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Forum
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RE: Check Engine Warning Light
Their response MAY be incorrect.
We have VMSpc, a facility with a feature that allows us to read chassis error codes. I've used in other another member's coach to help him diagnose a problem that he had. I plugged it in to his RV and was able to detect the specific error condition that he had. I do admit that I'm not sure that all historical codes can be retrieved.
Before they dismiss you completely, I'd have them hook up their computer to the diagnostic port and see if the error was saved. CAN (Controller Area Network)has some of the same characteristics as the OBD-II system found on most passenger cars.
Your situation is one of the reasons that I bought VMSpc in the first place. I turn it on for every trip. The computer that runs it also runs our GPS program (Street Atlas). I had one problem occur while VMSPc was running where I captured an error code and was able to quickly diagnose my problem. The "professional" shops would likely have cost me $1,000s and many trips to get to the same result.
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chasfm11
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03/20/10 10:09pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Which would be easier to drive?
We rented 2 class Cs and drove them a combined 7,000 miles before buying our current RV (see signature)
- like you, I was reasonably comfortably in the Class Cs. I've driven rental trucks and had them in some tight places. The Class C didn't seem much different.
- the Class A was intimidating for a while after we bought it. The trip home from the dealer was a nail biter. In addition to getting past the imposing view through all of the glass, getting used to staying closer to the center line takes practice.
- for me, the worst problem with the Class A is in the mountains and the unprotected corners. We had the Class Cs in NC and on the back roads. I didn't feel overly stressed. On a road with no guard rail and a long drop down, the extra height above the road and the glass still get me very nervous.
All that said, the Class A is much more comfortable to drive. I've driven 750 miles in one day and was not wiped out at the end. I still don't like construction zones with concrete barriers on both sides because we are 100" wide and the roads in those areas are usually rough, leaving no room for even minor steering errors. Normally, however, I'm more comfortable driving it than I am in a regular passenger car.
If you decide to go the Class A route, I strongly recommend taking it to an empty mall lot early on Sunday mornings and practicing. We did that several weeks in a row and found it to be of tremendous benefit. We gained a lot of confidence in turns. Stopping for us (because of our air brakes) also became more comfortable.
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chasfm11
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03/17/10 09:08am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: handling a fifth wheel
I don't have a 5er and have never backed one. I still have two comments.
- I would crawl into a strange truck with a 5er and attempt to back it in any day (never having done it) before I would want to dock a boat again. We chartered 40' sailboats and there is nothing so comical as trying to get a single screw boat next to a dock with current (tide) and a strong breeze working against you. Sailboats don't turn unless you are moving (and have water flowing over the rudder.) The momentum of a large sailboat once you get it moving is hard to stop. Reverse is not a solution to that problem. It takes constant practice to retain that skill, IMHO.
- JWEATHER offered one of the best pieces of advice in this thread - don't listen to the CG hosts. They are well intentioned and some of them might even know what they are doing. The majority seem to have a lot of bad advice. However poorly you and your DW back, at least you are familiar with each other (or will get that way over time) and you are better off with known rather than unknown. We allow the CG host to guide us to our spot and then politely say "thanks a lot, we'll take it from here." Our worst backin problems came with an outsider trying to help.
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chasfm11
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03/11/10 09:04am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: etrailer.com
I'm another very satisfied customer of eTrailer. I'll go further. Many other companies could learn a lot from the way that eTrailer provides customer service. I've ordered two different hitches from them and been extremely pleased with both shopping experiences. Acknowledgements of the orders, shipping information and prompt arrival were all provided without anything from me.
If we had more companies who operated like this, the world would be a better place.
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chasfm11
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03/03/10 08:52pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: $19.95 phone service
I bought it last summer and it worked fine from a sound quality standpoint. What it does, however, is to create a "dummy" harddrive that interferes with several other programs. I had developed quirks in several applications and they all disappeared when I disconnected Magic Jack for another reason.
I had it as a second line. I sure wouldn't want it as my primary landline.
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chasfm11
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02/28/10 07:57pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Woodlands Tx. to Palo Duro Canyon TX. in April
As I suspected that it would, Street Atlas suggested your route as I-45 to Dallas, 183 to Fort Worth, I-35W to 287 and 287 to Amarillo. You go South on I-27 and then turn off to Palo Duro Canyon.
We've run I-45 between Dallas and Rayford Crossing RV a lot over the past several years. It is fine except for a couple areas of construction. I personally would take I-20W to I-35W and go through Ft. Worth rather than Dallas. Depending on the time of day, it is better or much better.
We've been up and down 287 and it is good road the whole way to Amarillo. There are several towns where you have to slow down significantly but the drive otherwise is fine.
We went to Palo Duro Cayon State Park a couple of years ago in September. The road in is "exciting" (10% grade for 2 miles with a switchback at the bottom of the longest, steepest section.) In April, you could be looking at significant flooding. Some of the roads were nearly covered when we where there. We stayed in the first CG after the decent and it was fine except for millions of flies. To really see the canyon, it is long loop south which is sometimes closed if flooded.
