lappir

Thanks for the info. 

My plan is to be there. 

Rod

4 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Are you saying that the TSD device has a SunPass imbedded into it?

Be careful Kirk, you may have hit on their "Trade Secret". Maybe we all just need to get  a big box and put all the transponders in there. Of course then you would get double and maybe triple billed if they all triggered with the system. 

Rod

2 hours ago, jenandjon said:

I don't know if I would start jacking with the leveling valve. You change that and you start messing with the driveshaft angles. 

You will most certainly have issues with driveshaft if you start messing with the leveling arm. When I got my truck the top rubber broke on the way home with it. Did a roadside fix and got the new "Kit" on my arrival home. I don't know why they won't just  sell the parts that break and insist on selling everything needed to do a complete replacement. Oh, and you have to cut the steel arm to match what it was.....

Anyway, I found a level spot put the new to me truck and trailer together and cut the piece to keep everything level. OOPS, suddenly slowing down there would be a big Bang at times. I'd messed with the drive shaft angle and it put a bind in the U joint. Thankfully nothing ever broke and I had a professional reset the ride height. 

Rod 

I think my trailer is marked incorrectly. 

Rod

I searched for the information in the title and came up with nothing. I have a small broken reflector at the end of my truck since I haven't yet applied the reflective tape to the end we cut off earlier this year. I have the tape and was all set to apply when I decided to look and see how "Spacecraft" applied the tape. I noticed they have the "Red" on the end facing the front of the vehicle and the "White" at the back. I was thinking I'd put it with the red marking the end would be correct. Am I thinking incorrectly. Googled application of DOT tape, but see nothing to specifically indicate, but I do see the red seemingly marking the end of each trailer in the illustration. 

Is that what you see too? 

Rod

38 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

As an update on the viability of the advertised toll tag that is good everywhere, I just spoke with an employee of the north TX toll system (NTTA) about it. I had sent in an email inquiry about the validity of it and a nice lady called me from NTTA and she assured me that they do not honor the Toll Solution and that they have not been contacted by that organization and have no plans to add them. 

Thanks for going the extra mile Kirk. 

Rod

http://photoposting.is-great.net/?i=1

Try using this link. 

or Select

For JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, or PDF up to 10MB.

Photos hosted by IMGUR.com

Here is what it looks like. 

Choose your file and if you are lucky you can just double click on the photo and it will come up with what you see below. 

Full-Size Photo        Delete My Photo
 

Make Clickable To Full-Size Photo?

http://photoposting.is-great.net/curved-arrow.gif

Copy and paste this code into your post:

Drag&Drop Another Photo?

or Select

For some reason it didn't put the line below in the box above  "Drag&Drop Another Photo", but here it is. 

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/cY3IFAYl.jpg[/IMG]

Remove the [IMG] from before and after by hitting end and back spacing 6, hit home and delete 5 and hit end again then enter. 

and like magic the full size photo appears. 

Once you do it a few times muscle memory kicks in and it takes no time at all. Of course if you don't do it for a while you will forget to remove the IMG parts and then you have to think, Why didn't that work?

Rod

ps

Anyone know what's in the photo? 

rl

2 hours ago, JimK said:

Why are you using filters?  I was full time for a couple of years and traveled a lot after I quit being a full timer.  I never used a filter and never had any issues.  I did and still do use a final filter, usually a Brita, for drinking water.

I always used water from a reliable source such as municipal water or water at a national park or forest.  If you use contaminated water, I would not count on a whole RV filter to fix the possible issues.  Also I recommend NEVER using a filter which removes chlorine, except for a final filter for drinking water.  The chlorine helps to prevent growth of pseudomonas and other more worrisome bacteria and viruses.  Legionella can easily grow in hot water systems creating a bacterial aeresol whenever you take a shower.

Good question Jim and to answer I must say I really don't know. 

I don't knowingly put contaminated water in my home, but unless you test every site you visit, I guess you never know. 

Good point on the chlorine needing to stay in the tank. Had not thought of it. I think I will go out and remove my filters and see what happens. 

Like I said, I usually don't drink from the faucet, but I do rinse after brushing my teeth with that water usually. I fill my drinking water bottles, and make coffee with water purchased from drinking water vendors. 

Thanks for the comments, questions and suggestions. 

Rod

ps

Vern, 

Haven't found my thermostat yet and it's going to be HOT today here. Have done my outside stuff already and probably won't call you till Thursday after it cools down a bit. 

rl

1 hour ago, palmeris said:

Yes I agree and did the same, notice they dont say its a single transponder in the FAQ section but do in the anouncment section ....We cover all toll roads nationwide and provide toll transponders/stickers for coverage. 

 

I'll keep my "Free" Florida and Kansas Toll transponders. When I go to Colorado I will avoid their toll road like the plague I think it is. Just my opinion. 

I don't visit many other places that have toll roads, but if I do I think if they offer a service I'd rather pay them than someone who may or many not actually be accepted. 

Rod

Rod

On 11/2/2023 at 10:17 AM, Wrknrvr said:

  How about some pictures of the outside of your fifthwheel to show the lower walls . Looking for a place to install a heating unit. If that is required.

