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RE: Lessons we've learned over the years
If you have a slinky with hose clamps on the fittings, occasionally check for tightness before dumping. Really messy(and stinky)when the hose blows off the fitting.
When using a blue tote be sure the tote dump valve is closed before you open the TT dump valve. It's unbelievable how much can go straight thru and onto the ground before you can get the valve closed.
I now do as mentioned earlier, dump a little grey water to check everything before dumping the black.
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martipr
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05/15/13 04:27pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Testing Trailer Brakes with Break Away Cable
I routinely check that my brakes are getting current by pulling the breakaway pin and measuring the current (clamp-on ammeter). You just plug the pin back in then.
Not a problem. You should be able to pull the pin and try dragging the trailer. Or jacking it up and rotating the wheels.
Any possibility that your bearing seals are leaking? That will reduce braking action a lot. I routinely check my brake drum temperatures by touch after a quick stop from highway speeds (like at a reststop). Once I noticed one of the drums was much less hot than the other. And sure enough, there was grease all over inside the drum.
And yes, brake adjustment needs to be done every year, unless your brakes are self-adjusting (an easy and worthwhile upgrade).
How many amps should there be?
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martipr
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04/21/13 12:25am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Lessons we've learned over the years
Extra trailer keys in truck, maybe a third with the spouse. Ask me how I know.
Only 1 ply or RV toilet tissue. Learned this the hard way too.
Been using 2 ply for 5 years, no problem. Use lots and lots of water, learned this the hard way.
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martipr
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04/21/13 12:16am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Dump Station Etiquette
In my TT, like in the op's, the bathroom cannot be accessed unless the slide is almost all the way out. In addition to the standard black/grey dump I also have a separate galley tank and dump so that takes me a little longer. If anyone is waiting I just dump the black/grey, switch the hose and dump the galley. I then get out of the way and when I can, pull over, open the slide and use the water pump to flush several gallons into the black tank, add some Unique RV Digest-It and go on my merry way.
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martipr
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04/20/13 11:33pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Blocked toilet
You should also be using the right type of toilet paper.
Clicky
This compares Kleenex to toilet tissue. Ridiculous. If you are using Kleenex or baby wipes or anything but toilet paper your headed for trouble. If this test is tried with various brands of toilet paper all will break up, some faster than others but all are RV safe. The only problem is convincing the females that it is not necessary to use a half roll each time.:)
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martipr
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04/20/13 10:30pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Brand new TT has sewage odor
Unless you picked the trailer up from the factory yourself you have no idea what it has been through. The delivery driver might have used the trailer to spend the night, used the toilet during rest stops, the toilet could have been used at the dealer facility, etc. It is easy to check, put a bucket under the dump valve and open it slowly.
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martipr
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04/10/13 10:18pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: TT Stabilizers
Any lube that stays oily is a dirt magnet abd the jacks are in the most dirt/sand prone area. Oil and sand make a super grinding compound. You would do just as well to go to the auto supply store, but a can of valve lapping compound and lube with it. Motorcycle chain lube is the best choice, it is designed to lube without holding sand.
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martipr
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04/10/13 10:05pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Hitch package from RV dealer
When you get through with that dealer I'd like to talk to you about some lakefront property in the Mojave.
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martipr
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02/27/13 11:36pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Trunnion Bar Lube?
Hans,
Leave your Dual Cam Surface DRY if you can stand it. These are the friction points of the sway control design.
Reese does recommend using regular petroleum jelly if there is excessive noise. If your cams make a lot of noise a thing layer of petroleum jelly will quiet it down without reducing sway control. Do not put regular grease on your dual cam. ONLY petroleum jelly.
X2. Petroleum jelly, cheaper than the Reese ball grease and seems to work fine. I do put a thin coating on both ends of the trunnion bars but not on the cams.
Petroleum jelly is for use on the cams only. It is not a good lube. Any good wheel bearing grease or Reese hitch grease for the ball and the trunnion ends.
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martipr
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02/27/13 11:31pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: MPG
Sounds fairly normal. Might try slowing down depending on how fast you tow. Dropping from 65 to 55 mph gave me almost 2 MPG. I got a lot more time than money. If the prices keep going up I may be down to 45 MPH.
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martipr
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02/27/13 11:08pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: How far can you tow prior to fill up?
I have, depending on winds and terrain, on different trips averaged from 6.4 to 14.2 miles per gallon but around 10 is average. I have a 26 gallon tank but try not to go below 1/4 tank or about 20 gallons. So at the worst I have to fuel every 124 miles and that sucks. At the best I fuel each 280 miles. Over all I figure about every 200 miles works out about right to fill one reservoir and empty another. I don't know what kind of trailer you are thinking of but most likely you will need at least a 1/2 ton truck.
