RE: Pets are NOT to be left unattended... what??
I'm amazed how people can rationalize the rules to make themselves exempt and an exception to the rules. If it says "Dogs are not to be left unattended" it means don't go off and leave your dog unattended. How can you interpret it any different?
Because there are many different versions of unattended. And unless a campground tells me how they define it, i don't ask and do as i would at home.
Very simple really!
See what I mean. :)
I see:
One person who distingushes between the intent of "the law" and the letter of "the law", and one person who thinks in black and white terms.
RE: Pets are NOT to be left unattended... what??
Ok, I am a dog owner and have left our dog in the RV a time or two. Most recently it was during driveway camping at the in-laws and I don't recall him barking.
I understand the need for this rule, but I also understand how someone could be unaware that Bowser cuts loose when your car pulls away, or when he hears "evil intruders", mail persons and garbage persons walking by.
So what's the deal- does this happen "incessantly", or "rarely"- or is the deal that when it does happen-though rarely- it really stinks?
Just after some context/insight- because I am in the 'surprised' group.
Thanks.
RE: Towing Shouldn't Be This Difficult - Help Needed
Any chance you were on a blacktop road with "depressed groves/tire tracks"
Our rig is generally ok, but the trailer and TV often struggle to find a happy place on "worn out squished down" asphault.
RE: Gas prices up .26 in one week
oil has taken a huge dive in the last month per barrel. and the oil company is going to make it up off us.
Just guessing, but I'll bet you never worked in the gas & oil industry.
Yeah, but.....
RE: calling all truckers
I think he is wanting to know how much "pull" the walls can take if the clothes are hanging from bars or rope attached to the side walls.
But I don't want to read the post, I just want to spout off that I know that trucks weigh 80,000 lbs, and how that can be split among axles. ;)
RE: Weight vs frontal area
I vote that frontal area is the biggie!
It's no big deal to get the camper up to 45 miles / hour. Keeping at 70 takes work and a headwind or tail wind is BIG on mileage and how hard the engine works!
I have towed heavier stuff- and going down the highway was much less 'work'.
It'd be wrong to say that weight doesn't matter- but wind resistance from a crummily streamlined front end and a total flat rear end is killer to towing.
RE: How long to get cold!
I did my Spring test on a warm sunny day last week. It was 72 in the TT and 76 in the fridge when I turned on the fridge on electric. Fridge was empty. I have a wireless thermometer so I can watch the temp without opening the door. My Dometic RM2652 got to 35 at the end of 6 hours. As I recall, it took 2 hours to get below 70 and after that it started to make some progress. Hopefully that will give you some idea as to what to expect.
WOW...data!
2 hours to get below 70...that's interesting and insightful as to why we feel these things are so slow to cool down.
But looks like overnight, or 24 hours/whatever is adequate- especially if you are going to pile wamer food/drinks into it.
Thanks!
RE: Hot Tubs for real
That still doesn't adequately answer the question: Where are you gonna put all that water when you're done?
I used to have a 12 ft by 3 ft pool- THAT is a lot of water.
The yard got a very good drink and was squishy for a couple of days.
But, it was not all that big of a deal to drain it.
I'd expect a very similar situation for a hot tub. Smaller pool on a smaller site. It will make a signficant wet spot that will dry up in a couple of days and would not be a big issue unless it's right on a dirt footpath or it's rainy season.
RE: water heater
I wouldn't want water sitting in the water heater for more than a month.
It will end up stinking when you turn it on until all the musty water gets out of the system.
I drain mine after a trip unless we are goin to be using the trailer witin the next month.
From experience !
jack L
Dittos...if the water is truly just sitting there, and the chemistry is just right, there's a funny bacteria that can grow and make it quite smelly.
Plus, there's always the opportunity for a little electrochemistry to take place and corrode things.
So, if the water is really going to sit there for roughly a month, it's probably worthwhile to pull the plug and drain it.
RE: Hot Tubs for real
There may be some options around Yellowstone and some down a bit Southwest of Little Rock, AR...the name escapes me at the moment...
RE: Wichita Kansas and tornados
Dive in a ditch or hit the overpass is advice for when everything has gone totally wrong and you are completely out of options.
Given that the really bad tornadoes will actually scour pavement, the ditch is will probably make you a little less dead than if you stood up if you get hit directly.
...dittos for an overpass- if the tornado hits it directly, you may not be 100% safe.
Oh, by the way, the bathroom on a house with no basement is not a gaurantee, nor is a basement!
An internal bathroom is better than a picture window and a basement is better than that, but you really need a bona fide tornado shelter with a concrete roof and under the ground...
Now, as someone has said, run the risk numbers of sitting in your camper during a tornado warning versus driving down the road on a sunny day...you are statistically safer sitting in the camper- unless of course the tornado hits you...
RE: Weight Question
Good luck! The truck in real world is only good for towing aroung 7500 pounds IMHO.
Why is it that many think a gasser is only good for 80%n of capacity's??
It's all about the word "only".
I don't fault folks for maxing out.
