RE: "UPDATE" Brake Buddy Vantage Select
Hello. I just bought a BB Vantage Select yesterday and while at the dealer standing next to the toad the remote seemed to work fine. But on the drive home the red light that shows the toad braking never came on.
Once home, I assumed I must have hit the on/off switch and turned off the remote accidentally as it worked fine when I was sitting in the driver's seat at the MH and when I walked back to my toad car. But now after reading some of the entries here and in a tread in the bus conversion I am worried.
Does anyone know if the remote communication problem was fixed in the Select model or is it still ongoing? My MH is 32 feet long so by the time you add the tow bar distance and the front of the toad I am well over 40-50 feet.
Thanks.
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
A guy who's in business selling and installing RV parts is not going to be happy installing an online dealer's parts.
True, but not necessarily always. A few posts above you'll see tripalot saying:
"We bought from PPL and had our dealer install at the previously quoted price - no problem. He was happy to at least make some money on the installation."
:C
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
BG: Just out of curiosity, since I noticed you have the Mercury Mariner Hybrid and I have the Ford Escape Hybrid, was there a problem with towing the hybrid or some other reason that you are selling your tow stuff? Thanks.
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
BG: Thanks, I really appreciate the offer but as my luck would have it we already ordered everything from the mom and pop shop. I think z3roadster is interested though. Hope it works out.
Tripalot: That sounds pretty good, but was it after or before shipping and taxes?
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
I'm a desk jockey. You need a paper pushed, I'm your man. You need a base plate installed, I wouldn't be able to tell you which end is up! :) So the answer for me is a resounding no. I rather pay and have someone else install it for me.
Hey, offthewall, remind me never to come to your dealership!! :B But, you are probably right, and I figured as much, which is why we are buying everything from the mom and pop shop and having them installed it as well.
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
GC: Back in 2004 I did a road trip in my car from CA to CT. We - my wife, my son and I - went thru Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York if I remember correctly. We drove east on 40, north on 44, east on 70, north on 71, east on 80 and then whatever the local freeways were in NJ, NY and CT.
Looking at your signature map, I am guessing you may have done the reverse or something similar in your RV. If so, do you have any recommendations for campgrounds along the way as we are planning on repeating our trip, this time in the RV, sometime next year.
Thanks in advance.
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
Thanks Fireman. Baseplate is going on a 08 Ford Escape Hybrid. I found the assembly instructions on line and it does not seem that complicated but I don't really have all the right tools and am only somewhat mechanically inclined.
I got a couple of prices out here, one from a big dealer and one from sort of mom and pop service shop that has gotten a lot of good reviews on line.
Dealer's price quote was:
Aventa LX tow bar, 94-4105 --> $855
Aventa baseplate, BX2193 --> $398
Aventa kit, BX88229 --> $245
BrakeBuddy classic, 39500 --> $1227.20
Plus a $1000 to install, plus tax, for a total of $3936.40.
Mom and pop's quote was:
Aventa LX towbar --> $645
Aventa baseplate --> $395
Aventa kit --> $240
BrakeBuddy Vantage, 30173 --> $1350
Plus $750 labor, for a total of $3380 plus tax.
So both were pretty much the same except the mom and pop's BrakeBuddy is the latest proportional model.
On line the parts are cheaper but I would have to pay for tax and shipping and then take them someplace to get them installed.
Any idea if my quotes are in the ballpark or if I am getting s#$%^&? :-)
Thanks.
RE: Blue ox-best prices?
Those of you who bought your tow bars, base plates, etc. on line, did you then have to intall them yourself or can you then take everything to a dealer and say install it? Do they charge more to install if you do not buy the parts from them?
I have pricing them for the last week and clearly everything is a lot less expensive on line than at the dealer, sometimes almost half the price!
RE: sold as 2005 but title came back 2004
Have not read all the posts so if this is repetitive, my apologies.
The older chassis/newer coach is extremely common. I just bought a brand new 2008 Fleetwood Tioga on a 2007 Ford chassis in CA. The first registration I got from CA DMV said 2007, but then within a couple of days I got a second registration that said 2008.
Also, as others have said, let's hypothetically assume you bought yours brand new on 1/2/2005 and paperwork said 2005 model. Your individual parts such as the cushions or cabinets, as well as you entire coach and the chassis, must all have been manufactured in 2004 and the tags on them, if they have any, should all legally show a manufacture or assembly date in 2004 but that would not mean you got a 2004 model instead of a 2005 model.
Same thing happens in cars all the time. If you go to a car lot in October of this year and buy a 2009 model car - or go to a Hyundai dealer today in June of 2008 and buy a brand new 2009 Hyundai Sonata - the tag on your driver's side door is not going to show you a manufacture date of 2009, but that does not mean you are being defrauded and buying a 2008 car!
