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We also were full time in a fiver, now in a DP. I am just the opposite as Ken. Our DP is more comfortable and has tons more storage than our 39' fiver had. I suppose if you are sitting in one place for 6 or 7 months it wouldn't be good on a DP, but we don't do that anyway. We were very close on our weights when we had our fiver. My TV (truck - tow vehicle) was a 2012 F350 single rear wheel. After loading for full time living and weighing we were within a few hundred pounds of being over. I weighed twice a year and it was always a battle to keep my weights down. Even though IMHO it would have been harder to use a dually for a daily driver, if my F350 would have been a dually I would have had some wiggle room. I had Firestone air bags on the rear which helped keep me level but didn't mean I could load heavier. Don't have to worry about all that now though.

Good point Wayne. Also, maybe some folks are lucky enough to be getting 8 or 9% on their money short term instead of 2 or 3%, so by all means keep it in the bank. Otherwise, the way I look at it is my "expiration" date is much closer than further away so I'm not much on long term investing. I've been to more and more funerals and have yet to view a casket that was loaded with cash. Extended warranties are like any insurance policies. Some self insure and some throw money (me) at insurance companies.

Had a bumper to bumper extended warranty on a used coach we never used in 18 months, that is correct. Applied the refund from that toward the new warranty on our new Newmar we recently purchased, that is again correct. The Newmar warranties drop off 8.5 months from now. Most of my appliances warranties automatically drop off either in 8.5 months or 20.5 months. Engine, tranny go longer through Cummins/FL. I decided to invest an additional several hundred for coverage on everything through the first 5 years of ownership. We are full timing and actually putting miles on our unit. We are opening the frig probably over 5,000 times a year, crapping in two different expensive toilets over 700 times a year, you get the idea. If I was taking an occasional weekend trip or maybe running to Florida for 3 months in the winter and then just letting the coach sit then maybe I would take a chance. I personally believe there is a chance I could come out on top by having an extended warranty. Only time will tell. I guess at the end of 5 years and I haven't had $3,000 or $3,500 in claims paid out then we will just cancel one of our cruises or somehow try to recover from this huge financial loss.

Probably not double coverage. I doubt the extended warranty folks would be kicking in any funds when they know you are still under original factory warranty. My dealer (Newmar) offered a coach only plan that was pretty cheap. It was for 5 years and covered everything except chassis (motor/tranny). When I told them I would just wait until the end of the first year he showed me some paperwork of folks coming back for same warranty after a year. Price went from around $3,200 to about $4,000 for same warranty. It was an easy decision for me because I was getting almost half the amount for the new extended warranty in a refund from my last coaches extended warranty plan that I never used.

This was our first year joining FMCA. We have only paid membership to a small number of other RV groups over the years. However, since we had switched to a motorhome from a fiver we figured we would give FMCA a try. Then the big transition and vote to open it up to everyone. Now small changes have started to make it more of a "general" RV group and not centered around coaches. That is all well and good but the problem is it pretty much defeats the purpose of our main reason for joining up in the first place. We don't need membership in another general RV group that isn't coach specific or brand specific. Does that mean I look down on folks in TT or fivers? It is just the opposite, we began RVing in a used fiver and may very well end up in one again when it is time to downsize and go part time. To me it just seems silly to pay over $60 a year for membership in an organization named Family MOTOR COACH Association when it is just another general RV group. That would be like staying in the American Legion and they open it up to the general public and stop focusing on veteran issues anymore.

I use 303 on my car tires and Harley tires, but seldom if ever on the RV tires. I figure it won't really matter on the tires that wear out due to use instead of time. Just like I don't worry about covering any of my tires except the coach. Finally found the right covers also. Custom fit covers that are made out of the same screen material that I hang from my side awning. It shades my tires but lets them get air.

When asking about information on fuel stops on US 45 going north from Mobile area up to Savanna Tennessee, on another forum, someone mentioned a blue truck stop guide. I checked the first Pilot I fueled at and they had never heard of it. Next stopped at a Loves to gas up toad and they had it. It is a small blue colored book that lists fuel stops (diesel) and rest stops. I think with tax it was around $6.00 and change. I now know where 2 nice size stops are on the route I was needing information for. Along with my Commercial Road Atlas this is another publication I will be purchasing every couple of years.

