tbutler

I looked up the Villa Stone product and it looks like just what we are looking for. The installation guide says "DO NOT install this product in recreational vehicles (Fifth Wheels, Motor Coaches, Trailers or Mobile Homes that will be transported). Only approved for permanent on site locations that will not be moved from one place to another." I understand that most flooring manufacturers likely say the same thing about their product. I assume that you have had no problems with the performance of the tile in the four years since you have installed it. I looked up Habegger Flooring and they look like a good choice for information. They work with an installer in Elkhart so I think we'll be pursuing this. Thanks for the tip.

Where are you located? Can you give us the name of the company and perhaps contact information. We're very interested in replacing our flooring. I want a nice professional job so would like to find a quality installer to do the job.

I would second that list. It isn't possible to attend all those in one National Convention so see what you can and then keep the list and keep checking them off until you have attended the whole list. An addition I would suggest the diesel engine seminar (for those so equipped or considering going diesel) with reps from each of the engine manufacturers. There is a driving course dedicated to women that should be on their list. Louise also likes to get the latest information on cooking in the motor home. The vendor service center is always on my list. Make an appointment and get an expert to come to your motor home to identify and possibly fix your most irritating problem. Everyone should peruse the entire program, there are always new presenter who have special expertise like that guy who showed up several years ago, Tireman! Thanks for sharing your list.

Like most everything in a motor home or other RV, the systems are built to do so much that they are pretty much foreign to homeowners. Storage tanks, dual supplies, water pump or city water, everything is knitted together in a fine system but understanding it takes a lot of experience and analysis. Think about the electric, same thing. Generator, shore power, battery all sources of power and then there is the inverter and 12V and 110V systems. Add a solar panel and its controller and there is more to just turning on a light bulb! Understanding how they all relate to each other and what causes any particular problem is an exercise in the higher arts of problem solving. RV techs get a lot of grief but they are charged with knowing a great many systems. When you find a good one, stick with them!

Ours have been the same but I've had the same problem. Our problem wasn't the valve that switches the city water from coach to storage tank. The problem was the leaking back-flow prevention valve built into the water pump. Water was back feeding from the city water to the coach and then through the water pump into the storage tank. Installing a good quality in-line back-flow prevention valve at the outlet of the water pump will stop the problem. You can also install a pressure reducer at the city water supply spigot. This protects your hose as well as reduces the chances of the water pump back-flow problem. If reducing the pressure doesn't stop the problem then the water pump back-flow valve has failed completely. You can get a new water pump or install a separate back-flow valve.

Being retired, I stick to the speed limit, to the letter. There may be occasional minor lapses but it is my intention to be at or below the speed limit at all times. Yes, I've heard it all. In the Rio Grande Valley, there are several small towns along TX 100 on the way to South Padre Island that are well known for their ultra-strict speed limit enforcement. Not only do you have to be at or below speed limit at the sign but you also have to watch out not to start speeding up before the sign that raises the speed limit on the way out of town. Right now we are staying with our daughter and her family in Foristell, MO, a tiny community on I-70 about 40 miles west of St. Louis, MO. They are on constant patrol in the town with 45 and 35 mile per hour speed limits and they freely patrol I-70 within their city limits. If there aren't cars passing you, slow down! It isn't only this, we were traveling through a small town in eastern Washington State in caravan with friends when a car in front of him slowed for a left turn. With plenty of room on the shoulder he passed the vehicle on the shoulder (a common Texas driving pattern). He was immediately set upon by a patrol car and ticketed, fined $300 for careless driving! I am certain that this was a set-up as the police car was waiting on the opposite side of the highway off the roadway in the grass. Times are hard for small towns, taxes are hard to raise and tourists are fair game. If you are out-of-town, you are vulnerable. Out of state is double jeopardy! Your license plate says tourist. Driving a motor home means rich dude! That means a bigger fine! Forewarned is forearmed! Slow down, travel safe this summer!

Glad it all turned out OK! We've done the turn-around after leaving the shop with new tires. Good move, they would never have gotten better!

