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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: How wide do mirrors need to be for a TT?
Are you certain the trailer is 8.5ft wide? The only RV type Trailers that wide are high end fifth wheels. Almost all trailers are 8ft wide.
Well yes it is.
Link to Arctic Fox specs
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rhagfo
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10/19/20 07:28am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Ford 6L diesel in the news again
The reality is that there is no "bulletproofing" a 6.0L diesel. They had some major inherent design flaws with the worst one being not enough head bolts per cylinder. Even with studs, they are known for blowing head gaskets.
Spin it as you will, but the 6.0L was and still is a POS that I'm sure Ford regrets ever selling. As many have stated, my biggest issue was not that the engine was a POS, but how Ford refused to make things right and continued to sell it for several years in many cases to loyal unsuspecting customers. Strangely enough in 2013/2014 when I was shopping for a new truck I considered the Ford 6.7L until I looked under the hood of a couple at my work and the HPFP issues were starting to rise about then. That was enough for this die hard Ford guy (3 Fords over the course of 15 years) and I moved on to another brand.
Well the 6.0 was the reason this 42 year Ford/Mercury loyal person switched to a Dodge in 2010. I was looking used at the time, bought a 2001 Dodge/Ram 2500 CTD with 234,000 miles on it. I sold it in 2019 with 315,000 miles and still running strong. I replaced it with a 2016 Ram 3500 DRW HO CTD with Aisin.
This is the outside edge of the drivers seat at 315,000 miles. I did have the side panel replaced at about 300,000 miles, but the seat surface is original.
https://i.imgur.com/i3KnoiG.jpg width=640
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rhagfo
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10/19/20 12:19am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Are other drivers killing your RV experience?
Yes! We actually cancelled our trip from PA to Myrtle Beach SC because at 65 years old driving around the Baltimore and Washington outer loops scares me stiff. I know what its like just driving my 8,000 dually, they play with me like I'm a toy. Don't they respect size and mass? Pulling a 41' fifth wheel with a dually 4x4 8' bed is Xanax time, I can't stop this train on a dime! I try to maintain safe following distance to give me some room to stop......forget it. Three cars cut in front of me. I guess if I leave at midnight is best, shouldn't be too crazy at 2-4 am?I am 68 and we don't do the beltway anymore. 81 to 77 to 26 is much less stressful.
Wow, only 68 and stressed, time to change hobbies. There are areas I prefer not to drive through, not because of stress, but utterly congestion, take a back road at 45 to 55 mph than 0 to 15 on the interstate.
To those that know the area, I use to commute from Puyallup to Bellevue daily. Coming home many times on 405 I would take Lake Washington Blvd, rather than crawl over the Kennywood hill. Even with a 25 mph speed on the Blvd I likely made time, but it wasn't stop and go.
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rhagfo
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10/19/20 12:07am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Dualie vs SRW benefits?
The difference in price between a diesel srw and a 7.3 litre gasoline powered dually is about $6000. You’d likely get $5k of that back 12 years down the road. For a 15k fiver I think you’d be much happier with a SRW diesel than a dual wheeled gasser.
The diesel should also be a DRW due to the loss of payload due to the weight of the diesel.
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 11:38pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dualie vs SRW benefits?
Diesel
Diesel
Diesel
Well TFL tested the Ford 7.3 Godzilla in a F250 and other than being very thirsty it did very well. I believe it was towing 16,000#.7.3 Godzilla test
Not my cup of tea, I like the effortless tow with a diesel.
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 04:13pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: The price of new trucks is beyond comprehension!
Home is home and we all have our preferences and I do not diss anyone's choices...like vehicles, clothes, food, drink, GF's n wives, etc
Just be happy with your choices and if not so...then change it...
I'll not purchase new again at 72 and find better uses for the premium of new
Then the potential of all these used with too many bells and whistles (for me) are all potential failure points
Some of these bells and whistles can be lifesavers and definitely make a trip more pleasant. A backup alarm in my wife's car would have paid for itself several times over. Automatic headlights with auto high/low beam, auto wipers, auto braking to avoid accidents are all pretty reliable and can yield benefits way beyond their cost, at least to me. Of course, this depends a lot on personal values.
Some you get too use to! My weak point is the auto wipers, when I drive DD. 2004 need to remember to turn them on, but also OFF!
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 11:21am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford 6L diesel in the news again
My brother-in-law has a tuned 2005 6.0L, but his is bulletproofed putting out about 400hp at the wheels.
he must have done a lot more work than just tuning then, 400 hp at the engine was the point where they would stat blowing head gaskets because of the week head studs. I have a few of my friends who have hopped up 6L but they have done a lot of work to make sure they dont have issues.
Steve
He stated that the engine was bulletproofed.
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 11:15am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Storage space vs phoney fireplace.
We've had cause to use the "Fireplace" a few times and it does perform well. And it entertains the cats a bit.
I've scrapped the idea of removing the fireplace altogether. Also scrapped is the notion of creating access to the cavernous area behind the fireplace. My thoughts are that space would have a tendency to become too warm, if not hot, for safe storage of anything.
