soren
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Re: Oil change on the road
JRscooby wrote: soren wrote: Oh the drama....... Every day tens of thousands of vehicles get their oil changed, outside, on gravel, dirt, and paving. Tractors, heavy equipment, cars, trucks, and more. The humanity of it all. The masses of secret agents from big government, lurking behind every tree, hoping to catch those scofflaws who dare to let a drop of oil hit the ground. I wish we did not need regulations to keep a mess off the ground. But because we have rectums that don't care about the mess they make, we need them. And I'm not sure we want enough cops on the beat to catch all the people that spill oil. Maybe the best would be if you make a mess, don't clean it up, get caught the fine means instead of having a nice house and a MH, you are now living in a grocery cart. BTW, I change my own oil on my property. But no way I would allow somebody else to do it, because I'll take responsibility for what I do. Doesn't really matter what government authority has regulations on this issue. Nobody cares, nobody will respond when the next Karen makes it his or her business to get involves in things that do not concern them. Once again, in true forum fashion, this is a desperate attempt to make something out of nothing. There are oil pipelines and well heads all over the country that are leaking oil right into the ground, all day, every day, thousands and thousands of gallons, from drips to gushers. There are everything from class eight trucks to farm equipment in use, all over this country, that are leaking enough oil on a daily basis that they need to be topped off every day. I've seen local auto part stores that have to repeatedly repave the spots in front of the store, since a lot of their DIY customers drive junk that leaks every fluid imaginable, and it literally decomposes the paving under the vehicles. All of this results in little to nothing being done by any government agency. Yet if a logical, responsible adult on this forum dares to mention the practical and stress free aspects of doing DIY oil changes on the road, the imaginary boogie man of the EPA hiding behind the next tree, comes into play. This place is strange, at best, and it's always been that way. Pick a topic on this forum, from the horror of leaving the fridge on while fueling, the paranoid need to lay awake in your RV all night with your stack of guns to protect you, the crime of working on your own vehicle on the road, the danger of overnighting at a Wallyworld or Cracker Barrel, and on and on. The immediate response is fear, and how there is an imaginary boogieman, imaginary horrible doom that you need to run from. or some LEO or government agent that will hunt you down. It must suck to live with a mindset like that.680Views0likes0CommentsRe: Towing Disaster-AAA
ferndaleflyer wrote: AAA has its own tow truck at facility on rt 55 in Durham. May have more than 1 Na, this is just an independent who jumped on the AAA train. We have a guy in our region with a whole fleet of tow vehicles with AAA vehicle wraps all over them. He even has minivans that do nothing but run around installing AAA batteries, and changing flats on smaller vehicles. The business is still an independent, family owned towing service. Like most experiences here, dealing with this AAA service is hit or miss. Last time I used them it was a cash tow, a couple of hundred feet back to a repair shop, after a fuel pump quit. They took two days to do the job, lied to me on the phone, and pissed off the repair shop to the point that they found a new regular provider.945Views0likes0CommentsRe: Oil change on the road
Gjac wrote: When making a long trip like Alaska I had to change the oil twice once at a CG with the MGR's permission and once at a boondocking location. Most all the other trips were less than 7000 miles so I just change oil before the trip. I done dozens of DIY changes on the road, since we travel extensively, including four PA to AK trips, and frequent 5-8K mile trips. I do the V-10 in our Winny class A and the tow car, a CRV. I have done changes in everything from public parking lots, to abandoned commercial properties, and roadside pull offs. Nobody cares what I'm doing, while spending many hours under the motorhome and car, for oil changes and repairs. I had one interaction with a police officer. A Seward AK. officer stopped to ask if everything was OK, then had a nice conversation, and let me know that the town harbor would take my used oil and filters to recycle. The Ford V-10 is super easy to do an oil change on. I discovered a trick to keep it all very clean with that engine. I grab a $.99 tin roasting pan from Walmart, when I pick up the oil and filter. I poke a half inch hole in the corner of the pan, then lay it across the front axle. It serves as a giant funnel, that catches all the splash from the drain plug and filter, and directs it to my drain pan. I just roll it up in a ball when I'm done. Contrary to the claims here, I have found that many, possibly most, Ford dealers have no interest in working on a Class A, Many other garages and oil change places don't want to service something they can't fit in their service bays. I've spoken to RV repair places that had comically high quotes for class A engines and generator oil changes. Obviously, DIY is not something everybody is interested in, or capable of. That said, if you're doing the work at home, don't hesitate to do it on the road. I've saved thousands, know that the work is done correctly, and saved dozens of hours of time, not waiting around for somebody else to do the work.686Views0likes0CommentsRe: Oil change on the road
