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This topic brings up other routine maintenance questions I have pondered for my Jeep Wrangler "toad". I concur with Brett that my Wrangler's engine oil / filter change frequency (5,000 miles for me) is determined by the miles I drive the Jeep (my presumption is the odometer doesn't count miles when the engine is "off"). However there are other mileage related routine maintenance items associated with Jeep that I've been pondering: 1) Tire mileage, routine rotation & balancing, etc. --> the tire mileage I think should include the time and miles while I'm towing my Jeep AND the miles I drive the Jeep. I rotate/balance tires every 5,000 miles (+/-). Since my weekend outings for now are rather infrequent (except for LSU football season) I keep a "mental total" (not written log) of tire mileage while the Jeep is towed in between tire rotations. The total driven + towed mileage will eventually dictate when the tires need replacing. 2) Differentials (axles) oil checking / replacing. The Jeep's owner's manual says check the differential oil every 20,000 miles and replace at 120,000 miles (which I'm a long way from). I just realized that I have not added "towed mileage" to the odometer reading and when to check the differential oil. 3) Automatic transmission and transfer case oil checking / replacing will follow the driven miles (i.e. odometer reading). Am I taking the proper "mileage" approach with regards to tires and drive train maintenance?

Wayne - Thanks for the response. I'm still not used to all the "fancy stuff" on a motorhome. For the 30 foot travel trailer I had before my motorhome, the only "auto" part of leveling the trailer was a battery powered drill with socket to use on the scissor jacks! With my motorhome, I seem to be continually in the phase of "I don't know what I don't know"!! Back to my original question about the "zero level calibration" effort, I presume I can accomplish that task at my motorhome storage facility that has a well packed gravel surface -- correct?

Since purchasing my motorhome two years ago, I had presumed the "auto leveling" function of my LCI Electronic Leveling Controller worked "OK" and never checked if my motorhome was actually level. This past weekend at the LSU-Texas A&M game, my youngest son asked why the water level in the Keurig tank wasn't level (dumb me had never noticed). So, I pulled my 6" long carpenter level out of my tool box and sure enough, the motorhome is a "half bubble off" sloping to the driver's side after being "automatically" leveled. A quick Google search this morning of the LCI Level Controller owner's manual has a page long process for setting the "Zero Level Point Calibration" that needs to be completed to assure the automatic level function works properly --> https://www.lci1.com/assets/content/support/manuals/Leveling and Stabilization/Electronic_Hydraulic_Leveling_and_Slideout_Owner_s_Manual1.pdf Am I the only one that blindly presumed the automatic leveling function work perform properly? For those that have the LCI Electronic Leveling Controller, have you "gone through" the manual leveling / Zero Level Point Calibration exercise? I presume that effort doesn't take much time (?). Thanks for the help and advice! I failed the Motorhome 101 class pop-quiz on LCI level controllers.....

An FYI for forum members living in the greater Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles, etc. areas. I had to replace the "4 in 1" gage (oil pressure, coolant temp, primary and secondary air pressures) due to a significant air leak from somewhere inside the gage (horrible loud hissing sound and blowing air!). My experience with trying to get a new replacement gage from Houston Freightliner was extremely poor. Their parts department almost "never" answered a phone call. The couple of times they finally answered the phone I was placed on hold for 10- 15 minutes each time. First "parts guy" said the gage I had was out of production and could not be replaced. The second "parts guy" on a different phone call said the same thing until I asked if he could search for a replacement gage using my VIN number which revealed the original part number had been superseded by an new part number. Then came the sticker shock -- $675 for the new gage not including taxes and shipping. My younger son in Lake Charles, LA suggested that I call Martin Truck Center in Lake Charles. They were very responsive and professional and quickly found a new replacement gage. The Martin Truck Center "parts guy" asked me for my VIN. The good news was the cost of the gage including taxes and shipping was $475 !! I had the new gage within three days of placing the order. If you need a Freightliner part, I highly suggest working with Martin Truck Center in Lake Charles, LA and don't waste time with Houston Freightliner. I'd venture to guess Martin Truck Center could provide Freightliner parts to a customer anywhere in the USA.

