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Forum
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RE: Towing trailer with brakes
Depends on the laws in your state. MOST states have their own idea of the maximum weight that can be towed without the use of trailer brakes.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 04:15pm |
Towing
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RE: Yellowstone
Nearly ALL highways in Yellowstone are two lane with narrow shoulders. When traveling from West Yellowstone to the south entrance you will cross the continental divide three times but only one is in any way like mountain driving. All are hilly with a few moderate curves. There are LOTS of places to pull off of the road. Depending on what time of year you go, parking your rig at features like Old Faithful and some of the guyser basins would probably be your biggest problem. Old faithful has plenty of parking but most other attractions have very limited parking available and even less for over-sized vehicles. Making the trip in a single day should be no problem depending on how long you spend viewing attractions and the number of "bear jams" you run into (places where traffic can sometimes be backed up for a mile or more due to wildlife on or near the highway.
One OTHER full hook up parking lot is Colter Bay RV Park (located inside the Colter Bay campground). MOst times of year you WILL need reservations for Colter Bay RV Park.
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 04:12pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Batteries going dead
I would first test the amp draw, then figure out where it's coming from
Good advice. Until you know what the drain actually IS you can't tell if it's a battery issue or something going to ground somewhere. Shut down different circuits and re-test the draw to see which circuit it's coming from.
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:54pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Chevy Traverse and Rockwood Roo 23ss
How do the DOT safety plate numbers for the two vehicles (trailer and tow vehicle) match up? That would determine is you're SAFE towing with that van. How satisfied you are with performance is a personal matter and can be determined by simply hitching up and taking it for a drive.
For safety concerns just make sure your payload numbers match up well with the load you carry in the van and the fully loaded tongue weight of the new trailer (weigh it or for extimate purposes, use 15% of GVWR). Then check the axle ratings on the van to be sure you're not over THOSE ratings (again from the DOT safety plate).
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:51pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Broken Wheels
If your wheels were rated for the weight you were carrying, how is it Forest Rivers fault? Just curious of the thought process.
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:48pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: Half the Trip Done - don't know how to plan the other half
Might try traveling on the second half, to not plan details of the trip. That sort or scheduling is what we travel to get away from :) WE've actually taken a month long trip by flipping coins to make decisions about routes etc.
Do what YOU are comfortable with and have a good trip / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:45pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Do I need special cleaning products?
If your trailer has plastic sink, toilet etc. then yes you need to be concerned about using anything that is abrasive. Never heard of an instance where dawn harmed anything and it does a pretty good job. If you have porcelain appliances then you can use anything you normally use on them at home with the caveat that they be compatable with septic systems since a high percentage of campgrounds and even RV Parking Lots, use them to dispose of your holding tank waste.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:41pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: RV Campgrounds discount/saving clubs
Some of them give 10% discounts (I've gotten that by showing them my library card). Can't beat the 50% discount from PPA. Don't OFTEN stay at RV Parking lots but we used it a lot on our snowbird trips to South Texas where we'd stay for up to a month at a time.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:40pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Cable entry through side of trailer
I made a more convenient port for my satellite TV cable (the factory installed port is clear at the back of the trailer). I didn't want to open up anything to water intrusion so I put the port inside the dog shower door so if any water got in it would simply drain back out around the door closure. The coax coils up and stores inside the door when not in use. It's about the only use I ever found for the dog shower but it's a pretty good one.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:37pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: coffee grounds in the sink in an rv? y or n?
You would need to treat the galley tank just like you do the black tank and NEVER dump it unless it's nearly full (in order to have a chance of flushing out the solids). While this practice MIGHT work, it still leaves the issue that the OPENING of the galley tank is much smaller than the black tank opening so on balance I'd say it's a bad idea.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 03:30pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: advice, where can I fill up water tank while on the road?
IF the weight of a couple of extra passengers is enough to make your drive uncomfortable you may be uncomfortable anyway. By filling your water tank you MAY loose up to a quarter of a MPG and DOUBT if you will notice any performance differences. You would GAIN the ability to stop whenever you like for a meal or bathroom break and avoid the need to find a place to fill up on the road.
All that being said, you can usually fill up at ANY campground, public or private but at many of them you will need to pay a fee of some sort (usually aboutr five to ten times the amount of extra fuel you would burn by carrying water). State parks will allow you to use the dump station and fresh water fill by paying the "DAY USE" fee for the facility. Private RV Parks usually have a set rate for dump station and water fill.
