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RE: Take our RV to Colorado or Store It?
What about leaving it in Cortez? That would get it closer but not yet in the mountains.
Hurry back, the snow's great!
Neighbor!
Thought about it. But if I take it through flagstaff might as well keep going to montrose. Roads look ok but not great, yet, along our planned route. Not for our size and weight.
And we can’t wait to get back honestly. Phx is driving us nuts. Too many people. Too much sprawl.
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rvexodus
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01/23/23 08:53am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Take our RV to Colorado or Store It?
With current weather and our national weather-guy predicting a major snow event in the Rockies/midwest I'd think hard about whether to take it. He is generally calling for a cold and snowy February start anyway out there with a break for Cali. Normally I would not think about leaving ours.
You pretty much summarized what my gut is telling me. But I tend to be borderline paranoid. So great to get some feedback.
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rvexodus
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01/22/23 08:43pm |
Roads and Routes
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Take our RV to Colorado or Store It?
We are wrapping up work here in AZ and getting ready to head to Montrose, Co. We are renting a cabin for 4 months just east of Montrose. We are full timers and looking to store the RV in montrose while we rent. Our route would likely be phx to flagstaff to Mexican hat to Moab to grand junction to Montrose to avoid difficult mountain passes through telluride which is our normal summertime route.
Here’s the dilemma though. We could leave the rv in AZ and just pull a small 5x8 box trailer with our stuff. I’m apprehensive to push through with the RV (leaving this Thursday the 23rd).
Wanted to get some thoughts. Our RV is 19k lbs, 43ft, 5th wheel and our truck is a ram 3500 dually diesel 4x4. Our tires are Michelin MS2 with about 30% remaining tread. Weather looks ok unril Tuesday the 31st. Although temps will rarely be above freezing through the entire route.
The downside to leaving the RV is we will have to drive back to AZ in may to haul the rv back to Colorado where we hang out for the summer. Also, if we forget something … in montrose we would have access to our “home” in storage.
Thanks all,
Kirk
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rvexodus
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01/22/23 08:08pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
To each their own and there's lots of good advice on here. I drove (not daily, but regularly) an F550 dually dump truck for a few years until I converted it into a dedicated plow truck. My take-aways: 1) If you have the luxury of waiting out the massive snow dumps that happen rarely, stick with your current tires and get some chains; 2) If you're primary use of the truck in the winter is a grocery-getter, as hinted at, maybe a Subaru is a good 2nd vehicle; alternatively (assuming OP's truck is 4WD), get a set of bad-a** aggressive chains for the front tires....that's where your weight is (if not towing) and you'll only need to chain up for the few times that you'll face the combo of "have to go" and "bad roads"; 3) FWIW, having driven multiple duallies since 1974, there's lots of good mud/highway/AT/Snow (even a few good combo) tires out there, but tires are not going to offset the decided tendency of a dually to act like a cow on ice when the roads are slippery.
Thanks for the feedback. We are needing new tires so this is a good opportunity to get something with a little more grab. We aren’t towing as much as we use to so <1000 miles per year seems about right. If we store the RV locally we will come in around 100 miles per year towing. We do have the luxury to wait out bad road conditions and will do so absolutely. The exception would be emergencies of course. I’ve had a chance to read up on the following:
Falken Wildpeak AT3W
Goodyear Duratrac
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2
With a couple more still to research. I’m actually liking the Falken At3w. They look to be a good enough highway tire that also does well in snow and wouldn’t peel away when towing. The ko2s seem to have great fan fair but I don’t see a lot around towing heavy loads. The duratracs look like a great all around snow / dirt tire but appear to be not the greatest highway tire. It’s like being a kid in a … tire store.
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rvexodus
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12/12/22 12:11pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
So Duratracs are a great tire for snow. But read my responses above. They will last good towing, but I wouldn't want them for anything other than inclement conditions. Especially on a dually, since they require far more tire rotations than most tires in my experience and the challenges with front to back rotations (on a truck with presumably nice wheels like yours).
I spent several winters in the CO Rockies. And year round travel into the back country, tugging the snomachines up the hill to the sno parks all winter.
Trust that most decently aggressive AT tires will eat up the snow well. If you do have challenges it will be more around the dual rears and not being able to get low enough tire pressures in the rear. But if its too slippery, add weight.
