JimK

I do not understand the details and where the cracks have appeared, but this seems to be another case of the manufacturer cutting corners. The frame/suspension ratings appear to be barely adequate for light use. This is a large RV with a low CCC rating. The CCC rating is 3200# according to the Forest River online specs. The CCC is based on dry weight so just propane and a full water tank reduces the CCC to about 2500#. The CCC is based on a standard; ie, barebones, configuration. Options will further reduce the CCC. Forest River lists lots of options, many of which are likely to be included in an actual unit. Many of the options are heavy and could seriously deflate the available CCC. All the stuff many of us carry can easily exceed the CCC.

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.

None of the above comments seem to address the issue. Batteries must be fully charged fairly frequently or they will degrade. This degrading results in short battery life and the inability of the batteries to perform. Degraded batteries can sometimes be returned to near original performance with what is called conditioning or equalization. That means charging at a high voltage, about 15 amps, for about 8 hours. (Check the manufacturer's specs for this.) To prevent the need for equalization and to maintain battery life and performance, it is necessary to fully charge batteries periodically; i.e., at least every few days. Check the manufacturer's manual for what is needed to achieve a full charge. For my batteries, they need to be charged at 14.3 volts for at least 2-4 hours. That is a long time and impractical for using a generator to recharge. During this time, the batteries are only absorbing a trickle charge so a larger generator or better charging unit will not help speed this up. A generator works great for bulk charging but solar is really preferred for the 2-4 hours of trickle charging needed to reach a full charge. Shore power is the only reasonable alternative.

I have had good service from AAA premium coverage for both my rv and cars.

I would echo that the first concern should be cargo capacity. After just a quick look at the specs for various micro minis, I would be concerned. It seems that like a great many RVs, these are underbuilt. You need to be sure that the actual weight of the RV with water and propane and ALL of the accessories will leave at least an additional 1000# and still be within the gross vehicle weight rating. The 1000# recommendation may sound excessive but it is really easy to exceed that amount when you consider the weight of food, drinks, clothing, hobby gear, lawn chairs, BBQ, bedding, cleaning supplies, leveling blocks, tire inflator, basic tools, etc, etc. Don't forget the possibility of other upgrades such as larger batteries, a generator with fuel, and solar panels.

I also agree that the 12v side of life is a good beginner's resource. Just two comments: first to save battery weight, going to lithium batteries is the only choice. There are a lot of negatives including cost. Second, the best single step you can take is to start with an energy audit. Many people start out trying to live as they do at home. Instead some simple changes can make a huge difference. I boil water on my stove and use a mellita coffee system instead of needing an inverter and electric coffee pot. I don't need or even have an inverter.

Just to add to the obvious, I have a truck camper and loaded for camping I am about 2000# over the manufacturers wet weight. With a 5er, you can easily be many thousands of pounds over the phony, manufacturer's specs. First it seems that the manufacturers dp not include several hundred pounds of common accessories. For me, those include the awnings and an upgraded, larger overhang to accommodate a queen sized bed and two solar panels. They also only spec'd for a small, single battery. It seems we also have at least 1000# of stuff that the manufacturer would call personal items. Over the years I have whittled that down, but not by much. I still need and want to carry a generator, lawn chairs, clothing and food. The big, big item is food. I am in process of loading up for a long trip and even after years of doing this, I am amazed at the weight of my food, including canned goods and a stocked refrigerator/freezer. The RV industry is just plain disgusting. Who would skimp to save a very small amount of money by undersizing the suspension and tires? It turns out that applies to almost every model. Forget the decor, the fancy countertops and the oversized refrigerator that doesn't work well. Even forget the floor plan. First step is to look at the suspension/tires and cargo capacity. Even then plan on throwing away the cheap Chinese tires and buying the best quality, oversized tires you can find.

When I was there quite a few years ago, I did not see any trash blowing around. There was a lot of reused materials such as old bed frames being used as fences. Some of the broken down vehicles were way past their prime but most had been fixed up and liveable. Clearly many folks were getting by with minimal incomes. Lots of hard luck, bankrupt due to medical bills and I would also guess some folks who failed due to drug use. If you want to see some even sadder stories take a look around the town of Niland and the adjacent towns. Lots more poverty and people trapped in life due to low, low agricultural wages and limited work opportunities. Or you could stop by the Salton Sea and see an area of liquid death and gross ugliness created by the ag industry and government regulations gone awry.

I would agree: it depends on how you look at life. You will find much worse in many of our inner cities. At least at Slab City there are lots of freedoms. People do as they chose with little or no police, regulations or government. The results are interesting and way better than you might expect.

IMO most of the blame for poor quality is due to the manufacturers. As consumers we have limited choices and spending more is no guarantee of better quality. The RV industry reminds me of the situation with cars in the 60s. Quality was really poor. The war between management and unions did not help either side. Sadly worker sabotage just added to the other issues of poor quality. Buyers had choices such as Ford or Chevy and neither were any good. It took foreign competition to change the market. We need the same for the RV industry.

