The overall size was kind of weak compared to many RV Shows in the past. When you consider the economy however, I thought it was nice. All kinds were well represented. From super sized Class A models that are more expensive than many houses to small bare bones pop up campers. I saw a couple of interesting new models that I hadn’t seen before in person.

One interesting thing that stood out after a little while was the behavior of the sales people. I was ignored the whole time. I don’t necessarily want to be bugged and followed around. Yet I do expect someone to approach me over the course of an hour or two of looking at RVs. There were a few times when I salesman caught my eye but then immediately approached an older couple that was nearby. They were targeting what they apparently believe to be the most likely buyers. Older couples. I was alone and I’m far from retiring.

In this economy, it was noteworthy that some sales people either went after a profile market or just stood alone waiting for what they thought looked like a customer. Big mistake because you never know who your customer might be. I wasn’t there with a specific plan to buy on the spot but someone could have tried showing me something. We expect it a little bit more don’t we?

And with some RVs, I wanted to look in compartments and see more of the details that are never shown on websites or in brochures. The difference is in the details to me. I can see the same counters, dinettes and couches over and over again anywhere. I want to see the guts, evaluate the quality and get into the bones of an RV. But most all were closed and locked. You had to find a sales person and hope they could find a key to open some little compartment. My biggest challenge was to find someone who could provide me with information about a couple truck campers that I was interested in hearing more about for some off road camping. I would like to find something for a Tacoma 4×4, which is small but ideal for my solo explorations. My shorter motor home doesn’t quite go everywhere I would like it to go. The one dealer that had truck campers at the show told me in answer to my question, “that’s such a narrow market. The sales aren’t there in numbers.” As they have Eagle products on the lot, I follow up with, “I thought I read that Eagle makes the product” that I wanted. He responds with “Go see that dealer over there. They have some info and another company that makes something like that.” So he sends a potential customer away to see another dealer that doesn’t have any truck campers on-site, has no information and salespeople that only go after the older couples. I followed one salesman up and down three rows trying to catch up with him but never could. He was busy walking for something. So I left and will have to continue my research on the internet.

Now is the time that innovation wins. Great customer service wins. Listening to customers wins. There are more niches and options that can be filled for customers out there if someone will listen. It easy to aim for the mass market and just blend in with everything else. What stood out at the show? The row of three Gulfstream trailers. Also the Winnebago Via. And I had to wait to look inside every one of those.

This show reinforced my previous experiences at recent shows. The RV business is still in trouble and needs to change it’s mindset. What do you think?

By Adam Longfellow

Date codes

Every tire has this code on the sidewall. It gives the date that the tire was manufactured but it doesn’t just spell it out right. You have to know what to look for and how to read it. It’ll be something like this: DOT PDML AZOF 0508. It’s on one side of the tire, so you may have to crawl underneath to look at the inside of your tires. The date code always starts with the letters DOT and ends with a 3 or 4 digit number. The first two numbers indicate the week of the year. 52 weeks in a year so that is the max. The last one or two digits tell you the year. In this example, 0508 means the 5th week of 2008, or the first week of February 2008. With the year 2000, the date codes have two numbers for the year. Only one for years before. A date code of 157 would indicate the 15th week of 1997 or you are lucky to be alive if this tire is still in use.

Ask to see this number when buying new tires. You really don’t want to pay full price for a tire that has already sat somewhere and deteriorated for a year. You probably won’t get one that was made last week, but you should expect it to be within the last several months. The tire dealer may look at you as an oddball or pretend to not know what you talking about. That’s when you check the number or get ready to find another dealer.

Tire Size

If you’ve bought new tires or looked at your own, you’ll see the mess of letters and number on the sidewall. It could be like this one my smaller RV.

LT225/75R16
Type-Width/Ratio of width to sect height-Radial-inside diameter

The first letters indicate the type of tire: P for passenger car, LT for light truck, and ST for special trailer. You won’t find anything special for bus and medium-duty truck tires. The number 225 in this case, is the width of the tire, given in millimeters, followed by a slash. The number after the slash is the ratio of width to section height. Then you have a letter. R for radial ply or D for diagonal (or bias) ply. That is followed by a number which gives the inside diameter of the tire in inches.

Load Range

The load range of a tire is a letter, A through E, and is on the sidewall of the tire. You will want to make sure you get the right range rating for your type of trailer or RV.

How Do I Decide?

