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moonwink

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Everything posted by moonwink

  1. Here's a sample. There's not enough room to tip up a 5 Qt bottle of oil so I pour a quart at a time into a measuring cup and tip it up into the fill tube. I use the top of a plastic bottle that is threaded to screw into the filler tube to act as a funnel on the filler tube. A quart bottle of oil can be emptied but there's no room for the 5 quart bottle. I can live with it but it's a pain.
  2. Something's very wrong that the filler tube on a 2014 is going bad already. What do you mean by "crusty?" I've never seen that before and I've own a MH on a F53 chassis since 2001. Any idea what the problem is? My only grip is how hard it is to add oil through it because it's so close to the bottom of the dash. I use a measuring cup to transfer oil from the jug it comes in so I can pour it down the fill tube. Does anyone have a fix for that problem?
  3. Another resource published yearly is Motorhome Magazine's Dinghy Towing Guide. Similar to FMCA's yearly guides. Pryor year's information is still available at both websites. http://www.motorhome.com/submit-email-address/ I prefer the comfort and convenience of the Chevy Malibu with weights under 3500 lbs, room for 5 adults and great gas mileage. Not all years are towable 4 down so the guides are invaluable for starting a search. The very best place to check before buying is the owner's manual.
  4. You did the right thing by replacing the remaining Goodyear tires. Obviously defective. Mfg's that don't accept responsibility for their products are not worthy of your dollars. Who's going to repair you jeep? Goodyear should. I'll bet you're not the first person to experience faulty tires from that batch. I understand the Goodyear tires sold through Wally world are different than the same line of tires sold at other retail outlets - cheaper? I've given up on buying tires through WM. Tire Rack is getting my business from now on. They ship the tires I select to a local shop that mounts and balances and installs them. Very satisfied with the arrangement. Glad no one was injured and I hope you come out alright on getting everything repaired. It's a shame you have to go through all the BS to make things right.
  5. Toward the end of our winter getaway, I found one of these in a thrift store: https://www.amazon.com/AMAKE-Connector-Amplifier-Receiver-Broadband/dp/B01HQ2E8IY/ It does raise the signal strength a bar or two. My JetPack is the model: AC791L and on the bottom edge are two slide doors where the TS9 antenna connectors are. It's a passive device needing no power of its own. It's only $20 new and worth a try. A suction cup mounts it on a window or stands it up on a smooth surface.
  6. I bought into the Verizon "Unlimited" 4 lines for $40/month each last year. My wife and I both have Samsung's Galaxy S7s and I use a Jetpack for a 3rd line. I'm not sure how Unlimited turned into 15 GB and then throttled but that's their terms now. I was told I had 20 GB per line and could bank 20 GB in unused data when I made the initial purchase. I don't think those terms survived the year either. We just got back home after being away for 3 months - since the day after Christmas. I used the jetpack exclusively for data while we were gone totally about 24 GB a month. It worked fine on the way out along I-20 to I-10 and spent over a week at Gila Bend. We stayed a couple of places for a total of 3 week at Quartzsite with no big problems I use TeamViewer to print my church's monthly newsletter and that worked quite well. From Q, we went to Cathedral City for a month and then to Sky Valley on Dillion Rd east of Desert Hot Springs. From there to Lake Havasu City for a week and then Fort Mohave for a week before getting on I-40 for the trip back to St Louis. The only place we had no signal was in Oatman, AZ but we were only day for a few hours. The rest of the time I can't complain. While I'm not using the FMCA sponsored plan, the Verizon network is all the same. Before I went with Verizon, I was with T-Mobile for less than a year - switching to them after many years on the Sprint network and never being happy with their coverage. I'll stick with Verizon until something better comes along. Comparing coverage and performance around the campfire, I was embarrassed to say anything when I was with Sprint and all the Verizon and AT&T people were raving about their service. The local T-Mobile service was worse than Sprint's coverage for me which is why I didn't stay with them long. I bought the phones and Jetpack on eBay and brought my own devices so I'm not under contract and can switch at any time.
