The all encompassing RV thread

[Druggist 303]

I drove up to Minnesota and picked up our new squarish teardrop camper a couple weeks ago.  
it is really well-made and has enough room for the 4 of us to sleep, AC, heater, fridge, and not much more.  The bunk folds up to make a storage space.  It fits in our tiny single car garage for storing it.
We are super excited and did a quick overnight at McKinney Falls last night for my youngest’s 8th birthday.   It was our first trip in it and my girls loved it.   Can’t wait to plan more trips! 

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

Troph
What did you get for you cell phone booster?

[Updawg 2384]

I drove up to Minnesota and picked up our new squarish teardrop camper a couple weeks ago.  
it is really well-made and has enough room for the 4 of us to sleep, AC, heater, fridge, and not much more.  The bunk folds up to make a storage space.  It fits in our tiny single car garage for storing it.
We are super excited and did a quick overnight at McKinney Falls last night for my youngest’s 8th birthday.   It was our first trip in it and my girls loved it.   Can’t wait to plan more trips! 

Pretty cool.I’d like something like that. Looks like it can go off-road as well. What’s a ballpark on something like that

[Druggist 303]

44 minutes ago, Updawg said:

Pretty cool.I’d like something like that. Looks like it can go off-road as well. What’s a ballpark on something like that

Starts at 13.5 and increases quickly with options.  There is a more serious off-road upgrade we did not get (lift, tires, hitch, etc).  Lots of brands to choose from out there that are both cheaper and more $$.  This is the only one we could find that would sleep all 4 of us pretty easily (until my girls grow to >5.5 ft tall).  I am sure I paid too much, but worth it to us. 

[troph 25207]

Troph
What did you get for you cell phone booster?

https://www.weboost.com/boosters/vehicle-rv

Weboost RV 65 - boosted a “one bar” LTE signal to a full strength signal on our last trip. Very satisfied.

It won’t convert roaming to 3G or 3G to LTE and it can’t do anything without a signal but it does boost the signal it grabs. If the signal is intermittent the boost will come and go but it will absolutely strengthen a reliable but weak signal.

[JMFP 1126]

Wife's cousin unexpectadly took the kids this weekend so yesterday evening we decided to take a spot at our local lake til tomorrow morning. We're just a stones throw away ftom Troph's big gay campout at Honeycreek State Park in Grove, OK... Its a little to dark for a pic now but there's sid whitetails about 30 yards away...

[troph 25207]

Gorgeous !!

[horn4life 3838]

So did a month bouncing back and forth from Port A to Austin and had a damn good time!  I learned a little about the Trailer and overall didn't screw anything completely up!  

First off my review of IB McGee RV park in Port A.  We really liked it, and the location.  The spot I picked allowed me to get a tiny glimpse of the surf to see what the waves were like, and out our kitchen window you could see the big ships coming in and out of the jetty channel.  I would usually get up and haul ass to fish, so it was awesome for her and our dog to be able just to walk over the dune and collect shells.  It cost me $618 for the month with hookups and wifi.  Only issue at all was that we liked the end of the park that was closest to the jetty, but farthest from the Wifi.   It caused some frustrations with the signal going in and out, from a work perspective for my wife.  Especially on the weekends when the park was full and there was a lot more aluminum between us and the signal. I looked online and youtube and settled on a $150 fix in the Alpha Wifi Camp Pro 2, a long range wifi repeater.  Worked great!  I used a four suction cup dent puller from Northern Tools as the mount to the side, a collapsible aluminum pool pole with some stainless steel hose clamps to secure the pole, and that thing took 50 mile an hour winds.  Only hard part was getting one of the damn suction cups to release the day I was leaving. when one would not release.  But the boost in signal strength was fantastic, and made the rest of the stay awesome as we could run multiple computers and stream tv without the hanging. I think we will do another month next year if the weather gain looks solid.  Since we went to New Orleans this weekend we came back a few days early last week, and I got a credit voucher for 2 mights stay yesterday in the mail that I did not expect.  So two free nights in the future!

