djsamuel
-
Content Count
55 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by djsamuel
-
-
I have torsion Dexter axles so I have no leave springs. However, I’ve heard of enough instances where the bushings and/or bolts wear and fail and even the shackles. Many have made the modifications you mention and were glad they did. You may never have an issue if you do nothing but this may provide better reliability and peace of mind. I know of nobody that regretted the move.
-
4 hours ago, dons2346 said:There has been a lot of new members sign on to the forum but haven't posted anything. I am going to talk to Larry and see if we can add an "introduction" forum so that the new guys can introduce themselves, maybe telling us what kind of coach, their interests are, etc.
Any other ideas that could be considered?
Some ideas for new forums:
News in the RV industry
News in the campground industry
Route suggestions and Road conditions
Camping advice/ Q&A
-
So sorry to see this. Prayers for the family.
-
In late May to early June we stayed 5 nights at River Vista Campground in Dillard, GA. It was a really nice campground and very relaxing. Up in the mountains too. The Dillard House restaurant was really nice too.
-
2 hours ago, wayne77590 said:So, I renewed my FMCA Membership for 1 year.
However, the information I received in letter form says:
PAY THIS AMOUNT
1 year - $50 SAVE $25
2 year - $100 SAVE $45
3 year - $150 BEST DEAL SAVE $55What am I missing here. I would have signed up for 3 years but I just don't follow the math!
Must be the new math!
-
On 5/20/2022 at 10:02 PM, wildebill308 said:Get out of Florida to I-95 North to I-26 to Columbia and pick up I-77 North. Then at Fort Chiswell take I-81 Then it will merge with I-64. Stay on I-81 till I-78 splits off. Stay on that till I-287 splits off at Pluckemin, Bedminster, NJ. Use I-287 to cross the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. I-287 will merge back into I-95 north to Boston.
Bill
Just returned from a trip from Orlando to Springfield, MA. Followed this route up to the I-78 split. It worked well for us.
-
11 hours ago, jleamont said:Curious, when you guys retired what overhead did you have?
coach payment, mortgage etc? That’s been my struggle for years. Do you wait until you own everything or just say the heck with it? Obviously financials will dictate a good portion of that but do you sell the house and down size? Did you struggle with less income and adapt?
Just curious, I’ll be 50 this year and have some time to go yet but it’s on my mind daily. While I’d love to do it at 62 it would require a huge lifestyle change that I just don’t think I’d like to take on.I retired at 62 in December with no debt. We started working at getting to that point when I was around 50. We built our current home in 2005 and took a 15 year mortgage. Paying that as well as the camper and truck was tough, but well worth it. I wouldn't say I would wait to be debt free, but we were fortunate enough to get there. However, you need to make sure you can afford to retire.
As you stated in another post, the current situation of 401K only makes it a bit tougher, especially if there is no matching contribution from your employer. If there is a matching contribution you really need to max that out; otherwise you fall behind. I think that is the most important. Being debt free is a big help, but unless you build up a source of income it will be tough. Like others here have done, my social security started this year at 62. It just made sense to us to have that. So I am receiving social security, a pension and a monthly distribution from my 401k.
Just plan out where you want to be at 62, 65, or whatever age you think you'll want to retire, make that a goal, and try to come as close to that as you can. Those plans may involve what you mentioned; downsizing your house if that is something you want to do. We did not want to sell the house so we planned for that by making paying the mortgage off a priority.
Hope this helps!
-
I retired in December after 41 years working as a Navy civilian employee. It was a great job but I was looking forward to retiring when I hit 62. I had been planning for it for about 6 years due to the structure of my retirement system. I was eligible to retire at 56, but the pension improved at 62. I even had a countdown on my phone and people would always ask me how many days. There was no surprise when I filed for retirement. My 62nd birthday was my retirement date.
One way I prepared myself was to look at some people who went before me, such as my parents for lessons on how not to grow older. When my Dad retired at 63, he really retired. He parked himself in front of the TV and memorized the history channel. My mother did not want to travel and my father did; so they both just sat. After about 10 years, my father developed Alzheimer's and my mother developed mobility issues. My dad passed away after about 10 years of Alzheimer's and my mother 3 years later. As I watched them and others, I could see the danger of retirement without any real hobbies, plans, or relationships.
