Category: RV Maintenance
Which RV did we picked and Why we chose this one?
September 21, 2011 by Canadianladybug · Leave a Comment
As a member of the blogging team of Woodall’s, I have to blog about specific theme every once in a while. This week, we have to blog about our RV and why we have chosen this one in particular. Our Travel Trailer When we first started to look at RVs, we had a pop-up trailer. But we wanted more functionality while camping like a shower and bathroom for example. So every once in a while we looked at the RVs. We knew that we wanted the flexibility of travelling for our family. In 2007, after talking with a salesperson at an RV store in our city, we purchased a Jay Feather model 30U by Jayco. Why this one in particular? Because it is light and we can go on trips with the whole family. Back when we chose this model we had three kids and we thought that we might have another one – we loved the fact that there were two bunk beds in the back. There was an pull-out for extra room in the kitchen/living room area and there was a bathroom! Our RV when we picked it up back... [Read more...]
Frame failure and homelessness…
September 20, 2011 by Dana Ticknor · 9 Comments
Approx. 2 years ago, our family went from owning our own house to being houseless - we sold our sticks and bricks and bought a toy hauler to call home while we travel the country. In the past few weeks, we have gone from being houseless but with a home (our toy hauler), to being homeless. Our 5th wheel has suffered frame failure. And it’s not just our frame that is experiencing failure, I believe that there is a failure of the RV community to realize that this is a problem that happens to 5th wheels all too commonly (and a few other rvs too!). So, are you sitting down? Because I’m writing you a book here about our experience… We had never heard of frame failure before having to deal with it ourselves - after all, something like that couldn’t happen to our beastly rig – these hunks of wood and metal are designed to withstand the rigors of use and the tumult of being hauled down the highway at 60 miles per hour. Aren’t they? ... [Read more...]
When you’re too chicken to paint…
September 15, 2011 by Dana Ticknor · 2 Comments
One of the things that I have wanted to do since going fulltime 2 years ago, has been to decorate the rv. Now, I’m really not opposed to the neutral color scheme that each of our rvs has come with, but to leave them totally unaltered has seemed somewhat impersonal for our ‘home’. I know lots of other families on the road that have been brave enough to paint their rvs, and while I have loved every color scheme that I have watched unfold on their blogs, it just has never given me enough courage to take the plunge and pick up the brush. I love the trendy colors that I have been seeing, and even having the process laid out for me in pictures hasn’t overcome the fear that I will regret starting the never-ending ‘updating’ painting in our rig. So, being a more timid interior decorator when it comes to our rv, we have gone the safe route… and have loved every bit of it! When it comes to decorating that goes a bit beyond the towels and rug that... [Read more...]
LED The Way
September 7, 2011 by Professor95 · 2 Comments
LED’s or Light Emitting Diodes are leading the way in energy efficient RV lighting. Converting your existing energy wasting incandescent RV lighting to LED’s makes sense and is now relatively inexpensive – and easy!. RVs typically come from the factory with 12-volt automotive type filament lamps, halogen, or florescent lighting. The automotive type lamps produce more heat than light, wasting as much as 90% of the electrical energy required. Halogen lamps provide more light, but still produce a tremendous amount of heat in the process. Florescent lamps are the lowest consumers of energy, but the voltage converters required for fluorescents to operate off of 12-volts are not extremely efficient. So, why should you care about the efficiency of your 12-volt RV lighting? 24 SMD replacement wafer for G8 hallogen bulbs The number one reason is the amount of current drawn from your RV batteries. If you are off-grid, conventional lighting can quickly discharge your batteries. Converting... [Read more...]
From Tacoma to Nashville, RV Repairs Slowed Us Down, But Didn’t Stop Us From Having a Great Experience
August 18, 2011 by Guest Blogger · 1 Comment
(Guest Blog Post by Bob Kasprzak) My trip from Tacoma to Nashville has been plagued by repairs that have cost us a months delay. But the people who repaired out vehicle were excellent, cost efficient and timely. We traveled from Tacoma to Zion to Albuquerque to Nashville, TN in our 1986 Mini Winnie. We stopped at 1000 lakes Campground in Torre, UT to get a leaky tire fixed. The owners brother, ‘Biggie’, operates an RV repair service next to the campground. He repaired our problem, a frozen wheel axle quickly and at a very reasonable price. Just outside of Memphis an passing motorist notified us that we had a trailer problem and I pulled over to find the tire in shreds. Our road service insurance took us to a local Walmart where I bought two new larger tires and changed them in the parking lot at 10PM. Once we arrived in Nashville, our transmission quit working and ‘Mr. Transmission’ came to our rescue, fixed the tranny in one day again at a decent price. We found... [Read more...]
