Looking to buy an RV and need advice

[boatnam2]

I have this one.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Vic, for your first couple of trips, if you want the kids to watch TV, I'd just grab one of these and plug the TV's in as necessary. Pretty hard to go wrong with the $200 price. You will likely find other uses for it as well.

https://www.harborfreight.com/350-power-station-350-running-watts-294-wh-capacity-70082.html

BTW, nothing more annoying than a generator that runs all day or night. One of the benefits of boondocking is the quite that it brings.

 

[BHC Vic]

So last night while hanging out with friends working on the kids bikes I got a text. I didn’t respond yet and really don’t even know what to say.

 

[boatnam2]

Be curious to see what offers he gets now compared when you offered to buy it, seems like market is changing quickly.

 

[BHC Vic]

Be curious to see what offers he gets now compared when you offered to buy it, seems like market is changing quickly.

I don’t think it will go for 35k anymore. Maybe 30.

 

[Done-it-again]

Just message him back that you found another and already took possession and you wish him luck with sell. That’s it.

 

[CLdrinker]

So last night while hanging out with friends working on the kids bikes I got a text. I didn’t respond yet and really don’t even know what to say. View attachment 1462171

Tell him you bought an RV and are out camping.

As far as these solar and battery setups that are far from cheap. Why not buy a 2000-2500watt inverter generator let it run until bed time. Then let the batteries run the heater all night.

Cheap easy.

 

[BHC Vic]

Tell him you bought an RV and are out camping.

As far as these solar and battery setups that are far from cheap. Why not buy a 2000-2500watt inverter generator let it run until bed time. Then let the batteries run the heater all night.

Cheap easy.

It’s honestly just to run the TVs at night for the boys. The guy who works on my dirtbikes is an electrician. He’s going to get me dialed in

 

[BHC Vic]

I think he said his setup is good for 14 days at king of hammers

 

[spectras only]

@ BHC Vic, I had the same model as this . It was good for even running the AC in my Denali RKS 289 trailer.https://www.yamaha-motor.ca/en/power-equipment/generator/inverter-series/ef2400ishc/EF2400ISHC

What I liked about this unit, it was quiter than the Honda and used pushrods instead of belt timing. I had the unit in the bed of my F-150 with the the tailgate up, with only the rear panel of the tonneau cover up, to vent the exhaust. You couln't hear the unit running 15' away.
You're a handy man, building a small doughouse with sound proofing material inside for the generator, would let you run it all night long for the kids watching the tele. Cheaper than a serious solar system for the moho with the extra batteries!

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

Similar story.
The rear-end of my 2500HD went out pulling the ToyHauler on Rice Rd. At the time, I had AAA RV and GoodSams.

Called AAA - they said it would be 6-8hrs for a toy truck for the truck and they would have another come for the trailer later.

Called GoodSam - said 2-3hrs. They were coming from Palm Spings.

GS shows up and places truck on tow truck and attacked the ToyHauler and away we go. Driver then tells me, I got the AAA call as well, but GS pays better so I gave AAA a BS wait time.My buddy owned a tow company and was AAA for years and gave it up. They don’t pay much for there calls and he was running his trucks in the ground running them calls

 

[BHC Vic]

Ok so for insurance going to gone progressive. Bundle rv and cars. There’s the 1000 ded or 1000 ded 0 windshield. Which would you guys do? Assuming I need a windshield is that going to cost me nothing but raise my rate? Yearly goes up around 100 maybe a little more for 0 windshield

 

[Singleton]

Ok so for insurance going to gone progressive. Bundle rv and cars. There’s the 1000 ded or 1000 ded 0 windshield. Which would you guys do? Assuming I need a windshield is that going to cost me nothing but raise my rate? Yearly goes up around 100 maybe a little more for 0 windshield

Price out what a windshield would cost

 

[RVRKID]

Ok so for insurance going to gone progressive. Bundle rv and cars. There’s the 1000 ded or 1000 ded 0 windshield. Which would you guys do? Assuming I need a windshield is that going to cost me nothing but raise my rate? Yearly goes up around 100 maybe a little more for 0 windshield

Definitely do the windshield, our 1 piece windshield was I think $2500 or more.

 

[Bowtiepower00]

Progressive counts windshields as claims, so don’t plan on using your glass coverage often unless you want to end up dropped or having your rates increase if you claim one.