Here is the side view. Front compartment has my Generator riding in there, next area is the ODU for the Mini Split, next is Utilities compartment in front of the axles and finally the two compartments behind the axles. 

Other side. There is a "Gas Furnace" in the compartment in front of the axle. Hasn't worked since the Mini Split was installed. (nor have I really needed it). Have thought about trying to put a thermostat in the basement to keep it to 40 degrees, but haven't had to do it yet. Maybe this year? 

Rod 

Rod

15 hours ago, Wrknrvr said:

   Just curious how your layout is under the main floor.

 

  Do you have propane for heat now. Also some layout plans for the underbelly would make thinking of this subject much more interesting.

Here is what it looked like when it was new. 

This is where the electrical panels are. 

And where the water filters started out. Not fun to change the filters and quite messy. I now have a movable filter rack that will sort of fit in the compartment. It's easier to change the filters on the ground or a table. 

Rod

Not from the Full Time home on wheels lifestyle though. 

When I had my home built, I wanted a three housing filter that would filter all water coming into the home. I could fill my tank with filtered water or just filter the "City" water. 

Well I arrived to pick up my home and found no filters. Had to make a run to the nearest "Home Depot" and picked up what I thought would work and they were installed at the last minute. Fast forward to using said filters. Difficult to get to, made a mess when changing and not in a heated compartment. 

Over the past 10 years I've tried and tried to find a solution, but having no true heat in any of my "Basement" and my desire to stay where it's below freezing in the winter, I have to come up with a different solution. 

With the latest cold snap I made sure my tank was full and my electric heater was positioned correctly to keep the pump and hopefully the lines from the tank to the upstairs from freezing. It's worked so far, but my filter system is sitting in the garage until it's warm enough to hook up again to refill. I also don't really like it sitting out in the sun during the summer, so I'm considering just filtering under the kitchen sink for cooking. I have a drinking water dispenser where I fill 3 gallon containers to use for personal consumption from the grocery store bulk dispensers or or the Local HTO Texas Tea location just around the corner here in Norman. 

I'm pretty sure this winter will be cold for a long time. I don't plan to move from here till spring and the water fill is on the North side of the home where the sun doesn't reach this time of year and won't till middle of next summer. It takes a lot less time to fill the tank without a filter. 

I realize I'm potentially contaminating my system, but in a walk around the campers many have their hose connected directly to the trailers. There are a few "Softeners" sitting out (Or Were, my neighbor put his inside). 

In retrospect, I should have insisted my "Full Four Season Home" had a heated and insulated basement area. I may try to retrofit it if I decide to try some of the really cold winter locations I had hoped to visit. 

Rod

1 hour ago, SuiteSuccess said:

👍👍

It's helped me a few times. 

Rod

Will have to determine where I will be after the first of the  year before committing to attending. Glad to see it's still being held though. 

Rod

57 minutes ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Rod,

Our home is surrounded by trees, this is the mess we had last November about two weeks before we had planed to head south.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Trees-down-on-our-house/i-rNMkftb/0/f343105b/XL/IMG_5359-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Trees-down-on-our-house/i-mZCLPTz/0/26d848e0/XL/IMG_5364-XL.jpg

We had four trees fall on the house and garage, needed new roofs on both buildings.

Sorry for the links, can't figure out how to load photos the way they used to load on this site.

Dave

NO fun for sure. Won't have to worry about four of the trees now eh?

Might be time to do a little additional thinning of the forest for home safety. You might get a break on the insurance too. 

http://photoposting.is-great.net/?i=2 

Here's the link I use I think Jack Mayer put it out there for us to use. You might be able to "Drag and Drop" but I use select. I have an old Picasa program where I can "Copy full Path", but here lately I've been able to just find the photo in "Pictures" and double clicking to upload to the RV.NET:Photo Posting (which is what shows in my status bar now). 

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/KvQBtHvl.jpg[/IMG] This is what you copy and paste, but then you have to remove the first 5 characters and the last six, to get this.

I paste the link, backspace 6, hit home, delete 5 hit end and enter and voila the photo appears. 

Good luck. 

The legs looked a lot better when cooked and the toothpicks made it so they didn't fall out of the rack when I moved them from the kitchen to the smoker. First time I dropped half onto the tray. Thankfully I had a tray or they would have hit the ground. One on the first cook wouldn't stay hanging, so it got over cooked lying right on the bottom rack. This time they all stayed in place. 

Rod

2 hours ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy JGWALES,

There has been a gathering of HDT's in the LTVA ( BLM ) camp ground a few miles south of Quartszite at the "La Posa South" LTVA, for the last 6 years.  Most camp in an area about a half mile southeast of the dump/water/trash station.  We have had as many 26 rigs at one time and there are usually 5-10 that spend most of the winter there.  With luck we will arrive around mid December barring trees falling on our home again like last year.

Dave

Dave, 

Don't park under trees and you shouldn't have to worry about it unless you are super unlucky and have a "Tree Magnet" for a home. 

Rod

2 minutes ago, Darryl&Rita said:

From the FB HDT group;

Thanks for sharing. 

