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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
Best of luck with the rig. You will love "the life".
I am the one with the BWTS Sunnybrook to the guy who was confused. I pull it fine with the 2500HD and have for about 5 years without an incident other than a flat tire on truck and that was due to a HUGE piece of metal on road.
Keep those kids safe and sound and have a ball using the new rig and accept that there will be things that will need fixing by the dealer, it is just an annoyance. Do check EVERYTHING you can BEFORE you pay for the rig because they will fix all the things you find now but if you take it and the dealer says to just bring it back for the fixes, BIG mistake, make them do ALL the things on your list BEFORE you pay or they will not get done right or in a timely fashion. Best advice I can give you. It takes about 2-5 hrs to do the check of all systems before final payment. Have them hook up the water so you can test that there are no leaks, check out the electrical outlets with a night light to make sure they all work on both sides of the rig, check out the beds taht they are put together right, you need to have them get up on the roof and run a hose over the roof for a little while to make sure there are not leaks, open all cabinets and make sure the doors are hung right, that appliances all work, that the storage bins are DRY after doing the hose on roof and along sides, that the doors lock and unlock correctly. Check out all systems so check the heat and A/C now too. Fridge as well should be on when you get there so tell the dealer so it will show it is cold. That might mean the dealer needs to put it on the night before you get there. You get the idea, you must check everything you can and do not pay til all flaws are fixed, leave nothing to wait please. The dealers are want to put you off and the fixes off so get them done NOW before you pay. There will be things that come up but you want most everything taken care of. The dealers know you are excited and many people will take the rig so they have it but don't. Also make sure you know how to hitch up and unhitch so do it 5 or 6 times or more to know you know. Use a check list everytime you hitch and unhitch so you do not forget anything which we have all done and been sorry so use the check list. When leaving a campground make sure last thing that the TV antenna is down, I saw someone take one off the other day going through and over pass that was about 13.5 ft so ok for rig but they left the antenna up. Check your tires for air pressure before you drive anywhere each time you go, no matter what.
Have the dealer show you the awning and how it works and do it over and over til you are comfortable at the dealership yard. Do not let the dealer or salesperson intimidate you, this is your time to familiarize yourself with the unit and if there is something wrong fix it now, can not say it enough.
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RVER
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11/24/08 08:37pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
Best of Luck with the new truck and safe travels!!!
RVW is RVing Women and it is an organization of women who RV. They are straight and gay, married and single, Widowed and divorced etc. We camp together and travel together or just get help from another woman. It is an empowering organization for women and if interested go to rvingwomen.org
Have many wonderful trips in your rig and drive safely.
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RVER
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11/23/08 08:07pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
donno I have a 34 BWTS and pin weight was 1600 pounds and I was pulling a fiver of 12,200. The total weight of truck and trailer can not exceed 22,000 and my truck weighed about 8600 I believe so well within the numbers for the truck to pull and to have that pin weight. I do not have the number in hand they are at work in a book I keep of such things but could, if necessary, write down the actual numbers. So I guess it was 1000 less than total the truck can take in a pin weight not a 100 as stated.
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RVER
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11/22/08 07:28pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
To answer the question of whether we have weighed our trucks and fivers, in my case, the answer is a resounding YES. I am 100#s under the gross pin weight allowed(payload) and I do not carry anything but about 20#s of wood in the box. AND the truck can pull more than what the fiver weighed packed and ready for the trip. I weigh in (free once you have weighed in for the year) so weigh in a few times a year and have never been overweight.
I think duallies are fine if they are not your daily ride but if they are they are butt big and hard to park and handle through narrow areas.
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RVER
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11/22/08 02:01pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
Going down hill is not more of a problem with the 2500 as the 3500. The dually actually is said to pull LESS weight but can handle more of the payload which is the pinweight. 3500 pulls less weight because it weighs more so .....
Same engine so that is what pulls the rig, breakes and electronic brake controler is what breaks it. Dually can carry much more weight but NOT pull more weight so one has to be careful about reading the statistics.
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RVER
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11/22/08 01:46pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
cannesdo, I too am a woman and we mostly travel in New England with a few trips down south but mostly in the hills and dales of New England and the 2500HD of the GM brand does fine also. I do have a Diesel but many have the big V-8 gasser and do fine as well. I have a short box but if done again would go with the normal longer box in rear so no slider hitch would be necessary. As it is I got the Pull-Rite Superglide with the deal for the rig and it is a great hitch but if I had to buy a hitch I think they are really expensive. Pullrite is great for service I must say.