Comments?
As long as there is venting to allow the drawing in of replacement air I don’t see an issue. We took a blanked off space where our water pump is located and installed a electric fireplace. Seems to work great, and when on 50 amp service now have 6,500 watts of electric heat.
This is about 22,165 BTU, the 30,000 BTU gas furnace at 80% is 24,000 BTU.
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 11:11am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Almost found a truck
Add the 350 spring pack and you have a F350, re badge it and no one will know unless they check the vin.
Wow, just wow. :R
Yea, just order a F350! :S
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 07:55am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford 6L diesel in the news again
When I bought my X in 06 I really wanted the 6.0. But I came across A very clean low mile V-10. Glad I did. This was before all the problems of the 6.0 were evident. The V-10 never left me stranded and made it up the mountains just as easily as the diesel did. I’ll take a few less mpg over being stuck in the middle of no where!
Yep, the V10 is a bulletproof workhorse! :)
The V10 is a great motor and a workhorse.
Unfortunately it's not a diesel.
I’ll correct that for you. Fortunately, it not a diesel!
That's Funny I never thought of it that way!
I will correct one more time, Not a Navastar 6.0 diesel!
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 12:26am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Dualie vs SRW benefits?
Hey everyone, thank you all for the great replies, I have learned a lot.
I am looking at a Chaparral 373mrbr which is listed as 15k GVWR so I think dualie (training wheels, hah) will be better. I actually found a new f350 crew cab dualie for 50,700 online so I am pursuing that.
Thanks again to everyone so far.
That is a very low price for new, is it gas or diesel and what is the trim level?
When we were looking used, we knew we wanted Ram, Diesel, Aisin trans, 3.73's and power drivers seat. I am prone to leg cramps if seated in the same position for too long. Power seat allows me to change seat cushion angle. Well had typo be at least a SLT, with power seat option, Big Horn, drivers 6 way, well ended up with a Laramie with drivers 10 way and passenger 6 way seat.
I will say that "Base" trim levels are coming out nicely lately.
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rhagfo
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10/18/20 12:25am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Gas station air/water station water safe?
I live in Southern California and all of the gas stations have air/water stations . The gas station attendant said the water should be potable because it’s just straight from the city water, but I think the black retractable water hose is suspect. I think it’s meant to fill up radiator water and not intended as drinking water. Does anyone know if it’s safe to put in your RV and use as drinking water? Does it taste terrible? Does it take any longer to fill? The spout is smaller than that of a hose bib.
It seems that according to California Proposition 65 everything can cause cancer, or so it seems. I would likely drink it.
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rhagfo
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10/17/20 01:03pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Cell phone signal Booster ?
Well I don’t have an instrument, but if you have good signal, but response is slow, that is lack of band with. It is basically too many users for the cell towers available band width.
We just came from a situation like that in the Columbia Gorge. Decent signal strength, but constantly timing out, had to use either early in the morning or late in the evening.
First, OP mentions very little signal, that is not a "bandwidth" problem.
Second, speed of Internet is highly dependent on SIGNAL STRENGTH.
Both cellphones and Wifi do something called "auto negotiation" for speed. The connection speed varies with the SIGNAL STRENGTH, less signal and the SLOWER the connection goes, more signal strength and the faster your connection goes.
To get the max speed you NEED the max amount of SIGNAL you can get.
One or Two bars of signal basically brings your Internet to a crawl or even dead stop.
Op is trying to find the best Cell signal booster to help stabilize their Internet speed. It may or may not help, just depends on a lot of factors like terrain, what is between them and cell tower. Cellphones work on "line of sight" signal propagation, a hill, building, trees in between can easily block the signals.
Most boosters will use an outdoor antenna which you need to place high enough to capture the most signal as possible.. Then there will be an indoor antenna which the cellphone will use.. Then you have the booster in between the antennas.. Certain amount of distance needs to be in between the booster antennas. Boosters are not a fix all type of thing, they also amplify any RF noise that may be around you also swamping the cell signal you are trying to boost.
This is much different from a "bandwidth" problem where there is too many people trying to use the same service from the same cell tower.
I totally understand the difference between signal strength and bandwidth.
I also have a WeBoost system in our trailer, and it will increase signal strength, but can’t improve bandwidth.
I can get great response time on two bars of signal, or timeouts with four bars due to lack of bandwidth for the particular cell tower and too many users on the tower.
I worked to a major athletic shoe company. If we had issues getting a high speed terrestrial connection installed in time we would use a cellular router to bring the store up and/or operate it on. One store in particular I could not get enough bandwidth during the day to get the computers loaded. I at the end of the second day came back at 10 pm and was able to load multiple systems at the same time, because fewer users meant more available bandwidth.
You can improve cell signal, but you can’t improve bandwidth that is controlled by the carriers.
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rhagfo
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10/17/20 12:56pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Are other drivers killing your RV experience?