Rod

3 hours ago, JGWALES said:

We arrived on Quartzsite Az . Hoping to enjoy the winter here. Saw another HDT come into town yesterday. Looked like they were headed out to BLM

There is a gathering of HDT's out there somewhere. I think there is a FB group that  has the location. 

Rod

Nice looking truck. 

Good luck with sale. 

Rod

Wish you would have said something at the rally. 

Maybe you did and I didn't hear about it. 

The "New to me " truck in the photo has an unneeded controller mounted on the dash and is still hooked up as far as I know. I have thought about removing it, but just haven't gotten around to it. Not sure what it will take to remove, I guess is keeping me from starting the project. 

I'm in Norman, OK for a bit. Hopefully today was the last 90 degree day here for a while. I've got things to do when it cools off, for sure. 

Rod

On 1/17/2023 at 7:57 AM, Kirk W said:

Here are a few examples. 

Mission West RV Park, Mission TX  monthly $650 or 4 months $1500 and $250 for each additional month.

Cocopah Bend RV Park, Yuma AZ monthly $656 plus electricity

Sun Outdoors, San Diego, CA    monthly $1800 best rate

Hillcrest RV, Bismark ND    monthly $800

Flatland RV, Abilene KS, no monthly but $32/night

Kirk, 

Do you mind if we add places we have stayed to your list? 

Oskaloosa, IA. Southern Iowa Fair Campground $25 per night or $600 per month. 

Most are only 30 amp sites with electric only at each spot. $5.00 to use the dump site and a FEW Hydrants are scattered around the grounds and have seen 10 hooked up to one on occasion. Just hope not all want a shower at the same time. 

Hutchinson, KS. Kansas State Fairgrounds RV Park For the National HDT Rally Full Hookup Sites $24 a night for as long as you stay before/after the rally. Regular are $30 per night or $180/week. Don't see a monthly on their site. 

Norman, OK. Cleveland County Fairgrounds RV Park. A new section with angle back in sites and several 30amp and a few 50amp sites on either Gravel or asphalt around the edge of a large parking lot. Most with sewer and water (Shared by up to two) $35/night $210/week. 

Have stayed in these during 2023. 

All accommodated my HDT, Spacecraft Toyhauler, Jeep and Motorcycle. 

Kansas State Fairgrounds. 

Cleveland County Fairgrounds. 

Southern Iowa Fairgrounds. "Special Site". Got lucky and had all hookups for a few months. Feb to June 2023. Not sure if it will ever happen again. 

Rod

https://nationalhdtrally.org/

The above link has some information regarding the rally. It's also where registration might be for the 2024. Don't use to register for 2023, it's over and done. 

Someone will be working on it to bring some of the photos and such to it also. 

Rod

On 10/16/2023 at 11:21 AM, mike5511 said:

It would be nice if the "official group photo" was posted on this thread as well as all those individual videos that were taken on picture day. It would be handy to have them in all in one place.......just a thought.

On 10/16/2023 at 5:55 PM, Darryl&Rita said:

I don't remember seeing an actual picture, but there's several drone videos out there. I'm on my phone right now, but maybe someone else can dig for a group picture and post it here.

One of these days I hope to come across a photo (if someone will email it to me!) and I will post it here. 

I didn't climb all the stairs to get to the top of the Grandstand. Did it once several years ago and then had to run back down to get into the group photo. Maybe I'll learn to photoshop myself into them. Not!

Some of those who still check the forum are still on Facebook and maybe could post here. It is more work. If I had a better memory with names I could possibly send you to a YouTube channel where a video or two may be available. 

Attending the actual event is much more fun than just looking at photos, but I agree photos are better than not being there and not having a photo or two to see. 

Rod

Not an expert, but I also have a Grandfathered Verisign plan with unlimited data. Never used a "Jetpack" but  just tethered my phone to the computer either with a cable, Bluetooth or WIFI which seems to be the best. 

I think it would be OK. I have bought many phones off of Ebay as I upgrade to the newer models. Tried T-Mobile and a new plan with Verizon with out releasing my old plan and both failed very quickly with the stuff I take for granted with the old plan. Will try AT&T this month to see if their salesperson  in Des Moines, IA was honest in his claim. Couldn't find the same info on line and a "Store" wasn't very close to my summer location. I'll be in the Norman/OKC area this winter. 

Rod

This years rally is coming to an end. It was once again a fun, educational and very much enjoyable week. 

A surprise this year came to the organizers but didn't seem to faze them. A Wedding was scheduled in the same space for Friday night. 

Some of the attendees were kind enough to include me in their "Selfie".

The Father and the Bride dance. 

Room for Smart car and Motorcycle. Owners designed and sewed the bright yellow cover and tell me there is also a two piece hand made "Quilt" under the cover to keep the bike warm and safe. 

Notice anything about this Jeep? 

RVSEF will be busy today after breakfast weighing the rigs as they depart. Will try to get some photos and video of the process if anyone is interested. 

Hope the Friday the 13th was good to all. Sad that it's going to be overcast for the partial Eclipse of the Sun today. 

Rod