The easiest way is to start with what is already on your axles, assuming these were the new tires from the factory. If you were not the original owner, then you should double check the vehicle plates and documentation for what should be on the vehicle. Someone may have put the wrong tires on there before you. If specs and everything checks out and they have done well for you, get another set of the same. You can probably find the same tire or a newer equivalent. Or you may want to ask what is the next best step up for the same tire. Or get the same specs on a tire of another brand. Don’t jump wildly based just on price or brand. Start with the current specs and see what is available.

There are many different tires out there because there are many types of vehicles and uses. Passenger car tires are more for a soft ride on your daily drive. They grip the road well and are for your average weather situations. Light truck tires are built with stiffer sidewalls to carry heavier loads. They are also for daily use so they have decent handling and are fine in average weather and storms. When you get into trailer tires, you can expect them to be designed for a soft ride and some give to slide sideways. You should stick with trailer tires on trailers. Don’t truck tires or off road tires on a trailer just because they are better or more expensive. They are not designed for the unique needs of trailer loads and handling.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a deduction for state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new cars, light trucks, motor homes and motorcycles through 2009. The deduction is available regardless of whether a taxpayer itemizes deductions.

It is for new buys after Feb. 17, 2009 and the deduction is limited to the tax on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of an eligible motor vehicle. So it may not cover the entire price of a big new RV but it certainly helps quite a bit. The deduction is phased out for joint filers with modified adjusted gross income between $250,000 and $260,000 and other taxpayers with modified AGI between $125,000 and $135,000.

And please note that you can then take advantage of some great energy credits and improve your RV with solar power as well. Solar credits are up to 30% on Federal now.  I installed solar on my RV a few years ago and haven’t needed the generator since. Plus it means you don’t always need such an expensive campsite and can save more money on camping fees.

Rhyolite, Nevada - Image by AllStays.com

RVs are very complicated with many different working parts and products coming from many different vendors and manufacturers. Things eventually go wrong or not work together as they should.

Is it a poor product to begin with? Is it poor quality control at the factory? Is it poor installation? Is it improper operation or maintenance?

Repetition, denial and the importance of the internet

How many times has the same part failed on you? I have learned that if it fails once, it’ll probably fail again. This is a big issue with RVs. The same part is replaced over and over again and the owner is usually charged for it. Even if it is covered under a warranty, it costs you time and transportation. Thanks to the internet, we can find many cases where owners of a particular model will have that same failed part. We can determine that it’s not the owner’s fault and it should be a recalled part or replaced under warranty. But the manufacturer denies the problem. The chassis maker blames the RV company and vice versa. I’ve seen this happen for years and sometimes it is a very dangerous failure that could cause an accident. Admitting fault can cost a company more than replacing thousands of parts, so they don’t do it. They deny it because in the old days, no one would figure it out. We know better today.

Sometimes you can even find a third party that decided to manufacture the part in a better way. You may wind up buying a replacement part from a small machine shop that does it right because the RV manufacturer won’t admit fault or make a reliable part. I have.

Good dealers who can provide reliable service

This is my biggest problem. Finding dealers that I can trust. I have found the lists of authorized service centers to be inaccurate. You call and they won’t work on your RV even though they are supposed to under a contract. Some dealers won’t work on your RV unless you bought it form them. Duh. People travel in RVs. You are not always at home when a problem occurs. That is one of the dumbest business practices I have ever heard.

Even if you have a good dealer in your home town, chances are good that someday somewhere you’ll need to find one on the road. Where do you go? The closest one. And they may be incompetent, careless or just in the practice of price gouging travelers. Try to make a comment in their presence that subtly lets them know you use the internet and are savvy with recommendations and word of mouth. Mention a name club, bureaus, forums, or something like Angie’s List.

There are good dealers out there for sure. And it’s hard to keep up with all the different models, manufacturers and yearly changes in our rigs. But there are also many bad ones out there that are just ripping people off. It was easy for someone to once think that RVers are a bunch of elderly retired people and easy to take advantage of with their rigs. Well, that’s just not the case.

You can help yourself if you carry a few common parts with you. It could save you days of waiting for a part while traveling. I always carry a spare oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, timing belt and an engine part that I found was prone to failure on my RV.  (Although mine never failed like on thousands of others and I bought the spare part right after buying the RV. Murphy’s Law perhaps?) What else do you carry?

I would love to provide a service that listed good dealers and bad ones but it is nearly impossible to do it right. First, you need people to submit accurate stories and not just ones that are slanted to their own side of an arguement. Then it can always be gamed either way by the dealer or a competitor. If you have any ideas or tips on doing this, please send them along. We can do it together.

