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RE: Modern day Pirates
Heck when I saw the thread title I thought you were going to rant on the Wall Street CEO's and their buddies the short sellers
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gitane59
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09/26/08 05:42pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Twisted Trailer ?
If you are confident in the flatness of your new driveway you could measure the height of the frame from the driveway at six points. Curb and road at the rear, curb and road at the axles, and curb and road at the front landing legs. This way you could determine is it simply less arch in the springs on one side or is the frame twisted. Or you might want to leave it alone and pretend you don't notice it. As a technically accurate person I hate finding technical flaws in things if I can't fix them. If they can't be fixed they will bug me forever or until i get rid of what is bugging me. My first 5ver sat lower on one side then the other and it drove my crazy looking at it in my driveway every time I got in or out of my car parked in front of the trailer. My wife and co-workers call me AR
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gitane59
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09/25/08 07:02pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Newmar Cypress
Congratulation on your Newmar Cypress purchase. Now comes the 2nd half of the job finding the truck, but you have done it right by buying the trailer first and now you can match the truck with the trailer. I'll bet you guys are excited. Thats great
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gitane59
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09/25/08 06:23pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Is a dually a must have for towing large 5er?
You will see I pull the 34ft 5ver in my sig with a SRW Ford F350. I am under my rear axle weight ratings by almost 800 lbs but I am over the GVWR of the truck by 300 lbs. The rear axle ratings of 6830 lbs is a legally binding rating arrived at directly from the weakest link in the rear-end, that being the tires which are rated for 3415 lbs each. It is your call whether you wish to go over any of the recommended truck or trailer ratings some of which are legal ratings and some of which are only manufacturer recommendations with no legally binding associated laws.
However for me I would never over weight my tires or my hitch as those are direct failure links.
Keep in mind that if you choose to go with a diesel powered truck your cargo carrying capacity of a given truck is reduced by the extra weight of the diesel engine.
My Newmar's pin weight is 22% of the total trailer weight, however that could rise if I chose to install a Genny in the front storage compartment. Your pin weight for a 5ver will depend on the weight distribution of your personal belongings and how much you load ahead of the trailer axles, such as a washer/dryer or a Genny.
I personally don't want a dually at this time because I only tow about 20% of the time and I don't want the hassle of maneuvering a dually during daily driving yet. Also since i am not retired yet I won't have my trailer loaded yet like fulltimers do so I don't yet need the extra rear axles capacity.
Also because the duallies rear wheel contact patch weight per tire is spread over 4 tires in stead of 2 the duallies have terrible traction problems on wet and slippery surfaces especially if you have a 2wd model when you have no weight in the rear-end.
As you can see it is a very personal decision with a lot of specs and facts thrown in to make it all the more confusing.
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gitane59
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09/22/08 07:40pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Newmar Cypress
Yes do some research and you will find that Newmar is a cash only business that does not operate on a line of credit. With their Amish ownership and workforce they are able to close production when orders dry up and quickly re-open when sufficient orders are on the books. They have done that already this year twice for a week at a time if my memory serves. While not "new" we really like our Newmar. Very well built and very stable on the highway. Their quality is evident I feel by the condition of the used ones that I looked at on the market before I found the layout I wanted.
Barneygirl: I see your from PA, if you are looking at Wilkins RV in Bath NY we had a very good salespersons that worked hard for us to make modification/changes to the unit we purchased, such as removing the dinette and replacing it with a brand new tables and chairs directly from Newmar as well as re-upholstering the recliners to match. However I was less impressed with the service department. We drove almost 7 hours to pickup our unit, staying overnight at the dealership and although they very quickly replaced the TV that was dead upon delivery the following morning before we left for home they neglected to find and repair a broken wire in the trailer brakes even though they stated they had inspected, tested, and adjusted the brakes. I returned home in a snowstorm slowly so the broken wire causing only one axle to actuate was not found until the first trip out 2 months later on our way south. Yes I know that the wire could have broken in the time between, but as we left the dealership I was struggling to get the brake controller to slow the trailer down at all as the snow started.
Overall I would purchase again from Wilkins becasue of their sales department, however I would double-check everything that service department touched.
Good hunting
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gitane59
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09/19/08 10:03am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 2008 F250 - MPG's - THE TRUTH
Oops...Sorry. I just checked your profile, and saw you were talking about the 6.4L PSD.
Guess I should have checked that first. That and the 3.73 should make up for the 1MPG better towing mileage than I get.
Ditto!! I also should have checked his profile
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gitane59
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09/16/08 04:29am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Perhaps 1st documented 2009 Ram 1500 crash?
