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Date Posted |
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RE: Question for previous TT owners who changed to a 5th
Thanks for the responses so far. Both my friend and I were surprised about the comments that the 5th wheels were more difficult to back up (at least initially). Not a deal breaker by any means, but interesting and something to consider since his storage/parking area next to his garage is tight. Number of steps wasn't something he had considered, but again, not a deal breaker.
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eddd
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09/23/09 08:18am |
Fifth-Wheels
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Question for previous TT owners who changed to a 5th
I tried the search function but didn't have much luck with an answer to my question.
A friend has gotten the bug to travel now that he is retired. There are several good deals from privite parties in his area, both TTs and 5th wheels. He's towed a large boat trailer, but has no experience with a 5th wheel. I'm in the same boat, no experience with a 5th wheel either, so I'm no help. We got to talking and wondered what made someone switch to a fifth wheel after owning a TT? Any regrets? Any big disadvantages to the 5th wheel, other than the obvious loss of the full use of the truck bed?
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eddd
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09/22/09 06:18pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Simple question about refrig
I have the manual, but it says the settings are adjustable between "Max" and "Off No mention of the numbers. (Go figure!) I'm on the move right now in Montana, and the outside temperature varies so dreastically I can't get a good idea of what is going on.
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eddd
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09/15/09 08:12pm |
Tech Issues
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Simple question about refrig
The Dometic frig thst came with my camper has a thermostat adjustible from 1-7, but I need to know which is cooler...the higher number (7) or the lower number (1). I guess you can tell I don't use it very often.:)
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eddd
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09/15/09 07:42pm |
Tech Issues
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removing tabs and favorites toolbar
The latest version of IE has the usual address line, a menu bar, and the redundant tab bar which also has a Favorites and Add to favorites bar. I can't find a way to get rid of this tab bar. I already know what website I'm on, I don't need to see it again, and as for favorites, that's already on the menu bar.
Is it possible to get rid of this line. On a netbook, you need all the scren space you can get.
Thanks.
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eddd
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08/22/09 08:52am |
Technology Corner
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hp mini
Time to replace my Latitude C400. Several friends have had great things to say about their HP minis. I missed a great deal at Staples a couple of weeks ago, but that is water under the bridge. I'm looking for online sources or brick and mortar, though since I in the boonies in Utah for the next two weeks I have no chance of getting to a regular store. If the deal is good enough, however, I could probably talk a friend near a major city to pick one up for me. I've been to Amazon and Buy.com, but I know there are more good sources, just can recall any right now.
Thanks for your help.
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eddd
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07/06/09 01:35pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: adapter need for HDTV
Ok.. but you won't be getting HD on that kitchen set the way you describe. What is the model/make of your receiver. I'm curious...
It is a H23-600 from DirecTV. The lack of HD isn't a problem since I only use that TV as I sit and eat at the island. If anything comes on that is really important I can just turn around. The 40"er is only about 25' away.
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eddd
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06/10/09 04:22pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: adapter need for HDTV
Google is the place you should be to find this out, but...
You have HD and you're using 'RCA' output? Does that mean the 3-wire component, or the composite yellow video and red/white audio? You sure your kitchen TV accept nothing but coax? must be really old.
I need to clarify. The kitchen TV is a new HDTV so it will accept RCA, HMDI, or coxial.
But, in the short time since I posted my question, I had a brainstorm...or at least a brainshower. All I really need to do it to take the RCA video output from the satellite receiver, connect it to the coaxial cable that runs to the kitchen, change the coax to an RCA and plug it into the video input on the kitchen TV. There is no need for the audio connections since I can just listen to the audio on the 40" HDTV that is in the family room. The sound is better anyway on the 40" TV. The only reason for the kitchen TV is that when seated at the island, the 40" TV is at my back.
It will work, too. I made a quick test with clip leads and had a nice picture. Problem solved, but I'm happy to see if there is even a better solution out there.
