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tbutler

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Posts posted by tbutler

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Chunky,

    I'm not sure about the liability issue, I would think that is an excuse. The fact is that when you get to the tire size for diesel motor homes you are at a size that is very large, very heavy and the added weight and space it takes up are such big negatives that it is normally not carried with the coach.

    One solution is to get your own spare tire, mounted on a rim and pack that with you along with the breaker bar and the jack needed to do your own tire change. Check to see what one of your tires weighs mounted on a rim! It may be more than you want to try to handle. I've moved one of these and it is not for the feint of heart. Some people who travel to Alaska will do carry a spare because of the great distances between towns along the Alaska highway and within Alaska. Most however don't do it unless they have plans to do lots of off pavement driving. You might be well advised to do this if you plan to travel extensively in Mexico or in other third world countries. In the case of Mexico and other third world countries, the tires will likely not be readily available. Besides taking up your storage space in the motor home, I have seen tires mounted on special brackets on trailers, rear hitches and in one unique case, on the front of the coach. That tire was on a bracket attached to the generator slide out so it was not in contact with the coach itself and would slide out with the generator so access to the generator would not be blocked.

    Another solution is to have road service such as Coach Net or other road service. For about $100 per year, you will be covered for all kinds of breakdowns, running out of fuel, engine breakdown, brake lockup, flat tires, etc. I consider this service essential and have found it to be well worth the price paid. Even if you don't have to use it, you have the peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong you can get aid. Will you get the right size tire immediately? Possibly not, it depends on where you are. They will be able to get you off the road to a repair location. If you are out of cell phone coverage area (becoming increasingly rare these days), you could hop in the toad and drive to where you could get phone service. I had to do that one time when an oil line broke while we were in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It took several trips back and forth but we got a wrecker out to haul us in for repair. If that isn't a possibility, try calling 911. This was mentioned in an earlier posting. Your carrier may not have service but 911 calls will be relayed through any carrier if there is any signal at all in the area where you are. The third way to get around the cell coverage is to rely on flagging down a passing motorist. If you put out a NEED HELP sign, someone will send police or stop to help and convey a message.

    If you carefully maintain your tires as your post suggests you will do, you should find that tire problems on the road are thankfully rare. I've had two tires go flat in over 8 years and 140,000 miles of full time living on the road. One was a front tire, way too exciting! The other was a rear tire just as we were parking at the Minnesota FMCA Convention two years ago.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Highway 1 has many stretches that are simply too narrow and curvy for large vehicles. I would check carefully with locals before I drove that in the motor home. You may be able to drive parts with the motor home but I would plan on seeing the coast more in the toad than the motor home. Old highway 101, AKA the Redwood Highway, is a beautiful highway and is very drivable in the motor home. I'd recommend it. We stayed in a park at Red Crest and were parked under a nice sized redwood tree! Lots of good parks and hiking in the area.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    I suppose it could be a fuse in the inverter itself. Do you have any other circuits that aren't working when the inverter is on. Our inverter doesn't have a dedicated line to the refrigerator so it if went off we would have other things that would not be working.

    Any fuse outside the inverter would affect the refrigerator no matter what the supply power is. Since you are only experiencing this problem with the inverter, the fuse would have to be there.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Monte,

    I missed your last question. Regarding flying to Alaska or taking the motor home, to me there is no question. I have a hard time trying to imagine seeing Alaska without the motor home. Being free to spend as much time in a given area as you like and then moving on to another area as your interests and the weather direct is really the best way to go. If you fly in, you are living out of a rental car, moving from one reservation to the next having planned the trip from far away. In the motor home we arrived in an area, began exploring and then made decisions how long to stay to see everything we felt we wanted to.

