Uneven tire wear
After unpacking the dirty clothes and such after our last trip in our 5er, I noticed that one of the tires is showing more wear on the outside than the other tires. These are 15 inch radials on our '07 Crossroads with only about 3000 miles on the tires. The problem tire is on the rear axle on door side of 5er. I first checked the air pressure and each tire has 65 psi (max indicated on tire). Then, I jacked up the axle and checked the freedom of rotation, bearings, etc and could find no problem. The hangers and rigging for the axle look OK. What else should I look for?
RE: Cougar 245RKS
Yes, we recently had a Cougar 24RKS and loved it. In the three years that we owned it, we pulled it to Alaska, Nova Scotia, and most of the US. With the rear kitchen, it was great, but the living area was a little small. We needed more space so, we traded in Dec for a 28 ft Cruiser by Crossroads. We never had any major problems with the Cougar. Only had 2 tire problems in the three years.
RE: Entrance Steps
I finally got the steps fixed! Talked with the dealer and found that the steps can be adjusted. So, here is what I did that really helped... I placed the 5er on a level concrete pad and got the unit as level as possible. I used a carpenter's level to check the frame, floors, etc. When I checked the steps, sure enough they were not level in any direction.
The framework for the steps has several alignment holes and the manufactured of the unit just attached the step framework to the frame of the unit without optimizing the steps for alignment and levelness. Once I figured out which way to do the adjustment, I was able to remove the bolts and lower the step framework. The steps are heavy, so I used a small floorjack underneath to do the lowering and raising.
The result is that the steps now extend out another 1 and 1/2 inches and are 2 inches lower. The two upper steps leveled out just fine, but the lower step has a tendency to tilt lower. After looking at what caused the tilt, I fashioned a 1/8 inch thick piece of metal and attached with a single screw to level the lower step.
Now the steps are solid and level.
Entrance Steps
Anybody ever fell (or almost) down your steps? Have you noticed that the tread on the steps are small? The steps at my house have a tread of 10 inches whereas on my fiver the tread is 8 inches. If you have a size 10 or greater shoe, you will notice that your foot tends to "roll" down the step with the narrower tread. Is there a replacement foldaway step that has a larger tread?
Gas vs. Elec Oven
When we went looking to trade our 5er last December, it occurred to us that every model has a gas stove top and gas oven. We prefer cooking with electricity, but most 5ers don't have 220 volt systems. We asked the dealer about leaving out the gas oven and just put in a gas stove top. That can be done, but it was going to take a while to get the replacement and they seemed very unwilling to make the switch for nothing.
We use the gas stove top, but use a large toaster oven for baking. Am thinking about separating the oven from the stove top and put a shelf for the toaster oven. Anyone ever tried that?
RE: Diesel Vs Gas -Ford milage- - UPDATED
After using a V10 pulling to Alaska in 2003, I traded for a 2005 Duramax and have been totally pleased! The diesel has much more torque and pulling power. It also gets much better fuel mileage. Was getting only 9 1/2 pulling and 16 empty with the V10. With the Duramax and Allison trans, I was getting 12 pulling and 21 empty.
After putting 85,000 miles on the duramax without a single repair trip to the dealer, I traded for a new 2008 Duramax. With the new emissions controls, the new truck gets 11 pulling and 20 empty.
Yes, diesel fuel costs about 15 percent more than gas, but the pulling power and fule economy make up for it with the miles I drive.
RE: gooseneck to fifth wheel hitch?
We have used a gooseneck adapter on two separate FWs over the past 8 years and both (approx. 11,000# loaded) have been pulled to AK with no problems. Now, we have traded to a new FW of about the same weight and the dealer transfered the gooseneck adapter without hesitation.
I have a background in engineering and the only difference that I can determine is the pivot location and the actual locking mechanism. Our gooseneck is rated at 25,000# and it is secured with high stress bolts. The FW king pin is removed and the gooseneck adapter is attached directly to the FW frame extension. The pivot point in the truck bed is lower with the gooseneck adapter, but there is no slop in the ball movement like there is with some FW hookups.
Medicine on the Road - Military
As a retired military family, we get our medical prescriptions filled at a military pharmacy when possible. However, we like to travel and when we are gone for several months we can't take enough pills for the entire trip. We plan to go back to AK this year and will be on the road for over 4 months. We will have a general delivery address but not a physical address. How do you military folks handle your medicines and refill prescriptions on the road?
Medicine on the Road - Military
As a retired military family, we get our medical prescriptions filled at a military pharmacy when possible. However, we like to travel and when we are gone for several months we can't take enough pills for the entire trip. We plan to go back to AK this year and will be on the road for over 4 months. We will have a general delivery address but not a physical address. How do you military folks handle your medicines and refill prescriptions on the road?
RE: Generator buying advice
We have used a Yamaha 2800 for three years now. It has been used in Alaska, Nova Scotia, and many other places where we camp without electricity. It will handle our 13,500 AC, microwave, and color television, but not all at the same time. It is not as quite as the Honda 2000, but is quiter than the Honda 3000 and much lighter. It only weighs 67 pounds.
Yamaha now makes a quieter and lighter model 2500 which should handle most loads.
RE: RV Wholesalers--warranty work--Crossroads Cruiser
We have just purchased our new Cruiser and love it! We decided to trade our Cougar since we had put nearly 20,000 miles on it. We shopped with at least 8 dealers within a 150 mile radius and lucked up on a NEW 2007 model with lots of extras. The dealer had the unit for about 8 months and I think the reason nobody wanted to trade for it was that it had ALL the extras! The week before Christmas he had marked down the unit about 30 percent from MSRV. So, we struck a deal that we could not believe!
Now, we are on the road for a three weeks and have had no problems. We looked at some super units, but they also had super (high) prices and really did not have any more practical quality that the Cruiser.
Need to change my signature now.....
