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Jayco acquired by Thor

Chuck Woodbury
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(July 1, 2016) — Thor Industries today announced the acquisition of Jayco for approximately $576 million in cash.

This transaction represents a unique and significant opportunity to enhance the growth of Thor and advance the company’s strategic focus on growing its RV business, the release noted. In particular, Jayco brings complementary products in travel trailers, folding camping trailers, higher-end diesel Class A motorhomes and larger Class C motorhomes.

Jayco will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Thor, and the existing senior management team will continue to lead the business.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jayco to the Thor portfolio of companies,” said Bob Martin, Thor president and CEO. “Jayco is a company that I have admired for more than 20 years while working in the industry and living in the community very close to their operations.”

Wilbur Bontrager, chairman of the board of Jayco, said, “Our family is very proud of the legacy we have established and nurtured over the past 48 years.  As a family run and owned business, we view today’s transaction as an opportunity to continue growing our business while joining an even larger family.”

Derald Bontrager, president and CEO of Jayco, added, “The core values that are synonymous with Jayco and its brands shape the way we run our business, and these values will remain and guide us as we look to the future. We will continue with the same focus our father had on serving our dealers and consumers better than anyone else in the industry,” he said.

Jayco includes strong subsidiaries such as Jayco, Starcraft RV, Highland Ridge and Entegra Coach, including brands like the Jay Flight, the No. 1 selling travel trailer for the past 11 years.

Jayco and its subsidiaries Jayco, Starcraft RV, Highland Ridge and Entegra Coach currently operate in 31 facilities which include 17 production lines covering 2.2 million square feet of production space located primarily in Northern Indiana with additional facilities in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Thor will operate Jayco as an independent company as it does with its other subsidiaries, the release explained, adding that it will be “business as usual” at Jayco as their existing, experienced management team will continue to manage their operations and compete effectively in the RV market, just as they and their family have done for the past 48 years.

“Jayco has a well-deserved reputation of providing their dealers and retail consumers with the RVs and service they demand and the value they deserve,” said Martin. “That product innovation and dedication to their dealers and retail consumers will continue, without interruption, through the support of Thor as we continue to focus on growing our business in the North American market.

“We are excited by what we can bring to Jayco and by what they can bring to us to deliver exceptional product quality and an outstanding customer experience that will benefit everyone involved in the RV lifestyle,” he explained.

 

SOURCE: Thor Industries press release

RV Travel Reader Pets Issue 27

RV Staff
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RV Travel Reader Pets Issue 27

The pets of RVtravel.com readers

dog and photographer - leftDo you travel with a pet? We’d love to introduce your pet(s) to fellow readers. Here’s what we need: a photo or two of Fido or Boots (or you with your pet) and a 150-200 word description of your furry friend(s) — name, breed, age, how long you have traveled together, what makes them special? Go ahead and brag about them if you wish! Do you have any tips for other RVing pet lovers about traveling with pets that you’ve learned along the way? Don’t forget to give us your name(s) and hometown. Send to Diane(at)RVtravel.com .

Issue 27; Posted July 2, 2016

From Joe and Terri Lombardo, Land O’ Lakes, Florida

Pets-Lombardo-6-18-2016-face Our newest rescue, BrewDog Boont from Dogma Pet Rescue, has passed the camping test and permanently joined our family. Dogma let us keep him for a couple of weeks on a foster-to-adopt setup until he tried life at the campground.

Pets-Lombardo-6-18-16-allBoont is a 2-year-old Australian cattle dog that came out of an illegal hoarding situation (over 100 animals) just a couple of months ago. He travels pretty well, gets along very calmly with all dogs and cats he meets, and did great with every kid he met this past weekend. Boont is coming out of his shell … he played with a toy with us for the first time this past week (just sad that he did not know what they were). We’re waiting to see his personality develop over the next couple of months …

Pets-Lombardo-6-18-2016-lakeRoxie is a 13-year-old Hurricane Charlie stray that took up camping at 10 years of age (love the fact that we had crate-trained her prior to camping, making it easy for her to adapt to the lifestyle). She just loves sitting at the campsite and observing, due to her arthritis, but is always quick to get up, wag her tail and greet anyone that comes to visit. 