BUY USED!!!! From an older person that takes care of their shit!  It was absolutely awesome to step in where most of the creature comforts and little adds were already in place.  And you will save a ton on buying all the crap you need that they already bought for you.   I did have to replace the door lock as the deadbolt broke, and my daughter locked us int he trailer.  SUPER GLAD I had a phillips screwdriver in the RV or it would have been go out and come back in a window.  Nice little RV parts store in Port A across from Kody's had the part and a quick replacement was easy.  It was nice the prior owners had all the hoses, splitters, back flow preventers, and extra sewer lines , about the only thing I felt compelled to buy was a collapsible hose to spray off the trailer and truck windows for salt spray.  Only thing I was sort of paranoid about was the levels on the tanks.  I flushed the fresh water holding tank as I think we are going to need it next trip and that also gave me an opportunity to run the pump.  One of my pet peeves is getting a really good flush on the black water tank, and I used a flashlight to look down into the shitty darkness to get the black tank as full as possible for the second flush and it worked fantastically.

We were a little worried about the small footprint but it was perfect for us as a couple and was able to accommodate three adults and two dogs pretty comfortably for a few days easily.  While I bought this trailer primarily with boondocking in mind, full hooks and having a fully furnished portable hotel room is pretty appealing as well.  We actually ended up liking it more than we thought.  It was every bit as enjoyable to cook a burger on the skillet after a long day at the beach, as going out for a nice dinner.  We liked the flexibility of not having a checkout looming and the ability to come and go for a month allowed us to come back to Austin selectively largely based on the weather.  I can only imagine how much we would have liked it if we could have seen live music and bar hopped as usual.

One thing we saw a while back and considered buying but did not was a pair of foldable electric assist bicycles.  A guy next to us had a pair that was a full time RVer and he loved them.  I think that next year when we come back that will be a likely addition.  But overall had a damn good time for the money.  Hell I spent more on food and drink in 3 nights  this weekend than we did on a full months rental.  Since I did get a cold night and confirmed the heater works great I think some black skies and cold nights are on the horizon for star gazing.

 

 

[horn4life 3838]

Just thought I would put up a few picks of our campsite at IB McGee in Port A - If you zoom in under the partially destroyed building you can see the surf.  There is also a before and after flounder

[troph 25207]

That looks like something for sure.

[ChickenSandwich 9956]

Georgia on the mind

 

 

[fattyflattie 4640]

1 hour ago, troph said:

That looks like something for sure.

Delicious, for sure. 

[horn4life 3838]

haha- but didn't taste at all fishy!  And in this instance crabs were also tasty!

[Pato del Muerto 53461]

The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. 

[horn4life 3838]

So right now I am taking off the shitty decal on the front of my trailer.  Looks like dog shit after only 3 years.  It's a royal PITA, with a heat gun and a plastic scraper, a few inches at a time.  And yes I know there are "eraser" wheels by 3M that would make this easier.  But I saw a lot of folks having discoloration because the wheels work on friction.   I want to keep the decal area as clean and white as possible, especially at the edges.  I will likely just buy an aftermarket decal of better quality and put it right back on.  I thought about something custom, but that might hurt the resale?

I have basically been going over the trailer post month at the coast looking for rust and trying to remove and repaint damaged areas.  Since my primary use will be coastal I felt like I need to pay extra special attention to the potential for damage from salt air and actively catch any potential issues as early as possible.  Unfortunately or fortunately as is probably more the case I did find a problem on the front bottom edge of the trailer.  The rock guard and 1/8 play (luan) had come loose at the bottom, and rubbed on the tongue causing a rust spot.  So I ended up taping off all the decals, and repainting all the exposed metal after removing as much rust as I could, and it looks damn near brand new!  Seems like with the crap construction of most RV's actively looking for stuff that is screwed up is your best defense.

