Ruide

1. Hitches
2. Trailer weights
3. Brakes
4. Tires & wheels
5. Fresh water system
6. Wastewater system
7. Propane system
8. Electrical system
9. Lift system
10. Setting up camp
11. General maintenance 

Here is a review of each of the book in order of ranking:

1. The RV Book by Mark Polk, 274 pages, $19.95, Score 25.  This was my first reference book and one that I had previously recommended to others.   I thought I would find a book that was more comprehensive but in the end this was the clear winner.  It has lots of pictures, diagrams and checklists.  This is the only general RV book that specifically discusses folding trailers in several sections.
   
   
2. Pop-Up Basic 101 by Mark Polk, 42 pages, $12.95 . Score 23.5.  This is the only book for folding trailers and is only available by downloading off the internet ( i.e., it is an E book).  At first I thought it would end up with a higher score, however, there were a number of topics that were covered in less depth than The RV book by the same author.
    
3. RVing Basics by Bill and Jan Moeller, 213 pages, $14.95 . Score 22.  This book did a fair job addressing the topics I was interested.  However, there were many cases where I had to look in different sections.  For example, water regulators was not covered in the water systems but later on in “Selecting a camp ground and using hook ups.  This was the only book that addressed replacing a tire, and repacking bearings.  Although I was not looking for this it was one of two books that  had floor diagrams of different RV’s.
   
   
4. The RV Handbook by Bill Estes, 287 pages, $29.95, Score 19.5.  This is a Trailer life book and is the most technical of all the books I reviewed.  If you have a motor home this might be a good book as a significant portion of the book is devoted to engines, fuel economy, trouble shooting and even engine rebuilds.
   
   
5. RVing made easy by Joe and Vicki Kieva, 184 pages, $18.95  ,Score 16.5.  Of all the hard covers, this is the smallest book and has no photographs, no diagrams and no index.  The authors do get straight to the point on all the items that they cover.
   
   
6. The complete RV Handbook by Jayne Freeman 234 pages $18.95  Score 16.5.  The sub title is “A guide to getting the most out of life on the road and in fact it does this versus being a technical guide.  It does a good job trouble shooting and has lots or real life examples.  Unfortunately the author has a motor home and writes from that point of view. For example the only reference I found to hitches was in the section on towing a motor vehicle behind a coach.
   

7. The RVer’s Bible by Kim and Sunny Baker, pages 390, $22 Score 11.  This is a case where you should not judge a book by its title.  Given name and length I thought this would be a winner, but it was the least technical of all the books review and the one that had several topics that were not covered.  An easy read with lots of little tips and stories but not a reference manual.

Every since I purchased my first RV book I’ve been hunting for the perfect folding trailer reference manual.  It turns out that there is only one book that I could find that was written specifically for folding trailers. So my challenge was to see how much folding trailer material was included in each of the RV books I could find. 

So here are my topics and (sub topics):

1. Hitches (classes, sway bars, WDH)
2. Trailer weights (definition of terms, weighing a trailer and tow vehicle limitations)
3. Brakes (brakes and controllers, break-away switch, wiring diagram)
4. Tires & wheels (pressure, jacking up and replacing, lug nut torque)
5. Fresh water system (regulators, winterizing and sanitizing)
6. Wastewater system (totes, disposal and black water chemicals)
7. Propane system (regulator, appliances, high/low pressure)
8. Electrical system (shore power, convertor, batteries)
9. Lift system (procedure, maintenance and roof supports)
10. Setting up camp (backing in, leveling, awnings)
11. General Maintenance (schedule, packing wheel bearings, trouble shooting)

There were some topics that most books covered very well.  For example, hitches, trailer weights, fresh, wastewater, propane and electrical systems.  However, I was disappointed that none of the books discussed the lift system, the difference between high pressure and low pressure propane appliances nor the need to torque lug nuts.  Only one book discussed the need to repack wheel bearings and another discussed jacking up and replacing a tire.

The books and their ratings in order are as follows (Note – the maximum score is 33).

1. The RV Book by Mark Polk, 274 pages, $19.95, Score 25.
2. Pop-Up Basic 101 by Mark Polk, 42 pages, $12.95 . Score 23.5. 
3. RVing Basics by Bill and Jan Moeller, 213 pages, $14.95 . Score 22.
4. The RV Handbook by Bill Estes, 287 pages, $29.95  Score 19.5.
5. RVing made easy by Joe and Vicki Kieva, 184 pages,  $16.95 Score 16.5
6. The complete RV Handbook by Jayne Freeman 234 pages $18.95  Score 16.5
7. The RVer’s Bible by Kim and Sunny Baker, pages 390, $22 Score 11.

This week I was going to write about one of the topics that generate a lot of disagreement among folding trailer owners – the BAL leveler.  However, that will have to wait for a while as another item surfaced and I discovered it generated more debate than comparing a BAL Leveler to wood or Lynx blocks. 

This all started when a fellow camper ask if he needed to ground his Honda EU3000 generator.  He had a grounding bolt but wasn’t’ sure if he should use it.  Well I have the same generator and had seen the grounding bolt but I never did any research on the topic.

