tbutler

Been there, done that. I paid $52.00 and that was in 2010. Small part but mighty important. If you want your clothes back, you've got to have it!

I worked in a gas station in high school. Great job, meet lots of people. Those were the days when the station attendant actually pumped gas, for everybody. We washed windshields, checked the oil and tire pressures, etc. We also had two bays for changing tires, oil, belts, even spark plugs and exhaust parts. I did a little of all those things. And, in the spirit of all hot-rod enthusiasts, I did almost everything on my own '55 Chevy. Personally I gave up on most engine maintenance when I bought my first car in the 1980's. It was a matter of time or money, mess or clean, new tech or old. I did pull the alternator to have the brushes replaced a year ago on our motor home. A friend who has raced cars, encouraged me, saying it was simple. It turned out to be about the limit of what I wanted to do. It did save me a bunch of money, I didn't break anything (on the engine or myself) and I learned a little in the process. No way I'm going to mess with multiple gallons of oil doing an oil change or checking the chemistry of the coolant. The engine is way too expensive to be doing amateur quality work on it. That's my personal take on it. The frequency of the work is relatively light. With an oil change every 10,000 miles, it's a once a year even for us. The transmission change is every 60,000 miles. There are more filters than a gas engine and the filters aren't cheap.

Look carefully at the numbers Brett has given above. You see that 30A service gives you just 30% of the energy you get with 50A service. This is because 30A service give you one hot line on a 30A breaker. A 50A service gives you two hot lines, each on a 50A breaker. That means that you will have to compromise. If you are comfortable with taking turns shifting electrical use by shutting off one appliance to allow another to run, then you will do fine. We have functioned plugged in to a 20A outlet for an extended period of time when the weather is moderate. So it can be done, it is just a matter of accepting some inconvenience. We have propane on board and we use it for our water heater, furnace and cooking. At the present time that is the only use for propane in our coach. We do what is necessary to make it work. It is an inconvenience at times but one that we are willing to accept. It means shutting down an air conditioner so we can run the microwave. It means using fans to ventilate while doing the laundry. The big users in our coach are the air conditioners (2), the microwave/convection oven, the washer/dryer. The Intellitec system (energy management system or EMS) manages the air conditioners, the washer/dryer and hot water heater (which we replaced with a propane only model). It will switch these off and on to keep from tripping a breaker. It automatically senses 30A service and can be set for 20A service. We usually manage the electrical loads rather than having the EMS take care of that. It is nice to have as it does once in a while prevent making a run to the power source to reset a tripped breaker. As a practical matter, we seldom find ourselves using a 30A supply for an extended time. Occasionally when traveling we will stay for a night or two with 30A, that is the standard service in Canada. When we started out, we spent time at my mother's house, parked in her driveway, that was the 20A supply. Louise's mother had a 30A RV outlet and we did short visits in Lake Havasu, AZ living on 30A. Those were our most extreme experiences. Your generator will be valuable to you. In figuring the cost of running the generator, you must factor in the cost of routine maintenance and repair. Over the 13 years that we have owned our current coach, the cost for fuel, maintenance and repair averages about $2.50 per hour. We have more than 2100 hours on our generator.

I always specify the oldest date code I will accept. I try for and usually get very close to 3 months or less in age. Letting them know that when you order the tires takes care of any problems when it comes time to pay for them. In fact, if one supplier can't get tires that meet my criteria, I'll go to a different shop. In many applications, two or three year old tires aren't a problem. Put them on an 18 wheeler and they likely are gone in 6 months or less. On a motor home, it is the rare customer that will wear the tread down significantly in 6 or 7 years. We need to insist on fresh tires.

