RE: x-chock Tire Locking Chock
Be VERY careful lifting your rig on the rear stabilizers, if you put too much pressure on those rear stabilizers they can pop through the floor. I do hit the switch in front stabilers to raise the front but do it for one second only.
RE: x-chock Tire Locking Chock
back stabilizers, take two pieces of wood and place them perpendicular to one another and then lower your stabilizers on those pieces of wood, seems to work for us
RE: x-chock Tire Locking Chock
Brand matters, some good and some not so good at stopping the rock and roll. They will stop your rig from moving backward when hitching up but a chock is good to do also.
RE: Slide-out locks?
There is a cleaner you need to use before eternabond is placed so it will bond, get at sme place as the eternabond. Do not accept other brands, NOT. The same.
RE: towing for dummies
Woman to woman, 1 get the 3500 it can take more weight in the bed of teh truck on the hitch, get a long bed truck so you do not need a speacial sliding hitch to prevent the fifthwheel corner from going through the back window, do not buy a rig that is more than 12,000 total pounds loaded and probably not longer than about 35 ft. Buy a brand that has a good reputation or you will be heartbroken, I have a diesel and love it but it costs more for maintainence, harder to find diesel fuel when on a trip but if on highways there are diesel truck stops but diesel fuel costs more. With that said, if you are pulling a heavy trailer or big(35 ft) a diesel is best to pull it. 4WD is better in my opinion since there are times that I am on grass and just spin wheels trying to pull rig off the grass and when put in 4WD it moves easily off. It is heavier, and sl less miliage though. Do not let the dealer of the truck talk you into something you will be sorry, MORE truck is the best advice. Truck/Car/RV dealers would sell snow to an eskimo so be careful there. Just know that the numbers of what the rig weighs on delivery often does not count any upgrades that came with the rig like bigger hot water tank or bigger fridge etc. All those things add up. For instance, if it says that delivered weight is 9600 but you added bigger fridge and hot water tank and bigger couch than the damn thing might weigh 10,000 pounds and if the GWR is 12,000 than you have 2,000 you can add before you are overweight and believe me, you are adding dishes and barbque, linens and towels, clothes, water which if you are carrying water is about 7 pounds per gallon and you will be carrying water in hotwater heater which is often 10-12 gal tank. You have a TV or two, Food in fridge and drawers, games, tools, levelers and it goes on and you can really maximize very quickly but 2000 is pretty safe. But what if it weighs 11,100 when delivered and 12,000 Gross Weight Rating. NOW you have a problem because I promise you, 900 pounds of******is easy to get to and you are overweight. PIN WEIGHT is the weight that the front of the rig exerts on the hitch and consequently on the bed of the truck and back axle of the truck. GCWR is gross combined weight rating and is the amount of weight the truck and rig can weigh and be safely pulled AND STOPPED by the truck with aux braking device you buy when buying the hitch etc. Axles of the truck need to not be overloaded and same for the frame and axles of the rig. Take your time to find the rig you want and then figure out what truck and pull it safely and do not buy EITHER until you know what each will cost you and do it safely. Do not skimp on the truck to pull a heavier rig dispite what the truck sales person tells you to sell the truck, THEY LIE. Same with RV dealers, many will lie to get the rig sold and off the lot. BE CAREFUL and do a very thorough insepection of ever system of the rig BEFORE YOU PAY ON RED CENT for it. They always like to get your money first and then when you find problems, they want you to bring it back. NO hold the money until it meets your inspection and have everything fixed before paying for the rig. Most rigs come with problems, water problems, electrical, slide out and worse so you want to know before paying for it and if big enough DO NOT BUY NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU LOVE IT. There are others out there. So many fifthwheel manufacturers have gone out of business, ask and ask more here for opinions before you buy, it will save you heartache and money. Some dealers are DO NOT BUY FROM THEM FOR ANY REASON so check on here for opinions of of the dealer and the rig you want.
RE: military campgrounds
Most military campgrounds WILL NOT ALLOW civilians. There are strong rules governing who can camp on base at low price. The rules are the rules, there are plenty of campgrounds around to use for non military.
RE: Help from furnace experts.
MY furnace all of a sudden would start but then would not light so no heat and would shut down. It was the board and it cost about $125 for the board. The repair man put in a new board and that new one was bad so he put in another and it worked. SO will have heat next year when we open 'er up in April if we do not go South sooner. Feel like we should go to Staten Is or Jersey Shore and help out by cooking and generator etc but now they have run out of fuel so not a possibility of getting there and being useful without fuel!
