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Fuel price rant: Why is the media so wrong?
If the mods combine or delete this, fine, but the issue isn't price gripes; it's how wrong the media has been for about the last year.
Last year, gas was going to average $5.00 if you listened to the media. It didn't.
Since then there have been a couple of nice price dips.
I think it's twice now, the media has said, "Gas is expected to remain at these lower levels for some time." And afterwards? Seems like $0.50 price jumps happen.
Additionally- whenever there's a news story about a new low- it seems there's a big jump.
I hate to be a conspiracy nut, but it makes you wonder if the oil industry is feeding the media garbage information...and I guess it's clear that they want us to fill up Monday or so, since somewhere Tuesday-Thursday, it's going to jump up to someting 9 and 9/10.
Of course, where do I come off complaining that the media lacks accuracy? :R
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K3WE
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05/07/13 04:26pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: 2003 1500 suburban
We have a 27 ft Fleetwood, 1/2-bunk house "heavy" construction, no slides. The trailer grosses at 7000 lbs and have towed it with 3 Suburbans.
1st 1/2 ton suburban was a 1994?-something with leaf springs and a 3.42 rear end.
It did OK and sometimes I wish we still had it (had a tail gate!). It also had the "real", square iron receiver platform.
2nd 1/2 ton was a 2001?-something with coil springs and a 4.10 rear end, and the receiver with the wimpy looking round cross member and 'tack welds'.
It did OK (and performed minimally different than the earlier car- and careful because I go on rear end ratio rants due to the minimal difference in performance on these two).
2 years ago, I got a 3/4 ton, 6.0L, 6-speed, 3.73 rear end (yes, the 6-speed makes a bigger difference than the rear end.)
The suspension is markedly different. The 2500 'burb looks pretty happy hooked up with no WD whereas the 1500's would be squatted with and without WD. (I still use WD with the new one- just saying the extra capacity of the rear end is significant and evident). I hate the mile-high 'integrated' receiver and got a huge drop bar, but the camper acutally runs slightly nose high in spite of it.
As to towing, stopping, and stability...It's not all that different than the previous ones (even with the 6.0L and 6-speed and suspension). Pretty much any TV-trailer set up requires you to drive accordingly and smartly.
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K3WE
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05/07/13 05:33am |
Towing
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RE: To old to pull that big rig.
...Have you considered driving at night?...
Probably a bad idea.
Night vision is usually the first to go!
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K3WE
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05/06/13 06:30pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: where did the oil go?
I'm done! Appearantely there are quite a few manuf. representatives here that don't like what i'm saying!
Maybe modern engines use less oil on average- to the point that you usually don't have to add oil between normal oil changes (3 to 5K miles)
Maybe you are right about that.
To imply that more than 1/2 qt/3000 miles is the point at which there's a problem that needs fixing?
Wrong.
8 cylinders sliding back and forth and 24 piston rings and 32 valve guides, two bearing seals and valve cover gaskets, filter gaskets...sometimes there's little imperfections that result in totally acceptable oil consumption greater than 1/2 quart/3000 miles.
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K3WE
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05/06/13 04:34pm |
Towing
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RE: where did the oil go?
The vast majority of internal combustion engines DO use oil. Some use more than others.
Are you sure about that?
(Just joking- you are dead-on accurate & thanks!)
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K3WE
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05/06/13 04:26pm |
Towing
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RE: To old to pull that big rig.
Your eyes are weak, you are slower, the hearing not so good anymore.
Sounds like it might be time to end the driving days altogether. I don't care what you are driving, if your eyes are weak and you are slower you shouldn't be driving.
-Michael
Exactly.
A smaller camper is not going to do a lot make you or folks around you that much safer if you are having vision and/or hearing problems. Those two things are pretty important for driving anything.
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K3WE
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05/05/13 08:47am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: where did the oil go?
Dodge Guy you like it out there in left field? :)
I don't belive he's even in the ball park...
...acutally, kind of out in orbit. ;)
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K3WE
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05/05/13 05:49am |
Towing
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RE: Travel in windy conditions
Yes, 5th wheels behave better.
Yes, winds affect things (including 5th wheels).
But I would think that 25 MPH is not a too big deal.
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K3WE
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05/05/13 05:40am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I'm a retired salesman
The qualities to be a sales person are independent of being knowledgable.
And, their objective is to 'take your money'
Take folks money and give them an 'honest sale' and things are ok.
Take your money AND do something bad, folks are going to get extra angry.
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K3WE
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05/05/13 05:23am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Overdrive?
:h
I am thinking if you can't drive down a fairly level road in OD with the cruise on, maybe, just maybe you might have too much trailer for your power train!
A logical thought. But wrong.
In their quest for maximum MPH, the newest trucks highest gears are way too high for any kind of towing, and the TV drops down to a lower gear to go up mild hills- when empty.
Thus adding a camper can pretty much 'instantly' render the highest gear of minimal value.
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K3WE
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05/04/13 11:26am |
Towing
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RE: where did the oil go?
True, there is nothing wrong with burning some oil...but, it should not burn oil. maybe a bit when working hard, I`ll go as far as saying up to a half quart in 3k miles.
Oil consumption is OK.
But it's not OK.
Well, maybe it's OK if the engine is working.
But I decree that it is 0.5 qt/3000 miles.
Dude, you are all over the place!
