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ispjs

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  1. ispjs

    RV GPS

    If I recall correctly the Rand 7720 RV GPS units are set up so you can enter how many propane tanks you have. But like Jim, my current coach is all electric now so I don't worry about it. A year ago when I switched coaches I'm sure I reconfigured the Rand for my new parameters because we still use it as a second GPS on the passenger side when traveling.
  2. Our GS (National General) policy only went up about $70 for the annual renewal recently and we are SW Florida residents. Had one claim and that was a $3,700 windshield replacement.
  3. Good point Carl, especially when you consider FMCA is now open to all types of RVs. No doubt there would be a lot of folks encouraged to join and remain members if the discounts were for CGs were there.
  4. Actually I may have misspoke, she tells me it will be closer to 17 CGs, plus one Cabela's and one Walmart. We had some obligations and only got to visit 11 states. Part of the problem also was that we enjoyed the mountains in Tennessee so much in the spring that we couldn't help ourselves and returned in the early fall. We are going to have to stop doing that if we ever hope to see most of the rest of the country.
  5. Try Creekside RV Resort, Punta Gorda FL. They were adding a section last fall when we left Florida and there could be a possibility they are not completely booked. It is a couple miles from Punta Gorda airport and about 20 miles from Ft Myers airport. Probably anything else in SW Florida will be booked and want to put you on a waiting list.
  6. The DW hasn't figured the final number yet, but I'm guessing we visited around 20 different CG's for 2018. We always run down the list of possible discounts with them. Usually it will be a PA or GS discount, not one CG has ever offered a FMCA discount.
  7. Can't answer your specific question, however..... When we towed a heavy fiver with our F350 I had Firestone bags put on the rear. With the inside compressor I could adjust my ride on the fly and it was great. Our last coach before this one had the F53 suspension. It was like driving a tall overloaded bread truck. Considered bags all around but went with Sumos instead. It stiffened up the coach and took most of the sway out allowing us to drive down the highway in 10-15mph winds. Overall it still rode rather rough.
  8. One thing I have noticed while traveling this past year is how different parts of the country offer discounts to active military and veterans. One example is Harley Davidson shops. We visit various ones all over the U.S. Very few of the northern ones offer any type of military related discount and actually look at you like you have three heads if you even ask. Most southern states gladly give 10% off and thank you for your service. Yesterday we stopped in a newer Harley shop in Savannah GA. The DW was picking up a small item and while we stood at the counter to pay we noticed a sign that said active military could only get a discount one day a week. This area is full of young military men and women serving our country and the sign made me mad that this business wouldn't offer the discount to them all week long. We decided to put the item back and not purchase it.
  9. Every RV forum I have ever been on always has this topic come up. It usually gets going pretty good and continues for 7 or more pages debating to all type of side issues. Generally speaking you need to do, or have three basic things for a black tank to continue to work properly: 1) use lots of water. 2) keep your roof vent clear/working. 3) rinse after dumping and travel with 2 to 5 gallons of liquid in black tank.
  10. First off, just based on the video if authorities can track down the idiot he/she should be cited. If this bridge was on a route I had planned there would be two ways I would have been warned prior to even heading out that day. First of all one of my two dedicated RV GPS units would refuse to route me to it, secondly when I would have reviewed my Trucker's Atlas I would have discovered the low clearance plus the weight limitation. This should make an interesting read for anyone in a 20 ton RV or larger that uses car style GPS mapping and doesn't own a commercial Trucker's Atlas.
  11. Do a search for "battery water can" and you will see numerous ones for sale everywhere. The better ones are black plastic and run between $15 and $20. They shut off automatically when each cell is topped off. I have used the same one for about 20 years starting with my boats and now my RVs. I also have a pull out tray with not much room but can check and fill each cell on eight 6-volt batteries in less than 10 minutes using my water can.
  12. Interesting thread. I was just told last week that I can go to any auto parts store and buy LED bulbs to replace the taillight bulbs in my new Harley for about $7.00 each. I wonder if this is the same system/technology?
  13. We are visiting the Charleston SC area this week and took a ferry from Patriot's Point over to Ft. Sumter for the tour yesterday. It was very interesting and worth the trip. In the same boarding/docking facility there is the USS Yorktown you can tour and the Viet Nam Experience. I won't go into great detail about the Viet Nam Experience exhibit but if you served then you have to visit it if you are ever in this area. Part of the outside exhibit is set up outside with a guard tower and several buildings, including a small mess hall and a hooch. They have numerous speakers set up in this area with all the sound effects, announcements, chopper back round, and other realistic sounds from back then. As I stood there with my foot on the skid of an old huey it was like I was 18 years old again. I could almost see some of my buddies walking through the area with flip flops on and no shirt, dust everywhere. It was very moving for me especially since all but two of us are now gone.
