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Forum
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RE: Fifth wheel mileage question
Speaking from over 44,000 miles towing fifth wheels with diesels: on the flats, once you get it rolling, it's wind resistance (think pulling three sheets of plywood through the air at highway speeds); in the mountains, weight really comes into play. Significant headwinds or tailwinds and all the above go out the window. When we upgraded our rig 2-1/2 years ago, the GVWR (and actual weight) of the trailer increased from 13K to 15K lbs. Overall there was about a 1.5 MPG difference coast-to-coast in all kinds of conditions. With both trailers, I saw mileage as low as 4.5 MPH (45 MPH headwinds)/8 MPG (6% grades) and as high as 15 MPG (45 MPH tailwind in the Central Valley in CA). Bottom line is, it just depends.
On the other hand, not many people buy large RVs and worry about fuel mileage.
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/27/22 03:34pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: RV Park Host
Here's a popular one:
workamper.com
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/27/22 06:50am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Best security cameras for travel trailer?
... Unless you have some special use case, probably best to simply keep the insurance up and if it gets stolen, use the insurance check to buy a replacement...but really it's not that common for people to steal them unless you are hanging out in bad areas and since you have wheels, there rarely is a reason to hang out in bad areas.
I would second this. We've been full-time for 7 years and I have never felt the need for a security system. We've had one bicycle stolen. The thief cut a heavy-duty security cable and was gone in 30 seconds. This was in a higher-end park with security cameras... which didn't help a bit. (Our insurance reimbursed quite a bit more than the replacement cost for the bike.) We just lock up the little stuff and have good insurance.
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/26/22 08:41am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: RV that makes it's own water!
Clicky
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Second Chance
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07/24/22 03:59pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Using a swamp cooler
If you're talking about the San Francisco area (as in your profile), your relative humidity is 73% right now. A swamp cooler won't help a bit and will only make things more uncomfortable. The good thing about "refrigerated" ACs is that they're also great dehumidifiers.
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/17/22 02:50pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Verizon Hot Spot
Much more secure that public WiFi, for sure. We've never had any issues using a VZW hotspot. The Orbic doesn't get as good reviews as the VZW Inseego 8800L, though (we've used an 8800L since they first came out and it has been flawless).
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/06/22 06:19am |
Technology Corner
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RE: No CD player in new coach
The CD is pretty much dead. I ripped my entire collection of music to MP3 format a long time ago. iTunes and other music players can do this easily, then you can save to a USB thumb drive. My entire library is about 10k songs and roughly 90GB in size, a larger thumb drive lets me take everything, but normally I have 44 different play lists that I keep on a thumbdrive in our various vehicles, plus through Apple I can download the playlists to my phone as well.
This ^^^. Another advantage is you don't have to carry CDs around.
Rob
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Second Chance
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07/03/22 08:27am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Can trailer tires be patched?
A gentleman who spent 40 years with a major tire manufacturer told me that they can be patched (not plugged) - but, for safety, it reduces the load rating by one letter; e.g., if it's a load range E tire, patched it becomes a load range D tire.
Rob
I think I would need to know what positions that gentleman had in the tire industry.
Lifetime I have used a lot of tires though few where ST. I have never reduced the load I carried because of patch.
If the tire got a hole in the first tread I would plug from inside then patch. When due for 2nd re-cap I would trade the patched carcass let somebody else take the chance.
Tire engineer/designer. He sure knew his chemistry, too.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/28/22 03:25pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Can trailer tires be patched?