Colthoff -- The Chrysler Pacifica is the "new name / design" mini-van that replaced the Town & Country mini-van this year. The Pacifica is a front-wheel drive vehicle that I presume would need a dolly to tow (??). I'm sure forum members who tow front wheel drive vehicle will provide great suggestions on how best to tow a Pacifica. One of the first things to check is the curb weight of the Pacifica and determine if that weight is within the tow rating of your motorhome. For example, my motorhome has a max tow rating of 5,000 lbs. which being quite low didn't leave me a lot of choices for a "toad". Hence why I have a Jeep Wrangler that has a curb weight of ~4,000 lbs. Fortunately I love Jeep Wranglers!! Hope this helps!

Tommy -- A couple suggestions from my and my wife's weekend adventures to the San Antonio area are: 1) Alsatian RV Resort in Castroville, TX which is ~25 miles from the River Walk in San Antonio --> http://www.alsatianresort.com/ In addition to big, wide spots, the Alsatian RV Resort has an on-stie restaurant, bar, big swimming pool, golf course, etc. The city of Castroville has some unique historic sites and dining options. And it's very convenient to San Anonio. 2) Admiralty RV Resort on the northwest side of San Antonio --> https://www.admiraltyrvresort.com/ Admiralty is a great choice if Sea World and Six Flags Over Texas parks are on your list of things to do in San Antonio in addition to the Rive Walk. For the Fort Worth area, my wife and I stayed at the North Texas Jellystone RV Park ( https://www.northtexasjellystone.com/) a few years ago when LSU played Oregon in the Cowboys Classic start to the college football season. North Texas Jellystone RV Park is south of Fort Worth on I-35W and ~25 miles from the AT&T Cowboys Stadium / Texas Rangers Stadium. The rates for these three RV resorts is $55/night which for my wife and I for a four day weekend outing is plenty OK especially considering a hotel room on the San Antonio River Walk cost $200+ per night ! Dallas hotels during the Cowboys Classic weekend also charge $200 per night. Hope this helps!

rpelatt -- I concur with your observation as I'm in the mid-late 50's age group that still have busy careers and can't take 10-14 days of vacation in one chunk to attend an International Rally. I'm also of the age that activities for a local Chapter rally do not align with my or my wife's interests (quilting, pickle ball, puzzles are not on the radar screen yet). My wife and I with our busy careers are "four day weekend" adventurers to someplace that is a 6 hour drive away. My Texas plates are usually in a Texas RV park. When we retire in 5-7 years, then we'll have the time for two week (or more) adventures. If the main reason for FMCA needing to include non-motorhome RV owners is "financial" to continue to provide the medical assist benefit to all FMCA members then an obvious answer is to stop providing that benefit to everyone and allow those who want the benefit to purchase it on their own. From my vantage point, it appears that FMCA financially may be facing the same issues at ObamaCare -- not enough younger members paying fees to FMCA to properly fund the medical assist benefit for older / other members who need that service. The only option for more revenue per FMCA leadership is to allow non-motorhome owners to join FMCA to collect additional "fees" income. I wish I knew if FMCA leadership has evaluated offering the medical assist benefit on a stand alone basis for a member to purchase or not (i.e. the same approach as currently used for the FMCA roadside assistance benefit).

Today I received an unsolicited e-mail in my Gmail account to join the new All Inclusive Motorhome Club (AIM). The link to this club's website says they are a new organization exclusively for motorhome owners --> https://www.aimclub.org/ Has anyone heard of / joined AIM? Is this organization forming as a result of the churn within FMCA?

My motorhome has two, five year old "engine starting" Interstate 31-MHD batteries (950 CCA, 195 minute reserve charge) that are showing signs of being bad. Replacement Interstate batteries cost $150 each (plus taxes). The Batteries + Bulbs store near my home sells Duracell SLI31SA batteries with the same 950 CCA but somewhat lower 175 minute reserve charge. The Duracell battery only cost $95 each (plus sales taxes). Both the Interstate and Duracell batteries are fully sealed. The cost for two Duracell batteries is $120 LESS than two Interstate batteries which is very enticing. Does the forum have any experience with heavy duty, engine starting Duracell batteries? If "yes", was that experience good or bad? Thanks for your thoughts!

I have a three year XtraRide Platinum extended warranty plan. Thus far I've used XtraRide for dash A/C repairs (twice), replace worn track bars, replace bushings in sway bars, replace a slide out controller and replace a propane detector. Each time I only had to pay the $100 deductible. These repairs have me about 3/4 of the way to breaking even with the cost of the extended warranty plan. XtraRide thus far has provided great service to me.

