rdickinson

I recall the name of the crash, can't remember specifics. That would be Sask specific. Good luck with it.

Dan, This from personal experience. if the truck comes from the US, it can't have ANY modifications. It has to conform to Canadian standards and most do. That info is on the door post. Pay taxes at the border and then the truck has to go thru 2 inspections, 1 federal and one provincial. The Federal is quick, basically to make sure all the numbers are correct. The Provincial goes thru the truck Mechanically, ie tires have to have at least 50% tread. After that, in AB or BC it got registered as a 'truck', not a motorhome. My truck is a Volvo 730, the prior truck was an IH 470, DT 530 with an Allison. With my 22k lb trailer, it was painful going up a hill plus it had hydraulic brakes and an exhaust brake only. The truck cab was old tech, noisy, wind noise from the mirrors was loud and the noise from under the floor was significant. I tried everything to fix this but it didn't work. Re licensing, not sure about Sask but in AB all that is needed is a class 5 plus an air endorsement, here in BC because the whole rig is over 8600 kg's and the truck is air and the trailer is electric brakes a class 1 is required. Can't help you re the dogs but others here may. Annual inspections, yes, 160$, log books and weigh scales no to both. Getting a CDL isn't the worst thing in the world, it makes you a better educated driver, hence safer if you practice what you have been taught.

"I have a total if 6 bolts, utilize factory holes and mounting points." Well, at least someone believes me..

I looked at those a dozen years ago and scrapped the idea. The loader beams add at least 8" in ht, so add that to your truck deck ht. I bought one when getting into this, it was a custom made trike loader cost me 1k$. Herrin didn't like the idea so he bought it from me and destroyed it and made the deck as it is now. Depending on what front end you have it may come close to overloading the front axle 'cus that thing was heavy.

This trip came up fast with only a week to make arrangements so I flew down to Birmingham and rented a car so no rig with 4 extinguishers. Normally I'd head south in December in the RV The rentals don't have extinguishers so I used what was at hand until the wrecker showed up and pitched me a 5 pounder. I hit the flames with the ABC and he stomped out the embers. Cops were glad there was no wind to push the fire into the trees or we would have been in a lot of trouble. This is the 4th fire I've come across and wouldn't mind having something better to fight them, Forestry backpack with foam??? I tried to edit my previous comment but the system wouldn't let me.

OK, here goes. I'm sitting in a hotel room getting ready to fly back to Victoria Saturday. With time to spare, I'll post this. When I get back to YYJ, I'll take pics of the method I use to attach the ramps to the deck but in the meantime here is an explanation..probably poorly worded as I'm on my second Dr Pepper, still have half a sack left. I'll also post pics of the trailer hitch on the car and post all the mounting info. Internet here is not the best. Re the ramp attachment to the deck, the old way was to use 2- 3/4 bolts on each ramp down thru the deck. The holes were drilled and tapped after ramps were checked for being parallel. After that, there is no need to measure at the dirt end. This worked until a helper cross threaded 3 bolts then they had to be re drilled and helicoils put in. Bolts needed to be kept lubed...generally a huge PITA plus it gobbled up time. So the new method does not require bolts. On the foot of the ramps that sits on top of the deck, I fastened a piece of stainless angle iron running crossways. It was bolted under the foot that sits on the deck. This was similar size to the angle iron dropped into the hinge of the ramps to reduce the breakover angle. 1/8" thick by 1.25" ish wide by 12" long. On the outside of the truck sides at deck level, we made up a slotted track to drop the angle iron into but still keeping some of the foot of the ramp on top of the deck. This slotted track was made out of1/4" stainless with 1/2" spacers to stand it off the side of the truck. This allows the angle iron to drop into the slot and still have foot support on top of the deck. Because we are not always able to load on a flat and even surface I needed to make sure the ramps wouldn't jump out of the slots so a 5/16" hole was drilled from outside thru the stainless track slot strap, thru the angle iron and thru the truck side. Then I put one of those pins thru the ball in the end thru the whole works. There is some lateral slop or movement at the bottom of the ramps but al l I do is swing the dirt end of the ramps all the way left then al the way right and drop it on the ground in the middle. I'll post some pics Sunday when I get home. This method is a huge improvement over bolting the ramps to the deck and saves time.

I should have taken pics, we had pallets of the stuff. We slosh when we walk.

No, really, that plus Coke, Gatorade and water all donated by Coke in Epiloka on a tornado rebuild project. I flew to Birmingham rented a car, drove to Epiloka, did a week there then down to Panama City and Destin then on to Mandeville on a Habitat project. There must have been a dozen HDT's drive by, all with extinguishers but none stopped to help. Had there been a crosswind, it would have gone into the trees. The rig has 4 ABC's... I'll look you up on my next trip, it may be Galveston at Xmas...not sure.