A low tech solution maybe to see if you can get hold of a 2004 brochure and a 2005 brochure for your MH, compare them as far as features and options and see if there was any difference between the two years. If there was, check and see which one yours match and that may tell you what year is your MH.
Good luck. Hope it gets resolved for you quickly so you can start enjoying it.
RE: Revisiting Shoulder Belts
Thank you so much. :B
I just looked around their site a little and liked their products. I am going to study them more carefully and order something very soon.
If you don't mind me asking, which specific products, seating and sleeping, did you buy?
Thanks again.
RE: Revisiting Shoulder Belts
Thank you both. In the car he is in a booster seat secured by a shoulder belt as that is the appropriate configuration for his weight/age/height, etc.
I just feel more comfortable with shoulder belts over lap belts so if there is a way of adding it to the MH, I'd like to do it.
Revisiting Shoulder Belts
Hello everyone. I have seen all the posts here and in all the other sub-categories regarding whether shoulder belts are required or not, worth the money from the manufacturer's point of view, owner's point of view, buses, vans, etc. etc.
Putting aside all of that, has anyone successfully installed a shoulder belt in any of the rear seating positions in a class C, such as the dinnette or sofa, that come equipped with a lap belt?
I have a 5-year old who seats back there, so from my point of view it's a must if I can do it and worth every penny. Thanks.
RE: Grand Canyon, South Rim -- Where to Camp?
Enjoy. It'll be lots of fun. 8 or 9 nights is a long time, but if you are into hiking there is plenty to keep you busy.
BTW, if you are going to hike down the canyon I recommend staying the night at the lodge at the bottom and hiking back up the next day.
Have a safe trip.
RE: Grand Canyon, South Rim -- Where to Camp?
BTW, the picture in my signature line is my 32 feet MH at the
trailer Village in GCNP.
The other thing I liked about the Trailer Village was that, in IMHO, the campground is designed pretty well in the the sites are not all in a row and right next to each other but rather staggered little off from each other forward and back so you are not directly across from the MH or trailer right next to you.
RE: Grand Canyon, South Rim -- Where to Camp?
I just stayed for 3 nights at the Trailer Village over the Memorial weekend. If your interest is seeing the GCNP I don't think you can beat it. It has full hookups, although they recommend you do not leave your sewer hose hooked up as the ravens in the park apparently like attacking them. So I just hooked up as needed and it worked out fine. You have water and cable hook up as well.
It's not a parking lot. There are some trees, picnic tables and grills. It's right on the free shuttle route, and within walking distance, 5 minutes, of a general store and a cafeteria, and 5-10 more minutes of walking and you are in the main village.
Don't just rely on the Net for reservations either. When I checked on line it was full. I called just in case and they had 3 nights available. More likely than not I just got lucky and someone had just cancelled, but hey I got lucky so you may too.
Good luck and and enjoy.
RE: Campground in Southern California
ReserveAmerica is the way to go if you don't mind the $7.50 fee. The sites along the beach are usually hard to come by so you have to constantly check and see what's available. Only bet around this time of the year, specially for weekends or holidays, is to get lucky and check right after someone has cancelled a reservation.
Speaking of which, I have a spot in So. Carlsbad for 1-night on Saturday July 5th that I will cancel at some point shortly. It's spot # 143. If interested, or if anyone else is interested, let me know and I can give you a heads up before I cancel.
RE: Driving/camping in snow
Hello everyone. Well, we survived our first long trip in our RV and can now add Arizona to our travel map as well.:)
Actually, even though it snowed on us a little bit on our way to the Grand Canyon National Park "GCNP" and it snowed a little on our first day there, it was a lot of fun and an unbelievable experience. Those of you who have been there know exactly what I am talking about. Those who have not, you simply must go at least once. It is truly breathtaking.
Thanks again for all the wonderful advice about camping in the snow. I'll definitely look into the tire socks as it sounds a lot better than hassling with the snow chains.
By luck it seems I followed most of the rest of the advice: My RV has a heated basement, or I guess the furnace heats up the basement as well, but no dual pane window. So we left the furnace on at night with one of the windows cracked to take care of the moisture problem and it all worked out okay.
Also, even though the place was full hookup, they recommended against leaving the sewer connected, not because of the cold, but because the ravens in GCNP like to attack them! So we just hooked up twice as needed to dump and the rest of the time the hose was neatly tucked away. Finally, my water hose was leaking a little at the connection so I just kept filling up the fresh water tank as needed and the rest of time that hose was tucked away as well.
If you ever go to the GCNP definitely try to stay at the Trailer Village. Reservations are hard to come by, I must have called right as someone cancelled because it was not available on line but available when I called, but definitely worth trying. It is right in the park and has full hookup, plus it is on the free shuttle route.
Till the next trip ...:B
