JimK

Good luck finding a reasonably priced RV park in the San Francisco area. I am sure there are plenty of other examples and of course there will be other even densely populated urban areas with decent choices and availability.

Or they have to prove I did not.

I was curious so I checked on the Cummins recommendations for engines used in semi tractors. Cummins approved 60000 mile changes using Valvoline Blue Premium oil. As mentioned they also have a program for even longer change intervals using oil test analysis every 10000 miles.

I think I am convinced. I am going to go by the change monitor for both the oil/filter and fuel filters. I may just do an extra reset on the monitors to avoid any possible warranty issue. I assume that Dodge can track that through the computer system. If not, they don't have any way of tracking the changes anyway. I am going to continue to be careful about how I use the truck when it is in limited use. I run the truck about once a month to keep everything charged and working. I am careful to bring it up to operating temps. Of course, I also keep an eye on the tire pressure.

I wonder what important factors the system can tract.

I checked the manual for my truck. Again, the oil change interval is 6 months, 15000 miles or 500 hours whichever comes first. The oil change monitor is based on the "duty cycle". I doubt any driving conditions are monitored. Certainly time is not monitored. I think the system monitors mileage and hours. Unless you do lots of idling the monitor will be based solely on mileage. I can calculate the percentage of miles driven based on the 15000 mile interval and that is what is displayed by the diagnostics system.

Is it really a "diagnostic" oil change interval that your vehicle displays? I suspect the interval is just based on mileage. That seems to be the case for my Honda Accord and also the Ram CTD 3500.

For me, the issue is not the mileage interval. For my Ram diesel that has moved up to 15000 miles. I am not trying to push that. The issue is the time change interval where Ram is emphatic about 6 month changes. With Covid I even had an issue with my cars. For both my car and my wifes, the mileage last year was in the range of 2000-3000 miles, well less than half the recommended change mileage. After well over a year, I had the shop do the annual inspections and also change the oil. Those changes were under $100 each, but again probably just wasted money.

But is an annual change even needed for very low miles when our RVs are off the road? Ram calls for changing the oil, oil filter and fuel filters every 6 month. For me that would have mean 3 complete changes in less than 1500 miles. The filter and oil alone would have cost me about $450. The dealer would have charged me $2100! That is way over a $1 a mile for oil and filters.

Years ago I had a friend who believed in the 3000 mile interval while I was following the recommendation for 7500 miles. He claimed he could tell a difference after changing the oil and his car would drive smoother with more pep. He was highly educated and had a Ph.D. in one of the sciences. I can tell you for sure that the black color of used oil in no way reflects the condition of the oil. The oil in my Cummins diesel turns a deep black within a few hundred miles of driving.

I have no idea about dealing with a feral cat. Before we full timed our 2 cats had been inside cats. They adapted to the RV pretty quickly even though it was a truck camper with limited space. Within the first couple of weeks they tried to escape a couple of times. After that they adopted the RV as home. Both cats seemed to like to travel. We piled up luggage and stuff on the backseat of the truck to make a platform and they would sit there by the hour looking out the windows while we traveled.

Though the '90s, I had an Isuzu Trooper that came with a Chevy 6 and Chevy AT. I was pretty good about doing 7500 mile oil changes although I was probably late a few times. After 290,000 miles the engine was still going strong with no issues. Unfortunately the AT died and was not worth the cost of repair. Engines and oils are better now. It is easy to prove just send your 4000 mile oil in for testing and then do it again when it hits double that mileage.

Everyone seems to have opinions but no one seems to have any facts to back up the opinions. Oil change intervals have always been that way. Many people were told in their youth that oil should be changed every 3000 miles. Dealers and garages love to keep that idea alive. They make money on the changes and whatever else might be wrong. Instead of going by opinions, I suggest you use google for some research. I did but did not keep the large number of links I reviewed. My 2018 Ram CTD had 13500 miles when I returned from my one and only trip at the end of 2018. A year later in the Fall of 2019 I had only driven another 1000 miles. I went to the dealer for a $40 State inspection and had the oil, filter and fuel filters changed. The bill for that was over $700! Never again. A year after that I debated and debated and did my research and decided just to spend the $60 for 3 gallons of synthetic and did the change myself. I am sure it was a total waste of time and money. BTW, I did not bother with the oil filter since it is hard to reach. I did not bother with the fuel filters due to the extremely low mileage. Now another year and 1000 miles have gone by and I am still not quite ready for the next trip. I had to syphon out and replace the DEF but I am going to skip any more maintenance. The big issue with old oil is water. I am very careful and run the truck until hot and then some about once a month. I avoid any short stop and go driving.

I do not know if Kirk and I saw the same research paper, but this CDC paper was definitely not what I saw. Nor does it apply to sanitizing an RV water tank. The paper I remember was specific to RV water tanks. Bottom line was 1/4 cup bleach to 15 gallons with a 1 hour soak.

