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Forum
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RE: New to RVing and In Need Of Advice! :)
I'm deciding if I should buy an SUV to tow a small trailer or buy a pickup truck to tow a 5th wheel.
I do plan to live in my RV full time.
And which SUVs/trucks would you recommend, considering my budget is around 20k?
Sadly, I don't think you have a clue as to what you are planning.
A typical SUV is going to be very limited. It is not going to pull anything beyond a pop-up tent camper or a very small trailer. Certainly not an RV anyone would want to live in full time.
Your idea of buying a pickup truck to pull a 5th wheel is also naive. At a minimum you need to consider a heavy duty 3/4 or 1 ton truck for even a modest sized 5th wheel. You will not find anything in that class except a piece of junk for $20k. You need to consider spending twice that amount and then what are you planning as a budget to buy an RV?
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JimK-NY
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05/29/23 08:38pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Heated mat?
Your post brings all sorts of issues to mind. First if you have an electric hook up, why are you suffering with a cold RV? Why are you not using a space heater? Second, when you get up in the morning, why not use your furnace? Mine does a good job in a few minutes.
This is a separate issue, but I cannot imagine spending an hour making breakfast. Coffee and oatmeal just require some boiling water. Eggs are even quicker.
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JimK-NY
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05/24/23 06:17pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Oiled my box fan and it broke...
I think you already learned the answer.
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JimK-NY
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05/19/23 05:24pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dead Refrigerator
At what point do you give up and buy a replacement? I have had similar issues with my appliances at home. Once an appliance stops working the cost of repairs, the nuisance of doing without and the wait times are often just not worth it. At a minimum a simple appliance repair means a $150 initial visit, parts perhaps only another $100 and then the cost of a second visit and the actual repair, another $200. So a 5-10 year old washing machine, dryer, dishwasher or refrigerator can easily cost $450 to repair. Getting the repair completed can easily take several weeks.
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JimK-NY
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05/19/23 05:22pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: What's your mileage?
Chevy C3500 with mildly built 454 gas, and 5 speed manual pulling 35' 5th wheel with 3 slides. I average 4 MPG. Needless to say we dont travel very far from home.
It is all a matter of choices. Some people want to "camp" with a high degree of comfort in something as big as a mobile home. That is not my choice. For my upcoming trip, I plan to travel about 15000 miles over a period of 3-4 months. I will see lots of National Parks and other great scenic areas with rarely even a week in one location. BTW I do keep the speed down to 65 mph or less and get roughly 12-13 mpg.
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JimK-NY
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05/16/23 02:09pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Picking out good camping chairs
I have no idea what chairs are falling apart or how you store them that might cause rotting/deterioration.
I have simple, old fashioned lightweight aluminum/web chairs that typically last 5 plus years. After 5 years I re-web them. My original set is on the 3rd set of webs. I like them because they are very light weight. I leave them outside and travel with them on a ladder bracket. After being rained on, they dry almost immediately.
The canvas chairs are heavier, collect dirt and don't dry quickly.
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JimK-NY
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05/11/23 07:56pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Just curious
The taste of water often has little to do with the quality and safety of drinking that water. We also get used to the taste of water in our area and don't care for the taste of other water.
In addition to taste, a Brita or other filter will greatly reduce any risks of giardia or other contaminants.
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JimK-NY
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05/07/23 06:24am |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
Power Consumption 6 - 31W
Rated Voltage 12V"
So, it is quite feasible that I could cut my power usage in half with an espar unit...
So let us assume a 20W power consumption. That would be 1.7 amps @ 12 volts. My small truck camper furnace pulls 7 amps. That is a very substantial difference. The difference in fuel consumption is also massive.
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JimK-NY
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05/06/23 11:57am |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
This whole idea sounds like a nightmare to me. I have to ask, why?
I would not want to take a trip with 2 adults and 3 teenagers jammed into a small RV even in the Summer. In Winter with temps down to the teens, that is likely to be a miserable experience. You have already heard about some of the issues; e.g, trying to heat the RV, moisture and condensation issues, RVs that are really not well insulated or designed for that sort of use. At the end of a ski day, where are you planning on putting all of that wet gear, skies, boots, clothing?
If you do attempt this insanity, I highly recommend you stay at a campground with hookups. At least you will have electricity to run the furnace and you can even substitute space heaters instead of the furnace. Regardless of the insulation, you are going to need plenty of heat so that you can bring in lots of outside air to try to fight the humidity problem.
Again, why even consider this? The cost for a handful of trips a year is going to be much higher than overnight stays in hotels/motels or even nice resorts.
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JimK-NY
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05/04/23 05:55am |
Truck Campers
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RE: 12v rv freezer difficult to open,,,suction
A decent, functional gasket is going to form a seal around tape or something similar. That is why I recommend using a piece of non-compressible tubing.
