tbutler

j, I can't say that I notice the fan noise while traveling. I'm sure it is there but I can't separate it from the rest of the engine noise. Maybe I just haven't focused on the noises from the engine. dd69, The dust cloud is definitely from the fan as you can see the dust only on the radiator side and see it billowing as directed by a fan. Even at very slow speeds when tires hardly raise dust, the dust will billow from the fan induced air movements. Given the alternate, a rear mounted radiator, I am happy to have the easy access to the engine that a side mounted radiator provides. I regard the dust cloud as a minor irritation. In my experience there really aren't many locations where this is a problem. It seems to be only the dustiest of locations that I notice this.

We get the same cloud of dust that you refer to when in dusty conditions. I know my fan isn't running full always, just when the engine is hot from highway travel. If you watch the temperature (we have the Aladdin monitor) it takes quite a while for the engine temperatures to cool down. Just because you are off the highway doesn't mean that the temperatures and the fan speed should drop immediately.

It isn't my table, just a reference that I passed along. You could contact the AR Department of Transportation for clarification. It wouldn't surprise me if it were correct. There are tons of laws on the books which are outdated and haven't been revised or repealed to reflect current practices. You can search the internet for dumb laws and come up with dozens of examples.

I've had mine out several times to replace the computer board. With ours it is possible to take it out of the cabinet in one piece. I'm sure each manufacturer does this differently. For ours there is a trim piece across the front that can be removed, look for screws that hold it in place. Ours is carpet covered so the screws weren't immediately obvious. The next step is angle brackets that secure the W/D to the floor. Ours had one on each side at the front. Ours is in the floor of a closet space and the shelf above is the next thing to remove. That also is secured by screws. Pull the unit out far enough to shut off the water, disconnect hoses, unplug the electric and stand on your head to remove the dryer vent. Get several friends to help from here. I've done it single handed but it's a heavy unit. I've never taken it all the way out of the coach but if it won't fit out the door, it could go out through a window. While it's a lot of trouble if it is a working W/D and you can get it out in one piece you might find a buyer on Ebay! We had our Norcold refrigerator removed and a household model brought in through the drivers side window. Removal of the window was not difficult. A crew inside and outside can do the job with no problems.

Too bad you don't have the owners manual. All that information would be in the manual. Our fuses for most of the house 12V operations are in the outside compartment below the drivers feet. There are about 60 of them and the key to them is on the inside of the cover of the fuse panel. If yours aren't there, call Monaco, 877-466-6226. Have your coach number (last six digits of the coach serial number, not the VIN) ready. Go to Customer Service in the menu and the operator can direct you to technical support. They should be able to help you. You might inquire about getting a copy of the manual for your coach. The manual has good descriptions of each system in the coach and basic trouble shooting steps to take.

That phone number still works. It will get you to their parts and service centers and you can get technical information from the service centers using this number. You will need the coach number. Monaco uses the last six numbers of the unit serial number to identify the coach in their records. This is a different number than the VIN. It is shown on the unit ID panel, ours is on the wall behind the drivers seat. Write that number down and keep it in a convenient place. Any time you need to contact Monaco, have that number at hand.

Everyone has their own way of handling their waste water tanks. After living full time for almost ten years we adopted the following procedures as our routine for waster water. We treat the black water tank regularly. Our 40 gallon tank will last the two of us for about two weeks. Unless travel plans necessitate dumping before the tank is near full, we'll go for 10 to 12 days before dumping the black water. It isn't a septic tank but with that holding time I think it helps to treat the tank to reduce odors. Even flushing will allow some odor to escape the tank into the interior of the motor home. We use "5 Star Happy Camper." It's a product that I bought at a rally many years ago. A pair of 40 ounce containers will last us all summer. It is a dry powder and we've found it very effective. It is available in a variety of package sizes. When we were full time we would purchase several years supply and store the excess in the storage shed on our winter campsite. Each year we would fill two 40 oz. containers when we left for the summer. It an easy to store, a single container or two will last you for a long time. As a bulk product, you don't have a lot of containers to deal with. The cost is very reasonable. If you can't find a dealer at a rally, it can be ordered on-line. The gray water tank sometimes causes a problem, usually when our washer/dryer hasn't been used for a while. If the trap in a drain goes dry then the odor from the gray water will feed back into the motor home. It can smell almost as bad as the black water tank. Putting water down the drain to fill the trap will once again establish the seal and prevent odors. We occasionally add some of the Happy Camper treatment to help break down the build-up of food in the gray water tank. We always do that when we are on the road so the mixture will slosh around while we drive, then empty immediately after parking and hooking up. When hooked up to a sewer our gray water tank is always open until the time for dumping the black water tank is near. Then we'll close the gray water and build up a supply for flushing the dump hose.

