lappir

The first 5th wheel I purchased was from a private seller and the title was at his lender. As soon as my money arrived at his bank he provided me with a bill of sale and I provided him with an address in which to have his lender to send the title. I then proceeded to hook up to the trailer and pull it several miles to an RV park where I plugged it in overnight ( to charge up the depleted batteries) and then pulled it to a parking lot near my apartment to transfer my belongings into it. I then headed to my next location and finally to South Florida. Through the entire trip I expected to be pulled over at least once, but it never happened. I had the bill of sale in my glove box and a copy of the prior owners registration and a contact telephone number. I was North of Salt Lake City, UT at the start and West Palm Beach , Fl before the title and my license plates caught up with me. I made a few day stop in Iowa where I had new tires put on the trailer. I'm not saying you should do that, but..... This was many years ago and I no longer own the truck or trailer used in the event. Rod

I have done many a trip across I 80 and agree it's not my favorite road, especially east of Des Moines, Iowa. Kansas and Nebraska are both flat and somewhat boring to drive through so it's a toss up 80 vs 70. I think 70 was better maintained in Kansas than 80 is in Nebraska. Iowa and Missouri both fall short I think for their interstate maintenance. I rode a motorcycle across Northern Nebraska once and it was also very boring. Nothing to look at except what looked like sand hills. Good Luck with your trip. Rod

Thanks for your reply. I have looked at and am responding to your email. Have you always used the same vendor for your rental? Rod

Have you rented a Class C before? Were you able to "Boondock" in it or were you tied to getting power every evening? How many miles did you travel and would you do it again? I have a ton of questions, but will stop as to not hijack the post. You can PM me, send an email to lappir1@yahoo.com if you like. Thanks in advance. Rod

true that.

I will mark as interested, but not likely. A 3 month vacation isn't in the cards right now. I would want to utilize all of the time available, I think. Now if working up there living in my home on wheels is possible, I'd be up for joining the rally in/on a 2 or 4 wheeler. Will be watching the action here though. Rod

The hardest part of choosing, is not knowing if it will work. The hardest part of knowing if it will work is choosing. Once the choice is made then you will know pretty soon how things work. There are "Trade offs" with all sorts of living arrangements. I have traveled in my work since 1989, but didn't start full time RV/home on wheels living until the early 2000's. My current home was built for me in 2013. I had lived in a conventionally of the lot built "Toyhauler" for the 5+ years prior and it was the 3rd model/type I have lived in. Is it perfect? No, does it fill the bill the majority of the time yes. Is it stealthy, absolutely not. Would I do it again, maybe. I plan to continue the mobile life as long as I can still do all that's needed to pack it up and move to the next spot. It's more expensive than living in a "Sticks and bricks" and doesn't have the ability to build up equity as a typical home, but at least for now I'm able to swing the extra costs. My hope is when it's too much to move I have found a place to park it where it and I may remain. Good luck with your choosing and may you get it "Acceptable" very soon. Rod

Thank you. Just turned mine off. I put off allowing the updates as long as possible, but it seems they somehow sneak in. Rod

Noticed a new Icon to the bottom right of my computer (PC). Sort of a square box. I hovered over it and it said "not connected feed unavailable". ( I had not yet connected to my WIFI source.) Now it's showing a temperature and an incorrect weather reading. It's clearly overcast and raining but I see 65F and partly Sunny. Clicked on it, tried to remove it, tried to turn it off and the only thing it allowed me to do was make a comment. I DON'T LIKE IT. Is what I wrote. Doubt the reader will care. Rod

Did not know Pandora is now owned by SiriusXM, but now that you mention it I can see the parallels. Play the same music over and over. I am trying to bounce around from artist to artist a bit more. It seems you get a bit more content from similar artists. It's not always good, but it is a change. Thanks again for the comments. Rod

This is making me think I will keep my 2001 for as long as it will run. On a side note with a question. How often do you start the truck, drive a few miles, turn it off and do that again? How often do you do that? I'm thinking this is the first real trip with the truck pulling, am I close on that thought? The first year I had my truck I would take it for a drive every couple weeks, mostly because I didn't park it on site with my trailer and couldn't keep it plugged in. Found I couldn't really "Warm" the truck up much with all those drives and I had a near empty truck by the time my stay was over. I usually didn't purchase fuel in South Florida and waited until I was on the interstate highway system where I'm more likely to get fresh fuel. I now start my truck when I am ready to hook up, and I don't turn it off until I will be somewhere for over an hour. I usually have a 4 to 6 hour trip at least and sometimes 2 to 3 times that. I no longer drive unless it's going to be used or needs service. Good luck with figuring it all out and you can get back to enjoying the trip. Rod

