Driving the LDs in Snow December 14, 2008, 11:36:47 am Yahoo Message Number: 97912We had our first major snowfall here in Washington State last night (12-13-08). Next weekend we are planning to drive to Leavenworth Washington to attend their festival of lights show with my dad and other family members. We are both planning on driving our LD's and staying in a local campground for two nights. Our LD is the 22FL and dad's is the 30IB. We will be meeting dad and the other family members in the Vancouver Washington area and then driving to Leavenworth. On our way there we will travel through two passes: Satus and Blewett Pass on highway 97. Currently chains are required on vehicles over 10,000lbs. If my memory is accurate, the 22FL weighs about five tons. The 30IB probably weighs considerably more? Both my dad and I are former truck drivers and I still have my Class- A CDL.My wife and I have an eight month old daughter and I do not want to put our family in a compromising situation with driving in adverse weather conditions. Just this morning I read an interview with Ed Newton and he explained that that a Lazy Daze has never been rolled on its side and has the best safety record of all RV's. My question, does anybody have experience driving their Lazy Daze in snow or ice? If so, can you please tell us about your experiences and how the LD handles in these weather conditions?Thanks in advance for your thoughtfulness, time and help.Rob, Maria and Selah (now eight months old)
Re: [LD] Driving the LD’s in Snow Reply #1 – December 14, 2008, 01:39:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97913I've driven mine through all kinds of blizzards. Just take it easy and all will be well. Same rules that apply to driving a car on slick surfaces apply. Slow down a little, don't make any real sudden course changes. Give yourself plenty of room to stop etc. The good thing about a motorhome is they are very heavy which is usually an advantage in the snow, gives you lots of traction so you don't slide around. I've never had to chain mine up, don't even have chains for any of my rigs. I guess I figure if you need chains, I don't want to go there. Have fun.
Re: Driving the LDs in Snow Reply #2 – December 14, 2008, 01:45:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97914Hi Rob and MariaThe following is based on ten years driving
Re: Driving the LDs in Snow Reply #3 – December 14, 2008, 02:25:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97915wrote: ... does anybody have experience driving their Lazy Daze in snow or ice? If so, can you please tell us about your experiences and how the LD handles in these weather conditions? --- Rob, Gus Weber has provided some great advice based on a lot of snow- driving experience. I can only offer you a website to read through and a few additional suggestions based on my "limited to absolute necessity" snow-driving adventures. The website is:http://rv- roadtrips.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/11/winter_rv_driving.phpSuggestions:Check the highway conditions on the WA DOT website right before you leave; the site should have updated road information on your chosen routes.Avoid driving until later in the mornings; there is generally less ice on the roadway surface after the pavement warms up a little -- provided that it's not actively snowing or sleeting and that the sun comes out! (Watch for ice in the "shade patches" on the pavement and on bridge surfaces.)As Gus emphasized, DRIVE SLOWLY, use second gear whenever necessary (especially while descending grades), and allow yourself *plenty of time and space* to control and stop your rig.Frankly, I'd rather endure a root canal than drive in ice and snow, but YMMV.Joan
Re: Driving the LDs in Snow Reply #4 – December 14, 2008, 02:27:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97916wrote: http://rv- roadtrips.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/11/winter_rv_driving.php ---One would think I'd learn....http://tinyurl.com/6lvxto
Re: Driving the LD’s in Snow Reply #5 – December 14, 2008, 05:13:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97921I use my 26MB primarily in the winter, using it as my 'home" while I teach skiing on the weekends. I have driven many miles with chains on the rig with no problems. I have driven through 10 inches of the white stuff. Drive slowly, leave time to stop, make sure you slow down early for corners. I feel confident in the abilities of my rig and myself. I have been over the pass at Leavenworth, though not in my rig and it is similar to the roads that I travel here in CA getting to the lifts and back. I no longer have little kids with me. Might make a difference.Paul
Re: [LD] Driving the LDs in Snow Reply #6 – December 15, 2008, 12:27:30 am Yahoo Message Number: 97929I lived in Colorado for 5 years, for Christmas I'd drive back to Calif through lots of snow....blizzards in Wyoming. I never used chains (CO only requires chains on commercial vehicles), & never had a problem at all...except once in CA they required chains, & I couldn't get them on....but then they lifted the requirement & I was on my way!I traveled by myself with a teenager (now THAT was scary!).Rose
Re: Skiing in the LD Reply #7 – December 15, 2008, 05:54:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97938Paul, I'm interested
