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Forum
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RE: North or Northwest of Milwaukee and points north
I really enjoy the Pike Lake Campground near Hartford. We have stayed there a few times. Some great museums in the area are Old World Wisconsin and the Wade House. For people that live along the east coast museums highlighting the early 1800's may not be impressive, but remember that Wisconsin was a frontier in the early 1800's.
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BarabooBob
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01/27/23 07:35am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Colorado experts...help please
Trail Ridge Road is one of the most beautiful roads in the US> You do need a reservation to drive over the road. I have towed over it many times and will continue to do so when I can get a reservation.
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BarabooBob
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01/22/23 11:30am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Have just lost Goof, my 13 year old Aussum Shepherd.
The biggest problem with dogs is that they are not with us long enough. My eyes are leaking again just thinking about the dogs that I have lost. They all walk with me in my mind whenever I walk Tanner, our current dog.
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BarabooBob
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12/11/22 05:15pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Pahrump to Winnemucca
Whenever I travel in sparcely populated areas, I always carry 5 gallons of gasoline, extra water and food, and enough blankets or sleeping bags for COLD weather.
You can't be overprepared.
We have helped other families out with food and water on more than one occasion. Last time we were going in Pahrump, we stopped to see what we could do to help out a young man with the hood open on his truck. He had been there for over an hour and nobody stopped. All he needed was a couple of gallons of water for his truck. We followed him into Pahrump to make sure he made it.
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BarabooBob
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11/24/22 04:36pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Easy way to raise trailer's nose while hitched in campground
We just set up as usual and unhook. I just don't move the truck if it is an overnight and run in the morning stop. It only takes us about 5 minutes to hook up and do our safety check. By the way, we don't use a weight distribution system because our trailer is way below what the truck can actually tow. One of the advantages of towing a lightweight trailer.
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BarabooBob
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11/15/22 05:18pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Can I charge the house battery with the engine alternator?
I had a 1988 Damon (built on a one ton Toyota chassis.) That unit had a solid state battery isolator from the factory. It worked great until it didn't work at all. I replaced it with a constant duty solanoid type isolator. It then worked great again.
The shortfall of my system was the 60 amp alternator. It could barely keep the chassis battery charged when the headlights were turned on. A conversion to a 150 amp alt gave better charging but took extra power to spin the alt, something that my 110 hp engine didn;t have an abundance of.
I forgot to say that from what I have heard, if you want to add a second battery to your coach, the batteries should be installed together as a pair. Adding a new battery to and old battery will give you two old batteries because the old will draw down your new much faster.
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BarabooBob
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11/11/22 08:37pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Camping at 27 degrees.
At night we turn our furnace down to the lowest setting. That is 52 degrees with an old school honeywell thermostat (non-digital). If you are camping with electric hookups, turn on a couple of electric heaters. Our 17' camper only needed one heater and it stayed nice and warm. Our furnace never turned on.
Last month we dry camped for 9 days with highs in the 50's and lows around 15 degrees. We just installed new golf cart batteries and did not have any problems running our of battery juice. We just ran the generator for a couple of hours in the morning to top off the batteries. Great camping week.
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BarabooBob
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11/09/22 04:58pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Ordered new Goodyear Endurance & New GC battery install
We just got back from our 9 day stay at our property. The weather was great most days but the nights got a little chilly. We had lows of about 15 to 20 degrees so the furnace got a work-out.
The new golf cart batteries held up really well and every morning they only lost about .2 volts according to my cheapy voltage meter. My old marine starting/utility battery would be very low every morning.
I should have done the change when we bought the TT but we got by, just had to run the generator more.
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BarabooBob
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10/23/22 08:13pm |
Travel Trailers
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Flat springs and now a bent axle
Earlier this year I was doing bearing maintenance on my 2017, 17 ft, single axle TT, bought in 2018. I noticed a small dent in the frame where the spring U-bolts had bottomed out. The springs had lost their shape and were flat. I replaced the springs with American made springs from Northern Tool. Old springs had 1" clearance, new 3 1/2". Much better.
I recently installed new tires on my TT. Upon inspecting the old tires, I found that they were wearing along the inside edge of both tires. I checked the axle to see if it was bent. The axle is bent so it needs to be replaced. I think the axle got bent because of the flat springs bottoming out.
I weigh the TT before most trips because I have free access to a commercial scale 1 mile from my house before I get to the highway and am not overloaded. I checked the axle tag and it say that it is a 3200# on a TT with a 3500# loaded weight.
I will be checking with the dealer that sold me the TT to see if they will replace it. I will let you know what happens.
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BarabooBob
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10/23/22 08:00pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Winter Battery Storage
I would not want to rely on solar unless you are able to keep the snow from covering the solar panels. I don't have solar panels but if I did I would have to go our frequently and clean them off. I have to snow blow my driveway every couple of days so I would have to clean off the panels at the same frequency.
i prefer to leave my TT in its nice cozy carport plugged into shore power. I replaced my WFCO with a Progressive Industries converter two weeks after I bought the TT because the WFCO would not change output, it was always at 13.6.
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BarabooBob
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10/10/22 05:28pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Ordered new Goodyear Endurance & New GC battery install
I had WalMart mount my tires today and put them on the TT. I had them put metal valve stems on while they were mounting them. I also put fresh batteries in my TPMS on all 6 wheels to avoid problems.
