The Weak Link In RV Dash Instrumentation

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 A Lug_Nut Thought.  Dash instrumentation has become more and more precise over the years.  Complex informative data can be displayed with near pin point accuracy.  Full “Glass Dashes” like that used in aircraft today are finding their way and showing up on some high end motor coaches.  Digital readouts have become common place in everyday automobiles over the past decade.  Engine temperatures can be observed to the single degree as can speed, engine RPM, manifold pressure, boost pressure, transmission temperature and much more.  In the average vehicle, these multitude of real time data information readings are of little value, outside of a cool looking gimmick.  In most cases “Idiot Lights” would probably suffice.   However, for large vehicles, like heavy motor homes and truck trailer combinations, this information can be vital and of great value.  Observing various data trends and digital readout behavior while travelling, can reveal issues that require attention.  That attention may necessitate an operation strategy change, or, if necessary,... Read more

Let’s Talk NOOK !

Let’s Talk NOOK ! Recently I wrote an article about the Amazon Kindle (one appropriately if unimaginatively titled Let’s Talk KINDLE !). The crux of my essay was that e-readers are the best thing to hit RV’s since flush toilets. There are many e-readers available for your purchasing pleasure. One of the most popular rhymes with “book.” Why did I choose to focus on Kindle? Conspiracy theories abound. Am I biased? Have I loaded up our investment portfolio on AMZN? Or am I merely an Amazon fanboy who wears Jeff Bezos pajamas? Nah. While I may be a bit of an Amazon fanboy, I wrote about Kindle because Amazon is currently KING KONG of the e-reader world. Yes, if recent sales figures are to be believed, Amazon is now perched on a skyscraper high above E-Reader Metropolis with Fay Wray sitting on its lap. Or is that Jeff Bezos in a dress? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a dress? This is wrong on many levels. Anyway, with Kindles selling faster than mouse ears at Disney World, it’s good to be King Kong. But if there’s a pesky swarm of biplanes on the horizon, it’s the Barnes & Noble NOOK. The author's book on his wife's NOOK. The Nook is a series of e-reader devices sold by everyone’s favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore behemoth. These range from inexpensive e-ink readers (Nook Simple Touch) to more robust tablets (Nook Color & Nook Tablet). You can buy Nooks online, in 90,000-square-foot bookstores, in shady back alleys,... Read more

Mark’s RV Garage Season One Finale Released

RV Education 101 releases the season finale of the new Internet based RV How-To series titled “Mark’s RV Garage.” The new episode is available for viewing at www.rvconsumer.com and on You Tube            After 16 bi-monthly episodes the highly anticipated season finale is released, revealing the completed vintage trailer restoration for the very first time. Season finale highlights:  * The Old Yellowstone trailer gets a fresh coat of paint. * Polk installs a new 3,500 pound Dexter axle. * The electric brakes are converted to disc brakes with the addition of new brake rotors, calipers, and a Actulink electric/hydraulic brake actuator. To complete the new braking system Polk adds a DirecLink Network Enhanced brake controller. * Before the trailer can hit the road for the first time Polk installs an Equalizer hitch. * Mark Polk reflects back on season one through a series of Q&A. * All of this and more on the season finale of “Mark’s RV Garage”   If you missed previous episodes of Mark’s RV Garage they are archived at www.rvconsumer.com for easy retreival and viewing Happy RV Learning, Mark Polk www.rvconsumer.com www.rveducation101.com  Read More →

Tow Ratings Standardization: Comparing Apples to Apples

Have you ever wondered if 10,000 pounds of towing capacity means the same for trucks manufactured by GM, Ford, and Dodge? Towing Capacity Overkill. What could possibly go wrong here? (Credit: tacomaworld.com) You will soon know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Automotive manufacturers agreed in 2008 to standardize tow ratings as specified in the SAE’s Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J2807 to take effect by 2013. The industry alliance includes Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, and Honda, along with several leading trailer and hitch makers. Until now, each manufacturer was free to test using proprietary conditions ideally suited to a truck’s towing strengths and decide their own maximum trailer rating. They could pretty much advertise whatever ratings they wanted since there was no “apples to apples” comparison between brands or models. Each company designed its own test, and—surprise, surprise—their trucks always aced the tests. Imagine the EPA didn’t exist, and car companies could just make up fuel-economy figures to boost sales. Kinda like, catch me if you can—on my towing ratings! Makers would boast about the pounds their pickups and SUVs could tow, and their exhaustive testing used to determine the towing capacity. But when a new truck claimed a higher number, the other manufacturers would rewrite their spec sheets with increased towing capacity and, as if by magic, match or beat the new kid on the block. And there was nothing... Read more

