trailertraveler

5 hours ago, agesilaus said:

Hopefully they aren't going to be the KOA standard $55 and up per night

I do not believe that KOA sets the price for their franchise campgrounds. KOA campground prices do however have to cover the franchise fees as well as other costs of operation in order for the campground to be profitable. This past year we stayed at a couple of KOAs that were less than $50.00.  That said they were still at the higher end of the price point for their local area. If Love's fuel prices are any indication, I would not expect their campground fees to be on the low side for their local area.

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

The national parks have long had major budget problems and it doesn't look like it will improve very soon.

It appears the recently passed Infrastructure Bill may provide some help for the parks. The Great American Outdoors Act passed in July of 2020 allocated funding for about half of the Park Service deferred maintainence backlog. Projects using that funding are likely just starting or still in the planning stages.

26 minutes ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Have watched several YouTubes on both hitches.  Looks like the Hensley Arrow may be a bit easier to adjust in 3 dimensions by adjusting the bars.  Am I correct?

The spring bars and thus the alignment of the receiver box of the Hensley are easily adjusted using the screw jacks. I use an electric drill. If you adjust the screw jacks before letting the tongue down, you can use an electric drill to set the spring bar tension to the desired tension. The marks on the screw jack casing make this easy. When unhooking, if you raise the tongue until the screw jacks turn easily by hand, they can be loosened the rest of the way with the drill. That is also usually the position where the stinger can be easily pulled from the receiver hitch.

No real life experience with the ProPride. In fact, I can not recall ever seeing one in use and I tend to look at hitches as I walk the dog through campgrounds where we are staying. Of course the orange Hensley kind of jumps out at you even if you are not looking for it. Neither seem to be very common. The most Hensleys I have ever seen in one campground is four (including mine). Most folks have no idea what it is and even many RV techs and service centers have no idea how to hook one up. Without a stinger, hooking up is impossible. So, I consider that as a theft deterrent.

21 hours ago, trailertraveler said:

The drawbar (stinger) and the receiver box of the hitch must be on the same plane.

This applies to both the vertical and horizontal. Much deviation and the stinger will bind on one of the sides or the top or bottom of the hitch receiver before getting far enough in to engage the locking latches.

I too have had one shot hookups and others where multiple attempts were required. DW is pretty good at setting the height and angle of the hitch box.

There is a learning curve to putting a square peg in a square hole compared to backing a ball under the hitch. The drawbar (stinger) and the receiver box of the hitch must be on the same plane. This can take adjustments while hitching as the tow vehicle is moved back.

Unlike most weight distribution and sway control hitches, the components do not have to be disassembled to unhook. The sway control and weight distribution is permanently mounted on the trailer frame. The drawbar (stinger) can remain on the tow vehicle or be removed by simply pulling the pin that holds it in the tow vehicle receiver. 

Having been a member of this forum for several years, it is my impression that there are not that many regularly contributing members that own travel trailers. In the past, there have been lengthy discussions regarding the Hensley and ProPride hitches on the Good Sam forum and others. Searching them may provide useful information. In the past couple of years, I have noticed several airstreams with Hensleys so a search of the airstream forum may yield results.

2 hours ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Have been looking for second trailer to pull with my Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel short bed for my kids to use or DW and I to use for shorter trips.

Some things to consider. A 5th wheel puts 20-25% of its weight on the truck. A travel trailer should put 12-15% on the hitch. The relationship between the wheelbase of the tow vehicle and the length of the trailer is more important to stability when towing a travel trailer. (read this article).

From 2007 to 2018 we towed a 30', 32' and 34' travel trailer (GVWRs 7500-10000#) with a Chevy diesel 2500 long bed crewcab and now tow with a 3500 single rear axel long bed crewcab. The switch to the 3500 was based on cost and extra load capacity. We have towed all three trailers using the same Hensley hitch. There are no sway bars or springs to remove to unhitch. I do remove the draw bar from the receiver or the truck because it does protrude beyond the bumper. While I try hard to avoid high wind situations. We have travelled across the plains states with cross winds up to 40MPH without any sway. No sway from opposing trucks doing 60-65MPH either. The downside of the Hensley and similar ProPride hitches is the initial cost. The only issue i have had with the Hensley was that one of the jacks that tensions the weight distribution springs broke after about 10 years of service. Hensley replaced it for the cost of shipping.

We have driven US-380 a number of times an found it a pleasant drive. Truck and trailer 58' long. The Valley of Fires BLM area in Carrizozo is an interesting place and the campground has some electric and water sites. Bottomless Lakes State Park just East of Roswell is also a nice campground. From Carrizozo going East, US-54 to Santa Rosa or US-70 will get you back to I-40.

If you want to get to I-40 East from Santa Fe, NM-14 (the Turquoise Trail) or US-285 will take you to I-40 missing Albuquerque. NM-14 is a typical NM state highway and goes through the Historic Town of Madrid where the movie "Wild Hogs" was filmed.