Re: Skiing in the LD Reply #8 – December 15, 2008, 06:36:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97939Quote Paul, I'm interested in using my rig for skiing as well and was wondering how you manage your water and heat. Do you use the tank water? I've heard of people not using their water system for fear of freezing pipes, but that sounds like a pain to use bottled water. For heat, do you have a catalytic heater? Do you run it when you are not in the LD (like during the day when you are skiing)? Thanks for your thoughts!Rob Adams Boise, ID Rob, I'm not Paul but I do use my MB to spend the night in ski area parking lots and ski during the day. I open up that velcro cabinet on the MB to expose the fresh water tank inside the LD so heat will circulate around it. I use the force flow heater during the night which is noisy as we all know and set the thermo lower during the day. I keep the hot water heater on all night. No problems so far. Joe Hamm-San Jose
Re: Skiing in the LD Reply #9 – December 15, 2008, 07:23:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97940Rob,I take my rig up every Friday after school (I am a high school teacher) and come home Sunday after the lifts close. I have never had a problem with freezing anything. I shut my heat down when I head to bed and turn it on when I wake up. Gets cold
Re: Skiing in the LD Reply #10 – December 15, 2008, 09:33:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97941"I do not have a catalytic heater. From what I hear they are great for close in use, but do not heat the whole unit well..."That's pretty much true. A cat heater is like an open fireplace: it heats what's directly in front of it. Of course if you leave it on for long enough, the things that it heats will in turn warm the air, so it does contribute some overall warmth... but it doesn't get distributed very well through the coach; it tends to be localized.And let's face it: even if the cat heater *were* just as good at spreading heat around as the furnace is, we're talking about a 3,000 or 6,000 BTU cat heater compared to a 20,000 or 30,000 BTU furnace. Why don't they make 20,000 BTU cat heaters? Because in an RV, where nothing is more than a few feet away from anything else, such a powerful radiant heater would char whatever it was aimed at. Cat heaters have to be small, precisely because their effects are so localized. Despite these drawbacks, cat heaters are small, silent, efficient and need no battery power... and they're a whole lot better than nothing! :-) If I were doing the kind of ski camping that Paul just described, I'd definitely install a cat heater to use as a supplement to the furnace.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #11 – December 15, 2008, 10:04:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97942I was going to get a cat heater until I read the recent discussions.1) Prudent people will not use them while sleeping. 2) We are not in the rig much during the day. 3) We seek to regulate temperature by adjusting altitude or latitude.So for us, a cat heater would only be useful when we are caught in inclimate weather we can not escape with mileage. i.e. Like being caught in a strong wind storm in New Mexico this last October, when the temp quickly dropped when a Pacific storm rolled across the country.Or I am missing something here?Cheers, Don
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #12 – December 16, 2008, 11:14:35 am Yahoo Message Number: 97945Hello Don, We have been camping in New Mexico for the past three months with temps going down to the low 20's in the City of Rocks SP and Silver City region. We use a space heater when hooked up to electric at the state parks, but recently while boondocking I have found the catalytic heater in the kitchen area very useful. I tend to use it in the early evenings when I am working on the computer in the dinette. It puts out just enough heat to keep this area comfortable. We don't use anything when sleeping, just pile on a blanket over our comforter, and keep one window slightly open. In the morning we put on the rig's propane heater to get things warmed up to 65 or so, and then use the cat heater again to maintain a comfort level in the dinette while eating breakfast and doing morning newspaper reading on the computer. I originally scoffed at the cat heater that came with our rig, but now with the lower temps I am very happy to have it for dry camping. We're off to Organ Pipe Cactus State Park in Arizona in a few days and storms are predicted. They have no hook-ups so we are very happy to have that cat heater.Happy Travels, David MB 1998 LD
Re: Skiing in the LD Reply #13 – December 16, 2008, 11:24:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 97947Quote Paul, I'm interested in using my rig for skiing as well and was wondering how you manage your water and heat. Do you use the tank water? I've heard of people not using their water system for fear of freezing pipes, but that sounds like a pain to use bottled water. The fresh water tank and the water heater are inside the unit, so they should never even think about freezing (assuming reasonably hospitable temps inside). The black and gray waste tanks are outside, so they are more likely to freeze than anything else, but it would take quite a while.-Dave '06 MB, Indianapolis (14F here this morning)
