Login

1

Adventure Anywhere / Re: Four Months Living in a 2400

« on: April 24, 2010, 12:57:31 pm »

It's fun being a nearly full-timer.  We did 4 months, going north from Phoenix, AZ to Glacier and then east to Wisconsin and Illinois and back a few years ago and loved it.  Probably the best suggestion is to go a short distance, 50-100 miles, and spend a week or so there to see what you forgot or really need. 
2nd, is the mail and bill problem.  Make a list of all of the expected bills, or everything that you pay through the mail or email, and make sure that you can pay them electronically from your bank -- assuming that you have a laptop with wifi and are comfortable using it.  If you are reading this, you proably are.  There are a lot of free WIFI sites, and many not free sites.  You might be better to use your own cellphone broadband connection -- it is probably safer and more reliable than unknown freebie wifi sites.
Be sure your tires and everything else is in good condition before you start. 
Make a number of short weekend trips ahead of time and try to do things like getting into Walmart parking lots etc.  Practice makes perfect.
Subscribe to RV magazine -- they have a lot of tips there.
there are some campground clubs such as Passport and CampingWorlds Campground USA and Good Sams club that show a lot of plaes where you can staymore cheaply.

2

General Discussion / Re: Dead batteries

« on: April 24, 2010, 12:39:38 pm »

I've heard that the best solution to the dead/dying battery problem is to take the PC out for a 30 mile trip every couple of weeks.  This also helps the tires and motor and everything else that ails you.  We've had our 2005 2550 with one battery for two years now, through a couple of Arizona summers and we can still go dry camping for a weekend. 
Whenever we leave the PC we try to remember to turn off the store switch by the door.  When we do remember, we don't have any problem.  I forgot last weekend...I'm not sure what the situation is now, but the CO sensor was beeping last night.  I suspect that the charge and maybe water is low in the batteries.
I've looked at the inverter for any switches but haven't found anything yet.

3

General Discussion / Re: I want to hear from you!

« on: April 19, 2010, 11:57:03 pm »

I tend to agree with Ron that all the fancy pictures are a pain and a distraction from the real info. 
In spite of that, I would like to have an easier way to post pictures like Ron and I were doing about a year ago.
Is there an easy way to search for items?  I remember a posting about the inverters running down the battery about a year ago but I wouldn't want to try to find it now - afraid it would take too long.

4

General Discussion / Re: Updating predigital video in 2006 PC 2551

« on: February 27, 2010, 02:48:11 pm »

Congrats on the purchase - they're a great coach.
We live in Phoenix, Az, and had the same problem and got a couple of converters to add to the decor... 
Then on a trip into the mountains the people at the RV park told us to ignore the HD converter since all of the stations up there were still broadcasting analog signals through "repeater" antennaes.  This had upset the locals quite a bit who were purchasing the converters and HD TVs and found that they got more analog stations than HD stations unless they were hooked up to cable or satellites.  so I guess it depends on where you are going. 
In Phoenix, the converters do work fine between the TV outlets and the TV.  You may have to use the booster on the TV outlet, depending on the signal strength.

5

General Discussion / Re: Sliding screen door

« on: February 27, 2010, 02:39:06 pm »

As Ron said cleanliness is an important issue   .  When we got our 2005 2550 almost three years ago it was real hard to work the screen.  I used a pick and then vacume to clean out the bottom groove and the area behind it too.  That's to ensure that the bottom groove is straight and not bent out by a pebble or something.  That helped a bunch.  Then I got some dry silicon spray (not a greasy type) and put a little spray on that groove and on the top slide.  That made it easy to open and close the screen.  It also made it easier to clean it next time.  Now I keep on eye on it and use a brush or broom or vacum whenever I see any dirt in it or have a problem working it. 
We have had the screen bunch up towards the top or bottom occaisionally, but it has been real easy to just close the screen all the way and then open it carefully being carefull to keep the edge perfectly vertical.  ( maybe you could use a cement layers level to keep it vertical.)

6

Tips and Tricks / Winterization suggestion

« on: October 31, 2009, 02:28:34 pm »

I saw some articles on winterization and started thinking about what I do and thought I'd offer a suggestion -- Just drive your Phoenix Cruiser down to Phoenix, Arizona!  It's real easy, enjoyable, and fun! 
I've had various RVs and trailers over the past few years and the worst problem I had was a frozen "slinky" drain pipe that I threw out, and that was in New Mexico. 