I’ve lived and gone to school in snow country. But in suburbia where the snow is generally off the roads within days of the last snowfall. Also, never had a dually as my daily driver in snow country. If we do this long term, will likely get a beater that’s better suited for driving in snowy conditions. Folks in our community like their Subarus. We have been up and down the road with snow on it on our Michelins. The road was grippy each time we went so power to the front wheels on grades made it a non issue. Plus we have some light duty dually chains for those SHTF moments. It’s sounding more and more like I need something a little better than what we have tire wise but not something so aggressive we sacrifice wear, noise, price etc. Those Falken AT3’s are actually looking pretty nice TBH.
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rvexodus
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12/12/22 10:03am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
OP I’m presuming you’re not towing the 5ver in the mountains in the snow. That’s a different ballgame. But any smaller trailers won’t have a need for chains in the vast majority of CO Mtn winters.
Being your truck is a big doolie, you’ll use 4wd more than in the same vehicle if it was a 4 wheeler. But not an issue. It’s a push o the button. Short of just running a single rear wheel, for normal winter driving, drop your rear tires pressure to 20-25psi and add some weight. 500-1000lbs in back will help a bunch. And the further back the weight, the better. Ideally if you’re not using the bed, put the rear load divider in and pile the sandbags at the back. Although that defeats any ability to use the truck bed really.
If you’re really thinking you need easy auxiliary traction for steep grades on maintained roads and aren’t in the category of needing chains, tire socks actually work quite well on ice and greasy snow.
That said wintering at 9kft in CO, most of the winter it’s cold and grippy enough to not even need 4wd for normal drivin around. (Apologies if I’m presuming you don’t understand the nuances of different types of winter driving, although you did ask what tires to get so trying to provide some additional guidance as tires are only part of the equation.)
So we will not be trailering up our mountain road in the winter. Just driving it to get to town for some staples. We go from 9500ft down to around 7500ft over a 5 mile stretch to get to the highway. There’s really only one spot where it gets tricky as the grade is steep and there’s a ledge. People slide off the road all the time. This is a cabin community so there is regular traffic which is good. We snowmobile from a winter lot where we keep our vehicles to our cabins in the winter.
My goal here is to find a tire that will work well in those conditions but not get destroyed trailering.
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rvexodus
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12/11/22 02:30pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
I use Duratrac a lot too! So far, I have not received negative reviews, although its price is higher than usual!
Do you tow with them and if so how much weight. These appear to be great tires but look like they could leave some rubber behind with a heavy load. And yes they do appear to be a few bucks more don’t they.
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rvexodus
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12/11/22 02:17pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
I started running cooper's at 25, now 61.
The ONLY brand I've had issues with are michiblows.
Reality most brands are good. At the end of the day, they need to have a tread pattern that suits your driving habits. Along with weather you expect to drive in. Choose your poison as some say.
The only Michelin I've liked is the ,XDE M+S. That's a 19.5 mdt tire.
Toyota has a M55 or did, another good adverse reaction tire. All steel sidewall and tread. I had those on a dually rear, ran a hwy on the front. Yes it was a 4x. I was never off road enough to run all 6. I'd do the same with Duratracs on the rear too. I was pulling a 24' TT to a ski area every weekend from Dec to March. I still had to use chains when traction devices were required for rigs over 10k GVW. Appreciated the chains for down hill runs.
Enjoy what ever you get. Hope they work.
Marty
Wasn’t knocking cooper Marty. Just was telling you my story. I will definitely look into them along with a few other recommendations. Thanks again!
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rvexodus
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12/11/22 02:14pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
I've pulled towed hauled sheet doing landscaping for 40 yrs, I have yet to have a blow out with Cooper's.
Marty
Funny. We had Cooper unravel on us down here in Phoenix during the heat of the summer. Got home after hours of dealing with getting to a tire shop and all. Tired from the heat. Turned on the news and first story they covered was Cooper tires loosing tread from the heat. Cooper paid for side panel damages and offered to replace the tire. They did good. But I always seemed to pass them over after that. I’m older, smarter, more mature. I’ll add them to my list :)
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rvexodus
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12/10/22 07:45pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
The Duratrac is a good aggressive Winter tire. I had that tire on a 2018 ZR2 which of course is nothing like what your running it on. I can say that off road in the Winter that tire is totally impressive. I doubt it would last more than 35K and still have meaningful tread left pulling that kind of weight. However, that is about 3 years away and that may be a better way of looking at it. There are times when the miles you get on a set of tires are important. There are also times when the performance of the tire matters more. If your traveling at 9500 ft through the winter, I would chose a really good Winter tire. I am happy with the Falcon Wild Peaks. They are not as aggressive as the Goodyears, but they are a good Winter tire. We spend 6 months of the year in snow, and few buy Michelins.
