wayne77590

Grampdog, I had that problem a year or so ago. Could not find Michelin XRV or just RV tires for my size. I decided to go with TOYO and they were available. I could have waited several months but we wanted to get on our 4-5 month escapade. No regrets.

Mark, As a follow up to an extended service plan, I stopped at my camping center repair shop and got some printouts of my repairs for my records. I was missing some. From just two of the more costly ones here are then numbers. This is after my $250 deduction. One for $2732 and the other for $6947, so in my case the insurance of an ESP has been good for me. It's only money. My kids named the MH the "SKID" Mobile. SKID = Spending Kids Inheritance (Dad). My DW has been PC and just calls it "Citrus."

I pay $150 a month now. Nine years it was $95. That does include covered space and 110 VAC. It's whatever they can get away with and the supply and demand!

Yes, but they could also garnish the information and then keep searching for other ideas. It works both ways. I have no idea of which would "really" be beneficial.

Light doesn't necessarily mean power to the step motor. If you try to retract it and give it a little push assist, will it work then. Read this entire thread to get some ideas of what others have run into. Check all wires including the magnetic switch by the door, motor and other connectors. Check underneath and look at the gears for missing or chipped teeth. Look for road debris around the gear mechanisms. Lubricate all pivot points and the gears. Others will be around for more advice.

A broken bone, upset stomach and the normal ills and pains is not a big problem to get medical help. I friend of ours who lives in Arkansas was in Florida. He had a heart attack. His wife did not drive the MH. After stabilization the Family Assist program flew him and his wife back to Arkansas in a Lear medical jet with trained nurses on-board. FMCA Assist also arranged for the return of their MH, and their pet. Saying one will never use it? One never knows. Do you have life insurance, do you use it. Do you have MH insurance, do you use it? It is just that, insurance and it is there only if you need it. I hope you or I never do. To change the subject, why is FMCA an open forum. That is, anyone can read it but to post one has to join the forum membership. As Mark pointed out he has gained valuable information from reading this forum. Think of all those lurkers that read the forum without joining that gain just as much valuable information. Close the forum to membership only. Have those that want to have information join FMCA to read the forum. Control access to the forum for read/write uses. Increase the coffers.

Joe, Don't know where you travel to but some of the weigh stations leave their scales open. In Oregon I drove across one of the scales and DW recorded the weight. Next scale I drove over with only the passenger side. Did the math to come up with the four corners. I had done what you did and had previously weighed at a cat scale and just got total weight for axles. Surprisingly I was very close to corner weights...go figure. So in your adventures, check out some of the weigh stations. There may be a listing on the web somewhere of states that leave their scales on.

Mark, We have 68,000 miles on it right now so that averages to 8,500 miles a year which is about right. This is the first year we have stayed home to take care of some items around the house, like putting in a new driveway, etc. For my experience only I don't believe I would purchase a Winnebago again. I'm probably the exception but I have had to many problems that should not have happened, but they did. The windshield leaked which has been a long time problem with the Winnebago line. It was fixed and the contractor for the dealer I purchased it from guaranteed it for life...but then he left the area. The big slideout, about 23 feet long, pulled the pedestal off the floor on one of the trips. The design was that the track the slide came in on was to narrow and the bed or something caught on the pedestal an pulled it out of the floor. Attached to the pedestal was the drain hose for the kitchen sink that is routed by about 12 feet from the sink to the galley holding tank under the floor in the bed. It was pulled out and water soaked under the bed area. Poor design. Slide motors have failed. Jack system has failed and continues to fail even after 3 jacks replaced. Jacks leaked. Jack foot pad has fallen off going down the road, twice, causing damage to coach and toad.....I'd have to look up all my records but you get the idea. Hey, at least the next person that gets it will not have those same problems.

Regarding after market warranties, I went with the Good Sam ESP including seals. It has saved me $thousands over the past 9 years. I was just lucky that I needed it and had it. Others may not have fared so well.

