The Long long long trip

[Foiled Again]

Laughing at myself. I watched my fuel gauge like a hawk while towing out west - too far between stations to risk going below half full, right? Right. So this morning on the way to work..... ding ding ding, warning you are almost out of gas!

The last leg home left me drained - and the tank too. Off to the local station. Only 5 within the next two miles to choose from.

have a nice night. bye.

[guskmg]

Satellites won't work in North Alaska. Too far above the equator.
Wilson 4G cel boosters work great when in line of site with the rower.
The Airstream Service Center is maxed out keeping up with increased sales. The original 16 of 32 bays are going to need to expand to all 32 to keep up. This means parts will have to relocate.
Be available when they bring your trailer in so you can go over the repairs to be done with the tech. During the day visit the job several times to check on progress The techs will keep you posted of any fixes or necessary changes.
If you see something you don't like contact Rick Marsh, Chris Burch, or Kevin, the shop foreman.
I have never heard them complain of comebacks. Last November, they did a major modification for me with almost 100% no defects. I fixed one item when I got home and I will get them to do the other the next time I am there. Two techs for a whole week.
Be friendly and communicate well. I always tip the techs. The next time I show up they ask for my jobs. I hope the above story is just growing pains. I have always had good experiences at JC.
guskmg

[Larry C]

I'm hoping for your sake you don't mean "Camping World", instead of Campers World.

Camping World used to be a really good company when David Garvin and his family owned it. Since then, the company has been sold a couple of time, and currently "The Profit" Marcus Lemonus is the CEO.

The company is very bottom line oriented, and frankly couldn't give a damn if they help you or not. Use then only in an emergency, and then make sure they do what they're supposed to do. Be prepared to pay a very high price for mediocre work.

Not trying to break anyone's bubble, but that's the way I see it...

Larry

Originally Posted by firstwave

Sorry to hear about the decline in quality of factory service. With the prices new trailers are commanding you should expect top notch service. There is so few Airstream qualified techs anywhere especially in my area. The few good techs are so busy it takes months to get anything done.
I'm about ready to try Campers World.

[Foiled Again]

One thing I did notice especially in Utah and Montana was the number of small and sometimes homemade trailers. I think I saw at least a dozen Casitas, a couple of Scamps, one Trillium (sp?) and then there were - well a couple of old truck beds that had been made into tent trailers or pop-ups or just tent and stuff carriers. I also (unfortunately) saw some very vintage trailers that had become yard sheds, chicken coops or worse. Two old Trail Manors and a Silver Streak... slowly going into the earth.

You know the glitzy big casino towns may be prospering, but the smaller towns with a few sad failing casinos that have the only restaurants in town, rows of vacant shops and housing that is rapidly deteriorating into slums... gambling venues are so widespread that they've finally run out of customers.
Penny Slots have become so pervasive that anyone who pays quarter slots is becoming a "high roller". Walk through the door and you walk into the set of a 50's "B" movie - film noir, with a second rate plot and third rate actors.

I was also quite impressed with the number of motorcycles with trailers - anything from the size of a biggish cooler right up through a couple that looked a lot like coffins - borderline creepy. Saw a large number of trike motorcycles both traditional (2 wheels in back) and the newer style with the two wheels in the front. Lots of Silver haired people keeping up with riding cycles by reducing the odds of sliding and road rash... and generally riding in "citizen" mode. Did meet one old dude with a custom Harley - DUAL engines! Definitely NOT a citizen bike.

[16595]

Yes, Verizon in the rural parts of US.

A duramax and a Blue Ox hitch has served us well for a lot of miles. Very stable and an easy hitch to live with.

[firstwave]

"Taking ANYTHING to Camping World would be a very costly mistake!!!!!!"

"I'm hoping for your sake you don't mean "Camping World", instead of Campers World.

Camping World used to be a really good company when David Garvin and his family owned it. Since then, the company has been sold a couple of time, and currently "The Profit" Marcus Lemonus is the CEO.

The company is very bottom line oriented, and frankly couldn't give a damn if they help you or not. Use then only in an emergency, and then make sure they do what they're supposed to do. Be prepared to pay a very high price for mediocre work."




Thanks Lew and Larry. I think I will just wait for Paul at A&P to work me into his schedule. I might have to wait a while but I know repairs will be done right.

[TCA and GPO]

Paula,

How do I tell you how much I admire you?
Before I became TCA (TinCannieAnnie) I was a surgeon. Let me tell you cutting open someones chest or belly is way easier than backing up and hitching a trailer!
So just sending you some love and respect.

annie

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by westcoastas

"Honestly, I'd love to know how much stuff you have that your truck sags. Especially since you're one person." That's dangerous territory asking a woman that question.

(I'm probably on thin ice myself for assigning a sexist generalization like that.)

What did it this time was the 3000 Handi Honda generator - and my cast iron collection which keeps growing. Yes a bought another sewing machine too - but I got rid of the newer (plastic lightweight) Janome in favor of the 30 lb 1953 steel geared Singer. The quilting machine is a featherweight - literally.

Then I did a real brain dead move, put in a bed slide without asking how much it weighed... and there was just no way to get enough other stuff OUT though I did donate a lot to the starvation army.

I wants me stuff - and I'm getting a heavy enough truck to carry it. OH, and that will include an electric bicycle in the back of the Eddie Bauer.

[slowmover]

blkmagicka has a recent post showing a crane mounted in the back of his truck bed to move the generator in and out. Now on my list. I see a Honda 3000 weighs over 130-lbs. I figure on that size or larger as well.

If also like to have a bed slide as an eight foot bed is a series of obstacles to clamber over to get some things. Using a system of plastic tubs on the plastic bed liner has its shortcomings. That said, an eight foot bed with topper is hard to beat for all sorts of reasons.

