hermanmullins

You are about to live Willies song, "On the road again". Alisa you spoke of a storage door under your bed. Lots of MHs have storage under the bed that can be accessed by lifting the deck the bed sits on. A far as cooking, check to see what kind of Micro Wave you have. If you have a Convection Micro Wave you can do alot that you were able to do in your stick house. Carrying water, how much? As said here try half a tank and adjust from there. Dry camping is not so bad but hook ups are nice. Consider the cost of dry camping to RV Parks. In really hot weather you will need AC. If you have to run the Gen. the whole night there will be a cost. Your Gen. will consume 3/4 to 1 gallon per hour under full load, at todays cost of fuel that could be $3.75 time 10 hours = $37.50 per day. For that cost you can go to a RV Park have Elec. Water, Sewer and Showers. Just a few thoughts I had, hope they help. Herman

Larry, there are several places to start. One question, was there fuel in the tank when it was stored? If yes, it may have evaporated and varnished the tank or the tank may have rusted. I would replace the fuel filter/s then remove the fuel line from the carburetor. Have someone bump the starter and check to see if fuel comes out. BE CAREFUL. If fuel does come out, pump is OK, weak maybe but still pumping. If no fuel comes out, pump may need to be replaced or lines blown out. Then if you have fuel flow its time to go into the carb. The carb may have had fuel in it when stored and it has evaporated and varnished it up and will need to be cleaned. A vehicle that has been stored for a long period can form varnish, rust or even have water in the tank and that can be a real problem.

cstice, Welcome to the Forum. According to the towing guide here, the answer is yes. Your Lexus RX 300 2 Wheel or 4 Wheel drive are towable 4 down with limits. Max speed of 55 MPH and max of 200 miles with out stopping and starting the engine. Most time they require you to run the engine for 5 minutes and to shift it through the gears while you are running it. Check Blue Ox, Roadmaster, Falcon and see which one has Base Plates for the Lexus RX 300.

Awhine, Welcome to the Forum. Sounds to me like you were at the KO North of Pueblo, CO. And by the way Thank you for coming to McKinney, Texas to see and buy from Paul Davis at Mr. O's.

PDGoto, Welcome to the Forum. If you haven't joined FMCA please do. You will meet many wonderful new friends and have a blast. bizsmith has a point about the front entry. Its not ab problem for us but if that might bother you there are several manufactures that make mid-entry coaches. As bizs. said a pusher is much quieter then a FRED or gas coach. FRont Engine Diesel. We are on our third coach, the last two being DP. Loved everyone of them. Again Welcome and will be looking for you on the Road. Herman

Never had our patio awning come out but did have a window awning come out. We were going throught the Petrified Forest and the wind was so bad from the west that our awning blew out at least 25 times. I would slow down to a crawl and BAM it would roll back in. We change our route and headed to Albuquerque. When we got to Gallup the wind seemed to die down so we headed north again. Bam it started to blow again and the awning popped out many more times. I had an idea, I know they are few and far between, I stopped at a hardware store. I bought PVC Pipe 3/4", pipe insulation, Duct Tape and cable ties. I had them cut the pipe to 5 feet. Put about 6 inches of insulation on both ends of the pipe and Duct taped it to the pipe. I then lined the pipe with the insulation down the arm of the awning, 3 feet on the awning arm with 2 feet below the arm. I then tied the pipe to the arm with the cable ties. This was a lock per say to kept the arm in place and safe from the wind. Hope this helps someone if they have a problem on the road. Herman

Skip & Nancy, Welcome to the Forum. Forming a Chapter is very easy. Post a Blog to have RT owner send you a personal message so you can contact them. When you have 20 people or more that are FMCA members sign a request form and send it to the FMCA office. There will be a few steps to take that the people in the office will help you with. It will take a short period of time for this to all take place, but in the mean time get all those people that signed up together for a Rally. tmorning will see this and he can direct you through the paperwork. Hay, even if the people you know are not members of FMCA give them a sign up form and get them to join, New Members, New Chapter.

I believe that Firestone is one of the worst tire made. They may be able to make racing tires but have great difficulty making a tire that will stand up for the long haul. I have been down the road with Firestone's 500, 721 and so forth. One came apart on me driving down the highway and tore my drivers side front fender off my car. The tire had less then 3,000 miles on it and after I sent the carcass to Firestone they said it was drivers error. And before you ask, I did not purchase them, my wife did when I was out of town. She thought her tires, GoodRich AT Radials with 48,000 miles on them, needed replacing. We had words about that. As for my last comment, I cleaned up what I really wanted to say, " when better tires are made, Firestone wont a have a ******* thing to do with it". I am sorry if I sound a bit harsh. Herman

BrandM, Welcome to the Forum. I just purchased tires, 295-80R X 22.5. I only bought three this time, I had replaced five last year. At the current cost for the tires I bought, I saved $125.00 over the same tire by Michelin. That would make $1,000.00 savings on 8 tires. The cost of my tires went up over $160.00 per tire in the past year. As to Firestone tires (my opinion only) when better tires are made, Firestone wont have anything to do with it.

