20-footers

[idahodian]

I bought the truck through a dealer, off the lot. Ford is having a "sale" on the 16 model year to clear them off their lots. I searched multiple dealers through out the area and ended up buying it from a dealer in Nampa, ID. Yes, it is across the state from me, but it worked. Mine is the XLT trim so no leather seats. I wanted to have bucket seats with a console so I went with the sport model. It has the 3.5L V6, locking real axle, max tow package, off road package (means it has skid plates) extended fuel tank, 18" alum wheels, remote start, sync 3, 400 W inverter, etc. $37,000.
I love the backup camera, haven't tried the trailer backup assist. I think it will be a good tow vehicle. Worked out, my son has my Frontier and I have a new truck. We sold his 2000 Tacoma.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the details Bob. Still mulling over the options.

Peter

[TCwheels]

Back on the road again!

We're in Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, FLA. Fantastic place! Two rivers to kayak, multiple hiking trails close by and a great, paved rails to trails bike path 44 miles long. Full hookups, 75 degrees, sunny, nice breeze blowing = blessed!

[Camano20]

Hi all
Has anyone out there changed out the drain plug on the water heater with a brass valve. If so what type of valve did you use. a picture would be helpful.

Thanks

[twbucksr]

Last year I purchased a drain valve at Camping World because we were using our 22FB every weekend and I didn't want the Texas Hill Country limestone ladened water sitting in the WH and potentially shortening its life. Much easier to use than a socket wrench with an extension.

[subfan1]

Originally Posted by TCwheels

Back on the road again!

We're in Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, FLA. Fantastic place! Two rivers to kayak, multiple hiking trails close by and a great, paved rails to trails bike path 44 miles long. Full hookups, 75 degrees, sunny, nice breeze blowing = blessed!
Attachment 279144Attachment 279145

Very cool TCWheels! Enjoy your stay

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by TCwheels

Back on the road again!

We're in Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, FLA. Fantastic place! Two rivers to kayak, multiple hiking trails close by and a great, paved rails to trails bike path 44 miles long. Full hookups, 75 degrees, sunny, nice breeze blowing = blessed!
Attachment 279144Attachment 279145

TC looks like a great spot and great T-shirt weather. While we were headed down I-5 in the pouring rain headed for Pismo Beach, I was thinking of you heading to Florida and all that fab sunshine …then we arrived and day 1 was in the 40s with a very cold (Santa Ana) wind from the east. Our weather finally broke into the 70’s the last few days.

The first pic is Wine Country RV resort in Paso Robles and we had the place mostly to ourselves. With heavy rain continuing for the 2 days we opted for the tough duty and spent much time exploring wineries. My wife grew up in Paso so also spent some time at the historical society.

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort (where they have the vintage AS rally each summer) was clean & nice and close to everything but with a predominance of big rigs. It started at 50% occupancy when we checked in on Monday but got a little crazy when all the 5th wheelers/toy haulers arrived for their weekend play in the dunes. The water pic is of Pismo Beach S to Vandenberg AFB…Jalama Beach around the corner.

Stopped at a cousin’s in Yreka, CA and stayed at a full hookup park…yikes…26 degrees projected for that night. Not truly understanding the capacity of the tank’s heaters, nor the extent of the furnace to keep ALL plumbing from freezing, I opted to do a quick winterization. I had brought my 12v inflator so it took a while but was better than nothing, but did delay the cocktail hour. To be honest, I’ve looked at diverter valves at the pump and/or a hand pump for the CW inlet for AF. I just don’t want to be caught off guard. I’d rather deal with the AF flush, then a quickie winterization and miss something requiring $$$ repairs.


Bob

[Camano20]

Went to flush and sanitize the fresh water tank today and can only get about a gallon of water to go down the water fill tube before it starts to back up and spill out. I think the vent tube may be plugged. Has anyone else had this issue and what did they do to fix it. Thinking of inserting a separate vent tube down the fill tube.
Thanks.
Hoping to head out on Monday for a couple of days of cold weather camping.

