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rossboyer

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Posts posted by rossboyer

  2. Posted · Report reply

    The Great Lakes Area had a few towables in attendance over the Memorial holiday. One of those just bought a motor home and is joining FMCA today. This is why they are allowed to attend national and many area rallys.

    FMCA already has the classification of Associate Member for those that have owned a qualifying motor home and later become a towable owner. That member may then change their membership to Associate. Based on the FMCA Bylaws the Associate Member has all the rights of a Member except they cannot hold an office or vote. How can an Associate Member be denied attendance? On the other hand, it is up to the Area or Chapter to determine if other towables (non-Associate Members) are welcomed as 'guests'.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    We have stayed in several campgrounds in the Rapid City Area. One that we enjoyed is Custer State Park. You can do a search for Custer State Park and look at the campgounds and services that you would need. They even show pictures of each site. Some sites will handle 44-45 feet. There is a nice city campground in Spearfish that is very nice for families or retirees. Usually cooler because it is in a canyon, but no hills or inclines to enter from a city street on the south side of Spearfish. A little drive to Rapid City, but most of the sights to see are west and south of Rapid City. Avoid the Sturgis Rally dates. Most campgrounds in the area will only take reservations for a week or more at that time. Plus there will be 600,000 plus motorcycles on the roads. We have been there at that time and did not have any problems with motorcyclist, just the heavy traffic.

    Next year the FMCA Family Reunion will be in Gillette, WY, June 19-22, 2013. You may want to wait and combine the trip to do both next year.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Yes, you are missing that an area cannot hold a rally within 30 days prior to a FMCA Family Renunion per the Policy and Procedures. An exception was requested and denied by the Executive Board. Primary reason is that the Family Renunion is the 50th anniversary. An announcment should be made in about 60 days. Due to many reasons the Michigan Knights of the Highway have declined to host any rally in May 2013.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Since you have multiple items that apear to be occuring at once, I would look for a loose ground or power connection. We had a loose ground connection on our Fleetwood Expedition that burned 7 different circuit grounds. Ours was the wipers, dash air, and a couple of other items. This connection was a stud that passed through the firewall. The counter bore around the stud was too deep causing the crip connectors to not be held tight by the washer and nut.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Base plates are custom for your specific vehicle to be towed. I have never worked with Blue Ox equipment, but I have done 5 Roadmasters. The average was about 3 1/2 to 4 hours to install the baseplates. You will find that it takes much longer to wire the towed if you intend to use the towed's lights. One took me 2 1/2 days. The others were about 6 hours. Roadmaster has all the diodes and other parts needed to wire your own.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    If return of mortal remains has not occurred, call FMCAssist, 1-877-202-4116. Give them your father's FMCA membership number and policy # CL-1001-EX. All FMCA members currently have this benefit. FMCAssist is provided by On Call, and they will return your father's remains, the motor home and vehicles towed by the motor home at no cost to you; but the evacuation of his remains has to be arranged for by On Call for any other benefits to be paid.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I don't think you can use your generator in an electric area. There are those that have registered for elecric service to be away from the noise and fumes of other motor home generators. But you can register for non-electric and run you generator during daylight hours. Also, there is a full generator (24 hours) area available.

    The key to living with 30 amp service is to watch the amps you are using. Try not to turn on too many appliances the first day because your battery charger will be using amps that are not usually measured as the first load. Be sure your water heater is on gas and not electric. Turn refrigerator to LPG. You should be able to run one air conditioner and maybe two (only) if they are small or are heat pumps.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I have an outlet tester like the one kellyfrank has mentioned. The tester is normally used to test household 115 volt outlets, but with adapters it will test other outlets. A 30 amp male to 15 amp female adapter will allow the tester to check a 30 amp outlet. A 50 amp male to 30 amp female with a 30 amp male to 15 amp female will allow the tester to check only one side of the 50 amp outlet.

    These are the three light codes:

    Nothing Yellow Yellow = Correct

    Red Yellow Nothing = Hot and Neutral Reversed

    Red Nothing Yellow = Hot and Ground Reversed

    Nothing Nothing Nothing = Open Hot

    Nothing Nothing Yellow = Open Neutral

    Nothing Yellow Nothing = Open Ground

    These testers do not check for high or low voltage, but work for a quick check to see if further analysis is needed. I do have Surge/High/Low and Incorrectly wired protector permantely wired in the coach, but I still use this tester with a 30 amp male to 15 amp female adapter to precheck a 30 amp outlet. So many of these were wired with alumium wire that eventually caused a ground neutral short.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    I have done a Chev Malibu, a Chev Meto, 2 Pontiac Vibes, a Pontiac Grad Prix, and a Chev Equinox using Roadmaster products. All installs took less than 4 hours for the base plates with standard mechanics tools. On one, I did need to drill a 3/8 in hole. The wireing for the turn signals and brake lights took much longer because I like to use the existing lights of the towed auto. Roadmaster has excellent directions for installing their baseplates and wiring.

