abom2
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Joined 12 years ago
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Re: What kind of deals are out there?
Beginning of year my 5th wheel was broken into and vandalized. To me the RV was worth less than sending to salvage. Wife and I had been discussing options in the year prior. Storage cost exceeded what we thought was its value. There was 17 RV's broken into and vandalized in that one episode. Insurance totaled 5th wheel. I was offered 19K more than what I thought it was worth. RV had been through several blizzards, multiple winters on the Northern Plains, plus a couple of Cat 2 and 3 Hurricanes. Besides being drug from Florida to AZ or Texas to ND and IL as I followed work. I did accept the offer from insurance and they picked it up. Used those funds to buy a 1 year old TC from a gentlemen. He was asking what I received from insurance. He was asking 10K less than what Dealers were showing online. His asking price was in line with KBB yellow book. I feel like I won the lottery. I am not sure when or if purchasing new will be like it was in 2007.602Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford F250 frame hold downs?
I initially tried the Brophy bed mounts. TC is only 2k with fluids. Had quite a bit of movement/walking around bed. Might be the 2500 HD Off road suspencion. Anyway, had emergency stop scenario. New brakes worked great. Truck hopped some. TC was a bit catty wompus in back. Bit the bullet. Ordered Torklift. It does ride differently. Seems to be less bounce. Before I was slowing down to 5, maybe 10 mph at all RR crossing or poor bridge transitions. Still slowing down out of caution, but vehicle bounce and roll feels much less and I no longer cringe. May be because movement is transferred to frame. IDK I am happy with the Torklift. The Brophy tie down will be repurposed to holding storage cylinders for tackle, etc.689Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your truck today?
Acquired a new to me 2021 Palomino HS-750. Previous owner purchased in Dec 2020. Was selling this one because they acquired a larger Palomino. Started with the Brophy bed tie downs. Installed the Torklift Frame mounted tie downs today. Trying to make time to install the front receiver I have purchased.578Views0likes0CommentsRe: Not A Joke Top Off With Gasoline or Diesel
The real contest is not always on the court in front of your face. A lot of work had to have been done from 2015 to 2018 to get WTI from 28 to 55 a barrel. If one wants to win a trade war, you apply pressure from all angles. Remember a magician wants you to watch a given area when performing. I remember the Royal Dutch and their first cries in the mid 60's about the world running out of oil. Then all parties were on board by 72. Then in 75 during the embargo and all that silliness I was standing in an office at the Baker Oil Tools World HQ looking at a map that showed known supplies in North America. Heck, we were sending tools to all over North Dakota, SD, WY, and of course off shore in the Gulf. Tankers full of crude sitting at anchor, stacked to the horizon, sitting in the Gulf off of Galveston Bay. But we were running out of oil. LOL Same game play, over and over and over... Everyone just glides along with the flow, cause they have their few crumbs.425Views0likes0CommentsRe: DPF Delete Recommendations for Dodge Cummins
Had the same 07.5 Dodge Cummins 6.7L Dually (Sport Edition). Bought new off the lot. Vehicle was #200 something off the build line. I owned this vehicle up until April of this year. First things first- The EVIC showing mpg on my truck was always optimistically exaggerated. (Off by 5mpg unloaded and 4 mpg towing anything). With emissions fully functional, maintenance followed nearly to the T, and every single recall done unloaded mixed mpg was 14 and with any trailer hitched 11. DPF filter cracked in 2013. Went to order replacement- (6 month lead time). Ordered DPF and to be able to continue going to work (I travel for work- follow construction projects) did the DPF delete. Left EGR in and let the Tuner turn it off and ran straight pipe for the exhaust. Tested the "Tunes" in each setting- "Stock, Tow, Street,did not use the "Wild" setting. MFG of Tuner warned not to use "Wild" setting unless transmission was modified for racing. Found that Street setting gave the best fuel economy and did not blow coal out the tailpipe. (per mfg this added 55 hp) Found that Tow setting when hitched was good in city traffic, out on Interstates the Street setting worked best. My experience with this set up is this- EVIC claimed my mix unloaded driving in the Street setting was 22-23 mpg. (Real numbers where 18.6 on average). Hitched my REAL mpg was on average in the upper 15's. All of this was on #2 Diesel. When #1 Diesel was run in the Winter/Cold areas my fuel economy was around 2 mpg less. Sounds nice, huh? Now for the bad news- 1. Tuner and straight pipe cost me $1,300 USD. I installed 2. I am glad I left EGR in and only disabled, All of the emissions probes for the cats and dpf I bagged and tied up under the truck for future reuse. 3. I ended up driving the truck modified like this for 4 years. I had to worry about getting caught. (I do not know as a fact, but there is a possible fine of up to 25K) 4. The OEM DPF for the 07 is $1,800 USD and the 6 month back order ended up being 40 months. I reinstalled my emissions system the first chance I got back home. There are after market DPF's which claim to be easy to clean and improve performance but are very expensive. While I did see a gain in fuel economy I would not do this again. I was stuck between a rock and financial hard spot and needed to keep working while waiting for my parts. Keep the EGR clean, keep the CCV filter clean and fresh, and keep an eye on the tail pipe. If you see soot on the inside of the tail pipe it could mean that your screens in the DPF have cracked. If your REGENs become fewer to non-existent you may have cracked filter screens. (hence soot in tail pipe) Yes the REGENS and EGR hurt your mileage but a functional emissions system does help the environment and you will not get black soot all over you when brushing up against your rear bumper, back of truck, or working under the truck. Cost of Tuner, different exhaust, labor, and then reinstalling a new compliant system in my opinion is not worth the additional fuel economy gained. Yes, my was fully compliant when sold. Went to auction since the vehicle had over 400K mileage and was needing a rebuild of motor and transmission. It was well in recommended ranges for this. My towing needs have changed and I have moved down to a 3/4 T gasser.712Views0likes0CommentsRe: NO DEISEL IN GAS CAN?