If you were hoodwinked into the FMCA Verizon deal, the only bright spot is that 5g technology may be coming out soon. Last month when my Windows 10 updates chewed through 11 gigs in a day and I was throttled back about 6 days into the billing cycle I ended up on the phone with Verizon for about 45 minutes. They finally got me to one of their tech wizards that could actually see everything we had downloaded (with my permission) in order to determine how that much data was used when not steaming or downloading anything. Anyway, he mentioned that "when 5g technology was rolled out then 4g would become the technology that everyone would be rolled back to". I asked him when that was coming and he said they hadn't told anyone but he suspected sooner than later.

When you are paying to run across a truck stop scale, you need to walk inside to the fuel desk and tell them you are needing a weight first. I would not just drive in to their lot and park on the scale. Walk inside and tell them you have an RV and want to weigh. Go back out and drive on scale. You may need to have a short stick to reach the "talk" button on their pedestal depending on their set-up or if you are vertically challenged. They will lock your weight in when the scale settles down and tell you they have it. Drive off, park out of the way, and go back inside to pay and get your printed weight ticket. Easy peasy.

I will be finding out if the east coast side looks at the RV length issue closer later in the fall. We will be spending some time in both Virginia's and both Carolina's before cutting back over toward New Orleans to sit for November. I am fully aware of being at least 7-8 feet over length in most states. If stopped and ticketed and/or made to get legal then so be it. We picked this rig set up so we could travel with a car and motorcycle behind a 43' DP. If it turns out that other's I have talked to that are traveling in rigs longer than mine are full of crap and western or eastern states do stop and ticket them, well then it is a easy fix for me. I will simply get rid of my 24' enclosed and buy an extended tow dolly to still haul our car and Harley. I can get to 65' or under that way, just can't back up or haul much extra stuff.

I have always weighed on CAT certified scales at Pilots, Flying J's, or Love's. Have never been across an unattended state scale.

We did that a few years ago for a cruise out of Seattle, going to Alaska. We found a great CG just north of the city that catered to folks taking a cruise. They had a special lot set up so you could plug your RV into a 110V outlet. We were able to keep frig and batteries going while away. If we camped in a regular site one day prior to cruise and a day after the storage days were only $10 per day. With Florida being such a winter snowbird destination I'm not sure that type of CG exists close to Miami. Are you bringing your RV a long distance just to do the cruise, or are you staying in Florida for the winter in it?

Good information to know Carl. From other things I was reading I assumed having the Oasis serviced was an annual deal. Sounds like I may be able to stretch it a little.

Very interesting post. There certainly needs to be more small and large RV parks built all over the country. We have only been Florida residents for 3 years. During that time we have only owned (and sold) one piece of property. However, based on what few things we have learned about Florida is that land and property prices vary. I realize you are concentrating on developing this piece of property because you inherited it. However, what would be the possibilities of selling it and obtaining a 10 acre track of land away from the coast, say for example within a couple miles of I-10? Example: we have stayed at the Hitching Post CG, Cottondale FL. It is probably on about 5 or 6 acres and close to I-10. The couple that purchased it and developed it always dreamed of owning a CG. It is nothing fancy and they have done most of the work themselves, gravel and grass. It has nice utilities and both pull through sites and back in. Example: Azalea Acres RV Park, Robertsdale AL. It is located a couple miles off of I-10. It is nothing fancy, just about 3 to 5 acres of grass and gravel. They have really long pull through sites and stay booked. These are just two examples that come to mind of simple CG's in the panhandle area that don't have swimming pools, tennis courts, etc., but are nice to stay at and probably easy to maintain. I'm sure the land they are sitting on was probably pretty cheap to initially purchase. Who knows, maybe your inherited property could be sold for enough to purchase 5 acres in another location plus leave you enough for some initial infrastructure.

Just curious, but is that unusual for a manufacturer to put 3 year old tires on a new coach? I haven't looked for the date codes on my tires yet but just assumed they were from 2016 or 2017. If FL sent them to Newmar with 2015 tires on the chassis I'm not going to be happy!

"When getting a starting air pressure for the beginning of the day, it is important that the tires not be sitting in the sunlight. A tire sitting in sunlight will warm quickly and the pressure will read higher than a tire in the shade even if both were at the same pressure before sunrise. Adjusting the pressure on a tire which has the sun shining on it can result in wildly different pressures between tires on one axle where one tire is in sunlight and the other in shade. This is why I never sleep late on a day when we are driving. Unless you are parked in a very shady location or inside a garage, there is only one way to get an accurate before driving air pressure reading from your tires, get up before the sun hits them. +/- what? " Tom, I think you are generally spot on with your post, especially the above part. It is easy to see how the sun effects psi even when rolling down the highway if the sun is only hitting one side of the coach. Just utilizing a TPMS over the years has educated me further about tires behavior. I don't really think manual checking with a gauge, or installing a TPMS sensor actually lets out enough air on these large MH tires to make any difference. IMHO you would have to sit there and manually check a 22.5 tires 30 or 40 times to let out 1 psi of air.