areale, Welcome to the Forum. With regards to the former comments, there are several people here that can or have done the installations before. I assume, from your blog, that this may be your first coach or maybe your first RV with a tow vehicle. If you feel comfortable doing auto work then you should be able to do the work yourself. So if you feel you can read and follow instructions it should not be too bad. Now to be the devils abvocate. You will be installing the hardware that connects your 2012 Chevrolet to your M/H. A good installation and you will be fine, but a bad installation can spell desaster. But as others have said $4,000.00 may be a little steep. My estimate comes up to $2,200.00 for Tow Bar/Base Plates/Brake unit/Wiring kit and aprox. 8 hrs labor at $125.00 per hour= $1000.00 and you have $3,200.00. So your estimate, depending on Parts and Brand, may be close. So, Do it yourself and you feel comfrontable, go for it. If not Check other location for pricing and have a professional do it. Happy and Safe RVing. Herman

Bob, Look at the power cable you have now. It is marked every 18" with guage, number of conductors, volts and amps. I would think you would need 8/4. That is number 8 wire guage with four conductors. Be sure and get stranded and not solid wire. What you should have is 1 Black = Power, 1 Red = Power 1 White = Neutral and 1 Green = Ground. It may cost a bit more but an Electrical Supply House would be your best choise for the Electrical Cable. Good luck, Herman Jerry, CW cables are only 30 foot and Bob was asking about a 50 foot extension. He can buy cut to length cable for less money. But hay I go to CW in Denton, Texas several time a month. We go to Denton for Breakfast and over to CW because they always have clean restrooms and I get the chance to find something that I think I can't live without. Herman

obofsooke, Welcome to the Forum. And Welcome To TEXAS. We love all the people that come to visit us. Especialy those from the North. Herman

Ferrari, Welcome to the Forum. It could be as simple as a loose wire on the guage or at the sending unit. Herman

Very nice letter to the Company and the Tech. Companies always like to hear that they are doing a good job. You old softie.

That Answers my question. Could Dadhart have a bad solenoid fuel shutoff? Herman

DADHART As my old English Teacher would say when you write in capitols it mean you are shouting. I know you are not shouting but with the problem your are having I wouldn't blame you. I believe your coach has a rear radiator and makes it difficult to do, but if you can remove the Alternator take it to one of your parts stores. We have Auto Zone, O'Rileys down here in Texas and they will check it out for free. If it is not working as it should then you are half way there to replacing it. I am as dumb as dirt on Diesels engines. I didn't think there was any thing electrical to keep a diesel running, just the starter to start it. Again I may not know what I'm talking about. Hope your problem is solved soon and you can get on the road. Herman

dogpatch, So, so right. People always seem to respond better to, "I understand what you are saying, however I feel -------" then to "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND"! Always a well phrased disagreement is better then fighting words. Lets not insult people, lets just agree to disagree. Now lets all stand, hold hands and sing *** By Ya. Happy and Safe RVing to all. Herman

Briarhopper, Valid points. I have replaced all eight of my tires in the last two years. Five last year (all were 7 years old) and three this year (6 years old). Four on the drive axle and one on the tag and then this year I replaced the one tag and both fronts. Both times the tires had no, none, nada, cracking on the side walls. They had great tread and looked almost new. However in both cases when the tires were off and I got a look between the treads. There were cracks 360 degrees around every tire. On two I even saw some steel cord showing. My advice to all is, if your tires are older then five years old, to inspect them both on the side walls and down between the treads. I know people understand Safety and I will always lean on the side of Safety and I want all RVers to do the same so we can meet and swap war stories and not road problems. Happy and safe RVing to all. Herman

bobbyks, If in Louisiana find an alligator and get under it. They seem impervious to every thing other then man. :lol: OK, you have a good point. It would not be a bad idea, if RVing during the season, when making reservations to ask if they have a safe room for guests. If you saw the pictures of the trailers spinning around 100 feet off the ground it will make you stop and think. Most of the trailers you saw were empty but a lot of loaded trailers were turned over. What was amazing is that there were no deaths and only minor injuries. Thanks for making the point of safety. Herman

As stated before, tires that old should be replaced. As to the size, ALL, ALL tires on the drive axle need to be the same size, age and same mileage (wear). The two outside tires being slightly large then the inside tires puts more weight on the outside hence forth the temp. diff. Never, I say never run different size tires on one side and a different size on the other. Tires with different Circumference will fight each other on every revolution causing tremendous strain on your differential. I hope I didn't sound too harsh. Herman

Del, Welcome to the Forum. Navy here also. I was the best friend any pilot could want. Parachute Rigger. Send me a personnal message and we can talk.

debrey, Welcome to the Forum. Nitrogen is an inert gas that does not expand in the heat as much as ambient air does. It will also absorb any moisture in the tire. To use nitrogen in your tires you would need to go to a tire shop that has nitrogen, and they will change out the air in your tires. You can also go to a welding supply store, purchase a cylinder of Nitrogen, an Inert Gas Regulator, and hose. The cylinder will cost you about $200.00 for a 150 cubic inch cylinder plus contents, however that may not be enough for the first change over. The regulator will cost between $75.00 and $150.00, plus the cost of the hose. While on the road, and you need to add Nitrogen to your tires, you would have to find one of those tire stores or carry you cylinder with you. Nitrogen is good for your tires but if you have a slow leak, bad stems, valve or caps it will leak out just like air and air is less expensive. Herman

Talk about wishful thinking. Herman

I have been told that some fuel tanks have anti-siphon baffles in the fill neck and will restrict the flow of filling. I am going to check the neck of my 2008 P/U to see, because I have the same problem as Ben with the truck. Herman

Ronnie, Again, you may have checked but how about the fuel filter. Also call Onan with your model number and serial number and ask about a priming process. Herman