charles10

Larry... We are envious of you two, we have been trying to get to Alaska for 3 years, haven't made it yet. Something always happens. Maybe a cruise in the future as we feel that long trip in our motor home may be to much for us old folks.

We live on 4 miles of gravel/dirt road. Our rear radiator gets dirty, getting under the bed sitting on the motor and cleaning , is a real chore. We had an overheating problem and stopped in at a truck stop mechanic on I I/ 10 in West Texas and they washed it out. We had straight mud. After that we clean it continually with no problem but sure wish we could figure out a way to keep this dust out of our radiator.

I am a little unhappy with the sealing tape, after two years I find it peeling somewhat like bad duct tape does. ALso the Dicor self leveling sealant is cracking. I am sure extreme heat is doing it and am also researching the silicone caulk. Currently do not know if it is compatible with our "rubber roof". I use it on everything else, sealed door on pickup 10 years ago rather than buying new door gasket and it is still good. Used it on horse trailer, which later was sand blasted and came home still in tact, had to scrub it off before repainting. One very good Walmart product ..

How do I add pictures to a forum subject. I have mine postage stamp size and I get to big to upload.

Troubleshoot......... We found that while moving someway we pull air in through the fresh air vent in our heating unit. There is a heat vent in the floor between driver and navigator and air was really entering the coach. I cut a piece of foam, covered it, and stuck it into the outside vent area. BE SURE TO TAKE IT OUT WHEN YOU STOP AND TURN ON CENTRAL UNIT1! You cannot use your central heat while this is going on, dash only. We were so cold with this vent open, it is worth the effort to use the blocker, also we have the curtain behind the cockpit which is very effective. It took us many miles of troubleshooting to find this leak, did find other areas under the "hood" that was letting in air, insulated them also.. So many wires in large holes.

Our choice in Colorado is Taylor Park also, there are several areas with some hookups. Usually we go on up to Tincup and boondock on the side of a mountain. Really great, go back to Gunnison ( approx 35 miles) once a week for supplies. We love to roam around the mountains on our Polaris and sometime pan for gold. Remember to get out of there when you see snow low on the mountains, it can get nasty in a hurry.

I was hacked last week. Everyone on my contact list got junk mail from me. One on my list checked and the hacker was from Poland, whatever that actually means. Changed password!

I routinely get on our rubber roof and caulk, etc around vents and a/cs. It seems that about 2 years is as long as the Dicor caulking lasts before cracking in this Texas heat . I tried the wonderful seam tape, it also worked for several years and is now cracking and acting like Duct tape. This tape is great if it does not see daylight. I found a "Liquid Roof" product on the internet made by Advanced Rubber Products. Sure sounds good, stats say that it can withstand heat to 300 and is o.k. with freezing, my body no longer enjoys crawling around on the roof, am getting to old for it. We have had good luck with Camping World around here, their service has always been good but Katy and New Braunfels, Texas it is a long wait to get service. I prefer to do what I can myself. Has anyone tried this "Liquid Roof"?

We tow an older pickup in which we carry a 4 wheeler. Every year after several thousand miles we have front end damage to repair. Sometime the grill and hood are actually sand blasted. When we see someone towing a nice vehicle the subject of looks always comes up as we have arguements about towing a nicer vehicle. From our experience we would definitely have some type of bra on a nice vehicle. Our rig does include a flap completely accross the rear of the coach. Husband who is retired military always wants to look good so we repaint! Have to admit we are somewhat jealous of those nice new vehicles as toads but it would never work for us. They are left in the carport.

We have a Buddy, use it when we do not want to use generator. I set a propane tank in the bay, ran a line under the kitchen sink and sat the heater outside the cabinet out of walkway in the motor home. We keep the bottle turned off until using, saves our main propane. In our previous RV I tapped into the existing propane line. I am paranoid about the cold and do not want to get caught without heat. Our main furnace quit once, took a week to get parts (that was in Houston, TX) don't want that to happen when off in the boonies and not have heat. If you go to high altitudes the big Buddy works, the little one will not., we do keep a window ajar and never sleep with the Buddy on. First up has to lite the heater, does not replace pushing a button but helps my paranoia. So far we have not had to worry about plumbing as it has not been cold that long where we are camping.

On our 2000 Allegro Bus after our last trip we have discovered two doors do not latch. The latch is inside the end of the door with two screws holding the tongue assembly in place. The inside of the door is rivited on. My question is this to anyone who has that type latch, when you take the tongue assembly out will we loose the bar, (rod) that is attached to the center pull lever on the outside of the door? Will it fall down inside the door? I am assuming it is a rod or bar by the way it feels when using. Adjusting tongues has already been done. Should I start drilling rivets to get into the mechanism? Thanks

We recently made 45 day run through Midwest, Badlands,Custer to Wisconsin from Texas. KOAs did not come up on the GPS often, did stay at one, a little pricey for someone who just wants to get safely off the road and does not need many facilities.They are great for kids.

Three years ago we purchased a 37 ft diesel Pusher 2000 Allegro Bus. The reason we purchased this bus was Tiffins reputation, the size and floor plan fit us and we had done a lot of research and picked out this model, when we found the price we thought was good we purchased the bus. It was a dealer (consignment) who had checked the unit, they did fair, everything worked at the time. When we discovered the model refrigerator was a fire hazard and we spent $400 on the current one and the second trip to repair we installed a new one. (looked at one unit that had $30,000 repairs from refrigerator fire) The Bus had 60,000 miles, 2 owners and many maintenance records, 2 year old tires and new roof. Last owner died during negotiations, said he could not do proper maintenance for several years. (I had been watching the unit for sale on the internet for about a year) My son, a diesel mechanic went through the unit when we got home and did small maintenance like filters, fuses, etc. We have now put 15,000 miles on the Allegro Bus, without many problems. Our biggest problems were going from an Airstream to a Motor home.........new ball game! This year we have had to stay at home more so we have installed new shock absorbers, tires,stabilizing bar, and leveling jacks, had front end aligned and installed Banks system on motor, (have the small Cummins). The only thing that had failed were the leveling jacks, they quit while being parked for 3 months this summer and not used. This work we feel was good maintenance for an older unit and it had not been done for several years, our total bill was approx $8,000. and done at our convenience. The one mistake we made was not purchasing a unit with a larger motor, our rig did not do well in the mountains with a pickup towed-- that is the reason for the Banks installation. If we were to purchase used again probably would do it for the difference in the cost. We do not live in our Bus but we want dependability which we have had and we do not like payments which would have been necessarily if purchased new. The other members here have some good advise..

