RE: Largest Bathroom in smallest tc
Take a look at the Northstar...there's no bathroom sink which adds space...
Excellent observation. Who uses the bathroom sink anyway? With space at such a premium in these TCs, it seems like a redundancy.
RE: potential problem with heavy duty front bumper??
Around here there are so many deer that you'd be in the body shop constantly without a deer catcher. On the other hand, if you hit something really solid, it's gonna transmit that shock directly to your frame. My choice: I go with the deer catcher and avoid bridge abutments.
RE: Is it ok to have two
We got the 5th wheel first and have had some great times in it. Then I retired (wife still works--a big disadvantage to marrying a younger woman :B) and began to do more solo trips. My style of camping is heading to the outback, so a truck camper was the obvious choice. Plus, it was a little embarrassing to be just a lone dude traveling in the expansive luxury of a fifth wheel.
RE: Lance 835
Reddog1, I think you're missing the point. The Charge Wizard is your battery's best friend. Period. Plug it in, stick the module someplace where you'll never see it, and walk away. I've had one on my 5th wheel for 6 years, on shore power 100% of the time, and my batteries are still perfect. I also have one on my Lance, 5 years, same result. I never look at the Charge Wizards.
Confusion about Bilstein shocks
I just noted where Bilstein has a 25% off sale for September. I have a stock suspension F350 and I'm confused about which shocks I need: the 5100 series (silver and black), the Heavy Duty ones, or the blue and yellow ones. Advice?
RE: Lance 835
As I recall, on my 835 the converter had a telephone-style port that was visible on it. That's what the Charge Wizard plugs into. If you have that port, your converter will accept a Charge Wizard.
RE: Looking at an '05 F-350 - Opinions on Longevity
Guess my question about transfer of the 100K warranty got buried. Does anyone know if the factory 100K powertrain warranty transfers? If so, I'd be better off buying a 71K mile truck, because my Toyota warranty runs out in 8K miles.
Yes, the 100K warranty transfers. In answer to another question: yes, it is the 5-speed torkshift tranny (awesome transmission!)
RE: Looking at an '05 F-350 - Opinions on Longevity
I'll jump in on this one since I have some experience. Until a year ago I had a 2003 F350 with the 6.0L engine. I loved it, but I was hit by a little old lady and totalled. 130,000 trouble-free miles. I looked around at other brands to replace it but didn't like what I saw. I wound up with a 2006 F350 6.0L with 60,000 miles, and I would do it again if I had to. I think the 6.0L is awesome. My daughter has a 2001 7.3L and I don't see how it could pull my 5th wheel. Just no power.
Like the man said...go to the dealer and get an Oasis report on it. It'll detail any work that's been done to the truck at a Ford dealer.
99% of the people who badmouth the 6.0L have never driven one, let alone owned one. Don't let 'em scare you off.
What's your opinion of what Michelin told me?
I recently put 4 Michelin LTX A/T2 on my truck. I emailed Michelin from their Web site to ask about adjusting tire pressures based on load. I normally carry one set of pressures with the Lance onboard and another when I'm unloaded. I never carry the max pressure of 80psi because I have never reached the max weight of 3750lbs per tire.
Within the hour a nice lady from Michelin called me and stated unequivocally that I should stick to the pressures Ford recommends on the door post. I explained that my rationale was based on standard load/inflation tables for E rated tires but she again stated that I should use Ford's numbers. What do you think and why?
RE: Lance Camper Quality
My Lance is a 2004. I've only owned it for two years but in that time I've had it on hundreds of miles of extremely bad dirt/gravel/rock roads. Every time I drive on one I feel guilty for treating it so bad. But I'm happy to report that I haven't found even one loose screw after all that punishment. It's built tough.
RE: Need advice on front cargo baskets
I'm installing a front receiver this weekend, which I got specifically to mount a basket.
May I ask where you found your receiver?
RE: Great Western Circle Trip, 2009
Excellent trip report. Looks like a great time! The pictures look great, too. Could I get more details about the equipment you use for shooting?