Neither do I fault folks who say that using the 80% "rule" makes for more relaxed towing when the TV is not on the edge of doing everything it can do. The 80% rule gives you a little extra slop that makes everything go a little easier: accelerating, climbing, passing, crusing, decelerating, handling...
If you do lots and lots of towing, you should think more about the 80% rule. If you tow for a smaller % of the time, then most folks are going to want a slightly smaller TV that saves on gas when they are not towing, and 'do a little bit more work' and/or go slower when they are towing.
RE: Why idle?
When I was driving a route a while back, my starter was acting up, so it was better to let my truck idle than to be stranded- yeah we eventually got it fixed, but for the short term...
RE: Exhaust manifold bolts on my high mile suburban ??
So...change the oil every 5K miles.
Drive train fluids every 50
Tires every five years.
Headlight fluid every two years.
And exhaust manifold bolts every 100K...
:)
RE: Wichita Kansas and tornados
NEVER try to outrun a tornado - they are FAST (can move 50 mph)
"NEVER" is a bit too strong.
If you are already on the highway going 70, the math would say you have a 20 MPH advantage- as long as you are driving away from the tornado.
There's also the old advice to drive "sideways", away from the tornado's path.
This is one of those times where common sense comes into play. If you pull over and hit the ditch whenever there's a tornado warning, you're probably going to get swept away in a flash flood.
On the other hand, if you are sitting in the car, stuck in traffic, and the tornado is coming- THEN, it's time to hit the ditch and pray.
There are indeed cases of folks getting killed in cars trying to flee tornadoes- so "get in the car and run" isn't a good recommendation. But you really can't say that's the WRONG and the most dangerous thing to do.
I don't think there's any cases of tornado chasers getting caught FLEEING a tornado...certainly a few have been caught while CHASING/ATTEMPTING TO GET CLOSE TO a tornado.
I think the bigger risk is that tornados are not always the clear black funnel. They can be cloudless, hidden in rain, or hit you at night. In the case of Joplin, MO, I'm afraid that some folks were 'blindly' driving through a big rainstorm (not 'fleeing') and suddenly hell broke loose on them.
RE: Fuel price rant: Why is the media so wrong?
A certain poster here keeps suggesting that the president is to blame. Right or wrong, he has on occasion voiced the view that high gas prices are good.
RE: Connect RV to 20a outlet
No one has said that GFI's are very sensitive to subtle things...
Now for some redundant comments:
So sure, you can plug into a straight 30 A plug and do all sorts of things with no problem.
But if there's one little electicity leak (i.e. ground fault)- the GFI does it's job.
While I can say they are "sometimes overly sensitive", the other answer is yeah, the human body is "sometimes overly sensitive" to a ground faults too- so we don't want to dismiss the issue.
A regular breaker protects against overloads and over heats.
The GFI protects against subtle leakages (and typically overloads too).
RE: Wichita Kansas and tornados
This question will show my lack of knowledge about tornados. The closest I've been to one is watching them on TV. If you were in an RV park, at your MH, wouldn't you have some hint from the weather that one was coming? If it looked like it was headed directly for you, couldn't you just raise your levelers, disconnect, and drive away from it? If you can see it commng directly for you and you know you're going to get hit, but it's still a couple miles away, couldn't you try to get out of the way? Isn't a tornado fairly slow moving? Has anyone tried to dodge a tornado from being parked in an RV park?
Bill
Not really.
Your average tornado is short lived. It can quickly drop down, tear stuff up and dissipate just as quickly. The long-lasting ones that go 40 miles on TV are the exeption, not the norm. They also zig/zag veer/ do not go in perfectly straight lines.
A lot of victim interviews tell how they don't think it's bad, but suddenly it starts getting bad- they run for the basement, but hear the house coming apart while they are still going down the basement stairs.
Also, sometimes they hit at night and sometimes they are hidden in the rain. So it's a tough call.
The difference between an old fashioned rip-roaring thunderstorm that happens 99.9999% of the time and you sit and enjoy and a deadly tornado strike can be very quick and kind of subtle. Yeah, the wind gets gusty 40 MPH- strong but not a big deal, but then trees take flight and stuff starts to come apart at 60 to 80 MPH- the wind gust can hit in a matter of seconds.
Don't take this to mean that a person is helpless when a warning is issued or a funnel cloud is very close by- in some instances you can probably hit the car and drive away (or hit the concrete restroom).
But to 'break camp and pull out'...too far over the elusive middle ground. I'm 53 years old and have experienced who knows how many tornado WARNINGS- even a few in the camper. I have yet to have needed to be in the basement or out of the camper...and what I just said- while true- is of no value to a bunch of folks in Joplin MO.
Also, there's the bad, but semi true joke. A camper/mobile home is a tornado magnet. The reality is that campers and mobile homes fare really crummy in most tornadoes, while a stick house will actually survive the majority of weaker tornadoes without collapsing/coming apart.
I'm kind of a weather nut and head to the window for tornado warnings. Most of the storms are mundane storms (sure lightning, thunder, black clouds, strong winds, hail), but some sudden, stronger, wind gusts have given me an appreciation for the folks going down the steps while the roof comes off.