I love my current motor home, which is a Winnebago, but it had it’s faults too. I have noticed a mismatch of screws all over. Like it was built with whatever spare ones were laying on the floor nearby. I found a tool behind a cabinet. I found a razor blade under a piece of carpeting. I found that some things were not perfectly aligned to operate in an ideal fashion. I made the changes myself and now they work as they should. It wasn’t worth the time, cost and hassle to go have warranty work done on something I could do in a few minutes.

The following isn’t for everyone but I have reached a point where I prefer to do whatever work I can do myself. I added solar power and upgraded many things like batteries, lighting and insulation. I just made a new table for my RV that fit my needs better than the stock one. I don’t really think I’m that handy. I just do a lot of research, find other people that have done the same thing and follow their instructions. I take my time and do what I know I can do and make sure it is done right. I know that method isn’t for everyone but I bet you can do more than you realize.

Take oil changes. If too much oil goes in my RV, (or most cars for that matter) it’ll create a mess of other problems that could crop up for years down the line. Mine takes 9.5 quarts of a particular synthetic oil. Not 10 or even 9.7 quarts. Peoples in shops love to round up or come “close” but that’s not good enough. And because it’s unlikely you’ll get every drop of the old oil out when you are draining it, you can’t just keep blindly adding 9.5 time after time either. It’s better to go slightly under and see where you are than to overfill.

Tip: Install a ScanguageII. When you consider the price of a vehicle and repairs these days, it’s a small investment. It plugs into your vehicles computer (1996 and newer) and monitors all kinds of things. It can help you in so many ways, from fuel savings to knowing what the error code is on your motor home. It can alert you to problems before they would otherwise show themselves, which may save you from a larger repair bill or being stranded on the side of the road.

Extra tip: Did you know you can get what is called a Fumoto valve for most vehicles? This takes the mess out of oil changes. No more taking the drain bolt on and off. You can just attach hose, put the other end in a container and open and close your draining as needed. This allows you to use multiple containers if desired. Not a drop is spilled.

What do you think about quality these days? Have you found both good and bad dealers and manufacturers? Do you carry some spare parts?

Some people call me cheap or frugal. Frugal sounds a little better than cheap but I guess I’ll take either. Every penny you save and every little thing you do to save on trash or energy use really does add up in the long run. Going green when you can means you’ll have more green in your pocket too.

Return maps and handouts in good condition for another use whenever possible. Try to avoid taking them if you don’t need them in the first place. Many times, you can look at them at the counter and then leave them if you don’t need any of the information. Or carry your own notebook to make notes. Instead of wasting a whole calendar, schedule or brochure when you only need to note one particular time or event. If I do take something like this, I put it to use later on to help start a fire.

Take advantage of book exchanges and library give aways. Donate yours and take another. Many libraries have a section in the back where magazines are free. You usually don’t even have to be a member.

Change to rechargeable batteries whenever possible. Buy a solar recharger and charge batteries in the sun on your dashboard as you drive. I have just about eliminated regular batteries now. They cost more upfront but you’ll quickly be ahead as you won’t have to buy those 4-packs, 8-packs or even 32-packs any longer.

Change to LED lighting. There are cheap ones, poor ones and great ones out there now.

Buy your own tote bags or cloth bags and use them while shopping. This reduces the number of plastic bags you consume and trash. I have a set of bags that I’ve now been using for years and will for many more.

Plan your meals with the consideration of re-using cups, plates and reducing the overall amount of cleaning needed. Rinse dishes right away as this uses less water and effort than when the food has dried and hardened. Or use the largest dirty pan or bowl, let water sit in it with all the other dirty dishes and silverware. Most things come clean by themselves sitting in the water so you don’t have to scrape as much or waste running water.

Switch to online banking. You can receive many bills by email and pay online. You save the money for stamps. Your bank should allow this for free. If they charge for it, find a better bank. This reduces the paper you receive and send out as well as the security impact of not having as many bills in your mailbox or waiting for you when you are gone.

Stop buying bottled water. Use refillable water jugs. Get your own water filter and drinking jug. Many bottled water companies just use local tap water and it’s no better than what you can do yourself. It’s a rip off. You can get collapsible ones as well to save space.

