Randyretired

Price?

In the Rocky Mountains because of elevation non turboed engines lose power. However a turbo diesel retains most of its power at elevation and you will have access to most of that 330 hp. Many years ago a friend called asking the same question you are and he was comparing hp ratings compared to his gas MH. To shorten the story he purchased a 40' MH with the 330 hp diesel and was thrilled that it would climb mountains as well as it did. It wasn't fast but it did okay. 400 hp would be faster and pass better but at least he was happy. I would be equally concerned with the layout as most spend more time living in it than driving. If you are towing a heavy toad or whatever that might also influence your decision.

I have never had a problem with sewer flies either. However any house built to code has sewer vents and insects can access the sewer lines and septic tanks through the vents. It is not a sealed system. RV's also have vents into each waste tank so insects or ? can access those tanks as well.

We have signage that simply states Private RV. I don't expect it to make our truck more legal in some way but it has helped in different ways. One time entering a state park the volunteer at the gate said he noticed the sign. He said they don't want commercial truckers. Many times there are LEO,s that aren't familiar with what we are doing and think we need a CDL. The sign is the first clue they see that this is not an average commercial truck and there may be some different rules. Our plates have the letters RT for recreational truck but they don't usually know that unless they read the registration. Of course if they were to stop us I also have the reg's. One time in AZ when we filled up at the commercial pumps the attendant saw the sign and discounted the extra diesel tax.

JRP information is very close to what I would recommend. We have property in a couple of states setup for our RV. 21 years ago we bought our first property and we have used it a lot. We were just hoping it would sell for what we had in it when we bought it. Today it is worth more than 3 times that. Property taxes have held pretty equal to one month at an RV park. We haven't been in an RV park in years but we also have a home. We use our RV about 9 months a year. I do a lot of the maintenance and repair on our HDT, 5er and car. No problems there. We have a shed on the properties with a washer and dryer and storage. Depending on where you want to stay there are some inexpensive places or if you prefer some pretty nice places. We had a dog so we fenced our properties. We would do it again in a minute. We kept the prices on the lower end so that we didn't feel we had to use the properties. We boondock when we are not at the properties. Parks are not our thing. If you know about where you would like to be someone may be able to recommend an area. Here in Western Colorado some counties allow it, some make it difficult and some don't allow it. Prices are all over the place depending on what and where.

We also found using tin foil on some of the windows helped a lot. Especially west facing windows.

We also have a mini split and it works great. However if you need something quick and have enough power available a simple window AC can fill in enough to get by. We did that years ago when we stayed in AZ one summer. We just used a pole to help support it. Quick and dirty but we stayed comfortable.

We have bought new and used over the years. The one new 5er had some problems, mostly minor and were repaired under warranty. Most of the used RV's had minor problems that I repaired. The new RV's cost more and when sold more was lost. The only way I would buy new again is if I was sure we would keep it for years and we weren't able to find a quality used one for a reasonable price. I can usually do my own repairs so that is part of my logic.

It would suprise me if health care, emergency response and essential workers would leave any for the elderly and so forth. The essential workers, those still working make up a large number of people. I believe more than 1/2 of the country is still working. Then there is talk of each person requiring 2 doses. There is a lot to figure out here but I think seniors will be more latter than sooner. We can stay home while the rest of the country gets back to work.

Will there be a vaccine??? If so will there be enough vaccines for seniors to get it? Will our bodies be able to produce enough antibodies? How effective will it be and how long will it last? Finally what are the side effects? If and when we can answer these questions many of us will have a clue of what is in store. In the mean time we are looking for some good N95 masks and staying home as much as possible.

Looking at the timelines it seems he was infected in March. If that is right that is well before masks were recommended.

We don't have a Jeep but we carry a Subaru. We have a short 42" sleeper and we carry the car at an angle with the front of the car up high enough we load a small RZR across the deck under it. Carring a Jeep at an angle shortens the space needed and length can get long when carrying a car length wise. Many HDT's set up to carry a car length wise can exceed 30 to 40 feet. Shorter is better. Do to weight most HDT's carrying a Jeep need to stay tandem and the frames need to be lengthened. Our is tandem and carrying our Subaru fits our needs. Frame extension should be approached with caution to keep axle weights within acceptable limits.

X2. I am not an authority but I have been told that anytime an agreement to pay is made it is commercial. No matter the amount. Since RV's can exceed weights requiring special licenses and such that could be a problem? Our insurance also prohibits anything commercial.

Here in Western Colorado masks were not worn in a lot of places and even less in the rural areas outside the city. However, the govenor has made masks mandatory now so we will see. Covid has not been wide spread here and there are 0 deaths attributed to it here but cases are on the rise. A large percentage of the new cases have been traced to visitors and locals traveling. The local sheriff isn't likely to enforce the mask mandate.

