City Auto Sales in Claremont, NH.

 

Aaah yes. We considered buying from them several years ago (they also sold Jayco and a couple other brands). They essentially went out of business a couple years ago (maybe 3).. bank or whomever held their floor plan took away all their inventory. They are still in the same location, but only sell utility trailers today. In retrospect, they never really had a repair facility, so I can't imagine their customers had much luck with warranty work. At least not in weather where it would be a challenge to do repairs outside. On the plus side, they were there many years and did have more aggressive pricing than many other dealers in NH.

Edit: Looking at their website, it would lead one to believe they are a North Trail dealer, however I haven't seen any new RVs for sale there in several years.

www.cityautorvsales.com/home.html

 

Went to the RV show today. Saw a new Jayco Eagle that was the same floorplan as mine, but it's now an HT. Was sad to see they cheapened it, no overhead vents, the windows barely open, cabinets seemed cheaper. Really glad to have the old 2013 model.

Saw a lot of different RV's. Majority seem like bunkhouse models of all sorts of configurations. The kid room options are a lot nicer than they were when I needed a trailer for 4 kids. They look as cheesy as ever in construction. Prices seemed reasonably steady from the last few years. Lots of fancy colored lights and gadgets galore.

The one thing that stood out to me was the new style fold-up ladder/steps are getting popular. Not sure I am sold on them for uneven ground. The legs are adjustable, but the design on most was cumbersome to adjust, plus the pins weren't captive and could easily be lost. Not really sure what the advantage is, cost maybe? Anybody have that style that can chime in with a firsthand report?

 

I have no firsthand experience. I have watched some retro-fit videos and lots of videos of new trailers with them. They look very solid, at least on fairly flat and level ground. What I can't get past, is the thought of flipping them over into my trailer to travel, after packing up on a rainy day (with dirt / mud on them to boot). Imagine the wet, muddy mess dripping in my camper all the way home. I suppose as long as it is dry when packing up, I could sweep or vacuum them before flipping them over? I'm not sure I'm sold on them either.....

 

I think the major selling point for those steps is with people with bad knees, over weight, poor health etc.

My trailer has the cheaper 3 step setup and the step gaps are pretty large for my wifes fubar knee. Just upgrading the 4 step units for her would be a improvement I bet. Having a set of steps that telescopes to the ground level might save the extra wear and tear.

 

An uncle just bought a new Cedar Creek 5th wheel with those steps. They are really stiff. I like the feel underfoot but don’t know about the crud when packing. Seems we get caught packing in the rain quite often.

 

Anyone have advice on an awning. I had to replace the drive motor side arm on the Catalina we just bought as it was broken. Got the new arm on and everything functions as it should except the idler roller on the other end of the awning stays about 10” away from the wall. I’m guessing I can pull the older side off of its arm and roll it out further by a turn or two and see how it works.

If anyone knows better I’m all ears!!

 

I have a Jayco Baja off-road model with the platform. Took my awning off because I don't like how they setup and its just easier for me to use my EZ-UP. We often camp with other family, so its not uncommon for us to have a gaggle of kids who are "bored" once the sun goes down. I don't like kids hanging out inside, so I'm planning on re-purposing a projector screen to mount in place of the awning. I have a projector attachment that piggybacks onto my phone to play downloaded movies onto. It has a built-in battery, but once drained, will start to consume the phone's battery as a backup. To prevent this, I just bring along a separate 5000ma battery pack or use the 12v aux on our jumper pack. That thing is always charged and goes on every trip. This last summer's project was upgrading the factory stereo with Bluetooth and a 2nd set of outdoor speakers. The projector mod and upgraded speakers will go great together. Kids can watch a movie on a 108in screen while the adults can shoot the s**t around the campfire. Already planning our first trip in May for my birthday.....can't wait!

 

Anyone have or are required to have a "higher" class of drivers license?

I have a Texas Class C, but a buddy who bought a 3500 Dually and 45' Cyclone learned he would need a Class A (non CDL) to be insurance compliant let alone citation compliant as he is over 26k lb GVW and pulling a trailer over 10K lb GVW.

That made me think about my trailer that is over 10K GVW, but my combined is not over the 26K number. By the rules I found my +10K GVW trailer will require me to get a Class A evern though I am not registered or capable of the +26K GVW number....

Any thoughts from those of you that are pulling heavy bumper pulls and how your state treats it?

 

PA's towing laws are similar (and written with commercial use in mind) and include language about the "truck's" GVWR in combination with a trailer over 10k lbs. All references to the towing vehicle clearly state "truck" but PA doesn't consider the EX a truck and tags them as passenger vehicles with regular "car" tags and not the higher cost "truck" tags. My TT is registered at its GVWR weight of 11,300 which allowed me to get permenant tags (must be over 10k lbs), the cost of which is equal to just 3 years of normal annual tag renewals.
I have spoken to a few Troopers about this and they said that if the towing law doesn't detail requirements for a passenger vehicle (car) towing a trailer over 10k then it is allowed as the law only addresses what is proscribed. They also said that as far as they were concerned the towing regulations are directed towards commercial users and not recreational users and they don't typically mess with campers unless the driver is "asking" for some "attention". I know that the opinions of Troopers chatted up at a coffee stop aren't "the law" and I do intend to catch up with the local Troop's DOT Compliance Officer to discuss this farther. So many of these laws are antiquated, contradictory, confusing and filled with loopholes, as a member of the Fire Dept I was able to drive an air brake equipped 80k lbs Tower Ladder with a standard Class C Driver's License as long as the Fire Chief signed off that I was qualified on the apparatus.
When I upgrade to our next RV, a tag axle Class A Motorhome, I will need to get a non commercial Class A license if we stay in PA. That will cover the 50k lbs+ coach and a 20k lbs trailer. That should only require a small fee, a short driving test (with just the coach) and an annual physical (which I always get anyway).

 

Now that the new year is upon us, it got me thinking (and excited!) for the upcoming camping season. We don't camp at traditional campgrounds and prefer to boondock in the middle of nowhere, usually around a river or lake. My on-board water capacity is small at only about 18gal total, including my water heater. My goal for the pre-season is to build a purification unit to draw river/lake water to add to my tank for cooking, showering, etc. Wondering what y'all creative folks have done and if I can pick your brain on parts, suppliers, and all that jazz. What I don't want to do is lug bottles and jugs of water from home as the weight and storage requirements really add up. I've added a Sawyer gravity filter kit and a small 12v pump to my Amazon shopping cart but just can't seem to finish the transaction without getting more input from others. Thoughts? Ideas? Derogatory remarks?

 

Some of us just bought a bigger trailer.

You didn't ask for snide remarks, but there ya go.

What do the reviews say on the Borg? (Amazon)

 

Yeah, sorry, no help here either. For us "roughing it" is when we don't plug the ice maker in.

 

as it should be

 

Anyone here hooking up their TT to their home septic bed and if so how are you doing it? Might be buying a different home a little more remote from here, so looking to see if we can use the TT as a guest home from time to time. Wooded lot and really nice views there, so would be nice not to have to run to a local dump station from time to time.