RV Show Tips, Ford Truck Recall & Dangers of Overconfidence

This week on the RV Podcast:

• It’s RV Show Season, and if you’re planning on visiting a show, we have RV show tips to save you time AND money.
• If you use a late model Ford Heavy Duty truck to pull your RV there’s a major recall that you need to know about
• In Mike and Jen’s storytime, the dangers of bad weather and overconfidence 
• All this plus the RV News of the Week, and answers to your questions coming up in Episode 529 of the RV Podcast.

You can watch the video version on our RV Lifestyle YouTube channel by clicking the player below.

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RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK – Tips on Visiting an RV Show

We've lost count of how many RV shows we've attended. So, here are our RV show tips for attending, whether this is your first RV show or your hundredth…

Jennifer and I love attending RV shows. We visit and report from many of the biggest and best RV shows every year, and smaller shows, too. It's a great way for us to stay up-to-date on the latest innovations in the RV community to share with our RV Lifestyle community.

We also attend RV shows because we really enjoy them! We always run into fellow RVers we've met on the road, and it's a great place to make new friends, too.

The RV Show season starts in January and runs through late May. After summer break, it picks up again in September and runs until almost Thanksgiving. To see a complete month-by-month RV Show Schedule, see our calendar at https://rvlifestyle-ider.wp1.sh/rv-show-list/

The following RV show tips will help whether you're attending large RV shows known nationwide or local shows nearby. It doesn't matter the size of the show or your purpose for visiting; they will help you have the best visit possible.

What to Bring

You need just two things:

The most important is comfortable shoes. At a big show like the Florida RV Supershow in January or the Hershey RV Show in September, you will cover a lot of ground. Four or five miles is not unusual.

And you’ll want a pen or a marker, like a Sharpie. That’s for the map you’ll be using, which we will explain now..

Know the Layout

Get a map! First, check online. or go online to familiarize yourself with the show layout and the location of the RVs you most want to see. Every large or regional RV show has a website and an online map you can print out. Then, study it with your pen or marker in hand.

Ideally, you can do this the night before or before the doors to the show open. If that's not possible, at least do this before you walk off in a random direction.

Highlight any of the must-see booths, newest models, and new products you really want to see.

As you do, the most efficient path to see everything you want will reveal itself. Don't forget to factor in stopping for snacks and bathroom breaks! Mapping this out can save LOTS of time. In fact…

Plan Each Day the Night Before

If you are attending one of the big RV shows that you can't see in a day, I highly recommend you plan each day the night before. Take your map and pull up the show's website to review the special events each day, like educational seminars.

Divide and Conquer

If you're worried you won't get to everything you want to do, divide and conquer! If attending an RV show with your spouse or friends, you can cover different sections and attend different seminars.

Then, you can share highlights with each other at the end of the day.

Schedule Breaks

As you plan your day, don't forget to schedule in breaks! Look for nice places along your route that would be the best place to rest, and mark it.

There are usually more chairs available near food vendors and seminar areas (where you can sit between seminars). You can also schedule a mid-day break when you return to your RV for lunch.

Plan Your Meals

There will be lots of food around the show, but it's usually more expensive and sometimes less convenient than eating in your RV. So, when making your daily plan, consider where you want to eat and when.

Don't Overschedule

As you plan out all these things, don't overschedule yourself! Seriously, take your time! There is so much to see and enjoy that you don't want to rush through it.

Trying to do too much in too little time is the surest way to turn a fun RV show into a frustrating experience. A two-day visit is the least amount of time you should allocate for a bug RV show. Three days is ideal.

Don't Be Pressured to Buy

This is an IMPORTANT TIP! Do not be pressured to buy that day. Quite a few sales reps will try to put time pressure on you to make the sale. Don't give in to it.

In fact, if a salesman says, “This deal is only good for today” then you should probably walk away. In my opinion, that's a red flag that the salesman is relying more on his salesmanship than giving you an honest good deal.

