Memorial Day craziness

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Where is Larry when you need him most?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

1 hour ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Where is Larry when you need him most?

He's still holding court over at rv.net.

[Theed31u 10]

12 hours ago, tim5055 said:

I’m a firm believer that new tires and checking air before every trip isn’t sufficient. Yes, I replace my tires ever 3 - 5 years. Yes, I check and air up my tires before every trip, but.......

 

i take it it one step further, I have a tire pressure sensor on every tire on both the tow vehicle and the trailer.   So far on three occasions even though I had new tires that were at the proper pressure before the trip I have had alarms that caused me to stop. Two of the situations were screws I picked up from the road and one was a valve stem that began leaking. In all three cases I had sufficient time to pull to a place of complete safety and address the situation in a place other than the side of the road.  One of the the three, when I exited the highway there was a tire store at the bottom of the exit ramp.

 

In all three cases, once I stopped, even though the tires were drastically low on air,  they appeared fully inflated and they passed the “kick” test. 

 

I fully believe that that the vast majority of “Chinese Junk Tire” failures and “old tire” failures are really road hazards that have caused a loss of tire pressure that caused a catastrophic failure. In all three of my instances, had I not responded to the alarm and stopped towing I’m sure I would have a failure. Most times when a tire overheats and fails you end up with little evidence to prove what happened. 

 

Everyone should have a TPMS on all tires. 

I have a Class C and have been looking at TPMS.  Any suggestions on an affordable system?  Are the external as good as the internal?

Leave for the fort in 8 days so I'm not sure I will have one by then.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

7 hours ago, Theed31u said:

I have a Class C and have been looking at TPMS.  Any suggestions on an affordable system?  Are the external as good as the internal?

Leave for the fort in 8 days so I'm not sure I will have one by then.

I got mine from these folks at a rv rally, really good folks to deal with, not sure they would fall into the affordable class but they might be the best.

https://www.technorv.com/tst-flow-thru-system-with-4-to-12-sensors/

[tim5055 120]

22 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Agree with 100% of this post and also a strong advocate of keeping speed below 60 mph.

I will push the speed to 70 at times, but very seldom anything above that. Towing an RV is a “system” in my mind and all parts need to be operating correctly.  If anything is not right, the speed comes down to account for it.

 

First  in my book is the tow vehicle. I have always believed in overkill. I see too many people getting out a calculator to determine to the “ounce” what they “can” tow. I tow with a F-250 Diesel, single rear wheel. Even with this tow vehicle, I’m well below the limitations. Even with a substantial tow vehicle I know I have limits. I have had RV salespeople look me in the eye and tell me I was fine with a new camper. When I ran the numbers I was over 3,000 pounds over. 

 

Next is the hitch. After most people buy the camper they are looking to “save” on the hitch. They look at price over functionality. I did a lot of research on hitch systems when we transitioned for a pop up to a travel trailer. In my mind all roads eventually led to the two hitches designed by Jim Hensley. The original, the Hensley Arrow and the newer redesign, the Pro Pride hitch. I won’t go into the details here, bu there is a difference in a hitch that costs $399 and one that costs $2,000.

Following up on the hitch is making sure the safety chains and breakaway brake switch are in good condition

I then look at tires.  I covered that before, so I won’t repeat myself other than to say no older than 4 years, proper pressure, speed rated for 80 and a tire pressure monitoring system. 

The weather also comes into play  Rain, fog and high winds will slow me way down or even get me off the interstate. I’d rather be late than in the ditch.

 Maintenance - this is the one that is too easy to ignore. Repack the axle bearings, adjust the brakes

Storage - This is the hard one for most folks.  Both of our campers (we have a 35’ Coachman and a 15’ Aliner) are stored inside a steel building in the mountains. They are seldom too hot, seldom in freezing temperatures and are protected from the damaging UV rays of the sun. 

 

All of these are my feelings/opinions. Yours may be different and I respect that. 

[Travisma 1,317]

I keep my speed to just below 60.

We have a tiny old (1985) Coleman PUP, weighs in around 900-1000 pounds.

Has the small tire/wheel combo that get inflated to 85 PSI. I put new ones on and repacked the bearings a couple of years ago.

I tow with a 4 door 8 cyl. Ram 1500 and don't even know the PUP is back there.

I keep it below 60 for better gas mileage and safety.  Not sure if a blowout at 58 is any better than one at 70, but I'm happy staying at that speed.

Of course the furthest we've gone is the 70 miles from Tampa to the Fort, so maybe if we are going on a long haul I might be tempted to raise my speed limit. 

