TXiceman

Yes, we pulled some extra cash out in case there are problems.

Ken

While hosting in Texas state parks, we always had issues with the folks that arrive late and depart early.  We tried to make an early pass through our area as well as a late pass and leave pay reminders with their license plate circled on the form.  Some of the parks kept track of them and would go after the repeat offenders.

The other issue was "squatters".  They came into the park on Sunday after lunch and would move into an empty campsite after paying the daily use fee....not the camping fee.  Most moved on, but a few had to have the ranger come and talk to them.  Some of these clods were frequent offenders.  Saw one that the ranger escorted him out of the park, and he put them on the "blacklist".

Ken

In our 9 plus years full-time, we see Ford diesels as the most popular truck for towing heavy.  Next comes Dodge/Ram and Chevy/GMC is a distant third.  But in the past two years we have seen an uptick in the number of Chevy/GMC trucks towing heavy.  I don't know if it is the fact that they have pushed their ratings up or people just fall in love with the fancy tailgate.

Ken

I give up on letting elected officials know my opinions and thoughts.  All I ever get back is a form letter telling me what a great job they are doing, asking for money and nothing to do with the issue I wrote about.  

I am retired and just reset my clocks and as for programs we watch, we generally record them, and time shift so that we can skip the mindless commercials.

Everyone should figure out that the politicians are only worried about reelection, once they are in office.

Ken

7 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

X2.  I frequent the Salton Sea campgrounds, and all the sites, no matter how little use they get, are reservable,  which is nuts.  Your non-reserved occupied space will not show as taken on the reservation site because park staff can't do that.  

 

I agree that some sites need to be held back as reservable, but not site specific.  Trying to come into a park for just 5 days is getting to be impossible unless you booked months ahead of time.  You find sites open for a day or two and you have to move for two more days and again for another day.  I'll go to a commercial park before I pack up and move that often.

You see people bragging about booking 13 months out into 2023 to snag their favorite spots.  Shoot, we barely know where we will be in a month or two, forget about next year.

Ken

Both my OTR and directional antennas have a round cable, not flat.  If you run the cable through a slide of window, make sure you are not pinching the cable as it can damage the shield.

Most of the time I use the OTR omnidirectional antenna.  In really marginal areas, the directional antenna really helps.

Ken

11 hours ago, Regan said:

We ended up purchasing a 2009 Chevy Express 3500. It's rated to pull up to 9800 lbs. Now we are looking for a camper that can sleep all 11 of us & has enough CCC for all the stuff a large family needs..... any suggestions? I've read that it is best to tow at 80%. Is that accurate information?

I wish you luck in finding a rig that will fit 11 people and gear that will fit the 3500 van.  Using 150# per person, which is 1650# in people then you add another 50# of gear per person as a minimum you are at 2200#.  

Assuming all of the gear is in the trailer, and the 1650# of people are in the van, you have just reduced the towing capacity of the van by about 1500# to a capacity of 8300#.

For every pound you add to the tow vehicle, you reduce the towing capacity by the same amount.  The 1500# of people in the van reduces the useful cargo capacity by 1500#.  The loaded tongue weight of a 9300# trailer will be 1000# to 1200# which is taken from the van's cargo capacity. 

Get the Chevy towing guide and very carefully read the towing ratings and definitions.  The 9800 # tow rating is on a base model van with no options, and only a 150 driver.

Sorry to rain on your parade.

Ken

glad you came out OK with minimal bruises and scrapes.  That is exactly why I park the rig when the winds are getting high.  I can wait a day or two and let the weather settle down.

Take care.

Ken

Which antenna are you planning to get?

Ken

While equipment costs may be close to the same, you need to look at the installation cost.

Ken

How does a thread on mailbox services turn political?  Let's keep politics out of the Escapees forum.

Ken

Clay, I had two techs tell me to stay away from Dometic and to get Carefree.  Different strokes for different folks.

Ken

Bigjim, I do not depend on the USPS for ANY important mail service.  I pay a little extra to get the FedEx flat rate service.

Ken

I went with the Carefree SOK III slide awnings.  I love the way they keep the sun off the slide tops and quieter in the rain.  But they are a real pain in the wind from certain directions.  Sometimes, the bedroom cover is so noisy that I'll sleep in my recliner in the living room.

