RE: Longer WD Shank effects
Word games word games word games!
Does it change your RATING if you go shorter...maybe not.
Does it change the way the weight is distributed...yeah.
Does it affect the leverage the trailer has to affect the TV (and vice versa...yeah.
In this world of one more link of the chain vs one less, Reese vs. Hensley vs. Chevy vs. Ford vs. GEO vs. water, Northern vs. Camping TP it has a real affect on how you vehicle takes weight and might handle!!!
Not word games, just another example of people over thinking these things when they dont have any real world experience. Four more inches of shank equate to a overhang ratio change from 2.68 to 2.50.......in other words, no difference.
Ok, send me 6% of your pay check. Since it's no difference, you won't miss it.
You lose ~6% horsepower in a NA engine comparing winter to summer ambient temperatures...........statistically insignificant.
It's getting better all the time. All the people killed by aircraft that crashed when trying to taking off on a hot afternoon are not statistically significant, nor is it neccesary for airliners to calcualte power and takeoff distances based on temperature.....
Somehow they were able to take off in the cool of the morning just fine!
Not only that but you need to study up on the definitions of statistical significance versus practical significance.
RE: Longer WD Shank effects
Actually making shank longer will decrease the tongue weight rating on receiver hitch. Most receivers are rated for 10" from hitch pin to center of ball. Take an extreme example of a 20" drawbar (ball to pin) put in a receiver rated for 500# max tongue weight. The "new" tongue weight rating is now HALF of the original 500#, or only 250#.
So 14" is an increase of 1.4, so tongue weight rating DECREASES by 1.4. Is that a problem? No idea, depends on your receiver rating and TT tongue weight.
Also increase tendency to sway, but with a Dual Cam that is likely not an issue.
Hope that helps.
So with my regular ballmount being 8" pin to ball that would raise the reciever rating? NOT. Sure it changes the leverage, but the hitch manufacturers know there are a range of ballmounts going to be used. Unless one goes with some type of extension there should be no cause for concern.
Call the manufacturer when in doubt, but 10"-14" are common sizes and I SERIOUSLY doubt the manufacturer will tell you it changes anything.
Word games word games word games!
Does it change your RATING if you go shorter...maybe not.
Does it change the way the weight is distributed...yeah.
Does it affect the leverage the trailer has to affect the TV (and vice versa...yeah.
In this world of one more link of the chain vs one less, Reese vs. Hensley vs. Chevy vs. Ford vs. GEO vs. water, Northern vs. Camping TP it has a real affect on how you vehicle takes weight and might handle!!!
Not word games, just another example of people over thinking these things when they dont have any real world experience. Four more inches of shank equate to a overhang ratio change from 2.68 to 2.50.......in other words, no difference.
Ok, send me 6% of your pay check. Since it's no difference, you won't miss it.
Closure of African American Camping Topic
Moderator Note:
The thread was closed at the request of the Original Poster. Additionally there were many deleted off-topic posts as well as many that violated forum rules.
Dick A
Moderator
__________________________________________________________________
I'm not sure why that thread should be closed.
For the most part, it was healthy discussion and a reflection of the fact that race relations have made some good progress, but that things are not yet utopian.
I can't say that I've seen a lot of African American folks around campgrounds. Right or wrong, I could understand if it felt a tad awkward, and no real harm in asking on an internet forum if there's other African-American folks out there interested in camping together so you were not the only person who looked different.
My daughter happens to be in swimming- and guess what- African Americans are not participating at a percentage that represents their relative numbers in this country. Guess what else- African American swimmers are succeeding at the same percentage as the Caucasions, and Amen- we finally had an African American Gold Medalist swimmer this year.
In fact, the sport of swimming has started a new effort, because if you are African American, you are twice as likely to drown....That's something to be fixed regardless of the "diversity count" on a swim team!
So, do we talk about it black people and a sterotypical avoidance of water sports, or is it better to keep such discussions taboo and let the accidental drownings continue?
Given that the most segregated hour in the USA is 11:00 AM Sunday were a "both of us" worship this Jesus fellow (often in differing styles) and claim to be Christians, we have to admit that there's still some cultural differences. And given that there's probably some wonderful praise and worship going on at "both places" maybe it's not a crime that there's a few cultural differences.