I remember seeing something like that too, but don't remember where. If you want to shop for me in about a year, let me know. I get no satisfaction from shopping and usually pay too much because of that. Rod

Those are not temperature I would be concerned about. Your engine most likely has an 180 to 200 degree thermostat. Have you checked the oil temperature? I like it when it gets to near 200 because it will for sure get rid of any water that may have condensed into the oil. Most of the time my water temp gauge shows low, but I have had it get to 190+ in some how weather and heavy pull. Just make sure the mixture is good and you don't have a coolant leak somewhere. Rod

I believe one of the owners at Excel is now part of the New Horizons (785) 238-7575 company. A call to them may get you on the right path for a proper replacement. https://horizonsrv.com/ Rod

My guess was a Szmyt build too. Henry say's there are a half a dozen of them out there. It had an air bag to tilt. Should have taken more photos, but failed. Maybe they will find the Forum. Rod

On my trip to North Dakota I pulled into a rest area and found this truck with a Smart on top. They were set up to stay the night with camp chairs and some interesting Martini fixins that kept the drink cold and a clear cover to prevent any thing else from sharing. They were a couple from Pennsylvania on their way to Montana with some more equipment for their home build. They were pulling a triple axle tall trailer that was mostly an open van for hauling things (a 20000# saw mill was in there on this trip. There was a living area at the front and he had a very interesting Utilities set up with all the tanks stacked in one area with lots of access to view and service if needed. I inquired if they were Escapees members and they have never heard of the forum. I asked who built their Smart bed and they said it was on the truck when they got is a few years ago. I think I know who built it, but does anyone else want to venture a guess? I know it's a single photo and I was able to walk around it a bit. Rod

It all depends on your location and use. Those things change often and sometimes dramatically as a full timer. I just replaced the tires on my truck. They were at least 7 years old, were very high quality brand and recommended by my Brother the "Tire Guy". Of course he was the one to recommend me replacing my "Retread" rear tires with "Steers". His thought I would not be running through "Feed Lots" and stuff his mostly "Farmer" customer base does. Well I got stuck on the level in wet grass with the steers. Closed shoulder lugs are much better, we found. My take offs look like they have had very little wear in the 7 years and the farmers he will sell them too will get many more years and miles out of them. They will be happy, he will be happy and I hope I am happy when I get the bill. I did not replace the tires with the best he could get and instead went with the least expensive. Why pay the extra dollars for something that is going to sit for months at a time is my thought. We will see how my logic pays off for me. I did learn a valuable lesson and thankfully didn't have a "here hold my beer moment". When I arrived in Lawton, OK last fall it was a messy rainy day and the very next day there was a major ICE event. My brakes apparently didn't dry very well and the next spring when I tried to move one of them was stubborn in breaking loose. I thought, no big deal pull forward, back up and it will come loose. NOPE. I thought 'OK, pull it out on the concrete street, it will come loose'. NOPE Pull into the next drive and call for help. My mechanic friend say's grab a hammer and tap the drum, it' will pop loose and YES it did. I looked at the tires and didn't think there was any damage, WRONG. The "Cheap" no name OEM tires on my trailer took the abuse and didn't fail on me. I had planned to replace the tires, but my Brother said they look real good, I can't read the date code because they are all on the inside, but "I'd run them". I decided why not turn them around. I have dual tandems and the inside tires have not seen much sun which I've heard is hardest on them (except for the sitting for months at a time_). We started pulling the tires and wheels off and found my MISTAKE. "NEVER DRAG YOUR TIRES THINKING THE BRAKES WILL RELEASE". Found two HUGE flat spots on that set with cords showing. I had traveled at least 1000 miles since the brake event and had looked at the tires multiple times, never seeing the damage. The little guy who could fit under the trailer to set the jacks saw them right away, didn't say anything about it until what was almost too late, but I did get two new tires in that spot. That's my tire story up to today. My 600 mile trip was uneventful now they will sit again for a few months. I have covered them, mostly because the inside tires never get washed and the White wheels are no longer that color, nor will they be unless repainted. Maybe later. Rod