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eddd
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06/10/09 02:26pm |
Technology Corner
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adapter need for HDTV
I've just had a new DirecTV HD system installed. The new satellite receiver used two types of outputs HDMI and RCA-type. My old receiver used a coxial output to which I added which I added a splitter and sent the signal to a second TV in the adjoining kitchen. The kitchen and family room are open to each other, so you would only want one station on at any time.
So what I need is an adapter that converts the RCA or HDMI output to coxial so I don't have to run any additional wires to the kitchen.
Is there such an animal? Any other suggestions? I really, really don't want to go up to the attic and run any additional cables. Access is extremely difficult.
Thanks in advance.
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eddd
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06/10/09 01:49pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Not A Lance in the World
... and if they do pull it than it will also go to show that my freedom of speach rights have been violated, thus we will have two problems here than.
#1 Discrimination.
#2 violation of my rights to express myself.
of which both are how do you say it (AGAINST THE LAW!)...
The owners/operators of the forum have the right to delete any post they want. You are allowed to participate in this forum. It would not violate any "law" if they deleted the post or banned you from further posts.
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eddd
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04/13/09 05:03am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Not A Lance in the World
Let me summarize the post. :)
Bobmillerinc bought a Lance...Lance didn't give him the service he expected...Don't ever buy a Lance.
But, Bobmillerinc loves his Lance. :)
Very good summary Jim, I still prefer to read it in the original Greek. :B :B
BUYER BEWARE! If you are in the market for a Truck Mounted Camper than don't walk away from Lance Camper...Run!!! We met with a lance Representative twice at different RV shows the rep was polite and answered all of our questions he said they stand behind there product, Well we still shopped around a bit more but it came back to the same thing customer support we wanted a camper that had a network of repair facilities all over the U.S. as we never knew were the road was going to take us well lance seemed to be the only manufacturer that had this, our Lance model 1121 cost more than comparable campers from other manufacturers but we wanted quality and support, We have owned other RV's before and we know that from time to time there are problems associated with them its the same as buying a new car sometimes there a bugs to work out, so as the story goes we ordered our lance from Manteca Camper in Manteca CA that was our second mistake besides buying a lance period! we already knew we wanted an 1121 model it was time for the new model year to come out so our salesman called down to lance to see if they had one they said they did so we dickered around about the options I wanted basically I wanted it fully loaded minus the rear observation system I figured I would add it latter my self as I felt the dealers asking price of 2k was to high and in the end when I did add it my self it wound up costing me around 450.oo I did however want it prewired for the camera which in the end wound up being a big mistake as I found out that lance wires the set up to be used EXCLUSIVELY with Audiovox rear observation systems so there connections would not work with the brand of camera and monitor that I purchased it was a matter of cut and splice a lot of wires (thankfully I'm a electro mechanical technician so it was nothing to me to do so except a lot of time) I also did not want there solar panel as it was only a 50 watt panel and there asking price was way to high off the top of my head I cant remember what they wanted but like I had said before we have owned other RV's so like other RVers Camping world is just one of my toy stores I knew that I could get an 80 watt panel with all the trimmings from them cheaper I did however order the Lance with it pre-wired for the solar panel thank God it had all the rite connections and was just a matter of mounting it and plugging it in,Next I told them I wanted blue graphics to match our then new truck the dealer told me that lance now only offered one color of graphics a universal color of brownish gray it was a cost saving measure for lance after the purchase we found out that was an outright LIE!!! as they to this day still offer several different colors for graphics with blue being one of them! next I told them I wanted the wrap around leather sofa insted of the dinnet they told me that that was out as they were discontinuing that style and no longer worked with the supplier of the leather sofa well that too was a LIE as the next model year that came out had them offered in it as we seen it at the shows for the 2006 model ours is a 2005 model Lies Lies and more Lies!!!! well we got it all nailed down we ordered the lance and it showed up about two months latter we knew it was going to be an all day deal to install it as they had to wire our truck and install the cab over struts and install