jmonroe

It's not a problem for the firm we work with (Edward Jones).

If your brake system uses battery power from the Jeep, you'll have to come up with some kind of contingency plan. Disconnecting the battery will render the system useless. Firstly, I'm not sure why they think you need to disconnect the battery. Our '07 had a steering wheel lock and the key had to be "on" so the wheel would turn while being towed. Our '12 has no steering lock (they were eliminated sometime mid '08 model year), so once I'm all hooked up I simply remove the key, lock the doors and away we go. Our brake system, however, only uses the battery to activate the emergency break-away system, it draws nothing from the Jeep for normal use and braking. Install a charge line, through your motor home to Jeep wire harness and I'd think that would take care of you.

Great project! You're much braver than I to take it on. Can't wait to see the final product.

You'll either have to line your single panes as "desertdeals69" describes, or deal with a LOT of moisture. If you have the option, get the double panes.

35' wouldn't bother me, especially with a tag. It's when you start getting up to 37' or beyond that I think it gets scary. We've had two gas coaches, one @ 36', the other @ 35', neither with a tag. The 36' was a '91 with the Ford 460. Performance was not an issue, although fuel economy was nothing to write home about (6 to 6.5 towing a GEO Tracker).

We've never stayed in Denver, but will second the Rafter J Bar (Hill City, SD) for the Rushmore/Black Hills area. A great campground/RV park and about as central to everything as you can get. Grizzly, in West Yellowstone, is a beautiful park, is within walking distance of town, and very close to the park entrance. On the other hand, the park offers no views of the beautiful country you're there to see from within the park. We were not able to get into Grizzly, on relatively short notice, last year and ended up at Yellowstone Holliday, about 15 min from West Yellowstone, and the park entrance, to the north. We were looking across a beautiful lake at mountains on the opposite shore.

Campfire Lodgings

We use the area under the bed for other things. I installed one of the 'wire' shelves about six inches from the floor of the closet. I used multiple clamps/mounts across the back of the closet but in front I only used a bracket on the ends that the front edge of the shelf, which runs the length of the shelf and extends down a couple inches, pops into, but is not bolted or screwed into. Thankfully we don't have to access those chairs often, but we do use them on occasion so I wanted to keep them. The shelf allows us to maintain a usable "floor" in the closet and will hing up, on those rear clips, when I need to get at the chairs. The chairs simply lay on the floor under the shelf.

A lot of times the GPS coordinates used by the GPS manufacturer are those of the mailing address for the campground/resort. Many times this is NOT the physical location. Of course they have no way of knowing this, unless the resort mentions it. Some do, at least on their web sites, but not all.

It's been widely discussed here, and on other forums. The RV lanes are limited by the credit card companies max limit. That depends on the company, some are $75, others are $100. I've talked with the owner of a small truck stop in Wisconsin that I know personally and he explained that if the fuel retailer allows the customer to pump past the limit, which they can choose to do, and there's a problem with the card, the retailer is on the hook for it. At or below the limit the card company guarantees payment to the retailer. Lets face it, the RV lanes not with-standing, 99% of the fuel pumped on that side of the business will fall under the limit. The truck pumps are handled differently. Pilot / Flying J has made the decision, apparently, to take the risk and allow realistic limits for their high volume customers. Of course remember, to get the pump to start you do have to swipe your Pilot / Flying J card which does have some of your personal identifying information attatched to it (or if a comercial driver, you have to type in your DOT number). I had a lot of difficulty with the first card issued to me. I got it at the Good Sam rally in Louisville in 2010. I called Pilot / Flying J and they sent me a new card. So far it has worked as advertised at every stop I've made, all east of the Mississippi (I avoid Indiana as their state laws make it a hassle for the RV owner. You have to go into the store and pre-pay). I'll have the opportunity to try it out west of the Mississippi later this year.

If you want to compare fuel economy, you'll have to compare similar weight coaches, of the same year and power rating, similar driving styles and similar terrain and weather. My coach has a 10 gallon DEF tank. I keep a 2.5 gallon container on board with me all the time. Somewhere between 1000 and 1200 miles the guage will indicate I'm down by 1/4 tank of DEF, I'll then dump that container into the DEF tank. This in not the major inconvenience the detractors have attempted to make it out to be. The next time I pull into a fuel stop that sells DEF at the island I can refill that container or, alternatively, I can purchase a new container full from Walmart for about $11 (it is less expensive to buy it at the fuel island). At $2.69 per gallon, assuming 8 miles per gallon of fuel, DEF adds less than one penny cost per mile. As an aside... There is NO diesel smell coming out the tailpipe what so ever (I assume the Maxforce is the same). That makes us much more acceptable to the non-RVing public following us in traffic.

I agree with Bill. What are the issues? I'd have thought most 'big' problems would have already have been dealt with, based on their experience with the mostly identical 5510. This is no longer their first rodeo.

All automatic transmission equipped vehicles have a cooler. In most it is built into the radiator. You will find cooler lines running from the trans to the radiator and then back to the trans. Some heavier duty/service vehicles will have a cooler separate from the engine radiator and of course many of us have added supplemental cooling capacity to protect the trans while towing a big travel trailer or 5th wheel. I can see how a particularly large/effective solid rock guard could also block airflow through the cooler, depending on where it was located relative to where the engineers expected cooling air to be routed from. `

I'll jump on the wagon too. We also prefer the lighter interiors. Our first motor home had what they called a 'pickled oak' and was very light, kind of 'beachy' vibe. Our new Revolution has the light maple and we're very pleased. The dark woods are very rich looking, but can give the RV the feel of being in a cave.

