tbutler

Hello Bill and Janet, We left Fort Morgan, CO on September 1 headed west toward California on I-80. Guess we were lucky, we missed the road alligator. What a story, I'm not surprised, just impressed with the things you carry with you and your ability to use them. We are in Valley Springs, CA right now, leaving next week for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque then heading back to Texas for the winter. Have a good remainder on your trip.

Be very careful, the springs on these awnings are extremely strong. Think like garage door springs, if you don't maintain tight control it can really injure you. I would never remove the mounting without taking the tension off the spring. Carefree of Colorado has technical information for their awnings on-line. Basically, the slide toppers will require unwinding the fabric completely, locking the roller and removing the fabric from roller which also requires removing it from the RV. Then you wind the roller, I'd give it no more than one additional revolution, then reinstall the fabric, release the lock. Too much tension on the fabric can cause difficulty for the mechanism that opens the slide-out. It can also lead to breaking the spring. The process can be largely done from the roof, working over the edge when the slide is in. When it comes time to install, it may help to have someone on a ladder on the ground to help feed the fabric onto the roller. I've had a broken spring (snow loading on an open slide), when that occurs, the fabric will not retract at all. It sounds to me as if you just need to tighten the spring.

You can buy the AC 110 V variety for about $100 on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot. They are the small two to three gallon compressors that go to 150 psi. After years of fiddling with the on-board air I gave up and purchased one. It resides in my mid-compartment right by the 110V outlet in that compartment. I have enough hose to get to the entire coach and the toad when connected. The only good way to get to 120 psi is to have something that goes near 150 psi. Our on-board system cycles to 130 then dumps so the only way to get close to 120 is to get it when it is just before cycling and at 130 psi, trying to get to 110 takes a great deal of patience.

OK, who can pass up the chance to talk sewage? Like it's source, everyone has an opinion and we all know ours is the "only" right way to do things. That is because what we do has worked for us. For us, the gray water is always open until it is time to dump the black water. We love taking long showers, Louise likes to keep up with laundry with our Splendide washer/dryer. Our black water tank is 40 gallons and with our Thetford Aria II Deluxe toilet (electric) set on minimal water, we go about two weeks between dumps. For those interested in mileage, that amounts to as much as 4000 miles per black water dump or if you wish, 400 miles per gallon! Our gauges don't work, Louise knows the "sound" of a full black water flush. So we dump black water when it is 90 to 100% full when it works in terms of schedule and travel. We always try to follow that with a nearly full (60 gallon) tank of gray water. Our gray water mileage is considerably lower than the black water (a familiar story I'm certain). We dump gray water at rest stops when on the road, some do have a dump station out west. At other times we dump gray water when we stay in a campground. By the way, fun fact, in New Zealand and Australia it is standard practice to drain gray water to the ground in the campground! Some have drain connections at the campsite but many it is just drain to ground. They don't have large RV's or campers. It's mostly dish washing and hand washing water. We showered and used the toilet facilities in the campgrounds. They were spotless in New Zealand and near spotless in most Australian campgrounds. Sewage stories, every RV'ers glory. No wonder it made a special scene in RV, the movie!

You are paying for the diesel engine, big $$. Get a quality coach. Your Holiday Rambler is a quality coach, you'll know quality when you see it. Our coach is still solid and going strong. There are really deluxe coaches in the 40+ category that are reasonably priced in the same general age as your coach. I like checking FMCA Magazine for used coach prices. Just one indicator. Then you can look at some of the references Wildebill has given above. We just gave a 2008 Monaco Signature a close look, too much coach for us but really nice at a pretty good price. A friend of ours sold their 2008 Monaco Diplomat last year. The Monaco's or Holiday Ramblers 2008 and before are from the original company, good coaches. We are at 167,000 miles right now.

I would definitely say yes but everyone is different. Some people simply have to have a house and can never get past that. I moved a dozen times in the military and later. I even designed and built our home at one time, thinking we'd stay there forever -- not! Louise had moved many times as a youngster including some time living in their car. When I married her she had been in her house for 22 years. She had a different perspective on leaving the house but she bit the bullet and learned to love full timing. Ultimately she said she needed a home and I had to respect that. So now we have our mobile home (right sized for retirees, not a 10 room palace for two). She is always happy to hit the road in the spring and happy to get back into the house in the fall. I know the time is coming when I'll have to give up the motor home but until then, I'm enjoying all it's advantages. Change is inevitable. My answer is, "Do whatever is right for you at this time".