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #14 – December 16, 2008, 02:44:07 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97949QuoteSo for us, a cat heater would only be useful when we are caught in inclimate weather we can not escape with mileage. i.e. Like being caught in a strong wind storm in New Mexico this last October, when the temp quickly dropped when a Pacific storm rolled across the country. Hope you weren't judging from my post... although I don't recommend getting rid of the furnace, our cat heater is what we use 99% of the time. If it is too cold overnight to keep warm with just our comforter, I set the furnace to come on at 50F or less, but it is rare. Even on an early fall day in SoCal, it can get nippy in the morn, and the cat heater is perfect to take the chill off. Later in the day it may be warm enough to open all the windows and turn on fans. It's all a question of keeping it comfy - minimizing the 'roughing it', maximizing onboard resources for a lengthy stay.Steve
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #15 – December 16, 2008, 03:24:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97951Someone may make fun of this like the clay pot on the stove idea but here it is.When the weather cools off I start hitting the cayanne pepper which can be used in many ways also those pepper flakes that go on pizza.It can be sprinkled in your socks to help keep your feet warm. It can be sprinkled on your food to warm you from the inside and it can be made into a broth with a boullion cube and drank as hot as you can take it. When I'm sick and have chills I will take a 00 capsule of cayanne, not on an empty stomach, and it will turn the chills into a sweat real quick. One other thing I've done is to burn a candle in a glass holder with a top part that encloses the flame and then cup my hands around the candle holder to warm them up. I also wear fingerless gloves and a sweater cap most of the time even indoors and let's not forget a dog or two or even three on your lap if they are small enough. I drive my LD with a dog on my lap as it's old enough to not have air bags.Michelle
Re: Cayenne pepper etc. Reply #16 – December 16, 2008, 08:05:25 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97957"Someone may make fun of this like the clay pot on the stove idea but here it is.Quote When the weather cools off I start hitting the cayanne pepper which can be used in many ways also those pepper flakes that go on pizza.Quote It can be sprinkled in your socks to help keep your feet warm. It can be sprinkled on your food to warm you from the inside and it can be made into a broth with a boullion cube and drank as hot as you can take it.Quote When I'm sick and have chills I will take a 00 capsule of cayanne, not on an empty stomach, and it will turn the chills into a sweat real quick.Quote One other thing I've done is to burn a candle in a glass holder with a top part that encloses the flame and then cup my hands around the candle holder to warm them up. I also wear fingerless gloves and a sweater cap most of the time even indoors and let's not forget a dog or two or even three on your lap if they are small enough.Quote I drive my LD with a dog on my lap as it's old enough to not have air bags."Quote Michelle Michelle, for what it's worth, I always enjoy your comments and contributions. Indeed, you are a free spirit and seem to squeeze the maximum pleasure and knowledge out of the most adverse and unusual experiences. We all can learn from you.Chris
Re: Cayenne pepper etc. Reply #17 – December 16, 2008, 09:27:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97960Michelle, I can't help myself...is your dog too old to have airbags or is it the coach? hahahha...Larry (retired English teacher with too much time on my hands)
Re: Cayenne pepper etc. Reply #18 – December 16, 2008, 10:38:28 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97963I caught it to, only I teach government and economics. Once a teacher, always a teacher. . .?Have a great Christmas season and enjoy the road, lap dog and all.Paul
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #19 – December 16, 2008, 11:02:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97965Quote Someone may make fun of this like the clay pot on the stove idea but here it is.Michelle - Linda and I used the clay-pot-on-the-stove method when we were living aboard our Alberg 35 before we installed a Force 10 cabin heater. I wouldn't say it heated the cabin, but it certainly mitigated the cold somewhat. Whatever works, I say. Carol and Linda.
Cayenne pepper etc. Reply #20 – December 17, 2008, 01:40:33 am Yahoo Message Number: 97969On 12.16.08 Chris Horst chorst_2000@... authored :"Michelle, for what it's worth, I always enjoy your comments and contributions. Indeed, you are a free spirit and seem to squeeze the maximum pleasure and knowledge out of the most adverse and unusual experiences. We all can learn from you".I couldn't agree more!Paul/Slammy5150[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Skiing in the LD - cat heaters Reply #21 – December 17, 2008, 12:56:26 pm Yahoo Message Number: 97978Yep, At sea is where I used mine. I can recall spending a cold Christmas anchored in San Diego bay and that clay pot warmed up the cab
Topic: Driving the LDs in Snow (Read 14 times)
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Topic: Driving the LDs in Snow (Read 14 times)
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