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RE: Dewinterized today, Camping soon
Planning on Dewinterizing on Saturday. First trip with new TT April 1 - 4, going to the Outer Banks(Buxton)for Easter. We love the Outer Banks. We have stayed in motels but I have not camped there since I was a kid. We may try it in the TT someday. Have fun on the OBX. - Lee
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crab80
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03/18/10 12:41pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Dewinterized today, Camping soon
In reference to my previous post, I now decided to go ahead and head to Assateague tomorrow (Friday) and come back on Monday. I dewinterized the trailer last night, washed it, got the gas systems up and running etc. etc. The weather is just too nice to stay home. The girls are heading to New York on Sat. so this will be a solo trip. LOTS OF SLEEPING! It looks like it will be a beauty of a weekend. I may be camping this weekend if I do not have to work but it will be in tents on a B.S.A. event if I do! Have fun and enjoy the shore. -Lee
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crab80
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03/18/10 12:37pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Dewinterized today, Camping soon
The sun came out finally this afternoon so I dewinterized and ran all appliances etc. We have had the TT 5 months today and all checked out fine. The awning was full of water(had to be with all that rain) and I have that out drying. With my luck we will have a freak cold spell and I will have to run my little electric heater at night. Oh well I have done that before. Where I have it parked is usually hard solid ground but that does not exist right now. I think I can pull it out though after a few dry days. I have lived here 26 yrs and water is standing in places I have never seen it before. I did a few mods over the long cold winter including the water pump silencing mod and I`m real pleased with that. Opening up the season April 2-4. Yahoo. Let`s go campin`.
-Lee
We have a farm on the west side of the Chesapeake and you are very correct about the solid ground...there has been so much rain the place is a quagmire. I am taking the TT down Thursday thru Sunday to do some work on the barn and I am a little worried about where I can park...down on the creek shore is pretty much out of the question. I dewinterized last night and expect to be okay for the weekend but out here in the Valley we can expect several sub-freezing nights before "spring" is over. I also run a small electric heater to keep the pipes from freezing.
Jim Yeah I know you guys have had it pretty rough this year too. You probably got more snow this winter then us. We are surrounded by water and that tends to keep us a bit warmer then inland locations giving us lots of rain. We also get those brutal coastal Nor`easters- high winds, high tides, etc. Remember a few years ago when we were in a severe multi year drought? Boy how things change. -Lee
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crab80
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03/17/10 06:59pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: New TT
Great news on the new TT and welcome to the gang. -Lee
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crab80
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03/17/10 06:52pm |
Travel Trailers
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Dewinterized today, Camping soon
The sun came out finally this afternoon so I dewinterized and ran all appliances etc. We have had the TT 5 months today and all checked out fine. The awning was full of water(had to be with all that rain) and I have that out drying. With my luck we will have a freak cold spell and I will have to run my little electric heater at night. Oh well I have done that before. Where I have it parked is usually hard solid ground but that does not exist right now. I think I can pull it out though after a few dry days. I have lived here 26 yrs and water is standing in places I have never seen it before. I did a few mods over the long cold winter including the water pump silencing mod and I`m real pleased with that. Opening up the season April 2-4. Yahoo. Let`s go campin`.
-Lee
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crab80
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03/16/10 02:00pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Living in a RV
900 sq ft is a BIG trailer. An 8 x 40 is 320 sq ft. You are right on. 900 sq ft is equal to a 14 x 65' mobile home. Not exactly an RV.
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crab80
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03/15/10 06:39pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Purchase Local or Out of Town
As a former service manager, I can tell you this. I was happy to take care of out-of-towners and even locals who bought elsewhere, but there was a catch. See, if you come to me and treat me right, I would treat you right. But, if you are one of the arrogant jerks (as we have seen displayed in this thread) then you will get the same treatment back. I had one customer who threw a fit, because of a minor scratch UNDERNEATH the frame. It was just a surface scratch and I apologized and told him it would be taken care of, no charge of course and at his convenience. I even offered to assist with travel. This was a very minor fix in a hidden area and would have taken all of 10 minutes in my body shop. The customer however got beligerant and demanded we take it to a body of his choosing and that they refinish the entire underside area. Cost us $350.00. Well, next time the guy called for service, I was very polite and told him I would be happy to give him an appointment. We could fit him in at 8am on May 2nd. The unfortunate thing for him, it was January when he called ;-).
So, no matter where you buy, if you go to the service department and treat them as you would expect to be treated, I would bet you will never have a problem.
Good luck and save some cash!
WHS Well said! The way you ran your service dept. would surely win over customers and bring them back. You wanted everyones business, not just the ones that bought from you. This way you may bring more business to the sales dept as well. As a business owner I know what you mean about the occasional PITA when dealing with people.It happens and you can`t please em no matter what.
I know many dealers and techs are honest hard working folks making a living. I welcome hearing both sides of any issue and try to have an open mind.
Unfortunately some have openly said that they would refuse warranty work to those that bought elsewhere. That will really inspire someone to buy! This issue came up just a few days ago on the TT forum in a thread called "RV wholesalers". Read it and you will see how some do business. The thread was closed.