 

[mmfancipher 31]

 

13 hours ago, Theed31u said:

I have a Class C and have been looking at TPMS.  Any suggestions on an affordable system?  Are the external as good as the internal?

Leave for the fort in 8 days so I'm not sure I will have one by then.

We use TireMinder on our trailer tires.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

14 hours ago, Theed31u said:

I have a Class C and have been looking at TPMS.  Any suggestions on an affordable system?  Are the external as good as the internal?

Leave for the fort in 8 days so I'm not sure I will have one by then.

We use EEZTire and have been very happy with it.  We purchased ours off Amazon a few years back.

[rtguy007 74]

2 hours ago, Travisma said:

I keep my speed to just below 60.

We have a tiny old (1985) Coleman PUP, weighs in around 900-1000 pounds.

Has the small tire/wheel combo that get inflated to 85 PSI. I put new ones on and repacked the bearings a couple of years ago.

I tow with a 4 door 8 cyl. Ram 1500 and don't even know the PUP is back there.

I keep it below 60 for better gas mileage and safety.  Not sure if a blowout at 58 is any better than one at 70, but I'm happy staying at that speed.

Of course the furthest we've gone is the 70 miles from Tampa to the Fort, so maybe if we are going on a long haul I might be tempted to raise my speed limit. 

 

I can tell you driving from Columbus OH to the Ft is about 1000 miles. At 65mph it gets nerve racking really quick. Going down 75 it isnt bad until you hit Georgia. Once you hit the state line there it seems to take forever and you have already been at it a good 7 to 8 hours. A straight through drive for us with the camper takes about 20 hours at 65mph.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Good thread hijack!

 

I usually set my cruise at 70 on the interstate if traffic, weather, and road conditions allow. I will occasionally hit 75 passing people. On 2 lane roads i will pretty much stick to 60 as a max. With the 450 I can hardly tell I am pulling anything.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

32 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

Good thread hijack!

 

I usually set my cruise at 70 on the interstate if traffic, weather, and road conditions allow. I will occasionally hit 75 passing people. On 2 lane roads i will pretty much stick to 60 as a max. With the 450 I can hardly tell I am pulling anything.

An actual, useful, information-packed hijack!  LOL

Partly for safety and partly for mpg, with the last camper I kept it between 55-60ish.  With this one I think I may go to 65 when it seems appropriate, but any more than that and DH will start to white-knuckle it... in the passenger seat. 

[BigTom 76]

10 hours ago, tim5055 said:

I will push the speed to 70 at times, but very seldom anything above that. Towing an RV is a “system” in my mind and all parts need to be operating correctly.  If anything is not right, the speed comes down to account for it.

 

First  in my book is the tow vehicle. I have always believed in overkill. I see too many people getting out a calculator to determine to the “ounce” what they “can” tow. I tow with a F-250 Diesel, single rear wheel. Even with this tow vehicle, I’m well below the limitations. Even with a substantial tow vehicle I know I have limits. I have had RV salespeople look me in the eye and tell me I was fine with a new camper. When I ran the numbers I was over 3,000 pounds over. 

 

Next is the hitch. After most people buy the camper they are looking to “save” on the hitch. They look at price over functionality. I did a lot of research on hitch systems when we transitioned for a pop up to a travel trailer. In my mind all roads eventually led to the two hitches designed by Jim Hensley. The original, the Hensley Arrow and the newer redesign, the Pro Pride hitch. I won’t go into the details here, bu there is a difference in a hitch that costs $399 and one that costs $2,000.

Following up on the hitch is making sure the safety chains and breakaway brake switch are in good condition

I then look at tires.  I covered that before, so I won’t repeat myself other than to say no older than 4 years, proper pressure, speed rated for 80 and a tire pressure monitoring system. 

The weather also comes into play  Rain, fog and high winds will slow me way down or even get me off the interstate. I’d rather be late than in the ditch.

 Maintenance - this is the one that is too easy to ignore. Repack the axle bearings, adjust the brakes

Storage - This is the hard one for most folks.  Both of our campers (we have a 35’ Coachman and a 15’ Aliner) are stored inside a steel building in the mountains. They are seldom too hot, seldom in freezing temperatures and are protected from the damaging UV rays of the sun. 

 

All of these are my feelings/opinions. Yours may be different and I respect that. 

I agree with all of these, especially with the storage, All campers need to be stored inside out of the weather. Nothing will destroy  a camper like the weather, always should be storied under a hard cover at least.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Agree on all those points! I LOVE the fact my trailer is in my insulated garage. One it's right there where I can play, and two it's protected from the weather, and is in great shape even though it's 12 years old.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

8 hours ago, rtguy007 said:

I can tell you driving from Columbus OH to the Ft is about 1000 miles. At 65mph it gets nerve racking really quick. Going down 75 it isnt bad until you hit Georgia. Once you hit the state line there it seems to take forever and you have already been at it a good 7 to 8 hours. A straight through drive for us with the camper takes about 20 hours at 65mph.

