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RE: What is up with oversize rims???
Thanks- lots of insight on the brake issue.
And, yeah, I also agree with the other poster who pointed out that they cost more- so someone makes more money.
Now, for the weight issue- I'm not so sure which came first- the chicken or the egg....can't get a load carring 15" tire???? Yeah, I think that's because all the trucks went to 16" tires. I'm sure we can find some small, highly specialized tires with some incredible weight ratings!
Actually, what's funny is that I have a couple of trailers that I use for short distance stuff and their tires used to be hand-me-downs from the TV....so now I'm REAL out of luck on the 15" rims. I even have a great trailer from a 3/4 ton pickup bed- and dang it, I'll have to buy brand new 16" tires for it too!
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K3WE
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12/01/08 05:50am |
Tow Vehicles
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What is up with oversize rims???
Somewhere in the 90's 1/2 ton trucks and full-sized 1/2 ton SUV's started coming with 16" rims & tires instead of 15.
Ok, fine, maybe this is a good thing and maybe it was even a "trick" to make the vehicle "higher geared" and improve fuel economy as in this case it is a genuinely bigger rim and tire.
Now (speaking mostly of the SUV world- but trucks seem to be following suit too) it seems you HAVE to get 17", with 18" or 20" being an option- that might just be inseperably linked with a nicer trim package that gives you "key stuff" like air conditioning and electric windows.
This is blowing my mind! I would think that rim diameter, tire height was fairly critical for good ride and good performance- especially on a vehicle that is supposed to be able to do some work from time to time....
....Naw, it doesn't mean a dang thing and it's a lot more important to look cool with oversized rims and short tires????
(PS- I fully understand- it's oversized rims and short tires- that these new setups aren't neccesarily a different final diameter!)
BUT THERE STILL HAS TO BE SOME SIGNIFICANT RIDE AND PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS TO THE SIGNIFICANTLY SHORTENED TIRE HEIGHT! (sorry to shout ;) )
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K3WE
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11/30/08 09:08pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: To leave plugged in or not overnight
Now, supposing there isn't a isolation switch - there's still about 37 different angles.
Do you have one or two healthy batteries on the camper?
Will you be running the heat/lights hard or minimally?
Will you be in the boonies or will there be a jump start available should Mr. Murphy enforce his laws?
And, on the subject of Murphy's law- do you have a decent-sized, fully-charged, portable emergency booster?
With a healthy TT battery and reasonable electricity usage, and single overnight will allow the TV to start in the morning....(of course, this assumes that Mr. Murphy is agreeable :-) )
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K3WE
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11/30/08 03:26pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Six vs. 4 and 5-speed gassers- Any experiences to share.
All I want to say is that most gassers are geared such that top gear in the transmission is mostly worthless while towing near the max rating. So most 4 speeds have only 3 usable gears. I have not driven the new gearboxes but I speculate that while towing at the max that the top overdrive is again not very usable.
Sure would like a six speed manual in my F150.
That really doesn't bug me all that much as the TV without the trailer is a whole different ball of wax!. Heck, yes, give me a fat-high-gear to run and get groceries or tool down the highway empty. That definately helps mileage.
Then, when it's time to work, the engine's got to crank a bit faster.
It's the transition between second and third that kills me!
No implication that the engineers are stupid nor that sometimes the TV needs to be in second gear.....But it sure seems like there's room for an in-between gear gear, (and restating an earlier post- I can cite times when the unladen TV is "strangely reluctant" to drop from 4th to third).
All that being said- a humongous A-men to your and other's comments about manuals! I wish that 5 and 6-speed manuals were a lot more available! I'm probably getting an SUV not a pickup and have no manual choices at all (and make jokes about my 5-speed manual Toyota RAV 4 towing the TT)! (Oh yeah, there are no more manual RAV4's being made :( )
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K3WE
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11/30/08 03:16pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: What do you DO?
The camper is for sleeping.