Thanks for the reply. Yup the Michelins were great for traveling in good weather. Heck we even took them to AK in the spring and they did great. But they are on their last leg. I'll take a look at those falcons. You do any heavy towing on them?
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rvexodus
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12/10/22 03:34pm |
Tow Vehicles
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Tires for Towing 20k 5ver and Snow at altitude
Our tow vehicle Michelin LTX M/S^2 tires are needing to be replaced. We have been spending winters in AZ. However, things are changing a bit for us and we will be spending the winters in a cabin at 9500ft elevation in Co.
I know many folks recommend summer and winter tires. However, we actually don't do a lot of driving. Maybe 10k/yr. So two sets of tires is hard to justify.
That said, we are looking for a tire that will hold up to towing our 20k toy hauler but also handle driving up a mountain road in the winter. This road is maintain but does get a little slick in a few spots. Our truck is a 2016 Ram 3500 Megacab Diesel 4x4 DRW with 4.10 axle.
Our Michelin LTX M/S^2's have served us very well. I have no idea if they are the best tire for snow though. We had some folks up on the mountain recommend the Goodyear Duratracs which look to be somewhere more aggressive tread. So not sure how they would hold up towing. Going forward though we are likely only towing the RV a few hundred miles each year. If however that changes to be more I'd like a tire that is still a good towing tire. After all it's a diesel drw. That's what it does :)
That's my story! Would love some feedback even if it hurts :)
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rvexodus
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12/10/22 02:35pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
Ok problem solved. Tried the reverse burp procedure above and that did not resolve it. I did however tap on the pin the operates the valve via the little flip up handle and simply tapping on it seated the valve enough to slow down the drip. This told me it was just a little corroded / gunned up. Could have possible cleaned it in some vinegar but had already received a replacement valve and decided to replace it. Drip drip is gone and since there’s no more water dripping on the 12v solenoid leads the flame hasn’t had any issues either.
Doug, thanks for your feedback and willingness to help. Keep up the great work. Folks like yourselves are invaluable.
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rvexodus
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11/18/22 08:08pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
Remember, you CANNOT compress Liquid(water), but you can compress air. You have a Dometic/Suburban WH. This type problem is rare on suburbans, but very common on Atwood WH. The Water Heater MUST have a slight air gap inside the tank. When the burner is heating, pressure in the tank builds up, but the air cushion absorbs it. NO AIR cushion and the Pop Off valve drips/seeps. It is very rare for a pop off valve to seep/weep is fairly new. Try this procedure. Doug
PRESSURE-TEMPERATURE RELIEF VALVE
Weeping or dripping of a pressure-temperature relief valve while the water heater is running DOES NOT mean it is
defective. This is normal expansion of water as it is heated in the closed water system of a recreation vehicle. The
Atwood water heater tank is designed with an internal air gap at the top of the tank to reduce the possibility of weeping
and dripping. In time, the expanding water will absorb this air. To replace the air follow these steps:
Step 1: Turn off water heater
Step 2: Turn off incoming water supply
Step 3: Open the closest hot water faucet in the coach
Step 4: Pull handle of pressure-temperature relief valve straight out and allow water to flow until it stops.
Step 5: Allow pressure-temperature relief valve to snap shut, turn on water supply and close faucet
Makes total sense. Actually I’ve had water leaks around pex connectors on the nautilus panel that only occurred while the hot water was reaching temperature. I’ve since fixed those leaks … or that’s what I thought :)
I did pick up a new valve but will try your suggestion before I attempt to replace it. Thank you sir. Will update this thread on the results of “reverse burping” the water heater.
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rvexodus
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11/17/22 09:56pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
Pay close attention to anything dougrainer says. He has been an RV technician for decades. I have seen him be wrong, but it is very, very rare.
Thanks!
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rvexodus
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11/17/22 11:06am |
Tech Issues
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RE: HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
Is the WH in a slide room? Also, oily build up in LP systems can cause a problem on just 1 appliance, if that is where the oily build up happens. Also turn on the Range LP burners on HI. Then start the Gas furnace and see what the range burners do. They should not pulsate or diminish. If they do, your LP regulator is bad. Doug
Doug, thanks for the reply. Sorry for the delayed response. Had some work to focus on.
The water heater is not in a slide out. I turned on all burners on hi and kicked on the furnace. Steady Eddy as the heater fired up as well as when it shut off. So the regulator appears ok.
