RE: Is a class A for us? Need advice from class A owners.
Yes to a nice class A diesel pusher. To really appreciate being all in one, pull into a rest stop when it's pouring down rain, make a pot of coffee, eat a hot lunch and then use your own rest facility, while watching others run through the rain to get to their towed 5th wheel, TT or the rest rooms, and you will be thoroughly convinced.
We have a 35ft Expedition, OK for the two of us or one more adult but for a family I think a 40 footer with bunkbeds would be just the ticket.
Stan
RE: First Time Buyer...Updated 03/06/2006
Re. Tolls, most toll roads and / or bridges charge "per" axle, so if you are not towing, many times we paid the same as a motorcycle in front of us. I think the first toll we ever paid was going over the Tappenzee Bridge in NY in Nov. 2006 enroute to RI.
Your'e so right about prices on Brand new dropping and used not so much. We have been looking at Winnebago Tour 40TD units. The prices are all over the board for brand new, but for the most part I found dealers are ready to reduce off the MSRP by about 30 - 35% before the real haggling begins. Also, I was going to sell our 2005 Expedition myself figuring I would get more than a dealer would offer, but the deaers I have talked with briefly have indicated most will give very good trade-in value on their new units so they can reduce their new stock floorplan. Also, there is a certain advantage to trade-in vs outright purchase. Just like a car, (at least in Al), you pay the sales tax on the differance between the trade-in and the new unit, not the total price of the new unit.
Seems to be a buyers market this summer, with fuel prices going higher, interest rates lower, and fully stocked dealers needing to move their units, I'm smiling.
RE: First Time Buyer...Updated 03/06/2006
Don't depend on the RV dealer to know about your towed vehicle rewquirements, they can barely keep up with the new RV models and how they work. Your best place it to visit your local automobile dealer for the brand and model specific information. Ask if you can look through an owners manual for towing requirements. That's the only way to get the correct information in the shortest amount of time.
Your TV comment lends me to believe you are confused on the HD and Digital TV differances. First, TVs come in CRT (conventional Cathode Ray Tube), LCD, Plasma, and rear projection. All those could be Digital or analog, they all could be HD too. What one has to look for is the tuner, if it is analog tuning, that set will need a converter box to convert the new digital signal to a useable analog signal for the tuner to work. If it has a digital tuner it is capable of recieving the using the new digital signal as it arrives at the set.
Remember, just because a set has a digital tuner, doesn'r mean it is an HD set. To be an HD set, it has to have at least 920 lines of horizontal resolution, 1080 is better. Also, there is progressive scan and interlaced scanning to consider. In progressive scanning each line of resolution is refreshed during every scan, if it is interlaced, every other line is refreshed during each scan. (Each scan being the sweep of the total horizontal lines of the screen resolution by the TV color gun or electronic picture build in LCDs or Plasma sets).
So there you have it in a nutshell, digital does not mean HD, HD does not mean it is a digital tuner. Look for the phrase or similar that says DIGITAL TUNER. Hope this clears up the confusion on HD vs Digital.
Re: HD DVDs, the Blue Ray by Sony has taken the ball and is going to be the driver of the HD DVD format. Toshiba's HD format is out although there are players out there that can decode and play either.
The signals sent by all DVD or VCR players are broken down inside the player so there are several options for connecting the player to the video input of the viewing device or TV set. But that's a whole other story to tell.
NOTE ON BUYING NEW 2008-09 etc... We are still looking at around 35-37 feet diesel and plan to tow. VERY little dealer info on what is required of towed car, how it is hooked up, front wheels of ground, etc.. or costs or what is best method hardware to use to tow
BUT REAL RIP OFF we found was the TV sets. NEALY ALL say.. "LCD" etc..b BUT.. we found that nearly ALL were of the LCD BUT NOT HD.. which will be ONLY ones OK after digital kicks in. We asked dealers about that and got kind of dumb look of "Aw well....etc". One said NOT an issue as you will go Sat for receiving. so asked about what happens if we want local TV if parked somewhere as "local while on move" is question? We then find that a lot of "LCD" TV on sale, and more so installed in RV's is NOT HD.. and friend in TV business aaid, huge discounts being given at whole sale levels on the NOT HD but are LCD for use in any area, not just homes.. So WATCH what you get. the "Big LCD may not quite be what you thought it was.. and none could discuss if we wanted to play CD's, the old ones we have, as well as the new HD what happens then???? Seems that buying and knowing what you get is more difficult each day.. more so in RV land.
RE: Battery hold downs
WHAT LUCK,
We happened to be near Seffner so we stopped in to Lazy Days, went to the parts counter, explained what I needed... out comes the correct part. 5 minute job to replace, and I now have the correct part number to order if I ever need more. Now that's how things should work!
RE: Battery hold downs
If you would calculate all the time it is taking to search for it, you probably could have made it yourself in less time. :B But hindsight is always 20/20. :(
I think you're probably right... :S
Battery hold downs
I need to replace one of the battery hold downs on my house battery bank in my 05 expedition. The battery is a Trojan T105, the hold down has a tab that goes through the molded plastic "loop" on the top end of the battery, and is held down by a threaded rod. The part I need is the tab or clip portion. I have searched on-line, and at my nearby rv repair parts/shop, (they tried to find it in their parts catalog), to no avail. Has anybody else tried to replace this part, and if so where did you find it.I just might have to purchase some metal stock and make one myself, but that would probably more work and expense than just finding the correct OEM part.
Thanks in advane for any suggestions or help.
Stan