Getting to I-40 West from Taos or Santa Fe while avoiding Albuquerque is much more involved and may take you a long way out of you way. Unless you actually want to go through Northwestern NM and Northeast Arizona to pickup I-40 around Flagstaff. 

Several ears ago, I got a POI list of big rig campgrounds that I think was put out by the Escapees HDT group. Can not find a link to it now, but it lists seven  big rig friendly parks within 40 miles of Savanah. Three that I am familiar with are Skid Away Island State Park, The Oaks at Point South and Whispering Pines.  There is also Fort McCallister State Park (don't think it has sewer), Hardeeville RV, Savanah KOA South, Point South KOA and several others within 40 miles of Savannah. There are famcamps at Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart.

Sapelo Island and Cumberland Island are interesting natural areas. There is a Wildlife Education Center run by the Savannah School District that we really enjoyed.  Not sure if Okefenokee is more than two hours away or not.

If the spare is over 6-7 years old, I replace it with one of the four year old tires that I am removing from service on the trailer. I have had factory supplied spares develop side wall cracks when never placed on a wheel for even a short time.

Interesting article, but not sure how practical rebalancing and rotating trailer tires every 3000 miles is. Rebalancing requires visiting a tire shop. Cross rotating the tires as described in the article requires having all four tires off the ground at once (how many shops have the equipment to do this?) or putting the spare on one wheel and moving the jack to the other side of the trailer so that the tires could be cross rotated from side to side. In a typical cross country round trip, I would have to stop at least once to to rebalance and rotate tires.

I have routinely had the tires on my cars and trucks rotated, but can not recall ever having had a recommendation to rebalance them at each rotation.  Given that the recommendation to replace trailer tires every 3-5 years is pretty standard how important is increasing tread mileage life? Absent other problems, I have typically put 15,000-20,000 miles on trailer tires with no issues before replacing them at 4 years of age.

I have linked to this article a number of times in the past. How Long? 

Quote

The First Guideline
(This guideline was first used by the RV Consumers Group rv.org)

For the first 110" of wheelbase, this allows you 20' of trailer.

For each additional 4" of wheelbase, this gets you 1' more of trailer.

Wheelbase / Trailer length
110" = 20'
114" = 21'
118" = 22'
and so on

Note the reference to the RV Consumers Group.

LT tires of the same size as ST tires often have lower maximum weight ratings. An LT tire with the same weight rating as your current ST tires may be larger in diameter or wider or both. Check the weight ratings of LT tires and the dimensions. Then check to make sure there is enough room between tires if it is a dual axle trailer and in the wheel wells, both height and width. One of the big complaints about ST tires is that they are speed rated at 65 MPH. The Goodyear Endurance and Carlisle Radial Trail HD are both speed rated at 87-89 MPH.  I believe they are both made in the US. I have had both in ST225-75R/15 Load Range E and gotten good service from both. The Goodyear Endurance is a relatively newer product and there have been some reports of cracking in tires over four years old. It is my understanding that the Goodyear Endurance is currently hard to get and that production is scheduled to resume in February.

Hydro power plants have been on the Environmentalists' hit list for a long time. I believe more are being removed in the name of fisheries restoration than constructed. There is  currently a proposal to remove the dams and hydroelectric plants on the Columbia River to restore salmon populations. If accomplished, this will greatly affect the power grid in the Northwest.  Wind and solar also have environmental impacts such as bird mortality, fisheries and marine mammal disturbance and habitat damage that are only now beginning to be discussed in any detail.

20 hours ago, gypsydan said:

It is mid-afternoon in the old west of Alamogordo, NM, and I am parked in a large parking lot...

As a boondocker, some questions which come up are:

1. Would you change parking locations?  Maybe even leave town?
2. Do I need to consider traveling and parking in a different manner?

I guess it is semantics, but I do not consider staying  in a parking lot boondocking. Staying in an unattended lot in an urban area would, to me, seem to present far greater risks than staying in the actual boondocks. Even more secure locations like Walmart and Lowes make the news with some frequency these days although the incidents rarely involve RVers. I believe, there is both BLM and Forest Service land open to dispersed camping in the Alamogordo area. The Free Campsites Website lists some of them. Contact an agency office or search online. For the National Forests get the Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) to locate dispersed camping areas. I know of at least one Harvest Host location in Tularosa. Also checkout Boondockers Welcome.

7 hours ago, rynosback said:

I got the email a couple of days ago and my GO AC will not update. I have Firmware Phantom 7.0.8

I do not think the Go's will update beyond the 7.0.8 firmware. I have two Go's and both are running the 7.0.8 and show no updates available when I have checked for updates.

My Spruce had updated to the 7.0.9 firmware a few weeks before this latest release and my current problem.

The standard 7 pin trailer wiring harness does include a wire for connection of the tow vehicle battery to the trailer battery. Whether that wire in the wiring harness is connected by the tow vehicle manufacturer has varied by year and manufacture. Whether there is power to the trailer all the time or only when the engine is running or the key is in the accessary on position may also vary. For example, my 2004 Chevy Silverado came from the factory without the hot wire connected and no fuse in the slot for the connection. If I remember correctly, there was only power when the engine was running or accessories on. My 2018 Silverado came with the hot wire connected and hot all the time. This means that the truck batteries can provide power to the trailer all the time, but also means that leaving the trailer connected can draw down the truck batteries over time.

