Product
Review Page
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The
Product Review Pages contain my impression of a variety of RV
products that I have used. Some people may not agree with my
conclusions. Others will find that it helps them in making a
choice from among several similar products.
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There are many people with motorhomes who are towing cars without
being able to make use of the vehicle's own braking system.
I'm a firm believer that eight wheels braking are going to be
better than just four. You will stop quicker, and with less
wear on the motorhome brakes. In many places it is the law.
You must be able to apply the brakes in the towed vehicle if
it is over a certain weight. This weight varies from province
to province, but chances are that the weight of the towed vehicle
is greater than that allowed. Some motorhome manufacturers require
braking on the towed vehicles as well.
The Brake Buddy system has been reliable for me for several years.
It is easy to set up. Just lift it into place, clamp
it to the brake pedal with a new quick release clip, plug it
into the cigar lighter and you are almost ready to go.
The new Vantage Select model offers a choice of Full, or Proportional braking.
Proportional braking brakes the towed vehicle according to the braking effort of the Motorhome.
Full braking takes the full weight of the towed vehicle off the motorhome while braking.
Their Diagnostic Remote lets you select between them while driving.You can adjust the sensitivity
of the braking as well as the intensity which means you can set it up for a light
car, or a heavy car.
The Brake Buddy Vantage Select provides diagnostic information and will let
you know when the brakes are being used in the towed vehicle.
A small transmitter sends a signal to a receiver plugged into
the cigar lighter of the motorhome. A red light glows if the
brakes have been activated.
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You can set the sensitivity of the Buddy
so it reacts easier, but I prefer to have it less sensitive.
I do a lot of mountain driving, and on steep grades, it's nice
to feel the extra tug from the back when you apply your brakes.
It's really great when you come upon a signal light on a fast
road. When one of those turns yellow and red, you've got to
stop fast. Brake Buddy is a real pal.
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When you hitch on to a vehicle you are creating a situation
where you want the safest possible setup. If at all possible
vehicles should be towed with all wheels on the ground. The
worst of all possible choices for complexity is the vehicle
sitting completely on a trailer. Next in line is the car with
one set of wheels in a dolly. I've seen one dolly where it was
impossible to keep the car wheels lashed down. The possibility
that the car could come off the dolly is a scary thought if
you are behind one of these. With both of these trailers you
have to find a place to store them when you get to your destination,
and sometimes there is very little space available for a car,
a motorhome, and a trailer.
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The
easiest way is to tow the car on all four wheels. There are
vehicles where this is not possible, but many vehicles with
automatics can be fitted with an electric oil circulating pump
that keeps the transmission lubricated.
The Aladdin
Tow Bar from Blue Ox is a strong, lightweight,
tow bar that plugs into the receiver on the motorhome. It is a category III tow bar for
up to 2200 kg.
It does not fit over a ball hitch. Fit over ball hitches have
the potential for popping off the ball when entering or leaving
areas that have bad dips. The Aladdin can rotate up and down,
and sideways, and can't pop loose.
The Aventa LX is designed with a ball-in-socket attachment at the
RV end. This reduces wear and maintains a strong connection. This is a Class IV
tow bar for towing vehicles weighing up to 4500 kg.
Both models can be adjusted for length when you are not quite in the right place for hitching
to the car. When not in use they fold up against the back bumper.
Blue Ox
also sells base plates for most vehicles.
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If you take your RV away from the hydro lines it's nice to be
able to keep your batteries charged. You could use your generator.
The problem is, generators are abhored by a lot of campers,
with good reason. They go to a campground for some rest and
relaxation, not to listen to someone's generator. The alternative
is to use one or more solar panels to supply the necessary energy.
Solar panels are expensive, but should last for years with simple
maintenance.
It is necessary to install a voltage regulator to protect your
battery from overcharging. Depending upon your needs, you might
want to increase the battery bank to two, three, even four.
For some of your needs, you will need an inverter to change
the 12v to 115v. I ran two new circuits to enable me to send
115 volt power to those appliances that are not heavy consumers
of electrical energy, and they are ones I like to be able to
use. These include the television and satellite receiver and
some table lights. I'm going to change some circuits so that
when my batteries are full, I can send the extra power to the
refrigerator, or the water heater. It's a good idea to install
all of these components in such a way that you can take them off easily when
you trade.
You can use the cheaper inverters for lights and appliances
that use heaters. The cheaper units have a wave shape that can
be damaging to delicate electronic circuits so I elected to
go with a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter.I don't have to
be concerned that my laptop might be damaged by the inverter.
