The all encompassing RV thread

[utee94 15797]

Sounds good!

 

Although after 10+ years in the vintage Airstream with a family of 4, and then moving up to a 32' BH back bedroom with midships slide and a full queen separate bedroom in the front... I won't be able to go back to a non-slide until the kids are gone.

This past Spring Break it was snowing/raining on us for about half the trip and we got holed up inside, and I can't imagine not having all of the space of the slide with couch and dinette.  We played a lot of cards, dominoes, scrabble, yahtzee, etc. and had a great time, but without the room of the slide, it's possible I would have murdered my entire family.  Or them, me.

[Hawndoh 2386]

I get that, but I don't want want to tow anything much larger than 25 ft and 5000 pounds and I can't afford to change tow vehicles to a 3/4 ton. I also loved being able to get my 20 ft into any spot and any gas station.

25 even will still be a big adjustment but not terribly insane. I'll still fit in most spaces at most state parks.

We also like to make in-transit stops for bathroom and lunch on longer haul travel days and having no slide is great for that.

I want my kids to be outside the trailer as much as possible, so I plan on removing the TV. We can all fit at the dinette for games and the murphy bed gives us a small couch during the day as well. We don't really need private bedrooms.

I think it'll work out great for how we typically use it. It's a bit short on counter space in the kitchen but we mostly just heat up things we pre-cook at home or I cook outside on a small Blackstone griddle I bring along.

[Hawndoh 2386]

Also I'm moving from a 7 ft wide camper to an 8 ft wide. So losing the slide doesn't feel like I'm losing as much space as it might otherwise seem.

Slideless also puts our dinette and a big window at the dinette on the door side looking at our camp site instead of driver side looking at the utility post.

[Hawndoh 2386]

Welp, all went to plan. I know have a 2023 Imagine XLS 21BHE in my driveway.

[davidg 4036]

Welcome to the Grand Design family. We have enjoyed the hell out of our Imagine 2800BH.

[JMFP 1120]

Today I decided to wash the fifth wheel. I always start with the top so I rolled up the hose to throw up on the roof and with a big heave I launched the hose skyward and milliseconds after I saw the bright light I released I was too close to the bedroom slide that is right about 6 foot high. No concussion but I did get 3 staples in my scalp for catching the corner...

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Hawndoh 2386]

Took out the new trailer for a two night shake down trip at Tawakoni State Park.

I think it'll be real great for us. It checks all our boxes and seems like it will be a nice fit for the kind of stuff we like to do. 

Tows well behind my Silverado half ton. The MPG doesn't seem too much different than the old one even though it's a fair bit heavier. MPG pain is just a fact of life with an RV. You can't defeat physics.

[fattyflattie 4639]

11 hours ago, Hawndoh said:

Tows well behind my Silverado half ton. The MPG doesn't seem too much different than the old one even though it's a fair bit heavier. MPG pain is just a fact of life with an RV. You can't defeat physics.

Just fighting the aero mostly.  I used to have a skinny water cat on an 18” full riser, huge wide console.  It was like towing a barn.  Took half the effort to tow the skid steer around than it did that little bay boat. ~7k delta in weight between the two. 

We returned from our week at Concan today. Trailer did finominile, as usual. Got several semi local stays lined up over next several weeks. Can’twait.gif 

[CoachTex 2623]

Goose island never disappoints.

[fattyflattie 4639]

14 hours ago, CoachTex said:

Goose island never disappoints.

Less than 3 miles from one my favorite spots on earth. 

[Chewbacca 7765]

First trip for the van in the books and I fucking love it.  I should have done this a few years ago, but at least I did it now.  So nice to have all the fun of car camping without all the shittiness of car camping.  And setup means getting the van mostly level and pulling out a couple camp chairs.

Being out in the boondocks with no cell signal was shitty, though.  Are folks primarily doing Starlink or both Starlink and Weboost?  @troph?  How well does Weboost work?

[troph 24781]

We have web boost it takes an existing weak signal and bumps it one bar. It won’t take none and find a signal, it won’t make 3G LTE but it will take 1 LTE bar and make it 2 bars, etc. 

we don’t have starlink yet but we will eventually. 