I agree the disc brake hub is gone. The brake shoe is one of the emergency brake shoes and if you blow up the picture what looks like the bearing cap is actually the sheared off axle shaft with the axles seal around it. Those four bolts must be holding the caliper mounting and axles bearing bracket to the axle case.
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gitane59
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09/14/08 07:27am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2008 F250 - MPG's - THE TRUTH
I assumed the OP was talking a gas powered Ford. I get 15-16 mpg highway at 55-60mph, 13 mpg mixed city/highway and 8-10 mpg towing with my gas V10. I am resisting commenting futher because i don't want to be blamed for a gas versus diesel war
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gitane59
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09/14/08 07:04am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Fuel prices (what the heck?????)
Check the facts! The Gull Island oil story is a myth. There is already drilling in the Gull Island area and it is producing some oil, but nowhere near the fantastic reserves claimed by Internet rumors.
Read a story from Anchorage Daily News about Gull Island
So you think it's myth!!! Well consider for a second the power that having oil brings with it. The oil companies and the governments cannot be candid with respect to national reserves of crude oil. There is too much national security and world power at risk for governments and the oil companies to be candid about national reserves. I am not talking just about North American governments and oil companies, I am referring to all world oil producing companies. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the king of Saudi Arabia and all the other major oil producing countries know that oil equals power and they will be keeping their total reserves secret for future leverage and power plays. Well the US and Canada will be doing the same.
With respect to refined gas prices I think the oil companies and the distributors saw their profits shrinking with the dropping of the crude prices and the hurricane was simply a chance to recoup some lost profit quickly. Shame on them. I suggest they will take their time restarting their refineries even after electricity is restored to squeeze as much out of us as possible before they will begin to lower the prices.
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gitane59
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09/13/08 05:59pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 2004 Holiday Rambler President Ed 5th Wheel
Did anyone else read the article from Discount Tire that FastEagle referenced in his post.
According to Discount tire, and I quote
"An "LT" designation on a trailer tire size specifies load range only. It is not designed for use on light trucks.
Do not mount "ST" or "LT" trailer tires on passenger cars or light trucks."
I initially thought this info was a load of you know what. however I thought I'd do a little research and I found this at another website
A Tires Purpose
"Most tire sizes begin with a letter that indicates what a tire was meant to be used for:
P: Tire sizes that begin with a P are the most common. They're designed for passenger vehicles like cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks.
T: Tires with a T designation are temporary spares — those undersized tires that you aren't meant to use for very long.
LT: LT stands for "Light Truck metric," and these tires are designed for vehicles that haul heavy cargo or do a lot of towing — medium- and heavy-duty trucks and some SUVs and full-size vans use LT tires.
ST: Tire sizes that begin with ST indicate Special Trailer service tires, which are designed for boat, utility, and car trailers and should never be used on vehicles.
No letter: A tire whose size designation doesn't begin with a letter is a metric size used primarily for European cars, but some SUVs and vans might also use them.
You might also find letters at the end of a tire's size designation, which indicate the following:
If it ends in LT: These tires are for vehicles that carry heavy cargo or trailers, that have 16.5-inch rims, or that need oversized tires to help maintain traction on loose dirt or sand.
If it ends in C: These are European tires that are designated for Commercial delivery vans and trucks that carry heavy loads."
It appears that the location of the LT designation on a tire being at the beginning of the size versus at the end of the size means 2 very different things. Interesting??
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gitane59
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09/11/08 04:55am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dual pane window question
Why does one person with a different opinion have to try to convince another person that 20 or so other people with the opposite opinion are wrong. Am I not allowed to have my opinion. I believe the OP asked for people opinions. They did not ask for measured specifications. They asked for seat of the pants experiences and opinions. For me dual-pane windows are worth every pound of CCC that they take up. If I was full-timing you can bet I would have heavy enough axle capacity to give me the CCC I want and the options (including dual-pane windows) I wanted in a full-timing unit.
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gitane59
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09/07/08 07:27pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dual pane window question
When I bought the trailer in my sig I did not know it had dual pane window. The salesperson never mentioned it and I did not notice that it had dual panes since I had never really looked that closely at a trailers windows. This is my 3rd 5ver and both previous ones were weekend trailers and had Jalousie windows. The first trip out in the Newmar it was early spring. I kept mentioning to the DW that i could not believe how soundproof the trailer was. We were in a rather noisy campground yet it was dead quiet in the trailer. The first two nights it was downright eerie how quiet it was inside the trailer. The next day out of curiosity I started to investigate the windows. That's when I realized they were double thickness panes of glass. It was then that the dim light bulb went on in my head and I realized the trailer had dual-pane windows. I also then noticed how they differed in the way they opened compared to the normal Jalousie style and how that contributed to their insulation values. Needless to say I love them and a long time from now when I'm ready to purchase another trailer for full-timing (retirements not for at least 8 years) it will have dual panes as well.
