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Thread: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

  1. #131
    Unobtanium PatColo's Avatar
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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    ^ thx for that verification MR. He also threw out that 6 year nominal life number, & we figure these would be ~13y+. We didn't check the tires' date stamps together but he/dealer presumably had before & knew these are well beyond their replace-no-matter-what date.

    am told another trick with a rig with hydrolic leveling jacks like this is, when parking for indefinite times, even already level... drop the 4 jacks & raise the whole thing a bit... don't even know how much we're talking, couple inches/whatever, just to take the weight off the tires - let the jacks share the weight. I'll learn more about that when I take possession, & get the new owners' lesson about everything.

    This guy's 37m vid below spends the last ~10m on the down low, all about the tires, chassis, etc. Interesting lesson!

    RV Dolphin full Tour Inside & out, Top 2 Bottom

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    I don't know anything about this, but wanted to wish you good luck with your purchase. Hope it all works out for you.

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    Congrats Pat! Welcome to the RV life.

    I watched one of the videos, and you seem to have gotten a really good deal. Several things impressed me, the fit and finish of the interior, the 7kw gen (wow), and the in the foor ac unit. Also, the seller was honest about the dates on the tires. That's a big overlooked safety issue.

    I would recommend checking the dates on the batteries though. Being a 2007, they may or may not have been replaced.
    life is good.

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    thx for the happy wishes Amanda & Hitch. Looks like I'll pick it up Mon or Tue, expect to live in beginning same night.

    RE the tires & the "honest seller"; it's a dealer, & you figure it's their liability on the line. BTW, learned Michelins come with a 10y warranty, so you figure that's built into their loftier price. But I'm gonna get the lower price tires they put on, anticipating 6 year max life independent of mileage.

    I also just bought a newer (2016) Honda Fit a month ago, and I learned of one potential little 'mistake' with that already -- it's not "Flat towable", which I wasn't even familiar with before, but it means some kind of connection to the rig, where the car rolls behind on its own 4 wheels, with the car's steering somehow neutralized such that the front wheels just turn with the rig.

    20 years ago when I moved from CA to CO, I drove a Ryder (UHaul?) truck; don't remember the length anymore (30' bumper/bumper maybe?) but recall I had to bump up to a bigger truck with more 'box' than I needed just to have the min beef to tow my Honda Civic behind on a "car dolly" which caries only the tow car's 2 front wheels off the ground, while rear wheels roll on the ground.

    This was trouble-free; took maybe 5 mins to take the car on or off the dolly. This car dolly setup was all I ever imagined for this new RV + car setup anyways... but open question was/is, do they make a car dolly which "disassembles" such that it'll store in the rig's outside storage bays, for when I find a place I'll expect to stay awhile? We'd be talking commercial RV park places, where I'm still unclear on whether the 35' rig + whatever the (empty) car dolly overall length is, would make the diff between being able to stay at many places or not. So that'll need more research!

    Re scouting for an RV park to initially move into, question came up, do I need a 30 or 50 amp power connection? Well the rig only has a 50 amp port... it's a different prong layout between the 2 amp levels. Learned the only thing it would actually NEED that 50 amp for was running the aircon; but not needing that, the 30a connection would suffice for all lights, fans, TV/theater, convection-microwave, fridge on electric mode etc. So they sell a simple 50/30 amp adapter which will allow me to connect a 30a line; I just couldn't run the aircon. So that's good at least! & the 7000 watt generator puts out nearly 60 amps, which can more than handle the aircon+. It's just that diff parks have diff rules re times generators can run, thanks to noise. Rig's Cummins Onan generator has 120 hours use, btw.

    The jootube "RV life" genre is pretty big, guessing not only among peeps living the life, but those researching & imagining?

    Besides the "very low/modest means" oriented CheapRVliving channel I pointed to above, there's these popular "modest-to-upscale" channels, for each of which I've watched 3-4 vids:

    Carolyn's RV Life
    114K subscribers
    ^ 54yo bay area tech yuppie woman dropped the conventional home anchored life 6 years ago for nomad RV life, in a 24' & 29' class C. Very practical oriented vids, + sort of a life vlog. She still works remotely.

    Keep Your Daydream
    240K subscribers
    ^ 40-something couple w kids, practical Class C (& A?) stuff
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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    Quote Originally Posted by PatColo View Post
    ...Re scouting for an RV park to initially move into,... It's just that diff parks have diff rules re times generators can run, thanks to noise.
    Colorado RV Park with Hookups Listed by Towns & Areas

    I'm the infamous Fred of GIM - Jewboo kindly turned over his account to me.

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    call me a wuss but I want nothing to do with freezing snow/ice driving!

    When I moved BACK from CO to CA in '08, twas top of Feb... picked up I-80 beginning in Cheyenne then all the way to SF, & it was full winter condition; was 'between' winter storm/blizzards but there was off/on light snow day/night. Hair raising! Worst stretch was western WY through the descent into Salt Lake City; passed multiple trucks on their sides in the center divide. IIRC most didn't look like multi vehicle accidents; just drivers who lost control, and yes most were amateur-driven rental trucks... though there was at least one commercial. This was the morning after I'd bedded down at a motel in W. WY, & drove that stretch into SLC, so these accidents had probably happened overnight. That was white-knuckle driving, & I stuck to daytime only!