the air bags in the end they could not get the turn brake lights hooked up rite so what wound up happening was the installer fried our front control module the part of the computer on the truck which handles the trailer tow lighting and turn signals brake lights etc still to this day when the camper is hooked up or I am towing a trailer our left brake light and our trailer brake controller will not work the Dodge dealer says it will cost a grand to fix it I guess they had there best apprentice work on our truck well after being there all day and the camper being loaded up we needed to get home so we could return to work the next evening so n we went with no left brake light we dickered around about the brake light for a few months they never would pay for it and by that time we had other problems our cabinets over the kitchen sink started coming apart at the seams!!! the thin light over the dinnet stopped working and I cant think of what else at this time so it was back off to manteca camper for repairs they fixed the stuff in question however they left greasy shoe prints on our blue carpet and greasy finger prints on our ceiling of which we have never been able to get it fully clean well we picked up the camper and off we went until about three months latter the electric jacks took a******so it was back off to the nearest dealer yep you guessed it Manteca camper they told us the electronic module was out for the jacks and that they would have to order it they asked mew to leave the camper with them which we did but before doing so we asked the service manager to have our tanks dumped as we were just returning from a trip he told us consider it done and don't worry about a thing we will take care of everything well it took two months to get the camper fixed they Finlay called we made the 70 mile drive up and at that time they were getting ready to close they had me sign the paper work and said there it is so we proceeded to load up and as soon as we went inside the camper the smell hit us it practically knocked us out yep you guessed it they never emptied our tanks they let the camper sit out in the hot valley sun for two months and never dumped our tanks well it took all about three or for deep cleanings with tank cleaner to get rid of the smell and to get the level gauges working rite again so far we have never been back to Manteca Camper they mailed us a coupon worth 200 bucks on stuff from there store we mailed it back to them and said thanks but no thanks you can keep it and don't ever mail us anything ever again we probably should have spent the 200 bucks but I was afraid if I went up there I would wind up knocking someone out well so far we have discussed the dealer no lets move onto Lance them self.well here we sit our two year warranty is up but only buy TWO MONTH'S and the JVC am/fm/cd dvd player combo that lance installed for us when we ordered the camper brand new has taken a dump I have had cars 20 plus years old with the factory radios that still worked when I sold the vehicles not only this but the LED taillights on the camper which must have about 100 led bulbs per round light well most of them have taken a dump its a real safety issue Lance should have stuck to a regular incandescent bulb that you can change if it goes out on theses new led jobbers you have to change the whole assembly at God knows how much $$$ and not only that the rear entrance door to the camper is starting to DE-laminate in other words the fiberglass is sarting to peel apart this is on thing that lance company brags about there exclusive proses of vacuum bonding there fiberglass panels so this very thing will not happen I have a question for you lance WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CAMPER??? just the other day I noticed that our wallpaper is starting to peal off in our dry bathroom.we have wrote several e mails to lance and sent them several faxes asking them to replace our faulty brake light leds as they are a safety issue I worry about my family when they are in the rig and they are also a safety issue for whom ever may be behind us, we have also asked them to replace the dvd player as we feel it should have lasted much longer than two years, we have sent these e mails and faxes over the period of 7 weeks now and still there is only silence!!! Lance refuses to return our e mails and refuses to return our faxes we don't think that with all that we have been through that a dvd player and a set of brake lights would break a big company like lance campers bank to me it seams a small price to pay for using inferior parts to Begin with and an even smaller price to pay to keep there customer happy after all word of mouth is a powerful tool especially with the Internet these daysr beware if you should choose to buy a lance camper you have been fore warned once the warranty is up your camper will literally start to fall apart in front of your eyes and lance camper does not care they already have your money and now that they do you are nothing to themwill keep trying to reach lance camper but we will also be contacting the rvia association and tuning them in on our woes, we will also contact the united states department of transportation in regards to the tail turn brake light leds as we feel it is a safety issue we will be asking them to consider a recall of all lance campers equipped with similar led rear lighting and if