7

Adventure Anywhere / Re: Dinghy / Toad

« on: June 27, 2009, 10:21:18 pm »

I'm towing a Jeep Wrangler, 3000+ lbs, using an old blue ox hitch and a brake buddy behind a 2005 2550 on an E350 chassis.  Goes Great.

8

Tips and Tricks / Re: Phoenix Cruiser in Phoenix, Arizona

« on: May 14, 2009, 11:23:28 pm »

Aimee has a couple of posts in the general discussion category about how to post images, but I still don't get the first step in copying a URL when it is on my computer.

9

Tips and Tricks / Re: Phoenix Cruiser in Phoenix, Arizona

« on: May 14, 2009, 11:06:55 pm »

These were JPG files on my computer. 
First, I clicked on the reply, and entered a message.
I then clicked the additional options, clicked on the little browse button.  This let me select on the of the files.  for the next picture, I clicked on the "(more attachments)"  title, and another "browse" button and line appeared.  This browse added another picture. and another "(more attachments)".  This process attached them all below the message.  You can click on them to enlarge them.

I just tried to edit a picture using Paint and copy it.  But I could not paste it into this reply.
There is an "Insert Image" button above I'll try.



All that gave was the line above that looks like HTML.  I still can't paste in the picture.

10

Tips and Tricks / Re: Phoenix Cruiser in Phoenix, Arizona

« on: May 13, 2009, 11:40:00 pm »

You're welcome. 
I'll try to get more photos of the double hinge job here. 
Ahhh.  I think I've got it.  Now, how do you make them show up bigger?  and interspersed with the text? 

11

Tips and Tricks / Re: Phoenix Cruiser in Phoenix, Arizona

« on: May 12, 2009, 11:22:15 pm »

Now I've got some small pictures I'll try to put them here. They don't show up in the preview, but maybe they will when I post...

12

Tips and Tricks / Phoenix Cruiser in Phoenix, Arizona

« on: May 12, 2009, 11:13:13 pm »

We have a 2005 2550 with one slide in the back and a rear bath.  In 2007, we chose it over a newer one because of the large closet space.  We traded from a 2001 35’ Itasca Sun Cruiser.  I was looking for a shorter wheelbase after getting caught on some narrow twisty roads in Southern Wisconsin.  My wife was looking for more closet space, plus a nice looking comfortable RV.  The Phoenix Cruiser is quieter and has a more comfortable ride.  The downside is that we have to make up the bed each night. 

We’ve made a number of improvements, ranging from putting in a Bravura toilet with a foot flush to green leather seats up front that match the rest of the trim.  Putting in the Bravura was more of a job that I thought, requiring a lot of trimming between the toilet and the wall. 

The dark green Leather was an easy job, just requiring a signature on a check.  We find the leather comfortable.  We made the dinette seats thicker and longer from front to back.  This eliminated the tiny dinette bed that we don’t use. 

The dinette table with two big posts was not very stable and took up excessive floor space.  We replaced them with a 1x4 “leg” screwed against the wall and a Cross Board on the top with a couple of fancy hinges and a simple 1x2 leg.  The hinges allow the table to be flush with the wall and still swing up.  On the aisle side of the table we used a 1x2 leg that has a hinge to keep it in place on the top.  The bottom is kept in place by the hole for the round leg.  This allows us to lift the table up when we vacuum and provides more room for our feet and our toy poodle plus a box of water -- Arizona has a very dry heat and we like bottled water.

There is a pull-up shelf under the stove, hiding a cupboard we use for wine and a coffeemaker and toaster.  It was  a pain to get at the items underneath the shelf.  The solution was to make a double hinge.  The hinge is made from two piano hinges and a big L-plate used on fences.  Now the shelf can be lifted from the bottom or opened on side like a door.  The shelf is strong enough for our coffee maker or anything else reasonable.  The hinge is about ¼ inch thick so the catch has to stick out a bit.  A ¼ x ½ inch molding was tacked onto the bottom side of the shelf to keep from pushing the catch back in. 

Hopefully I can get some pictures below.  Later, after I shrink them - the smallest is 190 kb.

13

General Discussion / Re: Miles Per Gallon - Anyone?

« on: May 03, 2009, 11:43:32 pm »

I've been logging our 2005 2550, towing a Jeep Wranger over almost 8,000 miles and am getting 7.8mpg - gas.  I have had 4 tanks in a row that averaged 9.2 mpg, mostly without the Jeep.  But that was in cold weather without the air conditioning running -- We are in Arizona, and cold is anything below 80.