It would seem that if any condition could warrant a challenge trial covid would. The sooner this virus can be controlled the more lives saved, more misery averted and a chance for people to get back to work. For far to many this has been and probably will continue to be a major tragedy that will shape lives from now on and destroy many. As the death toll climbs we pray for relief.

Trials of any kind have risk but without these trials medicine advancements would grind to a halt. Reasonable measures are needed to make any trial as safe as possible and past trials have demonstrated reasonable safety. There are also risks of complications from extended vaccine use and people not protected that needs to be considered here. As I said before one would need to consider the details before a challenge trial or any trial for that matter goes forward. As has been pointed out at my age I won't be part of the trial but basically I think a challenge trial makes sense in this case.

I have some panels that go over the rear skylight on our Teton, like the one I think you removed. I also have some more panels raised to clear drain vents. Still there. I doubt the wind will cause a noticeable difference in the wind. The sides already catch a lot more wind than the panels will. With the front panels angled down the wind will ride up and over the panels when driving. I have a panel that the leading edge is attached to the front cap but it is only about 3/4" high in the front and a few inches back from the leading edge. I believe the wind goes over that. If you have ever held your hand out of the window in a moving car it is easy to hold it flat but when you turn it broadside it catches the wnd. Why wouldn't panels react the same. There are a number of people that use just glue to hold panels down to the roof membrane which is glued to the underside. Many of these have held. You can use a lag bolts to screw into the roof underlayment and structure on the Teton and it should hold fast.

If it is black plastic glue will stick to it. If it is white it can be welded with a plastic welder.

There are 2 sides to this. One of course is the danger trial participants face but the other is the deaths and suffering of covid. The woman on 60 minutes made it clear she is doing it to try and stop the covid suffering and save lives. She said she was willing to risk everything so she may be able to save many. There are many variables that go into these trials and I think I would need to hear specifics before I could form an opinion. There maybe some future heroes and I pray for their health and thank them for their courage. I think it is also to early to try and segment and prejudge these volunteers by income or any other criteria.

Challenge tests as these intentional exposure test are called are being debated by a number of researchers. From what I have read it is still being debated and in some instances researchers are preparing for it as the 60 minutes news clips suggests. In one case they already have thousands of volunteers. Certainly there are some ethical issues and the US may not be involved but it seems to be to early to rule these challenge trials out.

There was an interview on 60 minutes with a woman that will be intentionally infected with covid after receiving a vaccine. She said she is risking herself to save lives. She is in her 20's as I recall.

I have seen some pretty innovative setups on you tube using solar to power mini splits. In one case solar panels were stored in a way that these were extended out beyond the roof to allow for more solar panels. This solar with a good battery system could be a good start. However, we know there will be times the sun doesn't shine so a backup generator with auto start could be used. With a high efficiency mini split the power required is greatly reduced. For our RV we have installed a mini split and we love it. It is a 12,000 btu unit that uses about 450 watts and it keeps our 39' Teton comfortable. Our comfort is 74 degrees and it has maintained that in temps into the lower 90's so far. It doesn't get any warmer than that here so I don't know how it would perform in temps above that. I suspect temps near 100 would not be comfortable without a larger or multiple units. In our case we don't have enough battery capacity to cool after the sun goes down but where we are at the temps cool very quickly when the sun goes down. With a large solar array, a robust battery system and a generator backup system I am sure what you want is possible but pricey. As far as insulation our Teton is better than average but a long ways from really good. It also has numerous air leaks. A better insulated air tight unit would be a lot easier to cool. A smaller unit with good insulation and air tight with a small generator running a mini split would be the least expensive setup. I am not familiar with any reasonably priced RV's that have really good insulation and are air tight so you may have to build it or have it built. With a little innovation it seems like an extended run tank setup should be possible to keep the generator running. Since any system is subject to failure you might need to consider that if you are not around to watch it. A window AC or RV AC could be used instead of a mini split but these units will require a lot more power and the surge at startup will need to be considered.

We are usually on private land but we leave the grey water open except a couple of times a month I will close it for a couple of days to help keep the tank bottom washed. Where we are at now it is very dry and private land so we just let the grey go onto the ground.

In the small town near where we are few if any are wearing masks. In fact they look at you with suspicion if you are wearing a mask. When I last visited Walmart in Grand Junction, CO most were not wearing masks outside of the employees. There are only a few cases here and 0 deaths but it IS here and it may become a problem.

Since low risk doesn't mean no risk we have decided to obstain from all but the most necessary activities.