We met a nice couple a few months ago with a 50' motor home. It's a 'super C' style, custom built for the owner. They can carry 200 gallons of fresh water, they have a 200 gallon black/grey holding capacity, a ton of solar capacity and the worlds biggest RV generator (they can supply not only their rig with power to spare for everything on board, but another rig can plug into a 50 amp outlet at the back of the motor home and have full power too). For it's size though, our 'humble' 43 foot has twice the living space. The money and space was spent on dry camping capability.

Thanks for the response Tom. I am local, sort of (lived in the area for 35 years). I know where we can disconnect off site, wanted to know if it was necessary or if they'd provide a place right there. Based on this, I think we'll plan on pulling into one of the truck stops on our way in. Being somewhat familiar with the park too, I was having a hard time imagining where that place might be. It's a narrow country road into where we'll be parked. See ya'll there.

The registration materials we have say the electric power will not be turned on until Tuesday morning. Our materials have us arriving at Lake Farm park, and parking there, on Monday afternoon. Will we need to be prepared to run our generators until 9AM on Tuesday morning, or is that only for those being directed to the convention grounds? Also, will there be someplace at Lake Farm to pull to the side and unhook the toad, or should we be doing that before we get there? The directions ask that this be done before we get to the parking area but make no mention as to where this might be accomplished.

I agree. You'll be following signs to Magic Kingdom parking (and it will also list Ft. Wilderness). As you approach the parking area, keep right. The road to Ft. Wilderness will go right almost immediately after going past the parking booths (similar to a toll booth). You will not be charged for entering, just tell them you are on your way to the Fort. Enjoy!

While not a member, the only VFW post I'm aware of in Madison is just north of the airport, probably 20 - 25 minutes from Lake Farm county park, where most of us will be parked.

You'll want to upgrade to a "full-timer" policy. Right now your liability coverage, should someone injure themselves in or around your RV, comes off your home owners policy when you're set up in camp. You won't have that once the house and that policy are gone. It doesn't add much to your premiums, from what I can tell (haven't quite gone full-time yet but have gotten a quote). You'll also want to make sure all the personal property you carry with you is covered under your policy. Good luck!

Don't know if you've ever been to Disney World. Ft Wilderness can't be beat. That said, ask the Disney people. If you're staying at one of their resorts they'll probably let you park your rig there somewhere. They have HUGE parking lots all over the place.

I did just about that very thing when I replaced the TV in our Allegro. After removing the old TV I bolted a couple lengths of 2x2 to the top and bottom of the original TV opening. The cabinet was very sturdy, made out of at least 1/2 plywood, and upholstered on three sides. I undid the staples holding the upholstery and pulled it back. I used a couple carriage bolts up through the bottom of the cabinet to hold my 2x2. Once I restapled the upholstery you would never have known it had been disturbed. The top of the box was also 1/2 ply, and well below the roof, and I used 3 or 4 lag bolts to hold the upper 2x2. To the 2x2s I attached a piece of 3/4" plywood I had laying around with probably a dozen 'deck screws', both top and bottom. It was going nowhere. Once I had my TV mount, and cable routing holes done, I covered the plywood with some black vinyl material I had from another project. It would not be visable unless you stuck your head under or behind the TV, but I liked the more finished look. Knowing anything I bought would be wide enough to cover the old TV cabinet 'hole', I had measured the vertical space I needed to cover and bought a TV based on this measurement. I ended up with a 40" HD LCD!. I had to sacrifice access to one of the overhead cabinets, something I knew going in (It wasn't much of a loss), but the end result looked great, and no doubt was a factor in the dealer we traded it into being able to sell it twice (financing fell through on the first) in about a month. We used it for a full year with that TV hanging overhead. It would wiggle around a bit on rough roads, but there was never any damage to either the TV or the mounting structure.

I've not been there in a very long time, but I understand the campground at John Pennekamp state park, on Key Largo, recently reopened with greater access and even 50 amp power. I've made a reservation for next January, so if you end up there you'll have to report back on the experience.

There's a big difference between your house and your motor home. Typically the house appreciates in value, your motor home is depreciating every day you own it. Your home owners premiums have probably gone up most years too, to cover the ever increasing cost to replace your house, should the worst happen. Your motor home coverage typically stays relatively level, in part because even though repair costs go up, the value is going down. You can get replacement cost coverage for a motor home. I recently got a quote from Good Sam / GMAC. It will replace a lost RV with a new one if the worst should happen within the first 5 years (there after it would pay you your original cost). It is considerably more expensive than the coverage you have now. In my case it would have cost $600 per year more than my State Farm policy for my Jeep and motor home (they require that all vehicles be covered on their policy), and WI has among the lowest of premiums. Yours could be much more.

I had the same problem (web page 'too wide' for screen) when using the beta version, but only on the Escapees web site. Since updating to the production version I've had no problems, except with the flash player on Google Earth.