SailingOn
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Joined 15 years ago
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Re: Bedroom door comes open during travel.
Six inches of shock cord, formed into a loop and attached to the trim of the door on the side near the top. Single cabinet screw on the door itself. During travel, the loop stretches over the screw and keeps the door closed. Simple, almost no cost, works.796Views0likes0CommentsRe: Carrying extra fuel in Canada
In 2017 we drove from central Texas up to Alaska and back, 10000 miles, three months. At one cafe in Alaska, a lady warned us to be sure we topped off our tank, the next diesel on our path was near 300 miles. I thought she was maybe drumming up business. Next diesel was 310 miles. It does happen.2.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F150 and Reflection 150 series?
When I pull my sailboat (ca. 5000# and as streamlined as centuries of design can make it, on a bumper pull trailer) sway is enough to be disturbing at times. I pulled a 30', 9800# 5th wheel for ten years with an F150 (2030# payload rating), through almost every state. No sway, ever. Crosswinds, big trucks, no problem. Never a concern about towing, power, handling, braking - except long downhill grades, when I wondered if I should have a heavier truck. No actual loss of control, but worried about it. Drove the half-ton truck close to 100K miles, towing 2/3 of that, with no maintenance or repair issues. Yes, a 5th wheel, even though the truck is close to overload, will handle better than a bumper pull trailer. But now we've been ca. 5000 miles towing with a diesel F250. The truck never feels like it is working hard. I finish a driving day much more relaxed. Big improvement. Cost lots more though.455Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery life, fridge only
time2roll wrote: I have been skipping this step the last few years. Just load the fridge with cold food same as you would a cooler. By the time anything would get too warm the fridge is cooling it back down. But turning on the fridge announces it's only a few days until we can leave! Who could skip that?500Views0likes0CommentsRe: Anyone canceling trips due to Corona virus?
A striking number of things have been cancelled leading up to pi day. We were scheduled to leave in 2 weeks, island hopping in Greece for 10 days, then a long weekend in Vienna (culture) then two weeks in Israel. Last week Israel shut down visitors from Italy and some other places and what was important to me, Austria. So Vienna is out. This week Road Scholar cancelled 600 tours including ours in Greece - too many "older" folks at risk. So Greece is out. Earlier this evening Israel shut down cafes, restaurants, museums, hotels, schools, meetings with over 10 people for the next 5 weeks. So that's out. Our church has cancelled services, Sunday school, small groups for the next two weeks. Across the US, we're testing (some of the) people who are sick, and isolating them if positive. We're surely missing many. Recent observational studies strongly suggest that SARS-CoV-2 is being spread before people are symptomatic - see this. So, staying away from symptomatic people isn't going to work. If 30% of us (not 50 or 70) become infected, and the mortality rate is 1% (not 2 or 3.4), a bunch of us "older" folks aren't going to make it. So a secluded forested spot, with maybe mountains and a lake, is sounding better and better for the next couple of months. - george - MD, Duke, '72308Views0likes0CommentsRe: Light Fifth Wheel Series M-297RLS
Gearboxes in the cable-operated slide system in the 297RL had multiple failures a couple of years ago. There were design changes and failures have since been much less frequent. We had three failures within a year, and after that practice I can now change a gearbox in about 30 minutes. So of course we've had had no failures now in two years of frequent use; Murphy's law. Click here for the BAL-Norco website with installation manual, service manual, parts list. The gearbox part number is R25076, available on Amazon.292Views0likes0CommentsRe: About painting a 5th wheel
Haven't painted a whole rig, but did repaint a fender - about 2 by 8 feet - after a blown tire tore it up. Used a gravity feed gun and Rustoleum smoke gray paint. The choice was to try repainting it, or $250 or so for a replacement. The refinished fender looks great. Doing the cleaning and prep on the whole rig, and finding a dust free area for spraying and drying, sounds burdensome.953Views0likes0CommentsRe: Extension cords
Our rig sits out in the yard 8 months of the year, connected but using little power. A 50-to-15 amp adapter lets us use a 12/3 extension cord, keeping the 50 amp RV cable inside, out of the weather, & secure. The 12/3 extension cord - cheap - runs all but the air conditioner without strain.607Views0likes0CommentsRe: Motorhomes on Mercedes Chassis
we took our View from Tx to Alaska and back two summers ago. Our television screen did not survive several hundred miles of gravel road, but nothing else failed. Reliably got 15-16 mpg; we managed 400 miles on one fill-up on one lonely Alaska stretch. Power, even in the mountains, was never a problem. The small engine has little braking effect downhill though. Ours is the model with a bed slide at the rear. The problem there is the slide prevents mounting bicycles on the rear hitch. Service you can't do yourself involves finding a Mercedes or Freightliner dealer - and not all of those service Sprinters. A delight to drive and park, but the View has less than half the living and storage space of our small fifth wheel.473Views0likes0Comments
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