Turn off the water heater at night or on days when you don’t need it. In my case, I leave it off all the time except for when I plan on using it. If possible, try to time washing dishes and showering around each other and only turn it on when you need it. Most hot water heaters will heat the smaller RV water tanks in less than a half hour.

Consider where you park. Try shade in warm weather and park in the sun in cold weather to use natural solar gain. Note how your windows are on your RV. Wherever the most glass is, like your front cab, will take in the most heat in the sun. If it is windy, point the most enclosed end of you RV into the wind. This reduces draft and the rocking and  a rolling in the wind. This is a reason why we like to be able to pick our own spots, which many RV parks do not allow you to do. They assign you one without you seeing it. I really don’t like when they do that.

Use your blinds, window covers and buy some reflective insulation material at the big hardware stores and make your own to fit any window that doesn’t have good covers already. Covers are good for both heat and cold and they do make a big difference.

Use another blanket and lower your furnace temperature. Most RVs warm up real quick when the sun comes up. Or maybe you are taking off and driving for the day so you can use the engine heater at that point.

Do you have any more ideas on going green and saving money at the same time?

Service stations like Camping World and other dealers. You can blend in like you’re waiting for a early morning appointment.

Some gambling casinos. They like customers who spend money. Check to see if you need to join a club or get a pass. Many have real RV sites and campgrounds now and may charge.

When out west, you have lots of road going nowhere. Find a spot but stay out of the way in case a farmer or worker does come by. You also have BLM and other Federal lands all over the place. Keep binoculars and a wildlife or bird book with you so have an nice peaceful excuse.

Blue Highways is a term used for the old roads and highways. There is also a great classic book by the same name that you may want to check out some day. They go through small towns and places that time forgot. More options exist in these places than in cities or near busy interstates.

Talk to locals. They may know of a local park or even offer to have you park out back and watch over the place for the night.

Play in the park. More than once, I have taken a break for a lunch, a nap or a playground stop and found out that you could park overnight there. I’ve even found free town parks with just two or three electric hookups. You’d never know about them without stopping or talking to a local. Some of these towns are one step away from being a ghost town and keeping you there to buy a meal or such makes a difference. If I was a small town, that’s what I would do. Bring in the RV crowd.

Special Events. Watch for fairs, shows, flea markets, festivals and other club gatherings. You may be able to park for free at low cost. Even buying a spot at a flea market and then “deciding not to sell today” may be cheaper than a local campground.

How about you? Do you have any more tips and places you’ve found and would like to share?

Some commercial companies offer to arrange caretaker jobs for you. This is when you use your rv and park at someone’s home, farm or business. You stay in your own rv and watch over things. You may get paid or you may just work it out for a free place to stay, maybe with electricity. That all depends on if you have any chores to do. If I’m feeding horses and cleaning out stalls for hours, I’d probably want a little compensation.

The scam comes in with the companies that promise good pay and charge you a fee. You should never pay a fee (or not much of one anyway) for the job. The person needing a caretaker should be paying them a listing fee or commission. If you are ripped off, make sure you file complaints with the publication. Let us know here at Allstays about any scams you encounter and we’ll publicize it.

Check for ads in newspapers, publications, online groups, etc. Check with real estate agents, security companies, schools, churches, construction sites, repair shops, storage lots, any place that might attract problems if no one was around. Maybe they have a high dollar place that could use someone parked around back looking after it. Perhaps you’ll get paid but keep in mind that just a parking spot is worth something. The best deal is if you can get water and electric. You have it made right there. If I wanted to stay in an area, I may just offer to do it for free to get the private parking place. Even if you paid a dollar or two a day, you are still well ahead of a campground.

In down economic times, and if you can afford it, you could help someone out by either paying them a couple dollars a day for space or by doing a needed chore around the property. This will work best in small towns and farm areas, probably westward from the Midwest. It’s more difficult in urban and densely populated areas like the east coast.

Make friends and help out. You may just meet some really nice people and establish long term relationships by doing this.

Use common sense and keep yourself and your RV clean. No one wants to bring a garbage pile onto their property or have more to clean up after you leave. Keep a clean site. It may lead to more opportunities to return in the future or references with people they know in other cities. It helps to NOT have a barking dog with you. I probably wouldn’t want someone to bring their noise into my neighborhood or on my quiet farm either.

Have you done this and do have any tips you’d like to share with others?

What are all these terms. Boondocking, dry camping and independent parking are pretty much the same thing when you see them bantered around. Dry camping means you obviously have no water or normal amenities. Independent parking means that you are prepared to dry camp or boondock but you’ll use any amenities you’ll find.