    The hotel/motel accommodations are pretty thin in Alaska. You'll find good rooms in the large cities but when you go out to the remote areas they don't look too inviting. We stayed at a campground near Kennicott in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park that was the only place in town to stay. The 50 mile drive to Kennicott then was done with the car and we stayed several nights in the lodge at Kennicott so we could explore that area. Further north the other road in Wrangell-St. Elias has only one campground as well. We stayed several nights there and explored that area. Neither of these areas are anywhere close to a town with hotel/motels. We also stayed at a campground at the toe of the Matanuska glacier. The campground didn't have sites where we could pull through so they gave us permission to park in the overflow parking lot at the toe of the glacier. We could look out our windows at the glacier itself. This was about a three hour drive from Anchorage. Our experience staying there gave us a much better chance to explore the area than driving in by car and then seeing what we could in a day before returning to Anchorage.

    We didn't rent a car but I know that in many places, I would assume Alaska would be this kind of place, the companies restrict travel to only certain main roads or may exclude travel on specific roads. The roads in Wrangell-St. Elias would be on that list I am certain. The road into Kennicott is built on the old railroad grade and they say that occasionally an old railroad spike will emerge! We had no problems with that trip but had friends who drove the road, had two flat tires and returned without ever making it to Kennicott. We took 3 hours to drive the 50 miles, stopping frequently to take pictures and took one spectacular hike. On the way out we stopped at a little ice cream shop set up by a couple adjacent to their home. We met their dogs and sat and visited with them while eating ice cream. Having the time to do things like this come from being based close enough to our travel destination that we aren't driving hours and hours just to get someplace. The distances in Alaska are huge and often travel will be slow, the roads aren't interstate highways. You have to plan time to pull off and take in the view.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    James,

    I suspect that the inverter circuits may not be connected to the refrigerator. You haven't said what kind of coach you have, year and model will be informative. Is your refrigerator the standard RV refrigerator or is it a household model? Again, who is the manufacturer and what model is it? Check the manual for the refrigerator and let us know what the electrical load of the refrigerator is. Then we turn to the inverter. What make and model is it? What is it's rated capacity? Many inverters are too small to support the load of the refrigerator and are not wired to supply electric to the refrigerator.

    A little more information will help us understand your problem.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Monte,

    Which route you take is really just a matter of where you are coming from. We've been to Calgary, Edmonton and Jasper but haven't been over the mountains to the Alaska Highway. The roads there are fine, no better or worse than coming through western BC in my estimation. We did take the Sea to Sky Highway on our way north and it is a more difficult drive. There isn't much traffic and if you take your time, it isn't that bad. The scenery is spectacular and that is what I wanted to see. The whole trip to and from Alaska is done for scenery, wildlife and culture so I'll take whatever road gets me to see those things. We tried to travel as many different roads going north and coming back south as we could. No point in seeing the same thing twice if there is an alternate route to take!

    When we made the trip in 2006, I had just put brand new tires on the toad (Goodyear with a Kevlar belt) and the coach tires were just two years old so I didn't worry about a spare tire. We didn't take the motor home on any of the far north long gravel runs to Innuvik, NWT or Prudhoe Bay but did take the toad to Innuvik. I watched the tires like a hawk (this was before I got the Pressure Pro tire monitors) and never had a problem. We got back to Missouri, just 200 miles from my mother's home and we blew the left front tire on the coach! Apparently we had picked up some road debris and the tire lost pressure and boom it was gone! That is when I went shopping for tire monitors!

    We had no windshield problems on the Alaska trip. The next spring, again in Missouri on I-44 a construction truck pulled onto the highway some distance ahead of us and after I pulled back in behind him as he sped on ahead, he pulled to the shoulder, why - I don't know, but he kicked up a rock that cracked an area the size of my fist on the right side of the windshield. The only other windshield damage I have had occurred as we left Edmonton, AB in 2008 headed for Jasper. There was a gravel truck about a 1/4 mile ahead (in Canada it is about 1/2 km). Some of the intervening traffic must have picked up one of his rocks and it starred the drivers windshield near the center of the coach. I've come to the conclusion that rocks are where you find them - or they find you.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    We are thinking about a trip to Alaska, but was considering leaving from Redmond, OR following the FMCA Summer Convention. What is a reasonable last date that we should leave Tok to return to the USA?