You have already narrowed the search to SUV's. Are you thinking 4WD or do you have another reason to specify SUV? Do you want a 4/5 passenger vehicle or would you prefer a 6/7 seat SUV? Do you plan to haul any equipment in or on your SUV? We tow an SUV that meets our needs but may not be exactly what you would want. Ours has 7 seats, a 2" receiver and roof racks. All things that I wanted. I would have preferred a 4WD but we don't use it that often so it is front wheel drive. With most toads (towed vehicles) there are things that you have to do to tow the vehicle. Permanent things like hitch connections and supplementary brakes are a given. We have to pull a couple of fuses. and run the engine for a short time periodically to circulate the transmission fluid. Our vehicle also has a 65 MPH speed limit when being towed so I have to keep our speed below that while towing. I suggest you continue to narrow your search by considering what else you want in a vehicle and then ask about recommendations on a specific list of vehicles.

Yes, the steering wheel locks when the key is in the off position. With two fuses pulled, the ignition is left in the accessory position and that leaves the steering wheel unlocked. The transmission is left in neutral. We do have to start and run the engine for a short period of time periodically, minimally starting out each day.

It could be that Hassell hasn't resolved the problem yet. This time of year there are many RV's that are coming out of winter hibernation. I agree that it is always polite to let us know what solution was reached. It adds to the value of this forum if we get final results on each problem solved. It isn't so much that we want to know we are right, we are more interested in learning more about problems with motor homes and how they were solved. I don't think it hurts to add comments to an older discussion, it broadens the discussion and may be helpful to others who are looking for a solution for their problem at a later date. In my post above, I point out that a Beaver, built by Monaco in 2007, probably has a different door mechanism than was described in an earlier post. I've never seen any Monaco with a door mechanism like the one pictured in Bills posting.

If you have the cellular (Verizon) service available, I'd use that. If the only thing available is the campground WiFi, I've used it. Years ago, it was often the only option. When you are on the WiFi, you are an unexpected target. Unless someone is constantly looking for an easy target, it is unlikely that anyone will find you and intercept your signal. I figured if I was on and then off again quickly, no one would catch it. I also don't leave my computer on-line when I'm not using it so it. If I'm not in a campground for a long time, it would be hard to catch me. I've been at this for seventeen years now and never had a problem. Check to see what documents are in your shared document folder. I once had neighbors who had a shared document folder with a file that had all their passwords. I periodically check my shared document folder and noticed that there was an unknown folder there. There was enough information there to let me know who it was. I knocked on their door and told them what was happening. They had no idea. They were sharing the folder between themselves and had no idea that meant anyone had access to it. You don't have to be on-line to expose that folder.

I believe your door lock in the Beaver is a different type than Bill described. You might try pushing on the door to relieve pressure on the locking mechanism. If that doesn't work, I would call a locksmith for assistance. You might want to try to get an RV repair shop to come take a look at it, they may have a better approach than a locksmith. Another alternate would be to check if any window hasn't been locked shut. It is possible to push unlocked windows from the outside to slide them open. If that doesn't work, last option, is to break a window. Check prices, go for the cheapest you can fit through! Even that may not help you. Once inside you can disassemble some of the locking mechanism and the inside of the door. That should allow you to release the locking mechanism. We started having locking problems one time. We quit using the latch and used only the deadbolt until we were confident that the latch had been repaired.

We're towing a GMC Acadia, before that a Chevy Trailblazer. Both were six passenger vehicles. For us, a 6 passenger vehicle comes in handy and when not hauling friends, we fold the rear seats down use it as our gym locker. Things like the golf clubs, hiking gear, tennis racquets, bicycle tire and seats, etc. Both had a 2" receiver for a solid bicycle rack. Everyone is different, if a 4 or 5 seater works for you, then that is the best for you. The Trailblazer was a 4WD and I miss that with the current Acadia but we only used it occasionally. The Towing Guide in the January issue of the FMCA Magazine (on line here) has information. Always verify this with the owners manual or with the manufacturer as sometimes they change their mind after a specific vehicle has been towed for a while.

That looks like a Thursday afternoon. I should be able to make this one! I'm looking forward to it.