[davidg 4036]

Spent the weekend and 4th at our favorite site at Birch Creek SP.  Definitely warm but had a good time.  Did a little boating, a little paddling, some cooking and drinking.   Boat rides at dusk in a flat lake are really nice.

 

 

Had a pretty good storm yesterday afternoon.  We had noticed  a little rain  to the south on a trip down to the marina to get an ice cream and as we came out after our purchase it looked real ugly.  Got out of the No wake zone and put the hammer down for the 8 mile run back to the campsite.  Rain hit just as I finished get the boat anchored back up and the family secured the campsite.  Watched a lot of idiots still running on the lake or swimming as the lightning started.

 

[horn4life 3759]

On 7/2/2023 at 8:20 PM, CoachTex said:

Goose island never disappoints.

I've wondered about goose Island, at I thought it might be a good place to have my buddy that I fish Port O'Conner with. Do they have full hookups? Or electric and a dump station?  I probably still prefer the beach too much.  Does anyone anchor their boat in the bay and just wade out to it?  Assuming there are no boat slips nearby?

But I bet a chunk of ladyfish would eventually bring in an oversize red eventually. Willie is looking for the red of which I speak!

[CoachTex 2623]

@horn4life It is not a full hook up, there is 30 and 50 Amp and a dump station.  There is not any boat slips but there is a nice boat ramp in the park that puts you in Saint Charles Bay.  Yes Willie is always on the hunt for a Redfish, mullet, seagull.

[troph 24781]

I love seeing happy dogs, camping dogs, boat dogs, river dogs, all of them.  pos rep.

[CoachTex 2623]

Goose Island was awesome but the drive home sucked. Had 2 trailer tires pop on me.  First tire started to wobble and pulled off the road into a circle K in three rivers. As soon as I parked the tire popped. Got that tire changed and headed out.  About 20 miles down the road, the 2nd one detonated.  Luckily the tire stayed together and only scuffed up the under side of the trailer.   Had to sit on the side of i-37 waiting for a tire shop to come out and put 2 new tires on so I had a spare in case a third one popped. We were able to make it homewith no other issues thankfully. They put 2 transeagle st radial II on.  Any know if those are decent tires?  Probably need to change out the other 2 though they are only 2.5 years old.

Tire 1 driver side front axel

Tire 2 passenger side front axel.

[fattyflattie 4639]

Rule #1 for me. Replace trailer tires at 3 years whether towed a mile or across country.  Sucks you didn’t even get that.  I follow that for my boats, TT, and smaller flatbeds.   The big boy trailers get a bit more of a pass. Cattle trailers gonna blow out no matter what so they just go when they go.    

Luckily you were able to catch it without any damage. I wasn’t so lucky with our TT. Didn’t do much damage but tire was gone gone.  I went up an inch on the wheels and bought much beefier tires.  

[troph 24781]

58 minutes ago, CoachTex said:

Goose Island was awesome but the drive home sucked. Had 2 trailer tires pop on me.  First tire started to wobble and pulled off the road into a circle K in three rivers. As soon as I parked the tire popped. Got that tire changed and headed out.  About 20 miles down the road, the 2nd one detonated.  Luckily the tire stayed together and only scuffed up the under side of the trailer.   Had to sit on the side of i-37 waiting for a tire shop to come out and put 2 new tires on so I had a spare in case a third one popped. We were able to make it homewith no other issues thankfully. They put 2 transeagle st radial II on.  Any know if those are decent tires?  Probably need to change out the other 2 though they are only 2.5 years old.

Tire 1 driver side front axel

Tire 2 passenger side front axel.

we had that last year coming back from PINS... having a GREAT time then BAM blow out on 1604 in San Antonio. We have one of those RV specific AAA deals so someone came out but it took a few hours, ruined our day to a degree.  upgraded to goodyear tires and won't make the tire mistake again, ever.  1 year down will replace in two more for sure.