    Hard to say what is a reasonable date. We left Tok the third week in August as the snow was falling. The flakes were big and melting but I didn't want to get caught in a cold icy situation. If you don't mind cold weather and want to take more of a chance you could stay longer. You are awfully far north and all it takes is one good storm to ice up a bunch of miles of road. Keep in mind the storm doesn't have to be where you are. There are huge distances in northern Canada to be traversed when you leave Alaska. Leaving when we did allowed us to spend some time in Whitehorse and Skagway which we bypassed on our way north. We took the Cassiar Highway to Stewart, BC and Hydar, AK and then drove on to Prince Rupert, BC. If you stay late, your return trip may become a rush to escape bad weather. Watch the weather forecasts and make a decision you are comfortable with.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Gary,

    Sorry to hear of your predicament. We started our full-time adventure from the St. Louis area over 8 years ago. We left town before our house sold, had Thanksgiving in New Orleans, traveled through Houston and San Antonio finally arriving in the Rio Grande Valley in extreme south Texas on January 1, 2002. As it got later in November we decided we were not prepared to winter in Missouri so left the house behind. We flew back for the closing in December.

    We've dealt with cold weather on occasion but try our best to avoid it. You didn't say what kind of rig you have so I can only offer some general advice. Of course you have figured out the best thing is to wait until the snow melts, no fun driving a motor home on slick roads. Mississippi will be warmer and Florida will seem like paradise for you. You could also turn west to Texas and travel down the gulf coast until it is warm enough for you. Right now our temperatures in extreme south Texas are in the 40's at night and into the 50's and 60's during the day. This is about as cold as it gets here. In fact, we'll have days in the 80's occasionally and numerous days in the 70's. By the end of February the weather will be lows in the 60's and highs in the 80's just like clockwork!

    If you are thinking that you will be staying in Missouri for the rest of the winter, you can get propane for your rig by attaching a portable bottle rented from a local supplier. Camping World sells a unit called "Stay a While" made specifically for this purpose. You could order it via the internet and have it in a week or so. I don't think it is too difficult to install. Once you have propane heat you could get some Styrofoam insulation and cut it to fit around the bottom of your coach forming an insulating skirt which will also block the wind. Seal it to the coach sides with duct tape or other strong tape. Anchor it to the ground with stakes. This will help your heat situation greatly. Once you get the insulation and propane in place, you should be able to de-winterize your rig so you can have water if water is available in the park where you are staying. When we are in really cold weather, we'll fill the freshwater tank then disconnect the hose immediately. We'll use the freshwater out of the tank until it is near empty and then refill again. This way you don't have to worry about freezing your hose. On really cold nights, leave the cabinets with water pipes open so the heated air in the coach will reach the pipes. You can also leave a faucet dripping if you find you have a problem with a certain pipe. The drip keeps the water moving in the pipe which will retard freezing. Sewer tanks can freeze as can the line if it is left to run. I'd dump the waste tanks every warm day to keep the tanks as near empty as possible.

    At the first sign of a break in the weather, I'd get out by heading south. You are a day's drive from significantly warmer weather and two or three days will get you to anywhere you want to be in Mississippi. When you leave town, I'd drive south first and then east to Mississippi. You may want to postpone the trip to Mississippi until later and head for the deep south in Florida or Texas.

    Full timing is wonderful when everything is working right. Someday you'll look back and laugh at your predicament. You'll have some great campfire stories to tell to your fellow campers. Keep smiling and remember, the days are getting longer and the sun is higher in the sky every day now!

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Yeah, I'd be suspicious. I've rented airplanes for years. Most are lease back to the FBO that rents the airplanes. Several years ago we had a sweet Cherokee Six that we flew all over the country. Toward the end of the rental period we began to notice that there were some problems with the plane. One time I went to check it out and the passenger seat back wouldn't stay upright. It wasn't long after that one of the renters was arrested for being involved in running drugs. We worried about our luggage being flagged as it went through the commercial airlines security checks but we never had a problem. Anyway, if there is a way to abuse a rental, some people will take it to the maximum. In 8+ years of full timing, I can count on one hand the number of times I have driven 1000 km (AKA 620 miles). Clearly somebody was hauling the "mail." If you've never been anywhere before you can do sightseeing from the windshield of a motor home on the interstate highway but then if you've never been anywhere before you'd likely not take off to everywhere in one huge drive-like-crazy trip.