I've had a Brakemaster system for the entire 17 years and 200,000+ miles on two coaches, two different toads. No complaints, works fine for me. I have their breakaway system installed as well.

If the power source is perfect 120V we can run two air conditioners on 30A but that is all. That put us right at the limit, about 27 or 28 amps. Any more the EMS will cut off one or the other. I suspect it depends on the specific model of air conditioner you have and of course it depends on the charge status of your batteries and any other loads that may affect your usage level. If you can run only one, at a time what Herman recommends will work fine. You can also do the generator thing on the 7 to 11 schedule. Keep the coach cool during the day and night temperatures may allow you to "coast" through the night or even open a few windows. Of course in mid to late July, it could be quite hot and humid during the nights. That's when we break out our Vornado floor fan. The first time we did one of these conventions we learned a lot about the limits of our coach. It made us much more confident for moving off the grid for periods of time. Look at it as a learning experience.

And here I had put the air bags on my don't worry list! Glad to have the information safely filed away. Hope I never have to use it... And by the way, don't call her older, she's a Classic! They don't build them like this anymore!

When we bought our first (used) RV, all the tires were the same date. I replaced the whole set at seven years age. Ouch, that hit the pocket hard. Over time, occasional flat tires, making replacements a few at a time, I arrived at a replacement schedule that works for me. When one tire in a dual set goes flat, the other tire in the set carries almost double the weight it should be carrying. That damages that tire. If you are driving and you can't stop immediately, that tire will likely be damaged beyond safe use. When this happens I replace both tires. But I put the new tires on the front axle and move the tires that were on the front to the rear, replacing the dual set that had the flat and damaged mate. Now, I do this on a regular schedule. Every two years I replace two tires, putting them on the front. I move the used front tires to the rear alternating from one side to the other. My oldest tires should be six years old and they are located in a dual set. My steer tires are always two years or less in age. I had a flat tire on the front one time, I hope I never have that happen again. Fortunately damage was minor but I wasn't able to maintain complete lane control and if a vehicle had been passing me it could have been a disaster. I've purchased tire monitors and watch my tire pressures carefully and have still experienced flat tires. Once on the rear it was a complete surprise, the tire monitor didn't sound an alarm until after the tire blew. Other times I've run over road debris, a cargo hook and just a small screw. In both those cases, the tire alarm allowed me to stop before the tire went completely flat. This pattern of tire replacement reduces the impact on the wallet, two are far cheaper than six. It also keeps relatively new fresh tires on the front, steer axle, where they are a most critical component of safe steering. On the down side, it does require mounting two new tires and remounting the other two tires and balancing all four if you balance your dual tires. It means a visit to the tire shop every two years, never my favorite day. It is working for me.

We do pretty much the same thing as mentioned in previous posts. When we start out on a trip like this, we may decide to alter our route along the way for one reason or another. Sometimes we decide to stay a little longer in one place, other times we may decide to skip a visit to get us to our destination on time. If a location turns out interesting we may contact the office early in the morning and extend our stay, a day or a week. This gives us near total freedom in our travels. We also exercise the option to park overnight with no hookups which can open up more options for stops along the way. It really is a gypsy lifestyle, rolling along, discussing our next stop and what we want to see. Usually sometime after lunch we'll gauge our rate of travel and if we want or need to be in a park for the night we'll pull out our information sources and start looking at RV parks in the vicinity of our planned overnight stop. This way we can adjust for those days when we're just tired of driving and want a little more rest time. At other times, we're close to being able to get to a desired location if we drive a little longer we can spend an extra day there. If there is a location or feature that we definitely want to stay for a while we'll make a reservation ahead of time. That can be a few days ahead as we are getting close or if we know it to be a popular resort location, or a holiday is coming up, we'll reserve weeks ahead. There are occasional compromises with this method of travel. The nicest park in the area may not be available and you may end up in a park which is "substandard" for your tastes but then it is only for a night. We did this at the Grand Canyon last summer. We had no advance reservations, called the day before our arrival and got a park. It turned out to be a real dud, couldn't open slides on one site, no usable electric at another site. So we started looking for another site further from the south rim. The next nice park was full. Still further south, we found a park with a vacancy. It was getting toward sunset and Walmart was beginning to look like our only option for the night. That park turned out to be a real nice find. We had to drive the toad further to get to the Grand Canyon but we extended our stay, spent time in that town, Williams, and toured other features in the area. We even made a stop there on the way back east and spent a day at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. That turned out to be another highlight of our trip that we hadn't even thought of doing in making our earlier plans. Later on this trip we visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We stayed at a US Forest Service campground with no hookups. Following that we booked into a park for a long weekend just to get our laundry washed and get a some rest from several weeks of heavy driving. We made an impromptu visit to Zion Canyon during that stay. Got to experience a thunderstorm while hiking in the canyon (not in a flood zone). There is nothing like thunder in Zion Canyon. Just one more bonus item I didn't even know was on my bucket list. One of Louise's favorite quotes, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving."

