RE: Travel Plans for 2013/2014
You couldn't get me to leave the U.S. its way too dangerous in Mexico, I'd never ..........just kiddin. Sorry, couldn't resist. (gotta have at least one).
If you were headin this way, I could tell you about our town on the beach called Puerto Penasco.
Since you're going the other way, all I can say is enjoy, have a good time.
RE: Pads for hydraulic jacks
I think I found these or got them at a yard sale. Cutting boards. Lightweight , various sizes, pretty strong. Been using them for 5 or 6 years
http://i46.tinypic.com/33v2o9s.jpg
RE: Awning thread comming undone
I have 3 slides. Driver side toppers crapped out, thread started to go. I took them off and sewed them on my upholstery sewing machine. The fabric was starting to go. I got maybe a year out of them before the fabric started tearing nearest the body of the rv.
Took them off, went a local rv shop in Las Vegas trying to order the same thing thru Carefree of Colorado. Gave that up. Whoa.
Took the old toppers to a local auto upholstery store in Las Vegas . They ordered me the sunbrella material (warranty included) and just matched up my old awnings. I let them do the sewing .
Total price . Around 3 hundred.
RE: Windshield drapes
X2 on the Oxyclean and washing. When we bought MH used ours looked awful told DW before you spend the money try washing cant hurt if you are planning to replace anyway. Came out looking good as new, she put them back up and then went and spent the money.
x3. Ours are 10 years old. Washed them twice, getting ready to do them again
RE: Looking for a manual!
If none of that works, try finding someone with a similar rv and copy it.
At an rv park, I had a guy start asking me about my Diplomat. I was glad to help but I told him alot of the stuff he was asking was in the owners manual. His coach didn't come with one, so I loaned him mine. He took it to a Kinko's and copied it.
RE: House Batteries
Steve, take pictures, draw diagrams, label the wires, If you don't feel confortable with it, get some help.
prbly 4 six volt house batteries and 2 diesel starting batteries.
I usually replace the 2 diesel starting batteries along with the 4 house batteries. Got 6 years outta some Interstates.
Check around and compare . Might be some price differences.
RE: Washer / Dryer combo - Do you have /use ?
Our last rv, the wife used the oven to store bread in. Never fired it up. Current rv has a convention oven that we use.
We have a Splendide, that the wife wanted me to take out of the rv. That was 10 years ago. She used that thing everyday right up until last week when it died. Soon as we get back in the U.S , I'll grab another. Rayon shorts and shirts wash and dry easily.
It wouldn't be my decision point to buy an rv. If its got one in it when you buy, try it, if you don't like it or use it, take it out and sell it on Craigslist. Alot of rv's are plumbed for a washer/dryer and you could add one if you wanted. Not hard to disconnect .
RE: Norcold 1200rlim ammonia smell
thanks all for the responses. mmccwill . I may do that. We have a place up in Payson. thanks. Been looking at some posts on irv2 board about those samsungs.
Executive...thanks I will check them out. My extended warranty long since expired so this one's gonna be outta pocket.
Bobged, thanks for that website. Pretty good stuff.
We picked a small refrigerator here in Mexico set it beside the 1200. It'll do till we get back into the States next month. Probably looking at the Phoenix area for repairs. Thanks all for the info.
Norcold 1200rlim ammonia smell
Got a 2003 Dipl by Monaco, 1200rlim refrigerator with the recall done. It has worked fine for the last 10 years, in fact its never been turned off, until now.
Always on (we travel a bit) Blew a 5 amp fuse, 2 weeks ago, replaced it, got it to work. Refrigerator was running on ac when the wife smelled a strong ammonia.
Shut the fridg off, unplugged, gave it its final rites, played taps. Vented the rv. It was strong smell. Cooling unit is shot.
I figure 10 years isn't too bad for usage. Opinions vary on whether Norcold is******or not. No comment here. Mine did ok. 10 years. Don't want to repair cooling unit. Want to replace it.
Planning for next month. Did some searches (for those of you that always post that hyperlink) found some stuff.