Made me sort of think about coming in and perhaps remodeling and updating a better quality, but with a less modern interior unit at some point in the future.   Some of the color choices are so horrific that  even a little updating would probably add a ton of value.  

[Pato del Muerto 53461]

Some friends that came up to visit and stayed in our camper just asked if some of their friends could rent it this summer. Fledgling business being birthed, bitches!

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

On the quality note, yeah they suck. In my wildwood almost all of the cabinet latches have ripped out of the particle board. Had a drawer break the paneling it was attached to.
Where the dinette drops to make a bed the table top has tore the benches up. The white plastic in the bathrooms are starting to turn yellow. 

 

 

[fattyflattie 4640]

5 hours ago, TXLNGHRN10 said:

On the quality note, yeah they suck. In my wildwood almost all of the cabinet latches have ripped out of the particle board. Had a drawer break the paneling it was attached to.
Where the dinette drops to make a bed the table top has tore the benches up. The white plastic in the bathrooms are starting to turn yellow. 

 

 

That’s the most irritating thing in the world to me. Like an old dodge interior of the past.    Wife is pushing hard for a trailer.  I found a few smoking deals a month or so ago that lasted 2 days, as good deals do. Think we’ve made up our mind we are doing this for sure, now to start looking and will rent a few times until the right one comes along. 

[troph 25207]

Lots of talk about summers in CO from our trips this summer but we are enjoying Santa Fe even in lock down for thanksgiving. Santa Fe national forest is legit. Took in two hikes in two days.
Accessible backcountry by hike. The town is cool too, we are thinking of making it our base camp if we are headed to south western CO. Or a place we start with because it’s a one day trip not two, so an extra long weekend is doable. Need to be here in August to feel the summer and check out the fishing at various times.

[utee94 16080]

Well I'm calling off the RV camping at the Renaissance Festival right after Thanksgiving, on account of the shooting death in the campgrounds a couple weeks ago...

We may duck into a nearby campsite just for a night or two, gotta check and see what's open.

[Pato del Muerto 53461]

17 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Well I'm calling off the RV camping at the Renaissance Festival right after Thanksgiving, on account of the shooting death in the campgrounds a couple weeks ago...

We may duck into a nearby campsite just for a night or two, gotta check and see what's open.

Because the gun used wasn’t period accurate?

[utee94 16080]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Because the gun used wasn’t period accurate?

If it had been a broadsword or even a scimitar, no problems at all.  Obviously.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:39 PM, troph said:

Lots of talk about summers in CO from our trips this summer but we are enjoying Santa Fe even in lock down for thanksgiving. Santa Fe national forest is legit. Took in two hikes in two days.
Accessible backcountry by hike. The town is cool too, we are thinking of making it our base camp if we are headed to south western CO. Or a place we start with because it’s a one day trip not two, so an extra long weekend is doable. Need to be here in August to feel the summer and check out the fishing at various times.

Kit Carson, next national forest to the North, is good too.  

I've hiked a lot of the divide and in my decades of primitive camping and backpacking I had my only WTF was that experience in Kit Carson in the late 80s. 

[troph 25207]

6 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Kit Carson, next national forest to the North, is good too.  

I've hiked a lot of the divide and in my decades of primitive camping and backpacking I had my only WTF was that experience in Kit Carson in the late 80s. 

I've been to Taos but that was years ago and we didn't venture out.  I'd love to revisit that area again the way we do now.  Santa Fe has the advantage of having a legit scene though.  that's part of the appeal for sure, and it's a hard but easy one day drive.  Taos and the areas around it are nearly impossible one day drives and easy two days.  that starts to put it in the Colorado moderate two day drive.  prices less for sure.  who knows.  we might need to rethink Colorado all together. 

 

and what was this WTF was that experience.  you owe the group an explanation.  we will decide if pics are called for after you spill it.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

Something 'brushed' the top of the tent end to end a couple of times in the wee hours after I stepped out to pee and before I fell back to sleep. No bear or cougar signs anywhere in the morning. No other humans where in the campground(it was the '80s) when we got in the tent around 11pm nor at daybreak.  A couple of locals(Native Americans) told us later that next day that just two of us camping alone there wasn't a good idea.