The best deal shouldn't require you to buy a travel trailer, 5th wheel, toy hauler, motorhome, or any RV by the end of the business day.

Visit the Vendors but Don't Buy the First Thing you see

Don't buy the first thing you see or think you need from the Vendor displays. Chances are, another vendor has the same item. You might be able to find it at a better price or choose from more styles and colors.

Mark possible purchases on your trusty map, and circle back around to it if you decide to buy it. When you buy something, ask them if they can put it aside for you so you can pick it up on the way out, so you are not having to lug it around with you as you walk the show.

SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ – Wendy Bowyer

Wendy Bowyer reports on the hot issues most talked about this past week on social media and our RV Lifestyle Community group.

This week in the RVLifestyle Community, the big news is we are now a private, members-only site and we opened signups for our first Campout of the year – to Nashville in late April. We are so excited! 

Also with our transition to a private group, we released our first of what will be several free, self-paced courses for members only. The courses have material to read and watch, quizzes at the end, and an opportunity to chat with others also taking the course as you go. Called Master the RVLifestyle Module 1, we hope to release more this year and are already getting great feedback.

Also this week our Thursday night LIVE is going to be about managing bad roads and weather – a very timely topic!

Remember the RVLifestyle Community has three different membership levels, with the starter membership price no more than a cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, in our RVLifestyle Facebook Group, it is business as usual.

One post I'd like to tell you about is from Chantal. Last fall Chantal went from south Florida to northern Indiana near Lake Michigan and said it was a great first trip. But while there, they were inundated with stink bugs. Back home in South Florida, they were still finding stink bugs inside the RV many weeks later – something that had never happened before. She was wondering if they brought them back to Florida with them (sounds like she did!) and wanted to share a tip she found to remove them. The tip: She put a bit of dish soap in water and shone a bright light on it. Sounds like the bugs were attracted to the light, drowned in the soapy water and in less than 24 hours she caught something like 20 bugs.

Well, many appreciated the tip, and so many had stink bug horror stories!

Lori said they picked up stink bugs in Ohio last September and she still keeps finding them in her rig and they’ve been to Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona for the past few months. 

Jo Jo said the stink bugs crawl behind siding, in cracks and can lay dormant in an RV until it heats up, and then they come out.  She said they are terrible and her dogs won't leave them alone – and the bugs, for those who don't know, really do stink!

Some say if you lock up your trailer in a hot spot they will all die inside and you will find the corpses on the floors and counters. Others said they have success vacuuming them. Others had similar methods as Chantal, but by far, the overwhelming agreement in the comments is they are definitely hard to get rid of and whatever you do, don't squish them because that only makes everything worse.

Also in the RVLifestyle Facebook Group, Jason is getting ready to go to the RV Show in Tampa and asked the group for some tips about possibly buying an RV there.

This IS RV Show season, so I wanted to share this question because it had great advice.

First, many said to do your research. Know which models and manufacturers you are interested in, map out the show, and go to those units. (If you don't have things narrowed down, the number of RVs there will be overwhelming).

Then if you are buying a trailer or Fifth Wheel, be sure you have enough truck to pull it. Do your homework, run the numbers.

Then finally once you know what you want to buy, many suggest going on RVTrader – an online site that sells used RVs – to see what the going price is so you know what is a fair price and should you decide to buy at the show, use that information as a negotiation tool.

Lots of great tips here!

RV News of the Week

Big Diesel Ford Truck Recall

Since a lot of RVers use these to tow their fifth wheels and travel trailers, we want to alert you that Ford Motor is recalling nearly 300,000 diesel-engine trucks because a defective fuel pump could cause a loss of power, raising the risk of a crash.

Biodiesel deposits may form on the pump drivetrain roller components, which could lead to failure of the high pressure fuel pump,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.

Drivers whose vehicles are affected by the faulty fuel pump may experience “extended crank while starting, a Check Engine Light, noise and reduced engine power.” 