I'm not sure when the show "Texas" starts but I suspect that it is after Memorial Day. We missed that, too because it stops around August 15.
http://www.irv2.com/attachments/photopost/data/500/thumbs/Palo_Duro.jpg
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chasfm11
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02/27/10 06:32pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: What will replace Saturn as TOADs
I tow a Honda Accord. It's slightly larger than most Saturns and a great ride when you arrive!
You should check the owners manual, the Accord is not listed as a tow 4 down.
My solution is to keep my Saturn Vue until it dies. I may be gone before it is.
Fred
X2
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chasfm11
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02/27/10 05:54pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Laptops in a Class "A" Diesel Pusher
the dash
X2
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chasfm11
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02/26/10 07:16pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Hot Rodd---How Long Does it Take?
Part of the answer to your question may be the conditions. Here in Texas, our HottRod will heat the water in our 6 gallon Atwood to shower temperature in about two hours. It is HOT!. I don't have the thermostat on the HottRod set all the way up. I make it a point to make sure that is comes on immediately after plugging in the shore power cord so typically we aren't trying to take showers in an hour afterwards. The input water temperature is rarely below 55 degrees F when it does that. If you were feeding it very cold water, I could see that it would take longer, may much longer. I suspect that the outside air temp may have an influence as well.
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chasfm11
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02/26/10 06:56pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Camping World Does it AGAIN! UPDATE 2/25
Success in life is usually measured by how people deal with adversity. Kudos to CW and how Mr. Lemonis handled the situation. It renews my confidence in corporate America.
I'm sorry but, like others, this does NOT restore my faith in corporate America. More in a second.
Brobox, I'm glad that your situation will be resolved, hopefully to your satisfaction. Be sure and post HOW your problem was solved. I'm curious about how they do it.
I had a similar type of run in with a major home improvement store (pick one of the two). I screamed bloody murder while the work was going on to no avail. I tried every path of escalation that they offered and all were broken - I got nowhere. I turned to a Better Business Bureau complaint with a concisely worded request. I finally got a call from a Regional VP who never would admit that there were errors made (they knocked bricks out of the front of my house will installing a window.) He agreed to have the bricks repaired at his expense.
What will impress me about corporate America is when:
1. They have a means of quality checking their workers so that their customers don't have to find the problems.
2. When a problem does develop, the show interest in listening to the customer, making a ruling about how they are going to deal with it and offering a path of escalation if the customer doesn't agree.
3. They don't simply try to stifle the situation until it gets escalated through a 3rd party.
IMHO, none of that happened here either. I'm glad that CW did step up. It shouldn't take a thread like this to make that possible.
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chasfm11
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02/26/10 06:48pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Camping World Does it AGAIN! UPDATE 2/25
I'm sorry for your misfortune. I wish that I had read about CW's problems before I took our MH in for the first and only time. They assigned a good tech to me, I talked to him about the work and was satisfied that he knew what he was doing. Before he spent 10 minutes on mine,he was pulled off to work on another RV. It took me less than 2 minutes of watching his replacement to realize that I've forgotten more about tools than he knew. I immediately complained to the manager, who acknowledged the 2nd tech had been with them less than 2 weeks. He was ready to drill a hole through my rear cap when I stopped him.
I will never, ever allow CW to work on any RV we own. It is one thing to make a mistake and have a poor tech. It is fully another to have a customer complain about the poor tech and ignore the complaint while the sins are being committed.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I'm 100 times sharper than the guy they foisted off on me. I won't have voluntarily let him work on a kid's coaster wagon.
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chasfm11
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02/24/10 09:23pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Newbie to RVing in North America
Part of the answer lies in where you plan to visit. For example, if you go to many of the major tourist areas in Canada and the US, you may find that even driving a towed car is a challenge. The roads along the Canadian side of Niagara Falls are very tight. There are buses at a remote lot the can take you to the major sites but they can be expensive for a family your size. Similarly, I wouldn't even drive my own toad in downtown Boston, NYC or downtown Chicago. There, public transportation is the only answer, in my opinion. I sure wouldn't consider taking any sized RV. Finding a place to pull of let alone park might be next to impossible. Washington, DC is another place where public transportation is a must.
Outside of the major cities, I think it could be a 50/50 situation. Some have said that they toured Yellowstone in an RV. I was glad to have our toad. There is no RV parking at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon lodge.
There are good reasons to have a toad:
- easier parking around major tourist attractions
- getting supplies without moving everything
- in an emergency, either family or RV breakdown
Downside:
- cost to setup
- another thing to deal with
- depending on the toad and the Class A you pick, you could have troubles on big hills. That may not be bad in the US East Coast but when you get around the Rocky Mountains, that is another story.
We almost never travel without our toad.
You should have a great adventure. 9 months is a very short time to see a lot of Canada and the US. Both have a lot to offer. Best of luck in your travels
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chasfm11
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02/24/10 12:39pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Where did you buy your Roadmaster base plate
We bought ours here. Delivery was prompt.
I ordered two hitches from eTrailer and their service was superb. I wish other businesses would have their act together as much.