PastorCharlie wrote: GDS-3950BH wrote: PastorCharlie wrote: I have asked campground managers if I could discretely do an oil change if I complied with EPA rules and did no polluting of soil. EPA rules as to how to do an oil change? Whoda thunk? Spill it on the ground and then ask the question if EPA rules cover that. :) Oh the drama....... Every day tens of thousands of vehicles get their oil changed, outside, on gravel, dirt, and paving. Tractors, heavy equipment, cars, trucks, and more. The humanity of it all. The masses of secret agents from big government, lurking behind every tree, hoping to catch those scofflaws who dare to let a drop of oil hit the ground.680Views0likes0CommentsBiting Insects
We are doing our seventh year in Florida, and are ready to try Texas or the southwest. One big negative for me, here in Florida, is that I react horribly any time I get more that a few insect bites at a time. Over the last few years I've dealt with at least three events caused by No-see-ums, another couple of chigger attacks, several red ant events, and one year it was some sort of highly toxic tree caterpillar that was ravaging all the local oak trees. One massive oak covered our campsite like a huge umbrella, with these caterpillars dropping on to bare skin. They then left a slime trail, causing a rash and itching for weeks. It was so bad last spring that we returned to a big vet bill, since one of our dogs was infected, and miserable, from hundreds of chigger bites. So my simple question is, what is life like in the other major snowbird locations in the states, when it comes to everything that wants to bite you?4.1KViews0likes11CommentsRe: Deeded RV lots
We bought a deeded lot, in Florida, two years ago. It has been a true love and hate situation. Oddly enough, we spent time in that park, everything from a month to an entire season, for the previous five years. We had heard than, in the past, the place was fairly tumultuous,to the point of fist fights breaking out at board meetings.We learned the hard way that the reason for a decade of calm was the board president, a benign dictator who understood that there are many, mostly older male, lot owners who are power hungry, obsessed with taking control of every situation, and will cause chaos any time they are given any little position of responsibility. Last year, a cabal of these power hungry chucklenuts took control. They did so using some extremely underhanded techniques that mirror our current political situation, in the states. Lots of lying, false claims about past performance, the use of "us VS them" clique building, etc, Since all the new members wanted to be in charge, they divided the various responsibilities of running a large park, with an HOA owned, for profit campground attached, into sub-kingdoms, and gave each new member his own territory to rule. It's been a never-ending mess. Their cult leader (the one that guided this current "leadership" into the mess they ended up in) eventually felt that his continued presence in the park was not comfortable, or safe, so he and his wife sold out. The clowns with their mini-kingdoms don't really like to put the actual work in, so they are paying various entities to do their duties. They rang up $80K in legal bills, over their battles, divided the owners of the park, and destroyed any sense of common community. Now several of them announced that they no longer want their positions. It seems that wanting to be in charge, and strutting around like you are somebody, is a little different that being a hard working, mature adult, who has been given a lot of responsibility and a lot of unpaid work to do. Especially if you are doing it to "serve" a membership that you cleaved in half, with your behavior, and a huge portion of those members know what your game is. At this point, we are not sure if we will be heading south this winter, and will watch how Florida fares with it's latest, "Corona, what Corona?" handling of the virus, by the governor, before we make our final decision. We will, like most owners in our park, who haven't "drunk the kool-aid" keep a watchful eye on the HOA board. If the place returns to some sense of rationality, we would be happy to stay. If it continues on the path of 24/7 stupidity,division, and destruction, we will sell. At this point, the ONLY way we would buy another lot in an HOA controlled campground, is if the park members support an HOA that has handed over the majority of control and daily management to a management association, and has a long history of peacefully respecting the performance of the management company. And yes, at least in FL. these places do exist. Another poster here mentioned some lots that are actually sold by, and managed by ownership of a for profit park. Essentially the campground takes a portion of their property and sells individual sites off. We know several folks that bought into a beautiful newer resort that fits this model. 5-6 years after they did it, the whole resort is tanking, street lights are dead, since the owner can't afford to fix them, the cable TV is dead, and so on. At this point, IMHO, I would not take the deed to any one of our friend's resort lots for free. Those properties went from being $40-60K investments to a liability that will be tough to sell, if they sell. My guess is that the bank will foreclose on the place, and the lot owners will spend many years in limbo, until that place is stable again.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Why are people not opening new campgrounds/RV parks?
