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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Truck was totaled, looking at GM 6.6 Gasser
Based on your username, you may not be interested in this comment, but take a look at the Ford 7.3. It is basically a copy of the LS. I had a 6.0 that I drove for 20 years, and it was incredibly reliable.
I bought a Ford 7.3 a year ago, and it is a beast. It seems like GM has a lot of torque management on the 6.6, and it seems to hold it back.
Sorry about the old truck.
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wowens79
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09/21/23 03:24pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: How do you decide how much to spend on an RV
I think you answered your own question when you stated the thought of spending $80k puts a knot in your stomach. That knot may not go away once the warm glow of newness wears off. Nice trailer though.
Personal rule for me - pay cash for toys.
We have not financed anything other than the house for almost 20 years. If we bought it, it would use about 1/3rd of our cash, and would be replaced in less than 2 years. But it’s a chunk of money.
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wowens79
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09/19/23 08:54pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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How do you decide how much to spend on an RV
We've been RVing for 16-17 years now, and are looking for a new RV, but are struggling on how much we are willing to spend. We are pretty conservative when it comes to spending money.
We really want a Brinkley Z3100, which will end up probably a little over $80k, but it puts a knot in our stomachs thinking about spending that much money on something that is going to depreciate. Should we settle and spend like $40k on another TT?
We bought an new F-350 last year not knowing what kind of camper we wanted, so we bought a truck to pull what ever we decided on, so we don't have to worry about a new truck.
We could sell some non retirement stock, and pay cash for it, and we would still have an emergency fund of a years expenses. We have no debt other than our mortgage, and it is about a third of our homes value, and financed at 2.4%. It would take us about 2 years to replace the funds if we went with the Brinkley. We are in out mid 50's, and have put 12-15% in our 401k since our early 20's so we should be fine for retirement if the market performs like it has historically.
Should we bite the bullet??
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wowens79
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09/19/23 06:46am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: FDR State Park campground in Georgia
I live about 30 minutes north of FDR, and we do day trips hiking down there, but for some reason don't camp there. It is on a small mountain.
I doubt there are any gators in that lake. They are very rare in this area. The park does have a 6ft leash rule, but if you go away from areas with people and let your pup swim, I doubt they will say anything. If the wet dog goes into a bunch of people and shakes, it might not be good.
Honestly a snake encounter is much more likely than a gator.
It is a nice area with some good hiking trails, and a couple of cute little towns. Hope y'all have a good trip and enjoy the area. You are picking a good time, the heat has broken so it should be nice!
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wowens79
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09/13/23 06:30am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Florida’s Forgotten Coast?
St George Island state park is incredible if the mosquitos and knats don’t carry you away. It’s a small campground, and about impossible to get into. But other than that it’s awesome.
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wowens79
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09/08/23 09:01pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: New Super Duty on order
^Yup just click er down to your preferred top gear and let the truck do the rest.
Yes, in manual. I was wondering if there was a way to lock out OD while still in tow mode. I admit I haven't tried it but I think clicking the shift switch in Tow Mode doesn't lock out OD gears.
You can leave it in drive, and click the minus on the shifter, and for every - click it lowers the max gear it will shift to. Other than the max gear, it will shift the same.
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wowens79
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08/23/23 11:15am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 7.3 Ford gas engine
I've got a 2022 with 17k miles and I love it towing my 8k TT. I've got the 4.30 gears also. Towing at 70mph I get about 8mpg and on the flats and inclines it will stay in 10th, with and occasional drop to 8th. I'm looking at going to a 12-14k 5th wheel, and have no concerns.
There there some early 2020's that has some trans issues, but that was resolved. There have been some issues with lifters, but it does not seem to be widespread, and seems more common in ambulances, wreckers and truck with high idle hours.
Most of my unloaded driving is less than 5 mile trips in town with lots of stop and go, so it gets 10-12mpg doing that. On the highway at 80mph it will get 15mpg, and slow down to 60-65mph and you can get 17mpg.
The only complaint I have is the low speed shifting like in parking lots when you start off it wants to upshift, but then when you let off the gas it wants to stay in that gear, then when you hit the gas, it then decides to downshift. No issue, just acts goofy. There is a software update that is supposed to help that, but I haven't had a change to have it done.
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wowens79
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08/23/23 11:05am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Full-Time Alaska TT Living
I thought the purpose of wheels on an RV was to go south when it turns cold :).
While getting your degree have you thought of a school in a warmer climate? Come down to the south for school 9 months of the year, then head back to AK when it is blazing hot in the south. :)
Good luck and be careful, the idea of hay and snow on top of a camper seems like a chance to get crushed.
