Capt_RonB
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Passport America Experience
We towed our travel trailer from Florida to Washington State this past summer logging 15,000 miles overall. We stayed in Passport America RV Parks a few times. Going into this trip we joined PA but I had my doubts about whether it was worth it. Now after the trip, I would say, definitely worth it. We used both the PA website and the PA smartphone app to find camp grounds near our travel path. Both work quite well although the website map works better than the app. I would also qualify my comments by saying that we prefer camping on federal lands to staying in an RV Park but sometimes you need wifi or a laundry. We stayed in a wide variety of parks, mostly in the north western parts of the country. The quality of the parks varied from marginal to excellent. About the only negative thing we have to say is that some parks limit the PA discount to weekdays or not on holidays or limit the PA discount to 1 or 2 days only. These restrictions can be worked around and they're spelled out on the PA write-ups so you should know this going in. Read the member reviews of the parks keeping in mind that there are a wide variety of expectations that color the reviews. Reviews by someone with a 40ft motor-home may not be meaningful to a camper with a 13ft Scamp and vice-versa. All campgrounds have drawbacks, all have advantages but overall, Passport America paid for itself in the first 4 campgrounds we visited and we stayed in at least a dozen different PA RV Parks. We'll renew our membership for next year's travels; easily worth it.3.8KViews0likes18CommentsRe: StraightTalk Hotspot Experience
I was definitely looking for a cheaper alternative to Verizon. We have to operate on a retiree's budget. Internet connectivity is not worth $100 plus overages each month to me. We hoped for cheaper and more predictable billing. We didn't succeed. But that said, we had very weak cell service in the west generally,(WY,UT,MT,ID,OR,WA,SD,MN) unless we were near a reasonably sized city which we tend to avoid. Maybe it's the mountains? When we stayed in Colter Bay RV Park in the Grand Tetons we could get cell service in our campsite before 8am and usually after about 5pm but during the day it was very sporadic. I attributed this to overloaded switches. The hotspot didn't work at all there. We had no cell service at Buckboard Crossing near Flaming Gorge, Wy, Buttermilk Campground, in Island Park, ID, Collier Memorial near Chiloquin, OR, Denny Creek in Snoqualmie Pass, WA, Trout Creek near Thompson Falls, MT, Wapiti Campground, WY, Red Cliffs Campground in Gallatin NF, MT, Sibley Lake Campground in Big Horn NF, WY Etc. Sporadic cell service in Yellowstone NP (don't count on cell for emergencies there) and Craters of the Moon. We had good cell service and the hotspot worked when we were camped 20 miles southeast of Nashville, near Minneapolis, near Cheyenne, etc.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsStraightTalk Hotspot Experience
We took a longish trip this summer, traveling from Florida to Washington State and back stopping at the sights along the way. We put about 15k miles on our TV, much less on the trailer. Here's my experience using the StraightTalk Hotspot UMX. Don't bother with it. It operates on the Verizon network so coverage should have been as good as it gets. In reality, coverage is quite poor especially in the western US and anywhere away from cities, which is where we camp. Cellular service was pretty poor in many areas too so it's no surprise that the hotspot coverage was also poor since it uses the cellular networks. Cellular companies should be required by law to provide at least 3G service everywhere for the money they suck out of users. StraightTalk customer service gets an ok for helping me connect from time to time (the system assumes that you're using cell towers near your home address) but gets an overall poor since they never replaced my bad hotspot device. The unit quit working altogether (no lights despite extended charging, on/off and reboot cycles) after 3 months sporadic use. ST service said they would send a return box and when they received my broken unit they would send a new one. The return box never arrived despite two reps on two different calls saying they would send it. We lost about 2 gig of service due to the unit failure plus the cost of the failed unit so about $100 altogether. This is not a lot but it hurts our retiree level budget. When the unit worked and we could connect, it was slow and consumed service like crazy. We were using it to check email and post text messages to Facebook with maybe once a month doing a few minor banking transactions. It was very expensive at $40 for 4gig that lasted about 2 weeks of sporadic use. We used wifi where we could or our smartphones over cell mostly. Also their billing practices are medieval. You pay for 4 gig but it expires in 60 days. The automatic renewal only operates on the 60 day expiration so if you consume the 4 gig before 60 days, it does not automatically renew. Dumb. If you run out of bytes your service stops until you refresh it manually. They should be required to choose one billing scheme or the other. Either sell me 4 gig or sell me 60 days not some arcane combination based on who knows what. For our use of the internet we found we were better off going to a McDonald's once in while and using their wifi. It was far faster and we were seldom needing service for more than 30 minutes anyway. Plus I got my occasional breakfast burrito. We had hoped that the cell networks and the hotspot would be a more secure way of doing some kinds of internet transactions like banking. However, https is probably secure enough even when using a public wifi system provided that you're not in a major city like New York or Seattle. Also we so seldom do that kind of sensitive transaction that the odds are in our favor that no crook is using a network sniffer on our system at the time we're online and establishing a connection to our bank from out in Burns, Oregon. Conclusion, we won't be using a hotspot for our internet service. Our Android phones provide better service for less cost. Given the generally poor cell coverage in the western US there's no advantage to using a hotspot. I can live with the small screen.5KViews0likes15CommentsRe: Am I just a chicken?