In a rental car....really?? You assumed I was in the truck. You know what happens when you assume something.

Yes I know about the hand brake, I forgot to make reference. Winching is safer for me. I'd rather not wind up on Utubes epic failures. Dennis, there is only one towing eye externally but after digging in a couple of layers there is solid material to get adequate fasteners bolted into or thru. Mine has 6 bolts fastening the hitch to the frame. There is only about 700 lbs dead lift at that angle so 6 bolts is more than adequate. Mine comes out thru the middle of the bumper not under so no loss of clearance. Herrin put a 2 ton Warn winch in the passengers side storage box and a couple of receivers just below deck level above the winch. Winch has wireless remote, wired control and a switch on the winch...so 3 ways to run winch. Kevlar cable on the winch. The A frame fits into the passengers side storage box. I use a snatch block on the rear of the car to slow the winching process down also less jerky. The A frame legs going into the 2 deck receivers were extended away from the ruck sides so the top A frame pulley and snatch block on the car wouldn't clash. I've also changed the way of fastening the ramps to the deck when loading and unloading. No more bolts to cross thread.

There were 2 white wires going into the hub. My guess is 14g. They were the only ones seen. It's really tight under there and needs the trailer jacked up to get a good look. What you say makes sense. If I could see where they splice into a heavier wire, I could check it there. Thanks

I tried backing mine on a couple of times from wet grass and stopped part way up then tried to go the rest of the way. The throttle can't over ride the brake so you can't feather it like a clutch. For the brief part of a second when the brake is released and before the throttle kicks in the car rolls fwd a bit then the throttle kicks in and the car shifts sideways..not much, but there isn't much room to spare laterally anyway. So contrary to the naysayers, the car can take a hitch and contrary to Jack, there is meat in behind to accommodate adequate fasteners on both sides. We did it 3 yrs ago and the hitch is till holding strong. So, it CAN be done...we did it. Pics were posted and are on the internet, posted by someone else. If you want them posted again, no problem if I can get decent reception. If not, I'll be back home next Sunday and post from there. It is frustrating to see incorrect info posted in spite of them knowing it is wrong.

Couple of bad crashes on I- 10 today in the pm. At least 1 possibly more semi units wrecked on the side of the road in the eastbound lane West of Mobile, traffic tied up for at least 2 miles. Lots of equipment on scene. Further up the road, same direction 1 maybe 2 5th wheel rvs totaled along with one dually. Looked like the trailers had blown up. Further west before NO a womans car blew up throwing a piston rod and engine contents all over the road starting grass fires on both sides. Used all my Ice water, apple juice, Gatorade and Dr Pepper plus trashed a 150$ set of Brooks sneakers stomping out the embers until wrecker driver tossed me a 5 lb dry chem. An exciting day

I may have mentioned earlier that according to the controller I was drawing about13 to 13 amps when applying the brakes. Tuscon said that was not enough, should be close to 18. So I got a DC clampmeter from Amazon and managed to get under the trailer to test the draw per wheel. 5 read around 2.3 and one read zero. So the DC clampmeter works and so does the readout on the controller screen. They have recently come out with a tpms.

Call Tuscon brake directly and ask the boss Felice One'. Their system is new tech and lightyears ahead of what it replaced. It can tell me if all the brakes are pulling enough amps or not. Ask her directly, they are constantly upgrading their system. Felice One Tuson RV Brakes, LLC Office: 800-968-8766 ext. 219 www.tusonrvbrakes.com

All valid points for the OP to consider. In my case I look after First Aid and Safety on the 2nd shift at Esquimalt Drydock in Victoria. Work is spotty. Most of it comes in the Fall and Winter so if I'm down South for a few months between December and end of April and a ship comes in with damage or some other issue and Esquimalt calls me, I need to know. With the money they pay, I'd park the rig, fly back, rent a fleatrap for a month and rent a car and still be thousands ahead. Like I stated, all valid points for the OP to consider.

If you park the # you may miss out on important calls. Leave the Canadian phone at home, change the outgoing message to reflect your absence and to call the US#. If they don't want to do that then leave a message and you can check for messages with your US phone.

