RE: Root of the Crisis
So there is nothing wrong with a service based economy. Its certainly a little different but in this day in age with Unions and such I'd argue its impossible to have a viable manufacturijng job base for long as ultimately more and more competition from overseas will drive you out of business or change your practices because its been shown time and time again that American's on average shop price.
I've never understood this kind of fuzzy economics. Traditional economies worked because they added value. When a company bought $3,500 worth of steel and plastic and built a $25,000 car out of it, the company got a profit, the workers got a wage and the buyer got an asset that had real value and could be resold to recoup some of that money. Over time, this process increased the total welath of society. No such process happens in a "service economy." Money only gets passed back and forth, no NEW wealth is created. Worse, the REAL wealth is constantly being funneled OUT of our economy via all the trade deficits we hold with nations that have traditional economies based on value-added production.
"Service economy" is as phony as "subprime mortgage." It just is taking longer to reveal itself as such.
RE: A SMart car in your future?
I'd be more comfortable, richer and getting better gas mileage in my old 1995 Saturn SL stick shift. I got an actual 40 mpg highway with that car routinely on road trips.
Shoulda kept it.
RE: Urban Legends
I'd have given her nothing. Many folks I know who work from their cars/trucks used to prefer McD's coffee precisely BECAUSE it didn't get unpleasantly cold as quickly as others.
I learned when I was 6 that coffee should be assumed to be hot enough to burn you. And have made behavioral decisions accordingly ever since.
RE: Weekend for kids within 2 hours of Chicago
Starved Rock near Utica is gorgeous in fall. Be sure to hike the canyon in nearby Matthiesan SP. Yes, a real canyon in north central Illinois!
RE: Help! Need Hybrid Travel Trailer Opinions
All 07 Siennas have the tow package, which gives a 3,500# maximum trailer rating and 8,800# GCVWR. The dead empty van probably weighs about 4,300#, so you have 4,500# to work with for all people, cargo and trailer.
The van will need to be custom wired for a brake controller (Tekonsha Prodigy recommended), a weight distributing hitch installed, and a Class III receiver installed.
Can you do it? Maybe. But MOST RV folks couldn't. You can't bring firewood, water, bikes, lawn toys, big grills, etc like most folks do. Frankly, you'd need to pack so light to make it work that IMO you'd be more comfortable camping with a popup and the extra niceties of camp life.
There is nothing unsafe about towing at your GCVWR. The car is RATED for that. Beyond it gets into the argument zone. But within should be no question. Good luck.
RE: In Today's L.A. Times: Writer's trip w/new Airstream
As usual, RVs specifically get targeted as endangered due to gas prices. Anybody know what a 737 get per seat in mpg? IMO, a flying family likely uses more fuel than the typical RV family.
RE: towing problems
Don't do it!
I'm a minivan guy and KNOW how well minivans can do towing popups. But there ARE subtleties and your proposed combo is one of the classic Catch 22 problems.
The Caravan manual will tell you you need a weight distributing hitch for any trailer over 2,000#. Forest River (Flagstaff) pups have unusually high tongue weights, so you will NEED wdh to tow level and safely. But FR trailers of that era had fragile C channel tongue frames that are not rated to support the extra loads of a wdh.
So you'd have a van that requires a wdh and a trailer that prohibits it. Catch 22.
Skip it and find a Fleetwood Santa Fe or Yuma and splurge the extra money getting a wdh and brake controller. These are two of the few small pups that can take wdh.
RE: Minivan question re: Freestar
Freestar 4.2 was the minivan tow champ up until its discontinuation. The 07 and up Siennas MIGHT beat it, but you can't really tell from peak power and torque levels. IMO, displacement stills tells you a lot about how much power you will get in the rev range you WANT to be in.
RE: Did you go from Coleman/Fleetwood to hybrid?
A hardside TT has a much different cabinet setup than any popup, even a highwall. Pups just can't have any permanent cabinets above the level of the box top. I'm surprised more people don't cite this factor! Stooping for EVERYTHING is a bit of a chore.
That said, much of the complaints cited here against popups aren't true of all popups when managed efficiently. A popup that has a floorplan with lots of open space near the door (like the FW Sun Valley) provides a LOT of top-down accessible storage. Why on earth would you take luggage OUT of the camper, then bring it back in? We travel with the inner isle PACKED and never pull out side stuff or have to transfer things from the van to the camper. Pop the top, pull the beds out, pull out the cooler (lives outside), toss duffels on a bed end, lift Sterilite onto counter, lift galley, setup dinette. You just move them into place as you get to them.
I'm not sure I get some of the cited packing advantages either. If you choose a good floorplan there is no need to setup the popup before or after a trip (unless it's wet...) With a TT, you need to haul all your food from the house out to the fridge and cabinets. With our pup, I pack it all into one cooler and the one Sterilite. Then haul each to the camper. Sure, the TT has more food storage space overall, but PACKING it isn't really any easier.