Good suggestions so far. Winter is not impossible. We've been on the east coast in December, drove in snow from Tennessee to South Carolina. Just take it easy. Woke up a week later to 3" of snow on the ground, headed for Indianapolis. It depends on the kind of snow, how it is staying on the road and your experience with driving in snow. If you're from Pennsylvania you should have the basic snow driving skills. We made a trip in March from deep south Texas to Pennsylvania. No snow that year but the funniest thing was when we got into Arkansas. My wife turned to me and said, "Why are all these trees dead?" I had to laugh and laugh. When we left our campground in Edinburg, Texas, the flowers were blooming all along the highway. Many of our trees were green year round and those that weren't had leaves by late February. She was thinking that spring had sprung, everywhere. Boy did we find out it hadn't when we got to Pennsylvania. You know March in Pennsylvania, it's not warm. March is a great month in south Texas, stick around and enjoy some really nice weather. By the end of March you are waking up to 60's with highs in the mid 80's, maybe time for a northerner to flee!

I don't know exactly what your off the road demands are. We always traveled to visit our children when we were full time. That is still what we do in the summers. Right now we are with our youngest and her family, two granddaughters and a husband/hunter/fisherman. So we are parked for a month and then will be back on the road again. Even if you're off road time is back in your home area, you could do that in the motor home. When you go full time and give up the fixed home, you simplify your life considerably. Trying to manage a motor home and keep up with a fixed house doubles your work and some of your expenses. It requires constant adjustment, moving from the motor home to the fixed house and back. You will make the decision that fits you best but I can tell you that even if you have to return home periodically, you will experience an amazing freedom having only a mobile lifestyle.

The GPS unit works off satellite. It's always on, no gaps in coverage. My cell phone is here and gone depending on where we are located. How does your cell work in Canada? Do you roam or purchase some other kind of connection? The GPS works everywhere, Newfoundland, Alaska, all over Canada. I took it to Australia and New Zealand, it worked fine there also. Once I put in destination, I don't have to touch the GPS. A cell phone offers a nice addition but it doesn't match the coverage of a GPS unit.

Is the problem turning the wrench or clearance to get the wrench on the nut or do you need a long wrench to reach into the area?

Well, hey, guess what? The signatures are here - now. I didn't do anything, since my checks yesterday. It has to be the way I'm holding my mouth! Thanks for the advice Wayne!

If you are buying a used coach, you are buying it as is, no guarantee of quality or condition. You are the inspector. With that caveat, it doesn't make much difference whether you purchase from a dealer or individual. A dealer may give you a break for a short period of time but that won't last. Having a dealer does give you someone to go to for repair work. However, we've had very good luck taking our coach to dealers all over the country. Some are more helpful than others but we've been refused by very few. More often, we encounter scheduling problems. Still, when we really need service, we've been able to get it on short notice. Buying from an individual, you get what you drive away with from the sale. You can eliminate the middle man. On the other hand you may be dealing with someone who has an exaggerated expectation of the worth of their coach. Do a lot of comparison pricing to see what coaches of similar age and mileage are selling for. In both cases, you will want to give the coach a good personal inspection before completing the deal. The best time to get repairs made is before the sale. As an alternative to having repairs done by the owner or dealer, you could negotiate on the price to compensate for needed repairs or damage. With limited experience with motor homes, you might want to enlist the support of a friend who is familiar with motor homes to help with the pre-purchase inspection. Another way to go is to hire an RV tech to do the inspection for you. They could give you a list of things they see as problems with a coach. By the way, anyone purchasing a new coach is also advised to do this very same thing. Regarding camping in a diesel motor home, I'll stick by the term. We stay at RV Parks and in campgrounds. I've done car camping, river float trip camping, backpacking and youth camping. To be sure, camping in a motor home is not like being in a tent. And we do have many of the comforts of home. When we were parked next to the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, it sure felt like camping. Louise says that spending the night at Holiday Inn is roughing it. I know she thinks of this as camping.

We started with a 1994 Monaco Dynasty, no slides. Our next and present coach is a Monaco Windsor, 2004, with two slides. Two slides are better than none! If you really want to stretch out or you like to dance, four slides are nice. With four slides you will find yourself working under the slides to get into the storage compartments. I have a few bruises and cuts from two slides. I arrange my materials as much as possible to be on the slide-free side. We're not strangers to older RV parks and have camped in Canada and Alaska extensively. There are times when two slides limit where we can park, the problem will be greater with four slides. Our slides have presented few problems in terms of operation. That isn't true for all coaches. When you find a coach you like, do some searching for comments from owners of that brand and model. I believe some slide mechanisms are more likely to cause problems. Nothing will stop you faster than a slide that won't retract. It usually happens somewhere other than at home. Both our coaches have been diesel. I wouldn't shy from them. I had never owned a diesel nor do I do my own maintenance. We usually put 12,000 miles plus on the coach during a summer of travel. Our current coach has 167,000 miles, all but the delivery mileage are ours. Yes, maintenance will cost you some $$ but I know that we have a nice ride and we aren't shouting at each other over the engine noise that a gas coach can produce in the cockpit. Going on 14 years old, we are replacing interior flooring, a few appliances, lighting, water heater, etc. The air conditioners are original and still working. Over the years we've had several visits to paint shops for touch ups and accident related repainting. RV'ing is not the cheapest way to travel but if you like the lifestyle, there is no better way to travel. For us it's been worth every penny.

