Issue 2169
Welcome to RV Travel’s Daily Tips Newsletter, where you’ll find helpful RV-related tips from the pros, travel advice, RV videos, product reviews and more. Please tell your friends about us.
Today’s thought
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Fortune Cookie Day!
On this day in history: 1903 – The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.
Also On this day in history: 1969 – Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. (Sorry we missed this on Thursday. It accidentally got put into Friday’s newsletter.)
Tip of the Day
Don’t be a carbon monoxide victim
By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Nearly every new home built in the U.S. has them: carbon monoxide detectors. These little units can save your life. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and often deadly gas, the byproduct of incomplete combustion. The combustion source in an RV could be anything from an improperly operating furnace, water heater, oven, generator, or any other device that burns fossil fuels.
Small amounts of CO can make you sick. In fact, it’s the leading cause of accidental poisoning in the U.S., with more than 100,000 cases heading into ERs every year. Larger amounts can kill you. More than 400 Americans a year join that statistical tragedy.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
Why can’t I recharge my RV’s roof air conditioner like truck or house A/C?
Dear Dave,
Why is it that I can add refrigerant to my truck A/C and to my house A/C but not the rooftop A/Cs on my RV? When it runs out of Freon (or its equivalent), I have to replace the entire A/C, costing roughly $2,000. Makes no sense to me, but I’m sure I must be missing a key point here. —Yony, 2018 Keystone Montana 3791RD
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RV Tours
ADLAR Truck Campers by Soaring Eagle: Low cost and simple
By Cheri Sicard
If you are looking for a simple, lightweight, no-frills kind of truck camper that won’t break the bank, you might want to check out this video from Josh the RV Nerd. In it, he shows us two Soaring Eagle ADLAR truck campers, the 6.5 and the 6.5XL.
Josh says these truck campers are a rare find in that they can actually safely fit on most half-ton pickups. Also, for a low-priced truck camper, these are well-made with an all-aluminum frame. That’s right—no wood, no rot, no rust!
Video of the day
Super rare remodel: 1951 double-decker RV Lighthouse DuPlex
By Cheri Sicard
In the video below, Ethan Langley from American RV Restoration shares one of the rarest-ever RVs on The Art of RVing YouTube channel. In fact, his seems to be the ONLY restoration of the 1951 double-decker RV, the Lighthouse DuPlex. Not surprising since only 7 of these unusual RVs were known to exist.
In addition to the tour of the finished RV, the video also shares some behind-the-scenes glimpses of the exhaustive restoration process. The double-decker RV is 28 feet long but equates out to 48 feet because of the double-decker layout. Despite its large size, it only weighs 6800 pounds.
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Simple question: Why do tires fail?
By Roger Marble
Why do tires fail? In reality, tires fail for a relatively small number of root cause reasons that can be discovered, but it does require detailed and sometimes exhaustive investigation. By “root cause,” I mean the initiating feature or condition that eventually led to the failure. … For the last few years of my 40-year career as a tire engineer, my primary job duty was to investigate failed tires that had conditions that were hard to understand or provided confusing and sometimes contradictory evidence as to the root cause for their condition. With that background, I have developed some guiding principles for the most likely reasons for tires to fail. Click here to read.
VIEW CAMPSITES just like you were driving through the campground using Google Street View. See one you like? Learn instantly if it’s available and reserve it on the spot at Campground Views.
Reader poll
Do you read more fiction or non-fiction books?
Quick Tip
Keep the speed down
Try to keep your driving speed down slightly below the legal limit when on interstate Highways, and stay in the right lane maintaining your slower speed. You will find that doing this allows the driver some time to relax a bit and enjoy the trip and the scenery rather than constantly running a race with the other vehicles on the road. You’ll find that if you drive at this slightly slower speed, you will only lose about 15 minutes on a 200-mile drive, and you could increase your fuel efficiency by as much as 2 to 2-1/2 mpg with a gasoline engine. —From The Ultimate RV Owners Reference. Available on Amazon.