I wouldn't say there isn't such a benefit but there is nothing I can find under the benefits tab on the FMCA main page.

You are correct about the cover. When we got a new toad a few years ago I didn't do the cover. The first was installed prior to a trip to Alaska. I put a bra on the front of the motor home for that trip as well. As to the chips, I'm not easy on my equipment. I'm in it to get the most out of the travel. The current toad has been to Newfoundland and around the horn in Labrador. Newfoundland wasn't a problem but Labrador is a route that I really wouldn't recommend for the faint-hearted and would never do again until they have paved the entire route. We stirred up a whole lot of gravel and some of it pelted the toad. We did get to see a whole lot of wilderness scenery and learned a lot about Labrador in the process.

Roadrunner 2, with our 2012 GMC Acadia, the procedure sounds similar. We follow the manufacturer directions to the letter. I pull fuses (2) as specified. We also have a required start and run before driving. Our ignition key is supposed to be set in accessory position as opposed to the off position. Yes, we lose the clock on the radio but the preset stations are still there. We've never had the problem mentioned above regarding lights which just points out the variations that occur between model years.

What gauge is working? If the odometer reading doesn't show up, how do you know it is working? I would contact the manufacturer, American Coach, (800) 435 - 7345. They are part of the REV Group now.

For everything from campgrounds to Walmart, gas stations to rest areas, the ALLSTAYS Camp and RV app ($9.99 at the Apple Ap Store, also available for Android) is my go-to resource. It will show map location and give directions to any resource. You can even monitor your progress on the map as you drive to any resource. It also has reviews from people who have stayed at any location (including Walmart) and others. It indicates which Walmart's allow overnight parking and which don't. We do use RVParkReviews.com and an old paper copy of the Good Sam Campground directory occasionally. We also have a recent copy of the Next Exit which is useful only for interstate highway travel. For fuel, we use the Gas Buddy app. It has current prices, map locations and directions to the station of your choice. Yes, this is an old post brought back to life. There is a limit to how many resources can be shown on a paper map. One look at a resource like RVParkReviews.com or at ALLSTAYS Camp and RV will show you that there are hundreds of campgrounds that aren't listed in even a large book like the Good Sam directory. Some of those are not RV campgrounds but others are. Ditto with any other resource, Sam's Club, Walmart, Camping World, the list could go on and on. The information is there for anyone to access. The problem with paper is it's limitation in the information that it can convey. Digital is virtually (pun intended) unlimited. Not connected from your current location? Plan ahead, access the internet before leaving the digital world.