We frequent Celtic music festivals, where we pass Roxie off as a rare Irish Sheltie (everyone else has designer dogs … thought we would make up our own).  Always lots of fun because everyone believes us!

Cleo, our 19-year-old cat, is completely in charge at all times. When Boont had his first visit, she stood on the table over him the entire time; and when she feels like it, she will box him in behind furniture. Cleo rules the roost, always. 

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From Mary and Garth Reid, La Palma, California

Pets-Reid-6-18-16-DavyPlease allow me to brag about our Dearhearts [a type of Persian], who travel everywhere. This is Very D’Heart Gentle Davy St. Elias. We just call him Davy. Yes, these are the same type as the Fancy Feast commercial cats and are closely related to the cats used in the commercials. In fact, Davy’s mother is the niece of one of the cats in the commercials.

Pets-Reid-6-18-16-PipAnd here is our other fellow — Simply Silver Sasha St. Elias. We call him Pip. Here he is helping me with some sewing in our fifth wheel. My husband is horridly allergic to cats so we were very happy to discover that Persians are one of the few breeds which are hypoallergenic.

There are only about 350 of these cats in the U.S. We own five Dearhearts and we foster two of them, Tierney and Dougal, with our best friend. We travel with two Dearhearts. They are good travelers and go with us in our 35-foot fifth wheel. They’ve been all over the western U.S. and Canada with us. Since they are not outside cats we don’t have problems with them when we travel. They go straight from the truck to the fifth wheel each night when we are on the road. And yes, they have all their shots, they are chipped, and we carry their medical records with us. We have never had a problem at the border, either entering Canada or coming back into the US.

Pets-Reid-6-18-2016-twoThese are Simply Silver Simone St. Elias (Missy) with Davy, her son. The resemblance is uncanny. Missy, on the left, weighs just barely over 6 lbs. Davy is a whopping 6.5 lbs. They look much larger but it’s just all fur! We have traveled with Missy but she is happier at home. Her stepbrother, Pip, is a good traveler so we take him along with Davy on our trips.

Thank you for allowing us to share the love of our lives!

 

MORE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS — send in your pet stories

Click here to see the last issue of RV Travel Reader Pets.

When and when not to use “dog bone” adapters

RV Staff
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Dear Gary,
gary-736Thanks for your information at the recent RV show. Your seminars were very informative and those tire pressure requirements were new to me. Also you mentioned that the dog bone adapter is a not a good idea. I’ve used them for years with no problem. How can I plug my 50-amp trailer to the 30-amp post at the campground without one? What do you know that I don’t? —Thomas S.

Dear Thomas,
Thanks for coming to the seminars, Thomas! Glad to hear you liked them! About those dog bone adapters … only use them if you absolutely have to. The biggest concern is that one or more safety devices are bypassed when using them. Plus more connections in the chain gives moisture intrusion and electrical corrosion a leg up. But if all you have available is a 30-amp receptacle, unfortunately you’ve got to use one.

Try to always plug in to the correct receptacle so you can have full operation of all your components and circuit protection. Here’s an industry expert’s similar remarks about those dog bone, reducing electrical adapters. Check out this short video. 

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Replace or repaint RV swooshes — Which is better?

RV Staff
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Dear RV Shrink:
rvshrinkNow you’ve done it. Since your column on removing weathered decals and painting them back on, my husband has been out buying painting supplies. Now my husband wants to be a painter. Is this really a good idea? Shouldn’t we just replace the decals with new vinyl ones? —Cautious in Claremont

Dear Cautious:
My mother always said, “If somebody jumps off a building, does that mean you’re going to jump off a building too?” Meaning, of course, don’t be a follower. But I was always the first one off the building.

