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RE: Spare Tire Security & Extra Spare?
A spare tire is carried not because you expect to use it but just in case you have to use it. In that case, you have no spare tire if you carry only one spare. I recently took a trip from Virginia to Fairbanks AK. The roads there can be really tough on tires and tire stores are not likely to be within 100 - 200 miles. If you do need a replacement, it will cost you an arm & a leg. For my trip, I carried a second spare for the TV as well as for the TT. If I were traveling in the lower 48, I wouldn't worry about a second spare for either one. Of course, a second spare should be mounted on a wheel.
In really remote areas, you apply this line of thinking to other vital items as well (extra provisions, water, fuel, tools, etc).
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uptime
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11/25/09 06:14pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Furnace won't fire, again
If you have not used your furnace for awhile, the propane line to your furnace may contain air. You should use an appliance, such as your stove, to get the line purged with propane and then try to get it to light. Any gas device that is past your furnace would be the first choice for purging.
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uptime
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10/18/09 07:25pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Newbie tow question.
Load-wise, I think your truck can handle the trailer. You will however add some weight as you load up with all the things that are normally carried on a trip thus increasing the overhanging rear end load and reducing the load on the front end of your truck. My 2500 Dodge Ram can tow my trailer easily. Towing without a WD hitch and sway bars give you no margin for an unexpected situation. If an uncontrolled sway resulted in an accident, you could be held liable. A WD hitch will keep the load balanced across all four wheels of the tow vehicle and wheels of the trailer and make it easier to tow and better control the total unit in an emergency. My choice was to add a WD hitch with sway control and I've never regretted the decision.
You do see contractor trucks pulling very heavily loaded trailers but this is usually local trips and at low speeds.
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uptime
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10/17/09 05:39pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: WOOD STOVE IN MOTOR HOME RV?????
There have been wood stoves in sailboats for a long time. You can purchase and install such a unit in most boats. For those boaters who want to use the engine fuel, diesel stoves are also available. I personally would not install one in a gasoline powered boat tho due to the possibility of stray gas vapors.
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uptime
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10/10/09 06:51pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Septic is overfilled, what do we do?
I agree with the designed to be towed with full tanks, remember, a full tank sloshes a lot less than a half full tank...no room for the liquid to move. Plastic wrap the hole and take it easy to the dump site.
If you MUST empty some...Gross, but 5 gallon buckets with lids...I wouldn't reuse them for anything though.
I routinely use a 5 gallon mud bucket to drain off some from the black tank and dump it in the toliet. Don't fill it up to the rim and sloosh it on your leg tho. The reason I do this is to get rid of the last 3 or 4 gallons to avoid having the tank turn rancid while in storage. This can, of course, be done at the last dump site but on the way home, someone always has to pee before we get home.
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08/09/09 04:17pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: W/D bars too small for new TT?
You WD Bars are too small as you stated. I have the 23FB and my tongue weight is 850 with 2 6volt golf batteries and same propane setup you have. Make the dealer provide a new hitch setup. I have 1000 lb bars on my E#qual-i-zer setup.
I went with the 1000# bars also. I've taken it on a trip from the east coast to Fairbanks AK and it worked perfectly. FWIW, the AK highway can be really hard on hitches & WD/sway control bars due to thawing of the permafrost and dips in the road.
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uptime
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08/09/09 04:09pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Proud new Jayco owner
I also have the 23 Jay Flight. It's a fine unit. Congradulations!
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uptime
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08/09/09 04:02pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Strange use of Dump Station
To paraphase the late George Carlin, "We come from a long line of people over thousands of years. Our ancestors survived every kind of disease & crud that ever existed and we have acquired this cummulative ability to survive. If you don't wash your hands then you will continue to develop even more resistance to disease." George went on to say that he washed his hands only if he pooped on them and that was only a couple a times a week.
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uptime
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07/29/09 07:04pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: stabelizing a TT
Your stabilizer jacks will function better if they are not fully extended. If you can use some 2X8 boards about 12" long to crib up under the jacks first, your TT will be less likely to wiggle around.
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07/29/09 06:57pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: So am I a redneck scrounge or is this ok?
Why not just dump the grey water along with the black water where and when you dump it? There, problem solved and all the tree-huggers are happy!
As to whether you're a redneck or not, I wouldn't know. Do you own a lot of camouflage clothing? Do you wear your ball cap with the bill so tightly bent under the edges almost touch each other? Do you chew? Do you pronounce the word I as "aah" and the word ON with a W in it ("own")?
