NavyDad89

I would look for someone in the Resort Office, preferably sales or other managerial personel, for suggestions. Here, in Florida, when we purchased a park model on leased property we did temporary financing with a local financial office (read that as Bank) that had worked with the owners of the Resort and other purchasers prior to us. I am sure it helped that we had already established an account at that institution to simplify access to cash as we needed it prior to making the park model purchase. We added a Florida Room and storage area later with cash on hand.

I suggest checking http://Www.rvparkreviews.com for user park reviews on parks near the towns or cities you are thinking of being near and then contacting each park you find interesting to check availability. January's might be somewhat crowded except for any effect caused by the present economy. The central Florida parks here where we have wintered for 5 years are usually filled by now but are not this year.

We replaced the Sharp in our 2004 HR Endeavor with a GE Profile about 4 years ago. Needed to change out the rear mounting plate and also shim the plate out from wall about 3/4" to compensate for the GE door hinging on the left side rather than having panel on the left side as the Sharp did. The door hit on the cabinet side panel prior to the shim being installed and did not allow the door to open more than half way. Performance of the GE Profile was a major improvement over the Sharp for all types of cooking and I would make that swap again in a heartbeat. At that time, parts were available for the Sharp but it was out for repairs (different problems) twice in about 10 months and then failed again about 6 months after the second repair and went for parts for another unit in a friend's Endeavor.

Herman is correct, in that your trailblazer does not have a steering lock so you should turn off the ignition and remove the key. I towed an '03 GMC Envoy (identical to 4 wd trailblazer) for 5 years and never had a dead battery except for one time (the battery had a dead cell) and I used a Roadmaster Evenbrake in the Envoy. Even with the brake using battery power to recharge the reserve air for brake application, I never drained the battery below it's ability to start the car. I did, however, not leave the car attached more than 2 days of towing without unplugging the EvenBrake from the power point inside the car while stopped for the night. Afer two days of towing, I always at least started the Envoy and let it run for a whle even if I had not disconnected the tow bar. Since you do not have a brake system that uses battery power for braking and even if your charge wire is not working at all, you should not be having a problem unless your battery is going bad or you have a corroded battery cable connection. Since I never used a charge line from coach to toad I can't advise but I think Herman's suggestion for checking fuses on both ends of the charge line and then testing voltage on the charge line while the coach is running is very good. Ed

I found the following link to an RV outside entertainment center that appears to be like the one on our former coach. This was a 2004 HR Endeavor and I expect the same one was used on the Simba units. Perhaps this will give you a place to start looking for a replacement door for yours. http://www.b2loud.com/items/item201.htm Another place I would try for information would be any local RV body repair shop with a good reputation with insurance companies.

The convertors installed on the HR coaches that I owned looked similar, if not exactly, like the ones available most everywhere. About 3" square and 3/4" thick with the wires coming from two opposite sides for connection to the 3 wire stop/signal wire coach circuit and the 2 wire for the towed unit.

I have owned 3 different HR coaches over the years (none the Vacationer model so that could be a bit different) and all had the light convertor wired into the circuits and mounted up behind the rear bumper within a foot or so of the receiver hitch. If you follow the wire harness backwards from the female connector mounted at the hitch you should find the convertor mounted to the frame somewhere in the area. One of the units I owned (a 1998 Endeavor) had the convertor simply wire tied on top of the hitch receiver cross brace. The first HR I purchased was a 1993 on a Ford F-53 chassis with a tag axle and I purchased a convertor to install to hook up a tow dolly and when I crawled under with my tools to start installation and started tracing the harness backwards for a good spot to make the mounting and wire installation, I was quite surprised to find a convertor already in place right where I had determined to be a good spot. It was fastened in the corner of the left frame rail and the rear frame crossmember. The other 2 HR coaches were diesel pushers and had the convertors mounted on the hitch receiver to the left of the center. I believe you will find yours (assuming it was factory installed) in a similar location.

