w3ozwizard
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Re: RV outside ladder
I was in California in a tight place and hit a low branch. It sounded bad. Like I said I took a ladder and looked all was well. But crawling up there on a ladder did not seem very safe to me. There are several aftermarket ladders that are supposed to fit ANY RV but i really wonder how safe they would be. I am going to try to get the information from the manufacturer and maybe get one that way. I agree there are just too many times I have had to get on the roof while on the road. Which I will be doing for 8 months this year.160Views0likes0CommentsRV outside ladder
I have a Majestic (Cruise America) 28-foot class C motorhome. The motorhome has been outstanding in every way and has exceeded my expectations for a used motorhome. But as you may know, Cruise America does not include many items like stairs, slide outs and ladders to keep uneducated maybe first-time RVers safe. One of the items they do not include is an outside ladder. Obviously, they do not want customers crawling around on top of the MH. But I have had mine long enough to know that on trips I may want to go up there to check on something. Have been tagging along with my Little Giant ladder but it takes quite a bit of space and I am looking to do something different. So here is my question. I wonder has anyone purchased or found a ladder that will work with this motorhome model. I would have no idea where to anchor the ladder where there are places I could attach it to the motorhome and have it stay. I see some aftermarket ladders advertised and does anyone have any experience with them and how easy and reliable were they. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks11KViews0likes21CommentsRe: **** Dip Stick
Thank for the replies. I check all my cars with no problem using the same procedure. Pull the stick out, wipe it off, reinsert it, pull it out and look for the highest indication of oil on the stick. Works on all my cars. But this **** twisted stick has oil all over it when I pull it out the second time and every time there after. I will try the suggestion of just pulling it out and looking at the level after it has sit for awhile, maybe that will work. All dipstick I have on all my cars including my BMW have just plain flat sticks with no twisting and I have no problem measuring with them, it is just the stupid Ford stick that is a mess. Some engineer must have had a bad night the day he designed this monster.683Views0likes0Comments**** Dip Stick
Ok Folks I have just about had it with that long snake engine oil dip stick on my V-10 Ford 6.8 engine. It is very long and has many twists in it. Why??? I do not know. Anyway I have been changing and checking my oil in the past year I have had the MH. When I pull the dip stick out, it seems there is oil on it about half way up. I really can't tell where the oil stops on the stupid stick. There are two holes on the end of the stick and I am assuming that as long as there is oil in them I am find. Today I changed my oil and filter. Put in 6 quarts of oil with the filter. I checked the oil and again I just could not tell where the oil line ends on the stick. Anyone else have this problem and can tell me how to read the stick. I have never had a car or truck that had a mickey mouse stick for checking Oil like this one does.4.7KViews0likes16CommentsRe: Buying a Former Rental Class C. How many of us out there?
I told everyone on this list, that I would give an update on my purchase of a Cruise America 28A after having it for a year. When we purchased it, it had about 130,000 miles on it. We have put about 5 thousand miles on it with zero problems. We took a trip and stayed in Arizona for about 2 months and traveled there and back and got an average of about 8.5 miles MPG. Had we drove on the Interstates more, we would have gotten a little over 9,I believe but we took the back roads so we could see more of the areas and visit friends and family. We have also taken several trips around areas in our home state. There were no problems with the motorhome at all. We never felt underpowered or uncomfortable at all. My wife did not like the faucet in the kitchen so I replaced it and when I did, I did not get it tight enough and had a small leak but that was my fault not the MH. A did as complete a job of inspecting the motorhome on the lot before I sighed the papers. CA let me do that over a 2-day period and provided employees to help me and answer questions. But even with doing as good of an inspection as I could I have found that apparently someone made a tail swing error and the left corner of the coach must have been damaged as I can see signs of repair inside the storage compartment and the storage door on that side is obviously new. HERE is what I consider the down side of a motorhome like this. And please remember that this is just me, my wife and dogs and our life style. So what I am going to say may not be pertinent to you or your family. If you are a person that travels from camp site to camp site maybe staying only a day or two in one place, then the CA motorhome will be great for you. It is designed to be idiot proof. No awing to remember to take down, no steps to remember to bring up, no TV antenna to take down, no sliders to bring in, no leveling jacks to bring up. The amenities are pretty Spartan so you do not have to worry about over wearing the furniture, carpets, or other things like that, as they are selected for durability, not particularly for style. The rig is manufactured to be used hard by beginner MH users who do not understand all the things you need to do to manage a modern MH and to be blunt idiot proof. BUT BUT if you are a family or person who wants to stay put for a longer period of time, let’s say 2 months in Arizona like we did. The walls are going to start coming in on you with no sliders. If you travel with pets, they have to sleep somewhere and unless you have them in bed with you they are going to be in the way when you are trying to cook or just move inside the MH. I know get rid of the pets. That is not going to happen. With a slider you would have a lot more room. An awning would also help in this regard, but in some places like Arizona it is just too **** hot for us Northerners to sit outside even with an awning. Motorhomes without at least one slider seem to us to be very scarce unless you are looking at a rig that is very old. You kind of feel out of place.Many other MH owners know that a Majestic is a name for a USED CA renter motorhome and make comments like “Oh that is one of THOSE old high mileage rental returns, isn’t it?” Kind of looking down their nose like you are some kind of trailer trash or something. Of course you have to go into some kind of tirade to defend your purchase. Maybe this kind of snobbery does not bother you but if you stay someplace for a time, you may hear it. We did in Mesa Arizona. So be warned. I have made many upgrades to the unit I have. I did not like the very cheap curtains that come with the MH, so I upgraded them to better quality blinds. We got tired of pulling them back each day. The modesty panel in the front was a pain so we bought one