I tow a 19ft "ultra-Light" single axle trailer with a 6 cyl Trailblazer (about 3400lbs loaded)... used to be a ***** especially when the big rigs blow by. Now it tows just fine. The secret is tuning the rig. In my case that meant tires on the TV (the LT variety), tires on the trailer (Kumho Cargo tires), air bags in the TV rear springs (run at 30 psi), adjusting the down force on the E2 hitch (more is better) and running all the tires at near max rated psi(50psi on the TV and 60psi on the trailer) Also empty tanks except forward water tank at half full and propane bottles full. Oh one last thing, two batteries mounted forward of the axle. We generally keep the speed down near 60mph but it tows up to 75 or so without a problem except that the fuel mileage sucks.319Views0likes0CommentsDometic RML 8555 Refrigerator Door Latch
The door latch (hook/catch/lock/whatchamacallit)on my 3 year old Dometic fridge broke this weekend. The little coil spring that holds the latch hook down appeared to be disconnected. I was able to use a small pair of forceps (like thin small pliers used for tying fishing flies or holding hooks while you tie on a leader)to extract the spring. The spring was actually broken and lying there in two pieces. I searched around for a part to no avail but I was able to go to the RVers favorite tool store (Harbor Freight) and for $4 and change I bought a spring assortment that included a spring of approximately the same coil and length. I used the same small forceps to compress the spring and hold it while I maneuvered it back inside the latch box. I was able to gently pry the cover open enough to get the spring inside and align it over a small metal nub on the top of the metal hook. The small nub locates the spring and keeps it in place. Once located, I could then release the forceps, let the spring expand and voila! My latch now works as it was intended. Note the new spring in place inside the latch box.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Towing with an SUV
MargaretB wrote: We don't have an Expedition, but I noticed that some people on the TT board seem to be towing with over-sized SUVs, and we have a friend who tows with a diesel Mercedes. That's why I was wondering if they are appropriate, and what role the torque plays in the decision. I think engine torque plays a bigger role than most suppose. Low end torque means that an engine delivers it's highest torque at low rpm. Take the old tugboat example. Most older tugboats had very large low HP diesels that had a very long stroke and turned very large in diameter but low pitch propellers. The high torque of these engines allowed the operator to shift from forward to reverse without stalling the engine. The massive props had considerable momentum that had to be over come when shifting gears. The same holds for your tow vehicle. When you initially start towing from a standing start, the torque is what gets things rolling. Take two engines both 300 hp but one has torque of 375 lb/ft@ 4000 rpm and the other 375 lb/ft@ 1800 rpm. The engine with the torque peak at 1800 rpm will have an easier time starting from a dead stop and will do so at lower rpm. Consider also how torque helps manage your towing at highway speeds. Take the same two engines cruising at 65mph on the interstate. Both Tow Vehicles are shifted into 5th gear and torque converters locked on the flat and level. When these vehicles climb a hill (say an overpass) the vehicle with the torque peak at lower rpm will be able to hold 5th gear quite a bit longer than the the one whose torque peaks at 4000rpm. meanwhile on the flat, the TV with the low end torque could be geared higher and thus cruise at lower rpm resulting in better fuel economy. That's at least partly why diesel tow vehicles are so popular. Most diesels produce more torque at lower rpm than their equivalent sized gas brothers. Even among gas engines there can be quite a bit of variance in torque specs. I once owned a VW Rabbit Diesel all 49 hp of it. You could time it in the quarter mile with a calendar. It was slow. But man it had low end torque. It would pull my 18 foot boat, engine, and trailer loaded with gear up a boat ramp no sweat. Now I wouldn't drive it down the road with the VW but it served as a tug motor for launching and retrieving in the boat yard. The reason most tow with bigger engines is not just more HP but the bigger the engine, the more torque. Choose the higher torque at lower rpm for towing purposes. FWIW check out a VW Touareg for example. Only 225hp but look at the torque! 400+ lb/ft at 1750rpm and a 7000lb towing capacity. That's better than most 1/2 ton gas pick-ups. The drawback to this car as a TV is the fairly short wheelbase but if you want fuel economy maybe you can tolerate a somewhat rougher ride. This is the second reason most people tow with over-sized SUVs and trucks. The longer the wheelbase the smoother the ride. Trucks and 3rd seat SUVs are generally up in the 130 inch plus wheelbase range where the Touareg is only 112 or so. The shorter the wheelbase the more the trailer will waggle the TV especially when getting passed on the interstate by a big semi. Fuel economy is not great with the big TVs though 10-14 mpg is common. My I6 Trailblazer gets around 11mpg if I keep the speed down under 65. A gas V-8 1/2ton Pick-up might do 12 or 13 loaded the same and it might ride better than the TB due to the longer wheelbase.366Views0likes0CommentsRe: Turn off propane at gas stations - DO YOU?
I never go down the road with the propane tank valve opened. The fridge runs just fine on 12vdc and my single Grp27 deep cycle battery is getting a trickle charge (at least) from the TV alternator. Why risk a propane leak from road hazards or the fridge pilot light setting off explosive vapors from a fill-up? Cell phones by the way are not a risk according to the 'experts' at Mythbusters. A static spark can do it but it takes the exact right circumstances namely a 15:1 fuel air ratio and a very healthy spark right in the middle of it. I'll turn it on when we're camped and the wife needs hot water or the stove. Other than that it's off.333Views0likes0Comments
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Travel Trailer Group
Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Jan 13, 202544,029 Posts
