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?

I am a bit confused about where your antenna is located: inside or outside of the rig. I replaced my outside antenna. It isn't difficult to do, but you will need to find one that marries with the base of the existing one on the rig or be handy at improvising a solid connection. If the cable connections are different, just cut the cables and slice them together and use some electrical tape on the joints. If the antenna is high enough to hit something that you drive under, then bend it in a 90 degree angle before you put it on the rig. For the inside of the rig, depending on whether or not the radio itself has a connection on the back, you could just buy a suction cup antenna and plug it in.

I'm not going to takes sides other than to say if you're going to have a handgun in the RV or vehicle and you are camping around me, I would prefer that you have a CCP. Excepting perhaps LEO and military people. It's valuable training and may keep you from going off half-cocked (pun intended). I've hosted in state and federal parks for last few years. In those campgrounds where there was real pro-active patrols by LEO, I personally was aware of more than half dozen arrest of campers. Most of them had outstanding warrants and were nabbed by a simple license plate check. One had a firearm. The only point here is one can't always assume that all campgrounds have law abiding people in them.

OK, I've read all the threads on towing the Cruze automatic four down. What I can't find is input from those owners who tow this car with a manual transmission. I have towed several vehicles with manual trannies that otherwise could not if they had automatics. The latest is a Ford Ranger p/u for 30K with absolutely no problems. Anyone out there who has a Cruze with manual transmission who tows? Advise would be appreciated.

Cheap is a misnomer when it comes to today's fuel prices, but I passed thru Abilene, TX a few days ago and found diesel was $3.65/gallon at many other than truck stop locations. Truck stops were 30 cents/gallon more. Wished I had bigger tanks!!

I work camped for the US Forest Service in ID. And there is plenty of National Forest in the state. It's a great state to visit. Many outdoor rec people like to visit the central section of the state. Coeur d'Alene is always a favorite destination for many. Depending on where you select, you'll have some mountain driving so plan for it. Here's a nice site that may help you plan. http://www.visitidaho.org/things-to-do/

Bill, That makes sense. Apparently, the 12v booster is then an internal part of my switching box. I was unaware that the assembly had a UHF section. That makes the replacement decision easier. Instead of trying to repair the antenna or get a smaller one, I'll just go buy another complete Winegard batwing. As they say...plug and play. Thanks for the help. Much appreciated.

I took the batwing casing apart and noticed that there is a pc board in the assembly. Assume it to be either a signal booster or an impedence/frequency trap of some sort. Sorta like a trap on a dipole to match more frequencies/bands. That seems more reasonable since there is already an 12v powered amplifier circuit in the rig. I understand the line of sight and height issues. But oddly, I am still getting several TV stations on the coax cable that's dangling loose on the roof. If I can pick up stations 30 miles away with no antenna, then it seemed logical that I can with a smaller antenna.

My bat wing antenna and the support rod was damaged by a falling tree limb during some high winds. I was thinking that it might be an opportune time to change out the whole thing to something that is smaller in size. My antenna set up has the DTV Winegard wingman attachment. So I was thinking of removing that part of the assembly and making it my sole TV antenna. If would be simple to do, but I am wondering how well it would work. Or I could just go buy a smaller digital TV antenna and attach it to a shorten support arm. I'm looking for suggestions, to include a low cost antenna to replace the bat wing. We have a Kingdome system and don't watch much local TV anyway.

Thanks. I will pass that along to him. He is in the process of buying new tires.

I have a friend who is about to replace the tires on his 40-foot motorhome. It is of different manufacturer than mine, but about the same empty gross weight. His tires are 255-R80-22.5. Mine are 275s. The difference in load ratings for the dullies is 2,000 pounds, which I would think is significant. I suggested that he get a good all around weighing of the rig and then compare load charts. His are original tires, but I am wondering if he is undersized.