That doesn’t mean everyone should jump after me. I look at this project as a learning experiment. I have actually tried different materials in different spots to see what looks the best and what holds up the best. The jury is still out. If you can talk your husband into waiting a year, I can let you know how it holds up.

Besides the One Shot enamel paint, I also did a swoosh with Rustoleum oil based enamel in a rattle can from Ace Hardware. They both look fantastic at this point.

Much depends on how you have protected your coach. I have always used Poly Glow to protect mine. When I removed the vinyl the glass beneath is like new. I wet sand it a bit to give the paint a grip. Masking it is the hardest part. After the paint dries for a few days I protect it with several coats of Poly Glow, which gives it UV protection as well.

After removing several decals with an eraser wheel, masking, painting and protecting with PG, it looks great. I see no downside unless the paint doesn’t hold up.

My first choice was to replace the vinyl. I went to Winnebago, who sent me down the road to a company that sells all their old stock. Just one big swoosh was $70. A rattle can of Rustoleum is about $5.

I am guessing the paint will last longer than the vinyl, but to know for sure you will have to stay tuned.

Remember, the pioneers got the arrows and the settlers got the land. If you want to avoid arrows wait a year and I will let you know how this method has withstood the elements. —Keep Smilin’, RV Shrink

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Slideout toppers — What to do when the wind blows

RV Staff
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By Russ and Tiña De Maris

If your rig is equipped with “slide toppers,” those fancy awnings that extend out over slideouts to keep weather and dirt from collecting on the slide, you know they can be real nice. Real nice, that is, until the wind starts to blow hard from the wrong direction. One RVer, out on a road trip with a ton of noisy grandchildren, struggled when the wind began to blow and, fearing the awnings would tear, brought in the slideouts — a lot less floor space with all those kids.

windstorm
Public domain image

So what can you do? If your RV travels take you to windy sections of the country, what’s to be done when the wind blows? Some RVers say they just grin and bear the noise of the flapping toppers, while others have related horror stories about the damage done to their slide toppers. Other RVers say they’ve just given up on having slide toppers for this very reason.

Roll ’em in? Leave ’em out? It seems experienced RVers agree – much depends on the angle of the wind, how strong the wind – and perhaps how strong your willpower is when the flapping noises take over your life. But maybe there are a couple of things to be done that could allow you to leave your slide out when the wind blows.

One trick that some RVers report has success is lassoing that rebel slide topper. How so? With a soft (perhaps manila) rope, toss a line over the slideout, width-ways. Tighten down the rope slightly to form a “V” with the slide topper, and tie off both ends of the rope. The slideout bars under the slideout are probably just the place for the tie points.

Others have reported that they temporarily install tether —balls between the slideout roof and the topper. The tether balls take up some of the slack, and with their design, you can run a light line (like clothes line) to the ball to facilitate quick removal without having to mount the ladder when the winds die off.

Still others suggest replacing the factory-equipped topper material with sunscreen material. This material still provides shade to help cool down the slideout in bright sun, but because of its screen-like form, the wind doesn’t have as much opportunity to grab at the topper surface, hence, less noise and less chance of tearing.

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Reefer madness? Did you purge the gas line?

RV Staff
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By Russ and Tiña De Maris

A couple on their first RV trip were having a great time. The first night on the road was in an RV park and all was well. On their second night out, however, they were camped out in a Walmart parking lot and noticed to their chagrin that the refrigerator – which had been working fine – was warm. What could the problem be, they wondered.

Operating an RV refrigerator can be a whole new game for RV first-timers. The refrigerator at home requires almost no attention – just plug it in, set the thermostat and it takes care of itself. The RV refrigerator, by virtue of its design, requires a bit more attention. First, there’s the matter of the controls.

