richard5933

I had done something like that on our first coach for the same reason. There was a more noise from the rear tires, but not that noticeable from the driver's seat. The ones you linked to look similar to what I had on the semi I was driving over the summer. They'll provide better traction than all-position tires for sure, but I suggest you watch a few videos to see how easily a semi can get stuck on something like wet grass wearing shoes like that so you don't get over confident in their off-road ability. I agree that the ride itself will be the same - only change will be slightly better traction on softer surfaces.

Have you checked for a blown bulb or a bad/loose ground connection? On some systems a single blown bulb or bad ground connection can take out the whole turn signal/hazard light system.

With chapter membership rates that low, then I would say that my thoughts on the subject should have pretty high importance for a lot more people. Really - only 20-24% of FMCA members get to vote on how things are run at the national level? Why doesn't this bother more people? Sorry, but I find it really bizarre that in all these years the national leadership hasn't found it necessary to find a way to involve the other 76-80% of the membership in things like voting for our national leadership. No wonder things feel like an old boys' club sometimes.

Do we know the percentage of FMCA members that belong to a chapter?

I think it would be interesting to see the math on this one, and it would be an easy question for Dan or anyone in membership to answer. Just a simple database query. It was the only time I've been allowed to cast a vote as a member since I joined.

If you don't already work with a GOOD independent agent, that would be my first suggestion. He/she can shop the policy to multiple carriers, and possibly combine it with your home/auto policy for a larger savings. In my experience, I've never been able to do better shopping directly with an insurance company than by working through an independent agent. You just have to ask around to find the one in your area that is good and that works for your best interests.

Even among the 50 states, not all require membership in a party to vote. Not all states require this - you just show up an vote for whomever you wish. I like the parallel here - if you want to vote in the state's (chapter) election, you've got to be a citizen of the state (chapter). But, everyone gets to vote in the national election.

I might have said it before, but it's worth repeating... If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got. Lots of good ideas have been presented on this thread about ways to bring in new members, ways to improve participation, and ways to help FMCA transition into an organization that can offer future generations what they will need. Hopefully someone in leadership is taking notes.

Yeah, and at the beginning of FMCA most of the coaches looked very much like my coach - not like modern RVs. I get it. I understand the desire by some to have a chapter of like-minded people. Not trying for a second to take away from anyone's chapter, their love of their coach, or their desire to be in a sub-group of FMCA to organize activities. Nothing I've said or will say is aimed at denigrating any chapter or those who want to join one. My point is simple. I believe that ALL members of FMCA should be given an opportunity to vote on things like our national leadership. Directly or indirectly, makes no difference to me. What does make a difference is the large number of members who do not belong to a chapter and as such are left without a vote. At all. This thread is about the future of FMCA - it's not about what we've done in the past. I know that I'm not alone in thinking that the notion that FMCA members can only vote for national leadership through a chapter is outdated. There are many ways to accomplish voting without funneling the vote through chapters. What about FMCA members who belong to multiple chapters? Do they get a louder voice in national elections since they have multiple points of input? Hard to say from where I sit. Yes, there are tens of thousands of members. But, having a membership-wide election is not that difficult. I own a few shares of stock in some very large companies - every year I get to express my thoughts through the annual ballot. Not quite the same, but a good example of various ways to give ALL members a path to having a voice.

This is one of the things about chapters that confuses me and makes it difficult to know which to choose, if any. If a chapter is a "whatever" chapter, then how is it anything other than just a geographic subset of the FMCA membership? In that case, just assign all members to a generic state chapter so that everyone gets to vote. Nothing to stop members from being in an interest-focused chapter as well, but at least everyone who pays dues would be given an official voice in things like national elections.

Funny - I can remember my father trying to do the math when we loaded up the family's station wagon for our annual trip to the Catskills from NJ. He tried his best using a bathroom scale to adjust the tire pressure according to the sticker on the doorpost based on how much we were carrying. Maybe that's where I get it from. Of course, that station wagon had Firestone 500s on it so we were doomed to have problems regardless. And we did. Rear blowout on an elevated section of Rt. 22 heading into NYC. Yours truly was the designated tire monkey, even though it took standing with all my body weight on the jack handle/lug wrench to break them free when I was a kid. Ah, the good ole days.

Maybe because my limited time available for traveling puts me in various parts of the country when the local events are taking place. Maybe because my schedule hasn't worked out. Maybe I don't have the time necessary to investigate the chapters by visiting an event with each one before choosing which to join. Or, maybe I just don't see why I should have to join anything other than FMCA to have a vote in what goes in with leadership in FMCA. Will I eventually join a chapter? Likely. But until then it seems I'll be without a vote on leadership issues. Is chapter membership a deal breaker for everyone? Of course not, but I suspect that not everyone is interested in doing all the parliamentary procedure steps which were so popular in organizations decades ago. I had enough of that belonging to civic organizations in the 70s and 80s, and really think that things could be more streamlined than how they are.

Curious why you think that there is no downside to running at a higher pressure than necessary? It's not just a smoother ride - there is a negative effect on handling and braking when running higher-than-necessary air pressure. Also, the information on the Federal placard is static and often just represents one possible setup available on the chassis. If I were to follow the information on my Federal placard I'd still be running bias-belted tires and an air pressure way out of line with what I run in the current tires. The Federal placard on my coach presents the max load with the standard OEM tires. The operator's manual on my coach has about 4 pages of load & inflation tables which give detailed information for the available tire and wheel options. This has long been a more complex calculation than just looking at the Federal placard.