You should not have any issues with a Sioux Falls mailing address. If there was a problem, the SF mailing forwarding companies would need to move. Next be aware that on internet forums you are likely to hear from a small minority of people who had issues or know of someone who did. This process is really simple for the vast majority of us and the mail forwarding company should be able to provide detailed information. There are only a very few issues to be concerned about. For medical coverage you need to be sure that you have a plan which is easily accepted throughout the country. Avoid coverage which is limited to a local HMO with a limited number of providers. When you move to a Medicare supplement do the same and avoid any HMO plans. On rare occasions, financial institutions can be of concern. I merely changed my mailing addresses for my existing banks and institutions. I had no issues opening an additional account with a new bank. My main bank was Chase. I also opened an account with Wells Fargo since they have much better ATM/branch coverage in the western half of the country. There is a simple procedure and sequence to make this change work flawlessly. First setup a mailing service. The new address needs to include the PMB number but omit "PMB". This is not illegal but avoids raising any red flags. Next change you mailing address for banks, financial institutions, etc. You will need a couple of receipts/statements with this new address when you visit SD and set up residency. You will need to update your auto and RV insurance. I would check with the mailing company for a recommendation on picking an agent. Contact the agent in advance and go over the various options so that can be a quick procedure when you make the move. Deal with an independent agent so you can get policies suitable for full timers. I recommend you also file Form 8822 to update your address with the IRS. That is one more verification of intent. The only major issues every likely are due to an incomplete move. For example, if you have a house or other property in the old State, that State can try to maintain your residency so they can collect income taxes. California and New York are known to be aggressive. If possible make a clean break and avoid any disputes.

You also need to be sure your RV policy covers personal property. Most policies provide minimal or no coverage. Typically personal property is covered by a homeowner's policy which would include coverage for personal property in your RV. Without that policy, you will likely not be covered. Years ago, when we looked into this, the major companies, such as State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive, did not provide this coverage. There was no option to add sort of rider to extend the coverage.

Your guess would be wrong. Medical use has been approved in 38 states and that number continues to grow. Additional states have decriminalized it and I doubt any state is aggressive in enforcement of past restrictions. Also consider mm is not the same as years ago traveling with a key of plant material. Now it is highly processed, compact with oral doses typically in a capsule or something like a gummy bear. The legality may be questionable but there is no risk even traveling domestically by plane. Many of the products contain minimal amounts of THC with the major ingredient being CBD, which is not banned. I have no idea about the cost in Florida but it is typically not very expensive and a lot cheaper than dealing with opiate addiction. No, not covered by insurance. BTW, I do not use any mm products, but my wife has chronic pain issues and does. She has worked with her physician to use a formulation that helps the pain without hallucinogenic effect.

Two words: medical marijuana. There are all sorts of formulations and choices. None are addictive by typical definitions. Some are strictly for pain with little or no high associated with them. Ideally you can find a doctor who knows what they are doing; otherwise, a bit of experimentation should do it.

Unplug the camera. It is easy and the manual provides the instructions.

Sorry I have no recommendations, but I am curious. When living at home do you also cook outdoors to avoid food splatters and smells in the house?

I do autopay so I have not checked recently but I think AAA premium for my RV is roughly $150 over what I would pay for my auto coverage. There is an extra benefit with AAA. It can be used by a passenger who is not the owner or driver. At least that is the way it works for auto coverage. The main limitations are a 200 mile limit on towing and there is a limit for excess use of the service.

To be more than obvious, the flakes could be organic due to lack of maintenance; i.e., a long period without sterilizing the water system that allowed growth of organic growths. Or the flakes could be inorganic due to hard and/or sediment laddened water being used over a long period. Organics are easiest to deal with. A quarter cup of bleach for every 15 gallons of water and a soak of an hour or two is normally enough to sterilize a tank. That would typically kill the organic growth but a longer soak might be needed to help remove the residue. I would not up the amount of bleach but try an overnight soak and a couple of rinses. Inorganics can be harder to deal with. Fortunately, gallon jugs of vinegar are pretty cheap ($3-$4/gallon). I would dump in about 10 gallons and pump into the HW tank and all of the supply lines. Driving to slush the main tank would help. Typically I would let the vinegar soak for a day but in cold temps perhaps a couple of days would help. Odds are when you drain and clear the lines there will be a lot of sediment. Make sure you have a filter before the water pump and also remove all the faucet aerators so they do not plug. If there is a lot of contamination, sadly you may need to do this treatment than once.

What about AAA premium? I have used AAA for many decades to cover emergencies with my autos. I have always had very prompt service. I have had the premium coverage to include my RV for the past 12 years. I only needed service once. I was in the middle of nowhere and they promptly dispatched roadside assistance to help with changing a tire.