Maybe it's not a crime that a black family might wish to camp with another black family or two.
All that being said, there were plenty of great posts in the other thread that said things like "all I care about is that you are American" or "all I care about is that you are a camper". That's what it needs to be.
Finally, please understand that there was plenty of healthy, loving joking. Yeah, there's some stereotypes of both races and some genuine people to back them up. But if we can't talk about it and laugh about it, it's a sad state of affairs.
I think America is at a point where we can discuss differences as opposed to making the subject taboo. I'm wondering why Woodalls forum is apparently behind on being quite so enlightened.
RE: RV Newbie with some questions re: hitches
Just spewing free advice without a clue as to what you are after or genuineley need (please re read the begninning of this post).....I suggest TT since THAT is what you are used to and you can go the TT route with about zero adaptation...maybe an electric brake controller if your other trailers were brakeless or surge...and maybe a "head/wd/sway" set up if you are getting anything other than a small TT.
If you go fith wheel, then bring on the fifth wheel hitch, kiss a few bucks good bye and get ready for extra hardware in the bed of your truck.
Of course are you after something "tiny" or "huge"???? I would let TT size dictate what you do.
Has your horse trailer ever made your tow interesting?? Fifth wheels handle big stuff better, and there is a valid warning that camper aerodynamics mess with your tow comfort MUCH MUCH more than boat or horse trailers....
The fifth wheel will generally handle that sort of stuff better.
Of course, all the good WD/sway stuff that goes along with a larger TT will do a good job and will utilize a lot of the hitch stuff you already have.
Edit- if you are good at backing your trailers, the fifth wheel will mess with you a little....same general principal, but you get a little extra kick out of the drawbar on a TT that you will miss on a 5 er.
RE: Longer WD Shank effects
Actually making shank longer will decrease the tongue weight rating on receiver hitch. Most receivers are rated for 10" from hitch pin to center of ball. Take an extreme example of a 20" drawbar (ball to pin) put in a receiver rated for 500# max tongue weight. The "new" tongue weight rating is now HALF of the original 500#, or only 250#.
So 14" is an increase of 1.4, so tongue weight rating DECREASES by 1.4. Is that a problem? No idea, depends on your receiver rating and TT tongue weight.
Also increase tendency to sway, but with a Dual Cam that is likely not an issue.
Hope that helps.
So with my regular ballmount being 8" pin to ball that would raise the reciever rating? NOT. Sure it changes the leverage, but the hitch manufacturers know there are a range of ballmounts going to be used. Unless one goes with some type of extension there should be no cause for concern.
Call the manufacturer when in doubt, but 10"-14" are common sizes and I SERIOUSLY doubt the manufacturer will tell you it changes anything.
Word games word games word games!
Does it change your RATING if you go shorter...maybe not.
Does it change the way the weight is distributed...yeah.
Does it affect the leverage the trailer has to affect the TV (and vice versa...yeah.
In this world of one more link of the chain vs one less, Reese vs. Hensley vs. Chevy vs. Ford vs. GEO vs. water, Northern vs. Camping TP it has a real affect on how you vehicle takes weight and might handle!!!
RE: RPMs while using CC vs no CC
All transmissions have a system where you "let it slip" while you change gears.
On a manual transmission, that's a clutch. On an automatic- its a turbine like thing- folks like to make an analogy of one fan blowing directly at another fan, so the second fan spins...the second fan doesn't HAVE to spin at the same speed, it can speed up and slow down, and you do loose some energy, BUT it is transferring power from one fan to the other.
You've got essentially that in a torque converter (with a million subtle differences- starting with it moving oil and not air).
This "slippery" connection (between the engine and the transmission gives it a little slip to smoothly change gears.
In the olden days, when gas was cheap and computers were lacking, your torque converter spent it's entire time, able to slip a little bit.
Guess what, that slippage wastes power and generates heat!
In the olden days, your car torque converter would work well, but hook a giant trailer on and you generate a lot of heat!!!
So, about 15 years ago, gas started getting expensive, and they designed a way for the torqe converter to slip while the gears are changing and then gently lock-out when they weren't changing....
The torque converter being "locked out" is sort of like when the clutch is fully engaged on a manual transmission- no slippage allowed (unless something is wrong).
No slippage, less wasted fuel, less heat!