  7. My advice to you is to concentrate on using your own cellular based hotspot. WiFi is insecure and cannot be trusted. Many of the sites you mention are routinely spoofed by hackers so they can steal you login credentials and ID information. You risk identity theft. It's just too risky to use someone else's WiFi network these days. My advice - don't do it. Save yourself the aggravation and heartache. The days of safety getting by squatting on a free WiFi network are gone.
  8. After I purchased our 2004 Safari Trek 31SBD (32 ft) on a 20,500lb F-53 it felt a little top heavy. The cheap fix moving the links on the swaybar closer to the axle took care of that problem and created another. I had to replace the bushings with polyurethane because the OEM failed right away. I've wanted Koni's for years and years and finally broke down and installed their FSD shocks on all corners. The last thing I did was install Firestone's air bags on the rear axle - this unit only has a 208" wheelbase which is much too short for a 32ft MH. The air bags have done a great job of preventing tag drag and the overall ride is much better since I installed them. The Koni shocks have vastly improved the ride over today's highways where the tar strips and concrete slabs are tilted causing a constant thump-thump as we travel them. The original Bilstein shocks were much too stiff and resulted in a jarring drive over those rough sections of roads. Would I recommend these upgrades? Yes. Especially moving the swaybar links and replacing the bushings. That doesn't cost much and if you handy at all, it's something you can handle yourself. I'd sure try that before investing in a heavier swaybar right away. Right now I have no plans to make any other chassis upgrades and I'm a happy camper.
  9. When was the last time you took your own bacon and eggs into a restaurant and asked them to prepare them for you? Buying your parts somewhere else and then trying to find a shop to install them is pretty much the same thing. Like the shop you talked about, when you purchase parts elsewhere, you take away some of the money they would have made selling them to you. I buy my own tow brackets where ever I can find them the cheapest but I install them myself. Takes me a little longer but I'm satisfied with the job when I'm done.
  10. Nowhere did you say you were having a handling problem yet several thousand dollars of upgrades were recommended so I'm having a hard time understanding why all this premium equipment is necessary. Did you tell Henderson you have an unlimited budget and to go crazy with every modification they could think of? What about an alignment if you're having handling problems?
  11. Eric, If you didn't let that park know there was a problem with their pedestal before you left please be sure to give them a call and let them know of the problem you had. It just might save the next occupant a small fortune when they they to use it.
  12. Tomsol, I highly recommend you post this question on Trek Tracks (http://www.trektraxs.com/) That site is dedicated to supporting Treks and Trek owners. It's a must for Trek owners. You'll need to request membership but requests are closely monitored and you should receive acknowledgement soon after requesting.
  13. Eric, One of your pictures shows a "WIRING STATUS ERROR" NEUTRAL = GROUND Have you tried asking what that error indicates? Call the mfg and ask them.
  14. Only problem with the LA locals is the time. The LA programming comes on way too late for me. While in Emerald Cove (Erp, CA) on the Colorado River a couple of years ago, I called to change my locals and because I was in CA, I got the LA locals. Realizing how late the late shows came on, I called right back a few minutes later and gave them an address in Phoenix and they switched me to the Phoenix locals which aired the late shows and the news an hour or two earlier. I was able to watch the news and late shows and get a good night's sleep too! Now it they offered the east coast or at least central time network shows, it would be worth it to me. Earlier is better for me.
  15. And Portland, Oregon area. When I called around the St Louis area, I found several that offered to replace my foggy windows but none that were willing to repair them. They said they could send measurements out and have new glass tempered to fit. Every place I called told me it would take a week to 10 days to have a new piece of glass tempered. I've got an appointment in Searcy, AR the day after Christmas to have our repaired. By repaired, I mean removed, cleaned, resealed and reinstalled. I don't think any of our panes are etched which would require new glass. They'll put us inside their garage with hookups while they're working on our windows. After that, we're on our way to Quartzsite!