A gentleman who spent 40 years with a major tire manufacturer told me that they can be patched (not plugged) - but, for safety, it reduces the load rating by one letter; e.g., if it's a load range E tire, patched it becomes a load range D tire.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/28/22 06:49am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Hot Water Replacement
Since Grand Design started putting OD water heaters in some of their units (the Solitudes and Momentum fifth wheels still have 12-gallon standard WHs), there have been many, many posts about problems with them over on the (older) GD forum. There are the problems that dougrainer mentioned plus: 1) without the option to use electric, they go through propane rapidly, and 2) the Furrion units are not insulated and are notorious for freezing and cracking the coils when the outside temps drop or the units are not properly winterized. I would never install one.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/21/22 11:02am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Overnite-er in the Hagerstown MD area
If you are going to the KOA just south of Hagerstown, there used to be a warning in their ad to NOT follow the GPS directions. don't know if that has been corrected however.
bumpy
The warning is still on their reservations and the GPSs have not been corrected. The one-lane bridge (and the turn at the end of it) and the 1-1/2 lane roads leading to it are not negotiable by larger RVs. (Was there two weeks ago.) This is also not a KOA we will visit again.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/19/22 09:19am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: AC on or off?
It depends on how high the humidity is where you are. Moisture and mold will do as much or more damage than heat. ACs are great dehumidifiers. If you have good power, I would leave them on set low enough that they run off and on to pull out the moisture. Otherwise I would run a dehumidifier. If the average relative humidity is below 45%, just set the ACs where you want them to not cook the interior woodwork.
Rob
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/14/22 11:58am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 2022 campgrounds
We just completed a 3,650 mile trip through NM, AZ, UT, CO, WY, SD, IA, IL, IN, OH WV, PA and MD from 1 April through 11 June. The parks were all busy. It did appear, though, that the number of people living in the parks permanently has increased since the last time we were in these areas a few years ago. (Of course, the last part doesn't apply to state and national parks.)
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/13/22 10:52am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Residential refrigerator outside temperature below 40°
Don't just close off the vents but insulate. Since the residential fridge will need airflow around it, the vent and lack of insulation would let a lot of cold air into the RV. Lots of folks over on another forum where I'm a moderator have done the conversion and are very happy with it. Be sure to research the reliability and customer ratings on the new fridge you are considering.
Sorry about your health issues.
Rob
PS: we have a factory-installed residential fridge and have experienced temps in the teens without any issues at all.
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Second Chance
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06/13/22 06:23am |
Tech Issues
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RE: best way to sell
I would second Facebook Marketplace. Craigslist will net you more scammers than potential buyers these days. I did sell a travel trailer on RVTrader once, but that's been about 10 years ago.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/08/22 09:01am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Reliable camper
As Thermoguy said, at 30K you are in the used market. Some manufacturers may have a slightly better reputation for build, fit and finish, but in the end they all use the same appliances and accessories. In the travel trailer market, 90+% of them use the same chassis manufacturer and one of three axle/suspension makers. The common components are the ones that fail most often, so it goes across all brands.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/06/22 02:13pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: How do you in the S/E handle high humidity inside your rig?
We use a larger (22 pt., I think) compressor type dehumidifier in addition to the two 15K ACs. Some days the dehumidifier will pull 1-1/2 gallons of water out of the inside of the RV. That's a lotta watta! And it's not just in the southeast... we just had to use it in Iowa and Illinois with similar results.
Rob
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Second Chance
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06/04/22 04:58am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: black tank not venting?
Sounds like the black tank vent pipe was installed too far down in the tank or has fallen there.
Rob
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Second Chance
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05/30/22 04:25pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Furrion Convection Microwave
Furrion = Low grade junk. Just slightly above LCI in quality, but not by much.
Lippert owns Furrion...
Rob
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Second Chance
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05/30/22 10:49am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Furrion Convection Microwave
Not the best. Our Furrion convection/microwave is fine, but has worn the switch holder (latching mechanism) and started blowing fuses. It was warrantied out by the manufacturer. The only way to cook evenly in convection mode is to use the turntable and round rack.
My wife had me remove the Furrion cooktop and gas oven altogether (the oven was useless). I am installing a convection cooktop and will turn the oven space into storage. We will continue to use the Furrion convection/microwave until it dies again (with the turntable and round rack) and replace it with a Whirlpool when this one dies.
Rob
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Second Chance
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05/30/22 08:50am |
Class A Motorhomes
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