RE: Digital Transition on for Feb
yep they have to protect those too irresponsible to do things themselves. I bet a lot of them won't make the second deadline either, especially since the money ran out. :)
bumpy
Right on! This is exactly why the delay was shot down. If people didn't do anything with it for the last 18 months, what's 6 more months going to help?
RE: Trailblazer towing
Many Trailblazers with the six cylinder engine and 3.42 axles are rated to 5400 pounds. I expect this is with the optional HD Towing Package. I'd investigate what's in that package and retrofit as much of it as I could before towing much more than a popup with this vehicle. The typical minivan can be equipped to tow 3500 pounds and you're only 500 pounds higher than that. The Chevy I6 is a highly competent engine. It needs the help provided by the HD towing option.
Also keep in mind that unless noted differently in your owners manual the maximum towing capacity is computed empty -- with only the driver in the vehicle. Adding additional passengers and camping gear reduced the capacity pound for pound.
A realistic maximum trailer weight is the maximum towing capacity minus 1000 pounds. This accounts for passengers, cargo, and Golden Retrievers in the tow vehicle. In this case that's 3000 pounds.
A thought while typing this: where did the 400/4000 pound number come from? The hitch? Or the Owners Manual. The may be nothing more than a too small hitch fitted and the larger hitch (maybe in the HD Tow package?) will be rated higher.
Finding even a small hybrid and keeping below your maximum towing capacity will be difficult and probably not rewarding. Boosting your towing capacity beyond 4000 pounds will open several options for you. "Buy your second camper first." was advice I got long ago. Glad I took it.
-- Chuck
This is one time I will say that the esteemed Chuck_s is somewhat misinformed. Having owned a TB for several years now and towing an HTT in similar size and weight (3500# GVWR for the HTT, wife, adult daughter, with her tent and other gear, and wood) to what the OP wants, I can confidently say that this combo is very good. I have the I6 with 3:42 gears and 4WD. I've towed my HTT up 6% & 7% grades in Montana and Wyoming with no difficulty. On flat roads at 60 MPH, I still have plenty of power for passing. As Road Ruler said, it has a wonderful powerband and is no comparason to the Ford V6 used in the Explorers. Lots of GMT 360 owners tow 21-23 ft TTs and report great performance. Personally I think a 21ft is about the limit with these. Not for lack of power, but because of the inherent limitations of the vehicle itself.
The GMT 360s have the towing package standard. Class III hitch, 7 pin connector, wiring for brake controller under the dash, & heavy duty radiator. Some of the older models didn't come with the 7 pin connector, but did have everything else. The rear suspension on these is soft. In my opinion, anything bigger than a PUP needs a W/D hitch with this truck. I'd also recommend an auxillary transmission cooler. GM claims that there is more than enough cooling capacity for the tow rating, but a cooler is cheap insurance.
RE: Do you know why your friends/family don't RV?
A vaction to most of our friends is spending $1k going to some island to sit on the beach and bake in the sun. They dispise the idea of camping, even in an RV or nice trailer for pretty much the opposite reason we would never waste a perfectly good vacation getting skin cancer on a beach. I don't understand that, and they don't understand why we're willing to drive 1700 miles to camp and hike in a national park.
RE: Credit Card Usage/Rebates
This sounds strange, but we actually use CCs as a way of controlling spending. As some have already mentioned, we keep account of everything in software. Most checkbook software lets you set up a CC account. I enter all the reciepts in the same as I do checks and other banking transactions. I keep a budget on a spread sheet and once a week reconcile everything to my budget. The rule is, if the money is not available to buy it, we don't.
summutt2002, it is nice to pay off every month. But we haven't always been in a position to do so. I'm sure many others posting here could say the same. We found ourselves getting deeper and deeper into debt during the 90s. We evaluted our life style and made some hard decisions on what we were spending. We cut back on non-essentials and worked hard for quite a few years to get things paid off, and we were also able to finally put some money in the bank.
