moonwink
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Posts posted by moonwink
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Like others, when we're out with a messy MH, I fill a bucket with water and use a terry rag to wipe off the heavy accumulations. I rinse the rag several times and wring out the excess water. To start off, I don't intend to do them whole thing at once. Start with the front, then just one panel before deciding if one more would be too much and another if I'm still feeling up to it. If not, I get the rest the next day. With all the grime off, wiping it down with Protect-All (preferred), Wash-Wax-All, Dri-Wash and Guard, Slick Mist or something similar is easy - and you don't need to do it all at once. You don't need a hose sprayer to flood the side of your unit to get it shining like new. At most I'll use two or three buckets of water and no one's every got after me yet for using that method.
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I've had the NSA Ready Brake system for many years and I've used it on at least a couple different MHs and towed vehicles. It's comparatively low cost, simple and proportional. Right now I have a couple of cars ready to tow. It's a cable system that pulls on the towed vehicle brake pedal. The harder the stop, the harder it pulls on the brake pedal. I've got an LED on the dash that's powered by the towed vehicle brake lights and lets me know when brakes are being applied - new models are a little different and simpler.
See http://www.readybrake.com/ for details.
Here's the system I use: http://www.readybrake.com/store/p1/ReadyBrake™_Towed_Vehicle_Receiver_Style_Supplemental_Brake_System.htm
I pair that with the emergency brake package just in case of a break away:
http://www.readybrake.com/store/p5/ReadyStop™_Towed_Vehicle_Emergency_Break_Away_Kit.htmlIn Dash Monitor Lights
http://www.readybrake.com/store/p30/In-Dash_Monitor_DL-100.htmlhttp://www.readybrake.com/store/p14/In-Dash_Light_Monitor_DL-300.html
You can look up a dealer/installer near you on their website or like myself, you can order the parts and install it yourself. Amazon will ship it to you or you can order through the NSA website.
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Thanks for the feedback and very glad to hear you're happy with the purchase! Our MH came with a 4" thick cardboard box for a mattress that our 3 inch foam topper helped but wouldn't stay centered and created a nuisance. We don't need it anymore since we replaced the old mattress with this 6" foam one.
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No. The pressure of the entire axle should be divided by 2 and then compared with the charts. The best way to weigh the axle is to weigh each tire individually and then adjust the pressure in both tires to the highest pressure shown in the charts for the heaviest side. The recommendations I've seen and heard say that side to side, the pressures should be the same.
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If the tag axle has just one tire on each side, use the weight shown for single tires. Only when there are two tires on each side would you use the duel chart. Those pressures shown are minimum for the weight on each set (corner) but you'd always use the same pressure on both sides of an axle. Start by having the MH weighed at a location that can give you the weight on each corner or set of tires. The duals should be weighed separately from the tag.
I'm not a fan of Michelin tires but they publish a guide for RVers that good to read over. Here's link to that document:
https://michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bcontent/PDF/RV_Tires_Brochure.pdf -
I can't imagine dragging around a tow dolly when you've got a very towable HHR. I've tried tow dollies and very quickly got tired of dealing with them. They're very heavy and hard to manhandle. Most of the places we go have back-in sites meaning you have to unload the towed, but the dolly aside, back-in and store the dolly - that also applies to dead-end streets and parking lots. Compare that with towing 4 down (which the HHR is very capable os). Pull up to the back of the MH, connect the towbar, pull a fuse, put it in neutral, connect the lights and brakes and go. I've tried both and much prefer 4 down towing. As always, your mileage may differ and that's why they offer so many different ways to accomplish the same goal. Happy travels.
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2 hours ago, piperfrank1 said:We use the the Verizon Jetpack and love it! No issues and we are on the unlimited plan.
Define "Unlimited"
I signed up for a Verizon "unlimited" plan only to find out I'd be throttled after what was originally 20Gb and then became 15 or 16Gb. I was told that was per device while signing up only to find out it's per plan meaning all devices share the same data totals. After being with Sprint for several years hoping the dismal data rates would improve over time and then going to T-Mobile only to find many of the areas I traveled through were not covered at all, I switched to Verizon because of all the stories I heard around the campfire that said they had the best coverage. I still find myself in many places that are undeserved with pitiful signal strength or none at all. It's been many years since I had AT&T service and they told me I lived in an area with very poor coverage and they had no plans on their books to ever upgrade the service here and I should consider switching providers - btw, they wouldn't release me from their contract either. I'm not a fan of any of big 4 cell providers at this point but I keep hoping for something better. Call me on my cell phone when you hear something. -
We bought a 6 inch memory foam queen size mattress from Amazon last year and like it a lot. It was a couple of inches long but an electric knife trimmed off those two extra inches in nothing flat. It fits perfect now. It was under $133 when we bought it - I see it's gone up to $142 now. Firm but not stiff. Very nice.