At the start of the great recession, a subcontractor of mine decided to end his multi-year search for a small, existing campground to purchase. He had 1.4 million to invest, and wanted to be in the eastern third of the US. Over a couple of years, he spent over $10k in plane tickets and accountant reviews of the books of several potential purchases. His overall take on the situation was that most existing campgrounds he looked at were built 30-50 years ago and were built on land that was either free (the family farm) or dirt cheap. They were built before zoning and intense code enforcement, and extremely expensive utility and infrastructure requirements. He hit two deal breakers in most cases. First, the land that was almost free, back in the day, was now correctly priced by the seller at it's current market rate, which was priced based on it's highest and best use. This was often a figure that a developer would eventually pay, then level the CG and build a housing development or condo project. This often meant that there was no chance of generating enough profit to justify the purchase, much less guarantee a reasonable ROI and a fair paycheck for the new owner's efforts. The other issue was that a lot of older to elderly CG owners were spending their season working long hours and really not making anything at all. They were in the farmer mentality of, "next year will be better" and "this is what I've always done, so I keep doing it, even if it doesn't make sense on paper". Their kids didn't want to take the place over, and bust their butts for less than minimum wage, and nobody was willing to buy the place since their books looked horrible. The DW and I hold a small stake in a private CG in Florida. It is about 70 sites, fifty years old, and really a nice property. It is extremely well run, and fully booked in the peak season. The profitability of the enterprise will always be in question, as the operation is oddly co-mingled with a larger resort that we have a matching interest in. Bottom line is, the place charges market rates, and the occupancy rate is as high as possible given the climate and location. On paper the management can show a modest profit, while discounting the benefits of being attached to the larger operation, and using their utilities and amenities. Being very familiar with the cost of the daily operations, I seriously doubt that it would be attractive to any serious investor, if it was listed for sale.542Views0likes0CommentsRe: Confused and Frustrated
Big Katuna wrote: Class C and toad vs TT and toad vehicle. I’ve had them all. A toad is way easier to hook up than a TT to a truck. You drive your toad up to the RV. No precise backing, sliding arms. Easy by yourself. My main complaint with a truck and TT is that when you unhook, you are stuck with a big ole gas guzzling truck that’s not much fun to park. Two drive trains? Tow a Honda. No pain. Now your driving around a nimble gas sipping small SUV. Of course it depends on where you go and your lifestyle and how much you drive around. We drive around almost daily. We like visiting museums, restaurants, church festivals etc. I've done it every way possible, pop-up, travel trailer, class C, class A gas and diesel. I agree with your take on this question. I have a class A pulling a Honda at the moment, and can't see going back to a trailer of any kind. We are constantly on the go, once the motorhome is parked and set up. Nothing for us to travel a hundred miles, or more every day, while out exploring. The economy, nimbleness, and hassle free experience of zipping around in a compact SUV is IMHO, a whole lot better than trying to navigate a 20' long, one ton, or worse yet, dually pickup. When it comes to some places we hang out in,like Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans, the last thing you want to be stuck in is a giant truck, on the many streets where a land whale like that barely fits. Funny how often we end up camping with our many fifth wheel owning friends, and they all up with the same comment when it's time to do something fun, "do you mind if we ride along with you?"492Views0likes0CommentsRe: Almost lost a mud flap...
willald wrote: Executive wrote: FYI. Mud flaps are not to keep your toad clean. Mud flaps are there for the protection of other vehicles following you. Your rear tires, like those on trucks, pick up rocks and debris from the road and hurl them skyward looking for the windshield of some poor unsuspecting fool using the highway with you. The mud flap normally will direct that downward back toward the pavement.....Dennis ...With several feet of overhang behind the rear axles, and a towed vehicle behind that....I'm having a hard time understanding how debris/rocks thrown upward by the rear tires could hit anything but the underside of the Motorhome or your own towed vehicle. Sooo, not quite following you on how mud flaps would be for protection of vehicles other than your own. If we were talking about a dually pickup or other vehicle with very little rear overhang and not towing anything, I'd agree. That's not really the case, though. Be that as it may, I definitely will be fixing the mud flap before the Motorhome rolls again. We don't have any trips planned for a while, anyway. Will I've seen something that is pretty obvious to me, but have been vigorously debated here in the past. When you have a flap that hangs low below the rear bumper of a class A, you can do significant damage to a toad. The problem is that the coach bobs up and down, and occasionally the rear flap with touch the road and sweep the surface. This can pick up gravel and pelt the toad. On one of my many trips from the east coast to AK I was filling up on the Kenai, and noticed a guy pulling a car with an absolutely trashed windshield. He had an older gas coach that sat pretty low, and had a serious rear overhang. He also had a flap across the rear that was about 4" off the road, when everything was level. I asked about the windshield and he didn't have a clue as to why it was slowing being reduced to a pile of shards. It literally had at least five side to side cracks, and I was surprised that it wasn't bowed inward at that point. I mentioned that it was probably his mud flap doing the damage, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. Flaps that are high and tight to the duals are no issues. a giant rubber squeegee riding just above the road, and 12' or more behind the duals? maybe not the greatest idea, IMHO.344Views0likes0Comments
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