richard5933

Sounds like Michigan bases the annual registration, at least partially, on the valuation of the vehicle. Some states call this a personal property tax. Used to be that at least part of this was a deduction on Federal taxes - not sure if it is anymore. Here in Wisconsin the annual fee for our coach is only about $120. Of course, other taxes here are higher. Michigan has a flat income tax rate of 4.25%, where the rates in Wisconsin go from 4% to 7%. You gotta pay the piper somehow.

If it is the hot water side only, you might have a sacrificial anode that is in need of replacement. Our home hot water heater will start to smell like rotten eggs when the anode is nearing the end of its life. Simple to get the new part and not difficult to replace.

What type of odor? Some well water has an odor - could you have picked up a load of water like that?

We stayed at the TT campground in Lancaster PA last week. It was nice and the staff seemed on top of things. We got a decent discount using Passport America membership. I would Cindy's joining if we were full time or even half time, but otherwise not.

We set ours according to the tire charts based on weight. I've got no suggestions if you don't have the weight of your coach. Perhaps others will be able to suggest something to go with until you're able to get your coach weighed. In the mean time, here's a website with lots of great information about tires and inflation. Maybe you'll be able to find something to help you better understand the charts that you mentioned in your original post. http://www.rvtiresafety.net/

Have you got a recent vehicle weight per axle? Or better yet, per corner? In order to properly set the minimum air pressure for a tire it's necessary to know how much weight that tire is carrying.

Welcome to the forum. You'll have to define 'best', as each of us has our own definition. That said, I pay less than $120/year to register my coach in Wisconsin. Once the sales tax is paid, there is just the annual registration fee. There is no personal property tax in Wisconsin. In my opinion though, you've got to pay the piper somehow, so if you skate on paying high dollars for registration they'll get you on another item. Of course, there are many legalities involved in registering a vehicle based on residence, business location, etc. Maybe you can give us a little more information to work with, such as your goals in this.

I can still get every part I've needed to keep my 45-year-old coach running smoothly down the road. I find it hard to believe that something as simple as a radiator stumped a shop. Even if the tanks had to be fabricated from scratch it is not that difficult to make a radiator, and any decent truck radiator shop should have been able to handle this.

Sorry about the cross up with names earlier... I'll blame the small screen. My brother is near Hagerstown, so I am sure we'll be in your area again next year. Look forward to seeing you.

Bill - Sorry I didn't know that sooner. Just checked this thread again and we're already in Ohio. Maybe next time. Gorgeous area though. Have you ever spent time in Port Deposit? Passed it on the way to Lancaster and thought it was worth returning to.

One thing I notice about the Interstates vs. State Highways question is the number and degree of curves and steep grades. Interstates tend to be a bit less windy and have fewer steep grades. We were traveling this week from southern NJ to Lancaster PA. The Interstate route we were following had heavy traffic so the Garmin re-routed us around it. The Garmin is aware of size & weight. The route we ended up on went through a little town called Port Deposit - gorgeous but with a terribly narrow road with a few fairly steep grades and very sharp curves. As we neared the campground we encountered a stretch of road with 12% down grades. Once you plan a route - whether on state roads or the Interstate system - you can look at it in Google Earth. Once the route is on the map, right-click it on the map and you'll have the option to view the elevation view. Very helpful to plan your day and prepare for steep grades. Otherwise enjoy the view and be sure your co-pilot has the camera ready to capture what you miss while focusing on the road.

Ripping off based on fuel prices? Then lets talk about the $0.40 to $0.60 jump in price crossing the border from Maryland or Virginia into Pennsylvania. How can fuel be $3.09 in one place, and then just over the border $3.75. From what I see, PA charges $0.7470/gal on diesel and "only" $0.582/gal on gasoline. And these amounts exclude the Federal tax that also must be paid, and both are much higher than all other mainland states. This is what I call a rip off, and the roads in PA aren't even that good to show for it. First time I've seen such high taxes on diesel, and the last time I'll fill up in PA if I can help it. Here's the rundown on a state-by-state level: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States

Best way to exercise a generator is with it under load. To do that you'll have to switch from shore power to generator power and then turn on a few appliances like a/c or heater, depending on the season.