  16. I had Sprint's unlimited service for years. Granted it was an older plan dating back to the early 2000s, whenever folks set around the campfire and compared coverage, I remained quite because I had nothing to talk about - my service never measured up to what others were experiencing. I had an unlimited hotspot for years also that absolutely under-performed almost everywhere I went. I emailed "dan@sprint.com" (the CEO's staff) and they'd call me to pacify me but never were able to correct the problems I experienced. If you're a Sprint customer experiencing problems, emailing that address is worth a try. What got me is when they'd rag on me about using too much "roaming data" The only reason I had to roam was Sprint was too cheap to put up a tower! They should have been glad to have me as a customer and remained quite about my roaming - happened every time I stayed at Emerald Cove in Erp, CA / Parker, AZ. I tried T-Mobile for almost a year before switching to Verizon. Not one of those carriers is without dead areas. Way back before I started with Sprint, I had AT&T service. When I complained about dropped calls at my house, the agent looked long and hard for a solution before telling me straight up he couldn't help and there were no future plans to improve service in my area - and no, he couldn't let me out of my contract. Sprint overcame the problem with a micro-cell device connected to my internet. T-Moble's phone connected to the WiFi signal directly to provide voice over IP. With Verizon, the service isn't great but I've never dropped a call here at the house and usually have 4G data service (the way their unlimited plan is $80/month plus $20 a month for each device up to a total of 4 - veterans get a 15% discount. Lots of luck with your experiences. When you find the idea provider, be sure to come back and let us all know who it is.
  17. I had a 3G LG Optimus phone that I purchased on eBay for around $70. For $15/month I had unlimited 3G Verizon service. I prepaid each month and overall service was pretty good. Never had any overages or problems. The phone wouldn't work for voice calls but that was fine with me. I switched when Verizon began offering unlimited 4G/LTE service for up to 4 phones for $160 a month with a 15% discount to veterans. The wife and I each have a Samsung S7 (that I purchased on eBay for around $300 a year ago so I had my own device when I switched) and I added a hotspot (purchased that device on eBay for 1/2 of what Verizon wanted) to my plan. Both phones were given a rating of 9/10 but I couldn't find a mark on them - they looked new and the price I paid was less that 1/2 of what Verizon was asking. The last line is supposed to be for my daughter's iPhone whenever she the urge moves her. Anyway, back to data. I just looked at eBay again to see if I could find the deal I had previously. I couldn't find it but I found this: ANDROID FLASHED TO UNLIMITED 3G VERIZON $5 A MONTH 2 MONTHS FREE [FREE REFLASH!] https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANDROID-FLASHED-TO-UNLIMITED-3G-VERIZON-5-A-MONTH-2-MONTHS-FREE-FREE-REFLASH/172984296131?hash=item2846aae2c3:g:1kwAAOSwvfZaDc1- $60 for the phone - The seller has 100% positive feedback so this might be something some of you may want to try. 3G service isn't bad. I used it to watch live streaming newscasts from home while away on our winter trips with hardly any pauses to catch-up.
  18. While I'd rather be able to select my "local channels" online, I like being able to call Dish Network, tell them you're traveling in an RV and have an agent switch my local channels to a city near where ever we happen to be with our service. They'll switch your "service address" everyday if you ask them but usually the "spot beam" is wide enough I can't drive through it in a day. Background: There are about 210 "local TV markets across the United States. Congress told the satellite TV carriers that if they carry one station in any of those areas, the "Must Carry" every channel in that market. This was done at the request of the cable TV lobbyists to burden the satellite TV providers and make their prices cost prohibitive. Comparatively, cable TV prices would look more attractive. https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/receiving-television-broadcast-stations-satellite-tv-companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market In order to accomplish that feet, the satellite TV industry developed "spot beams" that service only the areas they're aimed at. That allowed them to reuse the same frequencies several times across the country. These spot beams carry the local TV channels in the area they're aimed at. When you leave the area they're illuminating, you loose those channels and need to have your service switched to area you've entered. I'm from the St Louis area. I can receive the St Louis locals all across Missouri and Illinois but if I go much farther, I'll have to switch to another city's local channels. Local channels are ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and various others that direct their ads to your local market.
  19. The automatic roof top units for Dish only tune one satellite at a time - either 110, 119 or 129. There are no hard and fast rules for what's on those satellites but in general many of the local channels are on 110. Most of the SD programming is on 119 and 129 carries most of the HD programming. As you change channels, a signal goes to the dish that tells it to re-position to the correct satellite. Never is more that one satellite signal used. Dish Network has two constellations. The 110-119-129 satellites are called the "western arc." You can also use their "Eastern Arc" satellites at "61.5°, 72.7° and 77°" if your view of the sky and the western arc is blocked. On my GM-1518 Carryout dishes, I have to flip some DIP switches to make that change. That's good to know and gives you an option that might give you a better chance get a signal before giving up.
