skyking8

Thanks for all the comments. We can close this discussion. I bought a pre-owned DP which doesn't have a tag axle.

Thanks Wolfe. I am looking to replace a 40' DP that I full timed in with one that I will be doing 'recreational' trips. I've got it down to three possibles one of which is another, shorter DP. This one does have the 460 but with only 26K miles.and cosmetically is excellent. This is a buyers market so price is low. But, one gets what they pay for so any that I choose will go to an RV shop for full check out. I understand the explanation of the tag axle. In essence, it is like the axles on a 5W. No drive, just weight distribution and balance. One of my concerns that isn't mechanical is the noise factor of the engine being up front. I got pretty spoiled with a DP. Please expand on your opinion part. You can't hurt my feelings. I'm looking for discriminators.

I am considering buying a 35' Cruise Air 1997. It has a tag axle. I thought that unusual since it is a gas powered RV. I have never owned a MH with a tag axle and don't know much about them or their intended use. Is it something I should put in the positive or negative column?

It depends on your political persuasion. You could have mooned the White House if you had a notion to do so.

I agree with posting at the above review site. But don't get carried away with your ranting about your personal experience with the campground because I doubt that it will get approved by the Admin staff. I've used the site for years. I suspect that all of us could rightfully dump on a campground or two, but I've never seen a review there that actually allows one to blatantly do it.

Unless you have a slide out tray in your basement storage area, you won't be able to lift the lid on one of those small home chest freezers. Plus the weight is considerable. My rig came with a basement ac/dc freezer but if bought seperately wouldn't be cheap. You can find units from places other than CW and the cost is lower. When I'm not on the road, I remove my unit and use it in the house so I am 'sorta' getting two uses for the price.

There are some good suggestions in this thread, but if I were making a personal choice between the two in the question it would be Good Sam's. KOAs are of the cookie cutter variety. Good Sam is more about the marketing of the campground and pretty much leaves the facility, amenitiy, location, and service details to the owners. i will second TBUTLER's suggestion about the rvparkreview website. There is a Campground Search feature where you can get a list or look for individual parks.

I and several friends own large motor homes. When it came time to replace tires, we all went a brand other than Michelin. Those included Kelly, Toyo, and Hankook. They are all 8 ply and we are not having any issues. The cost savings was considerable. One usually gets what they pay for, but that is not always the most expensive thing. Price is sometimes driven by the name and what the market might consider as the best. The purpose of the drive tire is to provide traction. The steer position provides ride and handling quality. Unless one is going to go four wheeling in a MH, then steer tires can be placed in all positions; which, is what I have done. It has been said that steer tires will wear more if on the rear. I guess I will find out if that is true. But, by using all steer tires, I can rotate without being concerned about mismatching drive vs steer.

It isn't good to lift your motot home tires completely off the ground. First they then would be hanging on the axles and they are heavy. Secondly, it would negate the braking system. I use heavy duty fatigue runners under my tires. Comfort mats can also be used. Both are made of heavy duty rubber so it's rubber to rubber contact. An added benefit is that they are flexible and can be rolled up and put into basement storage.

That's a good point, but it would only be for movies perhaps a couple times a week at most. So the next question then would be is there any 'black boxes' on the market that would take the streaming download and store it for viewing thereby only using bandwidth for a short period.

I have done this at two separate work camping locations. 1- Find a CG that already has DSL and will have a phone line at one of their camp sites. It isn't a normal amenity for many CGs so your choices of places to stay will be limited. 2- Call the servicing phone company and find out if you can do only a six month program. You will also need to set up a separate account/billing for yourself. Perhaps credit card payments. Keep the CG in the loop so that they understand that they aren't going to be charged. 3- You will either have to buy or lease a modem from the phone company. 4- If you are going to do this regularly it might be handy to have a flow-thru connection installed on your RV which will make it easy to connect CAT2 cable instead of running it thru a window opening. 5- Be prepared for sticker shock on the first bill. There is always more upfront costs for establishing new services for most everything. Good Luck.

I am wondering if it's possible to do reliable streaming video using a satellite internet connection. I was thinking of buying something like a Roku or DVD with built in receiver to go with mine.

I've traveled in all 50 states and RV'd in 42. I would not have anything other than Verizon. But as was mentioned, no carrier has 100% coverage. If you can get someone else to go in with you on a friends and family plan (up to 5), everyone will save on monthly service costs. If you can do without a smartphone, then you won't have the added expense of the data plan (required for all smartphones).

I have a five year old coach with a HVAC type unit. It never has kept me cold or warm enough so I would never have another. The R value of a MH is poor at best which is part of the problem. Another issue is that I have floor vents and everyone knows that cold air doesn't rise. According to the manual, when the temps get below 45 degrees supplemental heating is needed. I have found that to be a true statement. The roof top units are basically just horizontal window units. If my HVAC unit ever malfunctions, the repair bill is going to be huge because it isn't easy to get to. I assume that the weight difference is considerable. I've had to replace two dual pane windows. It's a common problem with others. Wish I didn't have those either.

I have a college minor in computer science and electrical engineering. That absolutely doesn't make me an expert in either subject. But I think it does give me an above average knowledge of the subject matter so that I can say that my eye balls were spinning at an attempt to understand your post. Assuming this is a legitimate post to an RV forum, please allow me to ask a few of questions: 1- Are you aware that if you plug in an external antenna, it is typically by design going to override the internal antenna? It's akin to plugging in a headset into the phone jacks of a computer and overriding the speaker system. The only method that I know to do an 'override' would be to install mechanical switching. 2- You made this post: At this time only one of 2 wifi sources will need an antenna selection, internal or external, dependent how close the computer is to this wifi source. The directional antenna is not moved close to the source. Since current laptop computers - and desktops with a Wireless-G adapter router - can receive Wi-Fi signals, and it is what one would call 'automatic', what is the necessity of antenna selection? 3- You also made this statement: The coax cable (M-connector) will be short for low RF loss, the USB will be several meters ( x3=feet). An MSI M-connector is typically used in a chassis mount configuration. How does it apply to a simple external antenna plug that routinely uses either a USB, TNC, F or N series plug? 4- With respect to the issue of your being patient in accepting a delay in the plugging in of the USB adaptor of the directional antenna until Win7 is up and running. I use the full blown version of Windows7 2010, as opposed to the stripped down version of Home, so I am not familar with how your version detects perifials. I would think that plugging in now or later would be the same for either version. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?