Most RV reefers operate on LP gas or shore power. A few add the convenience of operating on 12-volt electric. Users need to pay attention to the controls, generally found on the top of the fridge, just above the doors, in an area oftentimes called the “eyebrow.” You’ll likely find a switch that will set the reefer for its various operation modes. “Auto” or “automatic” sets the refrigerator up to operate on “shore power,” when you’re plugged into it. When not plugged into AC voltage, the refrigerator will automatically operate on LP gas. You should also be able to set your refrigerator to operate only on LP gas regardless of whether you are hooked up to shore power or not.

But operating on LP isn’t just a matter of flipping the switch to LP operation or disconnecting from shore power. If your rig hasn’t been hooked up to LP gas in a while, you’ll need to go through a couple of extra steps before running the refrigerator on LP gas.

When the gas valves on the RV tank or LP cylinders are turned off (or if these containers run out of gas), the lines running to the refrigerator will need to be purged before the fridge will operate properly. The easiest way to accomplish this is to leave the refrigerator set in the “Off” position and light one of your stove top burners. This may take a bit of doing at first. Turn the burner control to open the burner wide open (high) and using a “gas match” or other lighter, hold the flame of the lighter near the burner head until it lights.

We don’t suggest using a match as it may take some time for the gas to purge the lines and the burner to light. Initially the burner may act like a “weak sister” and need to be coaxed along by keeping the lighter flame stuck near the burner until a healthy burner flame develops. After the burner flame is good, retry starting the refrigerator by switching it to LP.

reefer eyebrow
The “check” light at “D” is the one to watch

Keep an eye on the “eyebrow” for a warning light — often labeled “check” — that indicates that the refrigerator didn’t start (see the reefer owner manual). If it doesn’t start the first time (and it probably won’t), turn the switch back off then back to LP operation. You may need to repeat this more than once to purge the air from the line running to the refrigerator.

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Gray water in the boondocks: Know the rules

RV Staff
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Gray water in the boondocks: Know the rules

By Dave Helgeson

Potty parity – Equal number of restrooms for men and women, yet the line to the women‘s room is out the door and around the corner, while the men’s room appears to contain an express lane.

If your RV is like mine, you have potty parity of the holding tanks — two holding tanks of the same size. The gray tank, being the “women’s room,” gets all the action, while the black tank, being the “men’s room,” has a “Space For Rent” sign posted!

For boondockers, potty parity can extremely limit your time in the boonies. To follow are some tips to bring some equality to your tanks.

Knowing the rules regarding gray water is key to extended stays in the boondocks. Federal lands typically list regulations regarding gray or dishwater. Just visit their websites and search for “dispersed camping regulations.”

Following are some examples:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands in southern Nevada allow the disposal of gray water under the following dispersed camping guidelines: “While camping choices are almost limitless, camping stays in the same location are limited to 14 days. Primitive campsites must be located at least 200 feet from roads and water sources such as springs, ponds, creeks or waters provided for wildlife or livestock. Gray water may be dumped at least 200 feet from any water source. Dumping sewage on public land is not legal.”

The Willamette National Forest allows the disposal of dishwater under the following provisions:

“Waste Water and Washing:
Do all washing and dispose of waste water at least 100 feet from any water source. Dig a small hole to act as a “sump” for dishwater.
Use small amounts of biodegradable soap.”

boondock sinkIn a case like this, resort to your tent camping days: Do the dishes in a dishpan then dispose of the water accordingly. This method works exceedingly well if you have a dishpan that fits in your kitchen sink.

Coconino National Forest totally prohibits disposal of waste water:
“ Please dispose of all garbage, including any paper, can, sewage, waste water or material, or rubbish either by removal the site or area, or by depositing it into receptacles or at places provided for such purposes. Failure to do so can result in a fine.”

In this situation, when disposing of any type of waste water is prohibited, utilize the dishpan as outlined above and then dispose of the dishwater by pouring it down your toilet. As you do, smile knowing that you are doing your part to end potty parity!

One more tip: Extreme boondockers use their dishwater to flush the toilet, thereby saving precious fresh water in the process.