Having been around a few vehicles over the years, I belive the answer is that oil consumption can and does vary. I've been amazed that I have not added any oil to my new Chevrolet 6.0 over the past 25K miles (towing or not). The old 5.7 (two of them that is) would burn 1 qt every 2500 miles, unless I was towing- and then it was more. That consumption was fairly constant over 200K miles. Never added oil to the last two Toyotas, but the one before that: a quart every 2000 miles.
I guess that none of my engines are capable of reading your special decree of 0.5 qt/3000 miles.
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K3WE
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05/04/13 11:19am |
Towing
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RE: where did the oil go?
Despinte what "dodgeguy" says, engines with lots of miles on them, when worked hard will use some oil.
Keep an eye on it when towing and top it up when it gets a quart low (when checked cold).
Concur.
I've seen more than one engine burn some more oil when working harder.
Things get hotter, thus more gaps to lose oil, the oil gets hotter, the engine may be spinning 50% more per mile as the TV runs in a lower gear...all sorts of mechanisms.
AND- an engine with 120K miles on it burning oil...that's anything but rare.
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K3WE
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05/03/13 04:22pm |
Towing
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RE: Levelling - How Many Tires?
If you only support one tire IT is taking all of the weight normally taken by three. I say go for three AND support the entire footprint of all three tires.
On most trailers, the suspension largely equalizes the load. Putting a block under one tire does not increase the load on that one tire (unless you are going to an extreme to where the suspension linkages cannot adjust- emphasis on extreme.)
AND, sometimes putting one block under all the tires causes too much correction.
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K3WE
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05/03/13 02:38pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: 7 pin connector lock?
I purchased a female plug do serve as a contact protector and think it helps a lot. HOWEVER, you have to be sure to put it at the right angle or it traps water instead of repelling it.
As to LOCKING it for SECURITY? I guess you are saying that no turn signals and no brakes and no jack retraction is going to discourage a thief from hooking up and hauling it off? I'm afraid that some wire cutters and 10 min of wiring will fix whatever sort of lock you want to put there.
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K3WE
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04/29/13 04:57pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Dealing with moisture in the fridge
Are you saying that you drop off your TT at storage as soon as your done camping? When I come home, I put mine in the driveway to unload - the fridge and pantry usually gets emptied first and I them turn it off. I then go in and wipe it down while cleaning up. The doors are then put in storage mode - which means they are partially open to allow air circulation. Most models have this option. After a few days of sitting in the driveway, I hook up and take it to storage with a dry fridge. Not sure I'd leave it cold rght up to the point of storing it.
Dittos to this.
When we get home and unload and shut down, there's a first class water puddle after about 4 hours- probably due to both frost AND condensation.
I wipe it up, AND check it again around 24 hours.
Not only that, but we make an extra special effort to prop the doors full open (bungee strap jury rig)- one year, they closed up while driving to the storage place- and even though I genuinely tried to dry things out- things were a a bit nasty the next time we got the camper out.
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K3WE
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04/29/13 04:50pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Another Rant - can't help it!!
...6-7 grand children, literally screaming and playing tag...until 10:30 then it stopped.
Here's where it gets tough...
Kids running around, playing tag and screaming just like kids do, and knocking it off before quiet hours.
How can you fault that?
Yes, I too prefer 'total' silence except for Mother Nature, but I can just see their grandparents telling them at 10:45 to listen to the beautiful silence and maybe implanting the same likes that you and I have.
No good answers for this one...
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K3WE
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04/28/13 06:40pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tongue weight on hitch overnight?
Can you put the jack down- YES.
You you NEED to take weight off the TV- NO- when you hit a bump, the hitch and Tow vehicle gets MUCH more stresss- and it doesn't damage anything to stay hitched.
Do you WANT to put the jack down to level or stabilize the camper, That's not a bad idea, but it's kind of up to you.
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K3WE
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04/28/13 06:29pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Great Results Using A Space Heater!
Lol, you trolled several people, so, 6/10. While you do have a natural knack for being abrasive, you would have to be a little more rude to increase ruffled feathers and achieve an optimum troll score of 9/10 or 10/10.
There's a lot of divergent opinions on who's heater is the best, but if you are only going to give me the Pro's I know you are ignoring the Cons.
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K3WE
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04/26/13 12:39pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Opinions on electric heaters.
...rather than directly heating the air.:S Science!!:B
You have a short memory. You said that radiant heaters do not heat air. (the little dot is a period)
That's scientifically wrong.
The air next to a red hot element is heated by direct contact (science)
Hold your hand above a radiant heater and feel the nice updraft of warm air that comes off- there's a good bit of direct hot air produced by a radiant heater. (science)
Yeah, you are partly correct, there's indrect routes: The warm wall* (heated by the radiation) also heats the air (science)
(*the warm wall includes internal walls of the heater as well as items ahead of the heater) (science)
But, get yourself a thermometer (and be a good scientist and be sure that the IR radiation isn't hitting the thermometer) because you will find that after a very few hours, the air temperature between a radiant heater and an air-blowing heater is not going to be very different (science).
Radiant-type space heaters are pretty effective at heating the air too. (Science and yeah, bring on the head-slapping emoticon)
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K3WE
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04/26/13 06:16am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: 30 amp and power surge guar tripping....
Campground electricity has a high rate of strangeness...I wouldn't sweat it.
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K3WE
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04/26/13 05:50am |
General RVing Issues
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