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Hill_Country

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Everything posted by Hill_Country

  1. YouTube TV has been our primary use network for several years, both in the S&B and RV. All our TV's are either smart or have Roku sticks that work just about the same way. We also get Prime with our Amazon membership and Paramont+ with Walmart +. We have Tmo Home Internet boxes in both the S&B and RV (each with 4 TV's). It is half the price and three times the speed of the cable internet we had. It has worked without fail in the coach while on the road - both minor and interstate highways so we listen to Pandora rather than SeriousXM while traveling. In the last year, we've only twice been unable to get a good enough signal to stream - the range from the towers is unbelievable - so we have a roaming Starlink subscription that we can activate if needed. We tried the Spectrum streaming briefly, as it has about the same channel lineup as YouTubeTV, but found that it would only work if connected to the Spectrum system and that wasn't available while traveling. That and YouTubeTV are the only networks we've used that provide our local channels but we do have an OTA antenna on the house and coach so we can get them that way if we want. Sometimes it is nice to get the local weather. We're not as big of TV watchers as this may sound, but we like to watch what we want to watch and sometimes even with hundreds of channels available we have to hunt to find something worth watching. So just to cover all the bases because my wife is a Brit, we have a VPN line so we can get the BBC and ITV iPlayers which have the few programs not available on BritBox. The key to all this is a good internet connection, though, and we've been very impressed and happy with Tmo HI.
  2. I think the patient has been on life support for some time, now, with just an occasional twitch on one board or another.
  3. Had the same problem as the OP with our priior 5er - lots of ruined food. Tried all sorts of fans and gadgets and couldn't make the thing work. Added 300 amps of Li, a 3kw inverter and a residential fridge and never looked back. All in was still cheaper than a POS gas fridge. The residential fridge was great and the Li batteries even better. Look into the batteries on Amazon. Prices have plummeted.
  4. I find it difficult to believe that management isn't aware of this thread. What else are they neglecting? I'm guessing that a plot of membership numbers would follow the number of RV sales each year. If that is true, Escapees is in trouble.
  5. I'd take Magnum off the list. My - less than one year old - Magnum recently gave up. Can't get parts or factory service on it. Word is that Magnum's new owners are getting out of the RV/boat business. I went with Victron. Excellent reputation and I love the expand-ability. The replacement is 3000 KVA (about 2000 watts??) and easily runs all the inverted circuits on this big coach.
  6. If this forum ever served a purpose - and I think that we all agree that it did - then it could absolutely again be worthwhile. Not the way it is going, but the way it was. There is still a need for both the conversation and the information exchange. Good evidence of this is the manufactures' forum that I've begun following. It has a great group of friendly, knowledgeable people. It is well moderated - there is little snark in the postings. I think the success of that forum is measured not so much by the number of hits, but by the fact that it gets as many posts from non-owners as it does owners. Just a good group of people who share their interest in RV'ing. Perhaps a better question to ask is does Escapees serve a purpose? If so, then this forum could not just support the club, but very much enhance it. Frankly, the way this forum has gone downhill has me looking at clubs other than Escapees.
  7. Yes, the tech has become dated, but FULLTIMEWANABE hit the nail right on the head - the tone of this forum doesn't encourage participation. I'm active on several other forums and, in fact, was a sysop long before there was a public internet, and have observed that it is the administrator - or the lack of an administrator - that sets the tone for a forum. Its the administrator/moderator who gently keeps everyone polite and friendly. Bottom line is that this forum has, and is, suffering from a severe lack of attention. Escapees might as well turn out the lights and save the cost of domain registration if they're not going to take care of this forum. A good forum is almost a living, breathing, being with a personality and this forum is on life support.
  8. Costco will take the tires back, no questions asked. Also check the Escapees discount. Discount Tires (and many others) will price match and often beat a price. I just had a mobile tire service install 22.5 inch steer tires and Centramatics on my class A - cost $40 per tire (these are 160# truck tires) plus a $95 service call (and I saved that much by not having to drive across town). Don't feed the idiots.
  9. I'm not real clear on what the problem is, but if the spring hangers need reinforcement you might look into the Morryde X-factor brace. https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/MORryde/MR33WR.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google | Dynamic - Search Ads&adgroupid=60357936130&campaignid=1672411816&creative=418475254248&device=c&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9028094&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=CjwKCAjwue6hBhBVEiwA9YTx8D8WGTFGU_vbffV6OXOJGqg1rBo7w1SX3J3zg9r0weYx0bI8ZVFEABoCz-UQAvD_BwE This is a very simple installation and is very effective.