Household bleach is roughly 6-8% and the typical dilution of 1/4 cup to 15 gallons results in a 1:1000 dilution. So 7 pph becomes 70 ppm. For comparison typical chlorinated drinking water is roughly 4 ppm chlorine. It is true that chlorine bleach will corrode metals including stainless steel and aluminum. The only study I saw was with bleach diluted 10 fold instead of 1000 fold. Corrosion including staining and some pitting was noticeable after a couple of weeks. Chlorine is also hard on many plastics but again high concentrations are needed for long periods of time. Although the concentrations used for sanitizing are very low some precautions are in order. First don't add a lot more bleach thinking that more is better. It is just harder on all of the water supply parts. Second don't overdue soaking times. I have looked and cannot find the original studies but years ago I researched this and found the recommended soak time for sanitizing was 1 hour. The more is better idea seems to have taken over. That somehow turned into several hours or even overnight. Again an hour or two is totally sufficient. The final issue is the frequency of sanitizing. With regular use an RV water system seems to maintain purity indefinitely, certainly for many months. Two factors can change that quickly. The system has to be used and the old water replaced with fairly frequently with new, chlorinated city water. Chlorine will dissipate over a period of a few days or certainly within a couple of weeks. The second issue is removal of chlorine with water filters. IMO, that is a very poor idea but if you google the topic you will find all sorts of positive ideas from the filter manufacturers. The final problem is using untreated well or spring water. Keeping the water flowing helps but with no chlorine contamination and growth of bacteria such as pseudomonas is just a matter of time and luck. Contamination can be hard to detect. Odors can arise for lots of reasons not bacterial growth.

For the first couple of years, when I sanitized the system, I put the tank on bypass. Then one year the hot water just reeked to the point that it did not even feel safe to take a shower. Now I always sanitize the entire HW system including the tank.

My guess is you will have an issue with headlight aiming whether it is SRW or DRW. There is a couple reasons I think that is the case. First campers get heavy quickly. A simple hard sided camper without slides can easily total in at 3000-4000+ pounds. Next modern pickup trucks can carry a lot of weight but they are also built for comfort and a nice ride; i.e., they tend to sag under heavy weights. It does not take much of a drop in the level of the truck to cause an issue with headlight aiming. Timbrens were a good choice for me. They help to keep the truck level, help with the heavy weight and are not engaged at all when the camper is removed. Without the Timbrens, I was blinding oncoming traffic.

Plenty, plenty, plenty of bear issues. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. We do always have 2 cannisters of bear pepper spray by the camper door.

My truck camper dealer was pretty good about this. He told me a 3/4 ton would carry the load but suggested upgrading the suspension with airbags. After that we added a second solar panel, the largest pair of AGM batteries that would fit, a mattress upgrade and lots of gear for full time use. The dealer was correct, for short term use, the 3/4 ton was OK. Unfortunately for our use the tires were overloaded and I had to upgrade wheels and tires. Now I am carrying the same camper with a 1 ton truck and still had to add Timbrens to keep the headlights from pointing too far upwards. I really wish my dealer had spent more time on this issue. I bought the camper before I bought the truck so he would still have made the sale.

I think the problem begins with the manufacturer and then with the dealers. Way too many RVs are cheaply built and the suspension, wheels and tires are poor at best. A new RV buyer is unlikely to realize this. Even here we have experienced RVers tell a newcomer to make it work.

I have had to replace 2 detectors. The first lasted about 7 years. Then second only lasted a couple of years. I did not get chirping. I had full bore false alarms. The first occurred in the middle of the night. I can attest that you will wake up when it goes off!

I don't think common sense helps much when it comes to loading an RV and driving it safely. In fact the opposite is true. Most of us would believe that an RV would be built when enough to handle the weight of stuff we would likely want to use with it. Instead I suspect a high percentage of RVs on the road are overloaded. I know I had a shock the first time I weighed my rig loaded up and ready for a trip.

Sadly your 700# cargo capacity tells the story. A slightly beefier suspension or a second axle or 15" wheels and tires instead of 14" would have solved the issue and for slightly more cost you could have had two or three times the cargo capacity with the same basic design. Next I would check the brand of tires. If they are cheap Chinese "bombs", I would replace them even if they are new. And, always, always be sure they are properly inflated. Buy the best rated tires and plan on replacing them every 4-5 years regardless of wear. Short of selling the unit, I would consider getting a suitable tow vehicle with a lot of storage and cargo capacity. A crew cab 3/4 or 1 ton p/u truck should do nicely. Pickups typically have strong resale value and especially those with a crew cab. Landscapers and construction guys like them because they can carry a crew and plenty of gear. You won't need to switch from wet and canned goods to freeze dried meals if you can carry heavy stuff in the truck. I think you mentioned bikes. I am not sure how many but bikes for 5 does not seem doable with your rig.

It is not the size of the trailer that is the issue. Sadly many manufacturers skimp on the axles, wheels, and tires. I think it is all but criminal. Many new RVers just don't realize how quickly the weight adds up.

OK, yours was built well but the engineering was poor. As you found out a few hundred pounds of cargo capacity doesn't cut it for all the food, bedding, cooking gear and stuff needed for comfortable RV travel. Anyway it appears to be another pointless discussion. The OP has not returned and surely does not want to hear the details.