Here’s where it gets interesting. My pressure relief valve was dripping. Originally, I said all the time but mainly cuz the water was hot and I’m in AZ so it takes a while to cool down. It was dripping at full heat about once per 2 secs at its worst. And it was splashing around the orifice as well as on the 12v leads going to the solenoid. No doubt a short would have effected the operation. I wrapped some tin foil around the pressure relief spigot to help redirect water away from the solenoid but apparently didn’t let it dry out enough. Today I ran the water heater with the foil redirecting the drip and everything operated properly. We topically leave the WH on all the time but at the moment for obvious reasons I have it off. I’ll run through a few more tests in the coming days as we turn the WH on as needed.
My new pressure relief valve should deliver today so I’ll replace it this weekend. Do these things just start to drip all of a sudden? I’m guessing it either has some hard water issue or it’s just weakened over time.
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rvexodus
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11/17/22 11:05am |
Tech Issues
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RE: HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
I'm not sure the drip and the burner problem are related. Could the gas problem be a failing valve - like the solenoid not able to hold the valve open as long as it needs to? Do your furnace and cooktop work OK?
Rob
Thanks Rob. Yes the furnace, stove top, oven all work fine. No pulsing in the flame or anything. I did spray some soapy water on the orifice with the water heater off and there doesn’t appear to be any leakage so the solenoid appears to be closing properly.
My thoughts are:
1. Obstructed orifice or line
2. Bad regulator
3. Bad solenoid
4. Bad 12v thermostat
Not sure how to test any or if it’s just a matter of replacing 1 by 1 until the issue goes away. The orifice tube and the thermostat are cheaper and if left to just guess would be the first items I swap out.
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rvexodus
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11/16/22 01:11pm |
Tech Issues
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HELP: Suburban SW12DEL propane issue
Having an issue with my sw12del water heater on propane side. Running the burner everything is fine. Gas is flowing. Good flame in the burn chamber. Then at some point the gas starts fluttering almost as if it’s trying to shut off (not sure if that is what’s happening so don’t read into it). Flame starts to appear near the orifice in the main burner assembly (the tube where the air and gas are mixed). At this point, it makes a fluttering popping sound much like a gas flame that’s exhausting or running out of gas.
Also note worthy is my pressure relief valve started dripping (1 drop every 5-10secs). There’s some hard water deposits around the opening. Now I did flush the system around a month ago with a mild vinegar solution. So this could be unrelated to the flame issue but again worth noting. The dripping does happen even with the heater off. So I’m guessing the valve just needs to be replaced.
There was water forming around the orifice from the dripping. Was thinking maybe the water was interfering with the flow of gas but I wrapped a little foil around the pressure release valve to divert the water away from the orifice but still having the flame issue.
Hoping someone else has had a similar issue and / or can provide some recommendations.
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rvexodus
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11/16/22 12:08pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Winter Travel Phoenix, Az to Montrose, Co
I would suggest going west to Grand Junction then I 70 to I15 then south to Las Vegas. The interstates are typically the first to be plowed etc during bad weather.
That route adds quite a few extra miles. I figure that is a worse case route. Or even Moab to grand junction if norther az is mild but Norwood and Ridgeway are bad.
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rvexodus
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10/16/22 09:13am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Winter Travel Phoenix, Az to Montrose, Co
Probably don't need to remind you but pay very close attention to the northern AZ weather forecast that time of the year. You don't want to be stuck in a standstill whiteout for hours, or travel embargoed because you need full chains, or on the news as another "trailer" blown over by the winds. I-40's bad weather can be a mean surprise that comes out of nowhere.
Yup it can be nasty. But usually 2-3 days later you wouldn’t know they had snow. I went to school @ NAU :)
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rvexodus
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10/16/22 09:08am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Winter Travel Phoenix, Az to Montrose, Co
Probably don't need to remind you but pay very close attention to the northern AZ weather forecast that time of the year. You don't want to be stuck in a standstill whiteout for hours, or travel embargoed because you need full chains, or on the news as another "trailer" blown over by the winds. I-40's bad weather can be a mean surprise that comes out of nowhere.
Thanks. Definitely appears easier than telluride to Rico to cortez. Considering heading back to AZ through Norwood but bypass Cortez and head over to Monticello. The entire trip back to AZ only adds 30miles but looks much easier of a drive. In Feb will consider that same route. Only issue is most all campgrounds are closed. But we can deal with that.
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rvexodus
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10/16/22 09:06am |
Roads and Routes
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