The most important thing, which always sparks a heated discussion in all the online forums and boards, is to blend and use common sense. No one should be able to tell you are sleeping or “camping” in your rv where it is parked. No chairs, awnings, grills, jacks or slideouts deployed.

When you are moving fast to a particular destination, it makes sense to use rest areas and parking lots for naps or just sleeping. Many of these areas restrict parking. If you are discreet and don’t look like you are staying long, you probably won’t be bothered. And if you really unsure about if you can park somewhere for a little while, don’t even put up sun shades, antennas or anything that may hint that you didn’t just run in to shop at the Gap or IKEA or wherever. Most officials have better things to do than go poking around a vehicle that looks like it’s just parked. It’s when you look like you are staying for a bit that draws some attention.

If you look like any of the following, be prepared to be approached. Homeless, drug dealer, drug user, prostitute, crook or a person who puts leaflets on car windshields.

The bigger the place and the more crowded it is, the better. This isn’t good if you need silence for your nap, but it helps to blend in. Bigger truck stops, bigger malls, bigger rest areas.

You can use of our guides to find many of the most common places to try parking, from rest areas to Camping Worlds to Wal-mart locations. And if you are creative, you’ll come up with many more possibilities out there.

If you are having any electrical problems, don’t plug into an electric hookup until problems are checked and fixed. Who knows what kind of damage could occur if you plug in without knowing what the problem is that you are having.

Surges are not really surges in most cases. They rarely are in fact a huge surge or power off the power lines. Most problems are actually caused by ourselves or those around us. These are now quite common. We notice more of what we call surges because our equipment is getting more and more sensitive. We have many items with circuit boards in them, all of which are more easily damaged by power fluctuations.

Low voltage

Low voltage is actually more common than high voltage. This is the most common cause of damage as many electrical items can be damaged by low power. This can ruin computers, tvs, vcrs, dvd players and most anything with a circuit board. The fan may run too slowly and not cool the board. Water heaters with an ignition also have circuit boards. Relays can fail that kill the circuit board in fridges. Fluorescent lamps may fail early due to over cycling of the circuit board and ballast.

Always unplug certain items when not in use. Heating items, automatic coffee makers and toasters all can cause a disaster when off and plugged in.Years ago, my neighbor burned an entire condo down just by leaving his toaster plugged in.

High voltage

High voltage may not necessarily be a surge. It is voltage of more than 130VAC for longer periods of time. This can kill lights, heating elements in fridges, and sensitive electronics. Yes, modern electronics are killed by both low and high voltage.

Hooking up

Before even getting all parked and leveled in your space, check out the conditions of the hookup. Use your voltage meter, check the polarity and the voltage. First flip off the breaker at the campground pole. This allows you to avoid sparks and find out if the fit is good for your plug. Plug in your RV electric cord. Flip the breaker on.

What else can you do

Plug in a simple voltage monitor to one of your outlets.

Make sure you know what you are doing if you do any handy work in the RV. AC wires are wired differently in an RV than in the house. So even though someone knows how to add an outlet in their home, they may not know how to do it in an RV. The manual covering your load center should cover this.

You are always the safest when you are unplugged and control your own environment. Whenever you plug in, you take on risks with other people and the local power grid. When you are plugged in, anything you do can hurt others. Anything others do can hurt you. Get a good surge protector. Don’t buy the cheapest or the most commonly found one. Consider how much you have invested in your RV and step up to a better model. The other issue is that these are often stolen in RV parks. You can buy a lock for them. Or you can install a more expensive type that is wired inside your RV.

It is best to unplug your rig during a storm or whenever the power goes out at the campground. I have also unplugged when a unkempt RV parked next to me and plugged in. I just didn’t like the look of it and it’s better to be safe.

NEVER run a generator without disconnecting from the power grid. Do not trust any automatic switches to protect yourself or others.

Install a good solar electric system so you won’t need to plug in as often. Many people can’t afford this or think it’s not necessary. If you spend tens of thousands of dollars on an RV, a couple thousand dollars on solar isn’t that much. Make sure to add up the cost of some of your generator fuel, electric hookup fees and even camping fees when you may have been able to choose a more remote boondocking location. Solar may be paid for in fast order if you really think about all the little fees over time. That doesn’t even include the peace of mind of having your own power grid with you all the time. The power goes out at home? You could have a self contained powered living space in your driveway.

Stay safe and happy travels.