I know others who held off on retiring and when they finally did, one of their biggest regrets was not retiring sooner. They began to realize that time was passing quickly and they gave up some of the active years while in the office. I also wanted to avoid that.
So I asked myself a few questions. First, how frustrating was I finding my job? While I enjoyed the people, I had to admit to myself I was getting tired of the politics and found my mind preoccupied during my off time thinking about work. Second, did I have plans? Fortunately, my wife and I love doing things together, we are both in very good health, and she is a very adventoursome person that pulls the best out of me. We've taken our camper around the country and have hiked many places. Now we have our list of National Parks we haven't been to as well as those places we want to return to. We want to hike deeper into the Grand Canyon than we have in the past or further up some trails in the Smoky Mountains, etc. The point is, we have things we want to do and now we have the time. The third question was if we were financially able. We are fortunate to have our home paid off and I worked to build a nice retirement package. I did not want to retire into a life where we had to pich every penny. We were very careful in our spending over our life and now we find ourselves in a great situation.
So now, three months into retirement, I can say this was the best work related decision I've ever made. I still stay in contact with former co-workers and have had lunch with them, but I am free to do what I want when I want. Don't underestimate the value of that. We have friends and weekly activities with them scheduled; yet flexible enough to freely cancel if we decide to do something else. We are staying very busy, but we are both very happy. A big thing we've found is to make sure you and your wife are agreed that there are some things each of you will do alone. Like she does the food shopping alone and I take care of the Lowe's and Home Depot runs by myself. We also go out for lunch on our own with friends who are also retired. That is a big help. We are avoiding the frustration of feeling like we have to do everything together, and as a result we end up doing about 80% together and enjoying it.
Hope this helps! It is great you are thinking about it enough to even ask the question.
Doug
-
On 12/13/2021 at 5:10 PM, hermanmullins said:Here is the new way to find the Forum.
Log on to FMCA.COM
Click on Menu
Click on FORUMS
Hope this helps everyone.
Herman
The change that was made is much better. Now you can see the forum option by just clicking on menu and it is at the top. No need to drill down further under "Stay Connected". It is much more apparent to new users. Thanks.
-
Exactly. Thanks for presenting it much more clearly than I did. 😀
-
15 hours ago, kaypsmith said:Simply use the forum url. https://community.fmca.com/
That's how I normally do it. I was thinking more about people who join FMCA and have no idea where the forums are or even that they even exist. If there was a very visible link when logging onto FMCA.com, more people may join the forum. I have no problem using the menu; it actually works fine. It just seems like it is hiding the forum from new members.
-
Normally, I enter this forum after logging into FMCA.com. It used to be simple by using the dropdown menu at the top. Now a revision to the FMCA.com home page (after logging in) results in a more hidden route to the forums. You have to click on "MENU", then "Stay Connected" and then "FORUMS". Not a big deal on the surface, but the menu is organized in a way that makes it much less apparent there is even a forum available. If the intent is to have the forum grow, there needs to be a more prominent link to the foums.
-
6 hours ago, wildebill308 said:But isn't that just to equalize the slide not every time you put them out?
Bill
That is correct, not to be done every time you are putting out the slides. What you need to do, whether extending or retracting the slides, is to hold the switch in for a few seconds AFTER the slide hits the limits. That will keep the slide in line without having to do the in and out sequence. That is only in the event you lose the synchronization between the two motors.
-
18 hours ago, erniee said:Just received my October issue- all 108 pages. About the size of a comic book. Gone are the days when FMCA had a real magazine. My opinion.
I just looked at a few back issues and April through July are all 108 pages (never realized the page count stayed the same). In addition to Family RVing I also get RV Magazine as well as Escapees and they are generally smaller. I like the Family Rv magazine although they all seem to be shrinking as more people vegetate on their phones.