[troph 25207]

What did they insinuate? That’s kinda scary as shit. Checked the map and see that forest is west of the ski areas by a good mile and looks really remote.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

What did they insinuate? That’s kinda scary as shit. Checked the map and see that forest is west of the ski areas by a good mile and looks really remote.

We didn't stick around and I now carry when remote camping. Now consider how remote that was over 30 years ago.
At the time I considered it a warning for being gringos around the Apache Rez. Edited November 30, 2020 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[troph 25207]

Interesting. Yeah we carry too. I won’t go outside when remote camping when it’s dark without it in my hand and loaded.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4999]

Skinwalkers? Apache and Navajo come from the same ancestral people groups if I recall correctly. I've heard (and seen) some creepy stories from some Navajo friends about that stuff back when I was involved in doing some mission work on the rez around Monument Vallley.

[troph 25207]

Yikes

[fattyflattie 4640]

On 11/20/2020 at 4:41 PM, fattyflattie said:

That’s the most irritating thing in the world to me. Like an old dodge interior of the past.    Wife is pushing hard for a trailer.  I found a few smoking deals a month or so ago that lasted 2 days, as good deals do. Think we’ve made up our mind we are doing this for sure, now to start looking and will rent a few times until the right one comes along. 

Well that didn’t take long.  Joined the club this AM.  Will long cat post with some pics later (at kids doc now) but made an all cash deal and actually felt good about it, which I guess is the first step in enjoying it.  Ended up going with a TT for now, in lieu of the 5th wheel we had most assuredly settled on, but not the end of the world I suppose.  We rented over thanksgiving and it was immediately clear that we wanted to continue with our trailer purchase, and that renting wasn’t for us (for many many reasons ).   Anyhow, pics coming shortly. 

[utee94 16080]

42 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Well that didn’t take long.  Joined the club this AM.  Will long cat post with some pics later (at kids doc now) but made an all cash deal and actually felt good about it, which I guess is the first step in enjoying it.  Ended up going with a TT for now, in lieu of the 5th wheel we had most assuredly settled on, but not the end of the world I suppose.  We rented over thanksgiving and it was immediately clear that we wanted to continue with our trailer purchase, and that renting wasn’t for us (for many many reasons ).   Anyhow, pics coming shortly. 

Yup that didn't take long.  Congrats!  I love my trailer.  

[TexasEd 8266]

Congrats @fattyflattie

 

So, is this also where we discuss campgrounds and trips?

I have a work sabbatical coming up next year and thought maybe we should drive up to Yellowstone.  I actually have two nascent plans. 

First is all the way to Yellowstone with stops at Palo Duro, Pueblo, NM,  and Garden of the Gods on the way there and Mt Rushmore and somewhere in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas on the way back. 

The other smaller one is just to Palo Duro with stops at Abilene State Park, Copper Breaks and Colorado Lakes state parks.

I think we should plan for the big trip and then scale back if we need to later.

[troph 25207]

Yes this is a great thread for that. Anything that’s RV relevant is welcome here and that includes RV friendly spots whether you are there in an RV or not. There is a camping thread if you’re going to tent camp but no one cares if you cross post and we all want tips, ideas and pics. There are a few location specific threads too like yellow stone and big bend, but honestly I’d likely post in both if / when we go to those places.

[troph 25207]

Well that didn’t take long.  Joined the club this AM.  Will long cat post with some pics later (at kids doc now) but made an all cash deal and actually felt good about it, which I guess is the first step in enjoying it.  Ended up going with a TT for now, in lieu of the 5th wheel we had most assuredly settled on, but not the end of the world I suppose.  We rented over thanksgiving and it was immediately clear that we wanted to continue with our trailer purchase, and that renting wasn’t for us (for many many reasons ).   Anyhow, pics coming shortly. 

Can’t wait to see them. Congrats!

