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RE: Pad under jacks
S-n-L, I use 2" X 10" X 8' Douglas Fir wood blocks! I buy the wood at Lowes, and I have them cut them into 2' sections. Lowes does 3 cuts for free, which makes 4-2' boards and no cutting or hauling a long board home! I've used everything and this works the best for me. And they won't wear out in my lifetime. I really like how they work in soft ground and in the heat (where my jack would damage the asphalt) they disperse the weight of my coach and transfer it evenly thru the 2" X 10" board. Good Luck in whatever you choose.
I made something almost identical for my gasser Class A when I had it. Worked just fine. Transferred them over to the DP when I got it and the first time I used them it turned them into toothpicks. The OP has a 45 footer. Doug Fir is not going to work. I don't think those plastic orange things will work either. The plywood sheets screwed together may work.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 09:45pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Pad under jacks
When a CG in Cincinatti told me I had to put pads under my jacks I got a refund and left. I physically can not get down on the ground to position it properly and still get back up. DW has also had 3 knee replacements and should not get down on her knees. (she wore 1 out after 10 years. she really only has 2 legs) When I go to my cousin's place on his alphalt drive he puts the boards down.
You should have explained that to the campground owner and I'm sure they would have come to help you.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 09:42pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: no hot water in the coach
I just did a Google search and there are a lot of different discussions in a lot of different forums about where exactly the bypass valves are on various Fleetwood models. You may need to do that Google search yourself and look at some of the answers of it's not in the plumbing compartment. Mine is in the plumping compartment along with all the other valves on my National RV.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 08:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: no hot water in the coach
In his plumbing compartment he probably has a lever that is labeled water heater bypass. It is in the bypass position. That's my guess anyway.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 08:46pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: admiring a stealth rv
You see an RV, I see a mobile meth lab.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 04:38pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: A sure sign yur getting older but not giving up
Getting ready for a month plus long trip, and routing myself. I did not have a problem before routing myself through some barren Indian reservation land, absoluty NO NOTHING no cell, no facilities and loved it.
Now I am driving a route that's about 70 - 80 miles farther, but much more relaxing as to the modern devices we now carry with us.
Oh my, I worry so much more now than I used to if I should happen to have a flat tire or what ever.
Does anyone else share these feelings or am I just a *****cat.
That's what the toad is for. I had to go to Utah from Central California last year so I went through the back roads of Nevada. There is some pretty desolate wasteland out there. As I was in the middle of no where with no cell service and no vehicles in site for the last hour, I wondered what would happen if I broke down way out there. Then I remembered that I had the toad and then I remembered that the low fuel light was on in the toad when I hooked it up and I meant to stop and put gas in it. Then I really started to worry. But the motorhome made it all the way back to civilization with no problems.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 04:03pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Baggage Door Latches Ripped Out.
I don't have those latches on mine, but one lesson I learned is when you bring people along that aren't familiar with the RV, you need to do an airline style briefing where you basically tell them don't touch anything! The first time (and last time) the in-laws came along I backed the RV into the space. The father-in-law felt the need to head to the back to guide me in. I just ignored him because I have a camera back there. Anyway once we got parked I went out and hooked up the power cord and took a look around to make sure I had enough clearance to open all the slides, which I did. The in-laws had gone over to sit at the picnic table. I went inside to open the slides and heard a strange noise coming from outside. Luckily I heard it in time to let go of the button before too much damage was done. I went outside and the father-in-law decided he still needed to help and had opened one of the compartment doors and started pulling out chairs. Of course the door opens directly into the path of the slide and had I not stopped it in time it would have ripped the door from it's hinges. Luckily all I got was a small scratch on the door.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 01:59pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Questions for you money gurus
1. When do you think the interest rate for CD's will climb?
2. Do you think it will ever get above 3% ?
3. We have a CD maturing in October and would like to reinvest it in something. Would a piece of land be a good investment?
Jack L
The only thing I own that's actually gone up significantly in value, is land. Now that wouldn't be true if I bought it in 2006, but luckily all I have I bought before that time. I just wish I had sold in 2006.
