Utility Trailers & Recreational Vehicles (RV's)

Came across this article and it demonstrates how important it is to know your trucks load capacity and how to distribute the weight . https://www.thedrive.com/news/broken-ram-3500-dually-shows-a-camper-can-still-overload-a-big-truck According to the article the camper was 5000lbs dry weight. Plus gear and such they estimated total payload at around 6500lbs. That's a lot of weight in the bed. Plus while looking at the pics, a lot of that weight seems to be behind the rear axle. It's terrible what happened to this guy's truck, mopar is refusing to cover it under warranty (a $17,000 repair). Can't say I blame them though. Know how to loa…

So we have a 1994 Coachman 5th wheel. It has ducted a/c in the roof. It works fine, my goal is to change the thermostat for the HVAC to possibly digital. When I do this is there a way to have the a/c shut off when the compressor is not engaged? Presently the fan runs constant wether or not the compressor is engaged or not. I'd like to have the entire unit shut off if the compressor is not running if possible. I figured it would be a little more energy efficient that way and the noise from the fan running all the time would also be cut down quite a bit. To further this, is there a way to set up a "climate control" type thermostat to where a person could set the…

Got a message over the weekend asking what I would charge to move a 5th wheel for someone ( I do advertise this) I put a cost in that I thought the guy would say no to..... really busy and lots on so wasn't too bothered really..... guy snaps my arm off It has been used while a house build was done down in the south west, I've got to move it to a film set on a racecourse 325 miles away, hopefully I won't regret this

About every half hour my water pump runs for two seconds and I know there are no plumbing leaks in the RV. The water pump is from 2003 and has been let run dry with the switch on accidently for two whole days. Yes, it still works but, is it possible it's letting water back flow to the freshwater side? Anyone ever see this problem?

I know this should be a no-brainer, replace the bearing and race or just get a new hub. Not that easy. The trailer in question was built by myself starting with an old camper. I tore off the shell, reenforced the frame and installed a wooden deck. Its a 2 axle (axles are old dexter 3500lb axles with the Dexstar wheels) front axle has elec brakes. rear axle is just a plain hub. One of the rear hubs had a rough bearing. Once removed i find that the larger inner bearing is bad, the bearing race is pitted as well. UGH! I need this trailer to haul our motorcycles on an upcoming trip to Florida, about 2500 miles round trip. I contacted etrailer and have had no luck as of …

Just curious if there was anyone near NW Ohio with an RV. I'd like to see if we could maybe arrange a forum meet at a campground somewhere. If there is any interest post here. If there is enough interest we will begin to work out some details!

I've been working down in Lucile, ID on an RV. The RV is a 1979 South Wind with a Chevy 454 CID. This RV had been parked for over 13 years up Race Creek Road. Then Jim bought the RV for $700 dollars. Quick re-cap I got busy fixing the engine enough to drive it from Race Creek to Riggins, filled with fuel, and drove out to Lucile. Now, this winter I started working on it again but now doing water damage repair. I brought a friend in Mark Hall to help out. So now the RV has water leaks from both the roof and from around the awning. After cutting into the wall from the inside and inspecting everything we opened up quite a bit trying to get to solid wood and steel frame. Spen…

A few weeks ago I pulled a buddy's 5'er to the campground for him since his truck was down. Well, long story short, he decided to sell and I bought it. A 1994 coachman 360RK imperial. Very nice camper. Took it out the first time this weekend and we love it. So much space compared to our '89 jayco 29' bumper pull. We camped in Quincy MI. Where my son and his wife have a seasonal spot. My other son came up and we all had a great time with 6 of our 14 grandkids here as well. The camper is an older model but in very good shape. Only issue I'd like to figure out without having to do major mods is the camper is high in front when hooked to my truck (2001 dodg…

Had many Honda’s in my life 2 three wheelers three 4 wheelers two mowers and now two generators. Honda’s have always been good to me. No problems. I really like them. Many tough miles. My newest is a eu 2200 I. Gen And the exciting thing is it runs on gas and propane and natural gas. I have it plumbed to my natural gas meter It will run my boiler furnace and a couple freezes etc. and if the gas lines are broken I keep 25 gallons gasoline and 100 lbs propane on hand to keep going till the lines are repaired. Very nice set up I’m ready for winter now p

Is it ok to leave my camper plugged in when not it use? I had a 30amp plug installed on the outside of my house to keep it plugged in while my mother was living in it. Now that she has her own place and the camper in only used occasionally I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. My old pop-up only had one battery and I would take it into the garage and put it on a tender over the winter.