So it was off to Google and a search on “Generator Grounding” gave me almost a million hits.  One of the first documents I read - made it very simple"... most people do not properly ground their portable generations as per code and manufacture's instructions." So if the coder requires it then I need to ground mine.  Right?

 Well not exactly.  Let's read the code: 

National Electrical Code (NEC)  250.34 Generators-Portable and Vehicle-Mounted

(A) Portable Generators. The frame of a portable generator is not required to be grounded to the earth if:

(1) The generator only supplies equipment or cord-and-plug-connected equipment through receptacles mounted on the generator, or both, and

(2) The metal parts of generator and the grounding terminals of the receptacles are bonded to the generator frame.

Did I read that right? I’m using cord-and-plug-connected equipment and I know my generator had the metal parts and grounding terminal bonded to the generator frame… so I don’t need to ground my generator. 

However, as I continued to read I discovered that there were some of my fellow campers who for safety reasons thought that grounding was required.  So I wonder what OSHA had to say?

Now there are some folks that do ground their generators.   However, to be correctly grounded you need an 8 foot grounded rod - which would be impossible to either put in or take out of the ground at a camp site.  And a short metal spike is not good enough and actually is against code.  In addition, some jurisdictions it is "illegal to dig or drive a ground rod in the ground unless you first call the local utilities and request a survey of the area".

Note – the above applies to portable generator such as those in folding trailers. If the generator is mounted on a vehicle (as is the case of some motor homes or travel trailers) then NEC requires that the generator frame be bonded to the vehicle frame.

Ruide

I suspect that everyone has something that they hate to do while camping.  Some of the items include:

1. Setting up awning and/or screen room ,
2. Hanging tacky lights,
3. Toting things back and forth between TV and PUP,
4. Leveling a trailer
5. and for the newbies… Backing up into the site when the whole camp ground is watching

Backing up use to be on top of my list, but I practiced and practiced and practiced at my favorite camp ground site on a Sunday afternoon when it was deserted and followed that up by more practice  in an empty parking lot until I had backing up nailed. 

So what do I hate to do?  Setting up the PUP door.  First it is a challenge to remove it from hanging on the roof.  I have to balance it on my head while I slid the door and frame along it its rail until I reached the side of the PUP and then drop it into place.  However, the real issue was my PUP roof would not go high enough so I could lock the tabs in place. .

I would push up on the roof, push on the side,  take up the stabilizers, turn the roof crank handle one more click hoping that the cables did not break and if that did not work I would use some words that my mother would not approve. But with time I would get the door in place. 

Late last year the roof had to be replaced and I jumped at the possibility that my dealer would adjust the new roof.  When I went to pick up my PUP, I even asked if they had  tested the door and was told yes… so I was very happy, until I tried it myself and found  it was worse than before. 

Well I thought I’ve would try and fix it myself.  I figured I would have to take off the waffle tree cover and adjust the cables but there were no instructions in my manual.  However what I found was a simple procedure.  The roof cables run by four pulleys near the frame.  You adjust the height by pulling the pulley pin and relocating the pulley to an alternative position.  Of course I had to raise the roof a foot, slide the beds out and lower the roof so there was slack in the cables. 

What was frustrating was that it took about 15 minutes to relocate all four pulleys… much less time than I’ve spent struggling with the door.  For pictures on the process check my photogallery

Now that the door issue is resolved, I now have to solve the next thing that I hate doing…. Hauling water from the camp ground spigot and filling up the water tank.

 Ruide

It is rare that I get excited over a book but I have to admit that I’ve done that with a book called “The Next Exit”.  I stumbled onto it while browsing the shelves in Camping World.  Then I had a chance to put it through its paces on a trip from Houston to Cincinnati.  It met and exceeded my expectations.  Result… a week later I got a copy for my daughter and son-in-law.

So what is so great about this book?  Well as the title describes… It list all the services - gas, food, lodging and others -  including camp grounds and hospitals at each exit on all US interstate highways.  Of special interest to those that stay overnight at Wal-Mart parking lots, they are listed in bright red.   In addition to gas stations, it lists automobile, tire and RV dealerships – so if you need a part or repairs you’ll know how far help is.  It tells you which services are on the East/West or North/South so you don’t have to rely on the little arrows on the signs that you normally fly by while making sure you don’t run into the vehicle in front of you. 

The book is divided by state and each state has a small map.  Each page list the city associated with each exit.  With all that information, I still have to say that it will not replace your GPS or map book, but it sure comes in handy.

Now this is not the first book that I’ve had with road exit information.  In the days when I travelled up and down between Florida and Ohio I had a book called “Interstate 75” with me.  Unfortunately it was limited to just one Highway and I’ve found a recent edition to have too many omissions.  Plus it has morphed into a travel guide with descriptions of cities, attractions and even coupons… I just wished they had focused on ensuring the exit data were up to date.

I also have an electronic device called the Autopilot - Talking Road Navigator. It has been around way before GPS and I guess you could call it a poor person’s GPS device.  I should disclose that I’m a gadget person and so you would think I would love this device.  However, my biggest beef was that it would not remember where you were.  In other words every time you turn it on you had to tell it the “state, highway, direction, exit or mile post” before you query it for food gas, rest area, hotel, etc. Of course to get all the next exit information you have multiple key stokes versus looking at a description in a book.