Bypass the dealer, go directly to Cummins/Onan for service if you can't fix it yourself.

I don't know how everyone's system is set up or whether the inverter set-up for inverters is standard throughout the industry. Our inverter is always on. If it isn't something is broken. We have 120V electric in the house 24/7. The inverter works with the generator and the shore power. In fact if our inverter is turned off, we lose the circuits that the inverter powers. If we were to store our motor home over the winter without a power connection, then the inverter would be shut down but we never do that so we're always on. This has never caused a problem with the system. The inverter does use electricity while on even if nothing is connected so if you are boondocking you may have times when you want to shut down the inverter but for us that isn't the case.

We went through this in 2001, moving into our motor home July 7 and into a mobile home in a resort in June 2010. It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to anyone who can afford to do it both from a financial standpoint and also from a comfort level of being totally footloose and fancy free! It isn't for everyone. I've known any number of people who say they just couldn't give up their house. For Louise and I it worked. We started in South Dakota with a company, My Home Address. We stayed with them until we made the official move to Texas in the fall of 2010. They handled our vehicle registration, we got South Dakota drivers licenses, and we registered to vote in South Dakota. We also moved our estate documents to South Dakota so they complied with the state laws. In effect we did everything we could to make ourselves South Dakota residents. The web site I've linked above will give you more detailed information. There is at least one other organization that provide mailing services and I'll include their web sites so you can look at their services and rates and make informed decisions. Dakota Post is located in Sioux Falls. It provides services similar to My Home Address. FMCA has transferred its mail forwarding services to this organization. Their site also gives a good account of the benefits of becoming a South Dakota resident and the process involved. I liked My Home Address (MHA) because it is located in Emery, SD. This is a small community and other than farming, My Home Address is the big dog in town. There were occasions when I called the post office and talked to them regarding a situation we had and there was no question from them about who we were or what our situation was. They knew MHA because most of the mail they handled was for MHA! The same was true when we dealt with the county government regarding voting registration. Some people worry about jury duty. In Hanson County where MHA is located the court routinely excuses full time RVers from jury duty. We also had no problem dealing with the drivers license office in Sioux Falls in this case. Basically, full time RVers is a major industry in South Dakota. I Googled "Choosing a Home Address" and came up with a link to this web site. It is a brief summary of all the implications of choosing any particular state as a home state. It is worth reading. When we went full time we found a book on this subject that gave more complete information but it was also dated because all these things change over time. I will say that as far as I know, South Dakota doesn't have any period of time that you have to live in the state to be a resident. We spent one night in a hotel in Sioux Falls, got our drivers license the next day, visited MHA and signed up with them, registered to date and returned to our motor home. We only "had" to go back to renew our driver's license every 5 years. Everything else could be handled through the mail and/or e-mail. Another topic that could help is to Google "RV Home Base." There are many sites listed here, could be helpful. I checked one and here is the link for that one. Again, this could help compare different states to see which would work best for you. The site lists many things to be considered, similar to the site above.

With the information about your coach, I would suggest that you contact Monaco Customer Service 877-466-6226. Talk to someone in tech service to get their advice. I know that we had a similar problem with the water compartment door on our coach. We were making a stop at the factory service center in Coburg, OR and asked them to fix it. They were able to pry the door open enough to insert a tool from the side and release the latch. Our door had a single center plunger so it may not work if you have several latch points. I don't know what kind of tool they used and I don't know exactly where they applied the pressure to release the latch. If that won't work, they may have other information on how best to attack the problem.

If you add the year and model of your motor home it would help. There are many different designs for doors and latches.

We weigh our coach every several years just to be sure we're OK. I haven't had a problem with weight since we purchased our current coach. The GVWR for our coach is 37,600 and the GCWR is 47,600. As of the last weighing in 2013 at Gillette, WY, I had 1850 pounds to spare on the front axle, 2650 to spare on the rear axle, 1175 to spare on the tow bar rating and 9675 to spare on the GCWR. These figures are from the Recreational Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) which does individual wheel weights and a thorough summary of your vehicle weight information. The RVSEF also does excellent safety workshops at every FMCA National Convention. When you do the weighing, they include a tire inflation table for your tires so you can easily look up the required tire pressure to ensure you have your tires properly inflated for their load. If you haven't had this done, I highly recommend it. The cost is nominal and the report is essential information for every motor home owner.

