What Spare Parts To Carry

[What Spare Parts To Carry]

Hello Brett, I noticed one of your recommendations was a fuel filter, I am assuming you are refering to the gas/water separator and if so what causes these to fail? Is it that they just get clogged? When buying spare parts like you mentioned do you purchase them at a truck stop? I am on my first diesel rv and was use to being able to buy almost everything I needed for my gas coach at any local checker auto parts store

[Traveling With Dogs]

My dog Ultra is my co-pilot in my RV and on my Harley. When riding in the RV

she sleeps most of the time curled behind my chair or on the floor on the riders side.

In the Harley she rides with her head out in the wind or tucked in her foxhole if it is cold.

In the RV she has a crate (bed) with toys she retires to when she is tired or wants privacy.

If she ever need to go outside for a nature call she stands by the door and yodels or barks.

When we are out walking, she has a lease on her and I carry a plastic bag.

In case we should ever get separated, she wears an ID tag with my name, cell phone number,

e-mail address, and my son's phone number just in case I am traveling in a dead zone.

In addition I had her chipped for permanent identification in case she should be picked up

by the man or taken to a vet for treatment.

We too travel with our dogs, two English Bulldogs and one of them loves to ride on my Harley. Here is a pic

[Is there a fine or penalty if RV registration is a few months late?]

This is definatley State specific. For example here in Colorado they just recently raised all the lic. plate fees and just this month passed a bill that for every month you fail to register your vehicle RV or car you are assessed a additional $50 per month. So if you decide to let your RV sit through winter for six months you will owe a additional $300 on top of your lic. plate fees.

[Motorhome parking - residential]

I fell into having this problem at our house. We are fortunate enough to have a spare driveway to park the RV, but during summer we leave it on the street. I checked the convenants and local area statutes, which stated that no commercial vehicle can be parked and no RV longer than 30 days. We had a neighbor that was one of those people who just hated life and he called the local autorities. The cop asked me to move the RV and when I cited the statute to him without trying to sound like a wise ***, he said he was going to tow it.

I explained that the statue said there had to be at least three people residing on the same street to have filed a complaint and that if that was true I could only be issued a citation and not subject to a tow since I was legaly plated, etc. Long story short, I got no ticket or tow and if it came to push and shove I could leave the RV there and just move it a few feet every 30 days. But the best advice is to try and get along with your neighbors and do check the local covenants pertaining to your neighborhood and don't just rely on the local law enforcement to provide you with accurate advice.

[Releasing The Parking Brake]

Well, sure enough as usual I got good advice. Now, not only do I know the purpose of the air pressure gauge but I also don't have the problem at all as far as the brakes not releasing. I just watch the guage and when around 100-125 I can release the brakes every time without any problem. What I was doing before was assuming that I could just go as soon as I turned the key on (old gas coach habbit). I was letting the engine warm up but not paying attention to the air pressure and every time I pushed in the air brake it just popped back out.

Amazing when you learn that the guages on your dash actually serve a purpose and you learn to use them correctly how many headaches you can save yourself.

Thanks, again.

[Motorhome Emissions Testing]

I live in Colorado and in a County that requires the emmissions testing. Whether you own a gas or diesel you are required to get a full emmissions test on your rv before you are allowed to purchase or renew your lic. plates.

The test than is valid for two years. Another way this state screws the consumers is that if you already have a valid emmissions test on your car or rv and decide you want to sell your vehicle you are again required to furnish the buyer a brand new emmissions test even if the one you have is not yet expired.

[Forum Classifieds]

Is there a place on this forum for people to post RV related items for sale, such as a Blue Ox Tow Bar etc. I found the RV Market Place but it appeared primarily companies advertising. Just wondering if there is a spot for folks to post items for sale that may help others save a few $$ buying used vs. new items.

Could it be possible to create a section of the forums for a classified catorgory? And to prevent people coming on here to just post items for sale and not contributing to the site perhaps a requirment be in place for them to be registered and have a certain amount of posts before they can post a item for sale, well anyway, just a thought.

[Releasing The Parking Brake]

When you press the button you are opening a valve that pressurizes the parking brake system so that the brakes are held open against the spring pressure that closes them if air pressure is lost. When you pull up on the button, you are locking out the air pressure system from the parking brake system and venting the pressure in the parking brake thus engaging the system by letting the springs set the brakes.

If your pressure isn't up to minimum working pressure (90 pounds in our rig) when you lift the button then the parking brake won't be released and the valve will vent again. Once minimum working pressure is reached you should have no problem. Now, here is the important part... If you don't have minimum working pressure and you were able to release the parking brake, your service brakes likely don't have enough pressure to work effectively. That would be a bad place to be with no parking brake and no service brakes. So this is a safety feature.

If you are sure the pressure level is at a working level and you still find the parking brake won't release when the button is depressed then you should have the valve checked. Valves do sometimes fail and if so this one should be replaced ASAP.

