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Family RVing Magazine

Readers’ Forum: November 2009

November 1, 2009

2009 Towing Guide Correction

“Towables For 2009″ (January 2009, page 50) contained an error in the chart section of he story regarding towing the Chevrolet Traverse (page 53). The chart should have indicated that the Traverse is flat-towable when in all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive.

FMC regrets this error.

Credit Omitted

Mark Nemeth, who designed the battery wiring illustrations that appeared in the July 2009 “House Calls” column (pages 22 and 23) was not credited in that issue. We apologize for the oversight. Mr. Nemeth maintains an online RV resource page, which can be found at www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth.

Owners Manual Needed

Dear Editor:
I’m trying to locate a copy of an owners manual for a 1988 Champion La Salle motorhome. I can be contacted at 4127 W. Seldon Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85051; e-mail: pronto357@yahoo.com. Any help will be very much appreciated.

Mike Dodgson
Phoenix, Arizona

A Mouthwatering Suggestion

Dear Editor:
When we saw the question in your June 2009 “Rear View” column about the best place to get a burger, we had to write and tell you our very favorite place, and the name of their best burger. The restaurant is The Station, and it is located in historic Smithfield, Virginia, the home of the famous Smithfield ham.
Their best burger is called the Station Burger. They start with very good ground beef, then add bacon, thinly sliced Smithfield ham, and top it off with crabmeat. It is awesome, and it comes with curly fries (they are delicious). If you are in the area, it is worth the trip to dine at the Smithfield Station.

Bill & Brenda Matkins, F389518
Toano, Virginia

Radiator Cleaning, Texas-Style

Dear Editor:
Our 2001 Allegro Bus had been running hot the last couple of years, but with management of speed, RPMs, and length of travel, the situation was controllable. But in going just a few miles to Waco, Texas, for our annual service visit, the unit got so hot it boiled over right before we got there.

Randy Cervenka, service manager at Diesel Power and Supply in Waco, found that the radiator was not letting enough air through, and various methods of cleaning I had done with solvents, a pressure washer, and air pressure were not enough to get the oil and dirt (which had turned to mud) off of the back side of the radiator.

Randy had a mechanic pull the radiator and the air charge cooler (which was also badly plugged up, but we couldn’t see that until the radiator was pulled) and had them steam cleaned. The extension tube was installed prior to leaving Diesel Power, so all seems to be well at this point. I felt lucky that no damage was done to the engine or its components.

My hat is off to Randy and his crew for the way they handled the problem, the speed in which they did it, and the final cost (although not quite as inexpensive as the $1.30 mentioned by Mr. Searcie in the July issue of Family Motor Coaching on page 18). My advice is for diesel owners to address the issue early, install the extension tube, and clean the radiator a couple of times a year.

Bill Holmes, F300934
Belton, Texas

Entry Denied

Dear Editor:
I’d heard that there are RV parks that deny entry to older coaches, but until recently I had never personally experienced it.  As of today, it’s happened twice in one week. One refused entry to vehicles more than 10 years old, and the other 15 years old.

My coach is a very well-maintained and nice-looking 1985 MCI bus conversion. I am president of FMCA’s South Central Bus Nuts chapter, and many of our member coaches are also “older” coaches. One of these parks was sending me information so that I would consider holding a rally at their site. That is not going to happen now.

I am saddened that the older coach policy exists but respect that the owners have the right to run their business any way they choose. I do suggest that it is deceptive for them not to let people know about this restriction in their print advertising. It also should be included in the FMCA Business Directory and other campground directories.

The Robin Williams movie RV comes to mind. The family with the gorgeous classic bus conversion (like the Flxible on the FMCA logo) would be denied entry, yet the (newer) rental unit that is much more likely to cause a problem is welcome.  Does that make any sense?

Richard McKee, F159358
Flower Mound, Texas

Campground Weather Codes

Dear Editor:
As my wife and I travel, one of the first things that we try to do when we arrive at a new stopping point is to set up our NOAA weather radio. This requires that we enter the local county SAME (specific area message encoding) code. This will trigger weather alerts if a weather emergency is pending in the area. We have found that few RV parks know their code. It would be a great service for those of us traveling if they would publish this code on their check-in information handouts. It would save their guests having to look up the county codes on the Internet or purchasing another cumbersome book to haul around. The appropriate county codes by state can be found at www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm.

Robin & Dianne U’ren, F324266
Midland, Michigan

Another Final Touch Customer

Dear Editor:
Thanks to Bud Tholen’s recommendation in the March 2009 “Readers’ Forum” column (“Southern California Body Repair, page 18), we tried Final Touch Coach Works in Valencia, California. We needed to repair damage to three storage doors on our coach (a mountain leapt in front of us). This required fabrication, because the doors are no longer available from the manufacturer.

We are absolutely delighted with the body work and paint, and the company reps are friendly and easy to deal with. We highly recommend Final Touch Coach Works (28532 Livingston Ave., Valencia, CA 91355; 661-775-8375; www.finaltouch-usa.com).

Stan & Cathy Nicholson, F372898
Goleta, California

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