Hello fellow boomers! We're winter Texans who became sort of regular Texans after wintering in Edinburg for 10 years. We have a mobile home and are licensed and registered in Texas now. We share your interest in wine and history. We just left our campground today. We were originally headed for Galveston but the activity we had planned there this weekend was canceled. We're spending the night in Kerrville tonight on the way to the Denver area for a couple of weeks then off to Ohio for a family wedding. After that we'll spend a month in Missouri visiting some of our children and grandchildren. Our big trip for the summer is Newfoundland and Labrador, the only province in Canada we haven't visited. When we return from there we'll make a run for California to visit the rest of our children and grandchildren. By the end of October we'll be back in Edinburg for the winter! Welcome to the world of RV'ing. We can't imagine a better way to travel. Pack once leave for the summer, never leaving home! No suitcases, no shoes, no problems! Well I can't really say no problems, That's what keeps this interesting. If there weren't an occasional problem you would be constantly pinching yourself!

Here is a reference for towing laws in the US and Canada. The web page is dated 2015. We're headed for the Northeast US and Canada. Towing lengths are less than 65 in many of the states in the northeast. In Massachusetts the limit for combined vehicle length is 60 feet. I'll be about 62 feet. In New Hampshire the combined vehicle limit is "none" but the two vehicle limit is 45 feet. I'm not sure what that difference is as far as definition. I do know that we've traveled through these states before and never had a problem. Now if we had an accident there could be problems. Smile and say yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir!

There are as many interests in travel as there are people traveling. It always is helpful if you indicate your interests when you request information. If you tell us what you want to see, be it cities or rural, watching wildlife or hunting/fishing, history or antiques, festivals or sporting events, let us know and someone can suggest something special most anywhere!

This is a way cool site! Thanks for posting. I've bookmarked it, stored with my other resources on road conditions. Always nice to know something about the road ahead!

As Ray indicates, we can always use bloggers on this site. I've been blogging here and my family and friends follow even though they are not members.