Welcome Jack! Thanks for your service. A lot can be said for doing a military stretch right out of high school. I know it fixed my bad attitude in a hurry!

MWeiner, I would think you could just add roadside assistance to your insurance policy for $7 to $10 a year and forget about it. It isn't like you have some big special RV to have to worry about towing or fixing a flat on.

Very good information posted on tires/rims. When I think of safety on the road with my RVs my first thoughts are always about the tires. Even while stationary for a few weeks I still monitor them with my TPMS on occasion, clean, and inspect them.

"After having the bus weighed, Tag 9,000, Drive 13,500, Stear 14,600, I contacted Tiffin and they said I had too much weight on the Tag Axle." Even though I have a Newmar, our coaches are about the same length. When I weighed, loaded, without toad/trailer, tag was 2,860, steer axle 13,660, drives 22,020, and my coach's total weight is slightly more. So I agree, there is an issue with your tag.

If the FMCA Verizon Unlimited Plan is somehow different than their regular plan and this is true, then it is news to me. I thought if you were on the unlimited plan then each hotspot was throttled back to 3g speeds once you hit 15gigs on that device.

I had internal ones installed on two previous RVs. They were more expensive and of course went with each RV when sold. I'm sticking with external. It winds up with my power cord and I don't hardly notice it is even there anymore.

Wayne, you and your canine are probably the exception to the rule. I was walking in a rural area next to our old neighborhood last year when I came across a gentlemen about my age with 3 dogs. None of them were on a leach. One, a black lab, charged me. He was yelling at it the whole time to come back but it was obvious the dog wasn't going to listen to him. I simply stopped and put my hands in the air as his dog closed on me. It turned out the lab wasn't aggressive but friendly and jumped up on me as a greeting. Problem was his nails scratched the crap out of my leg, which didn't sit well with me. I kneed the lab's chest just enough to get him down off of me and began walking past. I reminded the guy that there was a leach law even in the county. He didn't apologize but turned toward his dogs and said to them "better leave Mr. Grouchy alone". Needless to say I stopped and we had a further conversation. I showed him the scratch on my leg, which was bleeding some, and warned him that with concealed carry in Florida he was taking a chance of getting his lab shot by letting him charge at folks. The guy yelled at me "so now you are threatening to shoot my dog?" Needless to say the conversation went down from there all because he owned 3 untrained canines and he refused to follow the laws about keeping them under control. Since this was my regular route to walk every morning a call was made to the Lee County Animal Control. It took them a few weeks but finally they happened to be in the area when this guy was letting his dogs run. They were going to just warn him but he copped an attitude with them so they cited him. One citation for each dog, totally just over $900.00. My tax dollars at work!

The park we are wintering in is full of canines. The section we are in has only 3 sites that do not have dogs. All breeds and sizes are here. I get to see many of them because our site is on the back of the facility next to the pet area. Based on my experience/training as a State Police K-9 handler I have made some observations. 90% of the dogs present in this park are not being walked by their owners, they are walking their owners. I would be willing to bet that none would respond to simple commands, like "sit", "stay", or whatever. The owner's think their pets are just great, but other folks don't care for them barking, jumping up on them, or generally being misbehaved. It isn't the dog's fault, most dogs can be trained to do about anything. They thrive on the attention and training by their owners. It is most owner's are lazy and never train their pet, instead treating it like some small furry disabled baby they adopted. I love most dogs and really feel bad for them when they are not treated properly by their owners.

Seat belts are a good thing in larger DP rigs. It will keep you in your seat during an emergency. I suppose air bags couldn't hurt if they were added. But if you have ever seen the aftermath of how large Class A RVs come apart when they roll over in an accident you will forget about many other safety features. Most of them if they are traveling at 60mph or above totally come apart when rolling over. All the extra expensive safety equipment isn't going to do you any good when that 18 year old is texting at 60mph and runs into the side of your coach, or that DUI driver crosses the median at 80mph without his/her lights on and hits you head on. You can't fix stupid as the saying goes, and in today's world there are more and more stupid driver's out there. The government can mandate more and more expensive equipment but until they get serious about some of the laws and enforcement it won't change. How about first time DUI you go to jail for 5 years automatically and can't get your license back for 20 years? First time caught texting while driving is an automatic $5,000 fine and your license gets suspended for a year? Now we're talking!