A good topic. My local guy that builds them says it’s cover or not. Sometimes covering just holds the moisture in etc. a roof needs to be resealed from time to time. Every 8-10 years I’m told Also the sides maybe. My 21 year old has been taken apart literally and resealed about ten years ago. Much better sealer than when it was built. Cost about 1600$ not cheap but you can’t let water get in. My slide in is not a normal size so I sent a top notch company in California all the measurements for a custom cover. About $900 not to bad but I didn’t do it. Next spring I’m going to try to get him to coat the top with something so I can get another ten years out out of it. Re…

My neighbor recently went dipping for reds on the lower Kenai It is a jet. The lower river is pretty muddy and silty . The cooling system got plugged enough to make the motor run hot and it went into limp mode. It was always peeing but it would not come out of limp mode. When he got it home he put the hose on it and flushed it out . Then he took it to a local shop because he was worried something else was wrong. Typical new virus wait to get it in. Gets it back couple days late and the bill was 1140$ $54 for masks and gloves etc and 5 hours labor I believe. No parts one very small zip tie but they didn’t charge him for that. Never put it in the water and tested n…

Okay so old camper new truck time New truck hopefully means we can travel south out of Alaska say the beginning of October and be back like before Thanksgiving. Have grand kids etc have to be here for the holidays but it’s still a 6 week window. And we can’t be gone in the summer time Alaska is to nice in the summer so we need a ac in the old camper. Have a 14x14 inch hole with vent in roof and its wired for ac but didn’t really need one here ever. So a Honda 2200 watt with a Micro Air Easy start and a Dometic Brisk 2 in the roof. What Honda to buy the one with two 15 amp plugs or the one with one 15 amp and one 30 amp. I may have to plug in to a koa or something a…

So I decided to buy my mothers camper from her instead of hauling it to NY where it would most likely sit and get destroyed by rodents. It's a 25' 2020 Coleman, been camped in once and my mother lived in it for about 6 months before she flew to NY. I have a little 1200/1000 watt generator I was using with my pop up that I know is not up to the task. I'm still trying to find the paperwork for this thing to get official numbers but I think they may have gotten packed in my mothers things. It has A/C, Fridge, microwave and the other typical accoutrements. I would like to get a generator capable of running the A/C, from what I gather I should be looking at 3500 watt mini…

We have an '89 jayco with a 5 gal. Hot water heater. The pilot light won't stay on after lighting, holding the button a couple minutes. It will just go out. I replaced the pilot light burner and thermocouple a year ago when the problem started and haven't had any luck with it. Didn't camp much last year so didnt worry about it (thanks covid). But now we have a couple trips planned and would like it to work. The electric part of the heater works but I prefer gas as it recovers faster.

When my truck camper was built here locally 2O years ago the Honda gens had just been out for a bit so I had him make a bin left side rear to put it in .it ended up be a little high off the ground. But I was young and tall and it wasn’t a problem. Sometimes when I’m just by myself I just put on the floor passenger side. Or on the 4 wheeler trailer but when I have a passenger and no trailer I would like to have a hitch mounted basket to put it in. Basket on left side of hitch. I have folding stair that come down also. So I’m looking for a ready made setup that can be shipped or any ideas. Or I will have to go see a welder .pictures later of my camper rear. If I can…

It's that time again for me to reseal the vent hatches for the 3rd time. Had the RV new since Sept. of 03 so not too bad. One thing I've discovered is it is easier to reseal by placing blue masking tape in a square around each vent and spread the self leveling Dicor Sealant with a brush. By doing this you are working it into the voids, around each screw and working it into the surface for better adhesion. This also smooths it out for the next time you want to reseal because with an even surface it's easier to wire brush the surface (by hand is important) exposing a nice clean surface for the new coat. The wire brush will take off anything loose, but you need to be extra c…

I have a fantastic fan in the front with a cover over it and a crank open vent in the rear hole. It’s wired for 120 v on a breaker and or fuse. I have a 20 year old Honda with a lot of hours on it so no 30 amp outlet etc. wife and I are planning to go south a few times in the future so we would like a little a/c when needed What kind and size do I really need ? Thanks Camper sets out so I need something good for some snow load or with a cover etc also

I'm still liking my wet cell deep cycle batteries. Getting 6 years out of each set. I know the Lithiums have some benefits and some folks are installing them together with the necessary chargers, but I'm not sold. I like the simpler, easy, not have worry about routes in life that has a lot less initial cost. At the same time I know not to go so inexpensive that create problems another direction. I've seen some problems when, folks not knowing better, going a bit too far on the skinny. What say you Cummins Meat heads.......can't be racist so I'll say, chicken heads too?

I found two china made off brand 7 pin female connectors won't hold the cord, readily falls out creating the dangerous chance of being rear ended. One is sold at Oreilly's Auto Parts and the other was sold at a local farm store near me. Beware of any brand not well known....... as I tested these two China made brands, I found the cord would fall out after simulating two bumps in the road, just two wiggles up and down and the lock lets go letting the cord fall out. They can kill you my friends. I finally went into Portland, which earlier I tried to avoid because of the many recent shootings, to a very good quality trailer supply and found both Bargman and Polla…