There is money to be made in land and real property, but there are risks too. If you're a cash buyer the risks aren't as bad. Depending on your location there may be money to be made in commercial real estate as the economy starts to improve. There are lots of vacant commercial properties out there right now so you can buy cheap and if you offer a discount on the rent maybe you can get a business to move it. Again this only works if you're a cash buyer. If you have to get a mortgage on commercial real estate then now is not the time to buy. You need to be able to afford it if it sits vacant.
There is probably more money to be made in residential rental properties, but there is also waaaaaay more headache involved with residential properties. Many people who rent houses, are pains in the rear who won't take care of it. On the other hand with business property tenants tend to take care of it. And most business property is rental property. Even Walmart doesn't own most of their stores. They build them originally but then sell them to investors and rent them back. So you could buy a Walmart if you have enough money.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 12:10pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Have you replaced slideout seal/gasket yourself?
I was going to tell you that you could probably find a video on Youtube on how to do it, but I just searched Youtube and can't find one. I also have my slide gasket coming out on one of my slides and I need to fix it. So if you figure this one out let us know.
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msmith1199
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06/19/13 11:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Oceano Dunes camping
Just remember the budget of the park is largely dependent on people paying the proper fees. That means the ranger's salary depends on it. You can bet they'll be checking very closely whose paid and whose supposed to be there.
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msmith1199
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06/18/13 08:26pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Cell Phones.. did you know??
Repeaters for police and fire will not pick up cell phone signals. If you are meaning their actual communications channels.
They use different frequencies and modulation techniques.
A separate antenna connected to different base unit on the same tower will receive 911 calls. Not too common yet, but increasing in mountainous rural areas.
Can you explain this a bit more please. Some new piece of communications equipment on the market?
Cell phones do not connect to 911 dispatch centers via their towers or radios. They connect via phone lines. The cell towers and vendors send that information via their infrastructure.Inquiring minds also want to know about this too. In my humble opinion, it is going to be routed thru the cell phone intrastructure before it gets to the 911 center, and not the 911 tower. It is possible that the cell phone service has provided a small repeater transceiver, but I know nothing about that. And just less than a year ago things in California's 911 system were not all that wonderful: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/09/08/emergency.numbers/index.html
Also got me curious too so I did some research. I'm retired law enforcement and never heard of a cell phone being able to call 911 while it was in an area with no service. The only thing I could find on this is that if you don't have coverage from your own provider and you dial 911, that your phone should roam and search for any other provider and send the 911 call through them. So your phone may show no service, but if you are in the range of any other cell provider you can still make a 911 call. But this is all within the cell providers and not on the law enforcement network.
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msmith1199
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06/18/13 05:22pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tiffin or National ??
I also have a National and yes National went under, but there is nothing on my RV that would require National to still be around. Remember the RV builder for the most part is just an assembler. Anything that gets broken down the road can pretty much be fixed by anybody. The people who lost out were those that still had time on their factory warranty when National went under.
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msmith1199
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06/18/13 05:05pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Hand Guns
Every time one of these threads comes up you always see the argument made by some that they've never needed to have a gun in X number of years camping. While that is a valid statement to make, it is a 100% invalid argument to make about whether you need a gun or not. The fact is the vast majority of us who carry guns with us in our RV will never have the occasion to use them. But what happens if after 20 years you've never needed one, then that one night at 2am you do need it and don't have it? It only takes getting killed one time to learn your lesson.
If you don't like guns and don't want to carry one then I'm fine with that. If you don't know for sure you can use it and if you don't practice with it then you are probably more dangerous having it than not having it. But if you want one and you're going to take the time to get trained with it, then by all means get one.
I spent 28 years as a cop and there is one thing I can tell you, in the vast majority of all violent crimes the cops are going to get there in time to put up crime scene tape and conduct an investigation. Very rarely do the police show up in time to prevent a violent crime unless they just happen to be in the right place at the right time. And when you're camping in remote locations, the police may not even be able to show up for an hour or longer.