  20. Best Satellite TV Service Providers – 2017 http://www.reviews.org/tv-service/best-satellite-tv-providers/ You Decide.
  21. Does the "Grand Marquis" have a driveshaft? If so why not use a driveshaft disconnect and make it easy. https://www.remcodsc.com/ I've had one for too many years to count - it works great!
  22. You should be able to find a cheaper auto-tuning antenna than $2000 unless you need to have HD resolution. For $2000 I'm guessing you're looking at a "Trav'ler" dish. You can find cheaper solutions than that. The smaller portable dishes for Direct TV cost more than the ones for Dish Network but they're still a lot cheaper than the $2000 you mentioned - even the "in motion" models. Here's several to look over and compare: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=portable+satellite+dish+for+direct+tv Here in the mid-west we have lots of trees, I often get a site under one of them and it blocks my roof mounted dish. When that happens, I've got a potable and 50ft of cord that usually allow me to get a good signal but not always.
  23. Yes, the Onan gas generators are all constant speed and therefore constant noise due to their design. I had the chance to blast them at the Chandler FMCA rally and made full use of the opportunity! I walked up to their tent area and asked why Onan didn't offer an "inverter" style generator and bring their technology up to current standards. The fellow in the booth thanked me for the comment and asked if I'd consent to recording those comments for a video he was making to take back to the factory for the design engineers - my answer was YES! For the next 5 minutes I talked about how they were using old technology and the need for updating their product line if they want to maintain their place as the choice for generators for RVs. The main upgrade needed is for them to get away from constant speed technology and switch to inverter technology. The other point I made was telling them it's time to do away with carburetors in favor of fuel injection. Inverter technology allows the engine to adapt it's speed to the load on the alternator while the archaic constant speed technology requires the alternator (and therefore the directly connected engine) to turn at a constant RPM to produce 60 cycle current. The inverters use electronics to do that job. Fuel injection should be a requirement for the 5500 watt "Marque" models and above at an absolute minimum. Other manufacturers have been using these technologies for many years now and I find it unbelievable that Onan hasn't embraced these features. Instead of running that noisy 4000 watt Onan at Chandler, I used a 2200 watt Ryobi inverter generator I purchased through Home Depot for $429. It compares very favorably with the higher cost Honda in noise and power produced. It spent most it's time idling and only used 3 gallons of gas during our 6 day stay (we came in on Sunday) at the rally. My neighbors all had diesel pushers and had their diesel generator exhaust trained at me trying to gas me out and it worked great for them. If I had used my Onan, I would have used my Camco Exhaust Stack with it but no of those smelly diesels every use them. I'm a strong proponent of a "stacks only" area at the rallies. My asthma and that diesel generator exhaust is going to force me away from attending FMCA events. BTY: The Ryobi generator is available through HomeDepot.com for $599 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-200-Watt-Green-Gasoline-Powered-Digital-Inverter-Generator-RYI2200/203617901 The one I bought has a grey case. I guess it was older stock and they clearanced it out at the $429 price. They can be paralleled just like the Honda.
  24. Herman, the short answer is: the more expensive ones are but the least expensive are not.
  25. You can't get good advice without giving good information about what it is we're talking about. It would be great if you'd put the year and model in your signature. I suppose your Pace Arrow is vintage 2007 if you have the manual for it. It may very well have been delivered with a crank-up satellite dish which was replaced by an automatic dome. Before anyone can give you specifics about it, you'll need to give us the brand and model of that dome. Once that's been determined, someone can point you to a site were you can download a manual for it explaining how to use it. Depending on the model, it could be for Direct-TV or Dish Network - there's no way to tell without know more about it. You may be able to set some switches to allow it to find either the Direct-TV satellites or the ones for Dish Network. I carry a portable dome (why I've got two is a long story) to use when I'm given a site under the trees - that's worked great for us.
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