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From FMCA's towables for 2018:
1 Use of a shield mounted in front of the vehicle grille could restrict airflow and cause damage to the transmission.
5 A vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission should be run at the beginning of each day and at each RV fuel stop for about five minutes.
6 To prevent battery drain, an auxiliary battery charger must be installed onto the tow vehicle and the charging leads connected to the battery of the vehicle to
be towed. -
I'd replace the whole roof if were me. A temporary fix would be a waste of time and money.
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Dmspkm, you could be in a bad signal area or the tower you're connected to could have a very poor network connection. Send an email to dan@sprint.com with your problem and give them a chance to make things better. If they can't get it fixed right away, you may want to cancel before the window closes on that option.
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You can send a hissy-fit email to dan@sprint.com and Sprint will call you to console you about your problem. That address was the CEO's office many years ago but I believe they're still monitoring it.
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Get yourself a back support.
You're going to need it dragging that tow dolly around. -
Our old motorhome (38ft Residency) was 15 years old and had a TPO roof. It never gave us any problems. I used a pressure washer to keep it clean - it was a lot easier and did a better job of brightening it up than using a scrub brush.
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HR probably used a "zoned" Dometic thermostat back then. There were lots of problems with them and they no longer support it. The problem is, if the thermostat is bad, the control board and the thermostat must be replaced. The cost is unnecessarily high. If it were me, I'd change out the whole AC and get a new T-stat. The furnace shouldn't be a problem if the T-stat is the issue.
Search for YouTube videos and previous posts for Dometic Thermostat problems.
But of course, more information from the OP will get more precise help and direction for those of us that would like to help. There's enough expertise following this post to be very helpful but without knowing more about what the symptoms are and the models involved, we can only guess.
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Using a 2 gallon bucket and light solution of car wash, I've never had anyone complain when I wipe my MH down. With the heavy stuff wiped off, I follow up with Protect-All. This doesn't take long. I'll do one side at a time. The front needs a wipe down with Protect-All every time we move from place to place. It loosens the bugs and makes them easy to remove. I use it for the windshield and rubber around it too - it protects everything.
There's also a product called "Wash Wax ALL" that's easy to use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006AFAWYI/
It's sort of expensive but easy to use.By doing my own cleaning, I save a few bucks to keep my costs down. That's important to me on a fixed income - your mileage may differ.
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I just added a signature.
It took me awhile to find where I add it. Not very intuitive.
I thank Carl for encouraging me to get with the program. -
How's that Carl?
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Brett, That was going to be my question - where can you find anyone to do that sort of work? It's hard enough around here to find anyone that allows class A MHs on their lots for service. The shops that sold me tires 10 years ago won't even give me a quote these days. I haven't seen a spin balance (on the vehicle) since the 1960s. Same goes for "truing" tires. The St Louis Metro Area isn't the biggest in the nation but it should be big enough to support that sort of work - if it was available. Better stick with the latest technology. I'm sure if you look at the Hunter machine and see it action, you'll agree it's the best available. Using the link I provided, you can find the location of the nearest locations that have one. You'll notice that most new car dealers use them (but don't bother to ask if they'll check your MH tires). It requires a special adapter to mount the MH wheels because the hole for the hub is so large. The balancer itself runs over $10k to start and the adapter is about $500 more.
There's a Ford dealer that I bought tires through about 12 years ago and had them balanced (at $50 a tire! and I had to bring them the old tires off the vehicle because they don't work on MHs) told me last year they wouldn't sell or mount the tires anymore. They would check them on their balancer but if the tires needed to be broken down and turned on the rims, I'd have to take them to another location to have that done. They now charge $75 each time they check a tire (break down the tire and rotate it - that's another charge). Almost the same thing with a Firestone company store where I bought 4 Bridgestone tires a year after working with the Ford dealer above. They no longer wanted to deal with me. The price for the tires had doubled and said they'd need to jump through hoops to get them if they could get them at all.
