NWJeeper
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Posts posted by NWJeeper
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I see you are from Washington, can you give me a good place to stay about a week around Mt. Ranier, St Helens, we will be there last of May first of June.Montie
Montie, Well I don't do a whole lot of camping down in that area. I know of some other really nice places around WA to stay though. I highly recommend you try RV Park Reviews and check for campgrounds around that area like Chehalis, Toledo, Longview, Vancouver, etc. for campgrounds. There was one in Longview that was just on the Goodsam's top 100 list, right on the Columbia river that looked really nice but can't remember the name. It's on the RV Park Reviews site though. If you head any further north I also very highly recommend going to Port Townsend. Make reservations for Ft. Worden state park as it is always a busy park. This is where they filmed the movie "An Officer And A Gentleman" years ago with Richard Gere. Lots of old gun emplacements to explore and great hiking. This one of our favorite places and we try to get up there at least once a year. If you have a "toad" then it's only about 5 minutes into Pt. Townsend for some great food (Nifty 50's diner, or the Belmont hotel for a nice dinner) and antique stores, etc. I also know of some nice places on the Oregon coast and generally around the northwest (ID, OR, WA) if you want some other ideas. Just drop me a note and I would be glad to help.
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I have a 2006 Fleetwood Excursion diesel pusher had to replace house and chassis batteries recently my question is has anyone had any problems or experiences using Batterytender maintainer to keep batteries fully charged. I think my starting batteries are parallel and house batteries are combination series and parallel. Any suggestions?They work great. I use one and lots of guys I know use them with their RVs and boats. If your house batteries are 6 volt then make sure you connect to one of the banks of the 2 combined. Otherwise for 12 volt batteries they are just a normal battery charger albiet low amperage.
Check out The 12 Volt Side Of Life for lots of great information on everything 12 volt related on RVs
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Thanks guys, I've added your resources and suggestions to my list of places to see. We are hoping to do some exploring in Colorado this summer. Washington and Oregon will have to wait for another year though we love what we have seen there in the past. We'll be back for more fun in the near future.I re-read my post since it was several months old. I can't decide if asking for "good roads for 4 wheeling" is an oxymoron! Anyway, thanks for bringing this discussion alive.
I jealous, we had planned on a 3 week trip to Ouray to do some Jeepn' and exploring ghost towns and 10 days of that spent in Moab Utah Jeepn' but alas my employer (U.S. Government) has screewed up our vacation bidding process and I won't be able to get the time off I want to do it. Sigh! Oh well maybe in 2011.
Hope you have a great trip.
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Hi John H.,As a followup on Brett's previous post, my ISC is persnickety on the amount of oil in the crankcase. When the dipstick is at the bottom of the cross hatch marks, I leave it there. Consider letting the oil level settle to a reading it stabilizes at. For me, as long at the oil level is at the bottom of the cross hatch marks, the ISC runs fine. And yes I have the correct dip stick. When I change the oil, this means I add 21 qts, not the 24 qts per spec. Originally I put in 24 qts. The dip stick reading was at the full mark. The ISC would burn out the oil down to the add mark (bottom of the cross hatch marks) in 1K miles. Adding oil did no good. Now I leave it where the engine burns no oil between it's annual oil changes. I average 12K+ miles per year.
Used to have the same issue on our aircraft (Piper Arrow with Lycoming engine). Manual called for 8 quarts but it would quickly burn off 2 of them so we lived with it. Never a problem, always ran great. Never heard of other engines doing this but I'm not surprised by your experience either.
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One of our favorite places is Moab Ut. We love everything from the mild to the wild and figured out that if we stay 10days at a time each year it would take 7 years for us to do all the trails we want to do but that's not all the trails we can do there. Millville Canyon Trail outside of Brigham City Utah in the fall is absolutely beautiful.
Here in our home state of Washington we have lots of trails. Check out my web site NWJeepn.com and go to the "Trails" page for a list and descriptions with pictures. There is also maps and GPS data there for free if you want them.
Hope to see yall on the trail someday.
