jleamont

Good, I figured with the size of your coach, but I didn't want to assume.

WOW, this was interesting to read. We have no HOA where we live but we are within a Borough. When we bought the first motorhome I was informed there was regulations about RV's and Boats on the property. When I went down to Borough Hall to dig deeper I was told you can have it there but it must be parked alongside of the house or behind the house and no portion can exceed 4' from the front wall. Now this became a challenge, my property slopes along side to my neighbors property. I obtained a permit and had a retaining wall built and rerouted my back yard fence to allow for the back of the pad area to extend into the back yard. Now the coach resides along the side of the house. We only park it out front while its being loaded to go somewhere. In 1999 while we were house shopping we got a bad taste for the HOA thing and discussed how we would never place ourselves in that situation. Life changes often and with it hobbies do as well. While we didn't have a motorhome then there was no prediction of what we might want to do in the future, so we carefully planned and made the purchase on the house/property layout that seemed flexible at the time. 17 years later it seems like a decent decision was made back in 1999.

Ok, so this came from the PA.GOV Website; Classes of Driver's Licenses Non-commercial Driver's Licenses CLASS A (minimum age 18): Required to operate any combination of vehicles with a gross weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, where the vehicle(s) being towed is/are in excess of 10,000 pounds. Example: Recreational Vehicle, when the towing vehicle is rated at 11,000 pounds and the vehicle towed is rated at 15,500 pounds (total combination weight of 26,500 pounds). CLASS B (minimum age 18): Required to operate any single vehicle rated in excess of 26,000 pounds. Example: Motor homes rated at 26,001 pounds or more. Chapter 1 - Non-Commercial Learner’s Permit Information PA Driver’s Manual The examiner may ask you to do the following prior to taking the Road Test: • Vehicle Controls: Operate horn, lights (parking lights, high and low beam headlights, turn signals), windshield wipers, parking (emergency) brake, 4-way flashers (hazard lights), defroster, etc. Failure to properly operate any of the vehicle controls will result in a failure of the Road Test. • Parallel Park: Park your vehicle midway between two (2) uprights in a space that is 24 feet long and eight (8) feet wide. Your entire vehicle must be completely inside the space, and you cannot make contact with any of the uprights to the rear or front of your vehicle, cross over the painted line, or go up onto or over the curb. You have one (1) attempt to successfully park your vehicle using no more than three (3) adjustments. Note: Vehicles equipped with Advanced Parking Guidance Systems (self parking vehicles) can be used for testing; however, the self parking feature must be turned off and is not permitted to be activated during the Road Test. The examiner will be your only passenger during the Road Test. When the Road Test begins, you will be told where to drive and what maneuvers to make. Close attention will be paid to the way you approach and obey warning signs, stop signs and traffic lights. The examiner will note how you control your vehicle, use turn signals to communicate with other drivers or use any other vehicle controls that may become necessary during the test. IF YOU PASS THE ROAD TEST, you will receive your 15-day temporary driver’s license at that time. You will receive your permanent driver’s license in the mail within 15 days. Acceptable forms of identification at the Photo License Centers are: • Pennsylvania Learner’s Permit • Valid Passport • Certification of United States Citizenship • Certification of Naturalization • Pennsylvania Photographic Identification Card • Photographic Employee Identification Card • Photographic Military Identification Card • Weapons Permit (U.S. Citizen only) • Pennsylvania Vehicle Registration Card • Photographic School Identification Card • Photographic Bank Identification Card • Medicaid Card • Voter Registration Card Upon successful completion of your Road Test, you will be issued a temporary driver’s license, which is valid for 15 days. The product can be used by any business to validate your name, age, address, etc., just as a permanent driver’s license. Your permanent driver’s license will be mailed to you within the 15 days. Upon the receipt of your permanent driver’s license, you will need to destroy your temporary license. Now I am really curious to see what they made him do, I did not see where they were required to perform the following air brake check (copied from the commercial manual, not mentioned in the NON-Commercial manual); Air brake Check (Air brake Equipped vehicles only) Failure to perform all three components of the air brake check correctly will result in an automatic failure of the vehicle inspection test. Air brake safety devices vary. However, this procedure is designed to see that each safety device operates correctly as air pressure drops from normal to a low air condition. For safety purposes, in areas where an incline is present, you will use wheel chocks during the air brake check. The proper procedures for inspecting the air brake system are as follows: 1. With the air pressure built up to governor cutoff (120 – 140 psi), shut off the engine, without re-starting the engine, turn electrical power to the "on" or "battery charge" position. chock your wheels if necessary, release the parking brake (all vehicles), and the tractor protection valve (combination vehicle) and fully apply the foot brake. Hold the foot brake for one minute. Check the air gauge to see if the air pressure drops more than three pounds in one minute (single vehicle) or four pounds in one minute (combination vehicle). 2. Begin fanning off the air pressure by rapidly applying and releasing the foot brake. Low air warning devices (buzzer, light, flag) should activate before air pressure drops below 60 psi or level specified by the manufacturer. 3. Continue to fan off the air pressure. At approximately 40 psi on a tractor-trailer combination vehicle (or level specified by the manufacturer), the tractor protection valve and parking brake valve should close (pop out). on other combination vehicle types and single vehicle types, the parking brake valve should close (pop out) I run the test above (air brake test) every time before I leave on a trip with the coach. This is a good safety check you can follow to make sure your system is operating properly.