Do you enjoy boiled peanuts? Does your pickup have at least a 6" lift kit? These and other factors might help to determine your "redneck-ness" --- happy camping!!..................:C
Now, now. I sense a little bit of bigotry in them thar words. I hope your just kidding. :(
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07/28/09 12:27pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: how many don't argue
No arguing or loud talking ever! We use hand signals only and my wife is the best I've seen in providing backup assistance. On a recent trip with my 18 y.o. grandson, it was a nightmare with his help. He didn't seem to understand anything about what we were attempting so he just held up both hands and wiggled his fingers regardless of what needed to be done. But, I never raised my voice or argued with him. If he didn't understand or was incapable of learning then I did it on my own but took a lot more time to do it.
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uptime
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07/25/09 07:04pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: My backing up skills are horrible
If a technique works then use it. People accuse me of being an "expert" trailer backer but I do what works for me. Let me share my method:
1. Don't listen to anyone when they tell you to turn the steering wheel this way or that way. They will simply mess you up.
2. Pretend that your trailer is a wheelbarrow and the back of your TV is you pushing the wheelbarrow. Keep in mind which way the rear of the TV goes when you turn the steering wheel (the rear end goes opposite from the way the front of the TV goes). In the case of a wheelbarrow, if you want it to go to the right, you swing the wheelbarrow handles to the left. And, like the man said, go slowly.
When I was in the Marine Corps many years ago I was a truck driver. In our dull moments, we would hook a jeep to a short jeep trailer and back it around a couple of barrels in a figure eight fashion. The winner was the one who could do it in the least time. We all got real good at backing trailers and I still have the skill.
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uptime
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07/18/09 06:24pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: how level is level ?
You really aren't looking for level as you are parallel to the ground. Nose down slightly in the front is okay, never nose up!! As for the TV, the rear will always drop more than the front, but you want to shift some of that weight to the front axle. When I am hooked up I drop 3/4" on the rear and just shy of 1/2" on the front and my TT is perfectly parallel to the ground and it tows very stable.
NCH
Good advice. We often use the term "level" but in fact we should be looking at the rig being parallel to the road. Since most roads & parking lots are not level that means all measurements should be from established points at each corner of the TV. I suggest that you put a piece of masking tape at each corner of the TV and establish an unhooked position. Make a zero mark on the tape (suggest something like 35") measured from the road/parking lot. It's usually good to push the front down about 1/4" to 1/2" and about 3/4" for the rear. This assures that all four wheels of the TV is carrying part of the load of the trailer. The front of the trailer should be in a straight line with the TV or maybe 1/2" lower.
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uptime
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07/04/09 08:14pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: How necessary is a weight distributing hitch?
There is obviously a lot of knowledgable folks who have posted on this thread but let me cover the matter of weight distribution & sway control a little differently (and hopefully clearer).
First, you can probably safely pull a small TT with a stiff sprung TV without a WD hitch or sway control. My 3/4 ton Dodge diesel certainly can.
Second, there are stretches of highways & bridges that are paved with straight slabs and when you go over them without a WD hitch, every thing starts to pogo. The trailer pushes down on the rear of the TV intermittently and pretty soon you think the trailer & TV is going to leap into the air.
Yes, a WD hitch spreads the entire load across all the wheels of the TV & trailer but more importantly, the WD hitch basically locks the tow vehicle and trailer in a horizontal straight line. In other words, you get no bending between the two units except for the flexing of metal! Just listen to the groans as you drive slowly over the sharp crest of a steep hill or down into a sharp ravine.
Sway control, on the other hand, tries to do a similiar job of locking the two units together but in the vertical plane. It just doesn't want the rig to turn left or right. When you do make a slow tight turn, listen to the groan of metal trying to keep you from turning.
So what is the benefit of having everything locked in a straight line? It makes for a more stable unit. When you are tooling down the highway at 70 mph with 18 wheelers passing you, you want your rig to stay in a straight line. You certainly don't want the trailer to begin wagging like the tail on a happy dog and make the TV unsteerable. You might even be subjected to a fine/lawsuit for failing to keep your unit under control.
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06/27/09 06:25pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Travel Trailer Cover
Order one from Walmart and pay about $200-$300(depending on the size). It will last three years and do a great job. Repairs and reinforcements are easily made using "Gorilla" tape. Takes about 10 minutes to take it off and about 15 minutes to put it on. Some people use a couple of lengths of plastic pipe to float it on or off working with any wind you may have. My trailer is kept on a wooded lot and I prefer to keep it covered when not being used.