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wowens79
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08/22/23 06:47am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: shifting on downhills
Should always be in Tow/Haul! Anytime the engine is started, turn it on.
This kind of baffles me. MHs should be set up to be in Tow/Haul as the default and you should have to turn it off manually if you don't want it for some reason. Same with trucks...the trucks know if a trailer is hooked up, so if it senses one, it should go into tow/haul as the default.
My F-350, once you put it hook up the trailer and put it in tow/haul mode, it stays in it when you stop for gas etc. Then when you disconnect the trailer it asks if you want to stay in tow/haul. I don't think I'd want my truck to automatically go into it. If I'm pulling my 14' jon boat, I don't want tow/haul. On a motorhome I agree, it might as well only have tow/haul mode.
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wowens79
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08/18/23 06:30am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Battery Size (replacing)
I use 2 GC2 (golf cart) batteries. They are 6 volt and a true deep cycle battery. They are also more durable if they get ran down. I run a resi fridge and do not boondock.
The truck does charge the battery on the road, but I don’t think it supplies as much power as the fridge uses. The 2 gc2 batteries have held up to a 16 hr drive.
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wowens79
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08/16/23 04:51pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Site squatters
A state park we used to camp at had a rule that you had to occupy the site the first night, and some other rule I don't remember, but it led to people would drive there, and put out a couple of camp chairs and a kids tent to "occupy the site". A few days later people would show up with the camper.
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wowens79
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08/07/23 01:56pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Need Help! Can't get anyone to work on my F53 6.8 engin
I had a fuel pump in my truck go out in Cordele. The guys at Mavis tire were super nice. I doubt they have room to get a class A in, but they might be able to point you in the right direction.
There are 3-4 RV dealers probably an hour north in Byron, and a couple about an hour south in Valdosta/Lake City , if they can't do the motor work, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
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wowens79
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08/03/23 07:41am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Learned an expensive lesson today
We looked for a half ton truck for my son this summer and finally gave up. We wanted unter 150k miles, and under $15k. Every thing we found at that price was either a salvage title, or brought south from the rust belt. To find one we realized the price would be more in the $20k+ range. I feel bad for guys that need their truck for work, used truck prices are still kinda crazy.
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wowens79
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07/27/23 06:30am |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Advice for Trip to Utah
Check the info on RV's and the tunnel in Zion NP. I'm not sure if they will fit. This may effect your route.
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wowens79
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07/18/23 01:29pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Financing New Travel Trailer - All I Should Know?
New campers do depreciated pretty quickly the first few years, so unless you do a large down payment you will be upside down. The dealers have lots of inventory now, so you should be able to get 30% off of MSRP, more if you can find a 2022 left over. 2023's should be dropping in price, as some 2024's are appearing at dealers now.
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wowens79
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07/14/23 06:44am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: campsite availability from FL to NY/MI mid to end of August
Here in GA, the days of a spontaneous weekend beach or lake trip to a state park or COE campground are basically gone. You can luck into a cancelation sometimes. It's easier to find sites at private campgrounds, but they tend to be small crowded sites.
The good parks are pretty much booked as far out as you can book them.
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wowens79
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07/14/23 06:35am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Gulf State Park
The worst thing about it is that everyone has found out about it, and it is hard to get into.
We are headed there Thursday for a few days. It is a huge park with almost 500 sites. Biking trails are great and you can walk/bike to the beach on boardwalks over the marsh. It's our favorite beach campground.
The fall is a great time to be there, as long as a hurricane doesn't visit.
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wowens79
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07/14/23 06:23am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Camping World no longer supports Good Sam membership
You can get things cheaper and with much less frustration online.
The only thing I’ve found them good for is if you want something that day, or it’s raining and your board and want to look around.
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wowens79
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07/11/23 06:08pm |
Good Sam Club
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RE: Looking for suggestions on our 14 day trip to the southeast
It might be a little too far out of the way, but there are lots of Springs in central Florida that are incredible to kayak. Most have outfitters that rent kayaks, and have shuttle services.
Look up Rainbow River, it is 5 miles of water that is crystal clear. Icheetucknee springs is incredible, but not a long it big as rainbow. There are numerous others that I haven’t done, but look incredible.
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wowens79
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07/04/23 09:32pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: F150 5.0 V8 or V6 Twin Turbo
Also good luck finding one at a decent price. My sons in college, and wanted to go from his 2002 Jeep, to a truck. We spent about a month looking, and I was shocked how many trucks from up in the rust belt are brought down to ATL, and how many have a rebuilt title.
He finally decided to stick with his Jeep until he/we can save up more, or prices come down. We saw some absolute **** they were asking $15-18k for.
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wowens79
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06/30/23 01:01pm |
Tow Vehicles
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