We used a tow dolly for our first year out. I sold it and have been flat towing ever since. There is one negative for flat towing that I see mentioned only once. Your "toad" will take a beating. I've used a custom canvas cover (Coastline Cover Company, 10096 6th St Ste L, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 · (909) 484-6592) and a Guardian (front of car barrier from Brakemaster) and the car will still take a beating. Think what it would be like if you were stuck to the back of a tractor-trailer rig. We keep our cars until they are well worn and just live with the chips, etc. Our trade in value when we are ready to change vehicles (ten years old, 120,000 miles in tow and another 120,000 under power) is virtually $0. Well used and money well spent but definitely spent. I have a friend who trades his toad every two or three years, I don't know what kind of trade-in he gets. I agree that trailers are a challenge to deal with and they definitely are not in our future. We move frequently when traveling. If we didn't travel frequently then finding a place to park the trailer wouldn't be a constant hassle. That might make it a better choice for people who move only two or three times a year.

Our first winter out we stopped in San Antonio for a month (December). It's a lovely town and I enjoy visiting on our way into and out of the RGV (Rio Grande Valley). That first visit we decided the weather was cooler than we wanted so we continued on south to the RGV and have been staying there ever since. We've made Edinburg our home. After spending eight winters living in the motor home, we put a mobile home in a park there. We park our motor home next to our mobile which is very convenient. Each spring we pick up and head north to visit with family and tour parts of the US and Canada we haven't yet seen. Winter in the RGV is mild, seldom more than a couple of days below freezing. Winter type weather (cooler, cloudy) is usually confined to the months of December, January and February. We've experienced wet winters and dry winters. This last year the winter was mostly the month of November and we had pretty mild conditions after that. There is always a breeze in the RGV. Frequently it is a Texas sized breeze. Typically we're playing golf in 15 to 20 mile per hour winds. Even more fun is playing tennis in that kind of wind. The cost of living is very reasonable in the area. I just wrote a check for our annual lot rental. We are paying less than $300 per month (less than $3600) for an annual contract. RV lots are less expensive but if not on an annual contract the price will higher than the annual rate. Of course those rates vary from park to park depending on the facilities they offer. There are over 50 RV parks to choose from in the area with a range of conveniences from almost none to very nice full service parks. Many of the parks have a regular program of recreation, entertainment and social events throughout the winter months. We are just 80 miles from South Padre Island if we want sea coast. There are several RV parks on SPI. The McAllen/Mission/Edinburg/Pharr area is one large metropolitan area with all the stores and restaurants you would expect. There are numerous nature areas featuring the unique wildlife found along the southern border. The area is famous for the many birds and butterflies that cross the border and are found nowhere else in the US. There is a new performing arts center in McAllen and there are traveling shows regularly scheduled into the center. You should at least come spend a few days or weeks in the RGV just to see the area. We came to try it out for a few days and found a home base. I always recommend that you book into a park for whatever length of time you are comfortable with and then go exploring to see other parks and their facilities. There are so many choices available you should be able to find a "fit" among them.

You have just started driving a large vehicle. It will take some time to get comfortable handling your motor home in the close quarters you find in gas stations. Travel centers at truck stops often have more open pump areas. I would stick to the larger stations until you feel comfortable maneuvering around multiple vehicles and other obstructions. Look for stations where you can drive straight through for the initial fill-ups. I've been driving a motor home towing a car for seventeen years. I've developed an eye for stations that I can get into and out of without having to disconnect. Now I look more for the best prices not far from my intended route of travel. Usually low priced stations are grouped together (competition) so I frequently have several stations in the area with comparable prices. If one isn't good, I'll look at the next one. As I posted recently, one scraped panel on the motor home isn't worth a few cents savings on fuel. Until you are comfortable going into smaller stations, stay with the larger ones.

We've been using a water softener for three years now and mysteriously our sensors are working again! Don't bad-mouth electric toilets. Our Thetford Aria Deluxe II is now almost 14 years old with only a couple of visits to the toilet doctor. Works great, very durable. We go almost 2 weeks on a 40 gallon black water tank. If you have a problem with an electric, name it.