RE: Making the beds in a HTT
No fitted sheets, no pain. We use a single sleeping bag opened up flat to sleep on. And we have two comfortors we bought at an estate sale for $5. We keep a couple of flat sheets to use in place of the blankets on warm summer nights. Takes my wife all of 3 minutes to "make" the bed when we set up. We like the "KISS" principle. Really, who cares what it looks like. We're comfortable and thats all that counts to us.
RE: No Firewood from home allowed in GA State Parks
I feel it is just a conspiracy to sell you 5 or 6 "sticks" for $5.00...JMO
Is the wood that they all sell at these parks "bug free" ?
I was concerned about getting ripped off when they started this in WI a couple of years ago. We always used to bring our own wood, suplimented with a few bundles purchased locally. What we've found near most state parks is that more people are selling wood in an attempt to get in on the action. Its creating a bit of competition and keeping wood affordable.
Can't say the wood is "bug free". In WI, they've found the Emerald Ash Borer in 2 isolated locations just outside the Milwaukee area. So for the most part, local wood should be OK.
RE: 19H Jayco?
Just want to toss in a different point of view...
we have had a 17' HTT for 9 camping seasons, and love it. Our son slept in one end, and DH and I in the other. It has never felt too small for the 3 of us, even in bad weather. Indeed, we have never thought of going to a bigger trailer.
However, I will add that we were previous tent campers, and accustomed to spending most of our time outside. We typically only use the HTT for storage, hot water, sleeping, and that wonderful bathroom in the middle of the night. Also, we camp without hook ups, so we don't use much electricity (no television or video games ;-))
My suggestion would be to think about how you plan to camp, how you want to use the HTT, and whether you think your family might grow. (Once the kid was old enough to bring a friend, we put them in their own tent.) So, do be aware that there are many preferences, and you should shop to best suit YOUR family's preferences and needs.
Happy Camping!
Excellent comments and advice. Our Kiwi 17a will be 6 years old this May. One or two times we wished we had a larger trailer. But thats it. We've towed it to Monterey, CA and back. That trip was my wife and I with our adult daughter. A little tight at times, but no big deal. We prefer the outdoors and thats where most of our time is spent. We've also taken it to Yellowstone once. We've been very happy with the trailer and its size.
RE: Might This Be A Bogus e-Mail?
Another hint as to it being a phishing scam is how the greeting is written. Most legitimate e-mails will say "Dear so-and-so", acutally using your name. Phishing scams use use things like "Dear Valued Customer" or some other generic term.
RE: vista windows
This doesn't sound like a Vista or A/V issue. Is the software that the attachments were created in installed on the machine? In other words, if you get a document created in MS Word, is there a word processor installed that can open and read Word documents?
RE: What is the best mp3 player for old time radio programs
eddd, we had exactly the same problem as you. I bought my wife an e260 earlier this year and she loves old radio shows. The site I was downloading them from did not have the tags all filled out. And playlists just didn't work very well. It was frustrating to the point that we considered putting the e260 on E-bay. With a lot of fooling around I finally got them into folders, but it wouldn't recognize the folders on micro SD card.
I downloaded Media Monkey. Its free, and it lets you edit tags in bulk. So I was able to make consistant tags to create my own albums with the radio shows. The best part was that Media Monkey has a much easier to use syncing feature than Media Player. And you can use it with multiple devices.
RE: Stolen RVs?
Some end up on the black market. Its a lot easier to sell a hot RV or TT than a car. A lot of them end up getting towed to remote locations and become meth labs.
RE: LCD FLAT SCREEN TV
LCD flat screen? LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. So for the most part, liquids can freeze. Have you left your cell phone in the car overnight? Other devices with LCD screens? The screen is often a bit "slow" after its been frozen, but ususally OK once it warms up. I can't imagine that it would be good to freeze an LCD TV though. Why take a chance, just store it inside the house.
RE: Norton / AVG / Avast
I have loaded both Avast and AVG on different computers (free versions). They seem to work fine, and do not slow up the computer like Norton does. Currently I am use F-Prot, which is something like $25 for 5 different computers (my kids are using 3 of my licenses.) I have had "NO" slow downs or problems due to F-Prot. Personally, I don't see how Norton stays in business.
I'll second using F-Prot. It works great and seems to use less resources than AVG did.