I found a "Big O" dealer about 100 miles down I-44 in Rolla, MO who had a great price on Sumitomo tires but they only offered the crystals/beads for balancing and acted like they didn't even own a tire balancer.
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https://www.hunter.com/wheel-balancers/road-force-touch
This is a shout out for Hunter's Road Force "Vibration Control System" GPS9700 wheel balancer. I just had my tires balanced on this machine yesterday at the Purcell Tire & Service Center in Fenton, MO. The difference is remarkable. I had problems finding someone with the balancer that would balance the tires on my motorhome but Purcell's main line is big truck tires and they gladly provided the service. The cost was $30/tire (I could have saved $2/tire if I'd just brought the tires in which I'd had to do with a few other tire shops in the past not willing to allow class A MHs in their service area). I opted to let them handle the whole job. They rotated the tires and adjusted the tire pressure while they were at it. My tires were made by Dunlop (Goodyear) and are 4 years old with about 20,000 miles on them - we bought it 3-1/2 years ago with these tires on it at the time. It has always had a slight vibration that came and went. I tired having the rear tires balanced last year with no success. I tired a set of "CentraMatic" balancers with no success. I'm not a fan of the ceramic crystals so that wasn't an option. Using the website I linked to above, I searched for a location near me. The closest shop within a mile of my house refused. Purcell is only about 10 miles on I-44 from our place so I called them next.
The GSP9700 has a roller that presses against the tire while spinning it to see if there are any hard spots on the tire. If it finds any, (it also checks the wheel for truness at the same time) it has the technician rotate the high spot on the tire to the low spot on the wheel and checks it again. If the result isn't within spec, it will reject the tire or wheel or both. The result is a "new car ride" and I love it!
I first heard about this balancer after I bought a new 2001 Residency MH on a Ford chassis that came with a balance problem. Ford issued a TSB covering the fix but when I called the MH Assistance center, I was told the nearest dealer equiped and willing to do the job was 125 miles from me in central Illinois! One of the problems with the early V10 chassis was the wheels were neither hub centeric nor lug centeric and 4 sets of alignment pins were needed to properly center the wheels on before tightening the lugs - Ford made the lug holes in 4 different sizes which was the reason 4 sets of pins were needed (this was remedied by the time the 2002 chassis was produced). It came with Goodyear's G670RV tires and they went through several of them and a few wheels trying to fix it. They were never fully successful in eliminating the tire bounce but I'm sure some of it came from a defect the Henschen tag axle which was never addressed.
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I swear by Protect-All. It's easy to apply - no washing needed unless your unit has built-up dirt on it. It protects your vinyl, the windows, the rubber around your windows, your wheel covers and everything else. I used it on my previous MH and after 15 years, the vinyl decals still looked new when I sold it. My friend used 303 on his identical MH and his vinyl decals were all crazed and checked - I tried without any success to get him to switch but he wouldn't.
Protect-All isn't an abrasive cleaner - you'll need more aggressive products for that but for everyday use, you'll never find a better solution.
Makes taking bugs off the windowshield and front end at the end of the day a lot easier too!
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Thanks Brett,
I'd need to stand on a stepladder and hold the funnel in front of windshield while pouring the oil out of the 5 quart bottle. I guess it would work but it sounds like it could get messy real quick.
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I don't think the funnel would work. Need some way to get behind the "hood" cover that pops up in the way.
I figured on putting the whole pump in a bag to keep it clean. No sense in pumping a bunch of trash in with clean oil - good idea to store the batteries separate.
I apologize to the OP for highjacking his post. Does anyone have any advice for his problem?
Directv has launched its last satellite?
in RV Internet to Go/Staying in Touch
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The article indicates AT&T is focusing on its terrestrial customers who are switching to internet TV in droves to get away from cable and satellite service providers.
I've been a Dish subscriber for longer than I can remember having switched to them from my old 8 ft dish. Customer service is dead today in almost any company you care to mention. Nothing boils my blood any faster than an "interactive voice response" system when I need to speak to an agent to resolve my issue. Of course more often than not, that agent speaks in dialect that indicates they're from southeast Asia or the Philippines and communicating with them is impossible which only stokes my fire even more!
At least Dish now allows me to use my phone to send "re-authorization" to my receiver without speaking to anyone now. If only I could change my service address to update my local channels,, I'd be a happy camper and wouldn't bother them at all.
I'm seeing ads for Hughes claiming no throttling. Now if they could market that to RVers, they could pickup a lot of new customers who would like to enjoy connectivity off the grid.