2011 May » tgif: let's RV

What a PDI Doesn't Tell You

May 312011

While I took about 4 hours doing a PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) on my trailer before I took possession of it, I knew there would be things I would miss. The PDI only showed up a couple minor issues that were corrected on the spot by the dealer. This past weekend was the first chance I've had to take it out on a real camping trip.

During the PDI I tested all the systems, open/closed all the doors and drawers, checked for loose nuts, bolts and wires, walked the roof looking at the sealant and just about anything else i could think of. The only thing I found was the entry door wasn't closing right, a couple cabinet doors were maladjusted, a broken landing gear leg pin and a couple burned out/missing light bulbs.

Shake Down Trip - What An Adventure

RV Day to Day Life 2 Responses »

May 302011

Oh what an adventure this shake down camping trip was! For the most part this spring has been cold and wet. Over the past month we have had 25 days with rain and the ground is soaked. But the forecast was for a sunny hot Memorial Day weekend and I was just itching to get my first road trip in on the new trailer.

I made reservations at Lake Hudson Recreation Area located near Hudson MI and Friday morning set out on the two hour drive. As I pulled into the park the ranger warned me about the soft ground at some of the sites and wished me luck as I entered. Like most Michigan sate parks, the camp sites are grass and when driving through it was obvious that many of the sites were water logged.

After a couple of drives through the park I found a site that I thought was firm enough to get into. I made good progress as I backed in and just about the time I was into position the rear wheels of the truck started to spin. Rather then dig myself in deeper I just decided to drop the trailer and enjoy the warm dry weekend figuring things would dry out over the next couple of days.

Installing Wire Shelving

RV DIY & Mods No Responses »

May 222011

In the living room of my 5th wheel there is a large closet space that has no shelves in it. You can see the space on the left side of the picture. Since it has a clothes hanger rod at the top I can only assume that this space was intended as a coat closet. Since there is a couple of other large closets with hanger rods in them it just seemed like wasted space to me.

To make the space more useful I wanted to install some shelving. I looked at a number of different shelving systems but since the walls of the space is not much more then 1/8" luan there is not much strength to mount shelf brackets.

I first thought of installing some pullout shelves. The door is only 11" wide and the space behind the door is 19" wide. A sliding shelf system would just waste too much space. I then looked into adjustable wood shelves but decided that wire shelves would be lighter and allow some air flow within the space.

Yamaha Zuma 125 Scooter

RV Equipment, RV On The Road 2 Responses »

May 172011

It has been a long winding road to the purchase of my 2009 Yamaha Zuma 125 scooter. Last winter I took my mid 80's vintage Suzuki FA50 moped with me to Arizona. While I was great to use to get around the immediate area I was in, I found it had a number of short comings. The top speed of 27 MPH made driving on most roads hazardous and the skinny tires weren't the best on dirt roads much less loose sand. I knew I needed something more for my next trip.

Once I got back from AZ I started investigating scooters to find one that would be light weight, fast enough to keep up with secondary road traffic and be comfortable to ride on dirt roads. I also wanted a major brand since I would be using it on the road and wanted to be able to find parts or repair shops in case I needed it. While the price is attractive on the numerous Chinese scooters on the market I limited myself to Honda or Yamaha. For me their known quality and nationwide parts and service easily offset their higher prices.

Since I have never really ridden anything but the old FA50 that I have I needed to get some seat time to make a decision. I first looked toward the Honda Ruckus and Yamaha Zuma 50. Both of these are light weight, have 50cc engines and have designs that lend themselves to both on-road and off road. Bryan (my step-son) was able get me a ride on a used Zuma 50 at M&M Motorsports in Kalamazoo. While the Zuma 50 was spunky and drove nice, the foot room was a bit cramped and the top speed a bit under 40 MPH just wasn't going to get it. Since the Ruckus has about the same top speed I never searched one out to ride. 50cc was out of the question.

Air Lift WirelessONE Compressor System

RV DIY & Mods, RV Equipment No Responses »

May 152011

In my previous post I showed my install of the Air Lift Air Bag Suspension Upgrade. With that system you can run air lines so you can use a portable compressor or sir tank to fill the shocks. That is all well and good but that mean you have to carry a compressor with you and you can not change the air pressure in the bags when on the road.

Air Lift makes a number of on-board air compressor systems that allow you to change the air pressure in the bags from the cab of your truck. The system I chose to install was the WirelessONE system. I picked this system because it was fairly inexpensive and was super easy to install because you control the air pressure with a wireless remote fob. This means no wires or air lines needs to be run to an under dash control panel.

The package includes the compressor, a control valve, remote fob and relay. I had already scoped out a place to mount the items on the frame of the truck but once I opened the package there was a separate tech sheet that warned about avoiding getting moisture in the compressor. While it appears the compressor can withstand some moisture I just didn't want to take a chance of compressor failure so I looked for a place inside the truck to mount everything.

Air Lift Air Bag Suspension Upgrade

RV DIY & Mods No Responses »

May 092011

After hooking up my new trailer I found that it made my truck squat more then I liked. The rear dropped a 3 1/2" when hooked up and that was with an empty trailer. There are a number of suspension upgrades that can be done but one of the tried and true, least expensive and easiest upgrades is installing air bags. In simple terms air bags are nothing more then heavy duty balloons that fit between your springs and frame that lifts the truck frame to level it. Having the truck sag in the rear not only aims your headlights high into the eyes of incoming traffic, it can also cause handling problems.

There are a number of different brands available and after looking at them they are all pretty much the same. I chose Air Lift brand mainly because I can remember them from my teenage days. I figure if they have been around that long they must be doing something right. I plunked down my $200 and waited for them to arrive. Got them 3 days later but the weather wasn't cooperating so I had to wait until this past weekend to install them. I also purchased an air compressor but I will cover that in a later post.

Out With The Old

RV Day to Day Life No Responses »

May 032011

This past weekend I sold my old trailer. For 2 weeks it has sit out in the front yard the step-son's house on D Ave. There is always a lot of traffic there and have always had good luck selling vehicles here. I also had it listed on Craig's List. Had a few bites but none really serious. I just figured since the weather this spring has been so crappy that no one was really in the outdoor activity mode yet.

On Saturday Bryan had a customer appreciation event where he works and they were giving away hot dogs to their customers. Come to find out that a food permit is needed, plus running hot water, refrigerated storage for the dogs, 3 washing pans and others "requirements. Since he was planning on grilling them outside it would have been difficult to get this all setup. The old trailer comes to the rescue. I hauled it out to his work and set up. This gave us hot water, a refrigerator and places to put the wash pans.It worked out great and we grilled 160 dogs in a couple hours for the hungry customers.