Hmmm. Seems like every vehicle in the State of Oregon could be in violation. I have not seen a diesel or gas burner vehicle with color coded fuel containers. (Read fuel tank). After all that tank under your vehicle is for transporting the fluid your combustion engine is sipping on for your convenience.188Views0likes0CommentsRe: Hurrican Florence
If I was located in the Coastal Area Carolina's (within 100 miles) looking at a Cat 4 at landfall I would not be there. I have been through several in my life. Ike was Cat 3, huge, and made land fall 53 miles SE of my location. Rode it out in a S&B with fiver set up on leeward side of house. I had no real damage but will not do that again. Due to our location our personal rule was anything Cat 3 or less, hitting between Freeport, TX and Winnie, TX we would stay at the S&B. Based on our location in relation to Downtown Houston. (Acts a little like mountains). After Ike I have lowered it to CAT 2. Anything greater and we are leaving the area. I was stuck in my fiver when Humberto popped up as a disturbance during the day, and became a strong Cat 1/ weak Cat 2 and the eye passed 10 miles south of the fiver. Not fun at all and my Guardian Angels were working over time and at full tilt. As I said, I would never try to ride out any strong TS or any type of Hurricane in an RV. After evacuating for Rita and that mess of getting out (18 hrs to cover 120 miles) I looked at hardening up my position, installing a whole house generator, etc. My epiphany was this, Spend up to 20K on generator and some hardening of the S&B to protect what? At most $500 of food, some clothes, furniture,etc. House and furniture is insured, riding out a storm in the house, never again for me and my family. I will get them out of harms way and after the storm I will travel back in to secure the homestead and start the clean up. After Ike I was out of power for 3 weeks and neighbors were out for 6 weeks. Those that did not have generators we shared ours with them. Ike was different with cool air after the storm. Usually things are Hot, Sticky, no wind, and lots of bugs, snakes, and other critters. Very unpleasant. Nothing at the house is worth riding it out. If it is that valuable and not insured, take it with you to a place outside the storms path. Leave early enough to avoid the traffic jams of the mandatory evacuations and last minute folks. This is my advice only. It is free and probably worth every penny charged.474Views0likes0CommentsA True Rv'er
I would just like to post my thanks to the gentleman who stopped on the side of I-10 in West Texas to help me. Yesterday the winds were gusty out of the WSW, we were traveling east bound. Passing a semi-truck I guess I hit the perfect storm. Our awning billowed out at the rear end of it. I needed to remove it because it was damaged. I pulled to the shoulder and unloaded the ladder to start cutting it away. Here is the good part. A young gentleman from Canada stopped and was a huge help. He removed the frame hardware, helped get the all of the pieces into the 5th wheel. I cannot say enough thanks to this gentleman for stopping. He was only thirty miles from his overnight stop in Ft. Stockton. While I could have gotten it done, I would have been extremely slow and it would have been riskier. He was fast and efficient. He IS a very good example of how we should all be. Especially me.4KViews0likes17CommentsRe: Tankless Hot Water
I switched to a tank-less several years ago. These are great if: 1. You are connected to full hookups 2. If traveling you can fill up the fresh water tank every few days and dump the grey. Outside of that, if in my future I see traveling for fun and not work I will make sure that I have at least a 10 gallon multi-fuel heater. I do like mine but it will limit you on where you can go and for how long.631Views0likes0Comments
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