Thursday, September 26, 2019
Welcome to another edition of RV Travel’s Daily Tips newsletter. Here you’ll find helpful RV-related and living tips from the pros, travel advice, a handy website of the day, tips on our favorite RVing-related products and, of course, a good laugh. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate you. Please tell your friends about us.
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Today’s thought
“Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” —Roger Staubach, football quarterback
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Pancake Day.
Tip of the Day
Pay attention to age of tires
Tires used on RVs are subjected to a greater variety of conditions than automobile applications. Many RVs are out of service for long periods of time. When RVs are being driven, they are used at or near maximum loads during hot weather.
Normal, natural aging of a tire, as well as ozone in the air, may cause the rubber to crack, especially in the sidewall area. Tires should be checked for this condition or other damage before every long trip. Tires over five years old or ones that show signs of cracking should be inspected regularly by a tire professional to determine if they should remain in service or be discarded.
Man puts RV on cruise control, walks back to make coffee.
Chuck’s Roadside Journal discusses this popular urban legend. Read the many variations of the story and give yourself a good chuckle. Click.
- You need this hilarious sign for your RV.
- Camco’s Amazon store has everything.
Reader poll
Quick Tip
Fill ‘er up after a trip
“Keep your fuel tank(s) full when not on the road. Moisture in the form of water vapor can enter by way of tank vents as evening temperatures drop. When the vapor condenses, it forms water. The more empty space, the faster water collects. Water rusts fuel tanks and rust flakes clog up your filters.”
Random RV Thought
If you brew coffee or another hot liquid, put it in a Thermos rather than reheat it over and over. You will save propane or use of your generator. This Thermos will keep your coffee hot from Michigan to Montana.
Easily clean those stubborn bugs off your RV
The Microfiber Mesh Bug and Tar Sponge has millions of tiny fibers embedded in the microfiber cloth that grabs and holds the dust and dirt. It is so effective it even cleans without chemicals, saving both time and money. The secret of this sponge lies in its unique, double-layer microfiber mesh. Older nylon bug sponges can harm your clear coat, but this one is completely paint safe. Learn more or order.
Website of the day
Bodie Ghost Town
If not the best ghost town in America, it’s one of the best. Bodie is located off U.S. 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra range. It was one of the roughest towns in the West. At one time it reportedly had 65 saloons, along with brothels, gambling halls and opium dens. Today, it’s a California State Park, preserved as it looked in the 1880s.
And the Survey Says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 1,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• For 49 percent, Amazon is their “go-to source” for RV parts. Eleven percent choose Camping World.
• Twenty-three percent carry “about every tool I could ever need (and then some)” in their RVs.
• Fifty-seven percent bought their present RV new.
Trivia
Recent KOA research shows 71% of all campers are white, 11% are Hispanic, 9% are African-American and 7% are of Asian descent. More than 50% of new campers in recent years are non-white.
• Protect your RV’s slideout! Use this rubber seal lubricant. Learn more or order.
• Attention Big Rig RV owners! This annual road atlas will keep you away from too-narrow roads and low bridges. Learn more or order.
• Camping at Corps of Engineers Campgrounds. Many RVers consider these the very best places to stay. Learn more or order the directory.
Leave here with a laugh
A recent immigrant from Poland who was married to an American barged into the police station out of breath. “My wife, she try to kill me!” he stammered. “Are you absolutely sure?” questioned the police officer. “Of course I sure” he countered. “You think I’m dumb? Look what I found in her purse!” He reached in his pocket and pulled a bottle. “Look, it says polish remover!”
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Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY.
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Senior editor: Emily Woodbury. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
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Everything in this newsletter is true to the best of our knowledge. But we occasionally get something wrong. We’re just human! So don’t go spending $10,000 on something we said was good simply because we said so, or fixing something according to what we suggested (check with your own technician first). Maybe we made a mistake. Tips and/or comments in this newsletter are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of RVtravel.com or this newsletter.
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That ghost town has nothing on what we found in Colorado. Elmo and Tin Pan. South of Buena Vista, 162 just north of Noth I think that is the name. Tin pan had a reputation for shall we say running their sheriffs out of town. We were told to go look at the cemetary. We did not get the chance because we were told an avalanche had that section of that town shut down. Elmo was created in the booming rail town of the 1880s. The rail is gone but not the town. That is well preserved. Today they are slowly restoring it. A woman named that town. You can feel its age. Need to go back and see Tin Pan. If you go go early and drive slowly. Some of those turns are wicked. Otherwise it makes for a nice day visit.
Is the the name of the town Tin Cup as opposed to Tin Pan? We have traveled the area many times. St Elmo is a quaint little place with hummingbirds and chipmunks. The “road” to Tin Cup is at St Elmo and off road vehicles are suggested to travel that way. Beautiful and interesting trips!
It’s cute how you guys seem to think that only men carry pocket knives.
And by ‘cute’ I really mean disturbing. Your internalized misogyny is showing.
Hey squeakytiki,
We’re sooo sorry about this! The original question was phrased differently, but we made a few edits along the way and somehow ended up here. We actually didn’t mean to publish it this way, but we must’ve forgotten to hit save. I think all the women here at RVtravel.com (myself included) carry pocket knives. We didn’t mean to only say men. Sorry about that.
-Emily, RVT
Yep-Leatherman multi-tool/knife. Learned about the multi-uses while serving in the military. Never travel without it.
Living in So Cal I keep our Motorhomes (2) always full and stocked for Earthquake preparedness.
NCIS ( tv program) Gibs rule #9
Always carry a knife
Kinda hard to do if you fly but we usually check one bag so it’s the first thing out when we get to destination.
I love that show!
