jmonroe

I purchased the life time updates for my Garmin 2720 Street Pilot a number of years ago. Works fine. In fact, I just did an update last week. I'm guessing you can buy the life time updates for what you have. Mine did not come with it and the first update I did I paid $75 for. Before I did it again I noticed the life time option, on their web site. While the bigger screen would be nice to have in the motor home, I'm in no hurry to replace my old one. It still works great.

I think we have one owner that has been very vocal about his opposition to anything but class A. My guess is the economy (slow sales) will force the issue to resurface with a different result. I feel its impossible to argue that the narrow definition of what would be allowed (super Cs), proposed by the developer, would hurt either the aesthetics or the value of the park. It's a beautiful park that once "discovered" will have no problem finding buyers.

At the very least, I'd recommend you have a disinterested third party, with some RV knowledge, look it over. It could range from disasterous, to just cosmetic. I can tell you that a walk through any busy campground, on any given weekend, and you'll see a lot of motor homes of a similar vintage with similar issues. Good luck.

If you've never been, gotta visit the Everglades.

I'll bet my pension that your MH is rated to tow no more than 5k lbs. What you propose is not safe, from a number of different perspectives. Get a bigger MH, or a smaller toad. I may be next to you when that Suburban breaks free.

I don't know (4 vs 8D). They appear to be a 'standard' physical size. We had two weeks of use before it got put into winter hibernation.

We just purchased an American Revolution. We've not yet done any boondocking so I can't report on how long we can stretch our battery bank. For information only. The American all electric coaches will come from the factory with 8 AGM batteries. The only thing you can not run off the batteries are the stove top, washer/dryer and the A/C, however, I'd probably crank up the generator if I were using the microwave as it does use a lot of power. The electric stove top seems to work just fine. No complaints from the 'head chef'. The fridge works fine on inverter power (the Revolution comes with 2 pure sine wave inverters), but so far we've only done so while traveling.

You sure the card is not in the receiver? It would be unusual for the previous owners to have taken the card. You used to be able to swap cards between recievers, but I don't think you can anymore. I read someplace that the card is now somehow matched to the specific reciever. This keeps my neighbor with, say the full NFL package, from 'loaning' one of his cards to me so I can get it too. Assuming there is a card in the receiver just pull it out, record the number on it, then put it back in before you call Direct TV. (there is also a way to just get it from the receiver menu, but as each receiver is a bit different, I can't tell you how on yours) They'll also want the make and model and possibly the serial number of the receiver. You do not, by the way, have to get your receivers from Direct TV. You can buy them outright from various dealers. We just bought a new HD receiver for our RV, paid $99 (a DVR receiver would have been $299). I simply called Direct TV and had it added to our existing account. If you do get it through Direct TV I think they will write off the cost of the receiver in return for a locked in contract period.

I've used turbo tax for a number of years and have always taken the deduction. One caveat, however. Be sure to make a notation that it is interest on an RV on your tax form. I had not been making any special notation and got 'audited' as the bank does not report RV interest, as they do home mortgage interest, to the IRS. Once I finally got a real person on the phone and explained, my case was cleared.

I bought a very good quality 36' 50 amp cord off ebay last fall for right about $100, including tax and shipping. This was about half of what I could find elsewhere. It seems just as robust as the OEM cord on our Revolution.

I read through this thread with great interest as I hope to be full time sometime in the next 6 to 12 months. I can't help but think though, none of this would be a problem if it were not for archaic and outdated laws and an over reaching FCC, both trying to protect the dying 'over the air' TV franchises. I suspect any of the sat services would be happy to provide the service which, no doubt, is no more complicated than making an entry into their computer, but the outdated, confusing and frequently seemingly contradictory laws and regs keep them dancing to be able to maintain their licenses. That said, the sat providers do provide their own level of incompetence too. We've had Direct TV service for 15 years. May of last year we sold what had been our primary home and transitioned into what had been a vacation and weekend home. At least three times I've tried to tell them our 'local' channel broadcasts should be changed, three times I've been told 'it's been taken care of, give it over night to take effect', but I'm still getting the old locals from the Milwaukee area. Not a big problem for me as I can get my true locals over the air, and I still get the Milwaukee channels too, for free. I was just trying to do what was right.

Cool. Thanks for the tip.

If you get a chance, while in Madison WI for the rally, hit Ella's Deli, a Madison institution. It's on East Washington Ave, on the opposite side of town from the rally grounds, but the whole family will enjoy the food and the decorations, including numerous mechanical toys and even a carousel for the kids to ride.

Minimum of 25%. You may get a couple points higher, if you're very persistant. Happy hunting.