I understand the possible benefit of chapters to those that choose to join one, whether it be a geographic based or interest based chapter, but isn't it really just making double work of getting new members to be involved and active? It seems like it's hard enough for us to recruit members to FMCA to begin with, but we have system that requires members to join a second time in order to become full members? If all members were automatically members of a chapter they could begin full involvement much easier. Or just skip the chapter requirement and allow at-large members. I've been an FMCA member for a few years, and it's always surprised me that I have absolutely no voice in choosing the leadership of our membership-run organization because I don't belong to a chapter. The reason I haven't joined a chapter so far is I haven't found one with events that interested me which were held at a time and/or place I could get to. We are not retired yet, and so our travel calendar is limited. Making our travel calendar more difficult is that we live in the north and our coach is parked from Nov thru May. Really hard to get to events when the coach is still winterized or there is still salt on the roads. With the time limitations we work around and the long list of places we want to go around the country, it's just really hard to fit in more than one or two rallies per year, and that's in a good year. Perhaps if we knew more FMCA members from non-rally events we'd be more inclined to spend our limited vacation time at rallies, but that's not the case yet. I just don't understand why this double-layer involvement is still necessary for FMCA members to gain full membership and participation in the conduct of the organization.

1952 Ford Crestline is my guess for what they started with.

Yes - there was a problem with the tires on the Ford Explorer from those years. Not the only tire problem that's happened over the years. However, the exception doesn't make the rule. Auto manufacturers have used tire pressures to balance comfort and economy since the early years of the auto industry. The problem with tires on the Explorer aside, the answer to the question is still 'yes', lower tire pressures are used for a smoother ride in cars. Rarely will the recommended tire pressure for a car be the sidewall max.

Yes Within the margin allowed by the tire manufacturer, but many luxury cars have achieved their soft ride by running the pressure at the lower end of the acceptable pressure range. Those manufacturers interested in fuel economy tend to inflate towards the upper end of the range, comfort the lower. With modern suspension systems this is not as common, but it's been a practice of manufacturers for a long time.

How does that work? Whatever you choose as the pressure you want in the tires, you'll need to adjust as the weather gets cold. If you set to the placard pressure in August you'll have to readjust the pressure as fall and winter come on, unless you're staying where the weather never changes.

Interesting, but need more information. How are these holding up in actual use? One thing that I noticed looking at the specs is that they are heavier than lithium batteries. Losing a few pounds while increasing my battery capacity was a big plus for me when considering going to lithium batteries.

Not trying to diminish what chapter do at all or to say that they aren't doing some of this. It does seem though that many members of FMCA do not ever join a Chapter. I've explored it myself, and quickly became frustrated. The ones I would have interest in joining are not near me, and there is no way I can commit to attending rallies or events in my coach at times of the year when it's still winterized and parked. I'd love to just be able to gather together with other FMCA members in the area, regardless of chapter affiliation. I understand that there are chapters in which members develop close friendships, but not everyone has a chapter near them or that works with their planned travel schedule. For those of us in the north, I think that it's a wasted opportunity to only have events which involve our coaches or RVs, as that puts FMCA off the calendar for half the year. Lots of FMCA related activities which could take place, even up north, in the off season.

Seminars... That's another area where I think that FMCA could branch out and reach more people. We attend the two RV shows here in Milwaukee each year (at least till Covid) and there are always lots of things to do and learn. What if FMCA had a traveling RV seminar series, just like at the rallies, that followed some of the larger RV shows around the country? Or, in areas where the RV shows are put on by competing organizations, what about just hosting RV seminars at larger RV dealers around the country? It wouldn't be difficult to get mailing lists of new RV owners in these areas, and I'm sure that dealers would welcome the extra foot traffic through their doors as people attended the seminars. I guess my biggest point here is that having smaller and more local events throughout the year would give members and potential members lots more opportunities to get value from FMCA.

The problem with lithium batteries and cold weather is that they can be damaged if charged at freezing temps. The lithium batteries I'm seeing out there now with built-in heaters seem to be set up so that the incoming charge current is diverted to the built-in heaters until an acceptable temp is reached, and then they begin charging. They don't just keep themselves warmed all the time, since they can be discharged at colder temps. Seems like a pretty slick system, and I hope that the cost drops a bit (or a lot) before I get ready to swap to lithium.

To me you've pointed out two things that could be something to build on... 1) Chapters - I'd love to see a way for members to have more direct input without having to join a chapter. It seems to me that people nowadays aren't 'joiners' like they once were, and if we can get people to join FMCA it's a good thing on its own. Pushing to get them to also join a chapter is asking more of members than many are willing/able to do. 2) Socialization - I think that there are lots of FMCA members near me here in Wisconsin, most of who I've never met. I'm sure that's the same for everyone around the country. While attending events with our coach is the ideal way to participate and socialize, I'd also support having events without the coach. Perhaps just a meetup at a local restaurant or something, even if it's just going out for a fish fry or meeting up at for frozen custard. I'd be a lot more inclined to attend rallies if I knew more FMCA members, and having local events would be a great way to meet them.

Got some Marvel Mystery Oil Air Tool Oil today - it's now the top contender. It has a very thin consistency, and there is a faint hint of dry cleaning fluid odor mixed into the oil. I am running a test to see how well it wicks. I've got a spare Kysor airline filter/oiler, so if it looks to wick well I will put some of this oil in there and see how much oil gets picked up by the air as it moves through.

Glad to hear that you're moving forward in recovery.