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msmith1199
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06/18/13 02:38pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Sonora Pass
One thing I will add for those of you who haven't been over the Sonora Pass in a while, the road has been improved and widened in most areas. I don't think there are any one lane areas left on it that I remember. It's two lanes the entire way. But those two lanes are very narrow in some points and there is a lot of traffic up there in the summer months. The biggest problem if attempting to take an RV over it is meeting head on traffic. There just isn't enough room in many places for an RV and a car coming in the other direction. And if you were to meet another RV head on up there, especially if both had a toad, you may find yourselves blocking the road for a long time while you unhook toads and try and back up to a place wide enough for both to pass. And you better hope that doesn't happen on the 26% grade section of the road.
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msmith1199
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06/18/13 11:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Sonora Pass
I took Sonora Pass by mistake with my previous 37 foot gas class A with the Ford V10 and Toyota Corolla toad about 3 years ago.
We were originally set to go over Tioga Pass, but it was closed due to snow, so we found the next open pass so that we could get over the mountains, which happened to be Sonora Pass.
I have never ever been scared on a road before with an RV before, and if you have read any of my previous posts on this site, you will find that I think it is pretty asinine when posters buy any type of RV, and then are afraid to take it off the freeway.
However, even I met my match when going over Sonora Pass with my RV. I WILL NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!!NEVER EVER!!
There is a 26% grade on the pass, as well as many other grades above 15%. I had my foot all the way down to the firewall, the RV was in 1st gear, and I was not going fast enough at the top of the 26% grade for the speedometer needle to move off the rest between 0 and 5 mph. To say I was shaking is an understatement.
If the grade was 27%, I would have had to either turn around or have people get out and walk to lighten the load. I guess the ole 275 HP V10 had its limits.
I am not going to tell you that you can't take an RV up this pass, because thanks to the Good Lord Above, I made it, but if I were you, I would seek an alternate route.
I would second what this person said. Just last week I was telling people Highway 1 between Carmel and San Simeon is not as bad as people were making it out to be. I've done that stretch of 1 in my 35 foot dp with a toad several times. However, no way would I take my 35' DP over Sonora Pass. I did once take a 28' rental class C over Sonora pass and it was not a good drive. I had a lot of close calls with motorcycles coming in the opposite direction going to a rally in Bridgeport.
If you knew there would be no opposing traffic then you could probably do it in a Class A with a toad, but there will be other traffic up there. I would not do it. Both 88 and 120 are better routes. Don't take Highway 4 either as it's worse than 108.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 09:01pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Swivel mount tv
People have posted photos on here of swivel mounts they have put in for their overhead TV's. Most have used some type of bungee or strap system to make sure it's secure while on the road. The new LED TV's can be very light. I recently bought one for my house and when I first picked the box up I thought it was empty. I couldn't believe how light they make them now.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 04:41pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: why would you do that?
Who cares?
x2
I was going to say I don't understand why people don't understand when somebody else does things different than they do.
I personally would never use the campground shower over mine in the RV, but it's fine by me if anybody else wants to use whatever shower they chose for whatever reason they chose.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 03:20pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: rotten wall, where do I start?
There is no chance of the insurance covering it if you don't file a claim. Can't hurt to at least explain it to your insurance company and see what they say. If you have proof that the wall got worse after you purchased it, there may be some kind of coverage for it. Can't hurt to ask.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 02:18pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: RV tv/gps theft
They are correct, generally speaking. However, if they made a promise to you that the lot is secure, then you may have a case. But I doubt they would just roll over and pay you and set a precedence. You'd have to go to small claims court.
Generally speaking when your RV gets broken into the only people responsible for the damage are you and the people who stole your stuff. The owner of a storage lot or a repair facility won't be responsible, unless you can prove some type of negligence or a breach of a contract on their part. For example if they left the motorhome unlocked, or they promised you there would be a security guard at the lot 24 hours a day and there wasn't, or if one of their own employees broke into your motorhome or conspired with the people who did. Just saying "the lot is secure" probably won't get you there.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 10:54am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Leak from windshield
And here's the problem with leaks; they aren't always where you see them. Water stains on the ceiling may be from a leak 15 feet away. Water can run in mysterious ways.
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msmith1199
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06/17/13 10:49am |
Class A Motorhomes
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