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Forum
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RE: This is the end of May, Memorial Day weekend, Right?
Why would you go over Tombstone pass? That's the long way from Salem. We live in Salem (Keizer) and the normal way is on US22 through Detroit. No snow there. Snow at the Santiam junction. Temps should warm up a bit tomorrow and the pavement should just be wet. We're taking off Friday for Suttle Lake. Fingers crossed on that. I did mention to the wife last night while turning on the pellet stove that normally we never use it this late in the year. Hey at least diesel is cheaper than reg. Haha.
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goducks10
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05/22/13 08:46am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tear drop
Google your state you live in with campgrounds in the question. Tons of info on the net.
Example, Colorado campgrounds.
http://www.parks.state.co.us/reservations/Pages/ReservationsHome.aspx
http://www.reserveamerica.com/campgroundDirectoryList.do?contractCode=co
http://www.colorado.com/colorado-campgrounds
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goducks10
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05/22/13 08:30am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: PIctures and details on TT construction please!
Try here http://www.tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=4e0c062437a31f5d51c32c5a976af4eb
It's a teardrop forum but they also have people that built smaller trailers as well.
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goducks10
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05/22/13 08:26am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: axle hitting frame question
The springs are mounted under the axle and the U bolts are facing upwards and the ends of the U bolts are hitting the frame. IMO the springs are the weak point and quite possibly the hangers are too short. Another thing to think about is the TT's CCC. How much is it and how much stuff do you load in the TT. If you're maxed out on CCC then that will squish your springs even more. Have you weighed the TT to see where you are with weight?
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goducks10
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05/22/13 08:23am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Holiday weekend
I see people make the comment all the time that CG's are just "too busy on a holiday weekend".
Around here, every CG is booked full every weekend. So there's no more people at a given CG on a holiday than any other weekend.
x2 here. As soon as schools out, everywhere is full. Memorial Day weekend is just like any other 2 day weekend in the summer here.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 08:37pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: trailer 'balance'?
When I build utility trailers for someone, I always go with the 60/40 rule. 60%in front, 40% in the rear.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 08:29pm |
Towing
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RE: Electric brakes settings
FWIW, I had a 10 F150 with OEM brake controller, Towed the same TT with it. Worked flawless. Got the new Ram and it's been downhill since. IMO Rams are hit or miss. Some love em, some don't. Never hear that with the Fords.
You must not have been listening. :)
Well my hearing is shot:)
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goducks10
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05/21/13 08:19pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Electric brakes settings
FWIW, I had a 10 F150 with OEM brake controller, Towed the same TT with it. Worked flawless. Got the new Ram and it's been downhill since. IMO Rams are hit or miss. Some love em, some don't. Never hear that with the Fords.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 02:07pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Electric brakes settings
I just bought my 2012 Ram 2500 last month with the factory brake controller. My trailer is probably about 6500 pounds. I set the controller to heavy and found the gain at 3.5 to be good slower driving. On the highway I have it between 5 to 6.
This past weekend was my first trip with the new truck. Truthfully I wasn't a bit impressed with the factory controller. I'm glad I saved my Prodigy P2 & cable from my old Ram. IMHO the Prodigy P2 is a far better controller than the factory installed controller.
I know someday soon, I will be finding a way to abandon the the factory controller and install the Prodigy.
If you haven't already gone to http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/
There are several guys that have replaced their TBC with an aftermarket one and explained how to do it and remove the warnings from the EVIC. Pretty simple, I wish I could remember.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 01:01pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Trailer Wheel Ratings?
From what Discount tire told me as well as Les Schwab, rims are no longer stamped with psi ratings. A good place to look for trailer rim ratings is herehttp://www.tredittire.com/Steel-Wheels-C11.aspx.
Find your rim size then look at the weight rating, then find the tire to match the weight rating. That tire will have a psi listed for it.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 09:14am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Electric brakes settings
Loaded question for me. I also have a 12 Ram with the OEM TBC. I tow 8500lbs, 5'er has 12" brakes and the 5'er is brand new. My OEM TBC is junk. Our last TT we had the TBC barely worked. Original was replaced under warranty @1,000 miles. New one is not much better. Traded the TT in on a 2013 Fox Mountain 5'er and now the TBC is over reacting to all conditions. There are several settings to choose from. I have my set to elec light and use 5.5 on gain. However when in town I have to turn it to 0 gain. When stopping and starting or reversing it's like a shoving match between the truck and trailer. Jerking and what not. When I come to a stop and let up on the brakes to go the 5'er brakes take another second to release. Making a jerking motion in the truck. Reversing is horrible, I just get out and unplug the 5'ers 7 pin plug. Even when setting the gain to 0 in town and backing up you can still feel the truck and 5'er not working together. There has been numerous reports of bad TBC's with the Ram.