John is right about sat tv, there are 2 footprints of coverage. One is restricted to fairly close to the Canadian, US border. Mine covers all the USA, at least where I've been. The auto dish will hut for the location on its own or you can punch in the co-ordinates. I get reception in Ft Meyers, no problem. Re the phone, again this is something I've had to deal with. John is correct again, you can't get a contract because it asks for a zip code and won't accept a Canadian Postal code, ie T2K 0E6. BUT, you can get around that fairly easily. This was done by Verizon for me....here goes, - Buy a cheap smart phone..even on Visa. - Prepay for 1 month by Cash...40 bucks back 3 yrs ago. - Prepay 10 bucks for unlimited calling back to Canadia...cash again. - You get unlimited calling and texting in the US. - For internet, get a Hub. All this works, I've done it. Re using our Canadian cel phones in the USA, with Fido, I pay 8$ a day when using the phone to a max of 70 bucks a month max...I think. It used to be 50$ Get South of the border, drop into a Verizon store and show them what I did. When I travel, I don't mess around, I have both sat tv and internet. RF Mogul has an internet dish but it's over 4' diameter and the packages are very expensive.. I've seen the dish and talked to Jim about the packages. You can download movies late at night at a non premium time but it is a really big dish. Again, call RF Mogul in Salt lake City, you have nothing to lose.

I have the Shaw auto sat dish. It receives down in southern Florida no problem. No hassle from Shaw. If you want the for real info contact RF Mogul in Salt Lake City. Jim is the owner and Carlo is the whizbang tech who can walk you thru any problems you may encounter, mechanically or software wise. If you are in the area, they will install it for you and test it. Activate the system with your Canadian cel phone, not a US phone. Set up the account if possible in Canada. Not sure how not having the unit on the roof affects getting an account with no Serial #. It may or may not be needed. Carlo will send you updates on the computer you can download on a thumb drive to reload into the black box. Every once in a while Shaw changes thing sup which requires a newer version. Trust me, I've been thru this for the last 10 yrs back into the Motosat era....CALL RF MOGUL..I'm shouting. Hiljoball is on the mark.

I'm not sure of the wheel brand but they are a lacquered finish which cracks like a spiderweb. I called the manufacturer and they said that was not a warranty item. So which ever you get don't run into the same problem I did.

I may be out in left field about this but I went thru this 6-7 yrs ago. The original tires on my Travel Supreme were 16 or 16.5's, can't recall. They were upgraded to 17.5's. I think the diameter was the same or close to it. There is a safe distance between the tires. The wheels were ordered with 1/2 or 9/16"" lugs . Mark Bruss dealt with this in a topic some years ago. I'd say, lug size and diameter of tire are two key considerations. My tires are rated at 4800 capacity and are run at about 75% of the recommended max tire pressure. Running at full pressure would make for a rough ride. Truck and trailer are both run at 90 psi, Crossfire on the rear duals and a tire pressure monitor in the cab. 17.5's are the way to go from my standpoint.

Gretchen, Here's my thoughts on this as a non gearhead. I can stumble around some things but not others. With my Volvo 730, it's metric and I have very few metric tools and most things on the truck are big and heavy requiring a lot of half inch drive tools or larger. The trailer is Imperial and a lot of it can be handled with either 3/8" drive or 1/4" drive sockets. Wrenches, a standard set of Imperial. Most issues on the rig revolve around all things electrical so I have a circuit tester and various wire connectors and fuses. For parts, I talk to the repair people and carry a few parts that can fail. As far as replacing those parts, I leave it to those who can and have the proper tools. I may not have the skills to replace those parts but a truck stop repair facility would. They may not have the parts I need but then, I do. I don't mess with brakes or anything safety related because if I get into an accident and the authorities check and find the brakes out of spec they could ask why and ask for my service records. If a non professional did the work, I could be leaving myself open to trouble.

Sorry, I meant RP.

The railing crew showed up today, a couple of young guys. They were using a Genie telescoping boom lift. The one was clipped in with the harness, the other was on the deck which was about 10' so he was borderline. My fall was 9 ft which broke both wrists. Anyway the boom kid saw me coming and was very quick to but on his bone dome. I wanted a pic of their setup for roping off using a doorway for Glen but it will have to wait 'till they come back installing glass. With this setup the guy in the other picture could have used his fall arrest harness and clipped it on to the rope and the device in the doorway. It is pretty slick, I think you'll like it. I'll also try to get info on where to purchase. Just FYI. The other guy is gone. What State or Province are you in?

In that lift you use a tie off harness. Not needed in a scissor lift. People have been catapulted out of the ones Carl posted. Driving over rough terrain amplifies boom movement. Glen, yes there is , its just not in the pic. I will post a pic of the device the patio railing guys use when they return. It's a brace across the suite entrance door with a long rope.