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chasfm11
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02/24/10 12:20pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: When CG ask for length...which do you give
I don't think that the example that you used is as much about length as it is about surroundings. We were given a huge (110") pull through in VA one time but they put tent campers right a the end of the site. Between them and a tree, there was no way that we could have turned in either direction at the end of our site. Fortunately for us, the rig next door to us left early and we could exit across sites. Otherwise, we would have had to unhook our toad and back out.
I dislike places that want to take me to my site without me having looked at it first. Sometimes, their idea about where we should go and mine are completely different. We, too, travel without reservations except for the most popular tourist locations. I give them total length if they are going to give us a pull through or just the RV length if it is something else. I always ask to see the site before attempting to pull into it.
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chasfm11
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02/24/10 12:04pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Best big rig route from Black Hills, SD to W Yellowstone, MT
Have visited Yellowstone on 3 occasions. Each time entered from Cody and never had a problem with roads or traffic. My rig was 36' and pulling a jeep grand cherokee. We stayed at Fishing Bridge campground and recommend it but you MUST have reservations. Also agree with a previous post to take the tour offered in the park. The host does a wonderful job of telling History etc of the park. It is my favorite National Park and I would go again in a heartbeat. Take your time and enjoy. It is truly a wonderful experience. Happy trails...Don
I also enjoy going to Yellowstone, but lately I have been watching on television where actually that volcano could blow up at any moment. Yellowstone to me is like a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.
By all of the projections that I've seen, if Yellowstone does blow, life in North American and maybe most of the rest of the world will cease in short order. Knowing that an eruption is possible wouldn't stop me from visiting such an interesting place. I'm not sure that the "at any minute" problem is worse for Yellowstone than Vesuvious, Popocatepet or Pinatubo. A major eruption from any of them could have world wide consequences. There are also projections about Tsunamis that could wipe out the entire Eastern seaboard. Those are probably more likely than the Yellowstone Caldera going up.
I, for one, accept that those things beyond my control. Given earthquakes, tornados, etc., there isn't a rock big enough to hide under to avoid all of them.
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chasfm11
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02/24/10 11:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Best big rig route from Black Hills, SD to W Yellowstone, MT
So what if we want adventure? Is 16 dangerous? Or the East entrance to West? What's the big deal? What size is ok, and what cannot make it? Or is it just people that don't want to take the time and enjoy it? Or scared? We'll be making the same trip in July. We're going 16, but what about the east entrance? Can someone describe it? We're in a 35' w/ toad.
We (see signature) came into the East entrance from Cody in early Sept.06, while the road there was still under construction. First, the road in from Cody is very beautiful, the only problem being the traffic behind me that wanted to go a lot faster than I did. There are very few pulloffs. After passing the East gate, the climb is from around 4,000ft to 8,800 feet in just a few miles. Because the pavement was dirt, we were going slow anyway and had no issues pulling the grade. I was glad that I wasn't on the outside and descending. After cresting the top, the ride down to Yellowstone like is very twisty and there are a couple of relatively steep spots but they were no real problem. The key was not to carry much speed into the hairpins.
I don't do heights very well so I focused on the road directly in front of me on the way up. The route down didn't bother me.
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chasfm11
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02/23/10 09:18pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Gettysburg Tours
We used the shorter CD tour a couple of years ago. We had done a similar tour at Vicksburg and found it easier to follow. For us, the advantage of being able to do the tour at our own pace was important. That way, we didn't have to hurry or miss anything because of a time limit.
I think it is helpful to look at a map ahead of time and locate some of the major points on the tour with it. That way, you have an idea where you are going as the tour takes you there. All the problems that we had were prior to Devil's Den
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chasfm11
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02/18/10 08:13pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Dutch Oven Madness
Thanks, Chuck. I've saved several of her recipes. Many DO recipes are geared toward 12" DO and lots of people. Since it is just DW and I, I prefer smaller quantities. We also need to do diebetic cooking and found many of her recipes met that challenge.
I'm going to be following her work. She sure is prolific.
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chasfm11
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02/17/10 08:40am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Advice for a 1st time buyer interested in a Class A...
Here is a couple of questions:
1. What is it about the Class A has narrowed your selection process to that result? Why do I ask? Because it might help us to help you understand the environment better.
2. How comfortable is your family in a confined space on a rainy day? We did a 3,000 mile trip (up and back) in 8 days with 5 adults, 2 dogs and an 18 month old. We didn't have any bad weather but let me tell you it was "cozy." I'm not sure that we would ever do that again. Most times it is just DW and I with our granddaughter sometimes now and we have a 36 footer.
I've seen big families pile out of RVs so I know it happens. Even with some of the bunk setups that I've seen, it would be tough to sleep 7 and retain your sanity.
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chasfm11
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02/16/10 09:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 99 Georgie Boy Landau
It is very likely that your dash air unit was made by Evans the same as mine.
Here is a link to their diagrams. I don't know what their status is after the big RV industry crunch but I talked to them before and they were helpful. I had the same symptom as you but mine was caused by a failed vaccum pump. Our Landau is a diesel.
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chasfm11
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02/15/10 07:06am |
Class A Motorhomes
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