    Brett gave you Roadmaster's web site.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    My name is Nick. I work on the new 6T30/40/45/50 fwd 6 speeds at General Motors within transmission development. In particular, I'm in charge of validation for dinghy towing.

    I'm after some feedback, regardless of vehicle make, about the vehicle you currently dinghy tow (or have towed in the past).

    1. How many miles do you typically dinghy tow your vehicle yearly? 8,000-9,000

    2. What is the total tow mileage you have on your vehicle now? 12,000

    3. What is the total tow mileage you expect to put on the vehicle before you upgrade to a new vehicle? About 10 years not mileage

    4. When towing, what is the average amount of time between stops? (be it restroom or fuel) 2-3 hours

    5. How often do you stop for a period of 10 min or more? (be it restroom, stretch, eat, fuel) 2-3 hours

    6. What is your preferred cruising speed? 67 mph

    7. Do you use a rock shield? Yes

    8. Where does the rock shield mount? (bumper,towbar,dinghy, or... so what type) On the towbar close to the auto

    Your feedback would be greatly appreciated, which will help me better tune our internal testing requirements to better meet and exceed actual customer usage.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    1. The Wineguard plate is a power supply for the amplifier that is the antenna. It sould be ON to receive over the air signal. The connection on the front is probably not used. There are usually 3 connections on the back, and they are Ant In from the roof top antenna, Cable in, and Signal out to the TV. When the switch is off the cable is connected to the TV, and when the switch is on the antenna is connected to the TV. Many motor homes also have switch box to route these signals to front, rear and outside TVs which can confuse issues. If you are not going to use some of those features, I would place your Digital to Analog converter between the Wineguard plate and the TV. If you also want the signal to go to the rear TV, use a splitter after the D to A Converter. The one of the two output cables goes to the front TV and the other to the rear TV.

    2. There is an addon for the Wineguard antenna that improves reception, but causes the antenna to be more directional. We have found that digital broadcasts are easily received within a 40 mile radius. Beyond that the signal becomes weak. Usually a D to A converter will have a signal strength option to test the signal. Select that option and slowly turn the antenna until the strength is the highest. There are some web sites that will map the tv reception based on the location you put in. One of those is TVFOOL.COM.

    Hope this helps.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    We had the problem that the mirror was mounted to the side walls and actually started to crack the side wall; therefore, the whole mirror and mounting vibrated. I had stainless steel plates cut (one for the outside and one for the inside) for each mirror. You could used aluminum DuraPlate which would be easier to cut and drill. The plates were about 10 inches high and 12 inches wide. Drilled the corners for mounting and cut a large hole for the remote wiring through the outside plate. Also, drilled 4 holes to mount the mirror and drilled all the way through from the outside plate through to the inside plate. I used carriage bolts through the mirror mount through the outside plate, side wall, and inside plate with nylock nuts on the inside. Before mounting the plates, I used a high quality caulk behind the plates around the edges and where any bolts passed through to seal. Stainless steel screws were used in the corners to mount the plates both inside and outside. The mirrors are now rock solid and have been for over 80,000 miles. The only caution I can recommend is to be sure that you can drill all the way through without hitting something that could be damaged.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Why not stop at the FMCA campground on the east side of Cincinnati? It is located at 3590 Roundbottom Road, Cincinnati, OH 45244. Call 1-800-543-3622 or 1-513-474-3622 and ask for Campground Information to check to be sure that the grounds have not been reserved by a chapter. There are 15 full hook up sites with 50/30 amp, water and sewer. There are another 9 sites that are 50/30 amp electric only, but there is a dump station and water fill available. Central dumpster is on site for trash.

    This campground is free to FMCA members for two nights each month and $20 for additional nights.

    The Roundbottom facility is the location of FMCA's Mail Forwarding service. The other offices are located on Clough Pike. In your registration packet at the campground is a map to visit the Clough office, but do not take your motorhome because parking at Clough is limited.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    We stayed at Barren River Lake State Resort Park a few years back. It is 11 miles south of Glasgow on hwy 31E. The lodge had good meals, too.

    If you are going to the Creation Meusem, why not stay at the FMCA campground. From I-275 on the southeast side of Cincinnati take exit 63, Hwy 32 northwest toward Newtown. Turn right on Roundbottom Road and the campground is on the right. 15 Full hookups and 50 amps. 9 sites 50 amp only, but there is a dump station and water available. Free to members for 2 nights a month. $20/night for additional nights. Cal lahead to see if a chapter is holding a rally, 1-800-543-3622 ask for campground information. Twice a year the campground is full for committee meetings. The next time is early November.

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