Looking for advice on a couple of things.
1. Where to get it fixed. Our options are the Phoenix area or Las Vegas area.
I could attempt the repair myself, but I think its just a tad beyond my capabilities. Would like it done right, with a warranty.
2. Here's the big one. Looked at Norcold. Looked at Omish cooling units. Looking at a non rv models. Was reading about frigidaire or samsung refrigs. Can anyone offer some info on who might be installing these in the areas I mentioned and a ballpark figure on price.
Thanks
RE: Carefree of Colorado Slide out awning
Pace86, what type of slide toppers do you have? Carefree used to make the Omega and the Omega1, I have the Omega on mine. The arms look like question marks.\
or do you have something else?
RE: Norcold Refrigerator "No A/C"
Well, finally got the answer to the problem. Started smelling a strong odor of ammonia this afternoon. It only got worse. Fortunately the refrig was on ac and not propane. Shut off the refrig and unplugged it. (.......taps playing in the background)
Cooling unit I suspect.
RE: Sam's Club Puerto Penasco Mexico
Went there a few days ago and it was a typical Sams (albeit things like electronics are much more expensive here!)
Galvanized, were steaks seized coming INTO Puerto Penasco? By whom?
Thanks.
Mexican Border patrol, Lukeville crossing
Sam's Club Puerto Penasco Mexico
Good news, I think. We were warned about certain food/drink items and had some steaks seized when we crossed at the Border on Feb 4. We, like others were/are concerned we wouldn't be able to get "stuff" we like/needed in Puerto Penasco. Well today we visited the new Sams Club here in Puerto Penasco. Except for the "Buenos Dias" at the door it was difficult to see a difference between this one and Stateside Sam's Clubs. Well of course there is a difference, everythings in Spanish. The store opened last July and is located next the Bodega Aurrara (spelling?) on the main drag into town. We found steaks, wine, a/w rootbeer, dog,food, alot of dog food brands, bud light (I like Mexican beer better) and even found bagels, which I couldn't find before, in the store. With the latest crossing enforcement, we now don't feel too concerned about buying alot of our stuff in the Sam's Club instead of trucking it down, especially if thats going to be "frowned" on now at the Border.
Most everybody prbly knows about the Sam's Club, but we didn't until we got here so I figured I'd post it here.
The place was very clean nice. Don't forget to bring your Sams card with you, cause like in the States, they ask to see it at the door and at the cash register. I like.
Puerto Penasco City Limits checkpoint
We drove into Puerto Penasco today. We heard about a checkpoint from another post here. We encountered a check point at the turn off to El Golfo on the main highway into town, which is just on the outskirts of Puerto Penasco. Mexican marines were hard at work, dressed in camo uniforms, kevlar helmets, body armor and carrying automatic rifles. They were stopping everybody into and out of Puerto Penasco. This included semi trucks. tour buses and us in a rv pulling a car. When our turn came, they were polite asked us to remove the one dog from the rv they were able to see. I informed him ok, but that I had four dogs. The marine looked into our rv, saw the two rottweillers and the goldern retriever. He grinned and said, "ok" and waived us on. We were there for about 3 minutes. Probably would have been longer but for the dogs.
I personally think its a good thing. Keeps the riffraff out , but they slipped up and let us in.
Young men with automatic rifles. Yup. Our Homeland security was the same way at the border .
Just posting this as a headsup.
Border Crossing. Lukeville
We crossed at Lukeville at about 1230. Homeland security stopped us and asked about any firearms. Told them we had none. He asked if we routinely had carried them and I said absolutely but that they'd been left on the U.S. side. He was merely trying to be helpful and make sure we had not forgotten to remove them prior to entering mexico.