It costs more, but should be worth it over the years.
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Soltek
Powersource has an excellent RV Solar Guide catalogue which
explains the workings of the solar panel and the parts..
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Sometimes it's nice to be able to know how steep a piece of
road is. There are times when you have the feeling that your
rig is losing power. Then it turns out that you were climbing
a long imperceptible grade. If you had a inclinometer mounted
in the cab you would have glanced at it and known right away
that you were climbing. |
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One of the most useful tools in my fixit drawer is the megapro
screwdriver. I picked up one of these a few years ago, and it's
been great. I like its storage area for bits. There is always
one there when I need it. The screwdriver's colour is easy to
see, so it's less likely to get lost. This has proved itself
as a very handle tool.
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If you're using your satellite dish on the road you might be
interested in this little computer programme for giving you
the settings for your dish at different locations. The AcuSat
programme already has several satellites listed, and you can
add others. Settings also have been calculated for several cities
across Canada and the United States. If you stop at a place
that isn't on the list, you will have to know the latitude and
longitude of the spot. Many campgrounds list that information.
Other RV'ers carry a handheld gps and use it to determine the
latitude and longitude of the place where they are camping.
You can get a rough estimate from a good map.You also need a
simple compass to use when selecting the direction in which
to point the dish.
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I prelocated
the data for several of the places I expected to stop during
the winter so when I was parked I already had a list of the
settings for my dish.
The programme can be downloaded from Blue Ravine Software.
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Many of us are familiar with the Fantastic roof vent. It's a
quiet running, durable fan with many blades, and is appearing
in many motorhomes and trailers as standard equipment.
A newer
addition to their stable of fans is the Endless Breeze, a
12v portable unit that is lightweight, and operates with the
quietness we've become accustomed to. It comes with a plug
for a cigar lighter port, and is easily moved to wherever
you need some cooling, or some air circulation.
I have
used it to defrost the windows in a previous motorhome. In
that Class A unit the heated defrost air took a trip through
the unheated area above the grill. Since the tubes were uninsulated
you can imagine how cold the air was when it hit a windshield
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and covered with ice and snow. You can also imagine
how poorly the windshield defrosted. We placed the Endless
Breeze on top of the doghouse and blew the warmer air of the
motorhome directly onto the centre of the windshield. The
flow of air came back out across the side windows also clearing
them and keeping my view of the mirrors free of mist.
It could
also be useful to take outside and place near your chair on
a hot day.
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I like the HWH levellers for their quiet action. However, I have had a problem that lasted for
three years. The jacks would come up slowly, and then when driving they would start to drop
back down.
That would turn on the siren that warns if the jacks
are down. It is extremely loud and will certainly catch your
attention. The siren ceases to sound when the jacks are retracted,
and the unit turns off.
The panel is supposed to turn off when all jacks have risen. However if one is sticking
down it will not turn off and eventually the solenoid on the jack gets hot and shorts out.
That's it. That jack is now stuck. That caused us many problems. We saved the lives of several
solenoids by turning off the recall light manually, but eventually we'd forget and another solenoid
would burn out.
The cure came when we made a special trip to the factory. They replaced the springs with heavy duty springs
which it seems like it should have had in the beginning. They replaced the sticking jack too.
Now two years later, they are still functioning as they should have from the beginning.
The HWH people take care of you when you stop at the factory. They even give you lunch if
you arrive early enough. We missed out.
I have replaced the shrill siren with a quieter ding-dong chime
from Radio Shack ( Electronic Chime #273-071B). It sounds much
better. You can make it quieter still, by placing a little black
tape over it.
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After experiencing severe bounce in the front end of my motorhome
(W-22 chassis) after passing over frost heaves, and other dips
such as you experience coming off an Interstate bridge, I complained
to the RV Dealer, who in turn asked the Workhorse Chassis rep.
His brilliant reply was for us to place more weight in the 'front
end'.
So once again it was up to me, the consumer, to research the
problem. Thank goodness for RV Forums. There it was! Several
writers commenting on the severe 'porpoising' that they were
getting from their motorhomes on Workhorse chassis. They followed
it through, and Workhorse asked them to weigh the RV, and if
the weights were within specifications, they sent new, heavier
shock absorbers to be installed at a Workhorse approved shop.
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I
also followed this up. I now have the shocks installed and it
seems to have cured most of the problem.