    So I'll stick with the Southwest & Gulf states, the "snowbird states" through winter, thank you! Safe to say though, I don't think I'd've got this kind of deal if I were buying in Spring/Summer!
    FAKE "ELECTIONS" - Why Ron Paul Can't "Win"

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    Quote Originally Posted by PatColo View Post

    When I moved BACK from CO to CA in '08...
    Oh. PatColo has actually been PatCa since 2008.



    See...this is why I asked you to tell us WHERE you are planning to park this motor home. If in California where Whitey is now only 35% of the population, your own thread title question obviously answers itself.

    Show us any place in California where a White Man can safely live in a thin aluminum-walled vehicle during what your own thread title describes as a "TSHTF Scenario". Just give us the county so you don't doxx yourself.




    So I'll stick with the Southwest & Gulf states, the "snowbird states" through winter, thank you!
    I'm the infamous Fred of GIM - Jewboo kindly turned over his account to me.

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    All major highways will be impassable around cities from abandoned vehicles.

    Sourcing fuel will be next to impossible.

    Find a good spot away from the panic stricken masses and stay put.
    "Here they defended themselves to the last, such as still had swords using them, and the other resisting with their hands and teeth"

    Herodotus

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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    Quote Originally Posted by PatColo View Post
    call me a wuss but I want nothing to do with freezing snow/ice driving!

    When I moved BACK from CO to CA in '08, twas top of Feb... picked up I-80 beginning in Cheyenne then all the way to SF, & it was full winter condition; no winter storm/blizzards but off/on light snow day/night. Hair raising! Worst stretch was western WY through the descent into Salt Lake City; passed multiple trucks on their sides in the center divide. IIRC most didn't look like multi vehicle accidents; just drivers who lost control, and yes most were amateur-driven rental trucks... though there was at least one commercial. This was the morning after I'd bedded down at a motel in W. WY, & drove that stretch into SLC, so these accidents had probably happened overnight. That was white-knuckle driving, & I stuck to daytime only!

    So I'll stick with the Southwest & Gulf states, the "snowbird states" through winter, thank you! Safe to say though, I don't think I'd've got this kind of deal if I were buying in Spring/Summer!
    PatColo, your story reminded me of the winter of 1979 when the economy crashed. I was working for Southwest Kenworth Inc. in Reno at the time. One of the customers was behind on his payments of the Kenworth tractor he had bought at the dealership. I was not privy to all the details but apparently Nevada National Bank had contacted the sales dept. and asked then to get the truck repossessed and back to Reno on the Kenworth lot.

    The salesman volunteered me to go to Greeley, Colorado and bring the truck back to Reno. This was in the dead of winter. They bought me a plane ticket to Denver where I got my ex wife and kids who were living in Lakewood, Colorado to pick me up at the airport and drive my up to Greeley.

    We found the truck from the directions the salesman had given me. There were no keys but the doors weren’t locked. I was told that an attorney in Greeley had the keys, but no way in hell was I going to go asking for keys from a stranger when I was about to repossess his client’s vehicle.

    I put the fuel pump on manual and jumped across the stater relay terminals and got the engine started. I headed for I-80. It was about 8:00 pm, the weather was cold and windy blowing snow.
    Because I didn’t have keys to turn the ignition switch on I couldn’t run the heater blower. The windshield iced up to the point I had an area about the size of a dinner plate directly in front of me that I could see through. When I got to Rock Springs, Wyoming I stopped for fuel. The sign at the fuel station indicated the current temperature was -34°. While the fuel tank was filling I checked the tool compartment below the sleeper. There was a fishing tackle box with some hand tools. I removed the ignition switch from the dash and put the accessory wire on the battery terminal. I had the heater blower and radio!.

    when I got into Utah just before you drop down into Salt Lake City it was considerably warmer. I pulled over in a parking area, crawled into the bunk turned the bunk heater on and slept about 12 hours.

    Some time later after I had gotten back to the dealership with the truck one of the office personnel told me that the bank had jumped the gun on the repossession and if the owner had decided to press charges I could be charged with transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. The guy voluntarily surrendered the truck to the bank so nothing came of that.
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    Re: Is a travel trailer a stupid idea for TSHTF scenario?

    Quote Originally Posted by monty View Post
    ...They bought me a plane ticket to Denver where I got my ex wife and kids who were living in Lakewood, Colorado to pick me up at the airport and drive my up to Greeley...I put the fuel pump on manual and jumped across the stater relay terminals and got the engine started. I headed for I-80..... There was a fishing tackle box with some hand tools. I removed the ignition switch from the dash and put the accessory wire on the battery terminal. I had the heater blower and radio!...when I got into Utah just before you drop down into Salt Lake City it was considerably warmer. I pulled over in a parking area, crawled into the bunk turned the bunk heater on and slept about 12 hours...Some time later after I had gotten back to the dealership with the truck one of the office personnel told me that the bank had jumped the gun on the repossession and if the owner had decided to press charges I could be charged with transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.


    This is why INSTINCTIVELY I never once ever challenged Monty here at GSUS.

    After I graduated 1969 from CSM (where PatColo's dad taught) at age 21...I parked my new wife at my parent's home and drove to Colorado Springs thinking to settle there. Nope. Drove I-80 and eventually settled in Salt Lake City then returned to Cali for my new wife. Years later I drove from Manitoba down through the Dakotas with my second wife in her Toyota Corolla to I-80 in January and froze my balls off with the heater going full blast...the cold came from the floorboards up my numb legs. This is why I also have huge respect for Tumbleweed who lives in South Dakota. I ain't man enough to hang out with you two guys.

    I'm the infamous Fred of GIM - Jewboo kindly turned over his account to me.

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