  10. Don't give up on Tmo, but consider trying the Home Internet service. For the last couple of years I've used the same unlimited VZW hotspot and a 100GB Tmo hotspot. (Our phones are Project Fi, which use the Tmo network, but I generally don't use them for data.) We stream TV almost all day and are heavy internet users. In general, the Tmo hotspot was generally faster than the VZN hotspot and it was rare that neither of them worked acceptably. I tried the Tmo Home Internet box when it first came out and it seemed to work pretty well or not all. I returned the box and just used the hotspots for a couple of years until Tmo came out with a new and improved internet box and it has become our primary internet connection. I downgraded the Tmo hotspot account because the Home Internet account was so very much superior. A couple of weeks ago, we were at White Sands Missile Range, NM - which is about the end of the internet world - mountains on 3 sides and a million miles of nothing on the other side. Bottom line is I got (probably 1G) VZN in the evening and just enough VZN data to text in the morning. Other than this extreme location, the Tmo Home Internet has served us well and actually competes with our 300meg home cable connection. Just like real estate, its location, location, location. Our experience has been that the Tmo Home Internet box wins hands down over the garden variety VZN and Tmo hotspots. *****************
  11. I don't think any vet I've met thinks of themselves as heroes. We did our jobs, came home and went about life. I did nine years in the Army. Did two tours in Germany in missiles, then two more tours in Nam doing "odd" jobs. I was an E6 with five years in grade when Nam was over and Sam made it plain that there would be no more promotions and he'd rather we all just go home. But I think we've all been inspired by the generations that came before us. Those guys were heroes. Let me tell you my story. My Dad, Uncles and even an Aunt all served overseas and all came home - except one, my Mother's cousin. No one ever spoke of him until one day when I was 15 and I asked my great aunt about a photo on her wall and she just choked up and sobbed. When I got home my Mother told me about the Bataan Death March and they never knew what had happened to Bud. No one in the family ever spoke of him as it was just to painful. Fast forward about 50 years and I was looking for a genealogy project and tracked down Bud's records. He died after 9 months in a POW camp in the Philippines and was buried in the camp cemetery. After the war, his remains were moved to the Manila American Cemetery and buried as an Unknown - because the Army couldn't be bothered to find his dental records to identify him. His dental records were pretty easy to find since Bud's older brother was a dentist and had placed some distinctive dental work in his mouth. However, the DoD found this a little embarrassing since it revealed many, many other erroneous identifications. Now, twelve years and four federal lawsuits later, Bud is buried with his parents. The irony of the whole story is that while I initially only asked for Bud's records, I got the records on all WWII deaths and these have lead to something over 300 additional Unknowns being returned to their families for burial. These guys are the real heroes and I am absolutely humbled beyond words when I see their stories. Let's never forget the sacrifices of those who came home and those who didn't.
  12. Thanks for sharing your family member's stories. They deserve to be remembered. And thanks for your service. Welcome home, Brother.
  13. The disposable magazines we had in 'Nam for the straight M16 and M16A1 were pretty shoddy and the feed lips tended to distort with 19 or 20 rounds (if you could even get the 20th round in) and this caused a couple of different types of jamming. The mags came in cloth bandoleers loaded with 20 rounds and were usually reloaded rather than disposed of where I was. You could often tell the bad mags by gently letting the bolt go forward and see if the first round jammed but sometimes it was one of the last rounds that would jam. It was one of those things like keeping the M16 spotlessly clean that the old guys taught the newbies and were never written anywhere. Thanks for your service and welcome home.
  14. I put a bicycle rack with hitch extension on my fiver. I could watch it on my rear camera and was shocked at how much movement there was in the hitch. I put hitch clamps - the square U bolt things - on the hitch and extension and they are now rock solid. No movement and no wallowing out the pin holes. Haven't had any problem with the nuts coming loose, either, but I use split ring lock washers and keep them reasonably tight with w wrench.
