Jack Mayer

This is not a simple topic. Asking broad general questions will likely not elicit the help you need. Look for some background educational material. My website has some - but then goes into more complex nuances of solar and electrical. I'd recommend skipping that part. But the basics are there and it "should" help you to know what to look for. It is a START....not the end of education. The alternative to doing it yourself is to take it to someone...but it is best if you understand the basics....because there are not many good installers out there. More than in the past, but it is still not a "commodity" that "anyone" can handle well. Look in my signature line for the link to our personal website.

Happy to help, Vern.

You could put a smart on a ramp sideways. at about 27" lift on one end it fits into the allowable legal limit (maybe a little less). It greatly complicates things though and seems unnecessary.

Yes, it is fixed. I registered without any issue.

Kirk, in your situation a wireless may work fine. It is a very short distance, and if ther is not a lot of metal then it should be "sufficient". We install these routinely and use the RVS products, and before forming our company I have installed probably 30 systems on RVs of various kinds. Both wired and wireless. In general, the wireless is not something I'd use, but for very short distances it is OK. I don't personally prefer the Voyager systems, although we work with them a LOT, since they are placed on many RVs. There are many better systems available for the same or less money.

I doubt I'll do another Rally - I was the technical advisor, but the guys did their own work. Jim Gell was the actual "host". We did it in Mayo because John Palmer was there and for those that did not want to do all of the actual work themselves, John did it. For example, the complexity of adding a subpanel. We do solar work in our shop, although we have yet to advertise it. I cannot really discuss it here, since it is commercial. But you can contact me if you wish.

As you found out, it is always a pair, and the single is 1/2 the price. In general, their discounts no longer apply to ramps (there may be some minor exceptions). We use the smart ramps that are 1' wide. They are far easier to handle and are rated higher. They are plenty wide enough if you are just doing a car. For a bike the wider ones might be better.

On a very short rig, wireless may work if there is not a lot of metal between the camera and receiver for the monitor. But in "general" we don't install or recommend wireless since they still are not reliable for any but the shortest rigs. I've tested a lot of them over the years, but none in the last year.

It may not be applicable to your business situation, but like Carlos said, having an EIN and an "official" business (via an LLC or other means) does make a BIG difference in your relationship with other businesses that you may want to have a relationship with. Many will likely not give you vendor accounts, or give you wholesale pricing without it. For a pure tax business that may not matter, though.

Please contact me off of Escapees forum. I cannot do commercial activities here.

Nice paint job.

Chocks provide a convenient mounting point for the tiedowns/straps, and provide extra redundancy to inhibit motion. If you lose a strap and have a chock wedged in properly then you have less of a potential problem. That is one reason we build our chocks with slots in them....so they can be pushed up tightly against the tire. The car is NEVER in the same place twice when loaded, so some adjustability is helpful.

I used the paid cloud service like Carbonite for several years. Now I just use the "free" Google cloud. That works for me. I cannot find any real advantage that the paid services give me that is not achievable on Google (or Microsoft) free services. No, I do not put drive images (of the OS) on those services, but I do keep images on external disc drives that are stored in multiple locations, so I can restore my drives. I use virtually nothing locally now. Just a few things like video editing. It would be possible for me to go totally cloud I think since none of my data files (other than just-shot video) are local....they are all cloud-based.

I've been running mirrored Raid storage for at least ten years in my 5th wheel I've had no issues at all with it. Not one. So I think it is reasonably reliable. I do weekly backups of anything major to USB-based memory. I rotate those and store them in my truck. NAS is in the trailer. I also use offsite storage, and these days I'm almost 100% Cloud-based, so the NAS is not getting much work. I'm about to take it down. I've been running Cloud-based for about three years now. I rarely find it an issue. But you do need good comm gear. With our business, we run it 100% cloud except video production/editing. You can say that is good or bad. I have mixed feelings. But it sure does seem to work well.

HERE is a link to an album on the chocks and straps. We buy the straps from Customtiedowns.com. There are many ways to tie down vehicles. If you have enough room and can access things easily enough then crossing the tie-downs is very good. On most truck decks with a smart that is challenging to do, hower (for most people). Within reason - the best tiedown method has to be easy to get right and easy to maintain. Or else people do not do it accurately. Most methods also require you to re-tighten them after moving some. So you better check them. Al's method above is very good if you have the space. And over-the-wheel is also very good, but harder to get correct and harder to put on. In all cases with four chocks AND four tiedowns your are pretty secure.