[OTRA15]

Have you filled the water tank before, or is this the first time? With a 2007 AS, can we assume the prior owner used the water tank without incident? You could contact them.

If you reduce the water flow and let air escape from the fill tube, the water fill should go OK. [i. e. don't jam the hose end into the fill tube so tightly air cannot escape.] You could always hand-hold the hose end near the fill spout opening to maximize air coming out. Unless something fell into the fill tube, a clog seems unlikely IMO.

If this is the first time you [edit -- or the previous owner] have used the fill tube, it is possible there is a kink in the line from quality control problems during assembly, I guess. It seems unlikely that this would be surfacing only now, ten years after manufacture, though. Again, slow down the fill rate and see what happens IMO.

Good luck, and have fun on the trip!

Peter

PS -- If you decide to install a new water heater drain valve, may I suggest that you carry some plastic generic drain plugs and Teflon tape, just in case? Those cheap valves are known to corrode/lock up/leak.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by idahodian

I bought the truck through a dealer, off the lot. Ford is having a "sale" on the 16 model year to clear them off their lots.
. . .

Thanks again for the details. Bob. After quite a struggle with the insurance company, and the company holding the car loan, we finally got the paperwork done and netted enough for a down payment on a new tow vehicle. Tough to lose our new-ish van after less than 2 years and 30k miles, but lucky to have come out alive and in good health after the rear-ender in late November.

Looked at some used F-150's and did the research on a new one, but kept coming back to a van solution, so we ordered a 2017 Ford Transit 350 van. 3 months lead time until we are OTRA in May hopefully. Yikes, OTRA17 -- has it been two years already?

Thanks Darrell and Bob for the photos, and trip reports. Very inspiring! Glad you to see you are out in the world having fun. Looking forward to getting out there too!

Cheers,

Peter

[Skip Stone]

I was not certain how to post a new thread, pleas accept my apologies. Recently purchased a used 20ft FC and performing a thorough interior and exterior cleaning. The small vertical cabinet to the right of the refrigerator contains a slide out spice rack.
It appears there was a significant amount of salt that spilled into the slide track and caused corrosion, making it very difficult to slide in / out. There are 4 screws attaching the rack to the right interior wall that your cannot get to the two most forward screws to remove the rack.
The rack meets an internal stop upon full extension. I cannot determine hold to remove the entire rack or release the internal stop?

Any assistance of guidance greatly appreciated.... Skip

[OTRA15]

Hi Skip, welcome to the forum and the 20' thread!

No need to start a new thread, as you ended up in the right place for 20' advice. What year is yours? [When you have a chance, maybe post your info to the left by going to the User CP at the top left on this page, and adding your trailer info etc. there. I forget the details, but the steps are pretty intuitive.]

I have not looked at my similar pull out rack, but my guess would be that it is surface-screwed on and cannot be removed from its mechanical base, like a drawer can be removed from its slides, or a cabinet door from its baseplates. Other folks here may know better. Will a short stubby Phillips screwdriver work? Or a battery right-angle mini drill? Next time I am at the trailer I will look.

Please let us know what tool/technique works. This may be a good time to through-bolt the new rack you get, with accessible aircraft nuts inside the next cabinet over, although in our unit that would mean removing the drawers, which in our year have some crazy brand of orange slides. FWIW a few of us have had the bottom drawer pull off its slide hardware, due to short mounting screws and/or the drawer-front plywood de-laminating. Will locate those posts if you want to see them. Bob [CruzinDux] may have some feedback about these cabinet details and your rack.

Good luck with the new 20' ! At least you are in an area with good weather. We just had a blizzard and our season won't start for a few months up here in NY.

Cheers,

Peter

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by Camano20

Went to flush and sanitize the fresh water tank today and can only get about a gallon of water to go down the water fill tube before it starts to back up and spill out. I think the vent tube may be plugged. Has anyone else had this issue and what did they do to fix it. Thinking of inserting a separate vent tube down the fill tube.
Thanks.
Hoping to head out on Monday for a couple of days of cold weather camping.