Re: color of campers, to me “camper” is the person who drives the RV… So I was really wondering what the heck an hispanic or African RV was — I’ve seen some tan or black RVs, sure, but do we really want to be racially profiling our vehicles? Apparently 20 hours of sleep in the last 6 days is not helping my reading skills…
As for the pocket knife survey, you should ask how many, not “if” — I have a Vicky, a Leatherman, and a micro-LM on me most of the time. They all have different tools, although the LM would probably do for all if I had to go into tool rehab or something… :-S
…is not the person…
I hate Google auto-molest…
I also am a woman who always carries a pocket knife – usually in my purse but occasionally in my pocket.
I am a woman who often carries a pocket knife!
Regarding carrying a pocket knife, it happens when we’re camping because the Swiss Army knife has the bottle opener and somebody is always looking for those.
As a woman I carry a Swiss Knife in my purse~ I have used it so many times~
Regarding poll – should have seen that one coming!
My wife and I both have knives in our carry bags …. along with our S&W 9mm Shields
The 9mm Shield is an excellent choice, but your ammo choice is equally important. I use and recommend Federal Premium HST. Ball ammo should only be used at the range. Your knife should be clipped to your pocket or belt where it is instantly available. An assisted opening knife such as the Benchmade Barrage saves valuable seconds in deploying the blade.
I’ll agree against carrying ball ammo — I carry Federal 45ACP Hydroshok myself. I will add that CCW ammo MUST be factory made (defenders get crucified for using home loads of any type, even if lower power).
As for carrying a knife, none of mine are rapid deployment or expected to be defensive as you seem to indicate. It takes some pretty good training to be effective with a defensive knife, and I’m too old and slow. My draw is still plenty fast, and anywhere in NY I can’t CCW I can’t bring a significant knife either.
I am a woman and always carry my baby Swiss Army knife with me. But you didn’t ask that.
Pocket knives for men only???? I carry an Old Timer pocket knife that was my Dad’s. Very sentimental item I keep with me, and I also have another one at home.
When I was in the Cdn military it was my job for many years to monitor all of the paperwork for our aircraft. One of the things that happened quite often was a tire assembly (wheel and rim) were robbed from aircraft A for aircraft B. Many technicians weren’t aware of the life limit on the actual rubber. If a tire expired (went past its life) while on the aircraft it was allowed to remain on until the tire was worn beyond limits. But as soon as it was removed it was considered expired even though it might look brand new. Rubber has a life and everyone – whether for their car, truck, travel trailer or motorhome – should be aware of how to read the date on the tires. Here is 1 link (there are many!)
https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/how-to-determine-the-age-of-your-tires
PS I carry a knife in my purse!
Everyone should know how to read codes on the sidewall, insisting the dealer provide tires that are not “old stock” which they are prone to flog on you during annual frenzied “tire sales”.
I as an automotive tech know this stuff, but many do not, and I must confess those
Michelins caught me completely off guard, and they shouldn’t have I admit that.
The date code on the Michelins off my rig was 4416, way to young a tire to have suffered the potential catastrophic failure they did in the short time they’ve been on the vehicle, and within the driven miles (20K)
I might note I am a very fussy guy when it comes to maintenance of my vehicles including the $100,000 plus motorhome sitting in my driveway at this moment. I took pictures of all this which will be sent to the tire company for their consideration.
Pay attention to tires. Oh yes. Our 2017 Class C with Michelins and 33,000 kms (20K miles) suffered tire failure this summer while travelling in Oregon. Here’s the readers digest version. The outside left dual looked low on air so I checked. Yes it had 25 lbs in it. Took it to a Les Swaube store in Reedsport OR. They took the tire off tanked it and reported no leak from the tire itself, but a valve stem extension (pay attention to these also) had failed releasing air. BUT while the tech had the tire off the unit he spotted something I had not. The tire had cracked the entire circumference plus between each tread. He checked the other tires same thing. I told him I was 1000 miles from home, and asked if he thought the tires were safe for that drive, especially since I’d be driving some isolated roads in the great Oregon and Idaho outback.
He stated if this were his unit he definitely would not chance that trip. The long and short is that I had to make a quick decision based on safety, (which was easy -but dam hard on the pocket book) and had them install six new tires, proper load range and all on my Motorhome.
I haven’t contacted Michelin yet as we just got home a week ago, but I will (and likely to no avail once more). This is the third premature tire failure I have had running this companies tires – probably my last.
By contrast my wife’s mint old Impala (2003) runs 8/9 year old Michelins which still appear as new with about 25% wear – she doesn’t use the car often. They are bullet proof in a passenger car app, as far as I’m concerned. BUT – for all intents and purposes the experts say they are timed out and should be replaced – is this a scam or what?
All the failures I’ve experienced with this companies tires have been on recreational vehicles.
You don’t say how old the motor home tires were when they failed.
You didn’t mention what the GCWR was on the MH was either.
So, how old were your RV tires? If over 7 years – expect weathering and replace.
Edit – I see your rig was a 2017, so perhaps tires manufacture date 2016? 2015?
My wife And I both carry a pocket knife. We both have to remember to leave them behind if we fly.
Carried a pocket knife since I was in the fifth grade. Today they would probably throw me in jail for that!
Love the blog etc. I appreciate all you do. Small comment on today’s poll (about carrying pocket knives). You are displaying a bit of (i am sure unintentional) gender bias here. My wife wouldn’t be without her pocket knife either! .. She carries it in her purse, yes, but she is almost never without.
We all have to watch the assumptions we me eh?
Blessings! and Keep up the good work.
Yes, why is the poll on pocketknives limited to men. I usually always carry one.
Both my parents have always carried pocket knives…and so do I! 😉