-
13 hours ago, hermanmullins said:What you have is a bad check valve in your pump. Most of the time it is damaged when there is extremely high water pressure. It is expensive to replace a pump ever time you blow a check valve. The best thing you can do is go to your home improvement store and by a check valve and install it between the tank and the pump. about $6.00 and no more blown check valve in your pump. My check valve has been on my coach for over 10 years and the only time my fresh water tank has over flowed was when someone forgot to shut off the valve when filling the tank
.
Herman
I've never had this issue, but it is something I'm waiting to see happen. I never thought about just installing another check valve in line. I may just do this and prevent it from happening should the pump check valve fail. Great idea.
-
1 hour ago, rayin said:I intended to post the same link. That refined paper includes information formerly in different places.
DO NOT use bearing buddy caps on axles with brakes unless the axle seal is designed for such use, like boat trailers. Regular trailer axle seals are not designed to be pressurized, and the bearing buddy has a spring inside to compress grease to keep water out of the bearings. It completely fills the hub with grease.
Since Dexter recommends manually cleaning, inspecting, and re-packing wheel bearings every 12K miles or 12 mos. To me it's useless to just add grease via a zerk fitting, even for the Dexter E-Z lube axles.
I agree. I've never used the EZ-Lube on my Dexter axles. I've always felt better hand packing the bearings and taking a good look at the brakes and replacing the seals.
-
Dexter recommends every 12,000 miles or 12 months to repack the bearings.
-
Thanks for the replies. This is very helpful.
-
Trying to plan a trip for next Spring that includes visiting some friends near Springfield, MA (East Longmeadow to be exact). The nearby campgrounds I can find have a wide range of reviews, mainly poor. Does anybody know of a good full hookup campground in the East Longmeadow area?
Thanks!
Doug
-
On 5/30/2021 at 7:54 AM, rossboyer said:I think all members that accept emails from FMCA received an announcement of the new FMCA Mobile app. I download it for my iPhone from the App Store. It is excellent. So easy to use. Tried it for a day. Because of the ease of use, I removed the two link icons I had on my Home Screen. One of those was to get to the Forums and the other was to get to the FMCA home screen. Suggest you download and try it out.
One quick place to show member benefits to show potential new members.
It seems to be an excellent app. I am really pleased with it so far. You can even access this forum from the app.
-
On 5/20/2021 at 7:36 AM, jleamont said:Pilot Flying J Good Sam discount card provided us a GAS discount on our toad.
Yes, 5 cents a gallon. We use ours all the time.
-
On 5/10/2021 at 9:20 PM, manholt said:Ray, Cracker Barrel has filed for Bankruptcy protection...along with another 100, like IHOP!
I have found any where from $45 to $70 (10% off for GS), between Cortez, CO. to Gillette. I don't see an increase yet, but suspect I will as we head for UPMI later this summer....Our Alaska trip got canceled, not by Canada, by our POTUS!
When did Cracker Barrel file for bankruptcy? I can't find anything about that; and even their investor press releases don't mention it.
-
We have a Zippo LED rechargeable lantern and it does a great job and is rugged.
-
On 12/3/2020 at 5:41 PM, Glenn_Kathryn said:Meetups arranged around an outdoor physical activity like hiking, climbing, or white water rafting. A whole lot of RV meetups appear to be just sitting and talking, with an occasional tour thrown in. To young active families who are used to the constant dopamine hits they get from being on electronics most of the day, that sounds as appealing as watching paint dry. We're not going to just sit around and stare at each other and discuss black tank issues. Adrenaline needs to be engaged.
I think this is a big one, but not limited to just the younger age (not that I'm old
). My wife and I are 60 (I'm soon to be 61), and I am retiring next year. We use our camper a good bit and always associated with some form of activity. We may camp a lot at Disney World (where my wife retired), which entails a lot of walking and then onto state parks and National Parks where we love to hike. Usually during a week to 10 day long camping trip we may hike 80 to 100 miles, especially at a park like the Smoky Mountains. That said, we do like to set days aside to enjoy the camper and the campground; so we're a combination. I do find interest in the technical side of campers, but our focus is on staying active in the outdoors.
F150 tires
in Tires
Posted · Report reply
I recently purchased Michelin Defender LTX light truck tires for my Ram 1500. They are excellent, and I notice a difference when towing my camper. I would highly recommend them.