Even with our 690 miles and our tiny trailer, we break up the drive. We leave mid afternoon and get South of Atlanta, then just a few more hours the next morning. I couldn't imagine going 20 hours straight towing.

[rtguy007 74]

8 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Even with our 690 miles and our tiny trailer, we break up the drive. We leave mid afternoon and get South of Atlanta, then just a few more hours the next morning. I couldn't imagine going 20 hours straight towing.

The older I get the rougher it is. Last couple of trips we stop on the way back and eother sleep somr in a roadside rest or get a hotel. On the way there though, there is so much excitement in the car that the adrenaline keeps us going u til we get there.

[tim5055 120]

9 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Even with our 690 miles and our tiny trailer, we break up the drive. We leave mid afternoon and get South of Atlanta, then just a few more hours the next morning. I couldn't imagine going 20 hours straight towing.

Google says out travel time to the Fort is a hair over 8 hours.  Even with this “short” travel time I always break it up into two days for several reasons. 

 

First, the Google time is always a little short for us as we tend to stop more often than required.   As as I get older I like to stop and walk a little which the dogs happen to like too. 

 

The big big reason is that I hate getting to the Fort late in the day.   The on line check in and texting site numbers has worked very well for us. On our southbound trip, I stop at Three Flags Resort in Wildwood.  This is where I-75 and the Florida Turnpike split and is a little over an hour from the Fort using 429. So far, by saying we will arrive 9-9:30 we have always had a site when we arrive. 

 

For the Northbound trip home, we stop at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko, GA.  If you believe Google, this is 1:45 south of Atlanta city center, but in reality you are only about an hour south of the Atlanta traffic. While I try to time my Disney trips to travel thru Atlanta on the weekends, stopping here allows me to time my travel they Atlanta  a little better. 

 

All of this allows me to me to get home early in the day so that I’m not tripping to back this trailer into the garage in the dark and gives me time to clean it up and leave it in good condition.

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Re. tpms I used the TST system for several years until the computer went on it and set off alarms over all 8 tires at once and scared the crap out of me.  I replaced it two years ago with the EEZ tire system which I now only use on the Outback since the new f150 has a system for the truck.

 

Re travel time, I used to do it in 2 days and the first was an all night marathon.  As I have gotten older and less in a hurry I take 3 days, the first 2 longer and a shorter 3rd day.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

We're 1400 miles away which breaks down into 19-20 hours by car (I've done that straight through a few times with 2 drivers) or ... 2.5 days towing.  LOL

We usually take a break about halfway - which is Richmond VA-ish. Depending on traffic it ends up being somewhere between 10-12 hours. Then somewhere in the neighborhood of St. Augustine the next night, which gives us a relatively short ride to the Fort in the a.m. Our breaks are usually a 5-7 hour nap at a truck stop.  It's a super easy on/off, relatively safe (we've got a short list of our favorite ones at this point), and we don't mind the noise - puts me right to sleep after 12 hours of driving! 

We used to do it with just one stop, but found that we were exhausted when we got there so even if we're in St. Augustine around 7-8pm, we stop for a good night's sleep.

I drive most of the way and we try to do as much of the first bit as possible at night to avoid traffic in NYC and DC. If I'm lucky DH will take SC and GA.  But now that we've got a setup that's a breeze to tow, maybe he'll actually drive more?

 

hahahahahahahahaha

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Ok I will add our times, getting older sucks, I remember driving right thru, in just the car maybe but towing the camper now at least 2 stops if not 3 but being retired means you don't have to rush.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

38 minutes ago, dblr....Rennie said:

but being retired means you don't have to rush.

And a lot more FUN........😄

[LONE-STAR 370]

We pretty much roll it straight through, some where we will do a 2 hour stop and I get a little sleep. 

[bamagradx2 0]

We have 35 foot class C towing a Ford Fiesta.  I had the TST with external flow though caps at the stems.  I had a terrible problem with leakage from the external flow through stems.  I initially really, really liked them but the external flow through stems became too unreliable and too difficult to fill for the rear dullies.  Additionally, the fit with the simulators on the rear and front did not really align.  Now I go without the monitoring. I check all pressures before leaving.   I inspect all tires at every stop using a heat gun.  I WILL change to internal or non flow through at some point.  I also carry a VIAR 400P-RV compressor.