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gitane59
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09/06/08 06:22pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Closed Service Centers on the 401
The travel services in Ontario along the 401 corridor are an embarrassment. I would rather travel any day along a US interstate. Way up north between Cochrane and Hearst along HWY 11 I found excellent rest stops last month, but none along the 401 corridor!!!!! What a joke!!!
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gitane59
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09/05/08 05:10am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Crossing into Canada
Thanks for all of the advice from all who responded. I forgot one other question. Will I have any problems with customs over my pet, a small dog? I will have her rabies & other medical info with me.
I believe the rabies certificate has to be within the last 30days of your time of entry if I remember correctly, maybe someone else can verify....Brian
Carry with you all your dogs health paper's and be prepared to show your rabies vaccination certificate. They sometimes ask just to see you reach for it. The Canadian Border Agency now will accept the 3 year vaccine certificate. Our standards up till recently were 1 year rabies shots but a couple years ago they switched to 3yr rabies shots.
Enjoy.
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gitane59
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09/04/08 06:28pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Pics. of my new Ford F450
SWEET:B
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gitane59
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09/03/08 05:59pm |
Tow Vehicles
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lowering rear end of 4X4 Dodge Ram
FIL just called to say he traded TV's. He is going from a 2WD to a 4WD and will have a clearance problem with his 2001 Titanium 5ver and his new 4X4 TV's bed rails. He purchased any 04 Ddoge Ram 2500 4X4 with stock but higher box height. The height of the bed rails are a full 4 inches higher with the new 4wd TV than with the older 2wd TV. He really does not want to flip the trailer axles because the height of the steps would jump at least 5 inches. I know you can remove the large axle spacers on ford 4X4, but can you also remove spacer on the Dodge 4X4 to lower the rear end a couple inches. He had about 7 inches clearance with the old TV and does not want to go less than 5 inches, but he wants to tow level.
Any suggestions, pictures or thoughts would be appreciated.
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gitane59
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09/03/08 05:53pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: We've Been Robbed!
Bruce you don't know how right you are unless you have imported a vehicle. Canadian Custom's never inspected our title documents, nor did they even do a cursory search of the unit at all. we could have been smuggling whatever we wanted inside the trailer across the border. All our civil servants wanted to see was a receipt stating purchase price and the tax was calculated on that amount.
My DW and I were shocked and horrified at the how easy it was to import something that large with absolutely no inspection of anything to do with it whatsoever.
Now when we went into the Ontario vehicle licensing office we had some difficulty getting the clerk to accept the transferred ownership and the New York title papers, In fact at first they refused to accept the title documents and stated they weren't sufficient to show ownership. I had to request a supervisor more familiar with out of country documentation procedures before they would title and license it in Ontario.
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gitane59
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09/03/08 05:04am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: We've Been Robbed!
WOW!!! What a story.
I purchased a US trailer back in December 07 from a dealer in New York, but before I sign any purchase contract I call the Canadian Ministry of Transportation to validate said vehicle's VIN number. As a caveat to any Canadian considering purchasing a US vehicle, validate the vehicle's Vin prior to purchasing. This ensure that the 16 digit VIN is valid and can be registered in Canadian after importation. If the reported Canadian purchaser of the Walmart parking lot private sale trailer had run the VIN through the Canadian Ministry of Transport vehicle registry system with a simple phone call they would have been told the VIN number was invalid and could not be registered in Canada. Don't trust the Canadian border custom agents to validate VIN number. When we imported ours the agent never even bothered to get out of his chair to come outside and visual inspect VIN number when we paid our taxes. I do not believe for any instant that the border agency validated the VIN number at the border. All they wanted was there tax dollars. The VIN number is checked for validity when you go to license the trailer in your province of residence.
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gitane59
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09/02/08 07:34pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Ellkart, Indiana
The RV Surplus Salvage busines mentioned on US12 mear Strugis MI is Bontrager's Surplus. It is just a few minutes from Elkhart and has a very good selection. You can some of it on their website.
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gitane59
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09/01/08 05:59am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Be aware border crossing
My co-worker husband of 20 years has a break and enter conviction on his record from when he was a troubled teenager. He has been clean since. He cannot travel to the US whatsoever since he has not applied for the waiver. Major hassle and costs to get the waiver. Thats why I keep reminding my 18 year old son to keep his nose clean since he wants to travel extensively.
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gitane59
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08/30/08 01:14pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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