 

[BHC Vic]

Progressive counts windshields as claims, so don’t plan on using your glass coverage often unless you want to end up dropped or having your rates increase if you claim one.

That’s kind of why I’m wondering if it’s even worth it or just eat a windshield when I need one. There’s two filled chips currently. Almost every RV we saw had a chip in the windshield

 

[Bowtiepower00]

It’s definitely a common issue, and expensive to replace, but at this point I pay cash on windshields if they can’t be fixed.

 

[RVRKID]

That’s kind of why I’m wondering if it’s even worth it or just eat a windshield when I need one. There’s two filled chips currently. Almost every RV we saw had a chip in the windshield

Ours started as a chip and slowly ran across in front of the drivers side. I was a little off I guess just got this back from my Ddid and State Farm covered it.

I checked in the file and I did have a quote from Giant RV for $5000. McBrides gave me a verbal quote over the phone of three to $4000.

 

[Done-it-again]

That’s kind of why I’m wondering if it’s even worth it or just eat a windshield when I need one. There’s two filled chips currently. Almost every RV we saw had a chip in the windshield

You have a 2 pc windshield and would expect it be around 1k per side. Won’t be near the price of a single pc.

 

[wzuber]

That’s kind of why I’m wondering if it’s even worth it or just eat a windshield when I need one. There’s two filled chips currently. Almost every RV we saw had a chip in the windshield

So what's that tell ya???
The get hit alot. Lots of surface area to absorb one. If they hit and crack the passenger side you can get away with it a good bit longer then the opposite. Depending on size, shape and age of rv they can be limited on availability. In 2021 a very common style 1996 unit was difficult to obtain and $3k plus install of $1k.

 

[BHC Vic]

Ok I’m going to keep this thread separate from the other thread but no good deed goes unpunished so there was some minor carnage and now I need more advice. The first fuck up was on my part because I was confused. The good news is I’m not confused any more, the bad news is to be determined. I over filled the fresh water tank pressurizing and expanding it. The floor bubbled as the tank did and there was a boom that I’m still not sure what it was. After using the tank and this trip the floor seems to be back to normal so I’m really hoping I didnt fuck that up too bad. It held water all weekend, no leaks. There’s an over fill hose, but the previous owner put a valve there because he said it would siphon and drain the tank. I didn’t understand what he meant. Now I fully understand what he meant fuck oh well. The second fuck up is a little more noticeable and I’m not sure how to fix the problem other than learn to take better angles when I drive. The ass drags even without a hitch but when I added the hitch I made it worse. So here’s pictures of the damage. At this point I think I’m going to try to make a clean cut and a notch in the bumper because I’m going to keep towing and going to the desert. Or did I fuck up somewhere and don’t realize it? Help me out with this one. I don’t like admitting I fucked up but to be perfectly honest I’m extremely happy that’s the extent of my learning the hard way this weekend.

 

[BHC Vic]

My buddies coach has 2 big casters attached to the hitch w u bolts. I’m assuming it’s to help not do what I did but he said it came like that and couldn’t really comment. His coach is 32’ mine is 35 and it’s noticeably longer on the ass end

 

[wishiknew]

My buddies coach has 2 big casters attached to the hitch w u bolts. I’m assuming it’s to help not do what I did but he said it came like that and couldn’t really comment. His coach is 32’ mine is 35 and it’s noticeably longer on the ass end

Your tags are out of date

 

[wallnutz]

Did the hitch bend behind the bumper? Don't know how that could happen otherwise.

 

[BHC Vic]

Did the hitch bend behind the bumper? Don't know how that could happen otherwise.

It seems like when it dragged it did bend a little and go up. It was a tight fit before dragging

 

[BHC Vic]

Your tags are out of date

Arizona plates will be on very soon I’m hoping.

 

[wallnutz]

It seems like when it dragged it did bend a little and go up. It was a tight fit before dragging

Replace it with a class IV hitch and reinforce the frame where it attaches.

 

[Singleton]

It seems like when it dragged it did bend a little and go up. It was a tight fit before dragging

Looks like hitch receiver got bent as you dragged hitch on ground.
i would check that, then get a fiberglass shop to fix bumper and repair it to give you some room.

 

[Singleton]

Once RV is fixed.
Might be able to z trailer and raise tongue on trailer.

