rickeieio

Take a look at the Kawasaki Super Sherpa. Like a baby KLR. My wife had one and I really liked it. Sorta little for a big guy though. If you had a GS, you know what you like, and don't like. The Yamaha has a lot going for it too.

i learned from a trusted source (Randy A on the HDT forum), that rodents really dislike a radio playing. The sounds interferes with their ability to hear approaching predators. I'll be trying it.

Pay attention to Ray. And rather than towing capacity, look for the GCVWR, or Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating. That's the tow vehicle, full of fuel, all passengers and gear, plus loaded trailer. If you can't find that value for a tow candidate, it fails. Don't forget to add ALL weights, like water, propane, clothes, food, pets, etc. You'd be amazed how fast little things like canned goods add up.

One time at band camp.......... Oh, wrong movie.. in a pinch, run a rope through the holes in the wheels and around the tire to "knit" a chain of sorts. Not very fancy, but it got me out when I was stuck on a farm with no tow vehicle. what Darryl said.

So, would that apply to Carl's Volvo powered truck too? And btw Tom, you might share some pics of your "hood" for us to drool over.

Do the math as outlined above, and add in a safety factor of at least 10%. Stay well within the guide lines for you tow vehicle, with fuel, gear, and passengers included. Get it weighed. You might have to set your sights a bit lower, or get a bigger truck. Too much truck is just right.😉

Shorty, when I grow up, I'm gonna follow you around. You find all the fun stuff. Say "Hi" to Judy for us.

Well, nobody else wants to go next, so I'll chime in...... I won't bore you with the tents, truck caps, etc. We've owned three rv's, all purchased used. First was a 1977 Apache pop-up, got it in 1986. Towed it with a '78 F-250 4wd. Trailer weighed 3500#, and surge brakes were junk. Going down Wolf Creek Pass, west bound, with both feet on the brake pedal made a believer out of me. No issues with the trailer itself other than normal age items, and lots of tires due to a tweaked axle. Next was a 40' CargoMate 5er. No slides, looked like a car hauler with windows, which it was. Very nice garage, spartan living space. We thought we were in heaven. First trip to Colorado, going down Monarch Pass, DW asked why I was fiddling with brake controller and tapping the pedal. I said I was just making sure everything was working. She asked what would happen if trailer brakes failed, to which I replied, "we'd go home in a bag." Search began for a HDT. We towed that trailer to Alaska, all over Colorado, and various shorter trips. Put new roof, axles, and 17.5" rolling stock on before we traded it. And our current coach, a 2008 Newmar X-Aire toy hauler. Former owners full timed in it for 4 years, and we've had it for over 5. So far we've upgraded tires and wheels, brakes (BluDot, air over hydraulic), replace all the skylights, repaired one slide roof, and a slide floor, upgraded a couple of lights. That's about it. Almost forgot, 21 tires. Yes, that's right, we've put 21 tires on that coach. It had the original May-Pops on it when we bought it, so I put on 6 new tires, jumping up several load ranges. 1000 miles later, brake controller failed, then woke up and clamped down with vengeance. Much smoke and through the cords on all 6 tires. Three years later, road debris took out the middle tire on drivers side, and flailing rubber snapped off both monitors on remaining tires, resulting in 3 more tires needed. Last winter I bit the bullet and bought 6 new 17.5 wheels and load range H tires. Tow vehicles: Several F-250s and 350s, and since 2010, a Volvo. Bought it w/ 700k miles, now has about 750k. We've spent around $12k-$15k in repairs, mostly because of two incompetent repair shops ($8k combined, both Genuine Cummins shops). Normal repairs include replacing original clutch, steer tires, rear air bags, cab suspension bags and shocks, a/c repair, and shifter. All told I think the repairs likely are no more than you would expect with a dually in the same service, and we had no interest cost, since we bought well used and only paid $19k back in 2010. There have been a few occasions where having the HDT saved our bacon. We had a brake wire get torn away by road debris in Alaska, a ground wire with intermittent connection, and outright brake controller failure. The last one was in hilly country pulling a 21k# trailer. Whew. That got longer than I expected. Bottom line, to me, is that no one camper style or age works for all of us. For now, we enjoy taking a car and two motorcycles with us. Some day that will change. If I weren't "fiscally sensitive", we'd have a nice used dp with a stacker. If I were alone, I'd likely have a slide-in on a flat bed truck. But alas, I'm a tight wad.