If you have a test light or volt meter, it is easy to test whether and when there is power to the trailer. Connect the light or meter to the hot terminal and the ground at the trailer plug in.  Which terminal is which may be shown on the cover of the 7 pin connector on the vehicle.

4 hours ago, docj said:

With all due respect that's not the Spruce's ID number.  You're probably reading a number off of the plastic case, but the actual Ranger ID is displayed in the upper right corner of every page of the Ranger's control panel.  The last four digits of this number are the numbers you use when accessing the Ranger's control panel.

The instructions on the Service Ticket Request Form say the ID number could be found on the sticker on the router. There is only one sticker on my Spruce. Since I can not access the Control Panel, telling me the ID number is on the control panel is not of any help. The Service Request Form wants 6 numbers so having only four of them would not satisfy the mandatory field requirement. Thanks for your comments.

1 hour ago, docj said:

In any case, please open a ticket with WiFiRanger customer support so we can help you get back online.  Be sure to include the Spruce's 6-digit ID number.

 I do not have a roof top Ranger. I was using a tethered cellphone connection that tested 20+MBS. I opened a ticket, however the ID on my Spruce is not six digits it is 3 letters, 2 numbers and a letter (RBD52G). The website would not accept that ID so I had to make up a number in order to get the ticket to generate. I tried the 4 reboot (9:30 minute) reboot method with no luck in being able to get the Spruce to come to life.

I got an email from WIfI Ranger that there was a firmware update, My Spruce had been running for several days and stated update available. I cllcked on the update bar. The download started and stopped at 5%. The control panel said Cloud not available try again. I could not get back to the control panel. My computer says unidentified network or identifying and the notice keeps appearing and disappearing as if the router is going on and off. I tried resetting to defaults with no effect. The spruce seems to bbe bricked. 

Welcome to the Escapes Forum!!!       

On 9/16/2021 at 7:14 AM, Cafetom said:

I can not keep up with my home, both payments and care

By this do you mean you can not keep up with the care of your home  financially or physically? As mentioned RVs can require a considerable amount of maintenance and repair. In my experience, service and repair of an RV is on a a par with or more expensive than home or automotive repair or service. With limited space, access to the item needing repair can be limited and difficult. Some systems and appliances like the propane (gas absorption) refrigerators are very different from the usual home appliances. Based on experience with recent repair needs, RV service centers and mobile repair technicians seem to be very busy right now and wait times for service can be considerable. Parts availability is also an issue with both low inventories and slow delivery times contributing to the problem.

It was mentioned that RVs are currently in high demand. As we have traveled from Florida to the mid-Atlantic and West to New Mexico this year, we have observed both nearly empty dealerships and some very large dealers with lots full of RVs so where you are located or intend to shop may affect what is available to you.

You said you were looking at motorhomes, but did not mention whether you were considering a second means of transportation for local travel once at your destination(s). Do you currently have a vehicle that you plan to tow or trailer? This will require some research and add some expense for initial setup.

Again, Welcome to the Escapees Forum!! and good luck with your search for the right RV for you.

15 hours ago, bobsallyh said:

The control box is in the storage bay and has one of the in/out switches on it. The box also contains a switch to turn on or off the wind sensor. 

Thanks for the explanation! My unit does not have a remote or wind or rain sensors, therefore no control box just one in/out switch.

On 9/9/2021 at 11:08 AM, bobsallyh said:

I never had a problem YET with the 9200. But mine has two in/out switches. One on the control box in bay storage area and another inside the fiver. Might be worth checking for a second switch.

You are lucky. Apparently, there have been so many problems with the 9200 that Dometic discontinued it and replacement parts are difficult or impossible to get. I have not found a second switch and am not sure what you are referring to as a "control box". The wires that feed the switch seem to run from the fuse panel to the switch and from the switch to the motor.

The old motor will only run in one direction even when connected directly to a 12v source so it is bad. A new motor ran in both directions connected to a 12v source, but only in the out direction when connected to the switch. The pigtail running to the motor tested 13.4v with opposite polarity when the switch was pressed in or out.

14 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

 Replaced control box and all is fine. 

Where is the control box located? Is it in the In/out switch?

The Dometic awning (a model 9200 I believe) will power out but not in even when connected directly to a 12 volt source. The switch has four wires. When a volt meter is connected to the two wire pigtail feeding the motor it reads 13.4 volts (trailer plugged into 120 AC) or -13.4 volts when the in or out direction of the switch is activated. Reversing the leads of the volt meter produces the same results but with reversed readings for the appropriate switch setting. This test was repeated numerous times always with the same results. When tested hot to ground (RV frame) both in and out test 13.4 volts. Here is my problem, a new motor works in both directions when connected directly to a 12 volt source, but will only work in the out direction when connected to the power wires from the in/out switch. Any ideas, comments, etc. would be greatly appreciated.