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Yeah, Gorilla tape why didn't I think of that, I even have some in the coach. Just what is needed to hold back 1800 psi of hydraulic pressure

I just got around to signing up today, and wanted to post back to let any future readers of this thread know it is a 72 hour wait before it becomes effective. This works out ok for me as our trip is still a week away, though I would have liked to have had it last Monday, as I ended up stuck on the side of the road while taking my coach into a local shop to get the brake pads replaced and the dash air conditioner fixed. 4 miles into a 7 mile drive to the shop I blew a pin hole leak steel hydraulic hard line and lost all the automatic transmission fluid from my automatic parking brake. Thankfully I was able to refill the reservoir and barely make it the last 3 miles to the shop, getting another low pressure warning light as I turned into their parking lot. (The coach had been sitting for 5 or 6 weeks in its storage shed since my last 1,500 mile trip)

I think a lot depends on how hands on you want to be in selling it. If you want to be hands off there are a number of consignment dealers around the country that will sell if for you for a commission, PPL in Texas is probably the most famous, though I think there are also some closer to Las Vegas. If you want to be more hands on, I would suggest any and all of the online classified ad options, including RV trader, don't forget online owners groups for whatever brand of coach you have.. When I was shopping for my current coach I spent about 5 months checking all the various online ad sites multiple times per week before finding the right coach on a craigslist ad in Florida 1,100 miles away just 2 days after it had been listed. If could have been just as likely that I had found the right coach through RV trader, or a listing on the owners group web forum, as I did run across a few potential candidates on each. If you plan to be hands on expect a number of tire kickers and low ball offers. Whatever you do post an ad with lots of large hi-resolution photos, potential buyers, particularly ones that are shopping from a distance want a fair idea of the condition of the coach before they contact the seller, as there are so many money pits out there for sale that are simple not worth the buyers time to investigate hiding behind ads with only a couple of low resolution photos taken at a distance.

I need to sign up for a new roadside assistance program, I had the old FMCA coverage, but I think it either just lapsed, or will in the next few days. I plan to sign up for the new Roadside Rescue coverage, does anyone here know how long of delay there is from signing up before it goes into effect? I know I will also have to extend my FMCA membership which expires in December, I ask because we don't have any RV trips planned until at least next month, possibly not until September, and I don't see a point in paying for roadside assistance coverage while the coach sits in its storage shed. thanks

I too was against this change, right now I am taking a wait and see attitude, and just renewed yesterday for one year, I will re-evaluate things in 12 months and see what FMCA has to offer then. One thing that it no longer offers is being a group exclusively devoted to the interest of motor coach owners, which was the main reason I joined to begin with.

Herman, there are probably some pop ups these days that meet that qualification, take a look at these some of which even have wet baths with gray and black holding tanks, kitchens with refrigerators, etc. http://www.forestriverinc.com/camping-trailers/rockwood-tent

Oh well, I had hoped it would go the other way, my membership is up in 11 more days, I had wanted to renew, but now I just don't know. I have done the ride the sinking ship down with other organizations in the past, and have no desire to repeat the experience. So while this may give a burst to membership, though I doubt it, I feel it will inevitably turn FMCA into another GS style camping club, and my GS membership is paid up for 3 more years.

Manholt, I tried to catch up with you a few times, at the rally, but I guess our timing did not work out. My volunteer posting was on the vendor show floor and helping with vendor area take down. In general I have not written about my wishes, but about the things I feel would appeal to a younger audience, things that I could use to sell the FMCA to them. As to joining a chapter I am not opposed to it, I have reached out to inquire about a few, and seem to either find they are active in name only, or they mandate attending 3 or more chapter events per year, which is something I don't feel I can commit to without interfering with my other travel plans and obligations at least at the moment.

