Good morning!!!!

[KilroyJC]

good morning all
damp morning, light rain on and off all day, warmer up to 53.

Rip, controlled chaos is how many things get done. keep all those plates up in the air.

no plans for today other than going out to lunch with my brother.

decided to look at this old girl next week. actually much cheaper alternative than buying new truck and rv trailer.
guy hasn't used it in a year, bought a home in Florida. Biggest problem will be it sitting too long.
He had it sold, went on test run, blew a turbo. Not a lot of miles on Cummins/Allison combo; rv is pretty ugly but has everything I want
plus it's cheap enough. Located ten miles away, very convenient, kept in a garage.

https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2008-Coachmen-CROSS+COUNTRY+382DS-5022876536

going to take my BIL with me, he has an excavation company with big trucks; I think his two boys might become my mechanics.
Nice to have that in the family....
old rv's are like old boats. Everything breaks, only a matter of when. maintenance is key. This rig has been stored in a garage, good thing.
but what about first time it rains? Roof could be a colander...

my desire for wanderlust is overcoming my desire to grow more tomatoes. We shall see.
Head West Not So Young Man may get revived, who knows.

You could always treat the roof like the bottom of a pair of sandals . . .

 

[KilroyJC]

I had a freak out moment yesterday...walked out of Northern Tools only to learn I had lost my truck key and fob...thought back about my actions and knew I had them in the store when I went to pay...sure enough, the cashier had a big grin on her face when I returned...I dropped them when paying.

I also had that happen to me once.

once. . .

 

[shetland sheepdog]

27 and overcast here in srn NH. A chance of snow and freezing rain before noon, then snow likely, possibly mixed with rain between noon and 1pm, then rain after 1pm. Patchy fog after 3pm. High near 38. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible, forecast for today.

 

[m7040]

Drew, the Freightliner chassis maintenance and condition should be inspected carefully.

 

[Looking4new]

Drew, do you need a specialized licence to drive it? I am thinking of an air brake endorsement for your existing license?

 

[Buppies]

In Virginia if you are under 26001 no air brake endorsement. For some reason my memory seems to think no CDL either

 

[m7040]

There is no special license needed for motorhomes privately owned as far as I know

 

[daugen]

I won't do anything until someone competent crawls under it and inspects brakes, air bags, front end, etc etc.
Mostly looking for leaks. If any leaks, then it has to go to a shop for mechanical inspection.
Biggest issue is it has sat for too long. He put two new tires on it but other four are old, plenty of tread but perhaps ten years old.
I would not drive on them for sure.

the three years I sold yachts in Ft Lauderdale, I sold 53 boats. Not the big stuff, so frankly didn't make much money.
My boss kept yelling at me for being too honest... 51 of them required sea trials. About 30 of them also involved a mechanic being onboard,
for a written engine/trans inspection. Done on diesels, not gas engines. So my assumption from experience is to assume nothing works and get every system to prove itself.
If he hasn't had water in the system for a year, pressurizing the system could be a leaky affair. But that stuff I can fix. I do see the rv uses PEX plumbing.
Not sure if it has a washer/dryer. It's plumbed for it. Those combo units are terrible, would much rather have stacked units but you have to go up to the next size
rig to have the room. The combo washer/dryer units are complicated and not very reliable. And expensive.

I also know to ask for a "cold start". With a friend out back looking at the exhaust.

Bill. These rv's are like boats, seems to be an exception for them. As far as I know, no licensing at all. Not hauling freight. No hazardous cargo.
Just a little home on wheels. Having driven fire trucks and a semi one summer in college, plus having had smaller ones before, well aware
these things don't stop very quickly. As with any heavy truck, always looking and thinking far ahead. I would normally stay at campsites labeled big rig and pull through sites.

My BIL knows all the local truck places. I'm going to lean on him for mechanical oversight.
maybe buy a Gale Banks kit and get his kids to install it. They are real motorheads, service their own heavy equipment.
But I surely get ahead of myself.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 38 going up to 52 and rain/sleet.
Got more cleanup done in the garage and started looking at how to run the wiring for the mini-split.
See a cover in the garage run, need to clear a path to it to see how far it goes. Trying not to punch holes everywhere to fish wire.
Now I remember why I don't like to do new runs.....
More tape and seal needed, but wire run first so I don't have to possible undo something.