Perhaps a clearer idea of your definition of Boondocking would get you some helpful comments. I'm not certain if you are looking for free overnight stops or places to spend a few days without the hustle and bustle of some campgrounds. I'm not sure, but I think you are asking about places to park without the luxury of hookups for a few days of peace and quiet at a reasonable cost. If that is the case, Bill's suggestions are great. I would also suggest looking at the National Park Service and any State Park websites as well as the Corps of Engineers to see what's available in the areas you plan to visit.

The following statement from MSN Autos pretty much covers the question you posed. " When GM was forced into bankruptcy in 2009, it shuttered Saturn after a failed attempt to sell it to the Penske Automotive Group."

Count me as not one who considers what someone decides is good for their interests as "setting the trend" nearly as much as a wise decision - "for them." We downsized about a year and a half ago from a 40' four slide unit because it was way too big for the use we want from an RV today as compared to when we "full timed." We seriously looked at the Roadtrek and several other B class units until we found they were just a bit too cramped "for us." Our choice was a 30' class A with two slides because it gave us far more outside storage, larger (more functional for us) bath - kitchen - and most important for us - seperate sleeping area so if one is asleep the other can move about and not disturb the one snoring (err sleeping). This 30' unit drives as well, fits where we want to stay/stop and was quite comfortable for a 2 month extended trip last spring. We carry less in the outside storage than we used to and have storage room available when friends with a B or C go with us for their excess items they find no room in their rig to take along on the trip. I guess downsizing is a trend for some while upsizing is a trend for others just as RVing, itself, is a new trend for some and quitting the RV life is also a trend for some others. I remember the trend towards working for 40 or so years so one could retire comfortably but I see other trends for the working class today. Some trend towards finding a better job (or any job) to support their family. I even see a trend toward finding some way to make a living while living in an RV and travelling wherever you wish, but I'm not sure just how big or encompassing any of these trends actually are. I'm just happy we all have the freedom to do what we wish as long as we can still afford the costs, both in money and well-being.

Have you checked to be certain that the TV/ANTENNA/CABLE/SAT selector box has been set for each location to the cable input? It sounds to me that you may have last used the front and outside TVs to view with input from the antenna or satellite (providing you have that available) and did not press the buttons to change to cable input. On our 2004 HR coach that switchbox was a winneguard and was located in the cabinet to the right of the front TV. Good Luck

Even the manufacturer's assurances that their skid roller as built can support the weight of "any diesel pusher" I'm pretty sure the hitch assy mounted on "most" will not survive the entire rear weight of the RV sitting on the roller. On the other hand, this would eliminate the problem of the hitch dragging in the future!

I seriously doubt that you expect anyone from GE Appliances to respond here so I took the liberty to spend a couple of minutes to find the following link to help you find a service center to help in your quest to find an authorized repair station on your route. I had to do a similar search when our Sharp Convection died twice in less than a year while we were full timing a few years ago. http://repair.geappliances.com/

You did not comment on the chassis battery voltage while you were having the problem, so I am not certain but it sounds like the chassis batteries were not charged during the time your coach sat idle. When we full timed in one of our former coaches, the chassis batteries were not charged while hooked to shore power and ran down over the months we were parked in Florida. I also had to start the engine with the house/chassis battery connect switch and had the engine quit when I released that switch as soon as the engine started just as you describe. I believe that you needed to hold in the connect switch long enough for the engine run generator to put enough charge into the chassis batteries for them to have enough voltage to keep the engine operating. (at least 5 minutes) I solved my problem by keeping a battery minder hooked to the chassis batteries any time that the coach was on shore power for longer than a couple of weeks. This happened on that coach even after I had installed a new pair of batteries and cleaned and made certain that all cables were clean and tight on both ends so I'm confident that this was a similar problem that you encountered since your coach is a similar year model on a similar chassis to what I had at the time.

