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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Campgrounds near Badlands
assuming you mean the South Dakota badlands there are a couple in Wall, SD. we use and like the Arrow Campground. the other one in town is the Sleepy Hollow Campground. frankly, they're both about the same so you would be fine at either. wall is just outside the NP boundry at the western end of the loop road.
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rk911
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05/15/13 11:15am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Extended Warranty
take the $ you're going to spend on the EW and start a MH Repair and Maintenance Fund add to that fund each month. that's what we did back in 2000 and so far we are way, way ahead.
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rk911
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05/15/13 06:08am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Finding Past Owner
I think I'd be a LOT MADDER of the DMV gave out my personal information than I would be if the dealer did so. I'd be taking legal action if the DMV gave it out.
in some states vehicle registration data is public information or at least it used to be. I retired from 9-1-1 back in '05 and while we were not permitted to provide civilians with VIN or license plate data here in Illinois we did have an address for the state Secretary of State's office in springfield that would provide registration data to civilians for a small fee. but, I too would not be happy about hearing from the new owners of my old RV.
what questions could you possibly have for the previous owner that the factory or an authorized service center could not answer?
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rk911
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05/15/13 06:05am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I was just wondering (Fuel Question)
Me being an East Coast person would somebody please explain the gas ratings in the Mid West. I'm refering to the regular (87 Octane) vs the Plus (89 Octane)It blows my mind pulling up to the pumps and seeing the Plus grade 10 or 15 cents cheaper than regular. I know its because the Plus has more Ethanol(% anyone?) The second thing that peaks my curiosity is who uses Plus? My owners manual on my V-10 engine and on my 4 cyl chevy engine state 87 octane is to be used.
Is anybody using this in a V-10 and if so do you see any consequences
chances are you're seeing 87-octane straight gas and 89-octane gasohol selling for less than the 87. I've encountered that several times. using the 89 in your engine won't damage it but i'll bet you'll get better mileage on straight gas. your choice.
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rk911
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05/14/13 08:00am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Towing with a Tiffin
Thank you for all your replys rich. Very grateful.
Don
you're most welcome, don. take care and safe travels.
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rk911
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05/14/13 07:56am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Towing with a Tiffin
***UPDATE***
Just went to the coach. With it full it was
Axle 1 10080 GAWR 12400
Axle 2 19280 GAWR 20000 THIS concerns me.
TOTAL 29360
GCWR on Tiffin is 42000 - 29360= 12640
Curb weight of 1500 Ram 4x4
5261
Would go with the 10000lb Blue Ox for sure.
Hitch is 10000
The rear axle kind of concerns me a bit.
If you have to add the weight of the tow on the rear axle then it is a no go.
This is what I have come up with today.
Don
it's not unusual for the rear axle to be close to it's GAWR but yours is at 96.4% of max load and I think you're right to be concerned. flat towing your vehicle will not add to the rear axle weight but ask yourself...did you have full tanks of diesel, water and LP? food, clothing, pets, supplies and people...was all of that in the coach when it was weighed? if yes then you're right up against the axle limit. if it was me i'd be dumping some weight or at least moving some of the rear axle weight to the front axle, not carrying as much water, etc. I know that I tend to be a packrat and have to clean out my external storage cabinets at the end or beginning of every season.
your 10K hitch is the "weakest" link, so to speak, so that's your flat tow limit. your RAM will tow very nicely.
now you KNOW. good luck and safe travels.
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rk911
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05/13/13 05:13pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Towing with a Tiffin
Copy that thanks.
But I think what the dealer gave me was the gvwr of the truck. Wouldnt it be closer to the base weight?
http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide/pdf/2013-RAM.1500.Towing.Specs.pdf
Page 4 Big Horn 4x4 with Hemi
But I do understand that it must be weighed to get the REAL story.
Like I said. Going tomorrow to pul the ticket I had from the RV. Then I can work on getting the trues of the truck.
Thanks again all
Don
probably. the GVWR should be clearly marked on the frame like on the driver's side door. the GVWR is important so you know how much weight the frame can support including itself but as you so correctly state you need to weigh it to get the 'real story'. I hope your weigh ticket has separate axle weights. when we were shopping for a MH back in 2000 we found one and had it weighed by axle. we found the rear axle was overweight but the front axle was underweight by a similar but greater margin. had we simply put both axles on the scale at the same time it may have shown up as weighing about the same as the GVWR or certainly.
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rk911
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05/13/13 07:12am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Towing with a Tiffin
Thanks guys.
WOW
The 2013 Dinghy guide said 4800lbs
The dealer just told me 6800. It is a 4 door and Big Horn but 2000 lbs diff.?
I'll go tomorrow to the coach and pull the receipt from when I weighed it full.
Wow.