Working on replacing under-counter lights with LED fixtures from ancient fluorescent. Need to figure out how to "finish" the wires as they come down through the cabinets and new fixtures do not have enough room to wire them internally.
One is up in place and wired in temporarily.
Maybe a plastic race?

L4N - 6 gallons of water = small pond

Drew - party bus? Looks interesting especially at that price.

Well back to day job and glad you are feeling better Buppies.

 

[ronjhall]

Drew, do you need a specialized licence to drive it? I am thinking of an air brake endorsement for your existing license?

In the USA it depends on where you live. Here is a list of what is required per state.

RV Driver's License Requirements In Every State | Campanda Magazine

A comprehensive state-by-state guide to RV license requirements. Find out if you need a commercial or a special driver's license in your state. Most states don't require a special license to drive an RV, camper or motorhome. This list covers all the exceptions.

www.campanda.com

 

[pennwalk]

Drew, that coachman looks like it would be comfortable. Are they hard to drive? The few rvs I have looked at look like the roofs are designed to fail.

Chris

 

[m7040]

I won't do anything until someone competent crawls under it and inspects brakes, air bags, front end, etc etc.
Mostly looking for leaks. If any leaks, then it has to go to a shop for mechanical inspection.
Biggest issue is it has sat for too long. He put two new tires on it but other four are old, plenty of tread but perhaps ten years old.
I would not drive on them for sure.

the three years I sold yachts in Ft Lauderdale, I sold 53 boats. Not the big stuff, so frankly didn't make much money.
My boss kept yelling at me for being too honest... 51 of them required sea trials. About 30 of them also involved a mechanic being onboard,
for a written engine/trans inspection. Done on diesels, not gas engines. So my assumption from experience is to assume nothing works and get every system to prove itself.
If he hasn't had water in the system for a year, pressurizing the system could be a leaky affair. But that stuff I can fix. I do see the rv uses PEX plumbing.
Not sure if it has a washer/dryer. It's plumbed for it. Those combo units are terrible, would much rather have stacked units but you have to go up to the next size
rig to have the room. The combo washer/dryer units are complicated and not very reliable. And expensive.

I also know to ask for a "cold start". With a friend out back looking at the exhaust.

Bill. These rv's are like boats, seems to be an exception for them. As far as I know, no licensing at all. Not hauling freight. No hazardous cargo.
Just a little home on wheels. Having driven fire trucks and a semi one summer in college, plus having had smaller ones before, well aware
these things don't stop very quickly. As with any heavy truck, always looking and thinking far ahead. I would normally stay at campsites labeled big rig and pull through sites.

My BIL knows all the local truck places. I'm going to lean on him for mechanical oversight.
maybe buy a Gale Banks kit and get his kids to install it. They are real motorheads, service their own heavy equipment.
But I surely get ahead of myself.

I would if seriously considering buying it after initial inspections take it to a Freightliner dealer (that repair these on a regular basis) and pay for an inspection

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 53F @ 5:00AM. Light rain this morning. Then remaining mainly cloudy. High 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Light rain, heavy rain, make up your mind!
Still way more rain than sun in the 10-day. Some is good, but more is not necessarily better.

That's a lot to keep track of going down the road, Drew. Gotta be pretty thirsty, too. Might not be the bargain it should be.

Paper work yesterday, and started a round of tech support to try to get the security cam video recorder working. Try this, try that isn't making much progress, especially since it's via email.

Rain and mist all day, the kind of weather that goes right through you. At least the heater is still going.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!

 

[daugen]

Ron, you're the best, I need a non commercial special class B license. Ok, really good to know. I'm sure not everyone obeys this but I will.
Chris, what a great question. Frankly they are very strange to drive, at first, you have almost zero steering feel, you float on air springs all while listening to
the constant background jingle of everything you have stored in cabinets rattling around. One would have to be really ocd to get all that noise out, stuff towels in every cabinet,
etc. I've tried that...but now I wear noise cancelling headphones while driving so who cares. I won't hear any of it.
And of course you sit out front, with a whole new turning radius to learn. How wide do I turn? When in doubt, wider...
Chris, there is a whole industry of products made for rv roofs, because yes they all fail if you aren't careful to keep them well caulked.