Tricializ, I recently faced a similar decision in my life. For almost 20 years I have flown airplanes. I never owned one but rented them all over the US and flew in several foreign countries. I love flying cross country flights and have had some really memorable experiences. Our lifestyle has made it difficult to keep current with my flying and as I flew less and less, I felt less comfortable in the cockpit. At that point I faced a decision. Do I devote more time to flying or do I let this part of my life go. I have decided to give up flying. The fun I had at one time just isn't there any longer. I was spending considerable sums on insurance and just flying a few hours to keep my currency. I was no longer flying to interesting places on a regular basis. So the costs of continuing versus my use finally pushed me to the decision to give it up. You mention the knowledge level of posters on the forum. Do not let this intimidate you. If you are interested in using your motor home more in the future, this is an excellent place to ask questions and to benefit from the knowledge. When i began motor homing, I read everything I could, attended rallies and took classes and workshops to help me learn about the motor home and how to keep it in good condition. Following posts on the forum is a way to increase your comfort level. The other way is to use your motor home more often. In your post regarding tires, you mention a trip to Disney in Florida. A long trip like that will make you more comfortable with operation of your motor home and may be the stimulus you need to get the motor home out more often. If on the other hand the trip causes more stress and concern on your part, you may want to reevaluate your decision ot keep the motor home. I am guessing that you are still in the working phase of life. Disney World sounds like a kid trip. What a great kid trip. If it works, there are so many other places to take the kids. Start by taking some other trips to national and state parks. Travel to places with interesting museums and zoos. Use the motor home to expand your children's horizons. If it is useful to you, the work and money you put in to keep it on the road will be worthwhile. Regarding weighing the coach. If you have axle weights, you can work with those. You will need to make an allowance for the lack of specific knowledge of the weight of each wheel position. You do that by putting more pressure in the tires than the manufacturers chart specifies. The standard rule of thumb is add an additional 5% to the weight to allow for differences that may occur. If you don't know individual wheel position weights, add an additional 10% to the weight when you look up the pressure on the manufacturers chart. If you have an opportunity to get individual wheel position weights, take it and then you'll have a better idea of your coach weights. Once you weigh your coach, if you don't make significant changes in the way you load the coach, where you put heavy things or how much material you take with you then there is no need to re-weigh. If you begin taking longer trips and you start packing more clothes, a tool box, some bicycles on the rear ladder, more appliances, more food and other materials, then you should re-weigh the coach as you travel with it fully loaded, passengers, fuel, water, etc.

Finding a Michelin dealer that can handle the FMCA Michelin tire program shouldn't be a problem. Here is a link to Michelin Dealers. There are six truck tire dealers listed in Omaha. Four of the six service National Accounts (the FMCA program). You can go through the six one at a time, fly the cursor over the key and find the symbol for national accounts and then check with the dealer to be certain. Most we've contacted are familiar with the FMCA program and will ease your way through the process. If you don't find one that you like, widen the search area to include Lincoln and Council Bluffs or any other area you want included. Once you have the dealer and give them the tire size you need. Tell them you want tires that are no more than three months from manufacture date (stamped on the tire) and have them order them for you if necessary. If they don't have them in stock, they should be able to get them in a week or two. A good dealer will meet your needs. If they hesitate to get recently manufactured tires, talk to another dealer. Make certain they can mount them the way you want, balanced, checked for round, mounted for a motor home, not a truck (see my post above). A caution. I went to the general Michelin site which itakes you to auto tire dealers by default and could find no national account dealers. I had to find the way into the truck tire dealer finder (see my caution above) to find the national accounts.

We ran Goodyear tires for years. Now I have Michelin all around. The ride difference is quite noticeable. The coach handles better, rides smoother and I know I can trust the tires. A key part of the process is finding someone who will mount the tires like they would for a car, balancing, checking for round, torquing the lug nuts if you have aluminum wheels is important. If they sell large tires, they service mostly trucks. You will likely have to stress to them that this is not a truck unless you love to "feel the road." I have tried it both ways and it does make a difference to balance the rear tires. Have all tires balanced! I've never had a problem with Michelin tires being out of round but Goodyear tires had to be checked for round. Some shops don't even have equipment to test for round. Once mounted, the tire should be rotated on a stand and the roundness measured. If it is more than .006 inches out of round, have it rotated a quarter turn and remounted. One way to avoid this problem is to have them set the bead with the tire horizontal. Lay it down with the wheel inside then inflate until the bead sets. This helps keep the wheel centered as perfectly as possible in the tire. Michelin tires have tested well within tolerance for all six tires I have purchased. Goodyear tires were always near the limit or needed to be adjusted to get within limits. It really does make for a smoother ride. Omaha to Disney and back is a long trip that will be made much longer on rough riding tires. And yes, your tires are 11 years old, a long trip like this will likely result in one or more of the tires failing. That means delay, possible damage or worse. You will be running them long days in hot temperatures, check the pressure each day and adjust as necessary to keep them within specifications. Know your individual wheel position weights and consult the tire manufacturers weight and inflation chart to find the correct pressure. You have saved a nice pile of cash by running these tires as long as you have. Now, spend that on some good new tires and for good measure and peace of mind, install a tire monitoring system on the coach and the toad if you have one. Consider what is at risk (the cost of our coach and the lives on board when you are traveling) and the safety equipment makes sense.