Mexican side. We got the dreaded "Red Light" and siren. The two Mexican border agents waived us to the side. I will start by saying the were very polite and courteous. One spoke English fairly well. They asked for our passports and for the registrations on our rv and vehicle. They checked VIN numbers. They observed our 4 dogs and asked for paperwork on the dogs. They then asked about alcohol and inspected our refrigerator. They warned us about the fruit that we had but did not seize it. They asked about the hamburger patties but we informed them that they were veggie burgers. They asked about beef and saw the 2 steaks we had. They did seize those. They asked about dogfood. We enformed them that we had lamb/rice mix of dog food They warned us about the dog food but did not seize any. Specifically about the meat products in the dogfood. They photographed all paperwork and filled out a form, seizing the 2 steaks. Best of all no fine for anything.
We asked for and they provided paperwork on the items that were allowed to be brought into Mexico (available elsewhere on the NET I'm sure) We were there for about 10-15 minutes and then proceeded on.
While we were filing out the paperwork, 2 other rv's drove through. They got a green light and continued on without stopping. I mention this to show that ours was purely random stop.
According to what I learned later is that this has been happening more often. I'm told that the crossing now has an added agriculture inspection part to the Lukeville crossing that is starting to be more attentive to this sort of incoming stuff.
We've been coming to going to Puerto Penasco for 9 years. Many firsts this time.
We've had Agents ask for rv/car paperwork. Never had anyone ask about dog paperwork (doc office rabies paperwork sufficed, today) Never had anyone ask about meat, alcohol or dogfood or seize anything.
Sorry for the long post, but I guess what I'm try to say is Lukeville crossing seems to be coming up to the standards we've seen in Canada/US crossings and elsewhere. RATS
We were not upset, I figured it was bound to happen. They are merely enforcing existing regs on a random basis. Guards were nice and professional and just doing their jobs.
Thought I'd just give "headsup"
RE: Thousand Trails
Here's the website
http://www.thousandtrails.com/
Might want to take a look at that. Hey the price is right . Free. One year probly means 60 nights of free camping? Try camping at some of them. Lake of the Springs is a good one, North of Sacramento. After you check them out, then decide if you like them or not and buy or don't buy accordingly. You;re the only one that can decide if you like Thousand Trails. Some like them , some don't. Its not for everyone. The one's that get the most use of the Preserves, are retirees.
We've had ours 10 years (sitting in a Preserve right now) and we love it. Ours gets us 50 free nights a year, but there are many different contracts out there, not many are the same. Cuts the cost for us of rving way down. We spend the summers on the Oregon/Washington Coast.
We love our membership, but thats us. You have to decide for yourselves
RE: Splendide Spin of Death
Ok, reporting back. Talked to the techs at Splendide. They were great. Told me to check a few things. I did. Took out the Splendide. Opened the top . Checked what they told me to. Nothing worked. Sooooooo, I figure, its time to replace it. It served well . We got our time out of it, but to fix it and pay some one for repairs, we'd still have a 10 year unit and with money spent on repairs, prbly be well on our way to the cost of a new one. thanks for the replies
RE: '05 Holliday Rambler Endeaver 40 with 91000 mi.-too high ?
High milege? It depends on the owners travel style. Sounds like they used it to the tune of 11 or 12k miles a year, depending on original milege. Could be good. With that milege they probably stayed on top of the maintenance (like alot of us do) and fixed stuff when it got broken.... Its what I bought mine for. To travel, not sit most of the time. Chances are they did some modifications , like we all do, to make it better than factory, so thats a plus. The engine is important, so do all the stuff the rest of the crowd here says about the engine stuff but take a measure of the entire coach too and get a mental picture about its condition. Check maintenance records if available. Spend some time, in, under and on top of the rv. Look at everything.
Nothing wrong with that milege. Do all the checks. If you like it, buy. Life is a risk Enjoy.
Mine, 2003 Dipl. Cummins 330 with a Banks system. Out for about 7 or 8 months a year, slowing down to about 6 months a year now. 78000 miles. I put 73000 miles on and heading for mexico in a couple of days. We travel. thats what the diesels are for.
Alaska to Mexcio. West coast to east coast. Oregon and Washington in summertime.
Low 7. High 10 on mpg. but who cares.
