RV Tire Tips for Safer RV Trips

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog Admin It seems as though I talk about tire safety all of the time. The reason I do is because tires are an important safety topic concerning RVers that are often times overlooked. Just recently I read a newspaper article that summed up just how overlooked tires, in general, are. The article stated, “The Rubber Manufacturers Association found that 29 million drivers believe that tires require no regular maintenance.” This number might be considered small when compared to our current deficit, but it is quite large when you consider 29 million people are driving around the country on tires they don’t know the condition of. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Coach Slides Vrs. No Slide Units

Slides started showing up in the early ’90’s, but many non-slide coaches were still being purchased.  Today, it would seem that all, or certainly the vast majority of coaches sold, are slide equipped.  There are still coaches offered that do not have slides.  Many entertainer conversions are without slides.  I recently saw a new Prevost conversion that was produced by a converter called “Outlaw” that had no slides.  It wasn’t made as an entertainer’s ride, but a normal conversion with the usual interior look.     So, what would life without slides be like?  It is surprising how roomy one feels.  I went into the “Outlaw” conversion at an RV show in RiverBend, in LaBelle, Florida.  Of course it didn’t look or feel anywhere as large as the many multi-slide rigs that are so common today, but it still felt roomy.  I guess to really appreciate its interior layout you have to realize, this is the size of the RV when camped, or on the road.  The “or on the road” is the big difference here when compared to the multi-slide. All multi-slide rigs are somewhat awkward within the interior while the slides are retracted.  Some are worse than others, but generally, the more and the deeper the slides, the more cramped they are.  The full wall slide may have a slight advantage here when compared to the double same-slide.  They only have two wall points when brought inside instead of four.  There are some advantages... Read more

Take the Visual RV Tire Test

What do your eyes tell you. Take the RV tire test and post your answer in the comments section. One tire is inflated to 45.5 psi and the other is inflated to 65.5 psi. Is tire A or tire B inflated to 65.5 PSI? I’ll post the answer in the comments section on 02/20/09. (SEE ANSWER BELOW) Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

DIY - Electronic Prodigy Brake Control Installation for Your Trailer

In this video clip Stew Oleson and Bill Gehr will show you how to install an Tekonsha Prodigy electronic brake control for your tow vehicle. Tell a Friend Read More →

Getting The Most Out Of Your RV

Today, with RV’s costing so much money, both in the capital and operating costs, one has to get the most out of the equipment and features of their purchase.  So, how can an owner get the most out of the equipment and features from their current, or future, RV? The answer is pretty basic really: know how to operate and service each item that makes up the rig.  Surprisingly, or perhaps not, a large number of RV owners either do not thoroughly read the manuals, or do not retain much they are told or read.  Time and time again we hear or read of people asking elementary questions, like, “How do I get the chrome wheel cover off the wheel on my motor home?”  Also, one can not assume that a component on a new coach or trailer that appears similar to that of their last rig is, in fact, the same.   Perhaps many believe they already know how each component operates or maybe they don’t read the manuals as they are waiting for the movie to come out.        Knowing how to operate and carry out simple servicing and care of each component is a necessity to get the full value and maintain each in top condition.  To fully understand this requires the reading of each section of the manual, including those that seem most familiar, like the television set operation manual.   This one I can relate to first hand.  Back in October I purchased a digital TV converter for my rig, which is an ‘07, built in ‘06.  Dah!  It didn’t need one as... Read more

Justifying A Tag Axle On Your Next Coach!

Tag axles - why do people want tag axles on today’s diesel pushers?  Well, first I guess we should define what exactly is a tag axle.  It is a trailing axle that normally is mounted directly behind the drive axle.  It is a non-driven axle that generally is equipped with two wheels, one on each side.  In today’s coaches it follows a dual-tired axle that has two wheels on each side. What benefit does a tag deliver anyway?  Well, it provides an increase in carrying capacity, usually an additional 10,000 lbs. to 20,000 lbs.   It also may decrease the distance from the rear most axle center to the further rear-most portion on the vehicle, often termed the drawbar.  This decreased distance increases the departure angle of the rear overhang of the coach body and frame, making the rear of the coach frame less liable to contact the roadway on uneven ramps or sloped surfaces.  Further more, the extra axle today is equipped with an additional set of air brake drums, or in some cases, air disc brakes. So, is that all?  Not really.  There are less subtle advantages, like the length of the drive shaft.  In as much as the engine is located in the rear most portion of the vehicle, the driving axle is positioned somewhat further than a single rear axle coach, as the tag is between the engine and the drive axle.  This substantially reduces the acute angle of the drive shaft universal joints at the transmission output and the differential input during high chassis height maneuvers... Read more