[horn4life 3759]

Bummer on the flat.  My single biggest concern is that one of the tire blows and detreads and I am sitting on the side of the road trying to get enough leverage on the spinning wheel where the tire once was to remove the lug nuts.  My solution was under $30 from Amazon.  It's not perfect, and I think I just kept the factory settings, but it gives me a pretty accurate pressure reading on all four trailer tires.  The unit runs off solar or off USB for power.  It gives me an alert if high or low pressure.

Won't save me from having the flat, but will let me know earlier in the process so I am not dealing with a white hot tire, or wheel I cannot get off.  That reminds me I need to break all my lug nuts loose and retighten.  Have not done that since the coast last Fall.  It can be annoying sometimes when I have not set it correctly, repeating high pressure, but that just prompts me to visually check all 4 tire pressures with the monitor on the dash.  Only replacement part is the little batteries for the wheel sensors.

For $30 this cheapie tire pressure monitoring system TPMS is a cheap safeguard to perhaps letting you deal with the issue before it's a mess. Amazon TPMS $30 link

[davidg 4036]

Bummer on the flat.  My single biggest concern is that one of the tire blows and detreads and I am sitting on the side of the road trying to get enough leverage on the spinning wheel where the tire once was to remove the lug nuts.  My solution was under $30 from Amazon.  It's not perfect, and I think I just kept the factory settings, but it gives me a pretty accurate pressure reading on all four trailer tires.  The unit runs off solar or off USB for power.  It gives me an alert if high or low pressure.
Won't save me from having the flat, but will let me know earlier in the process so I am not dealing with a white hot tire, or wheel I cannot get off.  That reminds me I need to break all my lug nuts loose and retighten.  Have not done that since the coast last Fall.  It can be annoying sometimes when I have not set it correctly, repeating high pressure, but that just prompts me to visually check all 4 tire pressures with the monitor on the dash.  Only replacement part is the little batteries for the wheel sensors.
For $30 this cheapie tire pressure monitoring system TPMS is a cheap safeguard to perhaps letting you deal with the issue before it's a mess. Amazon TPMS $30 link

Better pack a good battery impact tool if your worried about stuck lug nuts. We follow a bunch of FB rv groups for TX rving and our camper brand and while a TPMS can give you peace of mind, they usually give little warning. Seems like I have read several of people losing a complete tire and rim several miles back down the road and the TPMS is happily telling them they have 72psi in all tires. That said, I would put on in and a camera system if we were taking multi day, cross country trips. And I’m more worried about wrecking the fender flare and side of the trailer with a partially thrown tread than getting the lugnuts off. Seen many more pics of the wheel wells and trailer sides all torn up than someone complaining they can’t loosen a set of lugnuts.

[utee94 15797]

1 hour ago, davidg said:

 And I’m more worried about wrecking the fender flare and side of the trailer with a partially thrown tread than getting the lugnuts off. Seen many more pics of the wheel wells and trailer sides all torn up than someone complaining they can’t loosen a set of lugnuts.

Yup, a friend of mine not only lost his exterior fender facia and wheel well, but the tire blew apart all of the plumbing and floor of his bathroom as it came apart.  He had no trouble getting back on the road, but his bathroom was completely useless for a few days of that week-long trip, until we managed to collect some parts and cobble together a temporary fix for his last couple of days.  Repair estimates were high, he ended up just totaling that trailer and getting a replacement.

[horn4life 3759]

42 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Yup, a friend of mine not only lost his exterior fender facia and wheel well, but the tire blew apart all of the plumbing and floor of his bathroom as it came apart.  He had no trouble getting back on the road, but his bathroom was completely useless for a few days of that week-long trip, until we managed to collect some parts and cobble together a temporary fix for his last couple of days.  Repair estimates were high, he ended up just totaling that trailer and getting a replacement.

I had two oversize tires on my F150 blow on the same trip to Port A years ago.  Tore the shit out of the side of the truck, and I am still thankful for the guy in Cuero you gave me the spare off an old truck at 7pm on a Sunday night.  Got me home and I dropped it off next trip back with some money that he wouldn't take initially tied to it.  With two tires fubar I would have been screwed trying to get back to Austin.  They were BF Goodrich TA Radials and I got them to pick up a new set because of the failure and damage.