It looks like all of us honed in on the same issue. Both of these are relatively large units capable of sleeping quite a few passengers but the cargo carrying capacities are grossly insufficient. 1500# or so pounds sounds like a lot, but that gets used up very quickly. Water and propane use up several hundred pounds. So do accessories. Items such as a/c, larger refrigerator, etc. are not included in the base weight. Neither are solar panels and/or generator, larger battery bank, etc. etc. New RVers also typically grossly underestimate the amount of weight they are going to be carrying. Some of the add ons include all the kitchen gear and food/drinks, bedding, towels, clothing/boots, tools, extension cord, generator and fuel, hobby and sporting equipment, cleaning supplies, laptops and other electronics, books, travel guides, water hoses, leveling blocks, etc, etc. All this "personal" items typically add up to 1000# or more. Approaching or exceeding CCC is not a trivial matter but one of extreme importance and safety. A flimsy suspension and wheels are typical but the biggest factor is likely to be the load capacity of the tires. It is easy to exceed that. In addition many RVs come with cheap Chinese tires. In theory they meet the designated load capacity but who knows. Blowouts seem to occur frequently. Sorry but both of these are flimsy, pieces of cr@p. When the CCC fails to be sufficient that points to overall compromises in build quality. There are reasons that the typical new RV has a life expectancy of about 10 years even with infrequent use.

One issue is center of gravity. Truck camper manufacturers provide exact information on COG for the base camper and also specs as to how the camper should be loaded on a truck. The COG needs to be forward of the rear axle at least by several inches to a foot. The video above belabors that point discussing how an incorrect COG stresses the frame. This is in addition to the fact that the truck that broke was overloaded by at least 2000# and possibly overloaded by more than 3000#. That is a huge amount for a truck rated to carry roughly 5000#. Who is responsible for this failure? Eagle Cap is clear and specific in their brochures and specs. The owner is responsible for assuring that the truck is rate for the capacity and it is loaded with the correct COG. It is unfortunate that no one corrected the owner's misconceptions. Truck salesmen often do not know or care anything about the weight and loading of campers. A camper dealer very likely installed the frame brackets for mounting the camper. It is again unfortunate that they did not warn the owner or the owner did not listen.

Sadly, truck campers are very often much heavier than the truck is rated for. The CCC of this truck was probably about 5000#. The owner did not pay attention. The 7000 some capacity would have been for a truck without a diesel and without an extended cab. Next the weight of the camper was much heavier than the owner thought. The base dry weight of this camper is about 5000#. Water and propane would take the weight to roughly 5600#. The base weight of the camper does not include what the manufacturer calls "accessories". Those include A/C, awnings, roof rack, solar, large screen TV, generator and more. We can at least see awnings, roof rack and solar panels. The weight calculation now puts the estimate at about 6000# and possibly much more. Beginners don't realize how much they add in "personal" items. Those would include food/drinks, plates/pots/pans, bedding, clothing, tools, air compressor, hobby gear, etc, etc. It is easy to exceed 1000# for these items. We are now at about 7000# if not a lot more. The final blow was adding a bracket and 2 electric bikes. Probably another 250-300#. It is likely the owner exceed the truck's CCC by 2000 and possibly 3000#. Manufacturers also warn about loading with proper center of gravity. The COG needs to be over and ideally at least several inches in front of the rear axle. Clearly that was not the case and the bikes alone would have violated that requirement. Harmonics and those bikes bouncing up and down on rough roads were probably the final blow. This might be an extreme example, but most truck campers are heavily loaded at or often slightly beyond the truck's CCC. Helper springs, air bags, or other suspension enhancements are common. This should also serve as a warning for other RVers. Many trailers are poorly built with marginal frames, suspension and tires. Small-medium trailers often have CCCs of 1000# or even less. Beginners especially often don't realize accessories decrease that amount and they don't realize the weight of all the items they are going to carry.

I use a Mr Heater in my garage. If it has been on for a while and I enter the garage, I can smell propane. I also make sure my CO detector is working well. Catalytic or not I would not put any burner in my RV. I want outside exhaust of the combustion products, no smell, and definitely no possibility of a malfunction and CO emissions. Another issue is clearance in front of the heater. You need quite a bit of space with no combustibles anywhere near the heater. Another downside is Mr Heater does not circulate the heat. There is another possibility. There are diesel heaters designed for use in semi truck cabs. They vent to the outside plus it is easier and cheaper to deal with diesel fuel rather than propane. These units make lots of sense if you already have a RV that uses diesel.

Comfort has been discussed. A big issue is use of propane and electricity to run the furnace. My RV furnace pulls about 7 amps. That can add up significantly if the furnace runs many hours a day. Propane consumption is another issue. My typical propane use for showers and light use of the furnace will carry me about a month on a single tank. In really cold weather I could go through a tank in just a few days and still fall short of maintaining a 65-70 temperature. My truck camper is really just built for 3 season use. When daytime temps are barely hitting 40 and it is well below freezing at night, it is time for me to move on to warmers areas. Another solution would be to have electric hookup and use a small space heater. I use my RV as a recreational vehicle. It is my means of visiting great scenic areas. I want to be outdoors doing that the vast majority of the time and that is no longer enjoyable when the temps drop too low.

I cannot help provide any information about which companies provide fulltimer insurance. Most standard insurance companies do NOT provide adequate coverage. Instead their policies are designed to cover the RV but not the contents. Contents will typically be covered under homeowner/apartment polices. We had a theft and found out the hard way that our personal items where not covered. Since the RV was not stolen but only personal items, we received no compensation. Also be sure you can add a rider to your RV insurance if you have any really expensive items such as camera gear.