We stayed at Buckhorn Lakes Resort last year and were quite impressed with the resort. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a quality place to stay in the hill country. We paid $43.xx a night for a short stay. We'll stay again the next time we are traveling I-10. The resort is just off the highway but the highway noise wasn't bad at all. If you haven't discovered RV Park Reviews, you should take a look a the site and start posting reviews there.

Our coach is set up to activate the coach brake lights with the engine brake but the toad brake lights don't come on until the service brake is activated. I like this arrangement as it indicates an additional level of braking when the service brakes are used. We don't have the Invisibrake so can't speak to that question.

Here is the web link for Canada Border Services Agency. There is information there to cover what you need to know. Once you are in Canada, you will want to know the regulations for returning to the US. You will go through U.S. Customs as you return. Here is the web link for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We've enjoyed many trips to Canada and highly recommend crossing the border with as much information as you can. Good preparation prevents many problems. You will be asked about firearms and ammunition, both at home and any on-board (on-board must be none - penalties are severe - don't risk it), There are limits on tobacco products and alcohol, make sure you are within the allowable limits for each. Food restrictions apply and they change from time to time. Review the website shortly before leaving. As mentioned, Canada requires brakes on your toad, no matter what it's weight. I've never had them ask but they could. If you had a accident, that would likely come up and be a problem if you aren't in compliance. Enjoy your trip.

We purchased our first motor home, a used 38 foot Monaco Dynasty, for almost exactly what it would have cost for a new heavy duty pickup and a 40 foot fifth wheel. We traded that for a newer coach after living in it for two and a half years. The new coach now is 12 years old and has 150,000 miles on it. I don't think that we would have gotten 150,000 miles out of the pickup truck and fifth wheel. We chose to go the motor home route for all the reasons listed above and have never looked back. Of course asking this question on a website for motor home owners is asking for a biased opinion. If you want the other side of the decision you should ask this question on a forum for all types of RV's. I'm sure that many of those with trailers can cite some good reasons for their decision.

I love to read a post where the OP returns to let us know what the solution was! Thanks John.

I wouldn't expect the gas to ignite immediately after unplugging the refrigerator. If the refrigerator is cold, the gas won't ignite until there is a signal from the temperature sensor inside the refrigerator indicating the temperature is rising and cooling is needed. Perhaps this is the link that is your problem. If the sensor is the same one that feeds the AC side of the system then the sensor is working. There could be separate sensors. If the sensor is working then the connection to the control board may be corroded or loose. If those possibilities are eliminated then it might be time to have the control board tested. I would call and talk to the technical support staff at Dometic.

You haven't given us much to work on. Do you have a schedule that you must follow? Are you retired and able to spend as much time as you want on this trip? Are you traveling with children? Do you have special interests? Science? History? Car racing? Fishing? Or are you just planning to drive there as fast as you can and return the same? I'll give you several options and share the thngs we consider and look for when we travel. If you have time, take time to do some touring on the way. Plan two routes, one on the way out and a different route on the return. You might take I-40 & I 44 east. Stop in Albuquerque or Pueblo for a few days. In Oklahoma City there is a cowboy museum with great cowboy art among other things. If you have children along, this is a must. There is also the memorial in Oklahoma City for the victims of the domestic terrorist bombing that occurred there. The Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, OK is fun for adults and great also for children. Both the cowboy museum and the Will Rogers museum have dress-up play areas for children. Springfield, MO has the original Bass Pro store. In St. Louis you can visit the Jefferson Expansion Memorial and the Arch. You can also tour the original Busch Brewery, there is a great zoo and science museum, botanical garden and much more. Switching to I-70 east to Indianapolis is easy in St. Louis. Indianapolis has a magnificent children's museum, there are lots of hands-on experiences for children, young and old. Stop in Dayton, OH to tour the Air Force Aviation Museum. You get the idea. I would recommend continuing to the northeast and coming tn to Massachusetts from the west rather than the south. Then you might plan a return trip south along the east coast and back westward on I-20 or I-10. I always plan a different route in each direction when we plan our trips. It doesn't always work out but when possible we'll vary the route. If you have enough time, get off the interstate and make it an all summer and fall trip. There is so much to see, you will never run out of interesting stops along the way any way you go.

OK, I missed that the breaker was the water heater breaker. It sounds like a mis-wiring problem. I'd bet that the air conditioner is wired to the water heater breaker instead of the air conditioner breaker. The air conditioner breaker likely has a momentary delay to allow the compressor to start without tripping the breaker. Wire it to the regular breaker for the water heater and it will trip the breaker. Turn off the air conditioner breaker(s) and see if the water heater works!