When we are not sleeping we are:
1) Canoeing on the river.
2) Hanging out on the beach.
3) Going to the football game.
4) Being tourists and taking in the town.
5) Going to work (this was a huge help during a job relocation last year).
Now, all of this does frequently include some hanging out at the camper- maybe a campfire, some cooking, visiting, etc, but hanging out at the camper is not the primary reason.
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K3WE
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11/30/08 02:47pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Six vs. 4 and 5-speed gassers- Any experiences to share.
I think you really need to take a long test drive in whatever you're looking at. Craig
Great idea- "Hi mister dealer, you mind if I hook camper on your car and go for a long test drive!"
That's why I appreciated reading your experiences ;)
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K3WE
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11/29/08 09:34am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Six vs. 4 and 5-speed gassers- Any experiences to share.
This thread will likely get interesting. From a "engine stays in the powerband longer" standpoint.......more gears is better. The only people who will argue that are ignorant.
It is getting interesting already- especially calling folks ignorant.
If a 1:1 gear ratio is where you need to be then whether that ratio happens to be third gear of a 4-speed and also just happens to be third gear on a 6-speed then the extra gears of the 6-speed are doning essentially nothing to help out!
We can split hairs all day, but that one post above that suggested that it might make relatively little difference, does have some merit and does not make that person ignorant.
(Edit) - Ok, a post snuck in just before this one- It shows two transmissions with some fairly different gear ratios that probably do help the engine stay in the sweet spot. The trouble is that it is possible to have a transmissions where first through 4th are identical and fith and sixth are higher and higher gears. If your tow makes you stay in third- the higher gears do not help- so again, you can't fault those who say, "it depends".
In looking at the post immedaitely before this one- Since my setup with the 4-speed listed above tends to be stuck in third all the time- I can safely say that 6th gear does nothing to help me out. And, I never have problems pulling away from a stop so I also might say that first gear here does nothing to help me out..... Amazingly, here I am stuck with 4 useable gears! (though the ratios are not the same). That's an improvement over 3 useable gears (since 4th is out). So yeah a change, but I really did not pick up two gears to help with the sweet spot- it's more like one.
Since reading these posts, I have looked at some gear ratios and it is kind of interesting how there are other instances where the middle gear ratios change very little.
And before you go into "defensive mode"- I understand your point: It's unlikely that a 6-speed won't include adjustments across the various gear ratios that are an improvement.
But you can't make an absolute statement that more gears are better and imply that those who say, "it depend on the gear ratio" are ignorant...nope they are right!
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K3WE
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11/29/08 09:30am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Madrid MO/ green handled pumps.
This hits home as I moved from SEMO to St. Louis and know the New Madrid area.
Yes, I would fear having a major mechanical issue there on a holiday/weekend. And I would have the same fear in pretty much any small town anywhere!
And while I see more stuff with longer business hours in the big city, I still don't know if cheap, instant major mechanical help is any more available there!
If I could fault someone- it would be your tow person- whom I would think could have taken you to some other not-too-distant locations in the 20 to 50 mile range where you might have had better luck with 24/7/never-close major mechanical tasks.
Then again, 24/7/365 cheap major mechanical work ain't gonna happen!
PS. I know you didn't need "major" mechanical work, but sadly it's very hard to find a "traditional service station" where such things could get done.
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K3WE
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11/29/08 09:13am |
Tow Vehicles
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Six vs. 4 and 5-speed gassers- Any experiences to share.
I'm intrigued by all the new 5 and 6-speed transmissions that are showing up and wonder if anyone can share some stories of previously having a 4-speed and now having a 6-speed, and what they notice and what they like, etc.
Like many people and many posts- I often find the 4-speed shift points to be frustrating. Just last night- totally unloaded my suburban wanted to stay in 4th gear and 2300 RPM while I tried to climb a hill. "Surely this thing should be in 3rd gear right now?". Then with a trailer, and in tow-haul mode- WHAMMO- there's second gear and 5000 RPM!