 

[Icky]

Run a different style hitch, you can make a wheel to bolt into the bottom.

 

[c_land]

Once RV is fixed.
Might be able to z trailer and raise tongue on trailer.

This works or flip your trailer axels if you can on your the trailer.

 

[BHC Vic]

Ok another question. Feel stupid but I don’t remember. Do I put this in before I dump the tank or after

 

[BHC Vic]

Once RV is fixed.
Might be able to z trailer and raise tongue on trailer.

Ok will do. So sounds like hopefully this wasn’t too bad? I’ll pay to fix the cosmetic. I feel dumb that I did it but I’m still super pumped on how much fun we had

 

[Icky]

Ok another question. Feel stupid but I don’t remember. Do I put this in before I dump the tank or after View attachment 1465771

Both, it should've been in there already from the last time you dumped.

 

[Singleton]

Ok another question. Feel stupid but I don’t remember. Do I put this in before I dump the tank or after View attachment 1465771

I always add chems and some water after I dump. Then if RV is sitting before next trip, I add some additional Chems before we leave.

 

[BHC Vic]

Both, it should've been in there already from the last time you dumped.

There was a box of six the previous owner left in here and there’s one left so here’s to hoping he did there should be another box on my front door step

 

[JB in so cal]

Some say this works, some not: throw a bag of ice into the tank before you road trip it. Slushing around works on the stuff on the sides of the black tank.

 

[boatnam2]

I like the matts rv toilet stuff, smells good. After drain I add some with water that stays in tank.

 

[yard dog]

Arizona plates will be on very soon I’m hoping.

You should have received a temporary paper plate from the MVD in Az they give that to you at office until the plate comes in the mail .

 

[trophybug19]

Once RV is fixed.
Might be able to z trailer and raise tongue on trailer.

Any suggestions on who could do the work in socal? I got an enclose trailer I've been thinking of doing this to.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Some say this works, some not: throw a bag of ice into the tank before you road trip it. Slushing around works on the stuff on the sides of the black tank.

As JB, knows - our 40’ 5th wheel remained on site. We never towed it. We used “Happy Camper”, prudent dumping and proper use of our holding tank jets worked well for us. Ice in the holding tank? Some tourists and JB say that. JK, don’t know. Maybe it works? Recall we’d add Happy Camper to our tank after dumping. And also upon arrival at our RV. We’d stay for nearly a month. We did this, year round, for about 5 years. Still kinda miss that RV.

 

[Singleton]

Any suggestions on who could do the work in socal? I got an enclose trailer I've been thinking of doing this to.

Ronco Trailers, Vista CA

 

[RiverDave]

How high is the hitch on that rv? That looks like a crazy big drop hitch? How much play is there in the receiver with the hitch? I'm not sure how it could even do that damage if there wasn't a ton of slop in it? I am wondering if you may have actually flexed the hitch portion on the chassis for it to do that?

The water tank.. I'll bet the "boom" was it expanding and lifting the floor and probably popping some fasteners or glue.. and when it went back to normal everything settled. The over flow hoses help, but the tanks will still expand as they don't flow as fast as the water coming in. When filling the water whether that is fresh or tank flush for black.. STOP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING and focus on that.

I will run my black tank flush with the valves closed and timers on my phone because I have done it enough to know that I can run 8 minutes and then dump etc.. I typically flush, then close the valve and let it fill up and dump it a couple times just to get everything.

If you leave that running with the valves closed you are gonna have shit flying out of your roof vent.. If you don't pay attention to the fresh fill you are gonna blow the tank up and possibly damage the floor etc (on yours). Just be patient and pay attention to that and nothing else until you really get your system down.

RD

 

[BHC Vic]

How high is the hitch on that rv? That looks like a crazy big drop hitch? How much play is there in the receiver with the hitch? I'm not sure how it could even do that damage if there wasn't a ton of slop in it? I am wondering if you may have actually flexed the hitch portion on the chassis for it to do that?

The water tank.. I'll bet the "boom" was it expanding and lifting the floor and probably popping some fasteners or glue.. and when it went back to normal everything settled. The over flow hoses help, but the tanks will still expand as they don't flow as fast as the water coming in. When filling the water whether that is fresh or tank flush for black.. STOP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING and focus on that.

I will run my black tank flush with the valves closed and timers on my phone because I have done it enough to know that I can run 8 minutes and then dump etc.. I typically flush, then close the valve and let it fill up and dump it a couple times just to get everything.