I stand corrected on my comment about protecting an Allison transmission (my inexperience with a diesel engine / transmission compared to my Silverado showed again!). To assure I understand properly, the weight of a tow vehicle is not a concern for my Allison 2500 transmission -- correct? The 5,000 lbs max tow weight rating for my motorhome is set to assure I don't exceed the 33,000 lbs GCWR for my motorhome = 28,000lbs GVWR for my motorhome + 5,000 lbs. max tow rating -- correct? Plus the receiver on my motorhome "per its sticker" is only rated to 5,000 lbs. max. After two years of motorhome ownership I'm still only part way through Motorhome 101 class so please forgive me for any dumb questions I ask or statements I make. I still think 90% of max tow rating is a good "rule of thumb" to follow.

Jmholb -- My motorhome also has a 5,000 lb towing weight limit. I purchased a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Saraha with reported curb weights in the range of 4,075 lbs (FMCA 2016 Towing Guide)to 4,270 lbs (Kelly Blue Book). The towing "rule of thumb" I learned from good mechanics is whatever is being towed should not exceed 90% of the vehicle's tow rating to assure no transmission problems. Which ever curb weight for a Wrangler Unlimited is "true", the curb weight is within the 90% limit of tow rating of my motorhome. I've had zero problems towing my Wrangler and wouldn't know it's behind me if not for the rear view camera. The Wrangler is a nice size vehicle to serve as a "toad" and is also a great everyday vehicle. When the rear seats are folded down, it has a surprising amount of cargo capacity. The ride is a bit stiff for everyday use but is still fun to drive and is just small enough to maneuver into any parking space. A Wrangler, of course, is fantastic fun for off-road use!

F42.... We haven't heard if you electrical problems have been resolved. If you do need a repair shop, I've had very good service from RV Masters located on Bingle Road north of I-10 on the west side of Houston. My one and only experience was not good with Camping World in Katy was "bad" when I needed repair work done for a travel trailer I owned a few years ago -- six weeks to get a simple repair done as my travel trailer kept falling in priority to installations of items purchased at Camping World / repairing RVs purchased at Camping World.

Reeltachy -- Welcome to FMCA and the Forum. Great looking motorhome!! I purchased my first ever motorhome two years ago as my family out grew our travel trailer. The motorhome is used for weekend adventures as I'm still some years away from retirement (dang it!). Thinking about Herman's comment (which are always fantastic!) after two years I'm still in Motorhome 101 class which is much more challenging that my previous Travel Trailer 101 and 102 classes. It's all that new "chassis stuff" and more "coach stuff" that makes Motorhome 101 more difficult to master and why FMCA, which exclusively focuses on motorhome owners, is such a valuable resource. Someday I may graduate to Motorhome 102 class. Don't ever hesitate to ask the Forum for help and ideas! My prayers are with you and your family for many safe, enjoyable adventures with your new home on wheels. You have great times ahead!

Carl (and others) -- I received the Central Pneumatic 150 psi compressor from my sons as a Christmas present a couple of years ago from Harbor Freight --> https://www.harborfreight.com/6-gal-15-hp-150-psi-professional-air-compressor-68149.html . I do not take it with me on trips as it would take a chunk of room in a storage compartment. My thinking is if a tire needed a quick "topping off" I would use the motorhome's air system (there is a permanently mounted coupler for an air hose in the generator compartment of my motorhome). I hadn't thought about putting "wet" air into tires on my motorhome, or my Jeep or the wife's Infinti. I'm not aware that tire dealerships in the Houston area "dry" the compressed air they use for the new tires they install. The Discount Tire store near Katy Mills Mall is my "go to" store for the Jeep and Infiniti. I'll have to quiz them about their store air system.