Theluffs, After you have had it awhile let us know what needed fixing. It is typical that new models have to go back to the shop several time to get little items repaired. Buying used, the previous owner went though the first year little bugs and got them repaired. I think I would prefer to go used now. I purchased mine new and me oh my did it go back to the shop a lot.

Ran into the same situation and I believe it is a normal policy of companies. Had problems with an item, got it replaced, and warranty only good until expiration of original warranty. Happens all the time. I really can understand why. There are persons in this world that would purposefully stop something from working just before a warranty expired to get a new one. Then figure if the new one came with another two year warranty and they purposefully damaged the one they had to get a new one. Companies would go broke. Not everyone is as nice as you and I, and I'm not really sure about me!

I was typing as you were posting.

I don't think that is correct. Michelin lists the XRV tire in the truck section but it is a tire that is made for rv's. From their information: "All-position radial designed specifically for exceptional performance on recreational vehicles and motor homes in coach applications..." I don't think anyone has said to inflate 10% over max tire rating capacity. What is listed on the tire is the maximum inflation pressure of the tire to handle the indicated load on the tire. The following from information I researched on the marking on the sidewall are: Max Load Single 1380 kg (3042 lbs) at 550 kPa (80 psi) Max Pressure Cold Max Load Dual 1260 kg (2778 lbs) at 550 kPa (80 psi) Max Pressure Cold – So for a single tire on a vehicle with an 80 psi max pressure cold could support a load of 3042 pounds. No one is indicating to go over 80 pounds. The 10 percent addition would be if the load were 2500 pounds and the tire chart said 70 psi, then 77 pounds could be used as a minimum pressure to support 2500+ a few pounds. Make sense?

Not only the enclosed storage but covered storage as well is at a premium. When we go off for 4 or 5 months we don't dare let the monthly rent lapse as we would not find a place when we returned. RV Storage is like regular storage, you build it, they will come. Campground around here are about the same.

Hey, at Smitty's drop Bill's name or my name and I'm sure he'll jack the prices up!

p.s., I have the flow through on the MH and the non-flow through on the TOAD. Toad has vogue tires and flow-through would stick out to much.

I may have missed it but if you have not done it you might want to put the information on your MH in your signature. Does your MH have air brakes or mechanical brakes? My MH has Air Brakes and I use Air Force 1 braking system. Even without air brakes there is a model AF1 that has its own air canister. With the air brake model it is just a simple hook up of the air line between the back of the RV and the front of the car. Nothing to fool with on, or around, the brake pedal. The very small piston attached to the brake pedal arm stays in place. I am told that another good system is M&G but that is hearsay for me.

Well if you want peace of mind you could always get a "satellite phone." Not very cheap and I have not idea what service connectivity would cost. A little research goes a long way. Just hope there are no thunderstorms above or the phone will be dead until it clears.

Joe, Look at TST's TPMS system(s). TST TPMS I have had mine for quite a while. First the non-replaceable battery ones and then they gave me a good deal on replacements. They have been quick to back-up the brand.

Most email programs have rules that can be set to send a specific email to the junk box. Works for me. Many email programs work so that if you drag the email to the junk box it remembers that operation and the next time that type email comes in it will go to the junk box. On the other hand, I just hit the delete button.

Have son take a shuttle to one of the car services and when you circle the airport pick him up. I'm not sure about SF but Houston has waiting areas that people park in and when called go to the pickup area. Only concern I would have is Height Restrictions. Someone in that area could tell you about that.

I do have first hand experience with Smitty's RV Welding and it is all excellent. First time was the Saturn Vue and the second time was the Lincoln MKX. I have referred other friends there and their experience has been positive. Last person i sent there they were able to spend the night in the parking lot for a finish-up the Next morning. He may or may not be as cheap as CW but he does excellent work. He also installed my AF1 in the Saturn and removed it and re-installed it in the Lincoln. JMHO

So Bill, first you check to make sure all the windows were closed....then what?

Ha ha! My camera microphone has a off/volume control.

....until you hit the next pothole!