If you leave that running with the valves closed you are gonna have shit flying out of your roof vent.. If you don't pay attention to the fresh fill you are gonna blow the tank up and possibly damage the floor etc (on yours). Just be patient and pay attention to that and nothing else until you really get your system down.

RD

It’s a big drop but it barely gets the trailer level. The 6 1/2 wouldn’t do it. I need to get it figured out because we are hooked on this desert camping and RVing so I want to get have my program dialed. I want an enclosed and a rzr next so I’m going to be doing a bunch of research and I’ll find a trailer that going to be a good fit for our program. The tank you’re 100% right. I’ll focus on just that from not on. I looked it up on google and it said I had 20 minutes give or take. I do t know if it was give or take but the boom was at 11 minutes

 

[trophybug19]

It’s a big drop but it barely gets the trailer level. The 6 1/2 wouldn’t do it. I need to get it figured out because we are hooked on this desert camping and RVing so I want to get have my program dialed. I want an enclosed and a rzr next so I’m going to be doing a bunch of research and I’ll find a trailer that going to be a good fit for our program. The tank you’re 100% right. I’ll focus on just that from not on. I looked it up on google and it said I had 20 minutes give or take. I do t know if it was give or take but the boom was at 11 minutes

I go full blast on the water for a few minutes and watch the level in the tank. I can physically see my tank from my storage compartment. Then I put it on as low as I can go so I can do other things and if I forget about it it will only come out enough to not overwhelm the vent tube like Dave said. With that said I have overfilled my tank multiple times with no issues because of the slow fill. I learned on my toyhauler I had before the RV. Got that floor to have a pretty decent bulge from overfilling. Floor did go back to normal like yours too though.

 

[yz450mm]

It’s a big drop but it barely gets the trailer level. The 6 1/2 wouldn’t do it. I need to get it figured out because we are hooked on this desert camping and RVing so I want to get have my program dialed. I want an enclosed and a rzr next so I’m going to be doing a bunch of research and I’ll find a trailer that going to be a good fit for our program. The tank you’re 100% right. I’ll focus on just that from not on. I looked it up on google and it said I had 20 minutes give or take. I do t know if it was give or take but the boom was at 11 minutes

Fill the fresh tank(s) slowly! Don't just put the hose in the fill port and crank it open, set the flow at about 5 gpm with the hose bib valve then put it in the tank. If air is rushing out of the tank vent while it's filling, the hose is on too high.

 

[Bobby V]

@BHC Vic Happy Birthday Vic!!!

 

[Cole Trickle]

I don't think i would bother body working the damaged fiberglass. blue tape and craw some clean matching lines and hit it with a small cut off wheel. Find some paint that matches and brush it on the edges. Round the corners up top so it wont crack.

Absolutely check for cracks on the hitch.

Maybe you can flip the springs on the trailer so you get away from a big drop hitch.

Congrats on the new toy.

 

[BHC Vic]

Ok so another win in my book… I didn’t take any pictures or videos, not sure why, but the macerator pump worked perfect. The videos said get an elbow and I figured I know better than them and don’t need one, so step one this morning was off to tractor supply for an elbow. Turns out they do in fact know better than me. Hooked up the elbow, hooked up the pump, hooked up the dump hose, and flush hose. Hooked it to the jackery cigarette port and figured I should be good. For whatever reason I was using my noodle and thought I should try grey water first, just in case. The jackery did not power the pump. Ok now what. I have a battery in the quad. I could go to tractor supply again and buy a battery just for this… let’s check the generator. Alright! There’s a cig port. Plug the pump into the generator and boom the grey water is cycled through. Close that up so I can use it to flush later. Dump the black tank. Flush the black tank. Flush the black tank like 5 or 6 times. Tanks are super clear. Flush the dump hose. Put everything in a plastic bin and throw it in the shop for next time. I’m pretty happy with how ot went and it was super easy. Plus no sewer slinky so the neighbors that walked by I don’t think had any idea I was dumping the tanks. 3/4” hose went right into the front yard clean out about 60’ away from the driveway where the rv was parked. money well spent as far as I’m concerned and really nice to be able to flush my tanks a bunch of times at my own pace.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Fine job. You got this! Sometimes it’s the simple things, that aren’t entirely simple. Well done.