Thanks everybody for your nice comments. I'm using an older Canon Rebel EOS I bought from a friend. Nothing fancy. It has an both 18-55mm and an 80-200mm lens.
Great Western Circle Trip, 2009
I recently got back from a 3000 mile trip and thought I'd share some pictures. A map of my route, not including some short spur trips and forays into the void, is included. The first leg of the trip from just outside San Antonio to City of Rocks State Park, NM, was about 10 hours of straight-through driving. The thing about Texas is you can drive all day and not leave the state.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/3820803480_87e61bc8b1.jpg
City of Rocks State Park.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3819953111_c11051d5b3.jpg
With my rig, to show the scale of the rocks.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/3819953311_f861a80895.jpg
After the first night I headed up through Silver City to Gila National Monument. The road from Silver City through Pinos Altos and to the monument is the twistiest paved road I've ever been on. A real nice drive.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/3819953669_f326c62954.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/3819953831_c7724b4a0e.jpg
After Gila, I took Hwy 35 past Lake Roberts to NM 61, where I encountered this. Okay, now we're getting someplace!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3528/3819954009_a0a541a01e.jpg
On the road to Upper Black Canyon campground.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3580/3820759570_7920106c39.jpg
Nice mountain meadow stream.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2609/3819954253_c67f5cd296.jpg
Upper Black Canyon campground is really far out there, about 40 miles on this dirt road and then off the road a couple of miles. I camped there about twelve hours and never saw or heard anyone else. The reason I mention this is that it was the night after this that my truck wouldn't start. If it had happened here...well, I hate to think of the hassle.
Anyway, I got lucky and made it to Snow Lake the next night. It was here that my truck batteries went flat. Fortunately, there was a nearby camper with jumper cables who helped me get up and running.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3819954565_6f495f777c.jpg
It's funny how a near disaster--getting stranded in the middle of nowhere--will change your travel plans. After this, I tended to camp at places that were at least within hiking distance of some sort of civilization. I also bought jumper cables at the next town.
Well, on to Mogollon. Mind you, we're still on the same unpaved road that started some 80 miles ago.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3819954647_2072892c68.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3819954387_cef10c43a2.jpg
Finally, I raise the Mogollon metropolitan shopping center:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3820760398_1aa7ef1392.jpg
and subdivision:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3820760196_672eab719f.jpg
An oldtimer in Mogollon told me there were 14 year-round residents, down from about 5,000 a hundred years ago during the silver mining boom.
I couldn't leave Mogollon without sharing this picture from the Truck Camper Hall of Fame. Ain't she a beauty?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3820760276_af889d84e2.jpg
After Mogollon, the Catwalk:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3820760754_8429ae70e4.jpg
A day or two later I had a close encounter of the tree kind, which I've already described in another post. Here I am in Canyon de Chelley, an inch and a half away from a previously invisible cottonwood.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2559/3820760988_819f65619e.jpg
From Canyon de Chelley I headed up to southeastern Utah where I planned to do some back-country scouting of Anasazi ruins. But recent rains had made the dirt roads unpassable--and besides, my late experience with dead batteries made me leary of straying too far off the beaten path.
Outside Bluff, UT, I took the Valley of the Gods road...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2658/3820758582_b1d8e93116.jpg
...where I met this little fellow. I always wondered who made those little stacks of rocks you see all over the Southwest:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2589/3819955879_73cd616997.jpg
I had always wanted to drive the Moki Dugway, and now was my chance.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3820759328_3e528dfe2d.jpg
Near the top.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3819953731_d92705dea1.jpg
About 200 hundred feet before I got all the way up, I pulled off into the turnout at the last switchback and got into my camper to make a sandwich. All of the sudden the sky turned black and a bad storm poured down over the top of the ridge. I didn't get any rain, but the wind blew like nothing I've ever seen. I could barely stand up in the camper it was rocking so violently. What I thought was hail turned out to be small stones that were blown off the top of the ridge onto the rig. I don't mind telling you, it was scary sitting there, rocking back and forth, on a ledge 1000 feet above the desert below. I was sincerely wishing I had set my parking brake.