  14. We have Progressive for our car and motorcycle, but they were much higher for RV. For the coverage we wanted (Florida residents) Good Sams set us up for just under $2,000 a year and Progressive was almost $3,000. We were surprised they were that high because they have treated us good on our car/motorcycle policies for several years now.
  15. Very interesting read and probably spot on for the most part. Obviously a good description from someone who has a lot of experience using them. We rejected them mainly because we did not want anything to "control" where we went and when, since we are truly full time travelers. We will always spend December through March in SW Florida. We found it better to avoid the hurricane season so we do November and April in Alabama. We also spend 3 months split up in a CG back in central Illinois during the summer for visiting family. The Alabama CG we use is $10 a day, the Illinois CG we use is $13 a day. So we know each year we can camp for 5 months very cheaply. The rest of the time we keep the wheels turning and travel all over maybe doing a dry camping night here and there. My point is if you are careful and plan correctly you can get by as cheap, and possibly cheaper than having a TT membership plus experience better parks/facilities. I read an interesting post somewhere this year. The person broke down his TT membership as a full timer and it came to around $20 something a night average. He then broke away from TT and was able to reduce his annual site expenses slightly.
  16. We just left Anchor Down after spending a week there. We met two other couple there and generally spent the week riding our Harley's in the surrounding mountains every day. It is a really nice CG with a great staff. The only negative I found was the sites are not very level. All three couple booked another week next fall to meet up again there.
  17. Dump stations are far and few between at interstate rest stops. Florida has a couple we have noticed and there has been just a handful in other states. Some Cabela's stores will have one if they have dedicated RV lanes on the side of the store. Most Love's will have one and most of those are situated out front instead of out back where the big rigs fuel. I have never found a site or publication that specifically lists all dump stations nationwide.
  18. We started with a TST brand several years ago. Last year with our new set up we expanded/upgraded the TST system for 12 sensors. I have always been very satisfied with their system.
  19. Since we are Florida residents (registered/insured there) our insurance covered our replacement last month 100%. We were in northern Indiana and had it replaced at the factory but there are mobile companies that do it, especially in Florida. Depending on where the crack is located and how long it is dictates if they can repair or not.
  20. We looked at the TT membership two different times. Once when we first went full time in our fiver, then again last year when we sold out again and started a second stint. This second time we actually got so far as to visit some of their CG's. For the most part the CGs we visited were pretty bad with very small sites and not very well maintained. For some it may work great. We don't plan our travels based on where we "need" to stay, we plan them based on where we "want" to go and then do our homework and find places to camp. There are many other things we do to keep our annual average camping fees low, without belonging to TT.
  21. I totally agree Jim! She is one of my CS reps also. On our first or second shakedown trip last year we had the footrest alarm blaring away when we tried to break camp on either a Saturday or Sunday morning. Called Newmar CS and it rolled over to Erica's cell phone. I only got about half way done explaining my issue when she told me what was wrong. Between the way they have been available for me plus my recent experience at the factory, I have only good things to say about this company.
  22. Jim, you are correct. I now have right at 6,000 on the register, should have over 8,000 by the time we hit SW Florida for the winter. Every travel day is something to look forward to with comfort drive!!!!
  23. Like many full time RVers, and probably most regular RVers, I browse more than one forum. Different RV forums serve different purposes/needs for me. I have only owned three different brands but I always try to seek out the best brand specific forum for my current RV and stay active on it. It has always served me well and probably saved me thousands of dollars by sharing information with folks who have the same RV as me. The last 2 stops our kitchen slide would not extend. Yesterday we arrived at a CG early so I posted the issue on my brand specific forum and then went out to start trouble shooting. After tightening bolts and doing general slide maintenance I came back in and checked the forum. Three folks had basically told me how to fix it, shut my battery switch off, wait one minute, turn it back on and hold the kitchen slide extend button. It worked perfectly! Now I'm not saying someone on here or another forum may not have come up with this exact correct answer for my current coach. However thanks to my brand specific forum I had the answer in about 30 minutes.
  24. I would at least make reservations for the more popular areas you will be hitting, plus be sure to make reservations for around any of the holidays you may encounter. A couple years ago we were planning a trip out to Seattle so we could park the RV and take an Alaska cruise. We made advance reservations and everything worked great at all the CGs going out. We were lazy and thought we would make the return reservations when the ship came back in. It was too close to the 4th of July week and we had issues finding sites. Your rig isn't that long so you will be able to camp about anyplace. RVParky (I-phone app) is an excellent way to search for CGs.
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