OBSPowerstroke
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Re: Wind scares the **** out of me
The worst crosswinds I ever drove through were on I15 SB north of Salt Lake on our way to Moab last year. The wind was so bad the freeway was closed to all high clearance vehicles, including RVs. We were on a mission to get to camp, so we had to duck off and take several highways to the east, near the mountains, which is where the wind was at its worst. We made it through, but I saw my buddy's Lance 1575 lift a driver's side tire at one point, and I couldn't keep in my lane even at 30 mph. The winds were a constant 50 mph, gusting to 80. We decided to never tempt fate like that again. We were out exploring NE and Central Oregon last week and dealt with winds every time we were on the road. My buddy noticed it with his setup, but the only way I could tell was by how bad my fuel mileage was. :B406Views0likes0CommentsRe: Worries about clearances
Lennoxsmith wrote: Did my due diligence and went tonight after I got directions. I would have posted this much sooner if I had known the spot and scenario earlier. I will have a spotted and I always have tow straps. The hill down is steep and once I get on this road... Im Committed... There's no turning back. I am thinking it's best to find a different spot... Not thibking it is worth the risk. I've had my trailer in some hairy situations and as long as you take your time with a reliable spotter or two, you'll be surprised what you can make it through. I've never been in a situation I couldn't ease my way back out of before I got in too deep, and low range 4WD has saved me several times; one of which was leaving camp last week after waking up to an unexpected 2" of snow on the ground.467Views0likes0CommentsRe: A bit overweight?
This guy has nothing on the setup I saw pulling out of a repair shop the other day. The guy was towing a 2006 30' Montana 5th Wheel with a single cab, long bed, 2wd Ram 1500. Apparently he was at the shop getting new springs installed on the truck to keep it off the bump stops. As he pulled out of the bay, it may not have been quite on the bump stops, but the front of the truck was still shooting for the stars. The scary part is I overheard him saying he used to drive long haul trucks for a living. I was glad he was long gone before I got back on the road.510Views0likes0CommentsRe: I'm ready to go!
Haha! I have days like that, too, especially during the long off-season. When I first bought my truck and reached 1,000 miles so I could tow, I did just that; hooked the trailer up just for the heck of it and ran it out to the nearest weigh station. I also used it as an opportunity to get my hitch dialed in just right.233Views0likes0CommentsRe: Looking for roomy small trailer
The Lance 1575 is probably going to be the closest you'll get to a small trailer that feels big inside due to its huge dinette slide. It also meets your requirements of being under 3,000 pounds. Some friends of mine have one and they have been very happy with it, even with two adults, a kid, and a medium size dog.512Views0likes0CommentsRe: What's in here?
Downtheroad's guess is correct; it's likely a rats nest of wires. I have a similar setup on my trailer and have had the radio out a couple times for various projects; one of which was to wire in a switch to kill the back lighting on the radio when I wasn't using it without killing power to it completely and losing the time and all my presets. Here's a pic I had handy showing the switch:114Views0likes0CommentsRe: Explaining RVs/campers to people who just don't get it!
I unfortunately still have about 20 years before I can retire, so I'm in the group that makes marathon runs to and from my destinations so I can spend as much time as possible exploring the area. Once I retire, I'll have time to explore places along the way, but I'm sure there will still be some marathon sessions. I really enjoy driving and don't mind long days behind the wheel. I have driven the 1,000 miles from Portland to Palm Springs nonstop once as well as the 1,000 miles to Moab with a couple hours of sleep at a rest area. Last year we did another Moab trip and made it to Salt Lake from Portland in a day, camped in a parking lot for 6 or so hours, then were back on the road to get into Moab early that day to find a good camping spot. I do like the last minute weekend trips where I tow the 40 miles out to one of our favorite local campgrounds in the coast range. It's nice only having to drive an hour to get to camp and have most of the weekend to enjoy fishing, hiking, relaxing, and occasionally some swimming.575Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dicor vs ProFlexRV for Underbelly Repairs
DiskDoctr wrote: That looks very nice! Keep in mind that foil insulation works differently than regular insulation. I can't tell if you had some insulation on the old stuff, or if you are talking about removing batts of insulation? This topic comes us often in certain heating and cooling discussions on other boards as people try to improve their sticks-n-bricks. It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish ;) Thanks! Yeah, I realize the foil insulation functions differently than regular insulation, and that, by itself, it does not add much, if any R-value. My intent with using it for this install is that it will hold in what heat is piped into the enclosure from the furnace as well as the heat lost through the floor to theoretically keep the fresh water tank from freezing. I figure the foil stuff has to be better than the soaking wet fiberglass batt insulation previously in there that was squished flat between the bottom of the tank and the Coroplast, and the insulating properties of the foil won't be compromised by the inevitable water that finds its way into the underbelly.394Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dicor vs ProFlexRV for Underbelly Repairs