  15. I have a pair of Ryobi 2300w gennies converted to run on LP. These units have a carb drain plug that makes it easy to drain if it won't be used for a few days/weeks and I was very diligent about draining the carb bowls. Even so, after the second carb replacement I decided that LP is the way to go. If you have a bulk LP tank or can hook up to the RV LP system it is a no brainer. And if you can't get LP, just fill it with gas and unplug the LP - no conversion needed.
  16. When the gen 2 box/router/hotspot never showed up we pulled the plug on the Tmo home internet service and went back to an unlimited plan using a 4G VZN hotspot and a 100meg/mo Tmo 5G hotspot. Both hotspots worked well for us in the places we usually visit and while traveling. Both provided acceptable bandwidth with one usually being faster than the other depending on location. Of course, we stream our TV and use lots of internet so the the 100meg/mo limit on the Tmo device was a little awkward. Recently, I've seen a number of reports indicating that using the home internet box in multiple locations is not a problem for Tmo so I decided to give it another try. This week we're parked in a site where we often go and the service is absolutely great - much better than either the Tmo or VZN hotspots. Not only is it truly unlimited, but the speed is amazing even compared to the 5G Tmo hotspot. Even in the busy parts of the day and evening I see around 100meg and often 200meg or better. We've only used this service for a week, but so far it looks to be a keeper.
  17. I upgraded the 3 leaf 3k springs on my fiver to 6 leaf 3500# springs. IIRC, I got the spring measurements off the Lippert web page and ordered the springs from Amazon. Lippert customer service had no problem with upgrading the springs by 500#. As far as it providing a rough ride, no difference than unloading 500# of cargo. As long as you're doing springs, you might consider the Morryde shackles - huge improvement. I also did disc brakes, a one size tire upgrade, Roadmaster shocks, and a Morryde X brace.
  18. Let me add a data point or two. I was diagnosed with dry MD in my left eye and wet MD in my right going on five years ago. No progression in the left - which is good because there isn't much they can do for dry MD - and the problem in the right eye has largely resolved although I do continue to get a shot in that eye every six weeks now. I did have a bout of glaucoma last year, but it was easily resolved with a quick laser treatment. A couple of months later the same thing happened in the other eye. Again, no big deal. Several people I know have also been diagnosed with AMD and chose not to have it treated either because getting a shot in the eye grossed them out or they had heard that the drugs are ridiculously expensive. The shot really isn't that big of a deal once you get past the thought of it. Feels like a grain of sand for a few hours then nothing the next morning. Some of the drugs are generic and cheap, but some of the new ones are frightfully expensive - if you have to pay for them. However, the manufacturers seem to have a foundation set up to pick up the cost of anything not covered by insurance - apparently a legal insurance scam. Bottom line is there is no reason not to treat AMD and a huge reason why not treating AMD is a huge mistake.
  19. I had upgraded the OEM tires on my fiver to 235/85's and, because of COVID, hadn't put 500 miles on them when I learned of the recall. I called TBC (901-541-3619) and several other numbers for Sailun that I found on line. The very next day 12/28/21 I received a call back from one of the nicest customer service people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Stacy told me that if I took the tires to a local Sailun authorized dealer they would replace them at no charge. She also mentioned that not all Sailun dealers were participating and, oh, by the way, no one has any stock of the new tires. She also gave me the option of purchasing the tires and being reimbursed. Since the tires were available on walmart.com, I figured I'd take a chance. UPS delivered the tires to my door (2nd day air) and I decided to pull the tires myself rather than pull the RV up to the Walmart auto center where the recalled tires had been installed. However, as soon as the walmart guys got a look at the tires - they are substantially heavier than standard car tires, they decided their tire machine was broken, blah, blah. So I went up the road to Discount Tire. Here's where it got sticky - I showed Discount Tire the original Walmart work order and told them I wanted the tires mounted, balanced and the same road hazard warrantee that Walmart had sold me for the recalled tires. FWIW, the original mounting and balancing was $94 at Walmart. The same service at Discount Tire was $391. I know where I'll be buying tires in the future. I got home and packaged up all the original and replacement tire and mounting receipts and sent them, along with photos of the date code on the original tires, to TBC. Stacy first told me all was good, then wanted copies of the cash register receipts rather than the cc receipt, but fortunately I had everything. A couple of days later, she emailed me and said that Sailun wouldn't pay for the road hazard policy. I told her - nicely - that wasn't acceptable and got an email from her manager, Scott Davis, sdavis@tbccorp.com, saying that I was out the cost of the road hazard coverage. I told him - slightly less nicely - that I expected the same coverage as existed prior to the recall. A couple of days later, he emailed me and said that Sailun, "as a goodwill gesture," was going to cover the road hazard coverage and they would be mailing me a second check since the first check was already in the mail. Today, 1-24-22, I received the first check just 19 days after I had installed the new tires. I'm still waiting for the second check, but approximately two weeks to mail out the reimbursement check isn't to bad. Other than the little disagreement over the road hazard coverage, I'm pretty satisfied with Sailun tires.