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crab80
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03/15/10 03:07pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: TENT TRAILRS ARE THE BEST
At times we camp in the TT and sometimes in tents, depending on the situation- weather, access, BSA events, etc.I never owned a popup but can see the advantages and why some people really like them. It`s great to have so many choices, isn`t it? -Lee
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crab80
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03/15/10 12:49pm |
Folding Trailers
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RE: TT's with rear "Garage Style" Storage Area
Spanky I had that same model TT with the rear garage door only it was a 2003 SOA. I have to agree with you that was a nice feature and I knew I would miss that storage space and the ease of access to things. You just lift the door up and everything is in front of you. I even had room for my Blue tote tank in there. I think it was a good selling point when I sold it. Coachmen has done away with the SOA line as you said. This question came up once before and there was at least one other brand that offers the door besides Puma but I can`t remember what it was. The Pumas seem to get good reviews here though. Good luck. -Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 07:16pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: BAL X-chocks vs BAL Deluxe chocks
Well don`t ask me why but I have one of each. Recently I weighed every item in my TT (I was bored). The deluxe chock weighs 2.5 lbs more then the x- chock, so it has more steel and beef to it. As far as the job they do I see no difference other the the x chock is designed to fit in narrower spaces between wheels. I if I had to pick one over the other I guess it would be the deluxe chock just because it seems stronger, but they are both a well made product and will serve you well. -Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 06:59pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: dealing with money
Try using a CC that pays YOU to use it. Some cards from Citi and Chase pay a CASH dividend of 2 or 3% on gas, groceries and utilities and 1% on everything else. It doesn`t sound like much but in the course of a year it can really add up. I got back $300 last year on my card and we bought Christmas presents for the kids with the money. Of course you have to pay the balance off each month or you will get slammed with a high interest rate. As others suggested you can pay online, track balances and set up alerts to remind you when a payment is due or if a large purchase has been posted to your account, etc. Nothing wrong with the cash paying method either if you don`t mind stashing that much cash.
-Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 06:44pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Water leak -- oh,my!
It sounds like it just was not tightened up properly at the factory since the leak stopped after you tightened it. Hopefully just one of those little new rig bugs to be worked out.
-Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 06:28pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Virgina Beach Campground
Another one to consider is Kiptopeke SP if you want to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and visit the Eastern Shore, just across the bay from Va Beach (about 25 miles). Nice SP with full hookups available, trails, beach, fishing pier etc.
-Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 04:38pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Electric and Or Gas only.
Some of them are propane only, like my last TT. My current one has the switches for propane or electric on the master panel with the holding tank gauges. Not sure about that model. Even today the electric and automatic ignition (DSI) for the propane is an option on some trailers.
-Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 12:57pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Little confused - propane overfill?
When my dealer fills my tanks he has the tank on a scale... There is also a mechanical readout of gallons on the pump and of course there is the 80% fill valve too...
Les This is the way I have seen it done both at the gas station and at the propane dealer where I get mine filled. -Lee
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crab80
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03/14/10 08:04am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: New Hybrid Owners!
Welcome and congrats on the new rig. Just in time for the new camping season. Now we need pics! Enjoy. -Lee
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crab80
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03/13/10 12:00pm |
Hybrid Travel Trailers
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RE: Sardines
Wow! Now that`s close! You could be a peeping Tom out of your own window!
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crab80
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03/12/10 05:30pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: RV wholesalers
E commerce is here to stay, guys, and everything has changed. When consumers wish to make a purchase they have almost unlimited information available to research a product. Just a few years ago this was not the case and the consumer may have looked to buy an item such as an RV and been clueless about actual MSRP and what others are paying around the country. I`m old enough to remember when sticker prices were not put on pickup trucks (80`s), only equipment lists, and you had to go inside the dealership to even find out what the price was. You were completely at their mercy. Not the case today. Now you can get prices and inventories at dealers all over the country via the internet. Retailers of all types have to compete with the internet and most have adapted by putting their products online also. Those that have adapted are surviving and some are thriving. And I`m sure glad car dealers do not have the same approach on warranty work that some RV dealers have. I bought a minivan from a dealer 60 miles away last year because the closer one did not have what DW wanted. It went in for warranty work twice and I still had problems so I tried the 30 mile away dealer and was treated very well and they found the problems. They did not ask where I bought it or seem to care. Now I will go back to them in the future. I know RV and cars are different on warranty payoffs, etc. but the point is trust and business can be earned.
And to Texas Tim, welcome to the forum, we do need to hear both sides whether we agree or not. - Lee
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crab80
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03/12/10 01:56pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: RV wholesalers
Oh well, here we go again. A thread was just closed covering this seemingly ever-present issue. -Lee
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crab80
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03/12/10 10:28am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Factory Order or Dealer Stock??
I agree with buy local if the price is close. There are many posts telling of the local dealer being close or matching the internet price. In which case the buyer bought local. However there seem to be more cases of the buyer savings thousands via the internet.
There is no one size fits all answer. I suggest one shop around including the internet dealers. This is pretty much where I stand on this issue. It seems this comes up every week on one of the forums and is debated. The local dealers, give em a chance to earn your business, and if they take a hard line and will not budge and you can save 4 grand or so somewhere else then go for it. If they try to hold you hostage by giving you the "Well if you don`t buy from us we won`t service it" scare line, run away, don`t want to deal with them anyway. If they are reasonably close (say within $1000 to 1500) and are willing to get you in the rig YOU want and not something on the lot they can`t sell, buy from them. Buying from a dealer close by has obvious advantages. But as others have said just because you buy something local does not necessarily mean you will get great service. Every dealer, situation, and transaction is unique. -Lee
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crab80
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03/11/10 02:10pm |
Travel Trailers
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