The issue with the FMCA forum stopping to check things is strictly related to something on the FMCA side of things. They've got some security measure in place that runs when it thinks it should to protect the site. I usually run with Firefox as my browser, though at times I'll run into sites that aren't fully compatible and will switch to Chrome. As a last resort I'll use Edge (that's the latest iteration of Internet Explorer) As for search engines, the two big ones are Google and Bing. If you look at the fine print on Yahoo's search results you'll see that the results are coming from Bing. Yahoo stopped doing their own searches some time ago. There are also lots of smaller search engines that come and go.

Any browser will do that... Browsers are just portals. If you are concerned, just activate the private browsing mode so that tracking is minimized? DuckDuckGo is a search engine. There are dozens of these out there. If you are not logged in to the search engine and clear your cache/cookies you can get get results much different than when you are logged in. Most search engines, when you are logged in, will try and fit the results to your likes/dislikes. That's why I am still seeing ads for e-bikes every time I search for anything travel related. All that said, I would guess that discussions involving Rush and his show are best left to political forums, as opinions are bound to be highly charged and cause the conversation to become strained.

It was one of the units where the screen popped out and hinged up. They make a few single DIN units with larger screens, the downside is that the screen hides whatever is above the stereo when it's in use.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you here. There are lots and lots of car stereo heads on the market right now so it's hard to make recommendations without a bit more information. It looks like the unit you had was a single DIN size. Do you have room for a double DIN or are you limited to single? Are you open to the idea of putting your CD collection in MP3 format? If so, you open up a world of newer stereos with lots of new features. With a micro-SD card you can put a huge collection of CDs in a tiny space and have them all available for playback. Check out the Crutchfield.com site for options. They have about the best selection I've seen. They do carry one that has the same size and layout as yours, but not sure if it has all the features you need. Kenwood KVT-7012BT

Sounds like a great idea. I've often thought that the fact that every good RV shop has a weeks-long waiting list for service is an indication that more RV service centers are needed. I wonder how it would work in relation to manufacturer's warranties on the various components? Seems like a lot (if not most) of the service appointments we read about on this forum are for warranty related work. Sometimes it's a chassis warranty problem (engine/tranny), sometimes a house system (a/c, water heater), and sometimes a warranty problem on the actual RV build itself (bowed slide, etc.) Of course, it you talking about doing only off-warranty work then I think you'd have customers lining up to get in.

I'll add some kudos to the list... As many know, we recently installed a Vitrifrigo 12vdc/120vac compressor fridge in our coach to replace the 44-year-old Norcold compressor unit. I went to start it up the other day in preparation for a trip. We're scheduled to leave tonight. Yesterday when I went to load the groceries I realized that the compressor was cycling on for only 2-3 seconds before turning off. A few frantic calls to Vitrifrigo's main US office in Florida, a little bit of trouble shooting, and they had a new part out the door via overnight shipping. Installed the part myself this morning and it appears the crisis is over. The fridge is already down to temp and ready to load.

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago.

The other advantage with any unit that protects at the post is that protection is provided for the shore cord as well. Can't get that with an on-board box.

Interesting thread. I know that it started quite a while ago, but I had a similar thing happen on a Yanmar diesel engine in a tractor. Primary fuel pump housing cracked after only a few hours, causing a pretty serious fuel leak. When I got the warranty replacement it had an improved mounting system with added brackets. Same thing happened a couple of months later when the air cleaner mounting brackets cracked. What was explained to me is that diesel engines are often set up and tested in one application. For example, the unit on my tractor was apparently designed and tested to be used as a skid steer engine. When it was repurposed as a tractor engine it was suddenly being called to run at a different RPM. This change in RPM caused a different vibration pattern to set in, and with it various problems such as the fuel filter and air cleaner mounts. I'd be curious if something like that happens with the engines being put in motor homes. They were originally designed and tested for use in one application with a specific transmission combination (OTR trucks with a manual transmission, for instance), and then the engineers decide to put that engine in a motor home to increase power. They combine it with an automatic transmission, and suddenly the engine is running at a speed slightly different than originally tested and along come problems like cracked fuel lines. Just a working theory, and I'd be interested to see what others think.

Isn't the concern of running automotive type (toxic) antifreeze in any of these systems on the circulating side due to the risk of a leak forming and the toxic antifreeze contaminating the potable water supply?

Of course, there are also places like Kwik Trip in Wisconsin that will let you start the pump with any credit card at the pump. However, the pump will automatically shut off at $125. Then you've got to start the process all over again. Not terrible but it can be confusing if you forget about it and expect to pump lots more.

We've got the Progressive Industries on and we're quite happy with it. I notice that the other one you listed doesn't have nearly the same weather shielding,