There basically is no guarantee, and that's why you try to safeguard as best you can, and always keep tools.  I always have an impact driver, but it's not top of the line, in torque pounds.  More to get my stabilizers quickly up and down.  I keep a big breaker bar and a spare socket that will usually take care of it.  But like I said before, I usually break all the bolts loose and re-torque once a year, simply because I mostly go to the coast, and the coast can rust shit solid.  Reminds me I need to get some of that blue thread lock to put on.  Supposedly it can help prevent corrosion on the threads.  Which would make sense I guess in just coating the threads?

 

[utee94 15797]

17 minutes ago, horn4life said:

.  Reminds me I need to get some of that blue thread lock to put on.  Supposedly it can help prevent corrosion on the threads.  Which would make sense I guess in just coating the threads?

 

Yup, make sense to me.

[davidg 4036]

Not a fan of anything on wheel studs except a nut. Any oil etc you put on there reduces the friction torquing up and you can stretch or pop the studs before reaching your needed torque. Clean and torque up dry, then put on some type of dry coating to prevent rust.

[fattyflattie 4639]

Just got back from a few nights at Splashway.  We’ve been getting a lot of use out of the TT this year.  Kids still loving it, which is the driver. 

[utee94 15797]

We did almost 2 weeks of vacation between Florida and New Orleans this year, and this time we decided to do it all in a condo (Florida beachfront) and a hotel in the French Quarter.  I thought the kids would love the luxury and space of the "nicer" accommodations but they spent half the time asking when we were going to take the RV out again.

We're doing a long weekend at Garner in a couple of weeks, but then school starts and my daughter is in high school band so there's just zero time after that.  We might get away to TX-OU this year, since there are no band competitions that weekend, just the Friday night football game.

 

 

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

We're doing a long weekend at Garner in a couple of weeks, but then school starts and my daughter is in high school band so there's just zero time after that. 

Nice.  My Frio trip got cut short by a few days due to stomach bug running around camp and blastfurnace in general.   I’ve got Nueces, another splash way trip, and one I’m forgetting at moment planned for next 5 weeks.   Then back to the ranch from sept to Feb.  need to squeeze another august trip in somewhere. 

[Rip76 4924]

On 7/2/2023 at 8:20 PM, CoachTex said:

Goose island never disappoints.

CT,

What’s the size of that trailer?

 

[CoachTex 2623]

26 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

CT,

What’s the size of that trailer?

 

I believe it is listed as a 26 ft (257bhs). It is 29 ft hitch to bumper.

[Rip76 4924]

Awesome, thanks.

 

[Hawndoh 2386]

This Imagine I got has a built in three burner 24" Capital brand griddle. I've always packed along an 18" Blackstone and a propane bottle.

Tried out the capital griddle this morning and it worked out pretty well. I may be able to leave the Blackstone at home. Save some space and weight in the truck.

[utee94 15797]

I have a knockoff Blackstone that I use, and even if I had an onboard griddle, I think I'd probably still pack it.  I like being able to move it around and set up anywhere I want on the campsite.

And of course we often camp with a couple of other close friends whose families have RVs, and typically we set up a full-on "Kitchen Stadium" at one of our sites, with all of our top cooking gear in one area.  We do competition cookoffs at dinner, and usually all work together to make "Big Breakfast" for the 3-5 families attending.

[fattyflattie 4639]

We had this junky little grill on a mount on the back bumper, that you could unpin and pull ~5' away from the back corner of the trailer.  I took it off, and there was a big plate there.  My 17" blackstone fits perfectly in that spot.  Gas already piped to that back corner, easy peasy.  It rides in the outdoor kitchen right next to its mount there, and fits like a glove in the corner there.  Just one of those things that worked out perfectly in pretty much every way. In fact, i wanted the slightly larger one, but wife bought this one and it just worked out perfect, dimensionally.  I don't think we've ever used anything but the microwave inside. 

