2021 Trip To Texas

[JEBar]

slow but steady ... project for tomorrow is to program two remotes that operate the camper's deadbolt .... haven't had to do that in 15 or so years .... I'm pretty sure a call to customer service for the company that makes the aftermarket lock will be in order ..

[JEBar]

both new remotes have been programmed even though it sure was cold out there .. .. as anticipated, I couldn't have gotten it done without a very patient lady who works at RV Lock .... as one would expect there is a sequence you have to follow to program them .... hopefully, the new ones will last longer than I do ..

[JEBar]

the TireMinder system arrived today .... I've unboxed it and must admit that as is often the case, for me having it in hand makes understanding the instructions a good bit simpler .... I may well get it installed in the truck but the part that goes on the camper may not .... the hold up is having to crawl under the camper to install a signal booster .... first impressions are mixed .... the parts look fine .... the steps needed to move through the program will take a while to learn

[JEBar]

as is pretty much normal for us, our absolute and final plans are subject to change at any second .... with rain forecasted to continue for hours, there will be no install today .. .. I'm now considering holding off installing it until we are parked at one of our sons' home later this week

[markiver54]

as is pretty much normal for us, our absolute and final plans are subject to change at any second .... with rain forecasted to continue for hours, there will be no install today .. .. I'm now considering holding off installing it until we are parked at one of our sons' home later this week

Not all that far to your west, but we're not getting all that rain. Must be just missing us.

[Hatchdog]

Good wishes to you when installing your Tire Minders. Helps I’m sure to have done it before. I hang out on the Forest River forum and some folks there really have a battle with the install and program. I’m following your task with great interest as I play to install a set someday.

[JEBar]

the way things are going I don't know if we will get ours installed before Christmas .... the biggest obstacle for me is getting under the camper to install the booster .... my hope is one of our sons will be able to come by and take care of it .... once that's accomplished, the rest should go smoothly

[JEBar]

even though we plan to sleep at home tonight, with tomorrow forecasted to be cold and rainy we decided to move our camper today .... supplies have been stored and slides are pulled in .... all that remains is to hookup, drive 3 miles, unhook, level the camper, and put the slides out .... that way about all we will have to do tomorrow is drive over to where we plan to spend Christmas .... barring unforeseen circumstances, this will be the last time we use our camper between now and when we head for Texas on Jan 8th ..... it appears that the heaters will get a good workout tomorrow

[JEBar]

with the exception of installing our new tire pressure monitoring system and a few last minute checks, SO FAR AS I KNOW, our rig it pretty much ready to roll .... camping over Christmas gave us a great opportunity to test our camper's heating systems ..... at one stretch it was below freezing for something over 12 hours .... we were parked on the edge of a 15+ acre field with a 15 - 20 mph wind blowing directly across the field, hitting the off door side of our camper .... that wind seemed to required us to run our portable heaters, the electric fireplace and at times the furnace ..... it had been most of a year since we last ran the furnace and were delighted to see it fire right up ....

[BigAl52]

Got the camper loaded and ready to roll. Had a battery issue this am again with the camper. gotta believe it was the battery tender after further investigation. Was out at the trailer 3 weeks ago and the green full charge light was on. today when we arrived to pick up the trailer the red and green light were alternately blinking and there was no juice in the trailer at all. I have one of those lithium battery boost packs which I put on the trailer immediately and was able to get the legs to come up on the 5er. When I got home I checked it with another tender I have and it worked like it was supposed to. Batterys in the trailer are only 3 months old. Its plugged in now at the house and looks to be taking a charge. I will be checking the battery level here again in about an hour or so.

[JEBar]

I have one of those lithium battery boost packs which I put on the trailer immediately and was able to get the legs to come up on the 5er.

I'd appreciate info on your boost pack .... our auto leveling system requires a good coach battery .... with a bad battery, even when plugged into 50 amp current, it won't work

[BigAl52]

Jim
Im not sure this would work with the auto level but it did have enough juice to run up the front legs which at that time was all I cared about. I have 2 of them I bought off Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087L ... UTF8&psc=1

I have used this to jump my car a couple times and it worked great. There are 100's of these out there in all price ranges. It says it will do my diesel Dodge but I havent tried them yet on that and hope I dont need them. But if you need a phone charged or juice in an emergency these are handy.

[JEBar]

decision day .... we've decided to schedule fuel stops based on two criteria .... the first being to have a scheduled stop during each day's drive .... one of our adjustments to the reality of Covid is use truck stops as our rest stops .... they have plenty of parking for rigs our size and buy using our camper's facilities, we minimize contact with both people and things that aren't our own .... at fuel stops the only things I touch that aren't ours are the buttons on the pump and the pump handle where a liberal use of hand sanitizer is applied .... the second criteria is to make use of the substantial savings in purchasing our fuel through the TSD Fuel Program ===> http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... sd#p149980 .... our itinerary shown in post 1 in this thread has been edited to reflect our fuel stops on our way from Home to Texas .... if they work out as we hope, we will most likely follow the same stops on our way back home

[JEBar]

all campgrounds we have booked for out trip to and from Texas have been programmed into our Garmin .... as have all fuel stops planned for out trip out there .... IF things go as scheduled, we shouldn't need to take on fuel but once during out 11 weeks in Texas .... no clue where that will be

[JEBar]

the time is rapidly approaching when we must get our new TireMinder i10 TPMS installed .... it arrived back on Dec 19th and I've been trying to come up with the best way to install it on our rig .... the hold up has been and still is a decision where to mount with they call their TireMinder Rhino Signal Booster (ES Booster) ===> https://www.minderresearch.com/product/ ... l-booster/ .... they want it installed under the 5er between the front landing gear .... its install requires something solid to attach it to and for it to be connected to a hot 12V power source .... the only solid thing in that area to attach it to is the stationary upper portion of a leveler .... the problem with that is there isn't a good spot to attach the booster that may not interfere with the leveler's function .... a bigger issue there simply isn't any 12V wiring in that area .... accordingly, I've decided to mount it under the rear of our Sportchassis .... in the picture below the signal (blue) relay/booster for our old pressure monitoring system can be seen .... I'm strongly considering securing the new booster to the outside of our 2" receiver .... they provide heavy duty Nylon Zip Ties which would make it an easy install .... also, its an area where there has to be 12V power we can tie into .... by having it attached to the truck instead of the camper, the booster will be assisting when we aren't towing ... in looking at the weather forecast, this coming Saturday should be a great time for the install .... the projected temperature should be pretty close to what we will experience in Texas, that should help in accurately setting alarm pressures

[BigAl52]

Well i started out this am in 33 deg and ended up here in Junction Tx at 75 so get on down here

[JEBar]

Well i started out this am in 33 deg and ended up here in Junction Tx at 75 so get on down here

NICE .... very nice indeed .... can only wish we could hit the road in the morning

[BigAl52]

about 280 miles to go to our destination. Should be a welcome short day of driving tomorrow. The wind today was annoying to say the least.

[JEBar]

the older I get the more I look forward to days with a short drive

[Sir Henry]

all campgrounds we have booked for out trip to and from Texas have been programmed into our Garmin .... as have all fuel stops planned for out trip out there .... IF things go as scheduled, we shouldn't need to take on fuel but once during out 11 weeks in Texas .... no clue where that will be

I preprogrammed stops in the Garmin too.