Saving Money–The Wrong Way

A few posts back, I discussed the importance of using forged aluminum wheels as opposed to the less expensive, weaker cast aluminum wheels offered in the aftermarket and as standard equipment on some RV products. Almost as if to illustrate the point, a gentleman brought in a huge triple-axle fifth wheel trailer that had experienced a critical wheel failure. We’ve all heard of tire blowouts, but in this instance it was a wheel blowout; the explosion was so powerful, it blew the outside lip right off the wheel. He told me that the tire came off the rim completely and travelled down the highway. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

A last Minute Descision Before The Grand Adventure, Now Adding Solar!

We tend to do this to ourselves, make last minute decisions and then work frantically to make it happen. The ”add solar” decision was one that has been on the table for over a year, but only now acted on.  We dug out the records of last years cross country trip and looked at propane usage. We tend to boon-dock a lot and have found that our propane generator set is not the most efficient thing on the face of the earth. We figured that we run the generator between 2 and 4 hours a day when we only drive 250 miles a day. If we drive further then the generator usage goes down as there is more engine/alternator time to recharge the bank of house batteries. 2 hours use is 1 1/2 gallons of propane, at close to 4 bucks a gallon it comes out to 6 bucks a day times 180 days on the road boon-docking or a grand total of  $720. While $6 a day does not sound like much $720 is a respectable amount, and that is a minimum.  If we run the gen set closer to the 4 hours a day the cost could be $2800 for 180 days on the road. So, with the numbers in hand we went shopping for a solar system to install on the roof of Rover. In the system we included a converter/inverter with a built in 100 amp battery charger, voltage regulators, wiring, and intallation material.  The cost was around $2500 delivered to the house. The second step is batteries. Now here is where we lucked out. We have a battery powered golf cart with almost new batteries, six of them rated at 250 ampere hours each, and... Read more

Lopsided Super C

    Sometimes, a customer’s email to our shop brings up a good blog topic. A couple of weeks ago, I received one from a gentleman named Dennis who was having problems with the ride height on his Super C. Dennis wrote: “I own a 2007 Four Winds Dutchmen Super C on a Chevrolet Kodiak chassis.  The coach leans about 4 inches on the driver’s side rear because Four winds designed the coach 800# heavier on that side.  Can I simply remove some of the space blocks from above the rear axle on the opposite side to give the coach a level appearance, or should something else be done to properly eliminate the lean?” Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

A Weighty Issue

Weight and loading are perhaps the biggest issues affecting the safety, handling and longevity of RVs. But if you’re new to RVing, you’re probably wondering why. After all, there doesn’t seem to be so much concern over weight in a car or even most pick-ups and SUV’s, so why RV’s? The simple reason is that RV’s are both a vehicle and a home, and they are subject to build considerations not found in any other industry. If you want ideal balance in car, you do things like shift the weight rearward, use lighter components in the front, etc.-and side to side balance isn’t in issue unless your passenger is significantly heavier than you are. In an RV, manufacturers usually don’t enjoy that kind of freedom. Think about what sells an RV. Is it the performance or handling? Nope-it’s the floor plan! Manufacturers have to make an nice floor plan that attracts customers when they walk into the coach on a dealer lot. The problem is, the layout that draws customers in may not be perfect for weight balance. After all, you can’t have the appliances staggered from side-to-side throughout the galley, for example, to keep weight balanced…no one would like your floor plan. Then there’s the placement of the tanks, the generator and the storage bays, and they can all conflict with one another. It’s all about compromise, and some coach builders are better at it than others. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

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