Sorry to get off topic on this, but hope yours works better than mine does.
To set it you need to do the TBC road test, drive at 25 mph and slide the manual brake lever over and if the brakes lock then dial back the gain till they don't lock. You want the TBC gain set at the point just below where the trailer brakes lock up. I would just start at 7 and work down. And like everyone says all trailers are different so gain will be different.
Another confusing thing with the Ram's TBC is there are no guidelines for weight settings between light and heavy. I do know that with my 8500lb 5'er that the heavy setting is too much.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 08:59am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Found the culprit for the tire wear
How would that affect camber? I would think even if your springs were tilted it wouldn't have any affect on weight over the axles. Or a bent axle. I could see that causing the trailer to not ride as well but that's all. Unless of course the Equa-flex not working could cause the axles to take more punishment that needed there for causing the camber to be out of adjustment. Which in that case means you may need axles re-aligned.
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goducks10
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05/21/13 08:41am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Cover or not to cover
I live in Oregon too, and covered our TT. I put it on at the end of Oct and take it off around the 1st of April. Wash it, wax it, cover it. In the spring it will look just like you put it away. We recently bought a new 5'er, now I have to get a new cover. Arrrrg.
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goducks10
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05/20/13 10:42am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Alignment
Most trailer axles can be straightened. Here's how you do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0na5TsDws
There's also this way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9oFtMmeBs
Unless you have torsion axles, there's a way.
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goducks10
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05/20/13 10:37am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Memorial Day weekend, where will you be?
On a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean!!
Nice, BTDT 8 times. Not all Caribbean though.
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goducks10
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05/19/13 04:13pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Goodyear Marathons Made in China?
Maxxis are, I'm sure, fine tires. I had them on a boat trailer (boat and trailer weight about 3500 lbs) and had a problem with both of them with tread separation. I have read so much about the "China bombs" being made by many different manufacturers. My experience: On the last 3 campers I have owned, ( 2 TT's and one Fifth wheel) I had Goodyear Marathons on each of them for about 4 years before trading trailers. My current trailer is the 3rd of them with Goodyear Marathons (entering the 5th year now) and I have had absolutely zero problems with any of them. Explain that to me please.
x2. Just traded our TT in on a 5'er. TT had USA GY Marathons with 10,000 miles on them and were good for another year (3-4,000). New 5'er came with China GY Marathons. Same exact tire and size. I'm running them till they wear out. Another thing is on neither unit was I close to the max load for the tires. I always ran them at 65 psi and never ran over 65mph. We'll okay sometimes:). It also doesn't reach 90-100deg for extended periods here in the PNW, so they run cooler IMO.
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goducks10
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05/19/13 04:01pm |
Towing
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RE: 5th wheel hitch
Make sure you check the height adjustment on the hitches. Some are fairly high to begin with. I have a similar size 5'er and with the hitch head at 14 1/2" to 18". I need the hitch set at 14-1/2" for the 5'er to be close to level. I would like to jump up to a B&W Patriot 16K but the min hgt is 16". My 5'er would be 1-1/2" to 2" high in the front. Just something to look into. Your truck may sit lower than mine so it may be no biggie. Of course you may be able to raise the pin to help.
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goducks10
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05/19/13 03:46pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: TrailerLife HT towable fifth wheel article
Light means flimsy in my book so super lite means....
That extra weight goes into making a stiffer frame and structure. It's not something you can just do away with without giving up a lot. Maybe they could make a stiff aluminum frame but that would be much more expensive and I haven't heard of one being made.
BK
That may've been true years ago, but with todays technologies and light weight materials going lighter is the new thing.
I saw a video about a new 5'er (wish I could remember which one) and they were inside talking about how they used different technics and materials to lighten it up.
One item was the solid surface counter top. It was made out of a honeycomb type material that looked the same, had the same durability but only lighter.
Another item was the cable slide, instead of the hydraulic or gear driven. They saved several hundred pounds by using the Schwintek cable slide.
Of course you have aluminum framing.
I do agree though that some companies cut corners in the wrong places to save weight. And a buyer needs to look over the whole unit.
I look at it like this way, cars used to be built with all metal and weighed way more than today. Were rough riding, and noisy. Today there's lots of carbon fiber, plastic and aluminum used. But cars made today are way better than the old iron clunkers. When that stuff was 1st introduced everyone flipped out. I suspect that RV's will be moving in that direction, albeit at a slower pace.
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goducks10
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05/17/13 01:27pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 2013 RAM HDs driven/tested
I'm waiting for a Hurt Locker shootout:)
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goducks10
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05/17/13 12:25pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: CAMCO EAZ-LIFT
jaragon That's actually a top mount coupler. A bottom mount welds to the bottom of the tongue.
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goducks10
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05/17/13 10:56am |
Towing
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