blakeloke

Thank you Carl......same to you and everyone else!

Good idea Herman! Rob, you might want to check belts and hoses too. Blake

I love stories like that. A nice change from all the other stuff in the news. Especially for this holiday weekend. Thanks for sharing Bill!

Bill, I've read, reread and reread this thread several times in hopes of understanding what is going on with your coach and inverter (I'm slow on the uptake). I'm on first pass going through the owner's manual and have gotten to page 8 that shows electrical flow diagram. I see that there is a DC overcurrent protective device or fuse. What I haven't gleaned from the manual yet is if the overcurrent protection is integral to the inverter or is it an auxiliary piece (I'll keep reading). By any chance are you house batteries connected correctly. ie: 36vdc instead of 12vdc? Something simple to check with your Fluke meter. Blake

Rob, Welcome to the Forum and early congrats on your new coach (hope it is as you expect)! Not sure of what size tires you will need but some dealers may not have the correct sizes in stock. You may have already checked with the dealers you mentioned. Given your guess that the tires may be original installs (2004) I would slowly drive to the nearest dealer that has your tires. You can check the date codes when you see the coach. I think it's a smart move for you to replace them before your journey home. So, play it safe. Enjoy the sun and take a little extra time to get familiar with your coach and don't head home until you have new tires! Blake

Wow Joe.....that looks like a fun campground! I see rates go up from 3 September to end of October. Is that because of fall colors? We actually would like to do a fall colors trip (perhaps 2018) and will include Castaways as a stop. I recently lived in Picksburgh for a few years and Deb and others would always come up when leaves started changing. One of my favorite areas was Bedford Springs during that season through Thanksgiving. How about a cold bottle of Yuengling with those pierogis! Thanks for sharing........Blake

Hi Dennis, Welcome to the Forum! For your questions about nice places to stay....you've asked correctly. Hopefully you'll get some answers that suit your needs. For starters, we are members of Good Sam, FMCA, Passport of America and KOA. Each of those offer discounts at member campgrounds. We default to KOA most often because we know what to expect & usually aren't disappointed. When traveling without a set itinerary, my wife will Google campgrounds along the route. KOA website is pretty easy to use. A lot of what you pick as a campground may depend on how long you will be staying and what amenities you're looking for. For overnighters we typically just need electricity, sewer and fresh water. Longer term we look for things like café, laundry, walking trails, proximity to shopping and dining etc. For your question - here's my two cents: El Paso - El Paso West. Nice: can get dusty in El Paso. We generally try to blow through town. We've overnighted in Fort Stockton to the east and Las Cruces to the west. Albuquerque NM - KOA Journey is a nice park. Austin & San Antone TX - We prefer Fredericksburg which is close by. Nice KOA there. Owners are nice. Ask for a spot in the back under the huge live oaks. And a lot of things to do in town. Wineries, excellent restaurants, Nimitz WWII museum etc. Cheyenne WY - Have only stayed in Laramie and don't really want to go back to that KOA. Front desk folks are mean spirited. Hopefully Herman Mullins will respond on behalf of Cheyenne as he frequents the town. New Orleans - French Quarter RV Resort. A+ in my book. Expensive but very nice. Spaces are back in but security is top notch. It's within waking distance to Bourbon street (daytime) and we take the horse drawn carriage back to the campground at night. Gates are closed but security will open for guests anytime. Spa and pool are in a nice patio and you can use their propane grill set-up. Nashville - have yet to stay there but we have reservations at the KOA in Lebanon for the solar eclipse this August. Then off to the Grand Ole Opry. Hope this help some. Blake

Tracey, Two main issues: Coach won't start. Sounds like your chassis (start) batteries are dead. Our 2005 Monaco wasn't wired to charge the chassis batteries when plugged into shore power. Found that out the hard way after I drained the batteries to a point of no return. Given you've been in snow country and you were able to jump start the coach, I would say your chassis batteries were low on juice. Hopefully not to the point of total failure. To keep my chassis batteries up, I installed a Battery Tender to the chassis batteries and plugged it into the 120v plug in the engine compartment. So, I'm always plugged into shore power when parked and the Tender keeps the chassis batteries happy and healthy. Not a problem since then. I think Herman may have just done this to his Monaco also (or fixin to do it). Home Depot sells the Battery Tender. About $45 bucks or so. Generator will only run a few minutes: I think Bill's comment about low fuel may be spot on. If you are low, and once you fill up, you will have to "prime" the fuel lines by attempting to start several times. The generator may start and sputter and shut down, but give it another try....it should eventually run fine. Blake