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You need to really look at where the campgrounds are located and how you use your rig to determine if it is cost effective or not. For us, we camp in locations closest to our favorite Jeepn' areas or alongside our favorite bass lake and there usually is never one of these types of campgrounds nearby. The other issue is that if you pay $500/yr to belong to one of these things then you end up feeling that you're not getting your money's worth if you don't stay at one, even if it's not where you want to be or your friends are all gathering at a place that doesn't have one, etc. We are life members of Goodsam and that is about all we want to spend on those types of memberships. For some they are great for others not so great, up to you if you see value in it or not.
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WOW, We have lots of Elk out here in our parts but I rarely see a herd this big. Incredible. Our friends have a herd that hang around their place so much that the residents of the neighborhood can feed them by hand (although I don't recommend it).
What beautiful animals. Thanks for the link.
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Let's get back to the topic and not on who is or is not self righteous.If an animal is riding on the dash, and there is a quick stop, would it not be safe? After all, it is up against the windshield. On the other hand, is an animal safe up against a solid object? Is an animal safe in a crate that is not bolted/strapped down?
It is not the initial sudden stop that is of concern to me. It would be subsequent sudden movement or stops, because after that first initial slamming on of the brakes, all loose objects become missiles, including any passengers that ar not strapped down.
Flying missiles are dangerous not only to the driver, but other passengers, who then can become projectiles, or swinging hands and feet trying to protect themselves, only to be a hindrance to the driver.
I have already stated what i allow our dog to do, right or wrong. It's just the way we do it.
The original poster just raises the awareness level of an important safety situation.
Wayne, as some close friends of ours found out when they were forced to take sudden evasive maneuvers in their Class A RV and ended up running off the road and into the ditch, ANYTHING that is loose in the rig will be thrown around like a pingpong ball. NO the animal is NOT safe leaning up against the front window (both of theirs popped right out). Having the animal behind the wall of the slide is NOT any safer. The dynamics and physics involved in a crash are never in a straight line and therefore things go everywhere and cabinets do come loose and things in them that you would never think of come out.
I am also not passing judgement either and as I stated I won't look badly on anyone else for having the animals roam free in the rig as we also have two dogs that are not crated when we travel (actually one is, our Dachshund doesn't like being out of her crate when the vehicle is moving). Like you we know the risks and will accept the consequences.
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Thanks for the great input. I think carrying a unmounted spare tire is a great idea. For those of you that carry a unmounted spare and had the misfortune of a flat tire did the road side service you use have the ability to mount the tire for you on the spot or did you still have to be towed in to have that doneHey Chunk, I couldn't believe how they do it. I'm sure some trucks may be set up with a lot of gadgets but we had ours changed in an RV park by a mobile truck from the local tire dealer. I used the front levelers to lift the front end high enough to remove the tires. They had a good sized air compressor and a 1" drive air impact driver to remove the lugs. The guy then removed the valve stem and deflated the tire. He then broke the bead with a large sledge being careful not to hit my Alcoa rims. Once broke he pulled out a couple of really big tire irons and proceeded to manually remove the tire from the rim. He put the new one on the same way, just with the irons. Once he had one side on he dropped in a bag of dynamic balancer called "Equal" and then finished mounting up the tire. They don't have a balancer machine on the trucks but the Equal worked great. He then proceeded to remount the tire and rim and that was that.
Pretty much just like changing out a bicycle tire only much bigger tire irons.
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NWJeeper, I'd respectfully disagree.I use synthetic for a number of reasons. One, it does seem to give me a slight increase in mileage. In my case about a .5mpg increase (I typically got 6 to 6.5, changing to synthetic increased mileage to 6.5 to 7). Second, it is my belief that the synthetic will "cling" to the critical parts better than a conventional oil, giving me better protection during engine start and better corrosion protection during long periods of storage. Maybe not so critical in my daily driver, but in a vehicle that can go weeks to months between trips...
Are you using actual scientific results here or just your feelings? Perhaps there may be a slight increase in mileage but that is hard to quantify based on the fact that no one ever drives the same streach of road with their RV under the same conditions on a repeated basis to be able to say for sure. If you want your oil to "stick" to internal components then add a quart of Lucas Oil Modifier to regular oil, this stuff causes oil to stick like crazy.