We did that drive around the lakes in 2008 in reverse from your intended trip. We started in Detroit, MI (Henry Ford Museum is a must). Crossing into Canada driving south across the bridge into Windsor, Ontario. You can spend a week or so visiting the southern tip of Canada. It extends into Lake Erie at Point Pelee National Park. The area around there has beautiful homes, English garden landscaping and many interesting sites to visit. We enjoyed the area around London, Ontario for its scenery. Just outside London is the Museum of Ontario Archaeology which features a reconstruction of a 500 year old Iroquois village. Also near London is the Cheese Factory Museum. The cheese factory is closed but the museum is interesting and goes way beyond the cheese factory. There are three or four buildings with all kinds of historical items and displays. We enjoyed the history museum which features a story and display for a woman who is a local hero, having tipped off the British that the Colonists were coming. It is sort of a Paul Revere story from the viewpoint of the loyalists! Just goes to show one persons hero could be another persons villain! To the north is Stratford on the Avon River (sounds familiar if you've been to Great Britain). They have a wonderful theater there that focuses on productions by, wouldn't you know it, Shakespere. There are walking trails on both sides of the Avon River, we saw two pairs of nesting Trumpeter Swans complete with eggs in one nest and the young cygnets in the other. We even got to watch as the pen (term for the female) led the cygnets (term for the young chicks) followed by the cob (term for the male) from their nest into the river for a swim. Along the trail are English gardens. In town many small shops including a tea shop (Distinctly Tea) that Louise enjoyed thoroughly as did the shop owner when Louise checked out! We found an advertisement for a butcher shop, The Best Little Pork Shoppe just outside of town so we stopped and stocked up on sausage, chops, etc. Highly recommend this place. They were very happy when Tom checked out! We went on north to Sudbury, the heart of the nickel mining area of Canada. There is a nickel mine tour there at a place called The Dynamic Earth. They have a Big Nickel on a large signpost. There is also information on gold mines which operate in the area. There is a mine to tour. We had the luck of meeting one of the original miners in the cafeteria and enjoyed having lunch with him as he reminisced about his life. We stopped at the Soo Locks where Lake Superior transitions to Lake Huron. We stayed on the US side because we wanted to call home, fill up the diesel tank with US prices and as much as we love traveling in Canada, we just have to get home once in a while. While there we found a weeks worth of travel fun, touring the Tower of History, touring the Locks on a boat tour, touring a Great Lakes Freighter, and we took a train ride on the Algoma Central Railway to Agawa Canyon in Canada. We found out when we talked to my mother that they had also taken the tour and her parents had also done the train tour. So it has become a family tradition. We crossed back into Canada at Sault Ste.Marie (Soo Saint Marie on the US side). From there we drove the north shore of Lake Superior visiting Lake Superior Provincial Park briefly. We had a nice picnic inside the motorhome because we didn't want to be a picnic for the mosquitos. We did brave a walk through the woods to the lake shore and enjoyed a long walk barefoot on the sand of the small bay there. Then we shopped at the Agawa Indian shop and picked up some nice moccasins. There is a petrograph site on the north shore near there that is worth a visit. Agawa Rock has interesting hiking, great views of the lake shore and the paintings are amazingly clear for their age. Traveling further west, we stopped at Wawa (Native American name for the Canada Goose) and they have the world's largest one there. We stayed several days here because we wanted to explore the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve. Crown land belongs to the British royal family. This is a wilderness area which has some good gravel roads and then a really severe 4WD road. There are several game observation platforms along the road. We made it through but I would advise asking questions before planning to take that route. We had to ford several hundreds of feet across a pond formed by beaver that had dammed a small stream just below the road. That and several deep gullies across the road were negotiated by our 4WD Chevrolet Trailblazer. We were urged on by the bears and moose that we were seeing close up. It was fantastic and at the same time one of the more stressful things I have done. At one point the maps didn't agree with or provide enough information so we had to do some searching to find the proper road. That is always fun when you are miles from anywhere and haven't seen a vehicle in a long while. Louise called it being lost but you know how guys are, just keep driving you'll find a way out! We stopped again at Kakabeka Falls and hiked up to the top of the falls. Great scenery again. We ate lunch along the stream, sitting on a rock that was actually in the stream. Rushing water, cool air, lovely stop. Then we were back to the US with a stop just across the border in the "arrowhead" of Minnesota. The Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center tells the story of the early French traders in the area and their trips across Lake Superior and the trading post at this location where they collected the furs from the Native Americans and shipped them out by canoe across Lake Superior. Needless to say, these were hearty voyagers. A very interesting stop, we had popped rice (made from wild rice in an iron skillet over a fire). The buildings and the story are quite amazing. Our next stop was Duluth, Minnesota. Here I'm going to recommend that you stay at the Marina Campground which is right downtown on the Marina. You will be across the High Bridge, a vertical lift draw bridge from the town. From our campsite we could watch the Great Lakes freighters coming and going from Duluth harbor into Lake Superior. Walking across the bridge, there were any number of interesting restaurants and the aquarium, all worth a visit. The restaurant area is a night club area and is alive well into the night if you are so inclined. In Wisconsin one area I would recommend beyond those mentioned in the previous post is the peninsula north of Green Bay, known as Door County. This area features the Scandinavian culture that settled there. You'll find many Scandinavian restaurants, farms to tour, towns to visit and fruit and farm products to purchase on the site of production. From there we visited some friends in Wisconsin and then went on to the FMCA Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. So... start reading here and go backwards! There you are. It's a wonderful trip. We found no end of amazing things to see and enjoyed it thoroughly.

We've had the Thetford Aria Deluxe for the life of our current coach. It has been an excellent toilet. I've never worried about the amount of water, never had a problem with the black water tank. All you really need is enough water in the bowl to cover the seal. If desired there is a button to add water for those occasions when more water will be needed. The less water the toilet uses with each flush the longer your freshwater tank supply will last and the longer between dumping the black water tank. Even with minimal water from the toilet, most of what comes out of the black water tank is liquid or is in liquid suspension. If you haven't used a clear connector for your dump hose, I recommend it. They make straight and angled sections about 4 to 6 inches long that can be used between the dump outlet and your hose. Any camping store will have them. Using it may not seem pleasant but it is educational. You won't have any more doubt about whether there is enough water in your black water tank. Not only will you learn that but you will find that no matter how much water is in the black water tank it will not rinse clean just from dumping. We have a built-in rinse system that sprays the inside of the tank. Once that runs clear we dump several 2 gallon buckets of water straight down the toilet. I have Louise pour one bucket straight down the throat in the time the flush valve remains open. This hits the bottom of the tank right where the solids accumulate, right under the down pipe. This will rinse out the difficult material that can build up if not purged regularly. Using the clear connector, I can see how much remains even after the built-in rinse is running clear. The built-in rinse system will never remove the stubborn pile right below the toilet.