Thank you, I guess now I know the purpose behind having the air pressure gauge on the dash. I will definatley start paying more attention as to what the air pressure build up is before I attempt to release the parking brake

[Releasing The Parking Brake]

Once in a while I find it difficult to release the parking brake. It's alway easy to apply the brake, but sometimes when I push in the yellow brake button I have to manually hold it for some time in order to get the brakes to release. Most times it's fine just by pushing it in, but once in a while it will pop back out if I don't hold it in. Any thoughts or advice? This is on a Caterpillar diesel pusher 300 turbo.

[How To Select The Best Tow Dolly]

We use to use a Blue Ox tow bar but found that anytime we wanted to switch cars we had to buy different bracket which are car specific and very expensive. We switched to a Demco Car Dolly which is great. Very easy to load car on as they have built in ramps that tilt and it will accommodate almost any front wheel drive car without any modifications to your car. We have hauled everything from a Buick, Cadillac to a Saturn without any problems and these dollys are very lightweight so you can move them around by yourself. Things to know are to never try and back up with the car on the dolly, and buy a spare tire.

[Pet Restrictions At RV Parks]

We are pet owners and it really is too bad that a few irresponsible pet owners ruin it for others at many rv parks by not obeying the simple rules. In the long run the rv parks have no choice but to impose stricter restrictions or even ban certian breeds which is really unfair to the rule obiding owners but the parks have no way to distinguish those people. One possible solution is to charge a refundable deposit and anyone that does not obey the rules such as leaving your dog running off the leash will lose that deposit. Not a perfect solution but perhaps a start

[Chassis air conditioning]

I'm sure you probably have this fixed by now but in case not. On one of our prior RV's hd this same issue and it turned out not to be the ac gas at all. On the control that takes it from Heat to Cool, on the back side was a vacuum hose that controlled the settings and the hose just vibrated loose thus not causing enough vacuum to change from heat to cool/ac. You just needed to remove the dash cover plate and reattach the hose.

This of course is just one of many things that could cause the ac not working and of course some systems are electronic so look for a loose connection on the back side of the temp control.

[Pet Health Insurance]

Just wondering if anyone pursued any more info on the Pet insurance. I would be intersted as Vet bills can be enormouse but have to agree that insurance companies are out to make a buck and most have way too many restrictions

[Fishing (Not Necessarily ''Catching Fish'')]

I was just reading through some of the old posts and cant resist reading about fish stories. I get jealous when I hear about people going fishing with their boats, first of all I dont have one and secondly, when I fish I hook up my snowmobile behind the RV and go ice fishing in bitter cold, but its still fun. I never caught anything worth bragging about but not for a lack of trying.

[Interesting 4-wheeling locations]

Hello, I just found your old post. I too am always looking for new 4x4 roads off the beatin path. My wife and I took our ATV's over Jones Pass in Colorado which goes up to 11,000 feet and we actually ran into the road being blocked by snow in mid July. We went back in August and were able to go over the full pass. Desending on the other side you come across some old trappers cabins and mines from the 1800's and a beautifull stream on the bottom. The road is accessible by ATV or four wheel drive and has beautifull scenery.

[GOLD! In Them Thar Hills!]

Hello guys, I am a ameture gold panner. I bought a simple gold pan and sluice box here in colorado and have been prospecting as a hobby. Lots of fun and if you go and get some of the old mine tailing you can further pan them and usually get some gold dust out of them. The old timers from the 1800's did not get it all and sure did not have the equirpment available to us today.

I also have ventured into some of the old abanonded mines, (definately do not recommend this as it is very dangerous). I am continually looking for new places to pan and recenlty found that you can stake a gold mining claim farely easily here in Colorado.

[No Spare Tire]

Hi ChunkyBeastracin,

I agree with what has been post and the +/- of carrying a spare. I carry a fully mounted spare tire. My situation is the odd size tire (275X70X22.5). I have changed the tire on the right front and right rear inside dual. I carry all the tools to do this (including the torque wrench). I also carry about a gallon of Slime and tire patch kits. The bottom line is that I'll to this only in an emergency when there is no communication capability available. My first choice is to call Coach-Net.

Hello, Gary, what do you use to break loose the lug nuts, do you just use a extra long breaker bar? I think if changing a flat is a option for the meere mortal person I would like to have that option as a last resort.

[And they keep crossing, and crossing, and crossing....]

That is awesome, thanks for sharing that. I always greatly enjoyed seeing animals in their natural habitat. My wife and I were in Grand Lake, Colorado and saw a full grown moose for the first time in my life. My wife couldnt resist and went out to take a picture and started following the moose as it was walking away. Against my advise telling her they are aggressive she continued until finally the moose got annoyed, turned and chased her. She didnt stop until she was sitting on top of the hood of our car......................anyway, great video.

[Engine Issue - Towed Car Covered in ... Oil?]

I have a 2005 Newmar Kountry Star 39-foot motorhome. We were going to Florida and on the way we stopped in Virginia at a campground.

When I arrived there we noticed the towed car was covered in something that looked like oil or fuel oil. The whole front of the car and the hood were covered with this black stuff.

I checked the engine oil and it was full.

When we arrived here in Florida I asked around and no one heard of this happening to them. An RV repair shop said they thought it might be fuel oil.

Has this happened to anyone else and, if so, what did they say it was?

John H.