7000 lbs. Geez
that's precisely why it's vital that you weigh YOUR vehicle. the curb weight figure will give you a rough idea but there are so many different configurations, options, etc. that the only way to know what your vehicle weighs is to weigh it. and weigh it with whatever you plan on putting in it when it's being towed.
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rk911
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05/12/13 05:27pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Towing with a Tiffin
Good day all.
Have been RVing for around 10 years but NEVER have had a tow.
I know you will not be able to answer for sure without all information but here goes....
Will a Phaeton 36' tow a Dodge 1500 4x4?
The 2011 Tiffin Phaeton has a 380 Cummins with 1050 torque
Has a GCWR of 42,000 lb
10,000 hitch.
I have weighed the coach full and have the paper in the coach but it is in the shop at this point.
But since I have never towed and the way the new dinghy specs are the Ram 4x4 seemed the best option. FOR a truck anyhow.
Looking at a RAM Bighorn 1500 4x4 and not sure of it's weight yet either.
Any advice would be grateful.
Don
before you buy anything you need to know just how much weight your MH can safely tow without exceeding the various weight ratings...gross combination weight rating (GCWR), gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and each axle's gross axle weight rating (GAWR). you also need to know the curb weight of the vehicle you're planning to buy and whether that curb weight includes a full tank of gas (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't).
the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:
- the GCWR minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (food, fuel, water, LP, clothing, supplies, pets, people and misc. stuff); OR
- the weight rating of the MH hitch (Class II 3500-lbs, Class III 5000-lbs, Class IV 10,000-lbs) which you already know is 10K; OR
- the weight rating of your towbar
load up the MH as you would for travel and then get individual axle weights at a certified scale. compare those axle weights to the published gross axle weight rating (GAWR) for that motorhome. the actual axle weight must be less than/equal to the rating for that axle. add the two axle weights to arrive at the total rolling weight and then apply the three conditions above. assume nothing.
good luck.
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rk911
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05/12/13 10:39am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Dingy
What's the simplest vehicle to use as the dingy. It can't be to small cause I'll have trouble clinbing in and out of it. A jeep may work but don't know if they can be towed and do they have to be a manual trans.
Thanks Jerry
jerry, many jeeps, both automatic and manual transmissions, can be flat towed.
for automatic transmission jeeps the general rule of thumb to follow to determine this is if the vehicle's transfer case (that's what puts the jeep into 2 or 4-wheel drive) has a manually selectable neutral position. if it does it should be able to be flat towed. if there is no manually selectable neutral position in the transfer case then the transmission is likely an 'all wheel drive' model where the tranny 'senses' when 4WD is needed and switches automatically. AWD jeeps cannot be flat towed and generally need to be towed on a trailer.
the best way to confirm this and for manual transmission models look at the owner's manual in the 'Recreational Towing' section. sales and service people may not know and may tell you whatever pops into their head. I once had a bit of fun at an auto show a few years back asking mfg. reps at the show if this car and that car could be flat towed behind our motorhome. the majority of the reps said..."sure. just put it in neutral and off you go!".
but before you buy anything you need to know just how much weight your MH can safely tow without exceeding the various weight ratings...gross combination weight rating (GCWR), gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and each axle's gross axle weight rating (GAWR). you also need to know the curb weight of the vehicle you're planning to buy and whether that curb weight includes a full tank of gas (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't).
the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:
- the GCWR minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (food, fuel, water, LP, clothing, supplies, pets, people and misc. stuff); OR
- the weight rating of the MH hitch (Class II 3500-lbs, Class III 5000-lbs, Class IV 10,000-lbs); OR
- the weight rating of your towbar
load up the MH as you would for travel and then get individual axle weights at a certified scale. compare those axle weights to the published gross axle weight rating (GAWR) for that motorhome. the actual axle weight must be less than/equal to the rating for that axle. add the two axle weights to arrive at the total rolling weight and then apply the three conditions above. assume nothing.
good luck!
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rk911
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05/12/13 07:37am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Windshield replacement
are you expected to pay for the replacement and then get reimbursement from the CG or has the CG referred you to their insurance provider? if this were me i'd rather deal with their insurance carrier. i'd contact *my* insurance carrier and get their advice on how to proceed. they should also be able to refer you to a qualified glass company in your area. otherwise i'd start out by calling SafeLight Glass at 877-664-8931.
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rk911
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05/09/13 06:27pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: diferent smart phones
Everybody posting must only be using very high end phones with lots of internal memory. Drop down from that and you will quickly learn that you are very restricted to how many Apps you can run. I'd say that a phone without at least 1 Gig of internal memory should not considered and 2 Gigs would be much better. (What good is a plug in SD memory of perhaps 16 Gigs when a large number of Apps only can be run on internal memory?)
both of our iPhones are 16GB models (no SD card memory...all internal). I have somewhere north of 75-apps on mine, my wife has a few less.
16G refers to the total amount of memory on board, some of that is set aside as RAM while the rest is used as storage.