Homemade Teardrop Trailers Make Comeback

Gary Daniel and Don Wheeler are two -it-yourselfers who built their own teardrops—compact, efficient travel trailers measuring just 4 feet by 8 feet. Central Illinois Recreational Show David Clemente of Janesville, Wisconsin, built a teardrop trailer from the information in a 1939/1947 Mechanix Illustrated magazine. It is nicely finished and used regularly for camping. Photo courtesy Allen Penticoff and Rock River Times Daniel and Wheeler will be among teardrop owners who will display their rigs at the Central Illinois Recreational Show at the Peoria Civic Center from Friday (March 4) through Sunday, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported. The show used to be just for motorhomes, travel trailers, and fifth-wheels, but it has expanded in recent years with the growth of the Civic Center. Now, besides recreational vehicles, vendors will represent campgrounds, tow-vehicle dealers, boats, three-wheeled motorcycles, trail bikes, all-terrain vehicles, and even golf carts sales. This year’s highlight will be the small pull-behind trailers known as “tear-drop trailers.” Teardrops have been around since the 1930s—many were home-built—and were popular because of their sleek, aerodynamic design and lightweight materials. Several tear-drop trailers designed by local campers will be on display at the show. What is a teardrop? (The following information on teardrop trailers courtesy teardrops.net) Anyone who has ever owned (or used) a teardrop trailer can tell you that the most... Read more

Finally a Towing Standard on the Horizon!

What is J2807 and why is it important? If you haven’t heard, SAE J2807 is a standard that will be used to determine the trailer weight rating of all tow vehicles. I don’t always agree with mandated standards,  government or otherwise, but there is one standard looming out there that I am highly in favor of. Read more  Read More →

Optimum Trailer Braking

If there is one phrase I advocate it would be “you get what you pay for”. This phrase always holds true, regardless of what you are purchasing. If you are going to buy a product intended to perform a specific job it only makes sense to pay a little extra and get one that does the job flawlessly.     Read more  Read More →

Has the jittery economy put a crimp in your camping budget?

By Bob Difley With camping season now  fully underway but the economy struggling to get a grip, joblessness refusing to fall, campground prices reaching motel levels, and gas moving above three dollars again, you may be thinking about cutting back on your camping trips this season to save money. But, you might be able to find ways to stretch your camping dollar, do just as much camping as you would like to, while not breaking the recreational piggy bank. And . . . explore some places you haven’t been to yet. Some of the ways you can cut your camping expense are: Camp closer to home to save on fuel and to spend more time camping than driving to the campground. Keep your speed down to 55 mph to conserve fuel–10% to 15% savings from 65 mph. Search online for camping or boondocking possibilities in local, regional, and county parks, on public utility and water district lands, at fishing access points,  fish and game department recreational areas, state parks, wildlife refuges, national grasslands, and at Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers properties that you may have previously overlooked. Pull out your maps and search online for national forests and BLM locations near your home that you haven’t yet explored. Try boondocking to save on campground fees. Start camping in popular boondocking areas where there is help and advice if you need it. Remember that boondocking areas do not have advertising money to let you know they are there. You have to... Read more

The Queen’s Jubilee

Our introduction to RV’ing was a little unusual to say the least. I was on an international assignment in Sweden with my family in the mid to late 1970’s. In the spring of 1977 my wife and I thought we should take advantage of my many hours of accrued vacation time and spend our summer holiday in the UK. The summer of 1977 marked the Queens 25th Year Jubilee and there were many activities scheduled around the UK during those months. We thought it would be a once in a lifetime event. After calculating the expenses of hotels, meals, and travel costs for our family of five we were soon discouraged and didn’t see how we could afford such a trip. The next day, in talking with a colleague at my office in Stockholm about our hopes and disappointment, he said, “why don’t you hire a caravan”? I had a momentary vision of Barbara, I and our kids riding camels heading for the UK before I realized we had another “English” problem. In further questioning, I soon found a travel trailer is called a “caravan” in Europe…. at least where English is more or less used as a description, but certainly not the American English variety. My colleague filled me in on caravan camping in Europe. Filled with hope, that evening my wife I talked about camping with a Caravan. The next day, after some coaching from my colleagues who did “caravan’ing” I found my way to a “caravan for hire” lot. I was a bit concerned whether our car, a Fiat 125... Read more

No Sway Hitch for Any Size Trailer

If you call Hensley Mfg. and ask about a sway control hitch, you’ll be told that Hensley is not interested in controlling trailer sway. They are interested in eliminating trailer sway. And that’s precisely what they do. All other sway control devices on the market use friction to control, or dampen, trailer sway. The unique linkage design of the Hensley Arrow and Cub makes it impossible for the trailer to sway. Because there is no friction involved, the tow vehicle maintains complete control, while side forces like wind or passing trucks have no effect on the trailer. Read more  Read More →

Next Page »