RE: RV Retirement in Mexico
I am for George 100%. If you read his column and you are interested in traveling or living in Mexico you will enjoy George, too. As far as good will to Mexico, can anyone on this forum top the good deed George did 2 or 3 years ago in Baja when he led the financing of a neighbors
home rewiring. George did that on his own. He ask his readers to support him in the cause and many did. A great kind deed for someone who needed help. Merry Christmas, and I hope you can help someone out in the coming year who needs help, as I think it will make you happy.
RE: F450 2008 DIESEL OWNERS need your mpg
We have a 2008, F-450, 4 x 4, 4.30 gears. Our mileage varies from 8.6 mpg loaded with an Okan 117 dbl heavy t/c, going up the Rocky Mountains, climbing big mountains at 55 mph. On level ground here in west KY, empty with the tail gate off, 55 mph, we can get 19.3 mpg.
On average roads loaded with the camper we get from 10.6 to say....13mpg.
Hope this helps.
RE: Southern Utah’s Highway 12
Wonderful pictures and story. We did almost the same route in late Sept., except we did not drive the Mogi. I will next time. Also, next trip to the area I want to go to Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural bridge. Your pictures were exceptionally good. How did you do that? A Walmart special deal camera on auto or a couple of thou Cannon. Must have been the latter as the pictures really did pop.
RE: shurflo water pump--no water
I had a Shurflo water pump fail after only a few hours use.
I could not figure it out. Drove to a dealer. He took the pump out and tested it with a battery, hoses and a bucket of water. The pump was bad. Mailed it to Shurflo and they sent me a new one. In the meantime the dealer replaced the pump that day. So........I have a spare.
RE: Truck Camper and Corner Jack Stands
Thanks for the posts. I am comfortable with just lowering the t/c down close to the ground. We generally keep the truck camper on the truck. And a campground to us is a national park, national forest or BLM campground, but includes many trailheads for hiking trails, especiall in Colorado, and a certain amount of stealth camping e.g.George and Tioga style, including interstate rest areas. In late Aug.-Sept we did a 5 week trip and spend under $100 for campgrounds. This senior pass is a bargain beyond belief.
Truck Camper and Corner Jack Stands
When you take your t/c off at a campground do you usually put some corner jack stands under it or some other kind of additional support?
Or, do you simply lower the jacks as low to the ground as you can, which is what we have been doing. We have a large Okan 117, over 4000 lbs loaded with gear and fluids, etc.
We enjoy this truck camper forum and look at it most every day.
Thanks, Preston in western KY
RE: Our First and New TC
Cool indeed. Bet you will like that rear side door and the extra room you get with that design.
Happy Trails,
Preston in western KY
RE: Monument Valley
Do not hesitate to drive your own vehicle. It is a good road. Drive slow and enjoy the views. The campground is perfect if you dry camp. The best view from you t/c you will ever have.The standard 17 miles tour is world class for only a few dollars. The Totem Pole is the tallest narrowest rock spire in the world and it is on that tour. No other tour gets any closer than the standard tour which only costs a few dollars. I thought the for pay tours were extremely expensive and so we did not take one. Do visit the free Goulding museum which showcases the home the Gouldings lived in and all of the movies made there.
RE: Moki Dugway
Damdifino those are great storm pictures and a hairy story. This fall we decided not to drive up the Mogi. We will next time out there and I bet we do it several times like you did.
Preston
RE: Monument Valley ???
We were at Monument Valley around the last week of Sept. Camping is at a million dollar view of the Mittens. Our t/c rear window looked right at the Mittens for sunset and sunrise and wonderful lighting both times. Now it was just a dirt parking lot, but it was not crowded and it cost something like $5/person. What a deal. We had a better view then those folks at the new hotel (open 6 months)which is located where the old campground was. We drove the 17 mile great drive with our heavy t/c in the morning and were around the 5th vehicle to do so that day. No, you do not want to camp on that road, one of the most famous and scenic drives under 20 miles in the world.
Be sure to tour the nearby Golding free museum. And, visit the Betatakin cliff dwelling ruins to the south 40 miles.
Preston in western KY
RE: MPG w/wo camper on board
Comparing apples to oranges cannot be done without mentioning your gear ratio and whether you have a 4 x 4. My earlier post left those out. I have a 4.11 differential ratio on my '08, 4 x 4, F-450. Of course the bigger the truck the lower the mileage. What I am glad of is I did not buy the first F-450 I looked at as the gear ratio was 4.88. What were those salesmen thinking? I was going to haul logs out of the woods? They were pressure salemen, but after the test drive, and asking them if they would changeout the gears to 4.10, or is it 4.11 (?), I never went back to that dealer. Too much pressure and I did not need a 4.88.
Preston in western KY
RE: 2011 Ford SuperDuty Video
Without entering into the mud slinging, I happen to own a 2008 F-450, 6.4 diesel, and we are very happy with it. The engine has had very few problems and it really is quiet for a diesel. Looks goods, too.
Today I used that truck to do chores around the farm that a contractor would have charged me $1000. With that saving we will tour DC and all of the museums over the holidays.
I had two minor problems on a long road trip out west in Sept. The two Ford dealers gave me wonderful fast service, in fact I wrote them letters of appreciation. One was a rock in the brakes and the other was a faulty exhaust sensor which was under warranty.
Fordingly,
Preston in western KY
RE: Shurflo Diphragm Pump not pumping
My new t/c Shurflow stopped working after only a couple of hours of use.
Removed old pump, tested it with a 12 v battery and it did not work. Installed a new pump and that worked. Shurflow did send me a new one but I paid s and h returning the old one.
RE: MPG w/wo camper on board
MPG depends on many variables.
For our 2008, F-450, the mpg varies from 8.6 to 19.3 mpg depending on load, wind, rpm, level, up, or downhill, etc. The lowest mpg is with our big Okan 117 t/c with two slides and driving uphill in the Rockies at around 55 mph. Our best mpg is on a flat road with no load and the "Tailgate Off" and driving around 55 mpg. This is overall a very comfortable rig and we like it for the ability to get into small campgrounds like BLM and nat'l forest and nat'l parks out west. But, it is a little too big as I would really like to be able to drive to more trailheads at 9,000 to 12,000 ft. and we have found we cannot get there in our big vehicle as we usually have to stop 2-4 miles short. So we park and hike from there, that's all. In hind sight I would get a smaller truck with large single rear wheels and a light wt. pop up t/c. Maybe I can pick up one of those in a few years.
Preston in Outer Browder, KY
RE: Rotating Dually Tires
So how do you include the spare tire in a rotation on a dually?
I plan on moving my new spare to the front left soon. About 18,000 on all tires. At 12,000 I rotated the front left to right and vise versa.
Preston in western KY.
