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You cannot tow a potato chip with that Malibu!!! Looky for a 91-95 Dodge Cummins pick up. Powerful 12V engines get 22 MPG not towing and 15-18 towing. Older ones inexpensive and available. Toy hauler with rear beds that raise and lower are the best. When not in use you send them to the ceiling.
Try this old school method…. light 2 burners on your stove. Go out to your tanks and spray with a mist of water….the water will freeze on the tank at the propane line.
Thinking it would be better to purchase a propane Genny from Honda. Propane is very hot and they do not last as long as Gas. I switch off when only using one, marking with post it note” rest” and ” use next”. Never ha d an issue after 6-9 months of sitting, no gum up etc…
Your first inspection is mileage!!! Locate a low mileage used coach, same with generator, low hours. Many folks get the RV bug at the RV show. They buy this beautiful coach at the show and have it delivered. Then they notice that they have to care for it and find a place to park it etc..or after the first big trip they decide its too much work etc….many older rigs have very few miles. Last week I found a 1992 Tioga with 6500 miles on it!!!!! 24 years old and it looked new from original owner. I have a friend looking and an hour later we were on the road home with his new coach which cost him 7200.00. I personally am in the market for a Newmar, Foretravel or Bluebird Diesel so I handed off the lotto strike. Keep looking. Every rig, new or old, will have bugs to work out and stuff to fix. This is part of the fun.
In 2007 I was towing my new-used Tango trailer into Saline Hot springs in Death Valley and the washboard roads were getting on my nerves so I increased the speed a tad bit too much. When I arrived I found the front of the Reefer door gone…in fact the oak cover was under the dinner table and the lock tabs broke right off!!! Repair time. Gorilla tape was the solution to get me home..in fact that cover is still fast in place 9 years later..still holding just fine. Fun to fix stuff.Expando foam spray is like whip cream in a can. It is heavy oil based and takes a week to get off your hands. Wear gloves!!! It expands and sets up in the delivery tube as well as trigger assembly so about 10 minutes is all you have. Some folks try to clean the can with MEK but this is very bad to work with.
The same mix is used to seal off old mine shafts and abandoned water wells. They mix in 5 gallon buckets and pour around the top of the hole. Within a few minutes the mix sets up and grows out of the hole. They cut the excess like a loaf of bread then cover with dirt. Great cap to prevent children from falling down old shaft.
Steel wool is better if you pull apart an SOS pad. In addition to the wire element there is the soap smelly blue stuff that rodents avoid.
I have an RV pal that uses the ” bucket of death” a 5 gallon bucket with 3 .5 gallons of water in it. cover waterline with Saran wrap and sprinkle a few seeds and peanut butter on wrap. Mr. Rodent jumps on then cannot get out of the water.6 months later!!! Mr. RiverKern gray dude still at Bolsa Chica beach.(10 21 2015) Thinking now I need to find him a gray chickie. He is eating well, very tame, and cared for by the long tern RVers.
Ward, I would advise you to take belly dancing lessons and try to locate Pippi at next years Quartzite rally. If we locate our next coach(Wanderlodge) by then we are going to invite Pippi to perform at Improv night.
Yikes!!!! I have to disagree with Pippi the queen of living mobile!!!! Recall the song “Going mobile” by the Who?? Great song. Anyway, used rental RVs are an awesome deal if purchased from a big company. A company that rents will send out for repairs and this is expensive. Their techs do minor stuff but not big repair. They will buy identical 400 units for an insane low cost, rent for 1 year, then sell at the same low cost and replace with brand new. 6 months out of the year they sit. This is cheaper than doing repairs.
Check the hour meter on the Genny. They charge WHOPPING fees per hour so customers will use at a minimum. Some have a dozen hours on Genny because European folks like parks with hook ups and pools. Mattresses are trashed and new installed, same with the throne. It is cheaper to install a new one and sell the unit with a full warranty.
Most companies prohibit travel in Death Valley in the summer and they even have GPS units installed!!!! When you get 20 miles from the park you get a friendly call and reminder that you will be billed 5K if you enter the National park. Heat trashes engines if you are running the AC in the summer where Townes pass reaches 130 degrees outside. Most used RVs at a reputable company will have a full factory warranty on the power unit. Most are Ford V10s, bulletproof engines and easy to repair.