of those aftermarket panels that goes over the windshield and connect with magnets. That was much better and did not get in the way of us watching the TV we put in the upfront area. We put in a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) in the MH. 9 miles out a tire valve extender started to leak and the TPMS gave us enough warning to allow us to find a safe place to check it out. As I had roadside insurance and it was raining hard I called them and it was taken care of. Without the system I may have had to stop on the freeway in an unsafe place. Well worth the money in my opinion. I installed a TV and DVD system so that we can watch TV. I have a Garmin GPS system that is wonderful as you can customize this one to the size of your motorhome and with the aid of the traffic warning system is was just great in guiding us through places like LA. Without it I may have still been there wondering around the many highways out there that seemed to intersect with themselves. Upgraded the mattress and bedding. What comes with the MH in our case was a new queen size mattress (the RV industry says is queen size but not close to the one you may have in your home), to a much better mattress. Sleeping on the **** they gave us, was like sleeping on a rack. And don’t think because there is a bed in the rear that it will be easy to make. You have to be just about a person with 10 foot arms to make the bed. My wife is a NAZI on making the bed but had to just fluff it up many times which did not make her happy. There is just not enough space to get around the bed on both sides and still tuck things in as you may like. Many MHs have slides in the bedroom and makes this activity much easier. And in my case my wife much happier. I also put in a wireless back up camera system. It helps like it is supposed to in baking into some of the tight camping places. NOW here is my point in listing some of the upgrades I have done. They can all be removed and moved to another MH if you don’t get them on the newer rig you may want to buy. That is one reason I would NOT put an awning, car towing package or solar system on this MH or any MH until I am SURE I am going to keep it a long time, as removing them would be almost be impractical and may cause damage to the MH in doing so. In our case we are going to spend much of our time in Arizona not because only that the weather there is better than it is here in Washington state but one of our daughters lives there with grandkids so we enjoy being with them. SO I am sorry for this long rambling post but I promised to give you all an update after my first year, so here it is. I am very happy with the MH it was as advertised and I may keep it until the wheels fall off or I am on the other side of the grass. But in our life style we feel we need more space and creature comforts. I hope this helps anyone trying to decide on buying a CA used motorhome. The company is honest and very helpful in my experience. I visited the remanufacturing facility while I was in Mesa. They do a great job in bringing the used MHs up to what they were like new as can be expected.691Views0likes0CommentsRe: Smart Car
I am the one who started this post and I would like to add that for me, I never, again never, intend this to be my car that I would drive everyday. I have other cars that I drive everyday. This car will sit beside my MH in my yard and will only be used to go a mile or two to pick up groceries or what ever when I am on a trip. When we were in Arizona most had golf carts, to go around the campground. They are not allowed to go on the street and they are not as safe of comfortable as a Smart car. I could use the Smart car for the same purpose at about the same price. It has a single purpose for me, not to say others have not found it a good car for them, but in asking the questions I had, I have found many helpful answers but for me we are getting way off my original intent in asking the question. It seem like Smart cars are a hot issue, which I never assumed. Either you love them or hate them, but looks to me like other things I have posted about most of the negative comments are from people who don't have one and would never consider them. As you may have noticed I have a used Cruise America MH. Before I got it, many, many said don't do it. It is a big mistake, I would never own one, etc. Well I have had it for awhile now, put 5K miles on it and it is just great and I feel I have saved between 10 and 15K over what a used one off a lot here would have cost me. So I put more stock in persons who have a vehicle than those who don't.281Views0likes0CommentsRe: Smart Car
Thanks everyone but I was not asking about OTHER options as far as cars to haul around behind my MH I was specifically asking about experiences with Smart cars. I have gotten a lot of help on SUBJECT. But for those telling me how dumb I am to want a "dumb" car here it goes. I was looking at about the 2012 year of car. Yes a used car. I know some of you very affluent folks don't worry about shelling out 20K for a car that you may only drive a few miles a year but to me that is important. Lets look at the suggestion of getting a Civic instead of a dumb car. I can get a 2012 Smart car here local for about $8,500 with less than 22K miles. I used Cars.com for shopping. I looked a Honda Civics and they ran from a low of $18,000 to over $22,000 and the millage on most was around 45K. So to me to spend 10K more for a NOT-DUMB car seems kind of dumb to me, but then again I am not that smart in the first place. But thanks for your opinions anyway.353Views0likes0CommentsRe: Smart Car
Thanks for the input. I know all the disadvantages of the Smart car. If I could take a golf cart on the public roads around campgrounds I would get one to that purpose. I want to put out the least amount of money for the towed car. I will only use it occasionally and in looking you can get a very low mileage late model Smart car around her for less than 7K. I really don't want the hassle of having to park a trailer and the car. I have seen the trouble people have moving the car off the trailer, and then parking it and the car and then reassembling the setup the next morning before they hit the road. But I am not sold on the Smart car, but one of the advantages of this little toy car is that when it is on the road it has an automatic transmission and the few times my wife may use it around the campground and around the corner to the store, she could use it. She can use a stick but does not want to because of physical problems she has with her legs. The Smart Car manual says you can flat tow the car and give a description on how to do it. I was just looking for suggestions and things to look out for. Thanks160Views0likes0CommentsSmart Car
Thinking about getting a Smart Car to pull behind my motorhome. I searched on subject but did not find anything. Is there anyone out there that can tell me if it can be done? Anything to look out for? Looked at a guide online and said you can but must be manual transmission. In searching for a Smart Car to buy, they don't list a manual transmission???? Any help?23KViews0likes66Comments
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