nothing else we will file small claims court action we will keep this epic saga updated as things progress is America and we are Americans we built this country we will not just lay down and die or be walked all over by big business or big corporations we will not walk silently into the night and just go away as they would wish we would do we as Americans will stand up for our rights and speak out against the big businesses that are pulling at the very fabric of our country with there poor quality and and even poorer workmanshipopy and pasted this from my Yahoo 360 blog page so for some reson some things didnt come out right (for example it copy and pasted the PRE Spell Check version ? dont know why either)But I think as you read it you will be able to make most of it out okDont Get Us Wrong!We love our lance camper, we have been all over the U.S. with it, we just feel that Lance Camper's people at there office could do more inorder to work with people except blow you off!!We also feel that they should monitor more closely who sells and maintains there camper line under warranty.e place we bought are camper from there service department did more harm than good.and as for the front control module that they shorted out on our truck its worse than that,on a recent road trip to the east coast we lost all turn signals and brake lights to the camper it was determined by a dodge dealer that it was the front control moudule and the intire fuse box that was shorted out basicaly about 2k to fix the issue.
Brad, you obviously have too much time on your hands, but that is a very funny post.
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eddd
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04/13/09 04:52am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Suggestions for where to relocate after retirement
...Bottome line, there are places in Texas which are a lot better than Los Fresnos.
No doubt about that, but public land is almost nonexistant, and the other consideration is that many gathering I attend are in the western states. The long trips just to get there has gotten very old over the years.
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eddd
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04/11/09 10:59am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Suggestions for where to relocate after retirement
It sounds like you already have what you are searching for in Texas. Texas is one of the most friendly "tax" states that exist. You already live in a small town, in a moderate climate, near Waco I believe, lots of areas for bike and motorcycle riding, etc. Why move?
Most of the so called "retirement" experts recommend that people stay put to retire. We sure should have done that instead of moving to Florida from Colorado. You may have "other" reasons for wanting to move, but I would suggest staying put for a year or so after retirement as you travel around the country in your RV to check it out. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
My home for the last 30 years has been the lower Rio Grande Valley, located at the very southern tip of Texas. The Rio Grande Valley isn't a valley at all...it is a delta...flat with straight boring roads. The Gulf is to the east, flat coastal plains to the north, and Mexico to the south. The climate is hot and uncomfortably humid, April through October. There is no good camping in the area, no good public lands, and most important, I love the desert, wide open spaces, mountains, and have lots of friends that live out west.
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eddd
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04/11/09 09:42am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Suggestions for where to relocate after retirement
Thanks for the suggestions so far, and the good advice about taxes and living in a place for a year a or so before buying.
I will keep those thins in mind, and keep the location suggestions coming.
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eddd
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04/11/09 03:39am |
General RVing Issues
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Suggestions for where to relocate after retirement
Retirement is only two months away, and it is time to head west. I'm investigating places to relocate, buying a home, or building if I can't find an existing house to my liking.
I'm focusing on New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The place I end up should fit as many of the following as possible:
1. Rural or small town
2. Nearby access to public lands
3. Reasonable weather...hard to define, but I don't want to be snowbound for months on end, nor suffering through months of 100 degree days.
4. Area good for mountain biking
5. Area good for dual-sport motorcycling
6. Area good for camping with my truck camper
A few on the list already
Silver City, NM
Globe, AZ
Stafford, AZ
Show Low, AZ
Cedar City, UT
I'd appreciate any suggestions, and if you can expand on your suggestion, all the better.
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eddd
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04/10/09 05:03pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Installing an alternative to curtains
Good idea and looks great! I wonder if "pop-rivets" would work with the front lowers? You could "touch them up" with some white paint? Nice mod you did!