The latest Ram 2500 has a link/coil rear suspension. Air ride of some sort also available. Worth checking as either would be more sure-footed than leaf suspension, not to mention better ride.

[LongShot]

I'm a T-Mobile customer and love their service whenever I'm close to a major town. Their high-speed data really is high-speed; problem is when you venture a tad off the beaten path, your signal diminishes rapidly.

I'm an online marketing guru type that typically spends about 4-5 months of the year attending black powder matches throughout the country. Being connected is the only way I can travel and keep paying for my hobby.

I'd like to share my first hand experience with AT&T's newest WiFi offering, the Unite Pro. This dual band/antenna hotspot provides me with ample data and keeps me connected with reliable 4G LTE service in some of the most remote areas I've been to in the Eastern part of the US. From Ashland, Kentucky to Alma, Michigan - so far it works great. In Alma, I could only get 2 bars so I switched on the dual band/antenna setting (using more battery power) and amazingly, I instantly had 4 bars and full LTE service.

I refuse to buy into a contract and paid full price for my unit ($200) and only add data when I need it ($25/2gigs). I figure between T-Mobile and AT&T, I'll have enough access to stay connected. My only complaint is the 30-day shelf life on data - use it or lose it - doesn't seem quite fair to pay for something and not get the full benefit. Of course, if you agree to a contract and pay monthly, you can 'carry over' any unused data, but then, you'd pay for it 12 months of the year which I do not need.

Hopefully, at some point down the road, AT&T will come up with a package that allows you to pay for and keep your data, until then, this is a workable compromise.

[Foiled Again]

[QUOTE=slowmover;1652987]blkmagicka has a recent post showing a crane mounted in the back of his truck bed to move the generator in and out. Now on my list. I see a Honda 3000 weighs over 130-lbs. I figure on that size or larger as well.

the 3000 HANDI weighs a lot less (about 87 lbs) - but is a tiny bit noisier and does not have an electric start. Pretty easy to pull start though. Wanted to bolt it to the bed slide but haven't so far. (Trading in the truck, plan to move the bed slide to the new one.)

Paula

[The Ice Man]

Originally Posted by slowmover

blkmagicka has a recent post showing a crane mounted in the back of his truck bed to move the generator in and out. Now on my list. I see a Honda 3000 weighs over 130-lbs. I figure on that size or larger as well.

Looking for that post. Anyone have a link? The accumulation of years is making it more and more difficult to get the GenSet in and out of the truck.

[Foiled Again]

I need one with a shorter drop. Where the heck can I find local dealers? Those things weigh a ton and I don't want to have to order and pay shipping 2 or 3 times while I dial it in.

Crap website.

[Foiled Again]

Any dealer where you're trying to buy a USED truck.

What part of USED didn't you understand, you wet behind the ears twerp?

Paula

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by The Ice Man

Looking for that post. Anyone have a link? The accumulation of years is making it more and more difficult to get the GenSet in and out of the truck.

"When have you checked the pressure in your spare?"

[dkottum]

Maybe time to look for a fifth wheel or motorhome. Or a house.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

I need one with a shorter drop. Where the heck can I find local dealers? Those things weigh a ton and I don't want to have to order and pay shipping 2 or 3 times while I dial it in.



Crap website.

If you are referring to the Hensley stinger, their swap policy works pretty well. The website has that info in a link.

With TT and TV on level concrete (need not be hitched) a phone call to them (I talked with Ron last time) and measurements on each vehicle should give them the info needed to ship the correct stinger.

In buying a new to me vehicle my first step is to get it on the CAT scale with full fuel, normal gear aboard, plus driver, to have the adjusted empty weight. From thereon, the lightest it will be. A handy reference for later WD adjustments.

I carry 1100-1200 lbs of gear and fuel when solo. Bed topper, etc. This condition is where I also measure the receiver height at the point Hensley asks. How far a particular brand and model of truck squats once gear is aboard is probably impossible to determine without the actual load.

The trailer ball height plus a measurement near TT tires made for an accurate idea of the drop needed for mine.

So I adjusted my ProPride sourced adjustable Hensley stinger thusly (my rig will undergo several changes to each vehicle which can change measured points on each. And being in hurricane country made it imperative to have a stinger NOW that worked).

[Len n Jeanne]

Paula, if people in the CG paid more attention to me than to the Bambi, I'd either be really flattered or highly suspicious of their motives.

Verizon has better coverage than AT & T in remote parts of the West-- like national parks, small towns, and BLM lands.

We do see a lot more small and customized trailers in the western national parks. My son and daughter-in-law in Colorado have a 1971 Trillium, and there is kind of a fad for old fiber glass trailers and vintage "tin can tourism" in Colorado, according to them. Possibly the small trailer crowd are more environmentally sensitized.

We fit right in with these folks when we had our 16-foot Bambi, and chatted with many of them. Usually they and the new Casita & Scamp owners were very proud of them-- and their low gas mileage.

Jeanne

[splintair]

Originally Posted by lewster

Taking ANYTHING to Camping World would be a very costly mistake!!!!!!


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center
Lifeline Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

Not only costly, but as we found out also time consuming. They had to wait to find a tech that could do the work!

[CalifBob]

It is easy to boost your cellular signal. I use a Wilson Electronics Sleek 4G Kit - 460107 which is a booster for any cellular signal - Amazon $99. I use it with a higher capacity Wilson 311125 antenna which mounts with Velcro on the top outside my door. Together they boost a marginal 1 bar to 2 or 3 bars - or 2 bars to 4. Enough for email and internet. I am even able to stream TV shows. I use it with the phone when I need to make a call or a AT&T Liberate MiFi hot-spot for data, Skype calls and YouTube.