    I'd press the company that rents your motor home for more information. I'm betting that they have a name and you should pursue this issue. Talk to the RCMP, I'll bet they would be interested! If you can't get the name, they might be able to.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Welcome Maxherrer,

    After 10 days, the answer might look like a no. I haven't any experience here but I'll chime in for two purposes. One, I want to let you know that somebody is reading your post. Second when I reply, this should kick your question back onto the main page list of topics that are currently being discussed. So here is my shot at helping you out.

    If you do decide to try this system, please write a review of your experience in dealing with the company and what you see as the pluses and minuses of this system after you have had a chance to give it a good work out.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Welcome to the FMCA Forum dottynken,

    I'm going to send you to this site which has many RV salvage yards listed. These are an excellent source of used parts. These salvage yards are located all over the country and you can visit in person or you can call and have them ship the part. I had a friend who used this to get a back-up camera. The yard he contacted shipped one that wouldn't work so he called them and they sent another that worked. No questions asked.

    One way to find these articles on salvage yards is to go to the top of this page and click on the button that says search. Then type in salvage and you'll come up with about a dozen items that have references for salvage yards. There are other lists if you don't find what you need here.

    I hope this helps. Let us know how you resolve your problem so everyone can benefit from your experience. That is what we do here, learn and share!

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Hello vpicci,

    For campground information, you can't beat the Trailer Life Directory. It will tell you which campgrounds are closed or have limited facilities this time of year. It also lists rates, size of campsites, number and condition of campsites, utilities available including 30A or 50A electric, etc. It is paper instead of computer but your nagivator can grab it while you're driving and look up a campsite while on the run. We avoid KOA's like the plague but if you like them, they're in there. If you use the state maps in the front of the book you can quickly see where campgrounds are located along any given highway all across the state. Then look them up by the city name given. For towns near the interstate they will usually give directions and distances from the interstate highway so you know how far off the route you're going to get there.

    Woodall's is also a good resource but they don't include rates for all parks. Another good resource is The Next Exit. If you are on the interstate, it will help you find fuel, groceries, Wal-Mart, etc.!

  15. Posted · Report reply

    When we first started full timing, we used a tow dolly. We were at a park in California and the manager was talking to me as we were preparing to leave. He watched me tighten the straps on the wheels and then told me of a family who had traveled from the east coast. As they were leaving he noticed they didn't have the van strapped down. He hurried and stopped them. The man said he didn't know he was supposed to use straps!!! I find that story a little hard to believe. It must have been a pretty smooth and easy trip!

    When your tow dolly is new, the straps will also be new. They will stretch as you use them, thus the admonition to check them every 50 miles. As you use them the stretch will become less but then they are getting older and you should check them carefully for wear and fraying. You will also learn from experience how well the strap tightening mechanism locks and holds. So those are some factors that might influence your decision to stop and check the straps.

    I'll give you another reason to stop frequently and check your tow dolly. We were on our way across Kansas. My wife was driving when someone passed us and honked and signaled we should check the back. We pulled off at an upcoming exit to find we had a flat tire on the tow dolly. The tire was gone and the rim ruined. We didn't know a thing. Never felt any resistance or rough ride. We would have kept on driving for who-knows-how-many miles if the passing motorists hadn't stopped us. Fortunately the car wasn't damaged so the cost was minor compared to what it could be have been. A good tire monitoring system would help with this problem but without that, I'd recommend stopping frequently to check anything in tow, after all, it is your toad.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Ouch! Sounds like you are pretty much on your own on this one. I don't keep track of who has gone under in the RV industry. I would recommend that you find a reputable shop to tackle this one and the sooner the less it is going to cost you. As I mentioned, the complications of this could really get costly. If you want to do the work yourself, you could take it to a repair shop and have them look at the problem and give you some suggestions on how best to fix it. If you give us a location where you would want service, perhaps someone will be able to make a recommendation.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I would take this to a RV repair shop, preferably a dealer you trust. It sounds like an adjustment is in order. If your other slides operate quickly and this one sticks for the first 8 inches, it sounds like there is something that is rubbing or sticking when the slide first starts in. The fact that it moves in normally after the first eight inches suggests that the motor is working well. You haven't indicated what model and year motor home you have. Our large driver side slide out moves upward in the first few inches as it comes in. It is always slower for the first few inches as the slide is lifted before it starts its inward move. Our manufacturer suggests that we move the slides when the coach is plugged into shore power or with the generator running. If neither of these are possible they say the slides should be moved only with fully charged batteries.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    kingfr,