[davidg 4057]

1 hour ago, TexasEd said:

Congrats @fattyflattie

 

So, is this also where we discuss campgrounds and trips?

I have a work sabbatical coming up next year and thought maybe we should drive up to Yellowstone.  I actually have two nascent plans. 

First is all the way to Yellowstone with stops at Palo Duro, Pueblo, NM,  and Garden of the Gods on the way there and Mt Rushmore and somewhere in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas on the way back. 

The other smaller one is just to Palo Duro with stops at Abilene State Park, Copper Breaks and Colorado Lakes state parks.

I think we should plan for the big trip and then scale back if we need to later.

How long are you planning your big trip?  I’m on a couple of FB groups for our camper brand and model and people have posted big trip to Yellowstone and to Mt Rushmore all summer.  Seems like there’s enough stuff in both places to spend 10 days/2weeks in the general area of each place and that’s not including the drive up there.

Lots of stuff in SW SD in addition to Rushmore.  I would want a 3 weeks or more trip if I was planning on hitting both areas.

 

 

 

 

[TexasEd 8266]

20 minutes ago, davidg said:

How long are you planning your big trip?  I’m on a couple of FB groups for our camper brand and model and people have posted big trip to Yellowstone and to Mt Rushmore all summer.  Seems like there’s enough stuff in both places to spend 10 days/2weeks in the general area of each place and that’s not including the drive up there.

Lots of stuff in SW SD in addition to Rushmore.  I would want a 3 weeks or more trip if I was planning on hitting both areas.

 

 

 

 

A month off work but my wife does not want to go for more than 2 weeks.  We are supposed to have a new swimming pool by summer.

[Pato del Muerto 53461]

SW South Dakota has badlands NP, Custer state park, and another park- sleep caves or something. And that’s all not too far from Sheridan, WY where there is Devil’s Tower. If you come up through the northern gate of YNP and pick up I-90 east, that would get you close to most of that stuff. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Pato del Muerto

[troph 25207]

With an RV it would take 3 days easy to get there from Austin, Houston, San Antonio (maybe 2 from DFW), so almost a week of driving. Consider that in your planning.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4999]

You can easily spend a week in Yellowstone and feel like there was a ton of stuff you didn't see. And that's just driving around and seeing what you can see without doing any serious hikes. 

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

On 11/29/2020 at 11:57 PM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Skinwalkers? Apache and Navajo come from the same ancestral people groups if I recall correctly. I've heard (and seen) some creepy stories from some Navajo friends about that stuff back when I was involved in doing some mission work on the rez around Monument Vallley.

Great, now my mind has moved from possible cryptozoology to the supernatural world. Thanks.

[davidg 4057]

Oh, that? That there’s an RV.

Merry Christmas you fellow tenement on wheels owners!
 

Edited December 25, 2020 by davidg

[JMFP 1126]

On 11/20/2020 at 11:01 AM, Pato del Muerto said:

Some friends that came up to visit and stayed in our camper just asked if some of their friends could rent it this summer. Fledgling business being birthed, bitches!

We talked about renting our TT when we first got it a few years ago but my insurance won't cover it if we rent out. So I wasn't too comfortable letting strangers stay in it with no coverage

[JMFP 1126]

On 11/20/2020 at 11:13 AM, TXLNGHRN10 said:

On the quality note, yeah they suck. In my wildwood almost all of the cabinet latches have ripped out of the particle board. Had a drawer break the paneling it was attached to.
Where the dinette drops to make a bed the table top has tore the benches up. The white plastic in the bathrooms are starting to turn yellow. 

 

 

Even brand new ones... right after we got our new fifth wheel I walked around it 3 times with my Robertson screwdriver tightening loose screws. The coroplast over the wheel wells was just stapled up (poorly) from the factory and was already loose just from the drive home so I shot a couple of screws/washer into that to secure it up. Also had to silicone up the shower door trim, they left gaps you could see through.

