oatsmoeller
Explorer
Joined 11 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: Leaky toilet -- more than caulk??
You guys are outstanding, thank you very much for the insight and suggestions!! I'll take a closer look tonight to see exactly where the leak is coming from and run from there. Ernie -- such a simple concept but I never would have thought about that. Major thanks for this life hack :) And PSW -- El Stinko is all I needed to hear. I'm smart enough to know this is a job I should try to assign to my wife :) Thanks everyone!324Views0likes0CommentsLeaky toilet -- more than caulk??
My 1994 PleasureWay has a small leak around the toilet -- where the base of the toilet meets the floor of the bathroom. There's caulk around about 1/3 of the toilet, it's leaking from a portion that is uncaulked. I'm planning to just run a bead of caulk around the rest to seal it up, but I'm worried there's a bigger issue behind this problem... The leak occurs only when we have the water pump on. When I flip the switch to 'On' the pump runs for a few seconds, then turns off for about 5 seconds, and without turning any faucets on it starts running for 1-2 seconds. I tried reading why the pump would stay active that often, it sounds like I could either have a leak in the water system somewhere (other than the toilet, I don't see/hear anything else), or internal to the pump. So, I'm very nervous that I'm pumping water into some sort of space up underneath the toilet, and caulking that will really make things worse. Any ideas/suggestions/advice on this one?? Thank you in advance!!2.4KViews0likes7CommentsRe: New Class B family!
Hi stan, we actually ran out of time (and the quick quote I received was $200/tire...) so decided to hold off for a few weeks. We're not planning to wait until Seattle, but once we can find the right deal on the Hercules tires. We paid the price already though -- ended up having a slow leak after about 1200 miles, woke up in a state park with a flat. Paid about $215 for a Michelin that we'll use as a spare when we change the other 4. Our spare was in great shape, but older than I trust too.326Views0likes0CommentsRe: New Class B family!
Hi everyone!! Just wanted to give a quick update... We have been on the road for about 1 week now, we're really enjoying the windshield time and settling into this super relaxing lifestyle. We plan to stop at our first RV park over the weekend and hope to learn more about using the features (including becoming experts with the tanks) of our PW at that time. If anyone else will be near Carlsbad we would be happy to meet up for an in-person intro! Overall, she's been doing great! We started in Lost Maples, then hit Big Bend, and now we're at Fort Davis. There were some serious altitude changes we drove through, and while she chugged along I could feel her saying 'I think I can I think I can', so we named her after the Little Engine That Could -- Tillie!326Views0likes0CommentsRe: New Class B family!
My thought with the tires is that I'll sign up for Good Sam or AAA (I'll be browsing these forums for a comparison next...), so having a flat for the first ~2 months of the trip (while in the US, hopping from place to place, driving during the daytime through relatively good weather, etc) would be an inconvenience but not too bothersome. However, now that I'm thinking about the instance of a blowout and the damage it could do to my PW, new tires sound a lot more attractive. I'm glad I mentioned it, and thank you all for catching it!! The Hercules looks like a fantastic tire and very reasonably priced, outstanding recommendation! AGuyAndHisDog -- keep an eye on our blog, we'll be posting updates as we move across the country. If you save your Montana trip for August that's when we're expecting to be up there. Austin isn't exactly known for its camping, but you nailed it -- there are so many good spots just a few hours away from us! No name for our PW yet, but soon!326Views0likes0CommentsRe: New Class B family!