Look for excess wear of course and request to see the tank cleaning contract. All tanks are cleaned with a super high pressure system. This hour long per tank process costs 140 dollars and it will be included with the sale.
Looky on the lot!!! If they have 3 dozen 2014 Tiogas for sale they need to move 3 dozen to make way for the 2015 rental fleet and they will drop price 25 percent!!!Pippi cannot give up all of her secrets!!! Who says she is single?? I seem to recall a repair video she did and there was a gentleman in a picture or two….
Bounders are the rig of choice when it comes to fair price and reliable. You can get one like hers with low miles for 7500 or less. Dates and where she is now???? Tune in!! Use your imagination!!!! It warms my soul that she was at the swap meet a 7 iron away from my home but RVers cannot give up their locations on the internet. Creepy folks are everywhere.You will get NOWHERE in ANY loan department!!!!! Use a pals address, parents, etc….also, many computer systems will flag an address. My wife was a loan officer at a hospital and when folks used the VA as their address they would get caught.
Goodyear Marathon is the way to go!!! Smooth, quiet, reasonably priced, and tough as nails. A blow out can tear up your wheel wells, plumbing etc….so do not screw around with tires. ALSO..in my other posts..check the date on the tire!!! Camping world has tires on sale at crazy low prices..they will be 10 years old. warehoused so they can sell as new but they are junk.
So 10-15K will buy a great used coach in sunny California. Can you travel and do your RN stuff?? I encounter travel nurses all the time. Recently met a nurse couple and both husband and wife hammered away at work in Calif during cold months, then spent all summer hiking in Alaska. Maybe locate a coach in the state you want to visit, saves fuel and big travel costs. Look at Pahrump Nevada!!! Retirement town with wonderful folks and the biggest industry is health care. There are wonderful RV parks there and it is an hour to crappy Vegas.
If you are at a park with electricity paid..use a Delonghi oil heater
!!! They are awesome but cost a boatload of cash on the E bill. Iam now at a park with a meter so its propane, and I set the Stat at 59. My trailer is well insulated, well its a cold weather Pacific coachworks that was ordered by a Canadian customer. Happy Trails!!! Beautiful night in Palm Springs!!!!
Totally agree Kyle, and I love my trouble free Tango but it is a rolling $hitbox compared to Airstream or Northwood. Newmar, Newell, Prevo…….quality you bet but EIGHTEEN THOUSAND dollars for the carpet??? 240.00 for each “Newmar” engraved wine glass?? The Bro in law has a Prevost and his reefer was 11,000 and this did not include installation. Side windows on his new coach fell out in Texas and he had to go to Indiana and wait 10 days for the 30K warranty repair. Not for me!!!! I cannot even stay at their resort in La Quinta because they do not allow trailers!!!
Gimme that old tupperware any day!!!!!I wrote this elsewhere on a Pippi-gram but anyway that expanding spray foam under the coach works well to keep critters out. Before you start the can spraying make sure to identify each location, the can cannot be reused once you started using it, it dries in 10 minutes and plugs up so be ready to use the entire can.
WD 40 is magic juice for any RV. One small squirt on the outriggers will keep ants out. WD 40 makes any surface shine and deters wasps and hornets. It cleans oil and tar stains. Soak your tow hitch to stop rust and make shine. A quick wipe down on the first foot of the awning prevents it from looking like a golf course after a rainstorm.
Ivory flakes are the best for mice if you are putting the rig into storage. Sprinkle around and they will avoid the area. If you cannot locate this, you can use a dryer sheet, the type that smells like cheap perfume, they chew on them and get very sick and will avoid the area. Rodent poison is a no no!!!! They crawl away and die from dehydration, then stink up the small space they crawled into to die.Chemicals are not good for mother earth!!!! I use a capful of the safe stuff from Walmart but no other stuff down the tanks. If you start with 10 gallons of water the tank will flush just fine.
So to clean a false reading from the sensor, 20 pounds of ice and a squirt of Dawn dish soap down the black tank and go for a whirl!!!! Drive around until it melts. Add water and SWOOSH your tanks are clean.
Also, gray tank yuk is no issue if you wash your dishes outdoors. Pots with chili and spaghetti etc have no business filling the gray tank. Remove as much as possible with paper towels then wash outdoors. Then a hot rinse inside.Mag Hy Tek makes aftermarket oil pans and Diff covers for all Chevrolet applications. Their pans are aluminum and have cooling fins. They also hold additional fluid which extends the life of your transmission. If your tranny was not slipping and screaming you did no damage. I assume you have a 454 Chevy in your Bounder. Early models like yours should have came with a turbohydramatic 4 bolt and they are tough. My 76 Chevy C 10 Vanmobile had over 300K miles on the original untouched transmission and it never had a problem.
