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Jinx & Wayne

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Posts posted by Jinx & Wayne

  1. Class A purchase

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

    Having worked in a service organization that supported a commissioned sales system, I can tell you that the salesperson who never distorts the truth to make a sale is extremely rare, if they even exist. The commission system is designed to pressure those who have slow sales and to reward those with many sales with little regard for honesty and ethics. As part of the service department expected to cover the lies to customers, I have had that fight many times. Never trust a statement from salespeople unless you verify it's truth and if a promise, get it in writing and signed by the sales manager or above. 

    That is a lesson I learned many years ago buying cars. It was reinforced when we went looking for RV's starting in 2015. We looked at several dozens of RV's before buying this one in 2016. I was amazed at the foolishness some salespeople spouted. "No problem hauling this (16K+ lbs) RV with a F-250," is one statement that comes to mind. The Ford salesperson spouted the same nonsense - also on commission. I bought the truck and RV elsewhere. I would be happy to get recommendations for dealers in FL. My eldest child's recent experience with Lazydays did not inspire confidence in that organization. Of course, the other part of the equation is that you buy where they have the model you want - particularly when it is used

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  2. Class A purchase

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    9 hours ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

    Keep an eye on the sites I linked to. Personally the best place to buy is NIRVC.

    When you are looking at a RV don't just walk through. Stop sit down see how it feels, think how it would be doing the basic things. 

    Unfortunately, these two themes things are incompatible.  That location is about a thousand miles away. While I could arrange to buy from them, doing my usual RV testing (get in the shower, "preparing" a meal, sitting and imagining, and other daily activities) is unlikely to be feasible.

    Thank you. I will definitely keep you and others here in mind as this process wends its way to a new home.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  3. CDL and mailing addresses for TX

    in Graduating to Fulltime

    Posted

    On 2/13/2022 at 5:02 PM, Tiana said:

    My question is while we are on the road and using an address in Texas for mail, do we have to update our drivers licenses to that Texas address? If so think my husband will have to apply for a CDL or we will need to find a different mail solution.

    It depends upon what you mean by "using" an address in TX. The real issue for licensing is your domicile. Domicile is your legal state of residency. Your mailing address may not be the same as your domicile. I am domiciled at the Escapees park in Bushnell, FL. I have a Florida license and health insurance. The only mail that goes to my domicile is official mail from the State of Florida. The park forwards it to my mailing address. My mailing address is the Escapees mail service in Livingston, TX. The domicile controls my driver license requirements. My mailing address has no effect on licensing.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  4. Class A purchase

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    3 hours ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

    Looking for a update.

    Sure thing! We've decided to look beyond the length limits we discussed. We will be more open minded about the dinette. We particularly like the 2004 Monaco you posted. We made a list of things to look for (tag axle, kitchen space, diesel, floorplan, etc.) Now Jinx is looking at RV's for models and years that she likes. She shows me an occasional picture or floor plan. Once her initial list is compiled we will go over them together, I will start researching those models, we will talk about them some more, and then we will start looking. She likes the culling process and her judgment is usually pretty sound. I expect we will have more questions to post here as that process evolves.

    Right now we are getting ready to get on the road for the travel season. Both the truck and RV need some work and we are coordinating that. Travel begins at the end of this month. I will start my personal education on the care and feeding of Class A's at the Escapade.

    Thank you for your help and to others for theirs. I will be back for more.

    Your tag line triggered tickled me.. I once was called upon to get a cat down from a tree. Having read "Tom Sawyer Abroad" I was mindful of Tom's uncle's advice that "a person that started in to carry a cat home by the tail was gitting knowledge that was always going to be useful to him, and warn't ever going to grow dim or doubtful." What I learned initially was that welding gloves are several inches too short. Had I thought more about it beforehand I would have realized that the lack of cat skeletons in trees indicates that they are quite capable of getting down under their own power. That insight would have saved me from a large number of perforations that occurred when I became a ladder. Wisdom is the product of experience. Experience is the product of exercising poor judgment.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  5. No Vacancy

    in Beginning RVing

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

    I'm sure freeloaders were part of the reasoning that went into the gate installation decisions.