Beyond that consider that most manufacturers call for oil changes from between 5000 and 7000miles or 3500 miles if driven in harsh conditions or extended towing. Now consider that most RV owners will struggle to put 3500 miles on an RV in a year and you can see why it becomes a "once a year" maintenance item, rather than a mileage based one. A good quality oil is not going to go to pieces on you in 3500 miles. In this case you could change your oil twice a year which would equate to a mileage of between 1500 and 2000 miles per oil change for the same price as doing it once with synthetic. However to me thats a lot of extra money spent for synthetic for no real advantage and would actually be overkill for no aparent reason.
However if if makes you feel better than do it. I just don't see the "economics" in it. If I were driving my rig 10 to 12K a year then I most surely would.
I will agree to disagree with you on this one...
Cheers...
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With our new Forest River Georgetown it was an option to order an unmounted spare and there is a "trunk" in which to store it. I had not been carrying it as the rig is new and I didn't foresee any problem for several years. Boy was I wrong. Due to a bad alignment from the factory both our front tires were shot and I didn't notice until we were in camp and someone pointed it out to us. Had to call a tire shop and of course they didn't carry that size, said they would have to order and it would take a week. Luckily he was able to find one at another dealer and get it overnight but if you are pressed for time you don't want to be waiting for one to come in. Needless to say I put the spare back in the minute we got home.
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I think the real disturbing issue here is that the original poster is admonishing others for letting their animals roam free in the rig when she herself does it too! I have news for her: Whether the dog is on the dash or a comfy pillow behind the slide room it's still gonna be a missile in an accident. It's a case of "do as I say not as I do."
As others here have pointed out, if you really want to give your pet a fighting chance of life in an accident you had better put them in a crate.
Beyond that I will not make judgement on how others care for their animals.
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How about a Jeep Liberty? Get the 4wd version. I you know you want to KISS but this really is it. We bought a new one in 2005 and it has been a great rig. You can get a V6, auto with 4WD used for an excellent price. With the Jeeps you only need to put the transfer case in neutral and you can then tow them 4-down. Also if you find a V6, Auto with the tow package it is rated for 5000lb towing! We tow ours behind our rig and use it to pull our 3700lb bass boat to the lake. The 4WD has been great for the snow around here when we get it or slippery boat launches. They were also rated a "best buy" for used vehicles by Consumers Reports
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Tbutler, no problem, if you get up to western Washington drop me a note. I like to tinker. Next project is to backlight the switch panel where all the switches are as I noticed today that the panel is set up like a cars dash. It just needs to have a backlight to iluminate the lettering under all the switches so I can see them. My eyes aren't getting much better as I get older.....
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So I braved the cold and completed a project I have wanted to do on our Forest River Georgetown for quite some time.
With all the convenience features and upgrades the Georgetown line has, I was a bit disappointed that FR doesn't include a switch at the front door to turn on an overhead light if you return to your rig at night. This is something even our el cheapo Fleetwood motorhome we had before had.
FR did include some real nice courtesy lights mounted near the floor, though, which are turned on by a switch at the front door. However, finding this switch in the dark is all but useless, so we usually just enter the dark rig and feel around on the ceiling for the overhead light.
Well no more!
I purchased a DEI 528T pulse timer online. Basically it's a time delay relay. This is the same kind of circuit used to keep your dome light on in some of your cars after you close the door.
I wired the 528T to a 12-volt power supply (the batteries) and then tapped into the 12-volt circuit for the courtesy lights right behind the courtesy light switch with the switched output. There is a "trigger" wire that senses the grounding or removal from ground or a change in state from one to the other, and this wire which was connected to the magnetic door switch that activates the power steps.
Wala! Now when I open the door the courtesy lights come on automatically! The timer was preset at 20 seconds, which is more than enough time to enter the rig and turn on another light. However, the 528T is adjustable from 1 to 90 seconds delay. I could also see other ways to use this nifty little gadget, like turing on the porch light automatically when you exit the rig.
Total cost of the project: $25 for the timer and shipping.
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What is the advantage of using synthetic oil? I have two gas motorhomes I rent one out and use regular oil and change the oil every 3,500 miles and the oil gets changed every month to three weeks. If I use synthetic oil, when should the oil be changed, or is there no advantage in using synthetic oil?Many RV owners who only use their coach on a limited basis will change their oil based on time rather than mileage (like once or twice a year). For this reason synthetic oils would be just a waste of money over a good regular oil. For vehicles that get driven all the time, synthetics are a good way to go.