Hello John. I am kind of new to the Diesle tech end of Motorhomes but have read that on some of the Caterpillar engines the oil vent tube needed to be extended/rerouted as it would vent on to the radiator/fan, thus spewing oil residue on tow vechilce, etc. Apparently the vent tube modification is very simple and can be done yourself if that is the cause of the problem. Good luck.

Mike

[No Spare Tire]

Hey Chunk, I couldn't believe how they do it. I'm sure some trucks may be set up with a lot of gadgets but we had ours changed in an RV park by a mobile truck from the local tire dealer. I used the front levelers to lift the front end high enough to remove the tires. They had a good sized air compressor and a 1" drive air impact driver to remove the lugs. The guy then removed the valve stem and deflated the tire. He then broke the bead with a large sledge being careful not to hit my Alcoa rims. Once broke he pulled out a couple of really big tire irons and proceeded to manually remove the tire from the rim. He put the new one on the same way, just with the irons. Once he had one side on he dropped in a bag of dynamic balancer called "Equal" and then finished mounting up the tire. They don't have a balancer machine on the trucks but the Equal worked great. He then proceeded to remount the tire and rim and that was that.

Pretty much just like changing out a bicycle tire only much bigger tire irons.

Hey Jeeper, thats pretty amazing. I would have thought they would have some protable tire machine. I remember trying to just change a motorcycle tire by hand with some tire irons, what a bear that was. I really appreciate your guys input as at first I thought I really got in over my head buying this type of RV, but listenting to your advise makes these machines seem more people friendly.

Happy New Year and again thanks for the advise, it sure is nice to find a site with friendly, HELPFUL, people.

[No Spare Tire]

Thanks for the great input. I think carrying a unmounted spare tire is a great idea. For those of you that carry a unmounted spare and had the misfortune of a flat tire did the road side servcie you use have the ability to mount the tire for you on the spot or did you still have to be towed in to have that done

[Dogs traveling on the dashboard]

I think the real disturbing issue here is that the original poster is admonishing others for letting their animals roam free in the rig when she herself does it too! I have news for her: Whether the dog is on the dash or a comfy pillow behind the slide room it's still gonna be a missile in an accident. It's a case of "do as I say not as I do."

As others here have pointed out, if you really want to give your pet a fighting chance of life in an accident you had better put them in a crate.

Beyond that I will not make judgement on how others care for their animals.

Hey, Jeeper, that is a very good point. I was so annoyed with her self-righteous comments I completly missed that. I guess she thinks that since her pooch rides on a "LL Bean comfy Pillow" he is protected. Only difference is that her dog will be splattered on her slide vs. the windsheild. Of course, I wish no such thing to happen to anyone and hope everyone can enjoy safe motorhoming.

[No Spare Tire]

Thank you for your input. I was just wondering if spare tires were standard equipment on these coaches and it appears they are not. I would have to agree that carrying a spare would probably me more trouble than its worth especially trying to change one. I suppose its a flip of the coin and by taking care of the tires will reduce the odds of having that flat. I know that even muscling the tires around on my gas coach wore me out and I dont think I really want to tackle the bigger ones on these coaches.

Thanks, again, for your advice.

[No Spare Tire]

****. We recently purchased our first diesel pusher and one of the first things I noticed was there was no spare tire and no apparent place to carry one. Upon asking the dealer, I was told that these RVs did not come with spare tires due to liability reasons. Not sure if I was told some BS or if this is true.

My concern is being out on a stretch of highway with a no services, no cell phone coverage and getting a flat. How do you solve this problem? Do I just buy a spare, stuff it in one of the compartments and buy an extra-long breaker bar in hopes of loosening the 450-pound lug nuts in case of a flat? My old gas coaches always had spare tires and, while it was difficult, I was able to loosen the lug nuts and change/rotate tires.

[Dogs traveling on the dashboard]

I am amazed at the pet owners who see no problem with their dog walking around on the dashboard while the driver is under way. We are pet lovers and own a beautiful Bichon Frise who has traveled with us for eleven years BUT, he travels on his LL Bean comfy large dog pillow located behind the driver seat and butted up against the retracted slideout.

Recently, there was an article in another RV publication where the owners were proud of the fact that their 86# dog travels on the dashboard and at times has his head out of the drivers side window to get fresh air.

I was amazed. Do people not realize just how unsafe this practice is? With a sudden or unexpected stop, that pet becomes a projectile which could cause the driver to lose control resulting in possible accident or loss of life. A driver is going to almost automatically reach for a pet who may be falling off the dash, or worse yet, falling into the driver area of steering wheel, etc. It is just plain unsafe!

I have read no less then three different submissions to several publications by owners who see no problem with this practice.

Yes, I am the main driver of our 38-foot Class A diesel pusher and am a female, but also the owner of Skipper. We want him around for a long time yet but we keep him safe as well as not providing a distraction that could result in an accident.

Jean Mulder

While I see good points to both sides of letting dogs ride in RV it realy comes down to personal choice and letting people enjoy life. What I don't understand is using this subject to try and impress people that you are a female driving a diesel pusher; who cares. There are many females who drive their own RVs but are not tooting their own horns trying to impress others with that fact.