ObedB, I rarely use my Class A CDL now but there is no way I would ever let it go. In your case you could drop the medical card, my employer requires it so I go back every 2 years to renew that.

Brett, that is the exact reason I wanted to hear what his experience was when he arrived at the DMV. I have also heard that there is a road test involved and the air brake test is required, if your coach is equipped with a full air brake system, not air over hydraulic. I found it interesting they told him NO. I am also wondering.......if there is a driving test does another properly licensed driver have to accompany him to the DMV in his coach? PA requires it for everything else. If I get the chance tomorrow I am going to look it up and read it for myself. My friend could go without me and get in trouble, or not study for the air brake test procedure and fail, lol

Rick, I am also a PA resident. I have a Class A CDL, but I have a friend that just bought an full air brake coach over 26k and I was hoping to share this story with him since he will also need to change his license. Please report back on what you experienced. thanks, Joe

HAHA

Carl, are your cabinets solid wood or particle board?

Gary, sounds like you have it figured out, much easier to fix at home then sitting along the roadside. I will be switching mine over to oil bath this year since I am due for a grease repack this year. Good luck and safe travels.

Ok, can you explain what is the difference between the heat and temp?

Puff, sorry to hear that and I hope her medical issues get better overtime. If this was a few months ago I could have pointed a friend your way but he already made a purchase. If anyone else comes to mind I will send them your way. Keep us posted if something changes or you sell the coach. Good luck and thank you for all of the posts, conversations and advice they were always enjoyable. Joe

Update; I bought this one (link above) (not from this site, bought mine through EBAY) and was playing with it over the weekend. here is what I have to say about induction cooking; Pro's Cooking time for warm up will be greatly reduced. I boiled a pot with 3 quarts of water in 8 minutes. My stove at home (flattop electric) cannot do this that fast. The gas cooktop in the coach is slower than the stove at home. Residual heat around the pots/pans was greatly reduced, this is always a concern in the coach when its hot out, my A/C struggles to keep up. This unit came with a 5' cord standard 120v plug, so installation will be easy. Con's My non-stick frying pans will not work, I have to purchase others. The cook top I purchased has a "TEMP" and "HEAT" setting, I have to play with it to learn how to cook using both .

Bbpeyton, try www.nwrvsupply.com. You can view their inventory on line, pricing is good.

HAHA, I was waiting to see who would catch that. I had to get pepper sprayed in the Police academy for training, glad Tasers were not around then and I have no desire to see how they feel. My wife thought it would be funny to try on me, I guess that's what 18 yrs of marriage will do to a person.

Carl, I love the barrel idea, you have got to post a photo of that! The DW's Taser shoots probes 15'. She asked me if I would volunteer for her to practice, I declined, those cartridges are too expensive to play with.

Ernie, what year?

Herman, we run 75W90 Full synthetic gear oil here. I am changing mine over to oil bath soon and that is what I am going to run. I am curious to hear what others have to say.

JT, our last coach it made it to 10 years old (could have went longer), it was an Atwood 6 gallon. I replaced it with a tank less unit from Precision Temp, RV500 was the model. Reason; we had just bought the coach used, the hot water was good but didn't last, the DW told me the 1st cold shower she takes the coach goes! I ran a test with the Atwood before we ever took it out when I ran out of hot water in less then 10 minutes I knew I was in trouble (she likes hot long showers). So $980.00 later and about 1-2 hours of my labor I was good to go. That unit ran flawlessly for the next 6 years and I traded the coach in 2014, in fact the shower roof fan wasn't strong enough to pull the steam out, it looked like a nuclear power plant steam tower shooting up from the roof, I still laugh about that. People would ask me "what's wrong with your camper, what's all that smoke?

Carl, I had one on our old coach doing the same, and oil didn't work for me. The fan was tricky but not horrible to replace (not a lot of room in there especially if you have big hands like me). I bought the replacement fan motor and blade at PPL. I think it took me an hour to do it. Just take pictures as you go just in case you need a reference in the event the noise comes back and you head down that path. I also cleaned out the burner while I was in there and replaced the nozzle and igniter also. At the time it was 12 years old and I figured some TLC was in order.

keysbabe1, Welcome to the FMCA forum! I can understand your concerns and agree with the truck stop feeling, I feel the same way about them. FIVE, had a good recommendation if you feel comfortable with that, maybe take a class on safety also to become more comfortable with a firearm if you choose to go that route and if you are not familiar with them now. I bought my wife (scared of guns) a tazer similar to what is carried by law enforcement, smaller but works the same.

We stayed at Amarillo Ranch RV Park. Once I Googled it and saw the photos it all came back to me. Decent place, no complaints. Looks like they upgraded their Caddy Limos. The one we rode in was early to mid 70's neat car!

Kay, my cooktop is 21"x12" double burner. There is 4 inches around the outer edges.

Doc, report back on what you think of it compared to the propane you have now. I am curious how much faster it is to boil water etc. thank you

The pre slide ones are under 100k, probably a basket case...but none the less.