I hope these tips extend your time between dump station visits and allow for more time in the boondocks. Enjoy!

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Haunted by kitchen floor squeak, RVer seeks help.

RV Staff
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By Chris Dougherty

Chris Dougherty is a certified RV technician. Here is a letter he received from a reader while he was serving as RVtravel.com’s technical editor.

Dear Chris,
We have a 2006 Newmar Kountry Aire model 37 “KSWB” which we purchased new. The living room floor in the center of the trailer, in front of the stove to in front of the kitchen sink, squeaks and is getting worse. What is the fix? —Charlie

Dear Charlie,

rv floor frame
Heating duct in RV floor framing. Keystone RV.

It’s impossible to tell for sure from here; however, this is usually due to a seam in the floor decking, and depending on the design, this can be where a heating duct is cut or built into the floor.

Unfortunately there is no easy fix for this. The flooring will have to be removed, and a closer examination will determine what the best fix is to stabilize whatever is squeaking and ‘giving’ in the floor.

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Two magic ingredients that can handle all your cleaning chores

RV Staff
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Two magic ingredients that can handle all your cleaning chores

By Bob Difley

Before you go out and buy high-priced, fancy-packaged, specialized cleaning supplies, try these two items you probably already have in your rig. If you don’t already have them, they are readily available in any grocery store — and you may be pleasantly surprised at their versatility.

dirty oven
Neeta Linn on flickr.com

What are these magic ingredients? White vinegar and baking soda! Don’t believe it? Try this on your oven — one of the toughest cleaning jobs — to convince yourself. Prepare a solution of 1/2 cup each of vinegar and baking soda with 3 cups of water. Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin and apply with a kitchen towel or sponge and allow to stand for a few minutes and then wipe off. You will only need to scrub the very toughest burned on food.

How about windows. Wipe solution on with a sponge then wash off with a hose and enjoy your new sparkling, streak-free windows. Use vinegar mixed with 3 parts water (you can vary this mixture based on the difficulty of the cleaning job) for less difficult jobs. Here are some more cleaning tips:

Vinegar

•           Remove stick-on hooks from painted surfaces by squeezing a few drops of vinegar behind the hook

•           Price labels will come off by coating the label with several coats of white vinegar and let soak. After several minutes the label will rub off

•           Lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave the paper towels on for about one hour before cleaning. Leaves chrome clean and shiny.

•           Vinegar removes deposits which clog your metal shower heads and sink aerators. Combine 1/2 cup white vinegar and one quart water submerge the shower head or aerators and boil 15 minutes.

•           For a homemade anti-fogging glass cleaner try 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

•           Remove rust stains and hard water deposits by applying vinegar full-strength until spot disappears, then rinse.

•           Mix vinegar with salt to create a paste for a good surface cleaner.

•           Remove stubborn hard water sprinkler spots and streaks on glass with undiluted vinegar.

•           Clean tea pots by boiling equal parts of vinegar and water for several minutes and let stand an hour. Then rinse with plain water before using tea kettle.

Baking Soda

•           You can cut the amount of chlorine bleach used in your wash by half when you add 1/4 cup to front loading washers and 1/2 a cup to top loading machines

•           The baking soda will also make your clothes smell clean and fresh

•           Dissolve 4 tablespoons baking soda in 1 quart warm water for a general cleaner

•           Use baking soda on a damp sponge to clean and deodorize all kitchen and bathroom surfaces

•           A paste of baking Soda and salt will cleans baking dishes–enamel, ceramic and glass–and coffee stains from cups or counter tops.

•           It is a great soap scum remover

•           For sluggish or clogged drains pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain. Add 1/2 cup white vinegar and cover the drain. Let set for a few minutes, then pour a kettle of 6 or more cups of boiling water down the drain to flush it. The combination of baking soda and vinegar breaks down fatty acids into soap and glycerin, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.

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How “good” is the Good Sam “free RV dump” offer?