I find small needle point plastic sheets great for earrings, just clip them in. They will fit flat in drawer or can be hung.

Thanks folks. Have stove and frig going, will work on the others when we get back on the road. We are so ready to get out of this Texas heat.

While our 2000 Allegro bus was in shop doing maintenance and upgrading we ran out of propane. I have not had experience purging air from lines when there was electronic ignition. Do you just try to light burners until gas reaches them? What about the refrig, do you hold the gas button down till it stays lit? As of now nothing gas works. I do not want to cause problems. On our older rigs you just turned gas on until you could light pilot lights Need advise. Thanks.

We are boondockers with pets, so, get our carpet filthy. Our solution was cutting carpet to fit, putting down with carpet double sided stick tape. When it gets dirty we remove the carpet and find something to hang it over and wash with water hose. The biggest problem we had was removing the carpet, that tape sticks very good. Depending on the kind of carpet you buy test it for shrinkage before cutting. Our carpet got washed about once a month with oxy clean and the tape is not reusable.. Don't have that RV any more so may be doing it again. This probably would not work if it had to go under a slide out.

My husband is a heart patient. While in Happy Camp, Ca. last summer 65 miles from interstate 5 we called 911, ambulance showed up, took him to helicopter and in a few minutes he was in hospital in Medford, Or. Took me over 3 hours to get there. Cost with meds was around $3,200 which insurance took care of. He is DAV, if it had been me I would have had to pay 80%.

We have had our motorhome 2 years, experienced rvrs and thought we knew what we needed. I have repacked the thing at least twice and thinking of doing it again. (we are not full timers, kept the stuff at home). Many things I thought we needed got taken out after non use and replaced with other stuff. If I was doing what you are I would do the storage thing for a while and find out reality! It certainly is not what you think! If you are retired like us the only thing you must have is your clothes and drugs, everything else changes with your attitude and where you are .Experience for your new lifestyle is a necessity. My personal lifetyle changed when we married, I had been single for 20 years, I am still adjusting. Another thought, reading recently an article of what to take if you had to evacuate your home makes me say start there. Good luck, I could never leave the grandkids full time.

Reading all these answers I find quite interesting. What keeps coming to mind is recently I was reading about hackers driving down streets with laptops searching for open networks and getting passwords, etc. The way this article was written they could get every key stroke you did on your computer. We purchased Myfi from Verizon, supposedly secure. Like many others we do everything online, if we have a phone now we have secure service. (Forget most of Colorado mountains) We find most RV parks used the same service which was slow. poor,and you would get kicked off in a certain amount of time, that service company must have had good salesmen.

We have used much of the above. Recently was told bounce sheets spread around was good for critters, will try that soon at home. Also supposed to repel insects. Moth balls work great for repelling almost all critters if you can stand the smell. Put several in half closed ziplock bags and spread around. Over did it in the house once and had to go around and get rid of some bags. Maybe putting them in basement might not smell to badly. We use Irish spring around shrubs to keep deer away. Living in the country we share with many critters, do not use poison as rat poison killed my dog after she ate the dead rat.

Beware Denver, CO We saw toll sign but no booth, etc and while sightseeing forgot. Many months later after they found us in another state we received an enormous past due bill. They send you bill for toll as per your license number. Ouch!

My thoughts on this relate to our purchase. After many discussions about financing we decided what we could pay cash for, we were not sure there would be funds to wander the USA if we were making payments. Picked out coach we wanted and then watched Internet for around six months. While in Nebraska found a coach in Tulsa that fit our specs,ended up buying it on our way home. Used but with few problems, 2 owners over 8 years. Purchased by consignment from a dealer that had serviced it. The reason for that story is one of the coaches we considered and made an offer to buy is still for sale. The loan is so very much more than value of home, even owner was willing to pay 10 grand to sell it. I really feel for those people, unit is depreciating in their driveway. I would hate to see someone get into that position. p.s. 2 years later that coach is still for sale.

We have been using Walmart with good success for civilian meds. We get Doctor to write 3 month script and when getting low and med refill time nears we stop and order scripts. Sometimes it takes several days but has always worked. Spouse is disabled Vet and they will only send 3 months meds to home address, then we have to get kids to forward them to where we are staying. Takes some planning but has worked well.

There is a bill that has passed House of Representatives that is now at Senate that all states should follow the concealed carry permits of various states. Since Obama is from Illinois and has an anti gun team I doubt it will be signed. Everyone knows Illinois and DC, which do not allow handguns have the worst crime rates. We have Texas concealed carry permits, hopefully we will never have to use a handgun. Wasp spray is beside bed and near driver and navigator in our rv. While reading Canadian tourist info Wasp spray that is intended to be used for protection (don't remember the exact description) is illegal. It also states handguns with a 4inch barrel can be permitted. While at home, at the grocery store or on the road in our RV it will be dire necessity before a hangun is used. Always be aware of your surroundings! There is much incorrect info out there...........check everything out! The above concealed carry site is one of the best.