We like having the two units serving the entire area. One advantage is that you can have the rear unit work during the day when you are in the front of the coach. We set that unit several degrees cooler than the front. The front will kick on occasionally but the rear unit does most of the work and creates most of the noise when we aren't there. At night we reverse the settings and let the front unit carry most of the load and create most of the noise. It works the same with the heat pump setting. If I were worried about the cost of the electric, this might not make sense. We are keeping the part of the house we aren't using cooler than the area where we are located in order to keep ourselves comfortable. From the energy conservation aspect, having the unit serve the area where you are located makes more sense. I prefer the gentler cooling, less air blowing on me, and the quiet of having the far unit operating most of the time. We live in tiny spaces and our energy use is nothing compared to a regular sticks and bricks home so that is my answer to the energy concerns. A small single family home built today has a 200 amp electric panel and larger ones go to 400A and more. Even on 50A we are set up to use only 1/4 of a small single family home.

There is a backflow prevention valve in the water heater where the hot water exits the water heater. Ours failed several years ago and the result was exactly what you describe. The broken piece of the valve was stuck in the valve and blocked flow out of the water heater. Ours was intermittent so we would get water sometimes and other times just a trickle. The purpose of the valve is to allow winterizing the plumbing without having to fill the water heater with antifreeze. The tech couldn't get the valve to unscrew from the water heater when we found the problem so he just removed the blocking piece and everything worked fine. We winterize our motor home by spending the winter in Edinburg, TX! No need for antifreeze there! Some time after we had the valve blockage removed, I rinsed the other working piece of the valve from inside the tank. Years later a technician working on a leak removed the old valve shell with an impact wrench and installed a new one. The first had plastic parts. I couldn't believe that was installed in a water heater. I made sure the replacement was all brass, inspected it myself.

You are correct. Any deceleration, service brakes or engine/exhaust brake will trigger the Easy Brake. If you can adjust the sensitivity set it to be less sensitive which will keep it from activating for mild to moderate braking. That may keep it inactive during mild braking but still set it off when the brakes are more forcefully applied. If you have a cockpit indicator of the braking in the toad, that will let you know how everything is working.

Twenty to thirty seconds sounds like the time the unit runs (fan) before the compressor kicks in. It sounds as if the compressor is drawing huge power which indicates a serious failure.

I get an engine warning light if the engine brake is on for an extended time. I've replaced several exhaust manifolds and the last time in the shop I asked if use of the engine brake could be causing this. The answer from the Cummins tech was no. He said the exhaust temperature would be lower when the engine brake is engaged. Our brake functions differently than some others. I can't set the cruise with the engine brake set. When I use the engine brake it cancels the cruise and it must be manually engaged. I've driven behind people who have the cruise and the engine brake set and their brake lights come on on every downgrade. I like to coast downhill until I reach the speed limit (for our toad that is 65 MPH) then if necessary I'll use the engine brake to maintain that speed to the bottom of the hill. If you can drive without using the brake (safely of course), you'll get better fuel mileage. Every use of the brake is taking taking energy (inertia) out of the system that you have used the engine (fuel) to put into the system.

Don, Never considered myself Evel Knievel though I've put many a mile on motorcycles and I have flown small airplanes. We drive California Hwy 88 across the Sierra Nevada one time each way almost every year going to and from Valley Springs to visit our daughter and her family. On our first trip west in our 1994 Dynasty, we drove the Salt River Canyon northeast of Globe, Arizona on US 60. Among other memorable drives is the knife edge ridge of Utah Hwy 12 east of Bryce Canyon National Park and California Hwy 190 west out of Death Valley from Stovepipe Wells to US 395 and then California Hwy 178 on to Bakersfield. That last one we actually encountered open range and had to make a stop for several cows in the middle of the road! And who could forget the drive into and out of Valdez, Alaska or the Over the Top road from Dawson City, Yukon to Chicken, Alaska? The list goes on but you get the idea. So I'd rank myself as an experienced mountain driver. Maybe I should get a "don't follow me" sticker for the back of the motor home! Read the previous discussion that I cited in the post above and you'll find plenty of people who share my opinion. I've added US 550 to my plans for this summer!

I've never traveled this route. I ran a profile, there are three passes near 11,000 feet. It is a US Highway so the road should be good enough. I'm certain your coach can do it, you'll have to make the decision whether you want to tackle this. If you and your passenger(s) are OK, the scenery should be great. I'm certain someone who has made the trip will respond sooner or later. This website has detailed information on attractions and points of interest on this route. Here is another website which has more detailed information about the driving conditions on the route. This link takes you to a previous discussion on this route. Personally, given the above, I'd love to drive the route and wouldn't hesitate to take it on.