When the original shocks were removed from the front of this
new motorhome they were beat. I would have to wonder if a bunch
of poor quality shocks ended up on these motorhomes, or if the
shocks were not up to the job, and wore out rapidly.
My question; Why would a new company trying to impress the world
with a great chassis not tell their chassis consumers that some
have a problem?
Apart from this problem, it's a great chassis. The engine is
powerful, and quiet. It climbs through crooked mountain curves
with finesse. It steers well, and has not been affected by winds
and passing trucks. It turns sharply enabling one to get out
of tight spots, and its big wheels make it look like a pusher.
I would
like the Allison transmission to slip up into top gear better
than it does. Sometimes it goes right up the scale to top
gear just the way I'd expect it. Other times it refuses, even
on level pavement, to go into the highest (overdrive?) gear.
It's often necessary to accelerate quickly and let off the
peddle. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, and it
would go for miles and miles in regular high, but not shifting
up, even on a level road. Apparently it is set for speed of 90 km/hr
before it goes into overdrive. There are several roads with the speed limit at
80 km/hr. Although it pulls extremely well once it gets into overdrive, it often can
be forced up.
The steering
wheel on my unit makes it difficult to see the speedometer.
Some people call it the 'GoKart' steering wheel, and are opting
to purchase a larger diameter steering wheel with less material
cluttering the centre area.
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| Olympian
Catalytic Heaters |
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My wife and I do a lot of dry camping. We like to boondock in
the southwest of the United States in the winter. But evenings
and early mornings can be cool. Using a furnace to take the
chill off is a bit of overkill. It's also noisy and uses up
your batteries.
Over the years we have been invited to several RV's where catalytic
heaters were in use. As a result we purchased an Olympian Catalytic
heater.
After searching for quite a while for a good location, I settled
upon the wall of the cabinet at the entrance door. It was the
only flat wall that was not affected by cupboard drawers, or
the large slideout. It was also close to a propane source.
By hinging the heater on one side we were able to keep the heat
from radiating directly onto a nearby chair. This unit has been
great. It's quiet, and heats the living area just fine. It is
necessary to open a window or vent a small amount for ventilation.
So far it has worked well both in low deserts, and in high mountain
campgrounds. When it's not in use we put a cover over it to
keep the dust away from the catalytic surface.
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| Getting Levelled with EzLevel |
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Do you have trouble levelling your RV? Tired of placing a little bubble level on the cupboard and having your wife call out the directions? If the answer to these questions is yes then you’ll be interested in RV Ezlevel made by the folks who invented Brake Buddy.
This little electronic gadget can be placed on the floor of the RV where the driver can see the flashing red lights. Then just drive up onto your levelling blocks, or use the levelling jacks, and stop when the lights turn to green. It’s a neat, easy to use device.
For more information contact www.RVInnovations.com or phone 1-800-815-2159.
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| Setting up your Dish with Align-a-Site |
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A Satellite dish has to be on target to collect a very low powered signal from a tiny satellite 20,000 plus miles above the earth. I recently was introduced to a product that should take the pain out of trying to level your tripod, level the dish, and aim the dish at the target.
The product is called Align-a-Site. It is not electronic, and needs no batteries or wires. The Align-a-Site bolts to your dish, and once initially set up it eliminates the need to have the tripod perfectly levelled, in fact the base can sit on sloping ground.
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There is a small viewfinder that you can look through to make sure that the dish will have a clear view to the satellite without hitting tree branches or other objects.
Installation instructions are easy to read and once correctly aligned all you need is the correct dish settings for your location, set the Align-a-Site’s azimuth and elevation settings, and align the dish. This has become a very popular product and is available on some dishes.
For more information contact www.alignasite.com or phone 1-877-504-3473.
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| Putting power in your pedal with Banks PowerPack |
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Most big engine power
plants in RV's are capable of producing more power than they do. Poorly designed exhaust
manifolds, and exhaust systems do not allow the products of combustion to escape quickly
thus restricting the power produced. Also these engines often gasp for air because of poorly
designed air intakes. Without large quantities of oxygen there is poorer combustion than
there should be.
Banks Systems produce a PowerPack system that takes care of these two problems and solves
another problem too..
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To take care of the lack of air,
they install a larger, smooth flowing air inlet and may increase the size of the filter
box to reduce restrictions.
The exhaust system gets the royal treatment. The original exhaust manifolds are replaced
with smooth flowing tubes, one for each cylinder. This lets the exhaust gas flow quickly
from the engine. Inspect the pipes leaving the regular engines. One popular engine/chassis
manufacturer has built in a full
loop before the gases can head for the exhaust pipe. That has to be an unnecessary restriction.