AGREE 100 percent on additional coolers!!!!! Gas engines force the Auto trans to work overtime and you can always install aftermarket coolers. Remember this cooler also adds another quart of fluid and thats a good thing.Airstream is the only safe trailer investment out there. The resale is insane. EVERY other trailer today is borderline junk. Stick and tin and lots of glue. They look great at the RV show but a while in the sun they go to complete crap. I currently own a Pacific coachworks tango 25. Tango Tom Powell worked for Airstream and then opened his company. My 2007 has been trouble free for 8 years, no malfunctions and I have camped in it hundreds of times. Appliances and AC etc are all quality brands. Great trailer. The exterior that I wax monthly is starting to delaminate. Little plastic things that hold open the hatch doors and brittle and snapping off etc…..the tupperware is wearing out!!! At the same time, pals from Victorville, Chuck and Kathy, just sold their 67 airstream for 17,500. Thus is after 10 years and 10 K invested, and chuck had 40 hits on Craigslist the same day he sold it. My 12K trailer is now worth about 5K. Airstreams were too small inside with wife and 2 kids so we went with the Tango. No regrets and I would buy another tomorrow knowing it will drop in value about a hundred dollars per month. Cheap rent!!!!!!!!!
Another Outlaw advantage, Gas has dropped in price and the V-10 Ford is bullet proof. You can purchase a new crated engine for the cost of a diesel service and major tune up. The Outlaw has floor space that can hold chairs, tables, workshop,belly dance floor etc….. I have a friend with one and we sit 15 inside with lawn chairs with room to spare.
A half ton truck cannot pull a 5th wheel…..in fact, they cannot pull much of anything unless a newer Hemi Dodge or Ford with the 6.2. Half tons strain pulling even a small trailer. I pulled my new Pacific Coachworks 25 foot tango trailer home with a half ton Ford with a 351. The Tango is labeled” Ultralight” at 4700 pounds but it was like towing the Queen Mary at low tide. A week later my 2500 Dodge Cummins diesel came in and towing is a breeze with the 5.9.
Airstreams are the Cadilliacs of trailers. Steel I beam construction and rivot driven aircraft aluminum that lasts a lifetime. Axles by Dana, USA made quality!!!! A 50 year old Airstream will look new with a shine. They tow well and do not leak.
Also!!!! Spray expanding foam
that you get at any hardware store is an excellent insulator for under the coach. One squirt over a water line will insulate. Do not use too much as it expands 10X over. Install in warm weather so it sets up and dries quickly. Another plus with this brown goop, it keeps bugs and rodents out when you are in the Boonies. One trip we dropped anchor in a beautiful park in Pahrumph Nevada and the kids wanted to go for a bike ride. We were gone for 30 minutes. In that time ants got in the trailer and covered the kids birthday cake. Daughters white coconut cake was solid black with ants. They walked thru a small drain hole under the sink and found Mr. Cake. Took the entire trip to catch them all. One squirt of foam and have not had another bug invasion.
Select several locations to apply the foam as the can should be used up within 10 minutes of first spray. The product expands in the spray nozzle and seals the can up good. A construction type of guy will clean the sprayer with acetone but it is a hassle. Use the entire can. 6 dollars well spent. Wear gloves that you never want to see again, like surgical disposables in the event you have to mold the product once it starts to expand.My Pacific Coachworks trailer is 4 season tuned up for cold weather but remember that a strong breeze can turn that 25 degree night into a minus 25 so you need to be prepared. I used to use the anti freeze liquid in the holding tanks but this stuff is way bad for the environment. I have tried many tricks. Working in 15 degree weather I found that a pot of hot water down the tanks at night will prevent freezing. Swim noodles work well, available at any store, these things that kids swim with make great insulation and easily wrap around a pipe with duct tape. If not using the coach and its gonna sit in an oil field in Fargo N.D, you must drain every drop of water from every line, regardless of your wintering or quality of RV. All RVs have a low point drain. You park over an area that needs water and open the valve. Cannot see dumping a hundred gallons down a gutter when mother earth needs water!
