podwerkz

On 9/4/2020 at 2:04 PM, Bill&Anneli said:

 

If your income turns out higher than you estimated, you may have to PAY BACK the tax credit to the IRS. I have seen folks owe as much as $18,000 to the IRS because they signed up for a $1,500/month plan, took the full tax credit and paid $0 premium per month. Only to be shocked when they filed their income tax return a year and half later (from when they signed up for that insurance), had higher income than they estimated and now have to pay all that money back to the IRS.

 

That's exactly what happened to me...at the front end of the 2018 calendar year, my  projected income looked to be $xx,xxx  so I signed up for an Obamacare $x,xxx premium credit but then later in the year something happened...some money (not a lot but enough to push me up the ladder a bit) came my way that was fully taxable, and propped up my AGI, to an amount that for a single person, was like the game on Price is Right: "THAT'S TOO MUCH!"...

After the back half of 2018 had cleared, I ended up having to pay it all back, PLUS the income tax owed. I'm not by any stretch a well-off person, so having to dip into my IRA and write a check for about $15,000...oh that HURT. And of course then I had to claim THAT withdrawal as income for 2019!

Worst thing about it is, I never made even ONE claim on that insurance plan, it was an awful plan and had a VERY high deductible. It was basically worthless. 

But you had to have something or they hit you with a fine or a fee or a penalty or whatever they called it.

My income has now stabilized (it appears) and I am on a better plan now (it appears) and hopefully, my tax burden this time around will be much lower. 

BTW I'm learning some things here..thanks to all the active posters but especially Blues and Zulu and Bill&Anelli...sometimes the opinions differ but the information is still valuable. 

On a side note, the domain squatter wants almost $295,000 now for insurancebenefits dot com. Holy hell I'm in the wrong business.

Large tanks for 'staying power' are sometimes not the limiting factor anyway... the 14 day limit in most places (BLM, NF) where we tend to boondock (or want to boondock) means you will need to move 25 miles after 14 days (this varies but is typical) and on that trip to a new spot somewhere else is when you dump and fill and re-provision your food and supplies.

In other words, 2 or 3 weeks worth of supplies, fuel, food, and water is usually plenty. And many smaller rigs will do that just fine, unless you are talking about an entire family..but for solos or couples, its entirely doable with small to mid-size rigs.

If you have a toad or tow vehicle separate from the camping unit, you can easily go to the nearest town for supplies if needed halfway thru an extended stay somewhere.

Of course if you are boondocking in extremely hot or extremely cold weather, the length of stay made possible by your supply of fuel for gensets (to run A/C) or heaters might shorten your stay somewhat!

Yeah...maybe he got rid of those expensive pampered poodles and is getting by with a misting fan.

I ran a BBS back in the mid to late 80's and up to around 1994 or so....

So now I will try to dig up my old flux capacitor....maybe I'll give it a try.

eh....size matters....

Here is a link to get you started, I punched in some appropriate 'filters'.....so there might be something in the list that you like:

https://www.rvtrader.com/Class-A-Sleeps-6-Bunkhouse/rvs-for-sale?type=Class A|198067&length=32%3A40&sleepingCapacity=6&isBunkhouse=true&sort=price%3Aasc

Quote

I noticed a significant drop in fuel mileage going to singles. I did go to a much more aggressive tread than I had previously.

How many miles had accumulated on those singles? As I mentioned earlier, they do take quite awhile to 'break in'...or 'wear in' and that includes the possible slight mpg decrease then slight mpg increase.

Its common to buy them with aggressive shoulder or tread block patterns to make up for the loss of 4 sidewalls per axle, so this can also increase rolling resistance, and decrease mpg, especially when they are new.  And something that is often not taken into account is the slightly larger (or slightly smaller) tire circumference, and if you do not know, or do not bother to have your ECM made aware of this (tire revolutions per mile) you may get erroneous  or false MPG readings from your on board gauges and instruments. 

Trust me, I knew the skeptics would chime in. They always do.

I put about a million miles on super singles (wide base singles) ...both with, and without, nitrogen. I recommend nitrogen fill and bump them at every stop just like duals. Other than that they are damn near maintenance free, quiet, smooth, and long lasting. But they do take awhile to break in, and handle right, as I mentioned earlier. 

If you do somehow manage to destroy one when on the road and have to call for service, you just tell the guy what you need and they will bring it.

Super Singles have a substantial tread thickness and rarely get a 'normal' flat, and if they do, you will know it, unlike one tire in a set of duals going flat and the driver is sometimes unaware until it explodes. 

They can be a little 'floaty' on snow and ice. Usually slightly better MPG but not enough to pay for themselves if switching over. And, normally the axles are a tad longer (wider) to accommodate super singles, so an axle swap might be necessary.

Pros and cons to either configuration.

Four super singles would be my choice but they can take 20-50 thousand miles to break in....better be ready for that.

On 8/11/2020 at 2:03 PM, Rim Runner said:

Looking for info on a  Texas drivers license on a Class A greater than 26001 lbs w/tow under 10,000

1. What license class is required

 

The answer is Class B (non-CDL)

13 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

 Good Sam does not operate their own roadside service, they contract it out.

Sure glad someone posted the meaning of 'GS'....all I could think of was old Suzuki motorcycles....

