NDBirdman

I can run outside and hold up my Capt. America shield, will that help?

Surprised you have not heard of it. They all break down in the middle between the bladders. When you call them, they send you a wedge shaped piece of foam to put under them and a new piece of foam to place between the bladders. We did it several times over the 10 years we had one, their quick fix was always short lived. The valley develops between the bladders leaving a depression one or both of you end up rolling into during the night. This tore my back up, always woke up in pain. I'm not the only one, has been going on for a long time. So much that they know about it and try to fix it with cheap worthless foam. The happiest day in my life was when I threw that dayum thing in the trash where it belonged. Good luck with yours.

Those things are great, until you start experiencing the valley of pain they all develop. Threw ours in the dumpster, never again, we went through all their fixes/suggestions. We bought a Zinus 8 inch memory foam Green Tea for RVs from amazon, so far so good.

Hitches are made for short beds as well as long beds, just shop around. I have a 6ft bed and use an Andersen hitch. It is a much lighter hitch, just as strong as the big heavy hitches. My use of this hitch comes mainly from the weight. I can lift it in/out, move it about, etc because it is only around 40lbs. The big/heavy hitches go up to/over 300lbs which also figures into what your truck can handle weight wise. Also, consider a goosebox. It is a modified and safe version of a gooseneck, only needs a ball in middle of the bed. As for the truck, 3/4 ton, check manufacturer weight recommendations. It's really not 100% about what the truck can haul, more like what is the truck safely capable of controlling in a strong wind, how well the truck can *stop* the weight, etc. Ok, a short note about your choice of truck. F250, if you must get that small of a truck, DO NOT BUY THE ONE WITH THE DIESEL 6.0 ENGINE!! I made that mistake once, never again. It's one of the main reasons I changed over to RAM.

Welcome to the forum! That storm hit here in ND too so I can relate to the wet/snotty crap coming down now. It just started back up but was able to get down the driveway in 4x4. Be thankful your not in southern MN or SD, they got the worst of it from what I can get from the news. This, on top of some bad flooding we are experiencing... wow. I too want to leave the northern tier over winters, getting tired of this! Looks like you are on the right track for sure. Good luck!

Heard that through the grapevine. We lived in Bitburg for a while, rent was nuts! We moved into a town bout 30 clicks down the road in a little village called Peffingen. Was a small clickish town, but the time we were *in* with the village residence, we had to move back to the states. Made some very good friends there, joined the fishing club which went through our place and had a blast! Our home, and it was a very huge place on 100 acres or so, cost almost half what our apartment rent in Bitburg was. Miss that place, was a once in a lifetime experience. Got to enjoy some german way of life, experience german farming, land lord was burger meister and dairy cattle farmer. Paid alot of our rent by working the fields and milking cows, that was a trip!

We miss living there, Bitburg AB. Was there '90 - '94. Was a sad time helping close down. Sure enjoyed BernCastle, spent a lot of time there. We did a lot of *wine probing* up and down that river.

Welcome to the forum! Most campgrounds around my area, holiday weekend are booked way ahead of time. We do alot of boon docking so I don't worry about it. Don't know where your going to be at, we do mostly the Dakotas.

Welcome to the forum! I think they nailed your question. I say the engine if maintained is not the problem (maintenance records?). What would scare me is that many miles on the chasis/suspension. I say chances are it's going to need a lot, tires, bearings, ball joints, etc. A good professional inspector would be money extremely well spent if your serious about this rig!

Welcome to the forum! No experience here with that vehicle. But my opinion, I don't max out what the door sticker says I can do, I like a little room left for comfort. That 6k pounds includes trailer/water/clothes/cookware/ food, etc. I say the added is probably 1,500lbs so look at a 4.5lb camper? I'm thinking lightweight pop-up or teardrop style camper but that's just my 2 cents. That's towing weight, you have to check on tongue weight which is much lighter, then tire/axle weight ratings, brakes, etc. Even that small, if not set up right could make for a towing/stopping nightmare.

I have not researched this, so I will ask you and others here. Is there a site that lists what manufacturers use these frames? My RV is a 2002 and has a Lippert frame, so far no problem but we are looking ahead, going to shows, stealerships, etc. Is there a frame you would suggest is better? We are looking for an RV between 15-18K loaded, Not for full timing at the moment but will be heavily used, including snow-birding atleast 3 months a year/winter.

ROFLMAO!! Thanks, I got a great laugh from that! As funny as that is, it's a shame you see way too many of those in campgrounds.

I plan on looking at it before I use it again. Should be an easy for for me, we have the tools and technology. 🙂 I have a lot of locktite.

Well poop. My serial number is included. Guess I better find out what I need to do to get it fixed. Thanks!

