Kirk W

The TSD card is only good at truck stops, correct? Is there a way to know if it is accepted before you pull into the station or to the pump?

If you go to the bottom, right corner of the post window, there is a tab labeled "insert other media" that when clicked on allows you to insert the address of a picture. Northern Motors must be your local dealer? Are you shopping new now?

From the Escapees News:

Just to make it more interesting, I am in the Dodge/Cummins truck fan club! That said, I have known many satisfied RVers who towed for years with trucks from Ford & GM without problem. I agree with your plan to select a diesel truck because they are more fuel efficient with heavy loads and are much longer lived than gasoline. We have close friends who are towing with a 2018 F350 and they give it very high marks. To compare gasoline to diesel, I can give you some experience data that may help. We travel now with a 20' travel trailer that weighs about 4000# when traveling. We started that towing with an SUV that was V6, gasoline powered and after a couple of years we changed to a Dodge, 2500 diesel, crewcab. With nothing being towed, the SUV would get about 22 mpg and the diesel made about 19 mpg. While towing, the SUV got 9 to 11 mpg and the truck 14 - 15 mpg.

The ability to do that is one of the key reasons that FL, TX, and SD are the most popular states for fulltimer's domicile. Most states do not allow use of a mail service for vehicle registrations, driving licenses, voter registration, and a host of other things. All 3 of those states not only accept their use but also have no state income tax.

If an RV is definitely part of your plans, you might be well served to get it sooner and use it to travel to the places you think may fit what you are looking for. As an example, rural TX has very little by way of zoning or construction regulations, beyond those for safe water & septic. It you have never been to east TX I think that you should consider it. You have not said what part of KY you are in but I would think that the less populated areas there would be pretty lax, but I have little experience to base that on. What sort of area do you want to buy land in and what states might you consider?

First, you need to determine which one it is. As I look over their website, I don't see any technical information.

If you use a campground to register and insure vehicles you will need to find one that will forward an occasional item when you are not there, or make a different choice. Why not just wait to change the address on things until you get signed up for a mail service? Most of us make the choice of a mail service one of the first actions taken and get address changed made before we leave the stick house for the last time. If you do as you suggest you will need to make the address change again before you leave that campground.

It seems to me that you are attempting to reinvent the wheel that many of the Escapees have been using for nearly 50 years. The club was founded by some folks in construction trades who had been living in an RV and traveling the country for a long time before club formation in 1977. In reading your posts thus far, it would seem to me that you haven't yet determined how you wish to live and if you want to travel. Before we can help, you need to make some decisions. There are still rural areas where one can buy an acreage with very little regulation of what you may do with or on it. Here in TX there are many RV folks who have a small acreage with a steel building that has both an RV pad and a tiny home. We recently sold ours after owning it for 8 years. But we also lived in an RV with no real estate address at all for 12 years. Most of the Escapee co-op communities have a waiting list to buy in, but are a good option. Before we can advise you on what RV to buy, we would need to know how you wish to use it and what your budget may be. There are many types and sizes of RV out there and nearly all have been or are being used as a home by someone. As you make choices, come back with more specific questions and there is likely to be someone in this group who can answer.

Welcome to the Escapee forums!

I have now been with them for a year and am just about to renew for next year. I have not needed to use them and with any luck, i will never learn how the service is when you need it.

About ten years ago we did that in Avalon Park on Lake Lavon, northeast of Dallas, also a COE lake. But we were also returning volunteers who the staff knew from several previous stays with them.

If you have experienced some funny things which were triggered by our current problems, let's share them! Yesterday, while taking a socially distanced walk, a neighbor lady in her 80's stopped me to ask a computer question. "Do you know if the virus protection on my computer is good enough to prevent this COVID from getting into my house through it?"

It could be worth the effort to check, as much would depend on how the governor phrased the order and how it is applied. Having been a volunteer for several different states and agencies, some have designated staff areas that might not be subject to the closure. It would also probably depend on the facility manager's needs that he feels he can justify. In my opinion it would be very unlikely that a state employ would push the limit of the governor's order for a volunteer who was not previously scheduled to be there.

All of the lights out would make me believe that you have lost both 12V and 120V power, since all of the controls operate on 12V. There are two fuses, a 3A that supplies 12V and the 5A supplies power to the electric heater, only. I suggest that you start by downloading the service manual available from this internet manual link. Do you have a reasonably quality volt/ohm meter? You really need a meter to do any significant troubleshooting. Dutch could be right about the heater being shorted but you really need an ohm meter to check that and it would also help to determine if your refrigerator is being supplied the proper voltages and to verify a failed fuse.

If you mean me, check what my name is, please.

I have had some hanger bounce issues since we went to a travel trailer. To resolve the problem I modified the rod hanger to allow me to put a dowel rod into place about 1/4" above the clothing rod before travel.

While we aren't part of the class, I did want to welcome you to the group and to the lifestyle. Starting your transition during the current difficulties certainly made it more of a challenge, but the upside is that you have confirmed that you can handle some difficulties and still make it! Do not hesitate to take an active part in any and all of our forum areas!

In the Dallas area gasoline is running $1.36 to $1.45 and diesel is about $2.12 to $2.29.

Dirty connections for a trailer is a very common problem. The fact that your trailer lights work would seem to indicate that the ground connection between the truck and the trailer is good, but it never hurts to make sure since that is easy to check. If the service shop charged you for checking the trailer power and couldn't even say if the problem was the truck or the trailer, then the person checking on it was completely incompetent and they are thieves for charging you. I strongly advise you to never use their services for anything again! It should take no more than 5 minutes for a moderately competent person to determine if the tow truck is supplying power for the trailer brakes or not.

It is pretty difficult for any state to completely close their borders, with the highways and byways which cross in hundreds of locations, but here is a report from the NY Times that gives information that is as current as they have available. The Open Road Calls, but Authorities Say ‘Stop’ In addition, the Times keeps a count of cases by state & county that seems to be as accurate as any source that I have found. Here is a link to their case count by state and you can then break it down by county if you choose to do so.

If you don't have one, the light he refers to will do the job and you can find them at any auto parts store for between $10 and $15.

You will need to test to know that. Either a volt/ohm meter or there are devices that plug between the vehicle plug and the trailer plug to indicate operation.