mario.lamarca

I have been told by my motorhome insurance provider that the coach is not allowed to be out of Canada for more than 6 months at any one time. I leave my coach over-winter in the US and that means having to travel back to Canada by end of March whether I want to or not. Does anyone know an insurance provider who does not have time limits on how long your coach can be out of Canada?

I should specify that the work also included the 4-pin electrical hardware installation on the car for brake and turn lights, and that my Class A already had electrical and hitch installed, so no work was needed on the motor home. I originally had a concern about having to drop the hitch receiver height on the Kountry Star in order to be within the recommended tow angle between car and motor home, but once everything was installed and hooked up I saw there was no need.

I did not do the work myself. The cost I quote included Blue Ox base plate and Aladdin tow bar, purchased new and installed at a local auto body shop, taxes in. It does NOT include any brake assist device for the Hyundai, which would have brought the total cost closer to the amount you quote.

This may be helpful to others considering tow vehicles. I recently purchased a 2013 Hyundai Accent with manual transmission for the express purpose of towing four down. Information on the suitability of towing a manual Accent four down was scarce or contradictory, which caused me no end of frustration. The manual completely ignores the issue of recreational towing and the dealer (and others I asked) gave me contradictory information. All I could find is a 2008 technical service bulletin which is generic to all Hyundai vehicles. My experience, based on one trip of about 3000 miles, is that there is no problem four-down towing a 2013 Hyundai Accent with manual transmission. Place the car in neutral, key in ignition on ACC, hand brake off, radio and display off (even the clock does not display). I experienced no battery problems, no speed limitations and no transmission issues (so far!). There was no need to start the vehicle every so often. Blue Ox makes the base plate and suitable tow bar (I used Aladdin). It cost me about $2000 CDN to get it ready to tow.

Good idea, Brett, thanks!

OK, I've gone from hopeful to nervous. Message taken, practice caution. Another naive question: if I engage my battery disconnect, for storage periods, does the solar panel continue to charge the batteries? (sigh, I have a long way to go!)

Thank you for this very helpful advice! I have a lot to learn.

I am a total novice on the subject of batteries and suspect I may be having trouble with my 4x6v house batteries because: a) there seems to be a lot of acid corrosion around the batteries after only a few months since repainting the battery compartment and they are losing charge after sitting idle for prolonged periods of time (2-3 months). These are new batteries, 1 yr old, so I should not be having trouble. My questions: how much water is too much or not enough? Is there an easy visual? I cannot see levels unless I open the top and look in each. Also, should my solar panel not be trickle charging them on a regular basis, so they should never run low? Any advice would be appreciated. I had to replace batteries last year because they went dry, dead and cracked.

Thank you all for your comments. Turns out that my coach fits a full size just fine. It made swapping out real easy and now we have a super comfortable full-size queen mattress.

Thanks for the tip on the NGP antennas. I will check it out, but agree that 3-4' is not a feasible option.

I noticed recently that three whip antennas atop my coach had broken off and am looking to replace them with either the same or better quality antennas. I assume they serve the purpose of CB and am/fm radio reception. They are rubberized 18" screw into a ball mount (I don't know much about antennas). I would like to improve reception, so if there are better types out there that would fit the existing mount without adding to the height limit of the class A coach. I am open to suggestions.

We just purchased a Newmar Kountry Star 2008 Diesel pusher and have used it a couple of times. It quickly became obvious that the queen mattress in the bedroom caused pain after a few nights. We decided to replace it and I measured the mattress at 60 x 78, although the specs for that model show a full 60 x 80 queen. I am afraid if I buy a 60 x 80 the slides will not retract fully. The reason for wanting 60 x 80 is that these would be readily available at a mattress store while 60 x 78 would be a custom order. Has anyone had experience with this? I would appreciate your experience and advice.