Teardrop Revival
August 13, 2011 by Rex Vogel · 1 Comment
Earlier this year I reported that demand for the small and compact teardrop trailer had increased resulting in a recent upswing in sales. I further reported that homemade teardrop trailers were making a comeback. Joe and Leslie Kosareff prepare dinner during an overnight camping trip with a teardrop trailer at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, near Kenwood, California. (Credit: Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat) Today I report on a manufacturer of custom built teardrop trailers. When Joe and Leslie Kosareff pull into a campground, fellow campers just can’t seem to resist their little tin can of a trailer. With its pudgy little teardrop-shaped body set low on two white sidewall tires, and measuring a mere 9 feet long by 4½ feet wide, it is the anti-RV. As reported by the Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, there is just enough space for two people to cuddle up inside at night and cook out during the day from a rear hatch. What the Kosareffs’ trailer lacks in amenities it makes... [Read more...]
DON’T BECOME A VICTIM OF RV LOCK-IN (or, how to fix an important safety fault.)
August 12, 2011 by Professor95 · 6 Comments
We had pulled into a rest area/welcome station just across the state line. Due to our RV’s longer length, we had to park with the big trucks. While Nancy took Oscar for his walk, I popped into the camper to complete a quick check of the contents then closed the door and headed to the Men’s rest room. Upon returning to the truck, I saw Oscar sitting in the front seat looking out the window. The assist handle next to the camper’s only door was jutting out in the open position. Figuring that I had neglected to move the handle in to the transport position, I snapped it back in front of the camper door and made myself comfortable in the driver’s seat of the truck, all the time assuming Nancy had left Oscar in the truck and made a visit to the Lady’s rest room. An unusually long period of time had passed and I was getting worried about Nancy. Then, a trucker rapped on my door indicating for me to roll down my window. He looked up and said, “Hey, mister, your wife is locked... [Read more...]
Modifying our bathroom – a review for Extend-A-Shower
August 8, 2011 by Canadianladybug · 5 Comments
RV Extend-A-Shower Created by Stromberg Carlson Products Inc. About the product Enjoy the comfort and privacy of your RV’s shower with Extend-A-Shower. Extend-A-Shower creates more room in your RV’s shower so you won’t need to run to the public showers anymore. When not in use it folds out of the way with no tools required. To fold in or out, simply move the main bar to one side, swing one leg in or out, move the bar to the other side and position the other leg. Fits shower stalls 35″- 42″ wide Pivots into your shower stall when not needed. Can be used to drip dry laundry over your shower basin. Our Thoughts We always found that our bathroom in our RV was small. And we wished that there was a way to have the area feel bigger at times. One day while looking into an RV magazine, I saw the Extend-A-Shower product being announced. Being a reviewer, I decided to email the company behind this intriguing product to see if we could review one. They... [Read more...]
Tempflow Mattress and My Sleep Experiment
August 2, 2011 by Good Sam Team · 7 Comments
Ready for Testing I take sleeping very seriously. As the days get longer and the nights get increasingly shorter, the time I have to sleep becomes more precious every day. If I don’t get a solid six hours of quality sleep a night I am irritably, groggy, sore, and basically a drain upon society. That is why choosing a mattress can become a monumental challenge. If I don’t choose a good mattress then I can say ‘good night’ to a good night’s rest, and that does not sit well with me (or my wife for that matter). So when Relief Mart contacted me about testing and reviewing the Tempflow Mattress for RVs and home, you can imagine my hesitation. Before I even took the mattress out of the packaging, I wrote up a list of the qualities I wanted in a mattress, and I decided right then and there that for me to recommend this Tempflow mattress, it would have to meet all these criteria. Support I have had my run-ins with lumpy, droopy, hard-as-rock mattresses in the past, and they were not pleasant... [Read more...]
Camping and RV’ing Support American Jobs (Opinion-Editorial Submission)
July 21, 2011 by Professor95 · 1 Comment
Jobs, jobs and more jobs. That is what this Country needs right now to get us out of the economic slump. Any time unemployment rises, our economy suffers. While all of our politicians keep trumping ideas and probable solutions for putting Americans back to work, none has addressed the positive impact the ownership and use of recreational vehicles has on our economy. RV’ers contribute to the employment of hundreds of thousands of American workers. It is estimated that for every RV built, sold and used by families in the USA, two full-time jobs are created or sustained. There are at least 8 million (8,000,000) American households that own at least one RV. We also annually visit many of the 13,000 privately owned RV parks and 1,600 public facilities that cater to RV’s – many more can be counted if we include tent campers. It all begins with the manufacture of RV and camping components from raw materials. We need steel, aluminum, fiberglass, lumber, plastics and rubber... [Read more...]