A phone with 1G of memory set aside as RAM can generally run more programs simultaneously than a phone with only 512M.
well, duh...I should've known that. a bit of poking around on the web revealed that a 16GB iPhone 4 (which is what I have) has roughly 2.4GB set aside for the "built-in" apps and the OS with the remainder available as storage. I found an early reference to a 8gb iPhone 4 that stated only 512mb was set aside for the OS. the first citation was taken from an apple forum but the poster did not indicate that s/he held a position within apple. maybe the information in both is about as accurate and reliable as that fellow on the commercial that says he's a "French model" (bon jour!)
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rk911
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05/09/13 04:43pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: dinghy towing odometer
Ignition on for the CRV, no mileage recorded.
My 04 CRV has 55K towed miles and 55K driven miles.
Come on. You must have driven the toad a little.
I think he means a total of 110K miles, half towed/half driven.
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rk911
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05/09/13 02:54pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Towing Advice
Thanks for the good advice - we're leaving in the morning for our first open road w/toad.
My back up camera only works when the coach is in reverse. Is there a universal way (not knowing what the make/model is at the moment) of making the BU camera work all the time? I'm going to replace it soon but not before this trip.
I would think so. our rear camera is on 100% of the time when we're moving so I gotta believe there's a way to do that with yours. post the year/make/model of your MHG and I betcha that someone on this forum will have the answer for you.
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rk911
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05/09/13 02:53pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: diferent smart phones
Everybody posting must only be using very high end phones with lots of internal memory. Drop down from that and you will quickly learn that you are very restricted to how many Apps you can run. I'd say that a phone without at least 1 Gig of internal memory should not considered and 2 Gigs would be much better. (What good is a plug in SD memory of perhaps 16 Gigs when a large number of Apps only can be run on internal memory?)
both of our iPhones are 16GB models (no SD card memory...all internal). I have somewhere north of 75-apps on mine, my wife has a few less.
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rk911
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05/09/13 08:46am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Stolen Trailer This Morning
too bad they weren't a tad more uncooperative when stopped and then we wouldn't be faced with them back on the street. glad his PU was recovered.
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rk911
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05/09/13 07:51am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: diferent smart phones
I see a thread about androd and its apps. Im about to jump into the smart phone thing. So which phone? When I go shopping I ask the clerk what phone they have and a good many of them have the Samsung III. So what phone do you have and if you were to get a new one which one would you choose. Those that have Verizon is the 2 gig enough data for you and your wife
we both have iPhones (4 for me, 4S for my wife) on Verizon and love 'em. extremely user friendly and thousands of free apps, thousands more at $0.99. my buddy's wife had an android and dumped it for an iPhone. I suggest you shop both and see what works best for you.
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rk911
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05/09/13 07:48am |
Technology Corner
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RE: dinghy towing odometer
nope. '03 jeep wrangler and '10 jeep liberty.
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rk911
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05/09/13 07:46am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Toyota Tacoma as a Toad??
rk911
I am towing it with a 05 Itasca Meridan DP with a 10k hitch and Blue Ox Avanta (sp?)towbar. I'm just trying to find a 6 cyl. 4x4 pick up o ow.
I want the extra room in my toad vehicle.
My auto.Ranger cannot be flat fur towed unless I take the drive shaft loose.
that's all well and good and while you're probably good to go you still shouldn't make any assumptions about your weights. good luck in your search.
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rk911
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05/06/13 04:11pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Toyota Tacoma as a Toad??
Hi to all!
So I'm wondering if a 4x4, 5 speed manual shift with a manual transfer case in an older Toyota Tacoma, let's say 1997 can be flat four towed?
I have looked everywhere and cannot get a straight answer. Has anybody here in the forums ever towed this Toyota Tacoma truck, and if so are there any other items I need to make it happen besides the standard tow plate and wiring?
Will the truck have a speed limit to be towed?
Will it need to be started every 300 miles etc...
I would very much like to tow a small pick up in lieu of a Honda CRV or a Jeep Wrangler.
Any input would very much be appreciated and thank you to all in advance!!
Happy Trails
what are you planning to tow it with? regardless of toad do you know or have you calculated how much weight you can safely tow?
generally, the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:
- the GCWR minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (food, fuel, water, LP, clothing, supplies, pets, people and misc. stuff); OR
- the weight rating of the MH hitch (Class II 3500-lbs, Class III 5000-lbs, Class IV 10,000-lbs); OR
- the weight rating of your towbar
load up the MH as you would for travel and then get individual axle weights at a certified scale. compare those axle weights to the published gross axle weight rating (GAWR) for that motorhome. the actual axle weight must be less than/equal to the rating for that axle. add the two axle weights to arrive at the total rolling weight and then apply the three conditions above. assume nothing. once you know your actual weight you can start looking for a toad.
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rk911
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05/06/13 03:51pm |
Dinghy Towing
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