Here's the storm after it passed:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3819954099_305c623b39.jpg
It was awesome to watch the dust rise up to meet the rain.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2656/3819954051_99a212bfb5.jpg
I went on to spend the night at Natural Bridges National Monument.
Owachomo Bridge:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3820759718_b625800c63.jpg
Butler Wash Indian Ruins. The ruins are not in the large alcove. They're in the smaller alcove directly above.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3820759924_5c61959d36.jpg
I decided to head for the mountains next. This is Lizard Head Wilderness from Hwy 145 in Colorado.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2647/3820760442_7fccdbc768.jpg
The village of Ophir:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3820760486_f0c74e892c.jpg
And its Post Office. I love this town.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/3820760564_3f6fbd6049.jpg
I continued on to Telluride. Too rich for my blood... I replaced my batteries here for $170 each. One of my old ones had a burnt out cell, and it was recommended that I replace it with a matched set. As the man said, "It always costs more at the top of the mountain."
My next adventure was to be the Last Dollar Road, but at the recommendation of a couple of locals and you guys, I decided it wasn't advisable with my rig, especially after the rain they've been having. So I went around, through Ridgeway and on to the Million Dollar Highway through Ouray to Silverton.
This is downtown:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/3820760618_ef45b86d47.jpg
I could have spent the rest of the summer in the San Juans, but it was time to start the long road home. I dropped down through Durango, where I happened to be first in line at the RR crossing:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2437/3819955389_6aabe066a5.jpg
I planned to spend a couple of days in Chaco Canyon but after I drove all the way out there the campground and the road to it was closed. So I headed up through the Jemez Mountains, spent the night, and went to Bandelier the next day.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2505/3820759118_69b15be22b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3820758944_38548e60a5.jpg
Note the holes bored into the rock where roof beams were set:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2428/3820758642_03637b0055.jpg
Bandelier is where I met this intimidating guy:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/3820761238_fa969f50b5.jpg
That last leg of the trip was through Santa Fe, where I picked up some trinkets for my wife and daughter, and into Cloudcroft. I spent my last night in Silver Campground above town and early the next morning set a direct course for home.
And the gods were watching over me
A few days ago I was camping at Snow Lake in the Gila Forest. When I tried to get going the next morning my truck wouldn't start. Stone dead. LUCKILY there were some campers nearby who gave me a jump and I was on my way. The point is, the night before I was in Upper Black Canyon Campground in Gila. Those of you who know it know its VERY isolated. I never saw or heard anybody the whole 12 hours I was there. What if my truck had failed to start there, instead of Snow Lake? Whew, I felt like I got a freebie. (Had to change both batteries when I got back to civilization. They were only one year old but one of them had a fried cell and it was recommended not to replace only one if they didn't match.)
The second time the gods took pity on me was a quick overnighter at Canyon de Chelley. I drove through the campground, with a couple of cars following me. When I spotted a site--not wanting to hold up traffic--I just swung 'er around and backed in. Here's what happened:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3790009736_0dbb652f24_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3790009744_e4d3dc14c9_o.jpg
I missed that cottonwood by an inch and a half. In fact, I'd been there a half hour before I even noticed how close I came. For the rest of my trip I got out and checked before I backed up anywhere.
RE: Hail Damage and Insurance
Looks bad. Sorry about the damage.
As for USAA: Have you ever had a claim under them? My experience has been good. It will be interesting to see how they handle your camper, as opposed to trailer, vehicles and everything else. What they told me about my camper when I checked was that it was covered under my truck insurance while it's on the truck, and under my homeowner's if it's off the truck. They didn't recommend that I get a separate endorsement for it.
My advice is simply to make a call on your claim. Let us know how they respond--especially on the camper.
Good Luck!