Good luck and enjoy the trip / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:31am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: I want my 200lbs
GVWR is a federally controlled safety rating and is computed using solid engineering data. They do not have an option for HOW the GVWR is computed they can only build the truck stronger to gain extra load carrying ability. Building them stronger would certainly cost more money. NOTE that one of the FEW items that is always found on the DOT Safety Plate is the GVWR and GAWR. SOMETIMES they add empty weight (curb weight) or payload figures (which is ialways GVWR subtracted from the actual weight).
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:26am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Battery question
Pretty good advice given so far. I'd just add that your battery will last longer when it's kept charged fully as much as possible. That's why your current battery lasted so long, it was rarely discharged by camping with electric hook ups. When you stay for multiple days I'd set a limit on how low you allow the battery to get before recharging. I generally use about 75% for my two Trojan T 105s and I get from six to eight years from them even though they're used HARD. MOST of my camping is without hook ups and the batteries take a lot of charge/discharge cycles but only RARELY are they deeply discharged.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:21am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Theft
Been Rving since the 50s and have NEVER had anything stolen from a camp site and I make it easy. I leave my gear sitting around the campsite (generators, chairs, coolers and most anything else. My campsites are OFTEN in the back country where there are FEW other people around which can both be a benefit (not many to steel from me) and a determent (not many around to prevent it). In the real world probably isn't a factor either way because I've had the SAME good fortune when camping in public campgrounds. I have on far fewer occasions used private RV Parks and nothing stolen there either but MOSTLY those occasions were overnight stays so I assume, the bad guys just hadn't gotten their "gang" together yet :)
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:17am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tow vehicle
You follow ALL of them. They tell you what the maximum is and your actual weight ratings are the lowest of those numbers. NONE of them should be exceeded. The last category is pretty much a spec sheet which is useless in all cases, for the trailer itself. Nobody drags around a completely empty trailer so empty tongue weight, and dry weights (means nothing in the trailer at all) are meaningless figures to use for comparison in case you want to make bad decisions :)
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:09am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Harley on a 5er
Why not just add a second trailer behind the 5th wheel? Make sure it's legal in the area you travel in of course but that's probably a better option than the drag along one wheel system. If the law won't allow a second trailer it's not going to allow the one wheel system either.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:06am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Wet Spring and bugs
Just about ANYTHING you put on the radiator will need regular cleaning. OFTEN when you put screening over the radiator the screen itself become a blockage to air flow so if you choose to use one be sure you clean it MORE often than without a screen. The advantage to using something removable is they're easier to clean but require it more often so it's a trade off.
Good luck / Skip
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 08:03am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tire question
The information on the door post gives the proper pressure to enable handling the maximum load the vehicle can carry (GVWR) when using the OEM tires. The NEW tires are apparently in the same class (passenger car tires) so would inflate to the same pressure.
I would READ the part where the tires says what the inflation pressure should be because that makes no sense at all. Tires are NEVER advising what the proper pressure is, they only state what the MAXIMUM pressure they can handle is.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 07:59am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: corp of engineers parks book
I use another book by Don Wright, called "guide to free and low cost camping" and it includes COE parks along with most OTHER federal campgrounds (NFS, BLM, NPS, TVA etc.) It also includes state and municipal, county campgrounds and even a FEW private campgrounds. It includes all that meet the criteria of being either free or under $12.00 a night. Two volumes (one for east of the MIssissippi and one for West of the Mississippi,) include thousands of listings.
You can also pick up a publication (large oversized poster) that indicates the COE parks in a given district. These are available at many project offices for COE facilities. SOME will have more than just their own district included and others will handle only the poster that is for their own district.
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skipnchar
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06/19/13 07:55am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: generator noise question
Take it for what it's worth but I have run my 13,500 BTU air conditioner on 15 amp service on many occasions with no issues. If there is a 15 amp breaker in the line it should protect against overheated wires but not too likely to have any issues like that. Just don't leave the water heater or fridge running on electric at the same time.
Concerning the generator, do remember that they rate the DBs at a prescribed distance (like 7 feet or so) but they ALSO usually rate them with a 50% load or less so you may see higher noise if it's running harder. Just something to consider. I DOUBT if the noise from the generator would be a major issue either since others in their homes will likely ALSO have their own air conditioners going and windows mostly closed.
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skipnchar
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06/18/13 07:17pm |
Tech Issues
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