Just being polite? Someones life may be on the line, so, dont worry about ME....worry about the OP, who BTW, seems to have only posted one time. So maybe its a moot point. 

And yes I owned a Subaru years ago. Fine little car it was, but I would not use it for towing anything substantial in the mountains. I do respect that you had 'no problems at all' pulling a utility trailer, but those have very little frontal area and are rarely subject to sway and being hit hard by gusts of wind. And can you assume that the OP will also have 100% success and no problems at all, pulling this camper?

If you do just a little bit of research (which I did before posting my advice) you will find that even the little Scamp 13 tips the scales at around 2000 lbs when loaded up ready to roll and normal options included.

If you wish to tow a 2000 pound (when loaded and optioned) travel trailer in the mountains with your Forester, no one is stopping you...but I would not do it, nor would I recommend it to others. Safety when towing is paramount. 

When you start with a 2400# max tow rating, and hook up to a trailer that will be right around 2000, then add in all the camping gear, provisions, food, full fresh water or holding tanks, and two occupants, possibly a 50-100# WDH hitch, then we have blown past the 80% rule of thumb for safe margin of towing capacity. And we can't really assume that the published tow rating is even equal to J2807 standards, unless that exact spec is found in the owners manual.

I recommend against it. If your opinion is different, feel free to say so. I have no dog in this fight, I simply expressed my opinion, based on the facts as I know them. 

60% engine power to the front, and 40% to the rear...ok....mostly front wheel drive. 

I suspect with 60% of engine power to the front wheels, that during some variable traction situations, those lightly loaded,  possibly very lightly loaded, front tires are probably gonna do some slipping. 

Just not a good tow vehicle for a travel trailer, again, especially in the mountains.

A little 4 banger front wheel drive SUV has no bidness pulling a travel trailer (even a small one) in the mountains, so unless you plan to always operate on flat ground, I would strongly caution against it.

If you plan to always use hookups, or a generator, then your idea to use a portable A/C might be feasible, but most tent trailers are bought and used in the boonies, near a lake or ATV riding area, beside a mountain stream, or at least with no hookups in a campground...because camping in a tent trailer a few feet from your campground neighbor, just to have electricity,  is not much fun.

BTW, does it have an actual 2-way or 3-way fridge, or is it an icebox? 

My first 'RV' was a tent trailer, I have fond memories of it....mostly, but it only had an icebox and no other appliances, other than a 2 burner propane stove. It even had the manual handpump for the sink. The only thing the house battery was for is if you wanted to be able to turn on the porch light at night.

Simplicity...gotta love it. 

That older Jayco seems to be overpriced...without looking hard, I found a couple of them less than $4500.

A 22 year old pop-up trailer could be a cream puff, or it could be a disaster....your nose will tell you a lot when you open the trailer and step inside. 

If a pop-up trailer is 'put away wet' and not allowed to air-dry properly, the canvas, the curtains, and the screens can be smelly, moldy, deteriorated, or almost completely disintegrated. 

Never buy one without a hands-on inspection.

Mentioning that you have fixed an earlier typo that someone has quoted would seem to be sufficient...I would do (and have done) that.

But moving on, again. the important take-away here is that the OP knows to investigate the situation further, because they have a better idea of what we would consider 'normal' or 'average' refrigerator LP  consumption.

Kinda sneaky, silently fixing the earlier numbers so that my quoted text and reply looks wrong.

Many other forums 'lock' the edit window after 15 minutes or so just for this reason.

Hopefully the OP will get this solved.

lol....ya gotta face them little LEDS downward!

Depends on who the lien holder is. 

If it is a credit union or bank you can physically walk into that facility with the seller, then that makes it a lot easier.

I just raise the Mobley up on a pole. 

I'm assuming that is a frame mount ASME tank and if you are not using the stove/oven more than a few brief times per day, (normal cooking) and (in the summer) you are not using the furnace at all, and assuming the tank is filled up, it should/could last for a couple of months of 'average' use....unless you have a leak.

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I did some research online and find that a 10 cubic foot volume gas refrigerator will typically use about 1.5# of propane per day. A gallon of propane is 4.24# so that would mean that said refrigerator should take 3 days to use up a 20# bottle of propane.

Correction: 20 pounds would yield about 13 days at that rate, not 3. 

But in reality, a 20# exchange tank is around 16 pounds of LP these days, and an average (and modern) RV fridge of about 4 cu ft could burn about one pound per day, in average conditions. This could yield around 2-3 weeks of use (depending on high or low ambient temps, opening and closing frequency, sun exposure on the fridge,  ventilation efficiency etc and assuming NO other appliance use) which lines up with my experience.

You have a leak somewhere.

First thing to check is, when the propane valve is on, but all appliances are OFF...smell around the underside, inside, and especially around the tank itself, the pigtail, and any joints, manifolds, and connectors or fittings.

If you smell ANY propane, turn off the tank. Come back in an hour or so, slowly open the valve, listen for gas entering the pigtail. Smell around everything again. If you smell propane again, you need to use a soapy spray and look for bubbles on every fitting and connection. Don't assume the fitting on the tank is leak-proof, check it too.

Even a brand new pigtail fitting can be leaky...I had a brand new one on a brand new trailer, that was leaking.

Check eveything.