Now, the bottom line here is that this "lock out", or "let it slip" feature works differently in different makes, different years, different engines, different transmissions.
I can't give you the specifics, but if you are not careful, certain speeds and/or certain gear and tow-haul settings will get the transmission "stuck" in the "slip mode" where you will waste gas and generate heat, and possibly even damage the transmission.
Now, as to why the cruise control would cause it to act differently- I do say that some people will almost unconciously move the accelerator up and back and give the transmission an extra shove to "trick" the transmission to a higher. You speed up about 2 to 5 mph too fast and then let off the gas to slow back down to your desired speed. Usually, that will "trick" the transmission into a higher gear. While the cruise control won't give it that brief "relaxation time" so the transmission can sometimes be stuck in the lower gear.
(Now, let's bring on the maual vs. automatic debates that the computers think very fast and make very wise choices, but do not have eyes as to what is ahead, nor do they know what we are thinking and what gear WE want to use :-) )
RE: Please, we need your prayers.
In some ways, you don't need these prayers as you are well aware that Lexi is alive and well thanks to what we learned on Easter morning.
Of course you still get my prayers as it's sad that you now have to live apart.
May you be blessed with wonderful memories and the knowledge that Lexi's also praying for you!
RE: Gear Ratio and Tire Size
Hello everybody...BIGGER tires equates with a HIGHER gear ratio, and the OP was worried that his rear end was too high.
And, when I say "bigger" I mean truly bigger in terms of net diameter/circumfrence, NOT the rim size!
If the OP thinks his rear end is too high, he should be thinking of smaller tires.
RE: Not a tornado chaser
There's many many ways to look at this.
There's the old adage that RV's and mobile home parks either attract tornadoes and/or, they sure don't handle them very well.
Then again, you are much more likely to be killed by lightning or flooding or by a getting in a fatal crash driving to the RV park, so the "don't worry about it" advice has validity.
If you get a direct hit by a powerful tornado, your only hope is to be in an underground shelter, or one heck of a strong above-ground structure! Going to the park bathroom may be better than being in the camper, but for most structures, it won't guarantee survival of a direct torando hit.
Getting a weather radio and watching the weather, and evacuating when appropriate gives you a reasonable amount of control over the situation.
Then again, bailing out every time there's a tornado warning can be over kill. Most tornado warnings include no touchdowns, and most touchdowns affect extremely small areas. It just sucks when YOU are that small area!
And on the other hand you never know when a good ole rip-roaring thunderstorm will drop an unannounced twister, so your weather radio is not a 100% guarantee.
There's lots of ways to get killed in this world, and don't let an irrational fear of tornadoes ruin what should be a great camping trip. That's no guarantee that you won't see a tornado warning, and a bunch of campers run for a shelter, where you will sit and listen to it rain and thunder, and no-doubt, there will likely be a tornado somewhere in that state during tornado season.
Finally, as we know from other threads, the most important advice is to remember that there is an extreme risk of thundertorms destroying any awnings that are left out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RE: Towing in 3rd gear
What I'm not understanding in this conversation, is if you are in genuine hills, why not go down them in high gear (unless of course, you need to help the brakes a little with engine braking).
However, I wholeheartedly agree with the one post that said, "Use your head!"
RE: Why are people against RVing?
Ok, I am going to say that this lady is simply "misinformed" and maybe not smart enough to handle ALL the facts. There are usually two sides to every story.
Now, set your sarcasm filter to medium as you read the next comments:
She is however, capble of handling a few of the facts. Your RV gets lousy MPG (that's a fact!), therefore you are wasting our precious fuel, generating CO2 and destroying the planet (that's is somewhat logical, albeit flawed!)
As others have stated, there's other activities that burn gas and make C02!)
Also, if you really want to enjoy nature, you have to rough it! That means TENT ONLY. If you have to haul a real bed, a full bathroom, a full kitchen, you ain't roughing it (the first sentence is slightly flawed, but the second sentence IS a fact!).
Two final points: 1) There's a lot of genuine, nature-loving, RVers who can do the math and compare a camping trip to an airliner ride to Disney land and care about the environment more than most!
2) There are those folks who have to whip out the big loud generator, and that's not the best "back-to-nature", "one-with-the-earth" behavior.
Instead of blowing her off, do your best to offer the facts that there's plenty of RV trips that burn less gas, or certainly cost less than $100-a-night motels!
