Shawn Patterson

2 hours ago, runaway parents said:

Well my friend that is all it took 5 minutes and it turned over. You should never doubt someone you don't know it s like calling them a liar. Not a good idea!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't read that like that at all... Perhaps the point was that 5 minutes for the F250 was enough to get it started but as Sehc said, you might want to put a full charge on the batteries with a good charger.

I'd honestly be hard pressed to advise you without writing a novel.  Have you been to https://fifthwheelst.com/?  They have a great site to answer most if not all of your questions and they have a worksheet you can use for any potential rig you're looking at to make sure you are within your truck's limits.

We had the same concerns but went with a cellular monitor instead. It has worked out well for us. They also have wireless water monitors you can add on.  The only downsides are that it only works if there is cell coverage (we haven't been anywhere where is hasn't worked) and there is an annual subscription fee.

MarCELL MAR-500A Cellular System Temperature Monitor

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QRMFEAQ

I put on the Spray Master fenders and have been pretty happy with them.  I love the Minimizer ones, but they were just too expensive.

https://www.raneystruckparts.com/black-spray-master-poly-truck-fenders-for-22-5-or-24-5-wheels/

It was in the Confused What Goes Where post.

It's sort of odd they way they went about it... They knew that the money was going toward paying off the existing loan on the truck and there is verbiage in the contract stating it must be used for that.  The interest rates are in line with what they have stated on their website for RV loans, and yet they didn't require to be added on as a lienholder, which is more like it was an unsecured personal loan.  It was definitely a very different approach from everyone else I had talked to, but the end result is exactly what I was hoping for!

When we initially purchased our Volvo 730 I didn't want to try and find someone to finance what was a commercial vehicle or outlay the cash from our savings to purchase the truck, so we took out a personal loan through USAA for the purchase with the idea that we would refinance once the truck was titled as a Motorhome.  Even with our excellent credit the refinance turned out to be a bit more challenging than I had expected.

When we took out the initial loan USAA had said they would be able to convert the personal loan to a secured RV loan once the truck was titled as such. Turns out that wasn't really true...  So off I go, contacting lenders to see if anyone would finance us at a reasonable interest rate.  Alliant Credit Union, RV Lending Group, Xtreme Motorcoaches, Commercial Fleet Financing and our local credit union all said "no" because we don't fit into their little box of a motorhome and they can't look up the vehicle in the NADA guide.  

I then tried to see if we could get a better interest rate on a personal loan and pay off perhaps half the balance from savings.  Nope, no luck there either... Some of the interest rates were lower, but after the fees were added in it was worse than what we had.  I was feeling a bit discouraged at that point and was about to throw in the towel when I came across Lightstream.

I submitted the application and supporting income documentation online Monday afternoon, answered some additional questions they had about what the money was going to be used for on Tuesday and had a check in the bank this morning for almost the complete outstanding balance of the truck.  AND the loan isn't secured by the truck so we don't have to show a lienholder on the title!  The net result was a reduction in the interest rate from 10.99% to 4.74%!!

Not sure if this would work out for everyone as credit and income situations are certainly unique, but these folks were great to deal with and would be worth checking out if you are considering financing an HDT.