I would have used these. But I knew they existed, so they would have been my first choice.
http://www.itw-fastex.com/catalog/index.php/dw/op/a/6/c/14/p/27?m=no#specs
Since they're nylon, they can easily be dyed with warm water and Rit Dye. I should say the color can be changed easily, matching it to something may not be quite as easy. ;)
The snap rivets might have been an option, but I considered and dismissed the idea of pop rivets for the following reason:
The sun had taken it's toll on the plastic tabs as well. Luckily there were many extra ones because lots of them cracked when I was removing the material or trying to mount them. I was sure the pop rivets would break even more. With the screws I could control the amount of tightening required.
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eddd
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03/22/09 04:09am |
Truck Campers
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Installing an alternative to curtains
The curtains in my 2000 Lance had seen better days. Years in the sun had taken its toll.
http://www.fototime.com/F8B5EB54C4E906E/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/C1890D67E64C8DF/orig.jpg
I searched through the posts on replacing curtains, but the suggestions I found there didn't seem practical for me. I got to thinking that I wanted something that would last, and that I could do myself. That's when the idea of making vertical blinds came to me. I purchased a set of white vertical blinds for a patio door from Lowes for under $30.00. There is enough "material" there for 3 campers.
I cut the plastic tabs from the curtains, and cleared them of curtain material and thread.
http://www.fototime.com/AFADEFF2584594F/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/04182DBA58D5B76/orig.jpg
Next I had to decide how to mount the tabs to the blinds that I had cut to size. I had some double stick tape so I tried that. Forget it! Some of the side window slats held well, but the ones I tried in the front quickly fell off.
I thought I'd try hot glue, with a kind of rivet. This required drilling holes to get the rivet effect. Here is what that looked like.
http://www.fototime.com/9261D710B9329B3/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/93367095846655B/orig.jpg
That would probably be good on the side windows, but even that did not hold on the front, where you had to attach the plasic tabs to the top and bottom of each slat. Exposure to the sun heats and expands the slats putting too much pressure for the glue to hold.
I wanted this to work, so I went to the next level.
http://www.fototime.com/09F6800E5BD8B0C/orig.jpg
I got the box of machine screws complete with nuts and lock washers at Lowes for about $5.00. The side slats were pretty easy. I just drilled out a hole through the tab and the slat. The front ones were more complex, requiring 2 holes and screws for the top and bottom of each slat.
http://www.fototime.com/BF9D8167CA10B85/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/80D58D695CF5D94/orig.jpg
The finished job came out well. The front slats hold nicely, though the nuts are visible on the bottom of the slat. The side windows look nice, and the valance hides the screws, as does the front valance at the top of the front slats.
http://www.fototime.com/DE5668C6981CBFA/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/4D4FFBBFA2AFA9A/orig.jpg
I'm able to slide the side window slats over enough to completely clear the screened part of the window. The side ones can slide around a bit when traveling down the road. but I don't see this as a problem since I don't need privacy at that time, and there wouldn't be enough sun exposure to damage anything inside.
The front ones can be slid enough so I get that wonderful view I love so much when I'm laying in bed looking at the stars, an approaching storm, or when I want to check out noise or vehicles moving near the camper.
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eddd
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03/21/09 08:16am |
Truck Campers
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Help picking a French Press
I searched and came away as confused as before. I'm ready to purchase a French Press, but after reading lots of posts I'm still not sure which one will be best for me. Here are the important facts:
1. Will be used almost exclusively for just me.
2. Somewhere between 12 and 20 oz. is perfect.
3. One I can purchase on ebay. (I hate going to the the store for anything.)
Thanks for your suggestions.
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eddd
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03/20/09 11:18am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: New Italian TC
Seems to be very well built. You'd think there'd be a market for something like this on this side of the ocean.
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eddd
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02/01/09 04:42am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Storing items in a trailer
Thanks for the suggestions so far. The more input the easier it is to make good choices and avoid things that didn't work out.
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eddd
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01/16/09 02:44am |
Truck Campers
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