Hmm. I'm guessing the cost of propane, to run your furnace all winter, is a lot more than the cost of the RV anti freeze I fill the lines with. In 30 years of RVing, I've never had a freeze related problem, in spite of getting well below zero temps at least some time most winters.

I've got one of the 'DEF' engines and can't imagine how it would add 1000 lbs. There's a 10 gallon DEF tank, some additional electronic gizmos and a big muffler like device, similar in size to the particulate filter. I can't say where, but I'm thinking I read somewhere it may add a couple hundred pounds.

I don't see this as a 'class' thing at all. Those of us with 'motorized' RVs have a different set of issues to deal with than those who's RV consists of the 'house' part only. Everything from how to maintain an engine that is stored for long periods of time, access to fueling stations, places to park, on and on. Yes, many of the house systems are the same as our towed bretheren, but putting the house on top of a truck chassis presents challenges different from towables. FMCA is an opportunity for us to compare notes, if you will. My guess few, if any, members restrict their non-FMCA weekends and functions to associating with other motor home owners only. Most of us have probably owned towables. Don't work so hard to take offense where none is intended, or even implied.

Yup. Picked up our first DP in November. Found this to be pretty universal. The price advertised on their large billboards and signs are for 'work' trucks and for cash only. Thought it would be much easier to get fuel for the DP than it had been for the gasser class A (where it was hard to find a station we could get into and out of). Access is easier, but the process is a PITA. One stop at a Flying J went well, they had RV lanes with diesel. The station near my home, where I topped off before putting it into winter storage, has two pumps side by side. One for commercial use, the other for the rest of us.

Anyone know if the Florida system will 'accept' the IL IPASS? I know they have reciprical agreements with other states.

What you can't see in this photo - it was taken from the tower of the airport next door.

What Brett said, plus, I'm copying in something I posted on another forum just yesterday... "I read up on the DEF vs EGR engines before we bought our new rig. The claims of higher mpg (Cummins estimates 6%) is in comparison to an engine of similar power meeting the '07 emissions requirements. The HP and torque are also increased, using the exact same engine as the pre 2010 emissions engines, as the DEF allows the electronics to be 'tweaked' without adversely affecting what's coming out the tailpipe. To get similar HP and torque from an EGR engine would require a slightly larger displacement and weight. As a practicle matter, only Monaco is building DPs with an EGR, vs DEF, engine, the Tiffin Breeze aside. I'd estimate that the new engine added, maybe, $7500 to our final purchase price, after discounts. No doubt the newer EGR (Navistar) engines cost more too, although I've never heard a number and doubt it is as much. Cummins estimates a 2% usage rate for DEF to fuel. In my very limited experience so far, I'm running a bit under that. Once readily available, DEF will likely cost less than fuel, but certainly no more. This is more than off set by the estimated increase in fuel economy. Oh, and the DEF engine does still have a 'regeneration' cycle. Seems about once every 1k miles on ours, but is no doubt influenced by how the rig is driven. The particle filter remains part of the system and must be purged every once in a while." Someone, on that other forum, reported he'd seen DEF offered, at the pump, at $1.99 per gallon. I expect this will be the norm, once there is wide distribution.

woodlodge, Someone on another site had recommended the Fresh Cab. I'm providing the link to their site / information. Smells much better than some of the other options. Fresh Cab

Very clever, using the space for the computer. Do you use the TV as the monitor? I assume you use a wireless mouse and keyboard?

I've had mice build nests out of the dryer sheets. This year I'm taking a multi-pronged attack. I've got moth balls in the basement storage areas, Fresh Cab in the large rear closet and under the bed and living room sofas, peppermint oil in the smaller cupboards and storage areas. As I already had them, I also went ahead and plugged in the electronic repellants I had, but they had not been successful, on their own, in repelling the vermin. With all of this, I'm not at all confident that I won't find their calling cards all over come spring. They are nothing if not tenacious.

Never having been to an FMCA rally, I don't know how many rigs they atttract, but the Dane County faciltiy is quite large. I'm guessing a lot of rigs will be accomodated on the grounds. The University also has a number of very large parking lots, maybe they'll use some of those? None that I can think of are within walking distance though, they'd all require a shuttle. Depending on your rig size, there are a number of nice county parks in Dane County, check out their web site, and be sure to check their location relative to the rally site. At least one is on the other side of the county, although it is right on one of the lakes, and would be quite a commute to the rally. The one down in McFarland wouldn't be too bad, and is also on one of the lakes. Unfortunately the only private park in the immediate area is the KOA in Deforest. It is right off I90 and I'd estimate 30 minutes from the rally location, in GOOD traffic.