Our in-motion dome will go when it dies. We don't use the in-motion feature at all and will move to a HDTV capable dish with our next. How long will that be? We're on our fourth KVH dish in eleven years with this coach. I don't think it will be too long. No more KVH for us. The larger pop-up dish which provides HDTV capability also gives much better reception in marginal conditions such as stormy weather or high latitudes when the satellite is located near the horizon. We were impressed by the RV Mogul equipment displayed at a recent FMCA Rally. Another company which will be on our list to consider when we make the change is Winegard.

I just made a correction to my post above. It does not include medical insurance of any kind. Your own medical insurance should cover you while traveling in the US. Check with your specific plan. If you have Medicare, there are Part B supplements that will cover you while traveling outside the US for the first 60 days (Plan F, G). I think its really funny, your connection to Edinburg. Two weeks from today we'll set out on our summer travels. We are headed for Newfoundland and Labrador and then will make our way across country to visit our grandchildren in California in October. Last year we spent a week with them at their vacation home in Elkton, Oregon. We have to be home by the end of October so our plans seem to preclude our meeting unless we end up parked at the same RV park sometime during the summer and fall. Sandpipers Resort is located north of Edinburg where Seminary Road (a northern extension of Sugar Road) ends. It's a beautiful park, really quiet during the summer as most people do what we do, head for cooler climes. So you won't be surprised, it isn't your normal tourist park. Clothing is optional! Bring plenty of sunscreen! Tom & Louise Butler

It's included in your FMCA Membership. Look for FMCAssist in the benefits. It covers getting the coach back home. You have to pay for operational expenses (fuel, maintenance, etc.). It includes medical evacuation and much more. Check out the details on the banner on the home page or click on this link. Print out your cards with membership information today. How cool is that???

Nothing like reviving an old posting! Happy 50th Birthday KOA (3 years late!)... KOA... Slowly I turned, inch by inch, step by step... When we bought our first motor home and were preparing to sell our home we moved into the motor home full time in a KOA, returning to our sticks and bricks home only to clean her out, paint and fix up before the sale. We were at the KOA for several months. It was a nice place not too far from home and we enjoyed the stay. We had their discount card and made a practice of staying at KOA's when they were available. We also stayed at other campgrounds. KOA's are pretty uniform, other parks not so much. We found the prices a notch higher than other parks and over time found that the other parks met our needs for less money. We had one really bad experience with a KOA that pretty much soured us on the entire chain. If you've stayed at KOA you know that they have rules. Lots of rules. More rules than most any other park we have stayed at. Rules keep everything nice and quiet and under control. Nice for families where you want a safe controlled manicured experience. The park which ruined KOA for us was run by two ladies who were hel2 bent on enforcing rules. Unhooking our car which was on a tow dolly and fitting everything on our site I put the tow dolly aside on the grass. It was going to be there just until I could get the car out of the street and then would be stored under the rear of the motor home. It hadn't been there a minute when we were told in no uncertain terms that we could not put the tow dolly on the grass. Later, Louise was using the internet. They had a timer and you got ten minutes. When the timer went off they came over and unplugged your from the wall outlet! No one was waiting, your time was up. We had a name for these two ladies (a WWII reference, think total control) and we still laugh about them. They were total control freaks. And that is what many of those rules KOA has are about, control. I prefer to live with less control, more freedom. So now we'll stay at a KOA if it is the only reasonable choice. If something else is available, we'll go elsewhere. I can't remember the last time we stayed at KOA. We are in campgrounds for over 100 days each summer and when we were full time it was more like 300 days a year. A footnote. The park mentioned above was sold and became independently owned. We stayed in it under independent management years later. The park was definitely different. Unfortunately, the last time we went by the place it was an abandoned campground. All the buildings were there but the park was closed, overgrown in weeds. I guess the moral of the story is that you can have your porridge too hot or too cold. What we're looking for is the porridge that is just right (for us).

jleamont, You can find the list of chapters under the Chapters/Areas tab at the top-right side of the FMCA home page. You can search the list by area or by any key word you would like to use. FMCA has 475 Chapters. There are chapters for most coach manufacturers, engine manufacturers, special interest groups of all kinds as well as a host of area and local groups. Take a look at the list and do a little searching. Most groups have minimal dues so you can join, get their news and maybe get to a rally this spring or summer. There is no limit on the number of chapters you may join so if you find several of interest, join several. Welcome Su-Ann and Rich! Hope you enjoy the forum! Don't hesitate to post any questions you may have and also share your experiences here or perhaps as a blog.