Recall linky "The recall includes two models of generators, the Honda EB2800i and the Honda EG2800i." I had to go check after you said that, had not heard it. It does not cover the 2200i so we lucked out.

Nice find, did not think to look at e-bay.

I think I paid $950 for mine on sale last year, plus taxes. Don't recall ever seeing them for less. Best price I see for them at the moment is $1009 on Amazon, u can usually find free shipping on there. Saw the 2200i and companion 2200 with cable/covers for $2,2xx, good price for the pair IMHO. Good luck finding any for less. I operate my electronic items in our RV on one of these, no problems so far.

I hear ya! This Ram is loaded to the hilt, would not have enjoyed driving it off the lot new!! My wife's car is slowly circling the drain, it's in the garage not running now do to the extreme cold we've been getting past few weeks. That Jeep is what I've been looking at but my wife is thinking she wants a Honda Pilot, gave a feeling she is going to win... LOL It's off to the auto parts store for me shortly.

My used truck ran ~55k, big enough to haul a large 5th wheel, then cost of RV. I would not buy too much older of a truck/cheaper as the repairs/upkeep might get spendy quick, but it is possible and ppl do it. On your budget, I might even look at a class C, I see nice ones in your budget often. But a decent class A is nice too, both classes can tow vehicles.

Continuing off topic... that was my first motorcycle when I was 13. Had a wind-screen and saddle bags. Rode that thing for 4 years, miss it, had a ton of fun on it as a kid!

I run a Honda 2200i in a 30 amp RV with 13.5 A/C. We boondocked quite a bit last year, never had a problem with power. Ran A/C in the afternoons when it got hot out, never pop'd a breaker. We have a micro/w but don't use it much, just turn off the A/C while using it. At right, when the temps lowered a little, we open the bedroom windows, run a fan and 2 CPAPs and never a problem on eco mode, it runs a little under 9 hours one tank of gas. I have ran it off eco mode in 90-degree temps and the A/C never stopped but it did take a tank of fuel about every 4ish hours. During the day with the A/C running I will also run a TV/DVD player, couple lights if we need, no problems. I thought about getting the 2200i companion to run both connected but so far, have not found a reason to spend $1,400 or so. Bought the first one on sale for around $950 plus taxes.

Another note, in all my years of collecting, I have only bought one fake. That one, I knew was a fake and wanted it because of it's uniqueness. I have marked it as such, only payed a couple $$ for it.

Correct, there is a lot of fraud out there, alot of Chinese counterfeits floating around. I have researched and learned how to spot a fake and yet there are some that fool me, little lone an expert. This is why on my bullion I only buy from the smelters I am familiar with. I only buy coins from reputable dealers, one in particular that has been in business over 40 years. There are also Coin grading services that can spot a fake from a mile away. Yes, it's a gamble, but it's mostly a hobby that sometimes pays. I use a jewelry grade scale and a micro-scope to check all purchases out plus a couple other tests. As far as a con holding my silver for me, don't walk, RUN away very fast. I buy nothing that is not in my hand. Coin value, some set by the goberment but mostly by collectors and the rarity of the coin. It is a big business, auctions, books, etc. I use The Red Book as my main guide but not as an absolute, experience comes to play. Been doing this over 40 years off and on. Study the hobby, it's fun and if you want, can be fairly inexpensive, ya don't have to go after the high cost ones. Anywayz, back to my original question, anyone besides me dabble in pms?

Looks like an old long thread so I'm not going to read all 30 pages, forgive me if asked/discussed before. Those here that are good with investments, how do you feel about precious metals/coins? I'm curious as I have over the years picked up a lot of silver/gold coins and a lot of bullion. Does anyone use these? (As well as some art) I try to use silver bullion as an investment stabilizer of sorts. While it does not go down much when the market is increasing in value, it goes up, albeit not a lot, but goes up a small bit when the market kicks me in the groin like is has the past few months. I find it strange (weird?) that bullion always does the opposite of the market, ie down when stocks are up and up when stocks are down. Right now, even with silver prices up a little, I believe it is a pretty good value with lots of potential, but like stocks/casino, it's a gamble. Of those of you that are full time, do you invest in these and do you take with you or leave in bank? Just curious, don't have to say if worried about safety. I store mine in a bank safe deposit box so it is safe from theft, unless the bank would fail. Oh, and just a note, I think those TV hawkers on gold/silver laughable, I rank them along the lines of ambulance chasers. I hope no one swallows their baloney and jumps on wagon, all they are doing is playing on your fears to make themselves a lot of $$. I've been doing this long before these ........ started this up.

Just did a quick look, probably wrong again.. surprise surprise... LOL, anywayz, your retirement age is 66 yrs 10 months?