Ford says it is not aware of any reports of accidents, injuries, or fires linked to the fuel pump problem.

The recall applies to the following truck models:

• 2020-2022 Ford Super Duty F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, F-600 
• 2021-2022 Ford F-650, F-750

Ford dealers will update the powertrain control module software free of charge. Notification letters are expected to be mailed to owners of affected vehicles on Jan. 13. 

RV QUESTION OF THE WEEK

QUESTION: I would like to outfit our Leisure Travel Van and Honda CRV to travel together.  We have never towed.  Do we need to get professionally trained, or is this something we can easily learn on our own? Is U-Haul a good company to install the towing equipment? – Despina

ANSWER: There are several ways to tow a vehicle behind your motorhome, but the two most popular ways are with a tow dolly, a sort of trailer that your vehicle sits atop, or flat towed, with all four wheels down, which is by far and away the most popular and the one we recommend for you.

To flat tow with all four wheels down, you first need to make sure the vehicle can be towed that way. Check the vehicle manual, call your dealer, or search online. But your Honda CRV can indeed be flat towed like that. Some people call it dinghy towing.

To do so, you will need:

• A small tow bar
• A base plate that attaches to the front of the car
• A supplemental braking system that connects the RV and vehicle's braking systems to control the added weight
• Safety cables in case the tow bar disconnects
• And an emergency brake system that engages the vehicle's brakes if the tow bar connection fails.

You can get all that from a supplier.

There are several, such as Demco,  NSA RV Products, and Blue Ox, which is probably the most popular.

Blue Ox has a very helpful and comprehensive towing guide resource online that you can read that goes into great detail.

They have a list of their Blue Ox dealers across the country who can install everything for you. Most are at RV dealerships.

As to U-Haul, yes, U-Haul can install vehicle towing equipment at many of their locations, too. You can call the ones near you to see what they offer.

Once you have purchased the gear and had everything installed, whoever does that will provide instructions on how to hook up and tow.

And you should be able to learn these things yourselves. Practice hooking up and unhooking and in a big parking lot, driving and turning.

You will be very happy to have a “toad” with you on your RV trips/ That way, whenever you want to run errands and explore, you don’t have to break camp.

Hope this helps!

Mike & Jen's Storytime

The dangers of overconfidence… especially when there’s ignorance about the weather. And this week, as massive cold grips much of the country, our story may have even more relevance.

It happened a couple of years ago. Rushing to get to our RV property in Tennessee. It was a near 500 mile drive from Florida to our RV property in Tennessee.

The weather was okay at the start, but by the time we reached Birmingham, AL, it started to rain. We should have checked the weather and spent the night at a full hookup campground we know near Huntsville because it was a terrible driving day. If I had checked the weather, I would have known it was going to get worse… much worse.

By the time we got off I-65 and started making our way through Tennessee, we were committed. We had 100 more miles to go and there was no place to overnight. The temperature dropped. Fast. The rain became freezing rain.

Fifty miles out, it turned to ice.

Darkness fell. The ice turned everything white. The roads were slippery but I drove slowly and made it to our property.

But because everything was white I thought I was on the drive. I wasn't. I came inches, literally inches from tipping the RV and the truck in soft rocks that edge the driveway. Our wheels gouged huge trenches on the edges of the driveway.

It was impossible to see and we took the other half of the driveway and drove back to the main road. We went next door, spending the night on a neighbor's land. He even let us hook up to power.

The next morning, with ice covering everything, we saw how close we came to disaster.

The lesson is to don't have tunnel vision because you are overconfident. And know the weather forecast.

In the daytime, we were easily able to get into our spot.

But an ice storm in the dead of the night is no time to maneuver an RV.

We were very fortunate that we didn't lose control on the icy highways or tip over in our own driveway. But we came away with some valuable lessons.

Overconfidence and ignorance of the weather can have disastrous consequences.