    Since they are taking public resources that we pay for with tax dollars, I think thieves describes them than freeloaders.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  7. My search for a replacement truck goes on

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    On 2/28/2022 at 1:03 PM, rpsinc said:

    I had a guy reach out when I was selling my MDT and he was towing with a RAM 3500.  He had a sand car on a rack on the bed of the truck, the bed was full of gear AND he was pulling a 43' toyhauler loaded with UTVs and gear for his family of 5, which also rode in the truck.  His 1st question to me was, will my HDT pull his setup on the Utah freeways at 75MPH+?  Told him I didnt know because to me that was unsafe and I would not do that, even IF it could.  No way he was safe.

    Guy in the site behind me last month had a F-250 pulling a 43' toyhauler with a UTV inside. He mentioned that he blew a tire doing 80. It is pretty hard to overestimate people's ability to exercise bad judgment.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  8. My search for a replacement truck goes on

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    I've been driving a 2017 F-350 dually diesel longbed Supercab 4x4 since Dec 2017. That is the 6.7 turbo diesel. I have 74K miles on it and pull a 37', 16k fiver.

    When we first bought the truck I was white-knuckle every time I was in close quarters. After a short time I became familiar with how it turns and where the corners are located. After that handling and maneuvering was not a problem. You do need to recognize that it is less maneuverable than smaller/shorter vehicles. Planning when in confined areas is important. When I park in a lot I consider whether the space provides room to get out - I try to park where there is more room. This means I often park further out in a lot where there are fewer vehicles. Another option is to park in spaces lanes meet and there is room to back straight out.

    I've never had the traction problems described by others. Once a road washout and our GPS took us down a dirt road. I came to a hill that suddenly turned to sand. I was able to shift into 4WD on the fly and get through it pretty easily. There wasn't any way I was backing up.

    Towing I get between 9.5 and 11.5, depending upon terrain. Average is 10.5. Not towing I get 10-12 mpg in town, 16-18 on the highway, and about 14-15 overall. The fuel tank on the Supercab is only 34 gal so I put in a 50 gal aux in the bed.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  9. Class A purchase

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    Thanks to all who have responded. I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. We went the the Armadillo Races as the Swamp Cabbage festival on Saturday and were wiped out yesterday.

    You've given us things to think about and consider. We will look at longer rigs and reconsider the dinette.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  12. Class A purchase

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    We've decided to stay on the road full time for a few more years. That will include a two-year swing out west. Part of that process will be getting a new (to us) RV. Since 2017 in a 37' fiver that is 16 years old; one year part time and the rest full time. It is reasonably solid, but maintenance is increasing and will likely get higher with longer trips. Carriage went out of business in 2011, so parts are getting harder to find. I do not relish the idea of sitting for weeks outside of Boise or Nogales, waiting for parts. We are also under the impression that a newish and somewhat smaller Class A will involve less work setting up and tearing down (auto leveling, power awnings, hoses on reels, etc) and still provide nice living space. We want to boondock some of the time so a generator or solar would be very helpful. My area of knowledge is mostly limited to what I have learned about fivers in the last few years. I am going to have lots of questions. Here is a start. I need to figure out what to to buy.

    We want to stay under 35', not counting the toad. I am partial to diesel having towed with one since 2017. Budget is under 160k. The captain's and navigator's chairs should swivel (and recline?) so that the cab area is not dead space when stopped. A queen bed or bigger is a must. NO DINETTE is a high priority. Counter space in the kitchen that doesn't involve the need to cover the stove and sink to chop veggies would be nice. Tanks that will support more than a week of boondocking with reasonable water conservation are necessary.