    I agree with you regarding the amenities offered to RV'ers at Flying J and I too feel some loyalty for their willingness to address the needs of the RV market. However, many years dealing with businesses has put limits on that loyalty.

    Having said that, I usually will purchase my diesel fuel at Flying J when we are on the road. When we are in a locality where we spend considerable time then I find out where other fuel stations are and compare prices and shop according to price. Flying J gets most of my business but not all unless they have the best price.

    The change in Flying J's price leadership does coincide with their bankruptcy and the Pilot takeover. I like you don't feel that Pilot or any of the other truck stops offer any advantage for the RV'er.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    If you go to the top of the page and click the tab SEARCH then enter salvage you will come up with a listing of about a dozen articles here on the forum dealing with salvage dealers. There are dozens of RV Salvage Yards in the US and they will ship materials to you if they aren't close enough for you to visit personally. If you can't find a new door, I'd give the salvage yards a try. One of the articles is here.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Welcome d2rtr,

    I have several credit cards that give a 3% to 5% cash back on fuel purchases. One has a $300 limit per year, another has a $5 a month limit. The Flying J 300 gallon limit is $3 per month. A 3% rebate on diesel at $2.50 a gallon is a 7.5 cent per gallon discount. For this reason, I use the RV pumps where I can use these credit cards and also get the 1 cent per gallon discount from Flying J. As a result, I'm getting cash price plus something like a 8 to 9 cent discount per gallon. I obtained these credit cards several years ago and they have been whittling away at the rebate in the last year or two. Still, I'm going to work them for all they are worth! The 5% Discover Card is the one with the $5 limit so that amounts to $100 of fuel which is fine for the toad. I use the Citi and Chase rebate cards for my diesel fuel. They are both 3% cards and have higher limits on a per year basis. The per year basis allows me to take advantage of the greater travel in the summer without losing benefits while parked at our winter resort.

    Lately I've found that diesel is often available at prices lower than Flying J. Recently I purchased diesel at a Wal-Mart for 5 cents less than at Flying J. So there I was saving 12 or 13 cents per gallon over the Flying J price with no rebate. It used to be that Flying J had the best price hands down but this is no longer true. Yes, I did have to get in and out of "car style" pumps but I didn't have the toad and it was not a problem. There was a grocery store here, HEB, that had diesel at even lower prices but their awning over the pumps looked like it might be too low for the motor home so I didn't try it.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    My take on this is... No one gets stopped for being over length unless... you are involved in an accident or other traffic violation. We have traveled all over New England and have never been stopped with our 40' rig, 20' toad add in tow bar length and our bicycles hanging on the back of the toad and we're regularly measured at 65' at ferry crossings. Now, that's not as obvious as 80' but we've traveled in states with 55' limits and no stops. However, I always figured that if we caused an accident in one of those states we would be ticketed by the enforcement authorities and would have problems collecting on our accident insurance. So I was taking a giant chance to do so. If you go to 80' you would likely be taking that same kind of chance except in most every state. I suspect most who travel with those rigs are oblivious to the possible liabilities.