We now use through the wheel straps exclusively. For MOST people they are way easier to use. And an easier strap to use is one that is going to be better tied down. We were NEVER happy with baskets - they always were a pain to use, required more deck intrusions (D rings at the back) and never ever tightened down as well as simple through the wheel straps. Over the wheel straps are also a better choice than nets. In OUR opinion. But they have the same downfalls as the nets. We have 10's of thousands of miles on the through wheel straps - probably hundreds of thousands, collectively. I've never seen a damaged wheel....we use the sleeves on the straps. You do have to go higher or lower IF the valve stem is in the way, but it has never been an issue. You could argue that an over-wheel strap is better because of the two tie-down points. But I can argue equally as well for the through the wheel. The key for most people is that ease of use means better chance of properly securing the car.

One thing to note. No matter what electronic solution you use, it is not going to be perfect. Even the Co-pilot that I use is not perfect, and it is by far the best dedicated gps application I've used. SO we use multiple devices. Typically we run the CoPilot on the android tablet, then run Google Maps on my phone, which sits next to it. Danielle runs Google maps as well (cause she likes it) and uses a paper map. We also have a Garmin 760 RV model that we rarely use, mainly because it is a pain in the butt to program for a multi-stop trip. That is just what we do...it may not work for anyone else.

I also use Co Pilot on an Android tablet The tablet is useful for many other things as well.

Glenn, Good update. Question - some of the people that have LG mini-splits in their RVs are complaining about the humidity. It is simply not properly dehumidifying. Some are saying this is "normal". WHich IMO it is not. My Mitsubishi properly dehumidifies. And I assume your Pioneer does. Can you confirm that, and comment on any other "funny things" you have seen in use?

We use the Warn VRX 45 with synthetic line. We used the 4000 before that. The 4000 has some issues - not reliable in our experience. We had several burn out on us. The 4500 is much better, IMO and costs about the same. The link is just for convenience - you can find them cheaper. I've used lighter winches, and I've also done the math. Don't do it - my opinion. They will not last. Again, just my experience. There are other brands out there cheaper than Warn, so don't assume that is the only choice. But you DO WANT synthetic line. Do not use steel cable. It is somewhat dangerous, and you will regret it. Again, my opinion based on significant experience. There is no problem driving up if you do it correctly. But you have to do it right or you will impact the clutch. If you want a second pull point on the back, we can weld one in.....

We are dealers for Rear View Safety and use their products exclusively. You can look them up. These are commercial grade products...not cheap eBay-style products. (We do not sell retail, so people needn't bother telling me I'm violating posting rules). 😊

We install DVR recording systems int the trucks we build. They record continuously in all directions, up to 17 channels. Typical is a 8 channel. That is forward facing, each side, rear facing at the hitch, rear-facing on top of the drom box at about 10' off the ground (this gives you a great "backup view"), three on the trailer being towed (sides and rear). These will cover Linda's T bone situation. Of course, these cameras are available for viewing n the 9" monitor at any time, individually, or in any combination of channels. While you may not find them of value, many people do. They also act as security cameras, and you can view them on your phone, if you wet that option up. There is a reason why commercial vehicles use these - there are many, MANY individuals that try to hold companies and individuals "hostage" by claiming accidents, or causing accidents. The more valuable your equipment seems, the more likely you are to be targeted. I personally know of at least 8 people like Glenn West that have been in situations where the camera would have resolved it in their favor. I'm not suggesting that everyone needs 8 cameras, but dash cameras are relatively inexpensive these days.

You don't have to use cat5. Look at security wire. That actually is a little heavier and can be used for multiple things. Or, take the easy route and buy the CabCam switch.

RVS and other providers have quad monitors that handle 4 inputs. They also have DVR-based systems that handle 9 or more channels of input and then display those on a monitor, using the DVR remote to switch between views. Let's ignore the DVR system and go back to the quad system. With that, if you wish more than four views you have to use a switch that accepts the additional inputs and outputs onto one of the available channels on the monitor. So you get a 4-way switch and you can send a total of seven images to the monitor - four from the switch and three from the remaining channels on the monitor. Cabcam sells a reasonable switch, as do others. Or you could build your own and support even more channels of input. In the past, I've used Cat 5 cable to run cameras to the switch and switched as many as 6 channels off that. With a rotary switch; all of which I custom built. Just depends on how complicated you want to be.

Yeah probably was us. We worked there and tended to hang out in Moab. We got our first Volvo in 2003. Double towed a Jeep for over 8 years - thus the "Moab Lifestyle".