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martipr
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02/27/13 10:53pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Bedlift Kit?
Make sure you mount those somewhere really solid. You may need to add more wood to the mounting location because the screws will rip out of thin wood.
X2 I reinforced the attach bracket mounting points when I changed the springs. As is typical the original was pretty marginal.
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martipr
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02/27/13 10:39pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: What Did You Do For Your Travel Trailer Recently?
We bought a matteress topper fron Costco. One of the best things we have done. The only problem is the gas struts wont hold the bed up anymore. I us a expandable shower rod to hold it up now. It was worth the trade off.Thats funny if you start to raise ours its hard to start with but then it flys up fast and hard, and when you put it down you have to push hard and then watch out it will slam lol. Replacement gas springs are cheap. Just google "Automotive gas springs" or go to a local auto supply and get stronger springs. I had just the opposite problem, I could lift it with one finger but almost had to call for help to get it down. You might need to change the location of the attach points.
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martipr
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02/26/13 06:11pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: What Did You Do For Your Travel Trailer Recently?
Replaced the one 12 volt battery with two Trojan T105s. Next will be a smart charger to keep them in tip top shape. O yeah also gave it a bath and a kiss.
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martipr
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02/26/13 06:03pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Bedlift Kit?
My trailer came with the lift kit standard but the gas springs were way too strong. The bed would lift with one finger but you almost had to climb up and sit on the bed to close it. They put so much pressure on the lower attach brackets that the bed frame on one side broke. I did a repair job and replaced the springs with ones half as strong. I googled "automotive gas springs" and found more information and suppliers than I could read. One thing I found is that when you don't have to pay for the"RV" name things are much cheaper.
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martipr
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02/26/13 05:57pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Trailer brake controls
Prodigy P3. I have used it for three years and I love it. A couple of months ago it developed a problem so I called the factory. They immediately sent me a new unit, no questions asked. With a great product and customer support like that why would anyone go elsewhere.:)
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martipr
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02/26/13 05:43pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Thetford Aqua Magic Plus Toilet
Look underneath the pedal before you go running off to replace and repair parts!
Any small item like a cap or just about anything small could have rolled under the pedal and it is not going down all the way.
I had the throw rug inch too close to under the pedal preventing it from going all the way down and it stopped the blade from flushing correctly.
Thanks for trying but reread the original post. I have no problem with it flushing. The problem is that as soon as I touch the pedal it starts to open even before the water starts flowing preventing me from adding water to the bowl after flushing.
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martipr
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02/17/13 03:22pm |
Tech Issues
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Thetford Aqua Magic Plus Toilet
I have a problem with my Aquamagic plus toilet in mt TT. It flushes fine but when I try to run water into the toilet bowl the dump valve opens with the first movement of the pedal. I have to get water is in a container from the sink and pour it in. This problem has only just recently began, it has always operated properly before. The valve opens fully and the flush water flows fully. Any ideas what could cause this and how to correct it?
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martipr
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02/14/13 01:51pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Another WDH and Sway Question
1. The receiver...
2. Ball mount...
3. WDH...
4. Sway control...
Does the average Joe get all of this? Probably not. And if he does get it does he have the knowledge and resources to make it right, to get it optimal? Probably not. That is my point.
Well, maybe I give "Joe" more credit than he is due. All of the necessary information is readily available if "Joe" looks.
On the other hand, maybe you give RV dealers more credit than they deserve. The tech that sets up a hitch is possibly the newest and least experienced person on their team. That tech probably sets every hitch the same because that was how they were taught. Even if you get a skilled technician, are they willing to put the necessary time into a proper setup and adjustment? Even if the WD hitch is perfect when the rig leaves the shop, the trailer is empty. When "Joe" adds 1,000 pounds or more cargo it is no longer adjusted correctly.
No-one knows my rig and my needs better than I. "Joe" should learn and know his rig as well. When "Joe" comes on this forum and seeks advice, they are already above average simply by asking.
Are you Joe-king? The RV dealer who I deal with gets it right. I can't speak for any I don't know anything about.
It is a rare enough occurrence when a dealer gets it right that their name should be posted. Please give them some recognition.
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martipr
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01/14/13 04:02pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Need Help-LED bulbs
I have replaced my old incandescent lights with these. This is a pack of ten lights.
This is the same individual unit. I have had absolutely no problem with any of this seller's (2011_LED) items. I can't say the same for some others.
These are just slightly brighter than the 921s and about the same color. The lights with 5050 SMD LEDs should be brighter. Just be sure they are "warm white" if you don't want a blue white light.
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martipr
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01/13/13 05:51pm |
Tech Issues
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