I have owned a Jayco travel trailer that looks like a stiff wind would blow it apart. Everything was thin and lightweight, much of it put together with a staple gun.
Larger diesel pushers are built a little sturdier. How much so remains to be seen. I've never owned one.
This is built on a normal Freightliner commercial chassis. The kind that goes 500k miles easily. This rig has 61k miles on it. On a big rig, that would be barely broken in.
The question is what maintenance has been done, and when. Since the rig is this old, I have to assume nothing was done, and plan to do a comprehensive service.
It's another 5-7k I'm sure to start. But the price allows that. Most of these cost 20k more than he is asking. He just wants to get rid of it, and his wife is on his case.
Perfect. The interior being spotless is a good start. I want to see that engine compartment. Want to make sure tanks are heated, etc.

one of the reasons this age motorhome got cheaper quickly was because they went to one piece windshields a few years later. doesn't bother me.

Frits, there are a number of heavy truck places not far off down on Rt 1 in Langhorne area, pretty sure we will find a leak, or something, would be amazed if I didn't...,
and I will schedule that inspection. That will also then confirm recommissioning cost. Really need to get this out on Rt 95 and get engine hot. No hills to climb around here...

 

[daugen]

HA! motorhome is rated for 26,000 pounds. Obviously to avoid CDL. Oh happy days

 

[m7040]

The other consideration is it to be legal in other states if you are legal in your home state

 

[IXLR8]

Good morning all,
The day is starting off cloudy, with some fog presently 52F after overnight low of 45. Forecast to be cloudy all day with a high of 57. Light rain to start late this afternoon, with a narrow band of heavy rain coming thru overnight.

Still searching for paperwork.

Most all Christmas lights down and put away, except I forgot about the ones on the boat. Will take care of that today.

Plan on taking down one last tree before shop work starts next week. Hope to get it down and cut up before the rain arrives late this afternoon.

Have a good day and be safe out there.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 49˚F heading to 60, lots of sun no rain with this norther that blew in last night. North wind up to 20mph.

Yesterday, in shorts (82˚), mowed the brown grass from a height of level 5 to a level 3 in the back yard. The EGO mower went through 3 batteries, the dead grass sucks up the energy. Might get the front yard today. They are also asking for a tractor driver at the garden for a few task, can't pass that up.

Drew does this meet your criteria:

Brand-New RV Park in Georgetown, TX - Reagan Ridge

Nestled on 10 acres surrounded by impressive Hill Country views, our gated location with 71 sites provides all the comforts you want.

www.reaganridgerv.com

 

[m7040]

good morning, 39 going to 52 with rain in the forecast for tonight.

Yesterday we went to town for prescription refill and spent some time on printing out tax documents. Some of these web sites are frustrating to work, resetting passwords, freezes, locked out, poor phone help etc. The old days of getting it in the mail I guess are gone. Maybe I am the only one struggling?

Mostly the tower is in Copenhagen. See below for a few details about it

The Round Tower is a 17th-century tower in Copenhagen, Denmark, one of the many architectural projects of Christian IV of Denmark. Built as an astronomical observatory, it is noted for its equestrian staircase, a 7.5-turn helical corridor leading to the platform at the top, and its views over Copenhagen.

Concerning RVs and licensing it was interesting when we went across the US in a motorhome towing a van that was also towing a trailer. It was a wagon train for sure. Drive through spaces becomes very important. Forget about backing up.

Ken, hope you figure out what is going on with your knee.
My knee problem is managed at best for now
Have a great day all

 

[daugen]

rv rental place called back, nice chat, renting a 26 foot Class C to Florida and back, minimum five grand. plus tolls, fuel, site fees.
So at least six thousand.
Amtrak wins
am pretty sure Campers World has cheaper rentals but not close to me.

Jim, do you have any pics of boat lit up with xmas lights?

Don. wow and they have covered rv sites too, like covered slips for boats. Very, very nice.
when one heads West, and to Florida, some of the upmarket and striving upmarket places restrict motorhome age to ten years old.
Or you must send pics first. I understand why, you don't want the gypsies in, but this motorhome is a bit dated. Can only wonder what the finish is like.
He may have it under cover because it leaks, not because he wants shiny paint...

Fritz, agreed, navigate twice, drive once. I'm a terrible backer upper.