    We've been looking at the Tiffin Breeze 31 BR. If you have comments on that model, suggestions for other models or brands, questions or any other input, it is welcome. If you have ideas for boondocking (batteries, charging systems, etc) is is particularly welcome.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  13. No Vacancy

    in Beginning RVing

    Posted

    We've been full time for just short of four years.  All of our travel has been the eastern half of the US with longer stays in Maine and Florida most years, and family in Maryland. We start travel in the spring (this year end of March) with 1-3 week stops until the end of July. August and September we spend in one place in Maine. October finds us traveling south, arriving in Florida in December. Here's what we found.

    We haven't found a lot of boondocking to be widely available in our travel area, particularly for a moderately large fiver. We plan on getting a smaller Class A next year and swinging west for a couple of years, so that should change for us with more areas available out there.

    We had PA, TT and GS. The major problem we found with TT was that their park locations did not match with the things we wanted to see. The membership just barely paid for itself. PA discounts did not help much because we stay 1-3 weeks on most stops. Their discounts do not apply to weekly rates at most places we visited and they are not as common as GS parks. GS spots are more frequent, especially along larger highways. Since we usually travel two days in a row, we use GS frequently on the road night. We also have a KOA membership. We use it almost exclusively when visiting grandchildren in the DC and Charleston areas. it pays for itself by a bit.

    We rarely plan the one-night road stops further ahead than a day or two. Longer stays, however, we find require reservations. Our travel model is to make a list of places/things we want to see and people we want to visit around the country. We then cobble together an itinerary and make reservations. Right now I have all long stays reserved through next spring with the exception of two campgrounds that do not start taking reservations until March 1 and April 15, respectively. If we made our itinerary based on park locations instead of want-to-sees TT would probably be worth the money for us.

    As for what to expect from here, your guess is as good or better than mine.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  14. What's your favorite way to get bugs off the front of the trailer, while traveling?

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    11 hours ago, griffy said:

    I pull  out my ladder, fill a bucket with clean water, sponge the bugs to soften them up, and use a "USED" Bounce sheet and lightly scrub off the bugs. Do not used a "new" Bounce sheet as it will leave a film on your trailer. And, I have never had a complaint from any campground host.

    This is also my method except that I prefer the unused dryer sheets and I in a "bug scrubber" sponge instead of a regular sponge. I wet the a section of the surface with  water and then rub that area with a dryer sheet. I then scrub the area with the bug scrubber. I found that the chemicals in the unused dryer sheet makes the bugs come off much more easily - it is a softening agent. After the bugs are clear I rinse the area with clear water and wipe with a wet cloth to remove the film griffy noted. Usually I talk to the CG staff at check in, about cleaning the front of the 5er. I stress that I am not washing the entire rig. No one has said no in four years.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  16. Bed questions

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Randyretired said:

    Any carpenter or handy man should be able to do it.  We needed that and I ripped 3 2"x6" from nothing to the height we wanted.  Put a few screws to hold it to the existing bed deck and covered it with plywood.  Took longer to go get the supplies than to make it.  Not fancy but easy to remove if needed.

    I built mine the same way. 

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  21. How is the weather looking where you are?

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    Here, south of Frostproof, FL, we were "cold" for a few days - 30's at night and mid-50 to 70's.  Yesterday was 82 and sunny.  Last night was 58 with low humidity.  Yesterday we went to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. We prepared by making a picnic lunch and remembering the sunscreen. 

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  22. Truck Bed Toppers

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    I have a Bak-Flip mx4 on a F-350 8' longbed.  Five years old and running strong. Very happy with it. It folds forward into a single, two-foot section stack and anchors for 5er towing.  You can also fold it completely out of the way but it will block the back window.  I do that only when fueling (aux tank below tonneau level). Pics and video at the website.

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

  24. Ceiling fans recommendation

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    Last January I installed a Fan-tastic vent with rain sensor and remote.  In October the motor quit.  It took two months for the factory to send me the wrong part, and another month to send another wrong part.  It looks like I am just going to have to buy a new one and put it in. Does anyone know of a good rain sensor vent/fan with remote other than Dometic?

    Wayne & Jinx
    2017 F-350 diesel, dually
    2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ

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