BillyW wrote: I added my own coroplast to the underbelly of my trailer over 10 years ago. I did not seal anything, and purposely left a low spot to the rear for water drainage, just in case. It has stayed pretty clean inside and is reasonably easy to access if necessary. I made sure there were no big gaps, but otherwise left it alone. Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards not sealing it up all the way and only filling a couple of the larger gaps where the Coroplast is cut to fit around the rear spring shackles on each side with landscape expanding foam (this was how the factory or the dealer addressed the original gaps). When I fabbed up the new underbelly, I used the old one as a template, and wish I hadn't matched the cutouts for the shackles on the old one, as I could have made much more precise cuts and not even needed the foam this time around. I'm pretty sure my old underbelly was retaining a lot of water, as the metal on one of the corners that the Coroplast was mounted to was really rusty, as was the bolt in that location. I'm guessing that was the low point and water built up there and slowly drained out the threads of the bolt. The good news is there was no sign of mold or water damage on the floor above it. path1 wrote: After I had a water hose clamp break free, I also was wondering what to use. Never really could decide. Made what I thought was a good temp fix with black gorilla tape. Also replaced insulation matting with foam board insulation. If another leak happens, foam board doesn't fall apart. And added to annual check inspection to tight or check hose clamps on my annual inspection. 3 years later gorilla tape still working good and still wondering what would work best. (side note) Also at the time of repair, couldn't find any full size corroblast sheets at any RV store. Ended up getting a big white sheet from a sign shop. Last year at a border patrol check point they asked lots of questions about big white patch job. This summer I think I'll spray paint it black, so it matches rest of underbelly. I do admit a big white patch job looks mighty suspicious. Glad to hear your temp fix of Gorilla tape has held up for over three years, as I used that stuff to patch up areas of the Darco that melted due to the heat generated when repairing and reinforcing the frame. I may run a bead of sealant around the tape for good measure. I had a hard time finding a full sheet of black Corplast as well. I went to the local RV dealer and asked about it, and they looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. I was able to find a sign shop close to work that had a few black sheets laying around and even was able to get them to cut the basic dimensions. I paid more than I should have, but it saved me a 40 mile round trip out to the airport and back during rush hour to get it from a plastic supply house. If I couldn't find any black sheets, my plan was also to spray paint a white sheet as a last resort. I also replaced the batt insulation with foil bubble wrap. I have a week long trip planned the beginning of next month, so I think I'll run the trailer without the underbelly further sealed up and inspect it when I get home. I'm sure we'll be driving through plenty of rain, so I'll have a good chance to test it out and see if I want to seal it up all the way. Here's a pic showing the old vs new underbelly: Thanks guys!394Views0likes0CommentsDicor vs ProFlexRV for Underbelly Repairs
I'm getting ready to seal up my newly built Coroplast underbelly for the fresh water tank and was planning on using black ProFlexRV sealant until I noticed it specifically stated not to use it on EPDM or hard foam insulation. Since I used an EPDM rubber canopy gasket on the new Coroplast underbelly, I thought black Dicor non-sag sealant might be a better option. Whatever sealant I go with, I also plan on using some of it to seal up a few areas on the underbelly where propane and water lines go up through the floor. This means the sealant will be in contact with the Darco underbelly tarp in some areas, which is also a plastic that may not be compatible with ProFlexRV. Another option is to not worry about running sealant around the Coroplast underbelly even though the dealer sealed it up completely with a black caulking/sealant of some sort shortly after I bought the trailer. The EPDM rubber gasket I used on the rebuild seals it up pretty good as it is, and I know water will find it's way in there from road spray, and I'm worried if I seal it all the way up, there will be no way for the water to run back out or evaporate; creating a bigger problem. The underbelly was soaked and the fiberglass batt insulation was trashed when I tore it out for the rebuild, and this was likely due to the drive home in the pouring rain from getting the frame cracks fixed by a shop. Any thoughts? Should I go with the Dicor or ProFlex or just skip it altogether? Thanks!3.5KViews0likes7Comments
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