Smithy, this is a valid question, Why will this vote passing turn FMCA into another Good Sam, and the answer is simple, it is lack of focus. It is a lack of any driving force to differentiate the FMCA from other groups, sure I hear FMCA is an umbrella group for the various chapters, this may be valuable as a way for chapters to operate, but much of that could be handled by a few people in a central office somewhere, why have a group, why hold rallies, and conventions. I attended the six state rally last week, and while I had an enjoyable experience, I must also admit I walked away questioning not only why I was there, but also why anyone was there. There was a vendor show floor which was much the same as I could find at a RV show, also some good seminars, though most were vendor ran with a certain amount of focus towards promoting their products, again something I could find at a local RV show. Outside of this we had what? A bunch of people with name tags, some of which belong to chapters who spent most of a week camped out at a state fair ground who ate breakfast together and sat around in the evening together to watch entertainment. This is not to say anything bad about those fine people, and those who volunteered and organized the rally, I myself volunteered at the rally, it is just I am left with asking, what were we all doing here? For now the unifying factor is everyone has a motorhome, so we all share certain concerns, concerns that are somewhat different from the broader concerns that all RV owners have. Opening up the group to towables, just waters down what is already a loose association, I see the same sort of thing at the local RV show, which has combined with the local sporting and fishing show, where you see fishing lures for sale next to people promoting snowbird RV parks, and beef jerky sales. So to sum it up, what I see lacking is focus, focus on the concerns of the membership, focus on the topic at hand, and focus on maintaining the FMCA as a viable organization. As to what I would like to see at such a rally, things that I think might make them more useful, not just to young members, but to all members would be a bit more topic driven interaction, maybe some organized small round table discussions on topics of mutual interest. These could range from coach or chassis specific discussions about issues owners face, or regional / destination oriented discussions where people can discuss the merits of snowbirding in Florida vs Texas. These sort of things could help move focus away from the chapter oriented isolated small group mentality, and towards a larger FMCA as a whole driven mentality. This is not to say there is anything wrong with chapters, I can see where they serve a purpose with some individuals, but I also see this drive toward regional chapters as holding back the organization. If you really want to get controversial maybe even have a round table on downsizing from a diesel pusher to a class B, something a few people choose to do, the woman that was parked behind me at the rally was there in a 24 ft custom ordered class B that she uses for solo travel, she also had a Tiffin Phaeton in storage back home in Delaware. I would also love to see such events being weekend oriented, so as to allow more access by the working age members, the Six state rally I just attended ran from Wednesday to Saturday, with Sunday being the common departure day, though many members left by mid day on Saturday. If the FMCA wants to attract these younger members we keep hearing about, a step in the right direction would be to hold such rallies over the weekends, keep the same number of days, but run them Friday to Monday, as many working people find it easier to get away from work when the event is centered over a weekend. This may not solve the access problem for younger families with school age kids, but could make it easier for empty nesters in their 40's and 50's to participate. Ike

I see nothing knee jerk about it, I just have no desire to ride a sinking ship down. While there may not be a line of towable owners waiting to join, if this vote passes I don't see a course back to being anything other than another Good Sam, and my Good Sam membership is currently paid up for 3 more years. I am all for trying to save the FMCA as long as it is an organization of motorcoach owners, I am willing to go out and try to recruit other younger members, I just ask that the organization give us younger members some tools to use to recruit people, as tire discounts and rallies with bingo and ice cream socials just does not cut it, also local chapters that require its members to attend at least 3 events per year does not cut it either.

On a side note, do we know when the results of this vote will be announced? I ask because my membership expires in mid December and I am not sure if I will renew it if this passes, sinking ships and all that.

Part of my problem with the whole thing is the one sided promotion of the deal. I was at the six state rally this week and the comments from the podium were a distinctive we need you to vote yes on this, with no time given to any opposing view.

I agree with the others the FMCA needs younger members, the problem is younger in this case can mean people my age, and I will be eligible to join AARP next year. As I mentioned earlier I am at the Six State Rally in Texarkana this week, I just returned to my coach from the evening entertainment, where I may have been the youngest person in the audience (if there were any much younger I did not spot them), such things as quilting and bingo were the prime topics of talk, and the entertainment was a tribute band for a band that had most of its hits before I was born, and we find people wondering why younger people don't join. Now I did enjoy it, the entertainment was good, but it is doubtful that it would appeal to many people much younger than I am. I went to the chapter fair and it was also disappointing, some chapters had brochures featuring their upcoming events in 2013-2014, and many required chapter members to attend at least 3 chapter events per year, the few younger non-retired members in the FMCA are not going to be attracted to such chapters as they simply don't have the free time to dedicate to attending 3 events per year, every year, I am semi retired, and making it to more than one or two rally events per year is pushing it even for me.