Anyway- the Sequoia's and Expeditions and thier new 6-speeds shure have caught my interest and wonder if anyone has relevant experiencs with 4-speed and now 6-speed tranny's.
(Oh yeah, please list what you haul, and we probably need to be careful to not overly mix and match engines ;-) )
Thanx.
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K3WE
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11/28/08 01:32pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Grill Blocking for fuel savings
On a related note:
I had a 1976 chevrolet blazer (350 4x4) and drove it 2 years without a radiator fan, and swear I picked up a MPG or two.
And, yes everyone, I watched the temperature gauge- NEVER a problem unless I was in line at McDonalds- 20 MPH and the temp gauge dove right back down to normal.
Finally- I'm not sure I saw where anyone said that it's big time hair splitting on the difference in drag of a blocked off radiator and an open one- they are both big flat surfaces that hit the air straight on- you might even argue that the open radiator could be better since it lets some air through!
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K3WE
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11/28/08 01:26pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 08 Sequoia Owners - Pros & Cons?
One GIANT gripe: I have more head room in my RAV4!
I'm 6-ft zero, and my head scrapes the ceiling liner- yes I tried to adjust the seats and even made mention of the RAV-4 vs. Sequoia issue to a sales person riding with us.
Now, do you think I can tow my 27 ft trailer with my RAV 4?????....Am I overloaded or are the weight police just being opinionated :-)
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K3WE
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11/28/08 01:22pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Credit/Criminal Checks for 30+ days at campground?
Ok my initial reaction is how wonderfully incredibly flexible and useful a camper is- for all sorts of wonderful things we routinely talk about on this forum.
And I'd think it also provides wonderful utility to live somewhere and stay off the radar screen of the law.
Profiling on appearance is generally frowned upon. However, I could see where 30+ day campers aren't your average recreational types, and might have a certain percentage that are on the run or hiding. (Be clear- no implications that camping for 30 days is bad- there are plenty of good, legal reasons to do so, but another totally legal profile is someone in specialized construction work "camping" close to a job.)
It's not routine recreational camping- and repeating, the problem is that it would sure be useful to live somewhere after you left no forwarding address.
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K3WE
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11/28/08 08:35am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New TT, A Few Questions :-)
I was under the impression that the 'Beginning RVing' section was the place to ask these types of questions ? If everyone answered with 'use the search' then there would be no need for different categories of forums.
I could clutter up the forums with a thread for each of my questions, but I've had great replies to my questions in this thread so I'll continue with it.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Montano:
Ok, the humor committee must be on Thanksgiving break.
I was hoping someone would come on my coat tails to explain that I was mostly joking.
By all means, feel free to post questions. But I was serious with the warning that the subject of black and grey tank management is frought with strong opinions which sometimes get every so slightly over-the-top!
Frankly, I am surprised there haven't been 14 responses to use the GEO method to clean your black tank. (you'll have to search that or wait for someone else).
There's no doubt in my mind that it's a wonderful thing and even entertaining witchcraft as you mix up the perfect blend of all the ingredients.
Again, noting wrong with GEO, however, I'm from the other tribe that uses adequate water, maybe a rinse before I break camp and maybe a little on-the-road sloshing if I'm being a bit ---- retentive.
Have fun, and if that includes keeping the black tank sparkling-clean-sterile- so be it!
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K3WE
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11/26/08 09:03am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: New TT, A Few Questions :-)
Ok, Montano- here is some very important advice.
Unless you have some sort of psycological disorder about black tank stuff (ok, I guess you aren't nuts if you fear it a little).
But you might want to quit asking questions about it and TP, and rinsing procedures right now!
But, if you just have to know more, I'd suggest the search engine, or just simply check the board once a week. Either of those will very quickly make you a Jedi master in the ways of the dark side.......
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K3WE
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11/25/08 04:41pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Don't bite on this stuff
Ok, interesting responses.