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JimK-NY
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05/04/23 05:29am |
Tech Issues
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
Four season to be means temps down in the upper 20s at night and freezing or above during the day. Lower than that, I leave. In fact much below freezing at night will cause me to start making plans for a warmer location. RV = recreational, not being frozen; vehicle, turn the key and leave for a better location.
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JimK-NY
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05/03/23 05:53pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 12v rv freezer difficult to open,,,suction
Yes a pin to the gasket should be fine.
I doubt it. Remember the gasket is greatly compressed which would close up that pin hole.
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JimK-NY
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05/03/23 12:39pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: 12v rv freezer difficult to open,,,suction
Just tape a 1" piece of small diameter metal tubing to the gasket to break the seal and allow pressure to equalize. That small gap will barely effect the efficiency of the unit.
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JimK-NY
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05/03/23 06:00am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Solar
We are now on page 2 of responses to an OP who recently registered, asked one question and has now vanished.
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JimK-NY
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05/02/23 06:45am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Replacing Elixir elx-45 with Boondocker 1245
My Elixir 45 charger recently died and I did the 1245 replacement.
Before even starting I realized I was in for a nightmare of a project. The replacement required replacing all the incoming and outgoing connections with new buss bars, fuses and breakers. All of this had to be done in a very cramped space with wiring that was cut to fit without any excess. Next my Elixir also had a built in transfer switch. It was not clear how I would be able to remove, rewire and reuse the switch. Next I was going to replace the heavy duty metal box, fuses, busses and breakers etc with a thin plastic box which arrived with a cheap door latch that was already broken.
You can probably guess that instead of this massive project, I switched out the charger/converter. That was better than the alternative, but still not easy. I had to cut ventilation holes in the old heavy duty metal box. It is unfortunate that the boondocker charger/converter is slightly larger than the original Elixir parts.
It sounds like this solution would work for you as well.
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JimK-NY
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05/01/23 05:26am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Solar
As mentioned by CA, solar panels and an appropriate controller are only part of the issue. You need to size a battery bank for your needs. Batteries are heavy, take up a lot of space, are expensive and most need to be replaced every few years.
You really need to do an energy audit based on your expected and desired needs. You will quickly find that controlling utilization can greatly reduce your need for a major solar system and expenses. In my case, I do not use the microwave, electric coffee maker or similar appliances. I have a melitta coffee maker system that makes great coffee from water I heat on the stove. Anyway, you should be able to find online RV electrical calculators to estimate your system needs.
Solar is usually a standalone system with a controller that wires directly into your battery bank. You RV should already be configured for shore power, alternator and addition of a generator. It may also be pre-wired for solar. In any case, since you are asking very basic questions, you should leave the installation to the vendor.
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JimK-NY
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04/28/23 11:00am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Air Bags Necessary?
I have a similar issue with my TC. The water tank is shifted towards the passenger side so that about 2/3 of the tank is on that side. The refrigerator and generator compartment are also on the passenger side. I have never had an issue with the extra weight on the passenger side but I do try to load any additional items on the driver's side.
The amount of list you measured is pretty small compared with the variation in road surfaces. For example, the standard road has a crowned surface that drops about 1/2" per foot or 4" for the roughly 8' width of your camper. We are so used to this, we don't even notice.
BTW, my experience with airbags was horrible. I got a lot of bounce and had to set my Rancho shocks at the highest setting to tame that somewhat. Unfortunately that high shock setting made for a jarring ride. If you really feel the need to level the camper, I would recommend SuperSprings. They can be easily adjusted to level the ride from left to right.
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JimK-NY
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04/27/23 04:53pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Goodbye CH751 key!
My RV doesn't even have a locking cover to the water system. I cannot imagine why I would want one, especially if it had a dinky plastic door.
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JimK-NY
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04/25/23 01:55pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Just curious
Like everything else, the cost of a filter might not be related to the quality or function.
The filter you chose depends on what you are trying to accomplish. There are filtration systems designed to remove sediments, organic molecules, and even iron. Ion exchange filters can remove heavy metals and other ions and replace them with sodium and chloride ions.
I have gotten by without any filtration for 2 years of full time use and many years of extended use of my RV. I only had an issue one time with water full of sediment. I had checked in advance and avoided using that water even though it meant moving on a bit sooner than I had planned.
If you do want to have a filtration system, consider a main filter to remove sediment. I would make sure it does not remove chlorine which would put your water system at risk of bacterial contamination. For drinking water I use a Brita partly because the cartridges are readily available. There are several other final filters that are probably better but it can be difficult to find cartridges while traveling.
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JimK-NY
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04/24/23 01:48pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Tire covers?
Way2roll has already mentioned that a major factor is using the tires. Tires age quickly if not run frequently. I gave up worrying about sunlight after I tried to put my 4 year old spare tire into rotation. It seemed ok until it was on the truck for a week or two and the cracks appeared virtually overnight. That tire had been under the truck bed and of course never saw direct sunlight or excessive heat.
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JimK-NY
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04/22/23 03:57pm |
Beginning RVing
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