While we were full timers, I had most of my medications transferred to a chain pharmacy so that I could get refills pretty much wherever we were located. I'm thinking that Walgreen's, CVS, andWalmart are all pretty much everywhere, while grocery pharmacies such as Publix, Winn Dixie, Kroger, etc might be more regional. I also had success using Medco Mail order with internet access for prescription refills - I simply changed the "ship to" address each time I reordered my 3 month prescriptions. With a bit of consideration on where to transfer your wife's prescriptions, the ability to transfer only once (if that is true) would no longer be a consideration for you. Changing which pharmacy you pick up the meds is not the same as transferring to to a new pharmacy. In my case, it was far easier getting my medication refills than it was, sometimes, getting back to my physician or rheumatoligist <sp> when I needed new prescriptions.

FMCA is the only RV related org that we still belong to. We renewed for 2 years the last time and allowed all the other group memberships to die a quiet death and it will not take much in the line of degrading changes in this one to cause us to RV unattached just as we did for many years. We joined FMCA "because" the anogram meant what it said but have never joined a chapter and only attend the SEA rally until we missed it this month.

We downsized from a 40' HR DP coach on an 8 bag Roadmaster suspension to a 30' Coachmen Mirada on a Ford F-53 chassis almost a year ago. We no longer full time in the coach so we were looking for something liveable for a 2 month excursion but mainly easy to handle for a short trip (3 or 4 days) on a monthly get-a-way and able to get into state parks without needing to be concerned about fitting into the sites. I was surprised how little difference there has been in the ride and handling between a spring chassis and the air ride of our previous coaches. I have heard some have changed to the Kelderman air suspension on the F-53 chassis for better ride and handling, but IMHO, it's not really an issue. I believe it is more important to find a coach with at least a ratio of wheel base to overall length of at least .55 (ours is .59) to get a good ride and handling than which suspension is under a coach, given the major differences in GVWR of coaches. Our present coach's WB is only 30" shorter than the previous coach and is 10' shorter while the GVWR went from 30K down to 20.5K and I believe that is the main reason the ride and handling is quite similar.

Most, if not all, mail forwarding addresses qualify within their state as a legal address. In our case, when we were full-timers, we used our SBI mail forwarding address for vehicle registration, insurance, tax filing, driver's licenses, and voter's registrations until we purchased our current home. We also filed a form with the Florida county where our address was located that recorded our intent to be Florida residents and carried a copy showing that it had been recorded in Clay county and the date filed. We never needed that copy since not even the county treasurer in our former State and County questioned our residency had changed when they tried to collect taxes on our RV (including a $25 late filing fee and a 50% penalty for not filing at all for 2007) and I explained we no longer were living in Indiana and had Florida plates on the RV.

I would say, in addition to Brett's suggestions, that my experience with a '99 HR Endeavor 37' coach on the Freightliner XC chassis (almost identical to the '98 models) is that there is a little road wander if the coach's front alignment is reasonably close to specs but on ours, changing from the original Michelin 235x85R22.5 tires to Hankook 255x70R22.5 tires made a huge difference in handling. There was also a big increase in load capacity of the tires which allowed me to run somewhat lower air pressures based upon actual corner weights of the coach. The lowering of air pressure made for a much improved ride and the wider and lower profile tires practically eliminated any road wander. Many manufacturers build on the newer Freightliner XC chassis which can have the 255x70R22.5 Goodyear G670 tires and the outside diameter and revolutions per mile are almost identical so that on my coach the speedometer was actually more accurate, compared to GPS speed display, after making the tire size change.