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Try Rvparkreviews.com and try the cities and towns nearby where you want to stay. Great reviews by fellow RVrs. This is usually my first stop when researching a place to stay on our trips.
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Try RVParkreviews.com Our favorite site for planning a trip. Locate the closest town to where you want to be and look for reviews of the RV parks in that area. Best part is they are reviews from fellow RVrs not from corporations selling campground books who are getting paid by the campgrounds to give a good review.
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Sounds like your arguments are in order. I would strongly recommend the Good Sam Action Line. We recently had issues with our 1 year old motorhome where the tires ended up completely worn out after only 9000mi usage due to a bad front end alignment. The manufacturer stated they only warranty alignment for 90 days. They were unwilling to pay for all or even part of the cost of our new tires and an alignment (close to $1100). I contacted Action line and within about 10 days we had a check in hand for half the costs. Better than nothing.
Give it a try and keep us up to date. Sure hope it all works out for you, I feel your pain. What a bummer of a Christmas gift. Hope the new coming year will be a better one for you. Take care....
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Who did the last oil change? Was it the very mechanic who "checked" all fluids 6 days earlier? How do you know that he in fact did check the oil? Where do you keep the rig when not in use? Someone would have to have drained the oil into a container and haul it away for you not to notice a pool of oil that big (6 or 7 quarts) under the rig. That is a lot of oil not to notice.
Things like this are the arguments that the insurance company is going to use to disprove your claim and they are reasonable questions.
Perhaps it's the "pilot" in me that believes in a complete "preflight" of my equipment. It's also the reason I NEVER trust my equipment to anyone else. I do my own oil changes and I KNOW they are done right.
What a pain in the butt though, real sorry to hear of the problems. I hope it will all work out for you but I fear you have an uphill climb ahead of you.
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Each make and model of RV is going to be different. Our old Fleetwood flair had two valves next to the fresh water tank under the bed to drain the lines and the tank. Our new Forest River has two hoses, one for the tank and one for the lines hanging in front of our propane tank in a side compartment. Keep looking they have to be there somewhere and hopefully someone else with that make and model will come along to help.
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JMonroe, drop us a line if or when you ever get back this way and we will get out on some trails together. We do a yearly run of the historic Naches Pass trail every July. This year it will more than likely be on the 21st of July. Wished we had room for other members to stay with us but unfortunately our friends motorhome is stored along side our garage in our "outdoor" rv parking spot. Love the old CJs too. Seen some beautiful ones around here.
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Peggy,
I love www.rvparkreviews.com for researching our next camping spot or planning a trip. Reviews by fellow RVrs.
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NWJeeper,There are some places in West Texas where if your Co-Pilot will stand up, she can see to Friday.
HAA, I like that one. Will have to remember it, LOL.... Thanks for the laugh on this gloomy rainy northwest day...
Western trip to National Parks in Utah
in Destinations/Attractions
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We have been to Moab UT. 3 years in a row now and highly recommend Canyonlands RV Park. Just the most convienient place to stay in town and one of the nicer parks with a large and convienient laundry facililty. If you plan to stay in the Moab area when you visit Canyonlands and Arches parks make sure to make reservations well in advance (like within the next few months) as Moab is a very popular place. About 1.5 hours west of Moab is Goblin Valley State Park. Again I highly recommend it. Beautiful surroundings and a fun place to explore. The state park here has no hookups so it is dry camping and you will need reservations here too as it fills up quick.
In Oregon you surely cannot miss Crater Lake. The closest RV park is Diamond Lake RV Park just a few minutes north of the park. We have stayed here several times and find it to be very nice.
If you head out to the coast of Oregon our favorite stay there is Nehalem Bay State Park. This park is huge and very popular most of the year. Very large sites, right over a dune to 2 miles worth of state owned beach.
For more planning ideas go to RV Park Reviews to get reviews from fellow RVrs. All the parks mentioned here are good for big rigs and easy to get to and find.
Hope you have a great trip. If I can be of any help in your planning just drop me a message...