Can't wait to hear about your results. My hood is faded and I cannot seem to bring back any shine to it at all. Quit trying years ago. Checked with a friend about a repaint, but 15K was not in my budget. That was for the whole truck, didn't think of just doing the hood. I'm sure the prices have gone up a lot more, by now. Rod

Not only would you hear it, but if they are flying right over you will have the heavy exhaust particles covering your rig in no time. PBIA in the 1990's to 2003, of course the sugar burn was worse a couple times a year, at least you won't have to contend with that near Jacksonville. In the early 1990's I stayed at a park near the Air Force Base, but was in my pickup with a topper and not the HDT. Only time I stayed near Jacksonville. Had to pick up my Temp Nursing License for a job in Clewiston, FL. "Americas Sweetest Town", surrounded by sugar cane fields. Rod

Have a great time. One day my work will bring me close enough to attend. Rod

Good question and good answers. I was going for the other type, but decided not today. Rod

Ketelsen RV was building a place west of Des Moines a few years ago on I 80. There are several RV Dealers in DSM, Altoona and Ankeny. Have not had work done personally at any though. Rod

I was so disappointed with my youngest child's drivers education in the late 1990's. It was in South Florida where there are multiple merge areas, multilane roads and lots of distracted drivers all over. Her required time in the car was registered in minutes, don't remember the exact numbers, but her behind the wheel time was 1/3 of that since there were two other students in the car at the same time. They didn't go very far away from the school, since they had to be back in an hour and the school was on the western edge of the metropolis. Thankfully I had spent a summer in Iowa teaching her how to handle motorized vehicles. It started with a Riding lawn mower and backing up to hook up to a wagon or something else. Then it was mowing the large lawn and keeping straight lines. We progressed to a 1970's Jeep Pickup with a manual transmission and headed out on the country roads I grew up driving. We put lots of miles on the gravel, the hills, the mud and then started on the highway to town and finally running around town a bit. She is now comfortable driving a manual transmission unlike many of her friends. We also spent a lot of time in locations around where she lived in South Florida after returning for the school year. One time we were out in the "Acreage" and it seemed like she was going in circles. I let it go for a while before asking 'Do you know where you are and where are you wanting to go'. Her response was "Home", and the lesson began in earnest. I hadn't planned it, but it came at the perfect time. It was starting to get dark, she was in an unfamiliar place and it was time to use her Iowa skills to find her way home. When we first started out in Iowa, I said pick a direction, I don't care which way it is, but make sure you can find your way back to your starting spot we will be in the truck for an hour and I don't want to just go in a circle for an hour, we have to do multiple turns and several miles. We found landmarks and such that would get her home. I told her she could not get me lost in the area. In South Florida it was a different animal. I had gotten lost one day looking for a home to purchase, in the "Acreage". I was on my motorcycle with a low fuel tank. Thankfully what my Grandfather had taught me when I was very young in Iowa kicked in. He was the one that started me driving when I was about 10 and in the large pasture with no roads. Long story short we got home and she is now the best navigator I have ever seen. She also used to fall asleep on all of our long road trips and just the other day I asked about a recent trip with her roommate and who drove, and how her road nap was. She remarked I don't nap much in the car now. It's sort of rude to the driver. Proud Dad moment right there. I know this was long, but it's not the responsibility for the schools to teach our children, it's ours. The schools responsibility is to act as the impartial testing center where all the families hard work really pays off. I wish I had realized that a long time ago. Think about it. Rod

If you are not in a hurry, then run the right lane and get over if needed, but if you can't it's up to the entering vehicle to increase their speed to get in front of you or for them to stop on the ramp if they cannot merge in. I HATE to see people Slam on their brakes to allow a very slow moving vehicle to get in front of them merging in. If you don't know how to merge you have no business on that type of highway. JMHO. Rod

I would second the motion to avoid I 80 as much as possible, especially east of Des Moines, Iowa. I haven't traveled through Chicago in a long time, but if my trips south through St. Louis are any thing like Chicago I'd rather drive 300 miles out of the way to avoid, even taking two lane roads. Since you are not pulling a trailer you should be fine keeping the time frame you had with your previous vehicles. Remember you can go 1000 miles or more before having to stop for fuel. Bathroom breaks usually come before the need for fuel, but if you get fuel and bathrooms at the same times you can put a lot of miles on your tires. Good luck with the trip. Have fun. Rod