Joe, excellent mod (as always)! We like the colors you chose. How did you finish the tile run towards the end of the cabinet near where you keep your remotes? Blake

Thanks Joe! We have the Rand McNally 7730 that seems to have a lot of the same features. Has the ability to toggle from RV or car mode also. I'm guessing Rand McNally / Garmin is basically the same unit? When on the road, we supplement the GPS with the Walmart Rand McNally Road Atlas that gives us Sam's Club's and Walmart locations. 2017 version was $7.97 Then Deb also uses her iPhone to help out. Blake

Oh yeah.....that's that "small" hometown track up there! Big going on's this weekend. We're going to the Mecum Auction down here this weekend. One day we'll make it up to a race there and camp at Ernie and Brenda's! Blake

We actually like most of the drivers except for a couple. Harvick is our favorite because he's from our hometown like Rick & Roger Mears....wow....back in history when Bakersfield was a small dusty town. Still dusty! Plus, gives us an excuse to get a free Bloomin' Onion when he finishes in the top 10. That free Bloomin' Onion usually costs us about $60 !!!! hehehe Blake

Debbie100, Glad you haven't had problems and hope the OP is able to resolve towing 4 down. But, the OP doesn't have a key.....the Impreza he purchased has a keyless ignition and he states that the owner's manual says the steering wheel will only stay unlocked for an hour. Blake

Rusty, Haha.....Deb and I recognize the parking lot in the picture of your original post (Sawdust)! Blake

Rusty, We are neighbors! If you run into a wall with your engine give Ross a call at Town Center Automotive. He services our coach (mechanical) and is a close friend. They are on I45 just south of the Woodlands Parkway and North of Sawdust. Blake

Dwight, Welcome to the Forum. I looked for the 2017 Subaru in the FMCA 2017 Towing Guide and Subaru is not listed. Please take a look at the Forum thread here: Lengthy discussion, and perhaps not good news if you want to tow four down with your new car. Blake

Rusty, Fantastic set-up! I love her name! Sounds like you are in the Houston area......what part? Blake

Joe, Our coach came with (2) group 31's for the chassis. They didn't last long - probably because I didn't have a maintainer and went dead too frequently - but anyway, I installed (2) 8D's. I believe they've been in there since 2013 and still running strong. Installed the Battery Tender at the same time. Hope I didn't just jinx myself! Blake

Herman, You posted a pic! Bravo and hope you had a good birthday!! Blake

erjarrett, Sounds like a helpful add. Are you wanting to attach photos or a document? Blake

Morning Joe, Have read Charlie Adcock's note a couple of times. He suggest contacting your chapter presidents or area vice presidents. Being you are in PA your Easter Area vice president is Bill Mallory. bmallory@fmca.com I used the January FMCA magazine to determine the area you are in then cross referenced to page 10 of the April issue. Hope this helps. Deb and I are talking about this and will post our thoughts and send a note to our VP shortly. Herman: we will cc you too. Blake

We've stayed at the French Quarter RV Resort a few times. Pricey but very nice. It's gated and secure and only a few blocks from the Quarter. http://www.fqrv.com/about-the-resort.html Blake

Looking great Joe!!

John, Ditto that on the Grand Cherokee.....here's a funny moment.....the first time we hooked ours up to tow behind the coach I could not for the life of me figure out how to unlock the durn steering wheel. Ours is a keyless push button ignition and I've been used to having to manually unlock the truck's steering wheel and leave the key in. After searching the owner's manual (nothing) and Google (nothing) it finally dawned on me that perhaps the steering wheel doesn't lock! hehehe. Blake

I think I know the piece you are referring to. Is it a hard nylon wedge that is bolted to the floor? If so, we have those on our slides too. The wedges allow the slide to tip up at an angle when extending and retracting the slide. I haven't had to replace one but you might give Pete a call at Action RV in Conroe TX. 936 441 1165. They do all our major repairs and I have done an excellent job with everything we've thrown their way. Blake