Seminars- Thoughts

I took off work today, just too much to do, even if it was only 4 hours. I'm going to summarize our thoughts and a bit of details on the seminars that may help those that will become RV'ers.

Tidbits:
Gas prices from Raleigh, NC to Perry, Ga ranged from $3.09 -$3.55 for regular gas and diesel from $3.90-$4.04.

Seminars:
The seminars we attended had 100+ people to each one.
We were given name tags on a lanyard which was helpful to read names and where people were from.

First in everyones mind is the financial aspect of being on the road. ALL the seminars touched on this topic of concern. Crunch your numbers! Put aside a percentage for the time when you're forced off the road. If you sell the house, put a little or all into a growing account for the future.

Critical maintenance: check suspension for cracks at least every six months. Check tires and hubs for high heat at every stop. Check bushings/bearings often (every six months).

Water: Connect a fresh water filter from the parks output to your rig's input. Some filters are outside on the park output, but it's not a good idea, people do steal them. Put in a filter that goes inside the rig.
Put screens in sinks and shower to catch anything that can be thrown away and not put in the gray tank. You can buy them at different sizes from the dollar store.
Flush and clean the water heater every six months. Relief valves for water pressure into the rig is a must.

Tires: Change tires every 6-7 years even if the tread is ok. The sun and dry air dries out the tire and they're more likely to blow while on the road. Interior tires can have an extension for easier access, but they are hard to put on and can do more damage than just checking normally. Valve caps can check air pressure without taking off the cap. Put tire pressure at the highest, it's labeled on the tire, or use the manufacturing company's matrix. Check at least once a year the weight on EACH tire or each side of truck and rig every six months. This can be done at scrap yards, weigh stations, solid waste places. It's also good to have a tire pressure unit inside the truck/MH for continual check on tires.

Electrical Protection: Hughes protection is one surge proctorto check electric service from the park output to your rig. Hughes automatically stops brown outs from over power or under power from the park. Clean the prongs and black conductors (with electric off) with an emery board for better connection. Use a cloth pull, the new product that you can put on the plug to pull if from the park electric pole. DO not pull off if it's raining, it will shock you.

Black tank: Rid-x can be used but only it's only good for six months. TSD is better, put in one cap per dump. Toilet must hold water, if not the seal may be dry or corroded. Take an emery board, strip off one side to be smooth. Rub the smooth side to the plastic and the rough side on the to the rubber and work off the crud. It's messy but worth it. Use maynnoise to soften the rubber and seal the rubber.
(Since I've never seen what they're talking about, this is for those that know about the toilet).

Vents: the toilet vent must be open about 3/4" under the cover on the roof. If it's against the cover take it off and cut down the pipe. If that's ok, check the pipe inside the tank to be sure it's not under the water level. The way to tell that the pipe isn't getting air, when you dump it comes out in slow motion or burps, like you when you hold a bottle upside down and it burps to get air. Don't use screws for the vent on top, use non-hardening silicone. If you swipe the roof with a tree it won't take your whole roof if using the silicon.

Full-time or extended time: You must be compatible. Give each other free time away. DO NOT clutter. If you bring something in, take something out. Don't pile up the magazines. Take short trips then park. Try never to pull in a park at night to disturb others. Be careful with your generator, use the extended pipe to blow exhaust to the top of the rig.
(This topic wasn't anything we didn't know).

I know there will be many people with ideas and not agree with something said at the seminars. If I have something totally wrong, please do a comment. If you have ideas or suggestions, you can email me at d625_nc@yahoo.com



Jim loves this truck. This should pull anything we have in mind. The size RV we'd like is 34 ft. Parks tend to frown on anything bigger. (that's not going to stop us if we like something that's bigger). No, we're actually getting the GMC one ton dually truck. Many people had ideas on getting a dually or not getting one. Interesting on how much info you get from opinions.


Days left to buy the RV/truck 3 yrs 1 mth 27 days