Happy travels, do you know about RVW? There is a Solo chapter.
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RVER
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11/21/08 07:00pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Confused on what to get to pull our fifth wheel - HELP!
I started this and it got sent too fast. I have a 2500 HD and pull a 12,000 pound fiver without any problem. Duallys are "fat" in back and alot of people do not realize how hard they are to park! And getting by in a narrow squeeze.
Cannot imagine the tongue weight is that heavy to necessitate a dually. I used to sell cars and truck and the salesman is going to sell you what is going to make HIM/HER the most money. I love my Chevy but the GMC is really the same so get where you get the same for best money. Less problems with the Chevy then with Ford(Sold both) and the Chevy/GMC twins are more comfortable than the Ford in my opinion. Dodge is much less money but the transmissions do not last so not sure it is a competitor of the Chevy/GMC/Ford. I love the Allison transmission in the Chevy I have and of course it is a diesel but I bought when Diesel was cheaper to buy than gas. NOw not sure what to do I guess I would still go with diesel if I thought I was going to keep for 200,000 miles since the maintainence is more expensive but less often needed. Oil changes are about every 3-5,000 miles like gas and do cost more since there are 12 quarts of oil instead 5. LESS noise to the diesel on the GM product for sure.
Do not go with the sales person telling you want you need and not since they benefit by your inexperience. Take your time, get what you want. IF you get a short box then you need a slider hitch so if you get the longer box you save a little money there by not needing the slider hitch. I bought used for the fiver and the truck so the fiver came with the Superglide hitch that the man took out of his truck since he was no longer camping so did not need it. SAved me about $1,5000 but slider hitches are about $200 more than regular and so it can be about $600 so save a couple of hundred getting the longer box and it is useful for other things when the hitch is out during non-camping season.
Hope this helps.
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RVER
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11/20/08 04:26pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
WOW thank everyone. I will have this all checked when i dewinterize next spring but wanted to run this by to see if there is something that strikes you as being wrong. I am considering getting thing made by RV Proformance that will monitor the voltage and raise it if it is too low but first want to have all the things you have all suggested done like check the wiring and gauge and better meter and check to make sure all is tight etc. We did check the circuit breaker box and all seemed fine and tight.
Thanks again
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RVER
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11/02/08 07:06pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Prodigy Brake Controller Setting?
7.5 at level 2. I would go back to the person who put it in and go over how to set it up, mabye you have it set it at level 3 and there for less voltage needed to the breaks but it matters on how much you are pulling etc but 1.5 does not sound right for voltage at all.
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RVER
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11/02/08 06:23pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: how to winterize?
HI, til you get the email from Reb, No you do not put it in the same place as the water goes in on the outside of the rig. YES you can blow out the lines with no more than 35 pounds of air but when he is pushing air you must open the hot water faucet furthest from the air hose(usually the kitchen sink until all the water is out of the line and then close that and open the cold water faucet. then go to the bathroom and get the hot and cold separately in sink and shower opening one at a time and then the toilet. With that done you are ready to suck up the antifreeze special for RVs but first you must bypass the hot water heater. Do you already have a bypass valve at the hot water heater? IF yes you must shut so the antifreeze does not go into the water heater and now if you have that bypass you will use your water pump to suck up the antifreeze and open one faucet at a time and pull the antifreeze through so that the pink stuff comes out the faucet from each handle of cold and hot at each sink and then the toilet and shower making sure enough comes out the faucets to drain down and fill the trap below the sinks and shower.
Sounds like you are going to get instructions in writing but if this sounds hard it is not but watch someone do it first so maybe get the RV store to do it for you and watch to see what they are doing. there is something you can buy to shoot the antifreeze up the faucets if you do not have a bypass for hot water heater but again you need to see someone do it first if you are like me.
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RVER
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11/02/08 06:19pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
Enblethen, I will check that so what gauge should it be?
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RVER
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11/02/08 12:40pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
I am using what would be conidered CHEAP, Radio Shack meter that has a needle that shows the voltage and it does move around alittle not necessarily when I put on and off things like the hot water heater of course only drains the electric when calling for heat and we leave it on all the time except when using the hair dryer when plugged into 30amp but it seems we get the same pull on electric when plugged in to 50 amp which confuses me for sure.
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RVER
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11/02/08 12:38pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
HOw do I know what gauge wire is on the 50 amp plug coming from the RV? Measure circumference? Definitely has 50 amp plug on the end.
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RVER
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11/02/08 12:22pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
OK, points of clarification
I immediately bought a new adapter since the one that was plugged into the 30 amp receptical at the post was destroyed by the melt down. The 50 amp plug at the time looked fine, the prongs were not blackened.