As I stated before, I joined FMCA two years ago when I "graduated" from a travel trailer to motorhome to provide more space for my growing family and to learn about motorhome ownership. I need to "down play" the concept that motorhome owners are "old" folks. The 300+ motorhomes that arrive in Baton Rouge for each LSU home game have owners that are mostly in the 45 - 65 year old range (like me). A large majority of those owners are similar to me in that they are first time owners who purchased good condition 5-10 year old motorhomes to have a larger RV for growing families. This past weekend while walking through the RV lot I'd guess only ~20% of the motorhomes had FMCA membership plates. The owners on either side of me were not FMCA members. When I asked why, both said they hadn't heard of FMCA (so I gladly educated them). Both however were members of Good Sam Club because of their visits to Camping World. The discounts for Camping World purchases, RV park discounts and fuel discounts are their primary reasons for being Good Sam Club members. When I explained to them that the annual FMCA membership is twice the price of Good Sam Club which included the tire purchase benefit and medical assist benefit but no other everday purchase discounts, no fuel discounts, and fewer RV parks that have FMCA discounts they were not interested in joining FMCA. As Issac1 has stated many times, FMCA is not very attractive to the middle age, 45-65 year old crowd and is highly disadvantaged from a visibility stand-point compared to Good Sam's Club being "owned" by Camping World. Additionally the "everyday" purchase discounts at Camping World and fuel discounts at Pilot/Flying J Truck Stops are significant reasons for keeping a Good Sam's Club membership. A tire purchase discount some point in the future "is not on the radar" of motorhome owners. The "middle age" crowd generally has no health concerns and sees little need for a "medical assist" benefit that must be funded by membership fees. Whether towables owners are allowed to join FMCA or not, FMCA has a significant image (old folks only) and visibility/marketing problems that hopefully national leadership recognizes exists and will quickly address.

A final update for my slide-out problem. The good folks at RV Masters in Houston diagnosed the problem to be a "bad" Lippert Slide-Out Controller. The "in/out" switch and relay all work fine and were not the problem. A new controller was installed and the slide out is working great again! My "panic" purchase of a new $600 slide out motor was not necessary (I now have a gently used "spare" motor). For my motorhome, there are two slide out controllers attached to the "roof" of the middle basement compartment between the two main beams of the frame. One controller for the passenger side slide-out and one for the drive side slide-out. RV Masters charged $130 for the new controller and $140 for an hour of labor to install the controller. A new Lippert Slide-Out Controller can be purchased from Amazon for $85 (not including shipping) -->https://www.amazon.com/Lippert-135666-Controller-Above-Floor-Through-Frame/dp/B00S2ICOSI . What does the Forum think about purchasing and keeping a "spare" controller in my box of "essentials" for my motorhome?

Salademar -- Welcome to the Forum! I too have an Onan 7500 Quiet Diesel generator that is not on a slide. The afternoon before Hurricane Harvey hitting the Houston area, I change the oil and all filters (oil, fuel and air) in case I needed to use my motorhome if my house lost electrical power (thankfully the power stayed on!). Changing the oil and all filters is relatively easy if you are able to crawl on your back under your generator. To give myself some extra working room, I extended the leveling jacks as far as they would go. The Onan RV Generator handbook shows flushing the coolant in addition to oil and filters changes for the 1,000 hour service. While I was under my generator I could see the coolant drain plug. How the cooling system would be flushed I don't know. The handbook shows three Cummins Coach Care service centers in Michigan located in Clinton Township, Grand Rapids and New Hudson. One of these service centers could like perform the generator work you need. Here is the link to the RV generator handbook --> https://power.cummins.com/sites/default/files/literature/rv/F-1123-EN.pdf Hope this info helps! Forum members -- Any advice on how to flush the coolant from an Onan 7500 Quiet Diesel Generator?

Quick update (10/2/17). After spending several hours this past Friday trying different control buttons and swapping relay modules (Bosch brand), the passenger side slide-out still will not extend. This "electrical" problem is beyond my capabilities so I took my motorhome to RV Masters repair shop in Houston (I've had good service from them). Their statement was the circuit board in the battery control center could be bad (??). I hope to have a diagnosis later this week. I'll share my learnings with the forum.

Ditto for me. While in an RV park both tanks stay closed until they need dumping. To help with mileage when traveling, all of my tanks (fresh, gray and black waters) are all empty to avoid transporting 900 pounds of water with assorted solids (only exception is when "boon docking" for a LSU football weekend)!

One more question for the forum. Is there any way to manually extend the slide-out given I now only have a six inch diameter opening to the slide motor area? The opening is just to the left and below the yellow wire screw caps (first photo with old motor) Square rods that drive the slide bars are attached on both sides of the motor gear box (second photo with new motor). The slide-out that was stuck open is also shown below. Thanks for everyone's help and ideas?

