weld are talking about? If you are talking about several small spot welds them you may be OK. If you are talking about several long stringer beads them I would be very careful. Long stringer beads will cause heat effected area and weaken the frame. I know about welding but not much on what to disconnect before making the modifications. Might I suggest that if at all possible to secure with Stainless Steel fasteners rather then welding Your chassis is heat treated and you can not reheat treat the weld and can cause stress fractures in and around the welds. I would contact your chassis manufacturer before making any changes. Herman

olddoggie, Welcome to the Forum and to FMCA. Folks have many unique ways to mount their plaques. and you mentioned most of them. At most RV Supply locations you can get a kit to mount the rear one to your ladder. Some folks use the two sided tape and or mount them with screws. I took my plaque to my local Fast Sign store and had Bumper like stickers made. They mount just like bumper sticker. I had one that would stick on the rear and one made that would stick to the inside of the windshield. This way I did not have to drill holes in my coach. Adhere it how you would like and be proud that you have joined a wonderful Family. PS, Look for a chapter to join and make new and great friends. Herman

The majority of dealers are honest and stand up folks. Most can take care of most problem that they are made aware of before the sale. However there are things that do not pop up until the coach has bounced up and down on our wonderful highways. Things will come loose, become unplugged and yes some time fall in your lap. Keep in good standing with your dealer, get to know the factory tech and keep on Rving. Herman

Rick, Welcome to the Forum. "Our new Itasca 35F", is the coach a brand new coach or just new to you? If brand new I would return it to the Dealer because any thing that you may do might cancel/void your warranty. If it is an older but new to you then that is different. Where is your TV located? If it is in a cabinet look for several wooden plugs around the frame. Carefully remove the plugs and remove the screws holding the frame to the cabinet. The TV should be held in with clips of some kind. Have help to remove the TV because some are really heavy weights. Good luck, Herman

Brett, Could ObedB have bad valve stem seal that might allow oil to slip past and accumalate in the cylinders? I will cause smoke intil the oil is burnt off. This was a problem in gas engines in the past. Herman

Tom, I will disagree with you about pluging a 30 amp cord, with adapter, into a 50 outlet. The one leg of the 30 amp cable will be on a 50 amp circuit breaker. Herman

Glenn, Contact your Coach Mfg. They can give you the alignment specifications. As Brett said any good truck alignment shop can set your coach to the factory specs. Herman

HJT777 Give Newmar tech a call. They have heard it all and may have a solution. Herman

"53" Send me a personal message and I will send you the name of an Amish Company that re did a friend of mines coach. I will be seeing him next week and I will get back to you. They did a great job. This is so I will remember to get the info. I will post it here when I see Steve. Herman

BlairsBounder, If it hasn't been said before, Welcome to the Forum. With the Family Motor Magazine, and all monthly publication, they are to the printer 60 days before release. Therefore any changes will not be reflected until several months after the changes are made. FMCA does try their very best to keep the membership informed as quickly as possible of any change on the website. FMCA Headquarters has some great folks doing a great job for you. If you get a chance to call them and say thanks it would make them feel that they are doing their jobs. Herman Mullins Southern Region Vice President South Central Area Six-State Rally association

Michael, This year, I know for a fact that FMCA National Officers, Charlie Adcock, FMCA President, Jon Walker, FMCA Vice President, Percy Bell, FMCA Treasurer and at least two Area VPs are all attending Six-State Rally, "Louisiana Hayride" in Shreveport, LA on October 1-2-3-4, 2014. We will have 25 show coaches, Vendors, Seminars and 4 nights of top Notch Entertainment. Don't forget the Ice Cream Social, where each member will get a pint of wonderful, delicious Ice cream. Tom & Carol, due to some problem the Packets for Six-State Rally this year were a little late. When the packets are sent out each year for the Rallies the office only has brief information to send out. All the vendor have not registered and all of the seminars are not set. So rather then send out information that is not correct only a general schedule is sent. Please come and have a good time. Herman Mullins Six-State Rally Association Southern Region Vice President

When all else fails contact Hanna-Barbara in Hollywood. I under stand they have a cat named Tom that is out of work. He is not too good at catching a mouse but is really fun watching him try. Herman

Dave and Becky, Welcome to the Forum. When you hear of very bad weather, always be prepared to move to a shelter of some kind. Most RV parks where there is allways a possibility of bad storms will have a shelter. When you hear about winds and or rain, it is a good practice to pull in all awnings. How ever when you just have winds that aren't too bad and you hear a humming noise it will be your awning straps. To correct this just put a twist, one is enough, in the strap. this will stop the humming. A good place to look for a nice pre-owned motor home, try this company. motorhomesoftexas.com Great folks and really nice coaches. Stay safe, Herman

SSdynasty SS, welcome to the Forum. As Tom said contact Monaco Tech. Dept. They are very helpful. In 1994 they may have still been using a speedo cable, though thinking about that, that would be one very long cable. Good luck with your problem. In the mean time, if your have a GPS you can watch your speed on it. Herman

Puff, That is the best use of an ad agency uses of the information given and how it is phrased. No matter the subject there is always a fration of truth. Herman

Our beloved FMAC is in the process of Changing and up dating the computer system. As we all know when such a change happens thing are missed, put in the wrong area or just plain get dropped. Please understand it was not intentional. One thing that can help is to advise them when you see an error and they will find and correct the problem area. As Jerry stated they tried their best to inform members of the change. Please be patient, they are doing everything possible to help the members. Herman Mullins Six-State Rally Association Southern Region V. P.

Fred, Its been many years since we were there and the East entrance was under construction. However at that time it wasn't too bad. By now it should be a easy drive. When in Cody keep time to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum. Worth a full day. Keep on enjoying the trip. Herman

Also if it is a solid axle then the king pins may be worn. Herman

You can fill your water tank and then drain it several times. Shut off the outlet from your tank. Blow out the water lines. then connect the hose to fresh water and turn on all fascets until the water runs clear and you have no more smell. Before we began storing our coach in an insulated building, I drained all my tanks, including the hot water tank, blew out the lines and then put MH antifreeze down my drains. My thinking is that if I have cleared all lines, I don't need to fill the lines with antifreeze because there is nothing to freeze. If you have a empty fresh water tank and there is still a small amount of water in the tank it wont do any damage if it does freeze. Just the way I do it. Herman

Cowboy, Is there a shop near you that can do alignments. It sounds like the camber is out of spec. Is your unit a solid axle or independent front suspension? IFS can be aligned at most truck centers, while a solid axle requires some heavy equipment. What make, year and model is your unit. What chassis do you have, Freightliner, Spartan Roadmaster? A contact with the Mfg.'s tech department can get you the specs for the alignment. Herman

Kent, Welcome to the Forum. When you check on the cost of replacing the doors it may shock you. With all of the problem involved with the Norcold 1200 unit you might consider upgrading to a residential unit. There have been some nice post on making the switch out. Tom Butler has some pictures of his change out. Check them out. Keep it cool. Herman

When you get a recommendation for RV service and places to eat always ask how long it has been since the person was there. As Tom said, what was great 5 yeas ago may have gone to the dogs now. Once I was taking some friends out to eat at a place that was great the last time I was there. When we got there it was now a gas station. As the ole saying goes "time changes everything". Herman

Tom, Bobbie and I have a Chase Freedom card also. She saw that the 5% is not valid at discount fuel locations which we take meaning WalMart and Sam's. We both may have to look again to see if the discount applies there. Herman