I do know to only run one A/C at a time but it was the first day and the prior owner was showing me the way the thermastat worked etc and so when one A/C was on we went to zone two and put that one on but not for long maybe 2 minutes at most. I may have been a bad post electric and have nothing to do with the A/C use but..
I did test others voltage with same voltage meter as the being used in my rig so I would be comparing apples with apples.
This trip recently, I was never more than 110 volts and mostly about 106 and that was NOTHING running like hot water heater etc. Then when putting an electric heater on it would draw down by about 4-6 more volts. We shut off the heater. Hair dryer was used and I did not look at the voltage meter while that was on but the dryer worked well as did the heater til I looked at the meter and was afraid to use it at the lower voltage.
SO, do I go to the RV dealer and ask them to check out the electrical plug from where it attached to the circuit box and make sure it is not damaged? I do have the meter plugged into the plug near the sink so it is the GFI circuit but is that what you are speaking about when you said "GFI vs 30 Amp plug? The plug really is a 15 or 20 amp recepticle but does it being the GFI recepticle matter reading off that for voltage and could that be the answer of why mine is lower than others? And someone said "I would pull the converter and look at the wires from the input. A poor connection can cause a lot of heat." Converter being the plug I call the adapter or the converter in the rig? Not sure where that is found actually, sorry for the ignorance.
I am thinking of buying a product called PowerMaster Voltage Controller by RV Performance Products which is said to raise the voltage when it goes to low to run such appliances as heaters etc. Any thoughts on such a product. I believe it now has a surge protector built in. Since I have 50amp I should buy the 50amp and then put the same adapter on it for the 30amp posts or does that defeat the purpose? I guess that question will be for the man who makes the appliance.
Thanks y'all for your help in this.
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RVER
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11/02/08 07:52am |
Tech Issues
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NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
This topic has been moved to another forum.
You can read it here: 22059838
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RVER
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11/01/08 08:24pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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NOt getting the same electrical volts that everyone gets
I go to any campground and I seem to get less volts than all around me. If my meter reads 106 then the people around me are getting 110 or better. this has been since the first time I used the rig and we had an odd thing happen. We have 50 amp service but often need to use the 30 amp at some of the campgrounds we go to. The first time we went out in this rig(new to us but used) the owner came with us and was showing me all about it. He actually ran both air conditioners for a minute or two on the 30 amp and did not blow a circuit breaker. Anyway, 3 days later when I went to leave(did not use the Air Conditioner again or the heat strips for that matter, but when we went to leave we found that the 50 to 30 amp plug was melted so we thought the outlet was bad.
NOW I am thinking could it have cooked a wire or two in the rig so that now I do not get the full voltage to the rig? This last time we were out, we were plugged into 30 amp and the voltage was running between 104 and 112 but mostly below 110 which worried me and also because of that we did not use the heaters (elec space heaters) due to the low voltage.
Does anyone know what could cause lower voltage? The circuit breaker box there is no hot wires, all screws are tight. I actually went out with the meter and the post electrical is about 2 watts higher at the post then in the rig. Did I cook the wiring by what I described above or if it works then it is ok. I am thinking of buying something that raises the voltage if at the rig it drops or at the box voltage drops it raises it I think.
Thoughts?????
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RVER
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11/01/08 08:24pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: TV converter for HD TV
Hmm so if you put the converter box on top of the tv or beside it, will be fine?
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RVER
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08/11/08 05:54pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: 2500HD steering
That sounds like a lot I have had 3 in 69,000 miles. You would think they would have it fixed by now, I was told by my brother in law that the "generic" intermediate steering shaft fixes the problem but the Chevy deaerships seem to insist on using their own useless piece of crud intermediate steering column. By doing that they make you come to them and hopefully looking at their new trucks and cars. I must say I love my truck but the rest of the line except the corvette is pieces of junk!
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RVER
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08/11/08 05:51pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: TV converter for HD TV
kmb1966,
You said "The boxes needs to have line of sight, the hardest part was finding a place to mount the converter box for the rear TV." Line of sight of what? Not sure I understand the "line of sight" comment.
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RVER
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08/11/08 05:44pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: TV converter for HD TV
"Just finished up installing 2 Digital Stream 9950s (with analog pass-through). 1 for each TV. The boxes needs to have line of sight, the hardest part was finding a place to mount the converter box for the rear TV."
Line of sight of WHAT? The tv or ???
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RVER
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08/04/08 06:31pm |
Technology Corner
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