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Tips and Hints

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
Over the last seven years, Diane and I have learned, discovered, or otherwise stumbled upon a few things that have helped us during our adventures on the road.

1. Velcro computer wiring straps (available from Wal-Mart of course) can keep your coach vertical cabinet doors from flying open while going down the road and hitting a pot hole or expansion joint or worst yetโ€ฆ.rolling over a speed bump. Just slip one thru the cabinet handles and snick it down. They have saved our dishes more than once.

2. If you have area rugs that you have to roll up to bring in your slide outs then roll them up around a pool noodle. This will keep the rug edges from curling when you lay them out at your next stop. They will lay flat instead.

3. You can create a wine glass caddy to protect your glassware while traveling by cutting the bottom off a beer cozy (the soft collapsible ones) and slipping it over the glass.

4. Carry a curved sail needle and some uv resistant threadโ€ฆ.you never know when you might need to sew up a hole in a slide topper. Silicone uv resistant fabric spray is a good thing to have as well. A coating of that on your toppers will make them last a lot longer.

5. Mount a paper towel holder somewhere in a compartment on both sides of your coach. It is good to have one roll near the wet bay and another on the patio side to have access to when cooking outside.

6. I have found that the best thing to clean a really dirty rubber or fiberglass coach roof with is Murphy oil soap. Clorox clean up will help dissolve stubborn stains including sap. Seal and quick clean the roof with Murphy Squirt and Mop. This will leave a nice shine.

7. Coach closets donโ€™t get much air circulation, we put dryer sheets in them to help keep locked up clothes smelling fresh. A dryer sheet tossed in the dirty clothes bag or drawer is a helpful thing as well.

8. Washing a coach can be a tiring pain in the neck and back. I use a long handle adjustable nozzle sprayer with a reservoir that allows you to soap down your rig and then rinse it (available at Wal-Mart for nineteen bucks). If you attach an inline water filter to the hose you will not get water spots. I use a carnauba wax car wash. I prefer ArmorAll Extreme Shine car wash solution.

9. Turtle Wax Ice spray on synthetic wax is good stuff. You can use it on paint, chrome, vinyl, rubber and glass. In other words itโ€™s good for the whole coach and tow car. It can be used as a cleaner even when you are staying in a campground with water restrictions. Spray it on, rub in with a terry cloth, and rub off with a second cloth. It leaves no swirl marks and blends in minor scratches. You are left with a slick, shiny coach when finished.

10. itโ€™s a good idea to once in a while go through all your basement compartments and storage boxes. You will find out that you are carrying around things you donโ€™t need anymore and find things you thought you were out of that you do need, like wheel lug nut caps.

11. Keep a cheap volt ohm meter in your electrical bay along with a flashlight and a gallon of distilled water. Makes it much easier to maintain your batteries and make them last longer.

12. Things donโ€™t roll around in your bay if you strap them together. These things include fishing rods, washing brushes and brooms, hoses. I found some adjustable ball and bungee straps at Lowes that work really well for this purpose.

13. Always ask any campground or resort that has wifi if they provide wifi client security. This is more than just a password. Client security protects you from other logged on users. If the campground says no or they donโ€™t know, then you must tell your computer you are logged on to a public wifi and turn off file and print sharing. If you donโ€™t take this precaution you could get hacked by a fellow camper.

14. I use a mixture of Pine-Sol and water to rise out and sanitize my sewer hoses and wet bay. It works just as well as bleach and doesnโ€™t spot my clothes.

15. There are cell phone repeaters that work. I use a Z-Boost with dual band uni directional antennas. One is for data, one for voice. I mount then to my ladder with pvc pipes coupled together. I can strap em together and store em in my pass thru storage while traveling.

16. The moment you think that there is nothing wrong with your coach something will breakโ€ฆ.like a windshield wiper arm.

17. If your toilet wonโ€™t hold water it could be that the ball seal needs cleaning. There is a groove in the seal that will clog and then it canโ€™t wellโ€ฆseal.

18. Try to take advantage of every space in your coach. I recently attached a piano hinge to the washer dryer plumbing compartment so that I could store things like grocery bags and collapsible crates in there.

19. Consider placing a wireless thermometer in your fridge. Itโ€™s great for helping you keep your beer and stuff from freezing or getting too warm.

20. When you find a good rv repair facility make every effort to go there when you have something wrong with your coach that you canโ€™t fix yourself or isnโ€™t an emergency repair. I am talking about things like broken air conditioners, body work, slide out repair etc. We take our coach to Terry Labonte RV service in Greensboro NC.