AsheGuy -- you've compiled a really amazing log of your trips, thanks for sharing it! You guys apparently move very quickly. I see lots of long trips in relatively short periods. I started reading through, but there's a ton of info, it will take me some time to get caught up! Our PleasureWay story -- We had initially considered several other types of vehicles. I'd like to share some of that thought process. I owned a truck, we said let's tow a pop up camper and roll along with that (just like my cousins did when they were young). But, there are bears where we're going, so that's not the safest idea. Plus, there are only 2 of us, we don't need sleeping space for 6-8 people. Then we said maybe a camper that fits in the bed of the truck. There are essentially no limits to the terrain you drive through with that solution, but you need a pretty hefty truck to throw 3000lbs in the bed. My truck wasn't large enough, so that would have been a $30k truck + $5k truck camper expense. We looked into an RV, most were far more than we needed, and more potential headaches than we wanted, plus with the big RVs you end up having to pay more to park in campsites, and they're harder to drive. We started shopping for other options, and discovered the Class B companies out there. Sites like this one helped us to realize that it's PERFECT for our needs!!! So, we bought a 1994 Dodge B350 (1995 PleasureWay) with the 5.2 V8. 130k miles at the moment. I found it on Craigslist about an hour away from my house, it was one of the first vans I looked at, but we wanted to see a few more to decide if we wanted a wide body, or something newer, or something like a B+. In the end, we came back to it with a mechanic (who lived in a Class B for 2-3 years, obviously knew them well!), he checked everything out and said it was a solid vehicle that only needed a few minor things. We made an offer ($7800) and we're on our way. Improvements/fixes we have had to do it: New side mirrors New Optima battery in the back (previous Interstate Marine battery had some corrosion built up already) Replaced driver and passenger interior and exterior window weather stripping because it was in awful shape (dry rotted) Alignment Transmission gasket 2 front motor mounts Rear brake shoe replacement Still to come -- Installing a stereo head unit (previous owner did not have one installed at all) Rear backup camera Window tint removal and probably replacement Front headlights are yellowed, cost is $600 to replace the set so we'll try a $50 reconditioning before I go that far Planning to add a few additional lights for fog, or simply backup headlights (I hear the gravel roads in Canada can bust a headlight pretty quickly) When we get to Seattle we'll replace all 4 tires. The current ones have plenty of tread, but they're 6 years old and starting to dry rot a little. We'll evaluate once we get up there, but I'd rather be safe than sorry when we're in the middle of nowhere for 60 hours between Seattle and Alaska... All-in, we're probably going to be $10-11k invested into the van. Our original budget was $15-20k, so we still have some cash available if something major arises. We're doing a thorough detail job next week, I'll post pics once that's complete. Here's the only one I have at the moment. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9YoiydcJiMIRGFDMEo0NUlzV1N2U0hwSURpaW9EX2Zkc21J/view?usp=sharing193Views0likes0CommentsRe: New Class B family!
Thanks everyone! Bill -- I just downloaded the kindle version, it sounds like a great start for us! Regarding our trip, we're still working on the map. Wifey finished working at the end of February, her first task was getting the house ready for renters and preparing for a garage sale. Next week is cleaning our van and making more progress on the map. We started with a google map, and started dropping pins all over it when we read articles or heard about neat places. It's 12 months in the works, but really needs an overhaul and fresh start with multiple layers (campgrounds, national parks, Breaking Bad filming locations, etc...). We live in Austin, we're headed west, our first big stop is Big Bend. From there we'll probably head up into New Mexico, then Arizona, then back down to southern California, up the coast to Oregon, maybe weave through Idaho, then Seattle, and straight up to Alaska! Hoping to be in Alaska during late June, maybe spend 3-4 weeks up there. Then back down through Montana, Colorado, and back to Texas. The beauty of a 6-month road trip is we can go where we want and stay as long as we want. And you're right -- the class B allows us all sorts of flexibility to make that happen. I'll post a link to our map when it's available, but that could be a few weeks. We just started a blog but there's minimal content thus far, but feel free to check it out! www.oatsmoeller.com We're planning to add an 'about us' section for friends like you in the next day or 2.193Views0likes0CommentsNew Class B family!
Hi everyone! We are new here, my wife and I are starting a 6-month road trip on April 1st in our 1995 PleasureWay. We will be spending the next 4 weeks preparing, including spending a lot of time on this site. We are grateful to have access to an active community with interests similar to ours that we can lean on for advice along the way. Just saying hi for now, but we are definitely looking forward to meeting some new friends along our path!8.4KViews0likes25Comments
Groups
Motorhome Group
Join in here to discuss all things motorhomes.Mar 04, 202538,708 Posts