The chlorine at the water plant is not really any different than "household bleach" So the "yuck" and "why in the world would you ever consider this" responses are a bit off base.
It might be an A-OK and safe way to keep the water fresh and clean.
Now- $5.00/pint - and considering that most water is already chlorinated- yep, it sounds like it's a hell of a money-making scheme, but so is bottled water.
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K3WE
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11/23/08 07:56pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Condensation
It certainly does happen a lot in an RV- I think it's due to confined quarters, and the need for fairly tight seals since running down the road- you need to protect water from coming in.
That being said- I have accepted it as a part of RVing.
Thus my answers are:
-Wait for it to stop raining.
-Don't worry about it- in our camper it tends to happen at night when we "lock" breathing human beings in a tight box, and it tends to dry up durning the day as we open doors, enter and leave.
-Of course- DO open your roof vents (and I assume you have some sort of max-air or equivalent that allows this- and keeps it from raining in)- totally closing the place up IS a formula for extra condenstation.
-If you can't stand it- then yeah, run some extra heat (wintertime or air conditioning in the summer) and also do what you can to get extra air exchange.
You may know all this, but like the post before this one- it seems to be a fact of life and that you simply deal with it as opposed to using a magical cure.
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K3WE
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11/23/08 07:45pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Leveling Trailer
After about 5 years of camping, I think the absolute "worst" leveling case was two layers of 2x8 under each tire on one side.
Great reading on boards vs. legos, but for the record, my boards are pretty dang "calibrated" too at 1.5" per layer.
My collection is from scrap lumber and includes lengths of about 1 and 2 ft 2x8 with a 45-degree bevel cut on each end....and the 1 ft'ers stack nicely on the 2-footers....actually, I have some odd length shorter ones that fit nicely between the tires to serve as chocks.
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K3WE
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11/23/08 07:41am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: solution to rving at Js
I'm campaigning for a sour grapes award.
Are we a little delusional that calling the corporate HQ would make the issues dissappear and cause world peace?
Yeah, it's a truck stop.
Yeah, there are ignorant truckers who act spitefully towards RV's
Yeah, there are ignorant RV ers who expect flying J to let them take up two parking places, put out the slides, keep the trucks from loudly pulling in at 3:00 AM.
Yeah, the corporate office is going to sweetly tell you how welcome you are- hopefully you'll buy a little gas/fuel and patronize the store and resturant.
Now, do you expect the manager to walk the lot every half an hour to check that the stupid RV'ers don't hog spaces and the stupid truckers aren't extracting revenge, instead of trying to help the the other 98% of intelligent customers who would like some cheap fuel, some good food and a place to park?
And, do you expect the idiots of the world to really be enlightened because they put up a sign that says RVers welcome?
Amen that folks should act like decent human beings, but phoning the corporate HQ isn't going to instill morals in the world.
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K3WE
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11/22/08 09:49am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: I do not know if i can go camping after my wife passed away
Just building on what someone others have said: Take the grandkids camping FOR HER! No, not tomorrow, but sometime in the next year or so.
Amazingly, this thread has somewhat avoided mainstream Christian beliefs of an afterlife where you wife is alive, well, watching, smiling and knowing that you will continue with the kids and grandkids to deal with lifes ups and yes downs too!
Hang in there, we're all thinking of you!
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K3WE
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11/19/08 07:19pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I guess I need to close for the winter, and needing help
What is a winterize valve ?
Yes- everyone who posts a super-detailed list needs to remember that there's a lot of differences in RV's and a lot of us don't have the "winterize valve"
Given that I've never seen one- I think it's a deal that does one or two things: 1 Allows the water pump to suck in the pink antifreeze or 2 bypasses the hot water tank so you don't have to fill it with ~7 gal of antifreeze to get the hot water lines full of anitfreeze.
Yeah, your four pipes sticking out the botom (I've got two), those are good to really drain the system.
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K3WE
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11/15/08 08:41am |
Beginning RVing
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