  20. I can't comment on the IS, either, sorry, but I share your concerns about the running gear and made some of the same upgrades that you've already done. The shackles are an obvious weak point and, like you, I found the MR shackles to be worthwhile. While I was at it, I also changed out the 3 leaf springs for 6 leaf springs rated for an additional 500 lbs. Lippert CS said no problem. Disk brakes are probably the single best upgrade I've made, bar none. Maybe less with your HDT, but one panic stop and I figure the brakes are paid for. It sounds like your biggest concern is the spring hangers and I agree that they are the most likely point of failure. My *theory* is that hanger failures are most likely due to "jacking" the trailer into a site at a sharp angle to the TV. First time I saw the wheels bent in opposite directions I vowed to avoid such maneuvers and avoid the extreme stress on the hangers. I also added a Morryde Xbrace to the center hangers. I was going to do all three, but Morryde CS said really only the center hangers needed the reinforcement. For about 100 bucks this is a no-brainer when doing shackles. While I was at it, I also added shocks. Hard to say how much they help - I'm not going to ride back there to find out - but it seems that things don't move around as much.
  21. An update to my original post about the Tmo Home Internet - It suddenly slowed down to unusable speeds. I don't know if they shut me down for using it in multiple locations or some other reason. According to the Tmo website, there is an updated modem/hotspot, but they never got around to sending me one even though I made several requests. I finally canceled the service and got the 100 meg for 50 bucks hotspot. Works like a champ, albeit limited to 100 meg/mo. Let us know how the Tmo home internet works out for you. Great concept, but it laid down on me. Hope you have better luck.
  22. I had the same concerns, but by moving the batteries from the front compartment to under the steps in the basement, I actually gained considerable space that wasn't previously being used. Much more convenient for wiring, too. Besides gaining the space in the front compartment, I also reconfigured the basement wall. We moved into our fiver during the Texas freeze so the basement stayed nice and warm, but I also put cutoff switches on each battery so I can positively shutdown everything if needbe. It was probably overkill to also install a small cube heater on a thermostat switch in the basement as I hope that was a once in a lifetime storm for Texas.
  23. Except for the solar, I put a similar setup in my fiver and I couldn't be happier. FWIW, I bought most of my stuff from https://theinverterstore.com/ and went with AIMS batteries. Same specs and size as the BB and much better price and warrantee. I'm going on 3 years with them and no problems at all. When you call, ask if they have any promos and they'll knock off a few bucks. Go lithium and you'll never go back to LA.
  24. No experience with the Onan, but after looking at the specs and design it doesn't look much different than any of the other inverter gennies in the 2000 to 2500 watt range. I have a pair of Ryobi's with nearly identical specs and I love them. Easy on fuel and I can easily toss one in the basement or back of the truck without doing myself an injury. Note that the Onan is rated at 2500 watts, but if you dig a bit you find the run power is 2200 watts and, unless Onan knows some magic, that's rather optimistic for 98 cc's. Bottom line, IMHO, is buy the brand that you can get service and parts for because you'll probably be replacing the carb until you learn to remember to run the thing every week or so. I finally got tired of that and converted mine to run on LP, which is very convenient. I didn't see a price at that link. Do you know what the street price is?
  25. I don't know how the Nighthawk would handle all that, but I did something similar with a VZN hotspot that kept eating the battery. Seemed like a fine line between the hotspot battery going dead and overcharging. I do leave the Tmo Home Internet hotspot plugged in all the time and haven't had any problems with it. I have a Nest camera in the RV that stays on all the time so I can watch Fang, the world's worst watchdog. I have the camera set to cover the entrance door, kitchen and living room which has a large thermometer on the wall. The Nest system will alert me via text if it sees a person or hears a dog barking. (Of course, Fang is more likely to lick a stranger than bark at them.)
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