I'll say this, the TT is more forgiving of random packing behaviors than the pup is. But when properly planned, organized and executed, pretrip packing of food and clothes in a pup is just as fast as the TT.
TT advantages that can't be overcome by good practice are at-site conveniences, setup time, bad weather use, road stop convenience.
Popup advantages that can't be overcome by good TT practices are fuel mileage, lighter duty tow vehicle (usually the daily family vehicle), garageability, tow stability in crosswinds/gusts, small/wooded site access.
Enjoy what ya' got!
RE: Advice on tires for 2005 Fleetwood Valor PUP
Agree on the maintenance. I have the same tires on my 05 Fleetwood. Still original and lots of even -wearing tread with about 9,000 miles on the tires.
RE: Illinois Campers Unite
Why not just save money and time and put Blago in the federal pen NOW instead of later?
Too bad. Morraine View is very close to my inlaws and usually empty in the fall after school starts. Nice place when not crowded.
RE: What is the big benefit of the highwall models?
HWs have a bigger fridge, a big advantage. It is also a smart fridge, which means no worries about freezing or spoiling food like with the 'dumb' popup fridges that operate at specific BTU settings. On the other hand, the smart fridge suck battery power while the dumb ones don't. All life is a trade-off. The HW fridges usually self-light the fridge instead of manual lighting too.
The Fleetwood HW's use a fixed black tank and (recently) gray water tank. This cuts both ways. For weekenders, it seems like an advantage. For long trips in place, the 9 gallon black tank will be too small and require handling sewage in a tote - yuck. The Utah cassette or portipotti has smaller tanks, but emptying them doesn't require moving the whole camper to the dump station.
Have the HWs gone to DSI water heaters now too? That would be another nice upgrade from manually lit pilot lights that often blow out!
On the other hand, consider if you will REALLY owna tow beast forever. The Utah can be towed by pretty efficient vehicles like the Sienna and Grand Caravan minivans and CUVs like the Highlander, Pilot, Acadia, Outlook. Any HW would be pushing it for any of those.
RE: Need advice for choosing model- big bed, toilet, or storage
We have an Odyssey and a Sun Valley. I think the SV is the best possible pup floorplan for minivan towing.
1. You already see the benefit of TWO huge beds (IIRC the 1207 only has one king).
2. You note the lack of a front trunk, but may not have noticed the giant cavern accessible inside the SV when the roof is down. No need for a front trunk!
3. A Thetford 135 portipotti fits nicely in the cabinet by the door. Slightly smaller capacity than a true cassette potti, but same function.
4. Our family of 5, Ody and SV weighed in at a combined 7,940# on our recent longest and heaviest trip ever. Tow performance was very good and we got an overall average of 18.4 mpg (Chicago to Glacier NP).
5. DO get a Prodigy brake control and a weight distributing hitch (Reese 350mini or 400 single bar). The Ody rear end is too soft to go without it. Set it up carefully as even these little gems can overload the front axle if over-tightened.
RE: Need advice on moving from 1500 Silv HD to 1500 Yukon XL
OK, how about an Impala/Camry/Taurus? Plenty of around town backseat room for 3 kids. Still probably cheaper up front than a trade-in on a newish Burb, and LOTS cheaper in long term gas use.
Just thinking out loud for ya'. I know I'd have no room at my house for a third vehicle, but many do.
RE: Need advice on moving from 1500 Silv HD to 1500 Yukon XL
Given that the truck is a 2001 and might not have great resale value right now AND you only pull the trailer twice a year consider this: why not keep the HD and get a used minivan for regular family hauling duty. Our Honda van gets legit 24-25 mpg highway and 19 mpg in average suburban errands. Most other minivan get similar (except maybe the Chrysler 3.8 and Ford 4.2 engines). With light use, the HD probably has a lot of years of use left in it.
RE: Anyone else use a tarp under there awning?
18"x24" bristly welcome mat. Yeah, I have to sweep the interior once in a while. Big deal. Carpeting the outdoors is not for us.
RE: Minivan towing target dry weight of new trailer
I must have missed the brake discussion. I was referring to the warranty coverage question. I freely admit that you can probably exceed the GCVWR and get away with it if you take proper steps. But if you DON'T get away with it, you sure shouldn't go crying to the manufacturer to have them replace the "defective" tranny.
Going beyond ratings is like sailing beyond your charts. You can do it, but you've got no one to blame if you run aground.
RE: Dealer called me, wants my used Starcaft!
See now if you had just bought a Fleetwood pup the first time you'd not have had all these trade-in expenses!
hehe. Just good fun. Enjoy the new behemoth! (My guess is the Big Rock dealer)