RE: Best GPS for RV
I have always liked GARMIN and they are great for customer support!! I want to buy a new GPS that will route me in a such a way that I am not confronted with an overpass, bridge etc that is lower than my rig, I do not want it to tell me that I am nearing something that is dangerous, I want it to route me in the first place to roads without overpasses that are low. Also will tellw here there is diesel fuel at stations I can take my truck and fithwheel in and be able to get out without taking the fuel tank with me. I use Next Exit and that is good but it has taken me to gas stations with a diesel tank but not designed for trucks with trailers. YES I can stop at truck stops but in some parts of the country the truck stops are far and few between.
RE: What % discounts should one expect for leftover 2012 Views
Matters where you live and how many are left over and how much the dealer wants to unload the rig. Walk in and do not look like you are drooling and actually have him show you something a little bigger and let him get you to look at the View, then complain a little about size but if the money is right you might consider.... NEVER tell them how much you want to pay, they will figure out a payment plan for you to own almost anything so do not tell them what you want to pay in total or monthly. I heard of someone who boughta rig with a 20 year loan, probably paying more interest than the rig is actually worth, NUTS. IF you cannot afford it, you cannot afford it, at most take a 6 year loan. IF you buying a rig to live in 24/7 then it is a different story a little but still NO 20 year loans for a rig, it is not a house and is not a appreciating piece of property, it depreciates the moment you take it off the lot so want to get the most discount as possible for that reason as well.
RE: I NEED FURNACE HELP
What if any effect does battery have on the furnace, is ANY of it done by the battery, fan, ignition etc? I would think the furnace would work on battery so you could dry camp but could be wrong. I will go out tomorrow and put the battery back on and see if the fan runs but does not light or just nothing unless plugged it but when plugged in, the fan runs( for short while) but then does not ignite the furnace and fan shuts down.
RE: I NEED FURNACE HELP
When I hit the switch it immediately sounds like the fan that draws air in from under the fridge goes on, stays on for a 30 or so seconds and then just cuts off totally and now clicking sound like it is trying to light or anything like that to answer donno 0128's questions as best I can. So you guys do not think it has anything to do with the stove change out? The top burners work but have not tried the oven yet but they lit it at the RV repair wtihout problem. Gas works on fridge and stove top so not propane per se but oculd be clogged to the furnace I guess and mud daubers? Have not had that problem before but...
I NEED FURNACE HELP
I have used my furnace once or twice this year, but today, I put the furnace on, the fan that sucks air in came on but then it shut down after about 30-45 seconds without the furnace firing. I clicked it a few times and no go. I had a new oven put in so wonder if that could be the problem but oven is on opposite side of rig from furnace so doubt. I was plugged into electric when I tried to put the furnace on. Then when I got home and hit the switch and NOTHING happened after I shut off the battery so wonder if I blew a fuse on the battery side but does the furnace need the battery power to light, but as I write this realize it must NEED ELECTRIC to run the fan so not sure if it is battery problem with the furnace but could not test as I was not plugged in when I tried while home but was plugged in when first trying this morning at the campground. YIKES I do not want a new furnace.
ANY ideas entertained!
RE: Does tongue count for "legal" trailer length?
I was told by more than one dealer that the TT is measured from the back bumper to the tip of the hitch triangle so you buy a 30 ft trailer and really you live in 25 or 26 ft of it. With a Fiver, the length is from back bumper to the front of the fiver so it is all liveable space that is counted. When buying one must be careful to know that are when buying a TT they will think they are getting more livable space that they are not.
Tire INFO
I just learned something new so thought I would share it. I knew that the last 4 numbers of the DOT numbers and letters on tire sidewalls indicated week and year that the tire was "born" but here is something new
On the tire sidewall is a DOT Code. That code includes a series of numbers and letters. The first two letters/numbers are the code for the manufacturing plant. The last four numbers indicate the week and year the tire was made 5107 (51st week of 2007 is an example.
IF the first two are U2
In this example, the plant code "U2" is a Sumitomo plant in Japan. How do I know that? Well, all tire manufacturing plants have a code from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). And I found a place within the NHTSA website where you can do a really quick search on that code.
The "Search Manufacturers Database" tool indicated in the website at http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/manufacture/ There is a form on the webisite
So, look at your tires, get those first two letters/numbers from the DOT line, uncheck all the boxes on the left except "Tires" and "New Tire", and plug in the two digits in the DOT ID box in the bottom center.
Hit the "Start Search" button and in seconds you have the tire manufacturer and the address of the plant where the tires were made.
Or, if you want to see where all of a manufacturer's plants are, plug in the tire company name in the "Manufacturer Name" box at the top and you will get all their plants with addresses and their two-digit DOT codes.
Just remember that with RV tires, age is generally more important than tread since they tend to dry out and crack from UV rays before they lose tread. Hope this info helps some of the newbies or reminds anyone looking at purchasing an RV (either new or used) to check the tires. It is also not unheard of for someone to purchae "new" tires only to find out that they actually sat in a warehouse for 3 or 4 years before the purchase.