HOWEVER, if your trailer is exposed to constant & heavy wind, you really need to use a much heavier cover.
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06/17/09 08:31pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: F150 vs. F250 - One Man's Opinion
Regarding relative comfort and ease of handling let me share my views. I own a new E class Mercedes (Blutec diesel) which get 32 MPG city and 38 highway. I also have an older Lincoln continental that gets great mileage. With two great & comfortable cars what do my wife & I generally choose for a run into town? Our 2500 Dodge Ram diesel! Certainly it has a stiffer ride but not uncomfortable, gets 20 MPG city and 24 MPG highway. I can see over most other vehicles & bridge railings and can carry anything we buy (plants, lumber, any big stuff). Also, it doesn't get lost in a parking lot! The funny thing is that the truck carries 6 adults while each car carries only 5 adults.
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uptime
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06/17/09 08:20pm |
Travel Trailers
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Near End-of-the-road Disaster
This week as we neared a state park & campground we decided to go a slightly different way. The road we took was a wide two-lane with center stripes. About two miles down the road, there was a sign saying "ferry - one mile, no turnaround." Then the road suddenly went to about 15 feet wide and the center stripes disappeared. I told my DW that I better find a place to turn our rig around before getting to the ferry. There were no places to turn around and we found ourselves where the road ended at the water and a very small ferry waiting. As it turned out, an adjacent fence had a chain spanning two fence posts. The ferryman took the chain down and I had to make the tightest backup turn into a ten foot wide opening in the fence while all along pushing the trailer up a steep bank. The ferry and all traffic was held up during the performance. Everyone applauded as I pulled back onto the road and left the area. Lesson learned - know what holes you are driving into to avoid such situations!
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uptime
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05/22/09 07:56pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: 07 Dodge Ram 2500 Front/Rear Axle Fluid Change
Somewhat OT.
I just purchased a new 2008 Ram 2500 Cummins. Does this already come with the synthetic gear oil? There is no other listing in the owner manual specs so I would assume so?
The reason I asked is my '02 Ram 1500 had conventional gear oil from factory but you were supposed to change it for towing to synthetic.
Yep, the truck comes with the correct GL-5 extreme pressure synthetic oil. Your owners manual should state the required oil. If you have not used a supplier for the best parts for your truck, I urge you to do so. It is Geno's Garage in Cumming GA (genosgarage.com) pho. 1-800-755-1715. These are excellent people and very knowledgable about all diesel trucks. They sell top quality parts for less than what you can get locally.
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05/17/09 03:34pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 07 Dodge Ram 2500 Front/Rear Axle Fluid Change
If this is the first time you've changed oil in the differentials I suggest you completely remove the covers after the oil has been drained. Inspect for any foreign particles, unusual wear, etc. Then thereafter, just loosen the bolts, drain & retighten. As has already been stated in a previous post, be sure to use full synthetic GL-5 75-90W or 75-140W. I personally have stayed with the 75-90W because my tow load is only moderate. If you are pulling a maximum load, go to 75-140W. GL-5 spec is an extreme pressure lube. Don't try to save $$ by using a lesser lube. Also, don't overfill the differentials. Keep the fluid level about 1/4" below the level check hole (use your little pinky to do this - or your DW's pinky if your pinky won't fit in the hole.)
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05/17/09 02:13pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Why are diesels better for towing?
Unless you're talking about a huge diesel found in a large pusher or MDT, the torque isn't 2X. Maybe 50% more or so.
Adondo has it pretty well described. Any differences I might have would be minor.
Matthew, FWIW, I have a E-320 Mercedes Benz Bluetec diesel sedan(2007). It has about 205 HP but 400 Ft-Lb of torque. To get a similiar torque in a gasoline engine, it would have to have to be >500HP. I have owned far more gasoline engines than diesel engines and have usually lived in pretty hilly/mountainous areas. Even with the lightest loads, I can maintain only 40 or 50 MPH going up these inclines with the gasoline engine. Of course, the engine will be running a maximum RPM and frequently overheats before I get to the top of really long inclines.
As far as fuel economy, my Mercedes diesel gets 37 MPG highway and my Dodge truck with the Cummins diesel will get 23-24 MPG. The little 6 cylinder Cummins develops 325 HP but produces 555 Ft-lb of torque.
A gasoline engine is fine for towing in flat country but a seven mile long climb on a 7% grade will leave it breathless.
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uptime
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05/17/09 01:53pm |
General RVing Issues
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