Yes! We actually cancelled our trip from PA to Myrtle Beach SC because at 65 years old driving around the Baltimore and Washington outer loops scares me stiff. I know what its like just driving my 8,000 dually, they play with me like I'm a toy. Don't they respect size and mass? Pulling a 41' fifth wheel with a dually 4x4 8' bed is Xanax time, I can't stop this train on a dime! I try to maintain safe following distance to give me some room to stop......forget it. Three cars cut in front of me. I guess if I leave at midnight is best, shouldn't be too crazy at 2-4 am?
I wouldn’t cancel a vacation just because of traffic. I might plan a different route, or time my time passing through a given area to a slack traffic time. I am on 70’s door and will drive at a speed that works with the traffic around me. If I need I will roll at 70 although 65 is more comfortable, 5er dis LT tires with the same speed rating as our truck. Learned to dive defensively about 55 years ago. I keep an eye on all the traffic around and drive accordingly.
I will say that since Covid that drivers seem to be in a bigger hurry and I see the it is all about me attitude far more.
With all the marketing of new cars and safety features they figure the car will save them I guess.
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rhagfo
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10/17/20 10:55am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tire Inflation - What RU Using
I have a Crafstman 120 volt pancake style (6 gallon) 150 PSI rated (160 actual) that does a great job on my 110 PSI tires.
It (with the help of a Harbor Freight 12 ton air/hydraulc jack-jack) can pick up the motor home for maintenance tasks.
Most all of the major companies that make battery powered tools now have air compressors. If you have any of these tools you can buy the air compressor that goes with the other tools you have.
Just something to think about the pancake compressors require 120 volts to run, the ones that use the same batteries as your other battery tools may need to be recharged. My VIAIR on board runs off the trucks batteries, and best if engine is running. That and with the 2.5 gallon tank it will operate my impact wrench if needed for a stubborn lug.
One last thing it also runs my truck air horns.
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rhagfo
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10/17/20 07:55am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dualie vs SRW benefits?
Hey guys, I have been looking at the F350 for a 5th wheel I will be buying and I am confused about SRW / DRW.
According to the towing weight / GCWR, there is only about 500lb difference between SRW/DRW.
Why would you go dualie then? I figured SRW with 6.7' bed would be better driving w/o the 5th attached, better to get in and out of parking lots etc...
What am I missing?
Well you were likely looking at the wrong chart, as a DRW with not only have a greater tow rating, but more importantly a much higher Payload capacity.
It matters what you are looking at towing, most feel the line to go DRW is between 14,000# and 16,000# 5er GVWR
Even a SRW has a towing capacity of 20,000#+/-, but don't have the payload to carry it. Depending on what you carry in your TV, personally I carry a bit. we have a 5er with a 2,800# pin, had I gone with a SRW i would have likely been within about 200# of GVWR. We went with a DRW and have an extra 1,200# or so of excess payload.
The other thing to keep in mind is Payload doesn't equal how much pin weight you can carry. Before you can talk pin weight you need to need to subtract everything you have added to the truck (TV) after purchase. Actually a much easier and more accurate method is to get every thing added to the TV, passengers, tools, hitch, firewood, and fuel. Then head to the scales and weigh the TV. Best to get separate axle weights. Nowadays with a SRW you might have more total payload available than you have available rear axle payload available.
As to wheel base and bed length, I much prefer an 8' bed for towing a 5er, no issues with 5er to cab contact, in addition a long wheel base gives a smoother ride both loaded and unloaded.
We full time and our 2016 Ram Laramie 3500 DRW CC LB is our daily driver, there are a few drive thru I will not that it thru, but other than that no real issues.
Last question what are you looking at towing with it.
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rhagfo
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10/17/20 07:19am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Colors of trucks!
White is very common, it actually show dirt less than any other color, is cooler in the summer, blends into the snow in the winter.
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rhagfo
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10/16/20 04:40pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tire Inflation - What RU Using
I use this one. VIAIR - 40045 400P-Automatic Function Portable Compressor As previously mentioned, between the hose and power leads, I can reach all of my tires.
VIAIR here also only mine is constant duty mounted under the bed side rail. Rated at 150 psi with a 2.5 gallon tank, air chucks in the bed and under the hood.
VIAIR on board.
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rhagfo
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10/16/20 03:49pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Cell phone signal Booster ?
www.weboost.com
X2
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rhagfo
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10/15/20 07:10am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Cell phone signal Booster ?
Was there sufficient bandwidth? Other campers also trying also trying to use their phones for pictures, posts, talking, texting, surfing, streaming etc.?
Not sure how I can measure that. I was using my cell service through the phone and not campground wifi.
Lenny
Well I don’t have an instrument, but if you have good signal, but response is slow, that is lack of band with. It is basically too many users for the cell towers available band width.
We just came from a situation like that in the Columbia Gorge. Decent signal strength, but constantly timing out, had to use either early in the morning or late in the evening.
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rhagfo
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10/14/20 08:32pm |
Technology Corner
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