And, if you are one of those special persons who does care about our wonderful natural areas and the fact that suburban America may be putting just a little stress and strain on them- let her know!
RE: Overnight - Why stuck on WalMart - think out of the box
It’s absolutely amazing. One person was nice enough to post something good and was just trying to generate some excitement and almost every post that followed was a total negative.
I disagree. (EDIT Ok, Ginabas sneaked in ahead of me- I agree with him/her) The majority of the posts here are essentially pointing out that the "Devil is in the Details" and that the original post lacked a lot of important considerations.
While it's anything goes, on these boards, people come here for advice, and the original post could be taken, "forget about Wal Mart, just camp in the city park" That's BAD advice.
And, make no mistake, I am NOT criticizing the original post, but there's a lot of goofy folks in the world who MIGHT take that post as advice to blindly go camp in city parks.
While I'm certain there's some great RV friendly city parks out there, I'm also certain that your odds of finding an RV friendly Walmart are pretty close to the odds of the city cops telling you you can't camp in the city park.
It's a great idea; however as one of those "negative posts" pointed out, you will need to do your homework in advance.
RE: Overnight - Why stuck on WalMart - think out of the box
Our former church did not allow overnight parking.
I sometimes wondered if it might be more Christian to let it be open, and heck, maybe they'd even come in to services on Sunday.
OTOH, I could also see the potential for abuse.
I think most of the folks on this forum are great; however, it doesn't take too much imagination to envision other folks (probably not forumites) trying to set up for an extended time period where they are taking advantage of the lot, as opposed to grabbing a needed overnight.
RE: Answer needed!!!
Sorry to be ugly here, but your subject line says "Answer Needed!!!!!!!!"
With all those exclamation points and your incredibly informative subject line, I think you need THREE answers:
1. Yes
2. No
3. Maybe
Sorry, I guess I'm in a bad mood, but there sure are a lot of very UNinformative subject lines on this forum.
RE: generator etiquette
I think you should get a second battery, not that you aren't the perfect neighbor and will STILL need recharging, but it sounds like a second battery might make your electrical life a bit more relaxed and flexible.
RE: receiver height difference question
Why are manufactureres going so crazy on raising and dropping receiver heights!
An inch or two, fine, but they really are moving them to places that aren't very good for towing....
I guess recievers are for bike racks and bumper-dumpers and not trailers :-)
RE: According to This Forum...
Be warned....I bent my original "sheet metal" bumpter pretty good with my bike rack and am glad I still have the bikes.
Great post, and yeah, there's way too many know it alls and way too little common sense; however, "the rules" are written from excrement which transpired :-)
RE: Gate valve for black tank pipe
Dittos to replacing mine- was not a major deal.
For the record, I did go and wash my hands afterward!
As far as rusty bolts, I'd use normal care not to tear up the plastic pipes, but that shouldn't be super-duper hard. You should be able to carefully twist a totally rusted 1/4" bolt in two with a couple of wrenches, vice grips whatever with no damage to the pipe flanges.
Hardest part for me was getting the gasket in place (but still just another day of an amatuer, and some basic tools!)
RE: Meramec River, Missouri. Canoist Advice
i love meremec state park, been there many times, but always float in tubes. what is your question? meremec not fast enough? cause it isn't, especially this time of year, but i love floating it in tubes.
Hard to explain my question. We want to camp and do several DIFFERENT floats.
That immediate area you mention seems somewhat far away from further up where the Huzzah, Curtois, Meramec spring is, and MAYBE, more floating options (this stretch or that).
I mentioned Pulltite on the Current river. It's a great campground that conveiniently offers about four different portions of the river as "options" for day floats, where you come back to camp.
I am scared that the park you mention is going to "offer" only one or two short floats.
Not after white water, and tubing is a good thing....Just not on Oct 1, AND a day long tube trip is about a 2-hour canoe trip.
And, yeah, we like EVERY KIND of floating....even the kind where the RV stays at home and the "camper" is made of nylon and rides in the boat! (However, there's a lot to be said for the TT as compared to a gravel bar on a 35-degree night!). :-)
Anyway, I hope someone who canoes might have camped at more places than JUST Meramec state park and could comment on pros, cons, ins outs, etc.
Thanx.
