Bob C

If the ran antifreeze through the water system, you do not need to leave the plug out. When I installed my new Atwood water heater, the instruction manual said to leave a little antifreezer in the water heater. I agree with you that it would be a great place for vermin to get in and would be very difficult to clean out. I would not leave the plug out myself.

I agree that having a box on the back is very handy. I will always have mine there when I travel. I frees up the inside of some of the stuff that we carry. You can draft if you like but not behind me. I will definitely slow down until you pass me. I still think that you are being a hazard on the road, but you don't seem to mind.

I have been putting Bounce dryer sheets in things that I store for the winter. I have not had any mice in the RV or pop-up camper since I started doing it. The RV is in a horse barn that is visible from the road and I look to see if there are any foot prints leading to the barn every time that I drive by. We are a very low crime rate community and they have never had any vandalism or theft from vehicles/ boats/ trailers/ etc parked there. The place is very well lit and most of the storage is large open sided buildings. My RV is on the end (10 ft back from edge of the roof) because I get it out over a month before anyone else.

I installed LED trailer lights onto the cargo holder that I put on my RV. I have a tool box on the carrier and it makes it more difficult to see the MH lights. If you get rear-ended because your lights were even a little obstructed, you may have a hard time collecting from the other guy's insurance company. I know that I am paranoid about my lights but for me it is better to be safe than sorry. I got the LED lights for $25, a tail light converter for $15 and I had the wiring. For $40 I have super bright LED tail lights. I also readjusted my brake light switch so that the lights go on if I touch the brake pedal. If anyone tailgates me, I touch the pedal and they back off.

I put my poor Toyhouse into storage. We will probably have snow on the ground soon. The lady that I bought it from stored it indoors every year and I plan on doing the same. The snow can get pretty heavy and the repeated freeze thaw cycles can really play havoc on the roofs and seams. It was snowing when I delivered it to the county fairgrounds to put it into a horse barn until March or April. It only cost $140 for the winter for my 20 ft Escaper.

The mileage is very impressive Totem. One car length per 10 mph was the old standard for automobiles. They now want more than that according to my daughter when she took driver's ed. I would think that 10 to 15 lengths should be ok. What wind conditions were you driving in, what about elevation at each end? 21 mpg vs 10 mpg seems like a pretty extreme difference. I get 15 mpg on a regular basis but with wind and terrain can drop to 11 with wind and hills.

My brakes will lock up all 6 wheels on dry pavement. I tried them before I bought the MH. I also practice emergency stops with every vehicle I own on a regular basis on back roads without traffic. Emergency stops will put your brakes just to the brink of locking up but not quite skidding the tires. Most people have no idea how much pressure it takes on the brake pedal to stop these things quickly. Most people also don't know that trucks and motorhomes can and will roll over if your are braking really hard and jerk the steering wheel in either direction. I don't care how great your brakes work. Even a fighter pilot has a lag time between seeing something and reacting to it. Unless you are totally wired with super reaction time, drafting is not safe. I TRY to stay alert to what is going on, but, I adjust the radio once in a while or look out the side window at the scenery once in a while. If the truck ahead of you hits the brakes at that moment, you or someone else could be dead. My wife will change radio stations or adjust things (including heat, A/C, radio, etc) while I am driving because I have gotten paranoid. I figure that I worked 40 years to get to retirement, I want to enjoy my retirement for another 40 years. I started slowing down for tailgaters after I got rear ended on my motorcycle the second time. After a 1/4 mile at 10 mph under the speed limit, most people will finally pass. I don't care if people flip me off when they go by, I just wave with all of my fingers up and give them a smile. On most trips, I probably pull into the gas station within 15 minutes of the ones in a hurry anyway.

I would switch out to a manual tranny in a heart beat if I knew that I would be the only driver. I am also a realist and know that my wife (who is a stoke survivor), and my daughters (who plan on traveling with us) will also be driving. The clutch would not last long with those drivers. I wanted a manual but am glad that I ended up buying an auto.

I was just watching the Sunday morning news. The gas lines in the northeast are blocks long. The reporter interviewed a couple that was complaining that they could not get gas for their generator. They did a good job at getting a generator but forgot to get a supply of gas? I guess that is almost planning for an emergency.