Well the story continues to evolve, I am at the Six State Rally in Texarkana, and attended the member benefit seminar this morning, and the topic of the vote and turning FMCA into just another Good Sams was brought up by the speaker, and his position on the vote had nothing to do with getting younger members, instead it was to follow up on a direction change that was made in FMCA 4 or 5 years ago to make FMCA the number one source for information for all types of RV's. On a side note some new benefits were covered, most notably a new $69 per year road side assistance plan that is superior to the old $109 plan which goes live next week, as well as a $49 per month with 2 year contract Verizon data plan with mobile hotspot device also going live in the next week or two.

I am also currently at the 6 state rally in Texarkana, let me share my observations as a first time rally attendee, and under 50 (barely) member. I don't know how many coaches are here, though I did hear an unofficial count of 209 a couple of days ago, and more have rolled in since, regardless of the exact number this place is at near capacity, and almost every coach is a class A of some type, there are a handful of class B's, but they are by far in the minority and I think I have seen a grand total of 1 traditional class C with a bed over the cab. So before we try to get trailer owners to join, how about trying for all those families that own class B's and C's.

I too am a Good Sam's member, in fact I just renewed for 3 years today, my reason is simple economics, many commercial campgrounds offer a 10% Good Sam's discount, assuming a $35-$40 per night rate, and an annual membership cost of $23 per year (discount rate for renewing for 3 years), the membership pays for itself in just 6 or 7 visits per year to qualifying rv parks. Will I break even on this part of the deal, maybe, maybe not, in my first year of membership It was probably close as I used it on 4 or 5 nights at participating locations. I also qualified for a discount on my RV insurance by being a member (FMCA had the same insurance discount), then of course there is the Flying J discount, and Coupons From Camping World (which I never use).

manholt, that is my point, I don't know either, as a 40 something year old, I don't know how to promote the FMCA to others in my age range, my main reason for joining does not really apply to that many others (to allow membership is a specific brand coach owners chapters / owners club). So that leaves me with what, when someone asks about the egg on my coach at a camp ground, hey do you need new tires?

Ok, here is a straight forward question on the topic of recruitment, what is your selling point for someone age 40-60 that is not retired? Assuming they don't need new tires this year.

Bill I am all for those reviews of expensive coaches, as they give me something to go back and look at in 10 or so years once they have depreciated down to the point where I might consider buying one. In fact I used one of those FMCA review originally published back in 2003 when I was shopping for my current coach last year.

I am 48 and own a class A motorhome, there is a guy on the online owners forum for my model that just bought one this week, and while I am not sure his exact age I know he is younger than I am and has 4 year old twins. The problem is not that there are not younger people that own motorhomes, the problem is there is little in the FMCA to attract them.

Smithy, it is great to see you participating here, and I do hope you continue to communicate with all of us even after the vote is over. As I have stated previously I am against allowing towables full membership as I feel it would take the focus off of motorhomes. Having said that, if this vote fails, are there and new plans and initiatives in place to try to recruit more / younger members? Or is the attitude one of throwing in the towel and going down with the ship if this vote fails?

Just for the record I joined FMCA in December of 2016, and had never heard of rVilage at the time

I agree completely with Bill here, it is not about elitism, there is a very good chance that your 5th wheel is worth more than my 16 year old motorhome. It is about keeping the focus on issues that are specific to motorhome ownership. Things like towbar selection for towing 4 down, or is it better to pull a car around on a dolly or trailer vs 4 down. How about motorhome specific insurance selection, or Gas vs Diesel which costs more to maintain. If towables are allowed in we will likely start seeing magazine article and convention seminars on topics that take away from this focus, like weight distributing hitch selections, or which 5th wheel adapter is best or all sorts of other stuff that does not relate to motorhome specific issues. For general campground and rv travel topics we already have Good Sam, etc. There is no reason to turn the FMCA into a Good Sam lookalike

As I have said before I think this just goes to show how few people read the magazine, or at least how few read it in a timely manner

Manholt, I look forward to seeing you in Texarkana, I have signed up to volunteer, seems like a good way to meet people, it looks like I will be assigned to vendor setup, but that is not for sure yet.