RV Staff
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By Russ and Tiña De Maris

stuffed mailbox copyMarcus Lemonis must love us. We know that because one day, in our mailbox landed a COMPLIMENTARY membership to the Good Sam Club, courtesy of the company’s hot-shot president. Now, we’ve been members of Good Sam in the past, but trouble was, we finally took to calling the outfit the Good SPAM club, because we got more mail from Sam than from our health insurance company, if you can believe that.

Tired of getting adverts for things we weren’t interested in, we let our membership lapse. But there’s one thing you can say for the Good Sam group, they’ve got nothing if but persistence. The latest “come on” included all kinds of special offers. Included among them was that Good Sam members can dump their tanks **free** at “select” Camping World Super Stores.

Now that’s quite an inducement. It seems like it’s harder and harder to find a free anything, much less a free dump station. When you and the rig are out and about and need to make a little 40 gallon deposit, it’s nice to be able to do it without having to shell out cash.

So let’s see, there must be a way to find out which “select” Camping World stores offer this service. A quick look at the Good Sam Club website revealed nothing. A perusal of the Camping World website showed nada. Reviewing several RV forums led to the discovery that some Camping World stores offered free dump stations to anyone.

So we tried calling the “horse’s mouth.” A call to the Camping World customer service toll-free number resulted in a six-minutes-plus wait time on hold with never an ability to speak to a human being. We gave up, figuring the average RVer with a full tank would probably have hung up long before.

So we tried a different Internet search approach. This time we hit sites that listed “RV Dump Stations,” and cross-referenced them with Camping World locations. A few, we mean VERY FEW, states were listed. Of them, only one Camping World location was listed per state. We then phoned a few for information.

Newhall, California: CW doesn’t answer their toll-free line. We tried the regular number and finally roused a rep who told us that yes, Good Sam members could dump for free; all others pay $7.

Tucson, Arizona: The representative there distinctly tried to steer us away from their facility. “It’s not too convenient,” we were told. In fact, there was a dump station, but it has no water to rinse your hose (or presumably any spills). Still, no charge – to anyone – if you’re willing to brave the so-called dump station.

Fort Worth, Texas: After listening to a fuzzy, fast-talking, completely unintelligible recording, we were automatically shunted to a slow-talking, sort-of-drawling representative who told us if we didn’t have a Camping World or Good Sam membership, the dump fee was $25. “Twenty-five dollars to dump your tanks?” we asked incredulously. At that point, the rep added that, well, he’d add a Camping World Club membership for that price, good for some real nice discounts.

When we “quit” the Good Sam Club some time back, we thought at the time that it had been years since Good Sam had ‘really been much Good for anything,’ other than maybe the corporate owners. Sorry to say, but it doesn’t sound like much has changed.

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Upgrade your RV to the coolest “LED Lites”

Bob Difley
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Upgrade your RV to the coolest “LED Lites”

By Bob Difley

RV LED Lites' Naked-Bulb
RV LED Lites’ Naked-Bulb

Have you switched your RV lights over to LEDs yet? As you likely know from all the press given to LEDs lately, they will last longer than your RV, are more efficient (they give off less wasted heat), cost less to operate, and they look cool.

But all LEDs are not the same, says Gregg Wilson, owner of both Gregg Wilson Designs (he’s been designing LED lights for years) and RV LED Lites. Take for instance his Naked-Bulbs™ that not only have a wide-voltage operational range but also have his patent pending flow-through ventilation that keeps the bulb running cooler (LEDs will last over 60,000 hours when the voltage and heat are controlled).

What also makes RV LED Lites different from others is that all of the products are EMI Suppressed so as not to disrupt sensitive electronics like radios and TVs in today’s RVs while viewing.

You can find Gregg’s Naked-Bulb LED Lites, as well as his Bug-Guard and Motion-Guard porch lights on the RV LED Lites website.

You can find Bob Difley’s RVing ebooks on Amazon Kindle.

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