Just did. No change. I have a name at FMCA for help. No phone service with AT&T where we are now. I'll try them at our next stop.

Saving the dime when I can is why I have a thousand to spend. Why burn money?

Yes, view signatures is turned on. I saved again, still no signatures. I assumed that the FMCA office would be the source of support information. Apparently, we are the support experts. It would be nice to hear from someone at FMCA in regard to this problem. They are running the software and should be aware of and fixing problems.

There are a variety of things that can be used as parking pads to protect tires and extend their life. There are special pads for this purpose, I've used wood and now I use cutting boards, inexpensive ones from Walmart will do. Whatever you use should be large enough to support the entire footprint of each tire. To reduce the flat spot, inflate your tires to the maximum pressure given on the tire and the rim. Do not exceed the lesser of those two pressures. An alternate would be to put the jacks down to relieve the weight being supported by the tires. You could also put the coach up on blocks as another alternative. If parked outdoors, the tires should be covered to protect them from UV rays of the sun.

Welcome to FMCA and the forum. We loved our full time travel and are on the road about the same amount of time now that we were when we were full time. If you are in it for the long term, consider getting the most solid coach you can afford. We're at 167,000 miles right now. Wonderful that your home escaped the worst of the damage. I don't know how the housing market will be in the near future. Our house went on the market in the summer of 2001. It took a few months but it finally sold. Be patient with the sale.

It still a problem!

So the way I read this discussion is that there is mass confusion in the toll system in this country. I really appreciate the links that Wildebill posted. The map on the Alliance for Toll Interoperability page alone is worth a thousand words. This is just one of the challenges those of us who refuse to be stationary in a single place face. I'm just thankful that we don't have to show our passport to leave Texas, though that would be the case if some (expletive omitted) Texans had their way. How many laws vary from state to state in a way that tends to create individual kingdoms within our country. The road system is a national system, a national treasure, that should be administered as a national system. I feel the same way about a whole bunch of state laws that vary considerably from state to state. That may have made sense in 1900 when very few people traveled beyond their own state but this is 2017, most people can get in their car and travel to another state in an hour or two. Full timers are always at home and usually never in their home state. When you go full time in an RV, you have to constantly adjust to varying state laws and state based systems like health care. It is all so archaic. I hate tolls. Like Bill (the huffypuff Bill), I have my GPS set to avoid toll roads. Louise insists that I not express my feelings when we pass through the inevitable toll booth. So I smile and shake my head and hand over the money. Nothing irritates me more than any road that starts with I as in I-xx having tolls. Nothing says welcome to "our state" better than a toll road. But in the case of the interstate system, the roads are heavily funded by the federal government. If elected, I will forbid tolls on all federal roads. That said, I'm boycotting toll roads when possible. The northeast is most difficult and I surrender on I-95, my dentist will fix my teeth. If toll roads are inevitable, we should have a unified payment system. This mix and match map is just crazy. If getting a unified system is not possible with the established groups, then the government should federalize the entire system. That's right, I'm saying take it out of private hands and make it a federal program. This is the United States of America.

I'm using Firefox 55.0.3 (32 bit), that is the current version. I am unable to see signatures, mine or any others. This has been a condition for some time (week or two). Still nothing there. I can find no control for me to change a setting and show or not show signatures. From what I am seeing in the above discussion this is a system problem, compatibility with Firefox?

We replaced our Norcold with a residential refrigerator. I wrote the process up and posted with pictures here on the forum. You can find the post and following discussion at this link. Our coach was originally wired for a 1500 Watt inverter. When we purchased the coach the inverter didn't work so it was replaced with a 2000 Watt inverter. No change in wiring was made at that time. Later we replaced the 2000 Watt modified sine wave inverter with a 3000 Watt pure sine wave inverter. Again no rewiring was done between the battery supply and the inverter. There is a fuse to protect the wiring and we've never had a problem blowing a fuse on the inverter circuit. Check the fuse on the inverter circuit. If the replacement inverter uses more amps than the fuse is rated for then you would need to replace wiring. If not, you would be able to use the wiring that is already there.

The Good Sam card is only good at Flying J and they are 30 to 40 cents above market prices in any given area. If you have to use a truck stop I guess it's the best you can do but shopping for fuel at better prices can save a lot more than 8 cents a gallon.

There are a number of 5% fuel discount cards out. We have the Sam's Club Master Card. We were already Sam's Club members so the membership fee was already being paid. Some people don't get the fact that 5% is a whole lot more than 5 cents. At today's prices (in California presently), diesel is $3.00+ per gallon which means a 15 cents per gallon rebate. The same card also offers 3% cash back on travel (which includes campground fees).

So many different systems, we need to know what year and model coach and what leveling system you have. Our first coach had a tripod system, one jack in the center front, two in the rear. The front was a pivot point for side to side leveling, thus no twisting of the frame. Our present coach has air leveling only, HWH system. So we don't have this problem. But it is a totally different animal from the OP.