I try to keep 20 - 25 gallons of gas on hand at all times in the garage. I rotate it constantly. I burn about 3 gallons every time I mow the yard, snow blowing takes 1 -2 gallons (190 ft driveway) and I burn wood so I use a fair amount of gas in my chainsaws. I also carry 5 gallons with me when I travel with the toyhouse. The bumps my range up to 300 + miles. My generator gets run every month. I can run my furnace and the neighbors furnace for a long time by simply hooking up to the generator. I am not a doomsday survivalist but I can and will survive if the shift hits the fan. I am also a very good shot and can feed my family a very very long time.

Everyone should have a bit of survivalist in their blood. If they don't, the gene pool may be a little smaller. I just heard on the news, Nov 2, that some people are getting stupid on the east coast trying to get gas and food. Sorry people, the event happened already, the time to plan was last year. Keep enough gas, food, and whatever you are comfortable with handy and lock the doors. Only a few friends and relatives are welcome when the shift hits the fan.

I don't think that these motorhomes have good enough brakes to draft anything. If you are close enough to get the draft, you are too close to stop if the rig ahead of you slams on the brakes in an emergency. If anyone drafts me, no matter what I am driving, I SLOW DOWN. I have put 350,000 miles on motorcycles and I refuse to be made into a sandwich between two cars or trucks. To get better mileage, I get off the slab and drive 50-55 and enjoy the trip. My wife and I got back from our last trip (2300 miles) and only drove 100 miles of interstate. We enjoy the trip much more. We try to be realistic in planning the trips so that we can enjoy ourselves. When i was younger, I rushed everywhere. I really enjoy the slower pace now.

Solder and heat shrink wherever possible. I try to remove all crimp-on connectors when I find them.

With the number of deer in Wisconsin, I want light. My Goldwing has a 140/85 watt halogen up front and I light up the road very well, I also light up the fields on each side when on high beam. I have only been hastled by one police officer. When I informed him that I was driving 80 miles a day to/from work, and how many deer I see, he backed off and told me to go to low beam early.

I contacted Firestone and they informed me that the kits for Toyotas were no longer available. I ended up buying the system from 3-T's RV Products. Their kit has a smaller diameter airbag. I would have preferred the larger bags. Oh well, they work good.

I have never needed a generator while camping. My battery will run my furnace all night if I turn off the refrigerator ( I have a 120/12 volt compressor unit.) We use minimal lights and a battery powered radio.

I hope that you have many good miles and smiles ahead of you. I can understand the need for more room and towing.

I also carry the Legos but have not used them yet. I also get close by looking at the site and call it close enough. My advantage is that my 12 volt compressor frig does not have to be level to work. It can be off level by 30 degrees, I can't stay in the bed at that angle.

I hope that you are able to get the oven working. It is nice to set up camp and throw some take-and-bake bread in the oven to go with your supper. My adult children that camped all over the country in our pop-up think that their mom and I are living pretty big with the RV. They are envious of us cooking frozen pizza while we are camping.

The fold and pin method is what we are doing to our Escaper temporarily. The sofa has a couple of rips in it. My wife will be makng new covers when we find the right material.

Most events will only allow service dogs in. Your dogs may be well behaved but the occasional disruptive dog gets all of the headlines.

You are right, that photo did end up on Craigslist here in Wisconsin. I hope that everything goes well for you in getting it fixed up the way that you want it to be.

I also have an '88 Escaper built on an '87 chassis. My battery box is a sealed with vent tube unit located under the fold down sofa. The original box was broke so I had to purchase a new vented box. I got the biggest one I could find so that I could put a series 29 battery in it. My unit is a 20' with rear side door.

I had the same problem while we were on vacation. I determined that if I "topped off" the tank while filling, gas would get into the vent hose and it would be dificult to fill the next time. I crawled under the RV lifted the vent hose to get the trapped fuel out of the vent hose and then it filled properly. I am glad that I found the cure because it took forever to get any fuel into the tank. I know that I was trying to get every drop of fuel into the tank because it can get to be a long ways between gas stations. I may have to replace the hoses in the future but it has been working since I stopped putting fuel in when the pump shuts down the first time.

Not all fiberglass units are leak free and not all aluminum units leak. Keep looking, you will eventually find a good one.