Rich -- Thanks for the great feedback! When looking in the area of the slide motor I didn't see a relay, fuse, etc. for the motor. All that I saw were the green and yellow wires coming out of the wire bundle that connected to the motor's black and red wires (see the motor photo above). It makes sense that there is a relay somewhere as the wires on the back of the slide out control switches are different colors (orange "slide in" wire, blue "slide out" wire, and a common purple wire for all three switches). Somewhere the orange and purple wires at the control switch change to green and yellow wires at motor. The wiring diagram is from my owner's manual. As I mentioned above, to get the slide-out to retract so I could travel home, the green/yellow wires at the slide motor were switched. The slide-out can not be extended / the motor accessed until the electrical problem is resolved. I guess the next step is to hunt for the power relays !?

My trip to Baton Rouge for LSU football this past weekend went to heck when my passenger side slide would not retract (we stayed Thursday night in Lake Charles, LA to visit my son's family). After calling a couple of Lake Charles RV repair shops, the initial thought was the slide motor had quit working. I was able to find a new replacement motor (KMG - Klauber Machine Group) from a dealer in Lafayette and found a mobile RV repair company that would work on a Saturday. After the new motor was installed, the slide still would not retract. The "square rods" connected to the motor were detached to assure the new motor was functioning. We found that power to the motor existed only when the "out" part of the slide's in/out button was pushed. There was no power to the motor when the "in" side of the button was pushed. Finding an apparent electrical button, the control panel was removed and the wires for the stuck slide were placed on another slide "in/out" button. Again, there was no power to the stuck slide when the "In" was pushed. The two young mobile repair techs were now perplexed and did not have the skill to trouble-shoot the electrical issue. To get back home to Katy, the power supply wires to the motor were "reversed" so the slide could be retracted so I could drive home to Katy, TX. With the power supply wires "reversed", the slide will now not extend. There are no fuses, relays, etc. in the slide motor compartment. I'm and the young repair techs are perplexed why this one slide would not retract while the other two slides have no problems. Below are photos of the motor, the control panel with push buttons (front and back), the battery control center, and wiring diagram for the slide outs. Any thoughts on how to trouble shoot the electrical problem now that the slide out will not extend? Is this problem best done by RV Masters or some other repair shop in Houston? Thanks for the forum's help! 1) Front of Control Panel / 2) Back of Control Panel with wires disconnected from "Pass Front" button / 3) New Slide Out Motor with Yellow and Green Power Supply Wires "Reversed" / 4) Slide Out Wiring Diagram / 5) Battery Control Center

Took my motorhome out of storage yesterday (Sunday, 9/18/17) for the first time since Hurricane Harvey to prep is for a LSU-Syracuse tailgating weekend this coming weekend (9/22-24). Everything at the storage facility appeared normal -- no flooding (thank God!) and 20 amp power supply was working (house batteries fully charged, 110 volt night light working, etc.). When I returned to the storage facility and plugged into the 20 amp outlet, the GFCI in the outlet tripped. I reset the outlet and it tripped again. I checked 20 amp outlets that were being used by other RVs (a mix of motorhomes and fifth wheels) and found no other outlet GFCI that were tripped. I reset the GFCI at the outlet for a third time and had no problems. This is the first time I've unplugged from / plugged into the 20 amp outlet for my storage spot since before Harvey. The GFCI has never tripped before and there are no changes to my motorhome (at least that I'v made!). The storage facility is 22 months old. I'm attributing the GFCI tripping to the storage facility's circuit and not the motorhome. I always use a surge protector at the storage facility (and at any RV park). Any thoughts from the Forum would be most helpful!

Bill Adams -- I fully concur with your "common sense" statement about using WAZE. I rely on WAZE for highway navigation only as I would not take my motorhome on any side streets in cities/towns I do not know to save a few minutes of travel time. Google Maps and AT&T Navigator are also good alternatives to WAZE. My opinion is WAZE has more real-time traffic/accident/incident/road closure/etc. updates than Google Maps and AT&T Navigator. I haven't seen a response yet that justifies the cost and benefits of a Garmin or other GPS device over the free WAZE / Google Maps/etc. services.