[utee94 15797]

We use our oven a lot.  Biscuits at breakfast time, and things like enchiladas and lasagna for times when we're using the RV as a home-on-the-road, like camping at COTA for the USGP.  It's easy to prep those ahead of time, freeze them, and just cook them when we need them at the circuit.

[HOOKEM4 5036]

Well after a bunch of crazy family drama, I am going to finally sell the Airstream, again. Never deal with family on anything. I will write up something and post links tomorrow.

We have a new cabin at the ranch and just need to let this go to someone who will actually use it as it is intended. 

 

[HOOKEM4 5036]

1234

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

Looking like I’ll likely be selling our 27 ft nash rather than haul it cross country. Hopefully to replace with a newer one as soon as practical.  If one of you knows someone that wants to get started with a solidly built older one (1999 I think) for around 6k, I may have it cleaned out and ready in the fall. 

[utee94 15797]

4 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

1234

Looks tight, Hookem.  Despite selling my Airstream a few years back, I still have quite a few friends who remain in the Cult.  What year and details, and asking price, are you looking for?  Feel free to PM me if you'd rather keep it private.

[HOOKEM4 5036]

The listing is here: 

https://www.airstreammarketplace.com/airstream-trailers-for-sale/2014-23ft-flying-cloud-for-sale-in-austin-texas

I did not write it. Grandma wrote it. It is better writing than mine. I would have had at least 1 joke in the ad.

[HOOKEM4 5036]

It has been awhile since I sold a boat/car. Never sold an Airstream before. Holy shit, the amount of messages is overwhelming. The amount of bs is comical. It is almost a perfect human experiment. People are fascinating. 

[utee94 15797]

45 minutes ago, HOOKEM4 said:

It has been awhile since I sold a boat/car. Never sold an Airstream before. Holy shit, the amount of messages is overwhelming. The amount of bs is comical. It is almost a perfect human experiment. People are fascinating. 

Yeah I sold mine 5 years ago.  Crazy amount of BS and a lot of looky-loos.  Ultimately I sold for a price that I was very happy about.

[HOOKEM4 5036]

On 8/4/2023 at 7:08 PM, utee94 said:

Yeah I sold mine 5 years ago.  Crazy amount of BS and a lot of looky-loos.  Ultimately I sold for a price that I was very happy about.

I have a solid prospect. We will see. It pays to have insane records. My mom keeps everything on everything. Hopefully it works out. Shit is moving super fast. I am surprised.

[horn4life 3759]

Well I just completed the (almost) month in Port Aransas at IB MaGee.  Surf Fishing was tough with the early cold fronts, but managed to get a few Redfish.  We did a couple long weekends and then I went back to get the rig and do a little more fishing.  Well I finally got into t few fish the evening before I had planned to leave ahead of that big cold front.  The weather was just too good, and I decided to fish in the AM and just Iron man it home on Sunday night.  The good news was I caught a limit of Redfish in the AM.  I could have stayed another night but it was gonna be windy either way, and rainy the next AM.  So got off water at 11:30, got back to trailer to unload 12:15, cleaned Fish at 1:00, washed truck and got gas 1:30, fiinshing all the make ready and I drive right up on the ferry at 3 PM!

Unfortunately at about 4:00 just a few miles south of Refugio I have the exact same image as CoachTex. One of my tires had a flat, and it was a new one!  My TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) kept going off but I kept hitting the ignore button.  By the time I checked it I had like 5 lbs left in the tire.  Then the fun begins!  i am prepared ahd bought a hydraulic jack that popped the wheel right up and got it off.  Then found out that I was about 1/2 inch short of getting the spare on.  So I get the truck jack,  Takes a few minutes to get it in place an up goes the rig a little higher. Great!  Then I realize that from the angle of the truck jack I will not be able to get the jack down once the tire is on! Argh!  So drop it again, replace jack and third times a charm.  Screw on TPMS stem cap and off I go!  Only 45 minutes with the BS.  Then I notice the pressure system says 18 psi.  So I go slow into Refugio, and it takes me three damn stops to find a working air compressor.  With a trailer and exhausted it was more than frustrating.