Banks exhaust pipes are larger, and the muffler is huge as is the large exhaust outlet.
I mentioned that this product fixes another problem. Ford and Vortec engines frequently
have broken manifold bolts, maybe even a warped manifold, or worse, cracked. This is
caused by differential expansion of a very hot manifold bolted to a cooler engine head
that has been cooled by the engine circulating water. A gasket between the exhaust
manifold, and the engine head restricts heat flow.
On the Banks torque tubes the exhaust manifold is thicker for strength, and there is a
metal to metal fit without the troublesome gasket. The result is the heat flows from the
manifold to the engine where the heat is taken away by the water. This should result
in long lasting exhaust manifolds and no broken bolts.
For more information contact www.bankspower.com or phone 1-800-601-8072.
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Sometimes you see a product that looks really good. In this case it’s the RV SureStep created by the inventor of the famous BrakeBuddy. Have you ever opened your RV door in the dark and almost fallen out because the steps are drawn? Several people have done this and were badly injured. Unfortunately, it’s not an uncommon problem.
Personal safety is very important when RVing. An injury caused by stepping out onto RV steps that are not in place can be more than inconvenient. It can be very serious. The RV SureStep, invented by the inventor of BrakeBuddy is a potential lifesaver. This product should be factory installed on all high RVs with steep steps.
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RV SureStep makes the step conveniently wider, too, something my large boots appreciate, and it also lights the edge of the step with a soft blue/violet light. With the light bar bolted to the edge of the step you can now see whether the step is where it’s supposed to be. No light means the step is not there!
The light illuminates when you come near. Sensors on the top, and front of the step will turn on the light whether you open the door from above, or walk in front.
The light bar uses small batteries, and considering the low current drain of the tiny lights, the batteries should last the camping season.
Installing the SureStep is easily done by clamping the provided template to the step and then drilling 5 holes. I suggest you not drill the holes any bigger than the Tee-bolts used in the lightbar. If you order the lightbar and the rubber tread too, you’ll have to peel off the old tread first before using the template.
To place the Tee bolts into the slot on the light bar you need to remove the cover at the end. While it’s off, you might as well fill the tube with six AA batteries as shown in the instructions. Put the cover back on, and shove the 5 bolts into the holes you drilled, put on the long nuts and tighten.
Place the new rubber tread onto the step which you’ve probably cleaned by now, and you are done. When it’s dark walk by the step and see how quickly the light comes on. It’s quite attractive too.
Be safe. Always be sure the steps are out and in place before stepping down!
Contact info: www.rvsurestep.com or 1-800-815-2159
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Delorme is a company devoted to GPS and maps. It produces a wide variety of maps for the travelling public... from paper Atlas books, to cd/dvd maps accessed through your computer I have used Delorme Street Atlas and Delorme Topo USA map products on my computer for several years. In recent years there have been other mapping products which have been introduced and after trying them I still feel that I like the simplicity of 'click and centre' your map much better than 'grab and drag'. Both Delorme products have proven their worth when searching for places to go and showing how to get there.
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Topo USA consists of topographic maps covering the USA. You can view the countryside in 2D or 3D which means you can move along the map following a particular route and be able to see the mountains,
plains or valleys along the way. You can angle your view from straight down to a lower angle which lets you view items more clearly. You can magnify the map to take in a large area or a small one which lets you focus in on small roads and details of interest.
Street Atlas is used in a similar manner to the Topo USA except it doesn't have the 3D effect.
I usually use the draw function to mark areas of interest that I want to find quickly again. A red flag shows up on those locations and you can label what it represents.
Those travellers who have used the Earthmate GPS LT-20 with their mapping programmes will have found it very quick to find the satellites. Now users of the Earthmate GPS LT-40 will be even more impressed with its speed and accuracy of position. It works well with the software to guide you to your destination and can give instructions by voice when you don't have a copilot with you watching the laptop map.
If you wanted to avoid a busy downtown area you could draw a polygon around the area you want to avoid, and the the map programme is forced to find a way around it that maybe suits you better.
Street Atlas USA 2009 PLUS DVD Software is a powerfull mapping software package that is loaded with point of interest and millions of phone numbers. It is possible, for example, to highlight a street, and find all the phone numbers along it so if a contractor was repairing the road, he could phone all those involved if the need arose.
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