Camano20, I bought one of these as it appeared the FW opening would be challenging for a hose end. It seems there is a bend or ell that makes full insertion a challenge...I took the hint and don't shove it in all the way, maybe 1/2 to 2/3rds. I also crank flow down maybe 50% so it doesn't back flow. Having the shutoff is convenient to control flow.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...off-valve/4674


bob

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Hi Skip, welcome to the forum and the 20' thread!

....... FWIW a few of us have had the bottom drawer pull off its slide hardware, due to short mounting screws and/or the drawer-front plywood de-laminating. Will locate those posts if you want to see them. Bob [CruzinDux] may have some feedback about these cabinet details and your rack.

Good luck with the new 20' ! At least you are in an area with good weather. We just had a blizzard and our season won't start for a few months up here in NY.

Cheers,

Peter

Skip, welcome to the 20's thread. It's a long thread but in your spare time is an informative read. It surely got me up to speed quickly.

I'll look for the posts. As Peter mentioned I had problems with the pot/pans drawer below the oven, partially due to loosely packing the P & P allowing for movement in the drawer while in transit that led to some latch/De-laminating failures.

Bob

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Thanks again for the details. Bob. After quite a struggle with the insurance company, and the company holding the car loan, we finally got the paperwork done and netted enough for a down payment on a new tow vehicle. Tough to lose our new-ish van after less than 2 years and 30k miles, but lucky to have come out alive and in good health after the rear-ender in late November.

Looked at some used F-150's and did the research on a new one, but kept coming back to a van solution, so we ordered a 2017 Ford Transit 350 van. 3 months lead time until we are OTRA in May hopefully. Yikes, OTRA17 -- has it been two years already?

Thanks Darrell and Bob for the photos, and trip reports. Very inspiring! Glad you to see you are out in the world having fun. Looking forward to getting out there too!

Cheers,

Peter

Peter, congrats on the new TV. I'm sure this has been a huge time sponge and it will be nice when you're your back on the road.

"Yikes, OTRA17 -- has it been two years already? " well put...where has the time gone???

Bob

[OTRA15]

May be a good time to update the OTRA Music Channels I and II.

"Where Have All The Flowers Gone" comes to mind for the more somber "II" thread!

[Camano20]

quick update. I got out the compressor and blew out the vent pipe on the water inlet for the fresh water tank. It seems to have helped the flow into the tank. Still not sure if the tank is full, but at least it has a fair amount of water in it now. Thanks for the suggestions.

Jerry

[OTRA15]

Good to hear. Your tank monitor panel should give a fairly accurate readout of the water level, plus the 2 holding tanks' levels. It is good to check these out ahead of time in order to know if they are accurate. When camping without sewer hookups, monitoring the tanks is important.

Have a great trip.

Peter

[subfan1]

Camano20, our 2012 had a kink in the fresh water hose just inside the filler door. I removed the filler door and saw the kink. I pulled on it then taped a semi flex tubing I had in the garage. Reinstalled carefully and now I'm able to fill the tank but slowly due to water spillage on rear bumper. Hope this helps

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by CruizinDux

Skip, welcome to the 20's thread. It's a long thread but in your spare time is an informative read. It surely got me up to speed quickly.

I'll look for the posts. As Peter mentioned I had problems with the pot/pans drawer below the oven, partially due to loosely packing the P & P allowing for movement in the drawer while in transit that led to some latch/De-laminating failures.

Bob

here ya go.

P&P drawer repair
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f542...ml#post1759751 #568

this repair was my fault as I caught the transition edge of a curb pulling into a gas station and it goosed the CS. Most of drawers opened but the P&P I presume somewhat due to the weight/inertia of the contents blew out the drawer latch screws





gate latch for vertical slider & final solution to securing the P & P drawer. The boolts for the latch work great but I hated the shower rod holder. The revalock is slick but unfortunately won't fit in all drawer situations, but at least works for the P & P

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240/galley-drawers-in-2017-ai-gt-fly-open-161467-2.html #20



Bob