It is a love-hate relationship.

Ken

Mini splits are not designed for an RV, but can be adapted to fit an RV.  If you are going into the front bedroom, you have to have a place to mount the Condenser and compressor.  Then you have to mount the evaporator and fan (blower) on a wall in the bedroom and run the wires and refrigerant tubing between the two pieces. 

Recent developments have made available some ceiling mounted evaporators and fans.  This will require cutting holes in the roof.

Your best bet for your trailer is to use a regular roof mounted unit.  You can run the unit on the other end of the trailer for sleeping to keep the noise down.

Mini-Splits

Ken

The best thing to do is read the manual on the inverter and make sure it is set properly for your RV and also check the status of the batteries.

We leave our inveter/converter set so that we still maintain power on any power interruption.

Ken

15 minutes ago, Kimkarl said:

Just wondering if I can have my 2020 Montana painted with full body paint

Yes, all it takes is time without the RV and a BUNCH of MONEY $$$$$.  Last I heard was a 38' with 3 colors and clear coat was $18,000.

Ken

Bruce t, I much prefer my RV with my dirt and germs to a less than cleaned hotel or motel room.  Last week we had to take a 4-day trip for our dog's surgery without our RV. This was the worst hotel experience in my 40 -years of travelling for work.  After checking, we refused to stay in this room or an alternate room.  We left and are still fighting to get our money refunded to our credit card.

And by the same token, you can get sorry campgrounds, but at least you have a clean place to sleep.

Ken

I do not need to worry about the axles on our HitchHiker.  It has a GVWR of 19000# and has THREE 7000# Mor/Ryde IS axles and G rated tires.  NuWa was not one to worry about like the current manufacturers.

Ken

hemsteadc, if your pet is drinking lots of water and urinating a lot, you may want to get it checked for diabetes.  

Ken

If you bring an RV from Europe to the US, make sure you can use the 120 volt, Hz power here.  

US plugs

RV plugs  That you will find in the campgrounds.

We have met a few folks that shipped a European RV here for travel.  I am not sure how they handled the power requirements.

Ken

The Texas requirement for a truck and trailer is to add the GVWR of the truck and the trailer.  If 26,001# or more, and you are towing over 10,000# you will need a Class A Exempt or non-commercial license.  It is not hard to get as you will need to test over 30 questions from a couple of chapters from the CDL handbook.  Then you schedule a driving test with the truck and trailer.  The testing person will give your rig a safety inspection, and you take a 15-to-30-minute test drive.  You need to have the Texas registration and insurance card for the vehicle.  It is one of those things if you cannot pass the test, you need to hang up the keys.  My wife also drives the rig and has a class A license.

If you are towing under 10,000#, you need a class B as is the case of a larger motorhome.

To add more to the confusion, Texas requires a yearly safety inspection by a testing station for the truck and trailer.  You can register the rig online each year by self-certifying that you are out of state and getting the license stickers.  Then when you are back in Texas, get the rig inspected within 72 hours of your return.  We do this often and have zero issues.

It is not really a reason to avoid setting up your address in Texas.

Ken

The best advice is to contact two people.  One is a tax lawyer and a tax accountant to find out what will work for your specific situation.  I do not think you can get acceptable legal advice on the forums.

Ken

There can be a number of issues that can cause your problems.  But in order to help you the best we will need to know the make and model of the furnace.  Most of us do not know what furnace was used in a 2012 Cougar RV.

It could be a high temperature sensor locking the furnace out until the thermostat is reset.

Ken

Fellow down the row from us with a fairly new 41' Keystone Alpine 5er.  He has one tire wearing badly (left rear) on the trailer.  He had it checked by the dealer, and it was determined that the axle was mounted wrong with mislocated spring hangers.  Now they are battling Lippert and the dealer to get it fixed before spring.  They live in the RV full time.

Another fellow with a Messa Ridge (again a Lipper frame and full time) got a crack in the corner of the bedroom slide on their first trip out.  They are fighting with the dealer and Lippert.  Telling them it has to go back to the factory, and it will take 2.5 months to get it back.

Such great products.

Ken