When we towed with a Mastertow 77TSB dolly behind our RV from '05 to '07, we towed a 2002 Buick Rendezvous with absolutely no problem with the ramps touching the rocker panels. When we towed our 2000 Pontiac Bonneville, we did have some paint show up on the rocker panels of the white Bonneville from the blue dolly ramps. I corrected that by adjusting the ball height on the motorhome to raise the dolly tongue to about 2 or 3" higher than level. I'm considering aquiring a dolly to tow our new Dodge Caravan and it appears to be slightly lower than the Rendezvous but considerable higher than the Bonneville was so I anticipate no problem while towing. The Bonneville was so low that I had to use 2x6" boards about 30" long under the ramps to get the front shroud to go up onto the ramp without dragging.

ki4nai, You assume that the people you want explanations or justifications from actually use this forum? Have you considered that in our age group and in the age group of many FMCA members and even officers, computer literate regular forum users are in the great minority? As a former full timer I understand the problem you see with local chapter associationships that work for you. We saw the same thing. Now that we are primarily in one location with excursions as we decide we need to roam a bit, we have looked for a local chapter but have not found one that seems to be a fit for us. If I really felt the need to belong to a chapter, I would look for something else that fit us. Should I not find that good fit - I, personally, would look for like minded people and explore the possibilities of starting a completely new chapter. In my life's experience, I have never considered that someone should change their rules or expectations so that "I" liked them - I simply looked for something that fit "MY" needs or wants or found someone of similar mind and associated with them as long as possible.

+2

While I would welcome a resurgence of the growth in FMCA membership, I would be quite sceptical that simply including towable self contained RVs into this organization would actually provide a positive growth. Some individuals seem to imply that the inclusion of towables either within the FMCA or by adding a sister group for owners of towable RVs will increase the organizations membership rolls in and of itself. I do not believe this to be quite as simple and easy a solution as some have opined. Simply changing from the Family Motor Coach Association to something like the Family Recreation Vehicle Association will not, IMHO, change one thing other than to lose some current members and cost one huge pile of cash to change all the paperwork involved with the incorporation of said organization. Other RV organizations, to which we previously belonged, that included all types of RV units (primarily towables) have also shown a drastic decline in membership numbers over the past 5 to 8 years. Some of those organizations were brand specific and even with the melding of brands under fewer manufacturers the membership numbers within those clubs did not increase. Many, but not all, clubs formed for other reasons (full timing, family camping, organized touring and travel, etc.) seem to also have been in membership decline. The FMCA certainly could use more input from people with perspectives other than those who are now being heard. I believe that the best way to be heard is to be active within the club, show interest in holding an office, get elected, make your suggestions and hope you can find others who agree and are willing to help sway the direction of the organization. I DO NOT believe that posting demands for justification for decisions that one disagrees with in this forum is actually going to have any positive effect for any of us.

The first 3 model numbers look, to me, as they are models built by the Monaco Coach Company prior to their bankrupcy and some models are still, I believe, built by the new corporation - Monaco RV. For instance; the 42PAQ would be 42' long (43' if prior to about 2008) with 4 slides (two opposing in the bedroom as well as two in the lounge area) This coach would have a tag axle on a 10 air bag Roadmaster chassis. The 43PKQ would be a similar floor plan with 4 slides, tag axle, and 10 bag Roadmaster chassis and either 43' or 44' long. The 43DFT would be similar to the 43PKQ in length, chassis, suspension, and axle but it would have 3 slides, one of them being a full wall length slide on the driver's side of the coach, and two slides (bedroom and lounge area) on the passenger side. The 43PD5 I do not recognize as a Monaco model but if it was actually a 43PDS it would probably be a model prior to about 2001 and be between 43' and 44' long, have a tag axle, have one long slide located on the driver's side and include part of the kitchen and the living room area in the slideout, and be either on a Freightliner or Spartan chassis. (We once owned a 1999 HR 37PDS on a Freightliner chassis that was that type of floor plan although somewhat shorter overall and did not have the tag axle.)

Normal temperatures IMHO can range from low around 50 and high of 70 as I remember last February but lows could be slightly below freezing for a night or two and highs in the upper 60's or low 50's in the extreme. Last year was quite comfortable to me other than the one day it rained and seemed colder than it really was. I think the year before was quite a bit colder but am not sure because we were only there in 2007 throught 2010 on day trips.