Later this week we will be leaving for a 9 day trip so we will see if the tires feel any different. I had no complaints about how the original tires rode.
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BarabooBob
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10/10/22 05:05pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Ordered new Goodyear Endurance & New GC battery install
FedEx just delivered my new tires. All three are dated 3622, so, my new tires are less than 2 months old. I am having WalMart mount them on Monday morning. As someone else said, I only bought 3 tires because my single axle trailer only has 3 wheels, including the spare.
We have a 17 ft TT because that is about the biggest trailer that we can get into our camping spot on our land. The creek that we cross and corners going down the logging road do not allow for a longer trailer. I had to cut down a bunch of trees to make a spot big enough to turn around with the 17 footer. No way am I backing out 1/2 a mile to get out.
When I bought the TT 4 years ago, the first thing I did was install a Progressive converter. My experience with WFCO was not good so my brand new WFCO went in the trash. I have never had a problem with the three Progressive converters that I have installed on previous RV's. My install of the golf cart batteries is also completed.
We will be using the TT for a couple of weeks off grid this fall at my property in the southwestern Wisconsin. I will be topping off the batteries with my generator.
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BarabooBob
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10/07/22 01:34pm |
Travel Trailers
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Ordered new Goodyear Endurance & New GC battery install
I ordered new 3 Goodyear Endurance (205/75-14) from WalMart for $115 delivered, with free returns to the store. I could not find a way to determine the manufacture date before ordering so if they are old stock, I will return them to Wallyworld.
My question is, How old is too old to put them into service?
I am replacing my original TT tires because they are 6 years old and am getting ready for another 6000 mile trip in the spring. We use our TT during the fall and winter, that is why I am replacing them now. We use a TPMS on the truck and trailer for peace of mind. It has saved us once already.
I am also installing golf cart batteries this afternoon to ensure enough power to run my furnace on cold days/evenings. My original battery is 5 years old and runs down very low by morning. We actually got pretty good life out of the original marine starting battery that was in the TT when we bought it. When we purchased the TT, one of the first things I did was replace the WFCO converter with a PD unit because the original didn't come out of 13.6 mode.
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BarabooBob
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10/06/22 05:05am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Smaller Propane Tanks
I go to the local U-Haul rental shop to get my tanks filled. Last time they charged me $18 to FILL my empty tank. They set their scale according to the empty weight of the tank and fill it to 20 pounds. The exchange places are charging $20 too $25 for 15 pounds of gas.
My tanks are also like new and I know that they work. I will top off my tanks when I find a place that fill them, I don't wait until I am empty.
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BarabooBob
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09/19/22 09:14pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: WFCO 55 amp converter operation
The only problem with your WFCO converter is that it is a WFCO. I have only owned 2 TT's but they both came with WFCO converters and neither one worked when new. I changed them out for a Progressive Dynamics.
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BarabooBob
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09/19/22 09:06pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Mirrors.. no one said we needed Mirrors
When driving a semi do you think that the driver can see directly behind them? You can fit 3 or 4 cars into the blind spot behind a 53 ft trailer. There is a reason you see signs on the back of a truck that say "If you can't see me in my mirrors, I can't see you."
You can't control what other people do on the road, you just have to be able to react to their stupid actions.
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BarabooBob
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08/28/22 09:51am |
Towing
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RE: Yellowstone Update
Thanks for the great update. I plan on going back in either 23 or 24. We frequently stay along the Beartooth but I guess we will have to wait until those roads get repaired to come in from the northeast.
Concerning Fishing Bridge, if you want full hook ups, you gotta get the old credit card dusted off. I don't think the price is bad considering it is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I personally stay in the other campgrounds within the park and deal with not having hookups.
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BarabooBob
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08/28/22 06:45am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Mirrors.. no one said we needed Mirrors
My add-on mirrors by CIPA slip onto my existing mirrors and give me full view of the road behind my TT. They don't look like traditional towing mirrors and some people may not see that they are extended. They stick out about 6" on each side. When I went through the Zion tunnel, they made me take them off until I got through the tunnel because I was 2" too wide.
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BarabooBob
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08/28/22 06:37am |
Towing
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RE: Unbraked trailer, towing limitations
Check out this site to determine state requirements for trailer brakes: https://www.readybrake.com/state-towing-laws.html
For my own safety, I added trailer brakes to my utility trailer because I frequently load up with fire wood and it probably weighs in at 3500 pounds. I don't want to kill someone because I can't stop.
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BarabooBob
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08/24/22 11:42am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1981 Chevy Truck vs Ford Truck
I had a Chevy Astro with 4.3 injected. We puled a pop-up back then and pulled it all over the Rockies without a problem.
We drove it from WI to NC one time and I told the wife that we were going to jump in thee middle of the fastest group of cars and I didn't care what mileage we got. I wanted to get there asap. We drove from Baraboo (WI) to Indianapolis at about 85 mph. I stopped there to get gas because I thought we should be out of gas. When we calculated the MPG and we got 22 on that tank. I could not believe it.
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BarabooBob
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08/18/22 05:37pm |
Tow Vehicles
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