    There may be some provision in the law of which I am unaware. There are provisions for reciprocal laws, the laws where you are licensed apply wherever you are. Drivers licenses are that way. If your drivers license is legal in the state where you are licensed, then it is legal anywhere in the US and Canada. States that require special licenses for driving large vehicles such as motor homes will not stop or hold you if your state doesn't require such a license. I don't think this kind of provision relates to weight and length restrictions but I could be wrong.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    We have an '04 motor home with what sound like the same kind of clamps. They are a pain to remove, I've done it with a hack saw (very carefully). We've not had any leaks which suggests that the clamping device may have been worn or improperly set when your unit was built. You didn't say when you purchased your Concorde. If it was purchased recently, I would contact Coachmen and see what they offer as a solution. They may have a number of these with the same problem and may be amenable to correcting the problem at their expense. A good manufacturer would do something to satisfy the customer.

    If you are well beyond the warranty period you may have to rely on the good will of Coachmen or fix it at your expense. Fixing it quickly should be a priority as water damage can multiply the damage significantly. If you get a mold problem it could become quite expensive.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Earlier this year we purchased the Nintendo Wii. The basic unit (Wii console) came with Wii Sports, which has bowling, tennis, golf and other sporting games. A friend of ours was using the Wii Fit which is a fitness program that works with the Wii console. We purchased that and have been working out for a while. I think Wii Fit is an excellent exercise program for older adults and it works well in a motorhome.

    The Wii Fit program comes with a CD which is inserted into the Wii console and a balance board which is put on the floor. The display for all the Wii games is the TV. I placed the Wii console in the cabinet that has our other electronics. Our cabinets have a mesh front so communication is possible with the door closed. The console is on standby at all times so to conserve electricity when we are traveling I plugged the Wii console into a switchable power outlet. That way we an turn off the circuit when we don't have shore power.

    The balance board is used for most of the Wii Fit program. You start with a body test. Standing on the balance board, it first weigh you. Then it gives you several balance tests and then scores you by giving your Wii Fit age. Eat too much or get a little off balance and your age goes up. Lose weight and have good balance and your weight goes down. It charts your progress and gives you fitness tips.

    There are four categories of activities that you can do. Each builds strength and control in different ways. The Yoga exercises stretch and tone the muscles and build flexibility and balance. The balance board and a hand controller give feedback on your balance and scores you so you can see your improvement. These exercises or poses are not generally strenuous and you can choose your level of activity. There are several that my old body just won't bend to. Perhaps I'll be able to stretch out and do them someday but for now, I'll just have to skip them.

    The strength training builds muscle tone and control. These exercises range from easy arm toning exercises to push ups and ab crunches. Again, the balance board and hand controller provide feedback and scores you based on your performance. Skip those you can't do for now and continue to build your strength. Through both the yoga and strength training a trainer guides, encourages and chides you based on your performance. You'll get messages like, "You have great balance," "You put your foot down didn't you," "You have great strength."

    Aerobics have activities like step dancing, hula hoop spinning, boxing and running. These exercises will make you breathe hard. You can select the level of activity so you can start slow and then build as you get into shape. Instructions are given on the screen and your performance is evaluated based on your actions with the balance board and hand controller. The feedback is really helpful in keeping you on pace as you perform these activities.

    Finally there are the whimsical balance games. Stand on the balance board and shift your weight to move your on screen avatar (called your Mii) as it hits soccer balls with its head. Watch out for the occasional shoe as a line of little kids serves up soccer balls to you. You can also do a ski slalom, ski jump, a marble roll game, snowboarding slalom, a bubble floating down a stream, a penguin catching fish. All these activities help improve the muscle tone and control to improve your balance. How many of us seniors could use some improvement in our balance? Not a senior? Start working these muscles early and you'll reach old age in much better condition than many of us are today.

    With the holiday season upon us, perhaps the best gift you could give your family would be a Wii complete with the Wii Fit. Then get everyone into the fun of staying fit. I think you'll enjoy this and will feel stronger and more sure of yourself as you go about your daily activities. Get active, get fit, get Wii and use it to improve your life.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Jeeper,

    Welcome to the FMCA Forum. We have enjoyed our travel time in Washington. It's a great state! Your experience with Moab, Utah might help Gary-Val who were looking for information on Moab to help them plan a vacation for the summer of 2010. Take a look at the discussion at Moab Utah. It sounds to me as though you could make some good suggestions.

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