Woke up at 5:45 to fish and rolled into Austin at 8:45.  This little dilemma is making me either put a cigarette lighter outlet by one set of the tires where the cord will reach to the other side. Or perhaps buy one of those cordless drill looking inflators.  AND I will check the pressure on my spare every trip from now on.  Good news is tire had discount certificate and they put the new tire on in about 5 minutes.  Now I am back and doing some maintenance, and I noticed my 30 amp outlet looks like there was a little arcing.  Apparently the screw tight threads on the outlet are fubar, so likely the connection was not solid at some point. Likely when I was messing with all the connections after getting the power going.  So I need to replace that.  

Going to clean the shit out of her, get my maintenance done a

nd reorganize the storage area.  I don't use the trailer near enough, but these months of on and off staying in Port A alone have been worth it.  Otherwise I would not have this fish pic!

 

[fattyflattie 4639]

14 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Or perhaps buy one of those cordless drill looking inflators.  AND I will check the pressure on my spare every trip from now on. 

Buddy at ranch had a cordless one that works with his full dewalt cordless set. It lasts a surprisingly long time, and I watched them fill a 35” tire this weekend and then another 15” camper tire no issue.   Don’t forget to replace the spare when you do the other 4 as well.  

[Hawndoh 2386]

I have a little roadside 12v air compressor that works pretty well. You can either plug into a 12v socket in your vehicle or it has clips you can clip directly to the RV battery terminals.

It fits under the truck back seat and does a good job 

[davidg 4036]

Buddy at ranch had a cordless one that works with his full dewalt cordless set. It lasts a surprisingly long time, and I watched them fill a 35” tire this weekend and then another 15” camper tire no issue.   Don’t forget to replace the spare when you do the other 4 as well.  

I carry a bunch of Dewalt 20v stuff including the inflator and the big 1/2 impact all the time in my truck. Makes dealing with tire issues a breeze. Used it this weekend on a utility trailer and tractor tire.

Almost every battery tool brand has a decent inflator to go with their battery ecosystem. Project Farm has a couple of really good cordless inflator reviews.

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, Hawndoh said:

I have a little roadside 12v air compressor that works pretty well. You can either plug into a 12v socket in your vehicle or it has clips you can clip directly to the RV battery terminals.

It fits under the truck back seat and does a good job 

I do the same.  Cordless would be $$ compared to trying to run 12v power to the back 1/3 of the camper and find a clean install for the socket, etc.   not that it can’t be done. But if you have one of the battery ecosystems, makes sense. 

[davidg 4036]

I had one of the Slime 12v lighter plug compressors and it would start popping fuses at ~50psi. I run the rv trailer tires at 75 so there was no way it was gonna work for those. Dewalt handles 75 psi no prob.

If I was gonna buy a stand alone I’d spent the $$$ on a Viair 450P-RV. Those things are great for rv tires or setting up onboard air.

The Dewalt is $120 for the bare Tool (no batteries) right now and will probably drop close to $100 during Black Friday. I paid $100 for mine I think.

[horn4life 3759]

Oh yeah!  And I forgot the bonus of breaking off the bit in impact driver!  It was a clusterfuck with huge ant mounds my first two setups.  Best thing I did have was an old furniture blanket that allowed me a degree of comfort in the dirt, or protect me from molten asphalt. 

I did wire a cigarette lighter/ USB charger into the back bed of my truck, a month or so ago. It has an on/off switch, a battery voltage monitor, and two usb ports.  Basically lets me run my bait buckets endlessly with the ability to recharge the aerators.  It was a bit of a pain making everything bulletproof, but worth the extra effort to shield and seal all the wiring.  It might be worth doing the same connection on the trailer, as now I have to use a double USB plug in charger to keep bait alive overnight if I rustle up some mullet.

Guess I will explore underneath and see how to best attach and protect a new DC connection. Wonder if by some miracle I might have an extra fuse slot?  That would be nice(but unlikely).  

Edited November 7, 2023 by horn4life