On this day last year…
- RV Review: 2022 Jayco North Point 373BHOK fifth wheel, with a surprise room
- Ask Dave: Why did my brand-new LED lights stop working?
- Video: RV awning replacement the easy way: You CAN do it yourself
- Featured article: Towing FAIL! These people hitch their fifth wheel backwards!
- Recipe: Corn and Sausage Frittata
Website of the day
Eight Spots in the United States Where You Can See Petroglyphs
It’s amazing to look at things such as petroglyphs and try to even begin to grasp the history behind them. This article from the Smithsonian shows you eight spots around the country to view them.
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
This just might be the craziest one of these we’ve ever seen, and we think you’ll agree! How fancy is this? How delicious is this? We want to try it!
And the Survey Says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 2,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 55 percent bought their current RV new, not used.
• 57 percent buy most of their RV parts and accessories from Amazon.
• 18 percent say they were an excellent, near-perfect student in high school.
Recent poll: How long was it after you first laid eyes on your spouse that you married?
Recipe of the Day
Crunchy Smoky Pork Chops
by Lillian Russo from Long Island, NY
These are some perfectly moist breaded pork chops. The Panko crumbs and mustard mixture are a real winning combo. Once baked, the Panko crust is crispy and inside the pork chops are super tender. Blue Ribbon, indeed.
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Trivia
The last surviving member of any species is known as an endling. In the April 4, 1996, issue of Nature magazine, commentators proposed the new word and it stuck ever since.
*The very first U.S. dollar bill was issued when and who was on it? Find out in yesterday’s trivia.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Ringo was a rescue—well, he rescued us. We told him of our plans to travel FT. He stated he did not care—he would go where his people go! He is not a fan of travel days, although he does LOVE his RV. The cat TV and numerous stations are fascinating.” —Yvonne Mills
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in our Sunday RV Travel newsletter. No blurry photos, please! Please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
• RVing with Dogs group on Facebook. You’ll love it.
Stinky sewer dump? This will do the trick!
If a sewer hose doesn’t fit tightly, sewer gases will escape and make the odor when dumping almost unbearable. It’s embarrassing and disgusting! This sewer adapter hose seal plugs the hole. No more stink! Read more about it here or order one here.
Leave here with a laugh
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Contact information
Editor: Emily Woodbury
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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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Looking for a new GPS. Ours is pretty old. We do some traveling with our TT. Thanks!
Android auto
I had a Tom Tom for 15 years and it finally quit this year. I bought a Garmin Drive 52 for $152.00 Canadian and after the usual learning curve it’s worked out fine. It doesn’t tell me about low bridges or steep grades (neither did the Tom Tom) but as long as I go where I know semis can go it’ll be okay.
Thanks!
I used a TomTom for years and was very satisfied.
Thanks!
IF you want highly customized routing, TomTom is my advice. You create your route via your PC, indicated the route is to be transferred to the GPS and save the route to your TomTom account. The GPS will get it on its next update.
To speed up the routing process, I let the PC app set the preliminary route, then I change it to exactly what I want. We like to stay off Interstate highways as much as practical. Since so far as I know, none of the GPS currently on the market can determine when it is more practical to use an Interstate rather than go hundreds of miles out of your way, or through rugged terrain on county roads, we customize most of our routes.
Thanks!
Yo, Confucius, stay out of the left lane!
Product of the day: I don’t buy any foodstuff made in China for me or my pets.
See what you can borrow from friends before you lay out your own cash. They all have pluses and minuses. I have tried many including using the Google maps on my phone and keep coming back to Garmin. I don’t like them, the killed Street Atlas. There is no replacement for Street Atlas.
Thanks!
Today in 1969 Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon.
Well, shoot! Somehow it ended up in tomorrow’s newsletter. Thanks for pointing this out, Tom. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
The quick tip for today does not account for all the aggressive drivers on Interstates. We just try to stay off of them. But there is a better reason for slowing down. Just read Roger’s article about safe speeds for most trailer tires.