 

The only problem I have left at the moment is a small leak in the bedroom slide. Water runs down the wall and collects on top of the trim on the bottom of the slide and seeps in past the seals when the slide is out. The service guy at the dealership told me that there is aftermarket plastic piece that can go on the trim to stop water from coming in. I think it's some type of wedge shaped plastic you glue on? Still waiting on them to locate it and call me back.... If I had a 3D printer I'd just make one myself.

 

[troph 25207]

Merry Christmas my fellow RV’ers! I dare say as bad as this year was, we made the most of it.  Here’s to a kick ass 2021!  Thanks for everything, love you guys!

[horn4life 3838]

SOOoooooo Glad I made this purchase.  We have been joking since we bought it at the end of May that this is the "covid camper."  We my SIL got exposed to covid and was coming to visit us ahead of my daughter arriving.  Got the trailer hooked up to water, power and used the wifi repeater to pull the wireless signal from my house into the trailer so he could work while quarantining a for a few days.  Worked fantastically, and he loved the trailer!  We just let them stay out there to have their own space, especially to work in.  I even put up a string of Christmas lights on the trailer to get in the spirit.  We had a couple happy hours with SIL from a distance before he tested negative 5 days later, so he wasn't completely socially isolated.  

The one funny thing was on Christmas day I saw that some of my lights had been pulled off the bushes in front and a big string was wrapped around the trailer tongue.  Upon inspection my colored light were still intact but a section was pulled loose and unplugged. But what were the lights on my trailer??? Upon closer inspection there was a long string of white lights wedged into the connection for the hitch and torn to hell.  I realized that a buck had gotten tangled up and drug the lights however far until it got hung up on the trailer.  I told my wife and SIL about this and she said, "I woke up last night because somebody was outside shaking the trailer!"  Buck was tearing his way loose in the middle of the night.

 

SO WHERE IN COLORADO DO I RV CAMP NEXT SUMMER?????

[davidg 4057]

Hope everyone had a great New Year holiday and are getting your camping plans and reservations for the year sorted out.  We waited out the bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday and then took our trailer up to our family property to start the New Year.  We were boondocking for the first time and it worked out pretty good.  I had replaced the stock 12V 90AH battery with 2 GC2 6V 230AH batteries before we left and have 2 100W solar panels running through a small Victron MPPT controller.  It worked really well with the full sun on Saturday and Sunday and we also have a 3600w Ryobi invertor generator that we ran a bit while cooking to be able to run the microwave and help charge the battery.  I think I will add a battery monitor that has bluetooth and a small pure sine wave inverter and transfer switch to power a couple of small AC loads from the batteries.  

 

RVIng is great!

 

Oh, no RVing also sucks!

 

200 miles to the ranch and as I got out to get the gate, I smelled burning from one of the trailer axles.  Grabbed the infared gun and measured hub temps and one was 450F.  Oops!  I was hoping it wasn't a bearing that I would have to chisel off the spindle.  Looks like the brake magnet got stuck on that wheel and wouldn't release. I pulled the hub and re-greased the bearings and it seems good to go for now.  Gonna go ahead and order a brake assembly for that side just in case and a set of bearings, races and seals.

 

[troph 25207]

nice property!

infrared gun.... hmmm, more gear to get!  yesssssss!

impressive skill set there btw.

[JMFP 1126]

On 1/4/2021 at 10:45 AM, troph said:

nice property!

infrared gun.... hmmm, more gear to get!  yesssssss!

impressive skill set there btw.

My Intro to Prime Movers professor told us when pulling a trailer to walk around and feel the tires at every stop. If there is a problem it will cause friction and heat and that tire will be hotter than the others. He told us it saved his ass one day on a long trip as he found a bearing going out before it actually failed. So I've been in that habit since I was 18 but now adays I walk around with the temp gun and hit the tires and hubs at every stop.

[troph 25207]

Not this weekend but next we are considering big bend, Guadalupe mountains or PINS for a leave Thursday come home Sunday trip.  Not sure which.