Thatโ€™s all for now but I am sure to come up with some moreโ€ฆafter all one of my rules (posted on my blog) is

โ€œOwning a motor coach is a never ending learning experience.โ€

Derrick
โ€œGrampsโ€
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog
13 REPLIES 13

Passin_Thru
Explorer
Explorer
We carry a checklist like old Pilots do as we're both Pilots. We also have a small Toshiba laptop for unsecure sites and we do our email off them, banking & biz off the other one on secure sites. We both do a Walkabout before moving and it has saved us numerous odd parts, like Grandchildren, cats, dogs, and chocks.

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
Busskipper wrote:
One thing we discovered and we have used it so long we usually forget about it - Earthquake Putty -- Home Depot or Amazon -- we have used this for the last 10+ years and it is great -- lamps and flowers, on the table on the road or stopped, works great.

BOL,


Great tip...think I'll get some of this or the clear gel.
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog

Busskipper
Explorer
Explorer
One thing we discovered and we have used it so long we usually forget about it - Earthquake Putty -- Home Depot or Amazon -- we have used this for the last 10+ years and it is great -- lamps and flowers, on the table on the road or stopped, works great.

BOL,
Busskipper
Maryland/Colorado
Travel Supreme 42DS04
GX470-FMCA - Travel less now - But still love to be on the Road
States traveled in this Coach

fcooper
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for the info. Looks like a very nice setup.

Fred
Fred & Vicki
St. Augustine, Florida

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
Fred, it is one booster and an upgraded antenna kit that contains two square uni directional panels..one for voice one for data. The panels have a special coax splitter.

Here is where I bought my zboost and the model number. The antenna I use is the dual square array. I mount it to one of four five foot sections of 1.1/4 inch white pvc pipe coupled together with a cap on the top section. I rest the pipe on the ground and tie wrap three sections to my ladder, climb up on the roof with the last pipe and couple it to the rest...piece of cake. Check out the three bought together images.

Z Boost cell repeater
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog

fcooper
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for the good info. I'd really like to have more details about this item.


15. There are cell phone repeaters that work. I use a Z-Boost with dual band uni directional antennas. One is for data, one for voice. I mount then to my ladder with pvc pipes coupled together. I can strap em together and store em in my pass thru storage while traveling.


Is this one booster with two antennas or two seperate boosters

Thanks

Fred
Fred & Vicki
St. Augustine, Florida

RaenMark
Explorer
Explorer
Silicone fabric spray - Kiwi Camp Dry

Great ideas all! Gramps, I'd like to see a pic of your booster mount. I like the idea of a cell booster and wondered where to stash it. Excellent idea on the curved needle too, you can do lots of repairs all from one side of the fabric, like emergency repairs to seats, chairs, couches, etc.
Rae & Mark
Bountiful, UT
2005 Alfa See Ya 40
Finally found a rig I can stand up in!

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
The silicone fabric spray is available at any outfitters that sells tents and camping supplies. I bought it a Wal-Mart but I think Lowe's may have it, also Camping World.
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog

FIRE_UP
Explorer
Explorer
Gramps,
Thanks Sir for all the great tips. I've done many of them in the past to further my fun and keep the potential "oops" down to a minimum. A couple of things here. One, where to get the Silicone Fabric spray and, I have a paper towel holder mounted in one of my compartments. But, it's actually NOT mounted! It's a Harbor Freight "magnetic" paper towel holder set. You can put it anywhere you have metal. And, that thing is strong. You can pull on the paper towels to rip one off the roll and those magnetic holders stay put.
Scott
Scott and Karla
SDFD RETIRED
2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD Slate Blue 330 CAT
2011 GMC Sierra 1500 Ext Cab 4x4 Toad
2008 Caliente Red LVL II GL 1800 Goldwing
KI60ND

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
A couple more tips:

1 Dental Floss can be used to make a quick repair to a broken string in a day/nite shade.
2. From my wife: hang a small wind chime from your antenna handle. Don't remove it until you wind down the antenna. If you forget before you break camp you will get a noisy reminder.
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog

-Gramps-
Explorer
Explorer
Silver Creek, It is.
___________________________________________
Fulltimer in 08 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 38PLT Workhorse UFO GAS Pusher Chassis
06 Saturn Vue toad, SMI Breaking sys,Blue Ox tow bar.
My Random Views Blog

Puttin
Explorer
Explorer
Derrick,

Very good tips in there- thanks for posting this!

silver_creek
Explorer
Explorer
That is alot of great advice! Thanks for sharing, i like to read things like this to prevent me from having any problems.

you said you take yours to Terry Labonte, is that nascar's Terrry Labonte?