True, but I can see where trucking companies would like them. They're lighter, and can throw a LOT of juice out instantly, so no slow cranking. Hit it and even if it doesn't fire, in a few minutes, it's loaded for another shot. Interestingly, Tesla just bought the largest producer of these. Think of the acceleration possible w/ AWD. Make a pass down the strip and by the time you get back to the line, they're ready for another run.

So true. As for "older and wiser",,,, BS The older I get, the more I realize how dumb I are. Fortunately, I have this back-up team to get me out of the tough spots.

Disregard the quote box.. I don't know how to make it go away. Al, You don't need to be concerned with ladder weight, but safety is at the top of the list. Go get a Little Giant. Long after the sting i=of it's cost is gone, you'll appreciate the quality.

These were discussed a couple years ago on the HDT section. I believe there are designed to be used in place of one of the regular battery bank, with the rest of the bank remaining as lead/acid. But, I've slept since then.

👍👍

Silly as it may sound, often that type of leak is a loose hose clamp. Grab an appropriate socket and check 'em. Any with a rusty screw, pitch and replace. I like this style: https://www.mcmaster.com/hose-clamps/=d066bd50774e4636a1ea93fc4d505d67k4uoe142 That said, I only use them in critical applications, like on crop sprayers where pressures are often in the 70 - 90 psi range. The rest of the time, I cheap out and use worm gear type, but always in full stainless.

I have three of the telescoping "step ladders." The big one is a Little Giant. Heavy, pricey, and the best by far. Best weight rating too. When yer on the wrong side of 300#, that matters. Next is the Werner from Lowes. Pretty good. We keep it at the house. Last is the POS Louisville from Home Depot. Stay away from it. All can pinch you if you're not paying attention. We also inherited a telescoping ladder ( I believe this is what Alan was asking about) from our daughter and her hubby. It was one that goes out one section at a time, up to about 13'. Bottom three rungs were broken, and they were throwing it away. I took it apart and made a nice 10' out of it. It will be going the camper for the smaller member of the team. We've not tried it yet.

Batteries...... What a pita. You never know when they'll decide to toss in the towel. I have my oldest tractor in my shop now, and the batteries are marked 2/07. My hand writing. OTOH, I had to put a pair in another tractor this week that were only 6 years old. Both tractors suffer the same level of neglect. The batteries in the Volvo were new in about 2011 or 2012. 🤞

Having the wrong gear is a pain. Our truck will run all day in 10th, up hill or down, as long as your at about 68 mph or higher. Try to stay in the right lane and run with the trucks and it will go back and forth from 9th to 10th, unless you lock it in manual mode. Then it gets embarrassing when you roll into the rest area and forget to shift down.......

We have an electric blanket in the camper cuz when you've been traveling in low temps, the bed gets cold. It sucks the heat out of your body when you first get in. So, part of our set-up routine is to turn on the blanket, so that by the time we go to bed it's not so cold. But then, we're old. First post says they'll always have shore power, so it would seem logical..........

I always thought it was "oops", not "opps". But then, I'm an internet dummy.

It would seem the occupants of said van are likely relatively young, to tolerate such a small space. Makes me wonder why they would need supplemental heat.😮 Seriously, an electric blanket might be a good solution. If the van is well insulated as stated above, it could be enough.

What size tires do you have?

Advise is worth what you paid. Bring it on over and I'll watch. Have you checked truck salvage yards for a set of diff's with the ratio you want? Might be a lot simpler.

Yep, have an assortment of wood blocks handy. We keep some in the front compartment. A few pieces each of one inch and two inch should do nicely. It's also nice to have a couple pieces of 4x4 of 6x6.

Do you have anchor points on the walls? If so, use something soft between the wall and the bikes and just strap them there vertically. That's how we secure things like step ladder, pawn chairs, etc.

I'm serious about foam filling. Just do it. Your local tire shop can recommend where to get it done.