Determining what can I tow with my car. If you plan on towing a travel trailer or any type of trailer for that matter it’s very important to know what your vehicle is capable of. There are many factors that seem to be a mystery however was a little research and getting the numbers you can find out just how much your vehicle can hold and toe safely.

The majority of this information can be found on the doorjamb of the driver’s side door of your car. This can it tell you the total capacity of the weight or gross vehicle weight rating or GVWR it will also give you the capacity of the front and rear axles individually this way you won’t overload the rear axle by adding too much tongue weight from your travel trailer.

Other numbers you need to gather is the gross vehicle weight rating of your camper and this is typically the dry weight which means it does not include any of your belongings or any water in the tanks. Once you have all of the important numbers you can then determine what you can safely toe. One number you may not find on the doorjamb is the actual towing capacity of the car but this typically can be found in your owners manual. If you don’t find it there then contact the manufacturer or dealership to get the information needed.

In my opinion, one of the biggest dangers of overloading or improperly loading your tow vehicle and travel trailer is the ability to stop or keep the vehicle under control. If you overload the front of the travel trailer or the rear of your tow vehicle to put tremendous pressure on your rear axles making it difficult to control. The same is true if you overweight the rear of your travel trailer this can potentially create negative weight on your tongue which will definitely cause your travel trailer to sway back and forth and if you’ve watched any YouTube videos seeing this happen it typically results into a bad crash totaling both the car and travel trailer. Once you have all the important information annual loaded up I strongly urge that you take your vehicle to a scale to get the actual weight and the weight on each of the axles you know exactly how your load is distributed and whether or not you need to make adjustments.

There is one additional sticker on this particular vehicle which I don’t think is common however it’s something to look for, in this case the gross vehicle weight rating was adjusted by the manufacturer sometime after production now on this Toyota Highlander it was only about 15 pounds but it may be a lot more or less on your vehicle so it’s important to know look for that sticker and if you buy a secondhand vehicle I would still reach out to the manufacturer to confirm the actual capacity and tow rating.

Also you’ll hear me mention in this video several times about not loading a vehicle to the max even if it says it safe to do so I realized the manufacturer certainly has factored in a safety margin but it would not hurt for you to factor in some as well loading these vehicles to the maximum capacity will make them work harder and potentially be unsafe if not loaded correctly. So do your research get your numbers and find out ahead of time what you can toe safely. Also don’t forget to download my free e-book and pretrip checklist to make sure you and your vehicle are ready to hit the road and can be as safe as possible.

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If you’re thinking of going camping and plan on doing any cooking or grilling outside in this camp table is for you. We’ve had this folding camp table now for over 15 years I believe and it has worked flawlessly every time we take it out. it folds down to a flat compact design easy to store in underbelly compartments of your RV or travel trailer.

It’s quick to set up with this scissor-like design you only have to pop on the top and a small great underneath and you have yourself a workstation for cooking grilling doing dishes or whatever other outside activity that you may need a table for. Like I said we’ve had this table for many years and it’s held up just fine and is almost like new. It stores quickly and opens up quickly see you not spending your time messing around with clumsy gadgets that take half of your day just to set up there are no screws bolts hooks or latches it’s just a matter of popping the top on just like you would a TV tray in your house as well as a small grate in a similar fashion and then you’re ready to go. So if you’re looking to cook outside swing over to Amazon and pick up one of these must-have compact outdoor camping grilled tables before you head out on your next trip. I could not find the exact brand so I put a link into the description here to the closest one.

TeeSpring Store https://teespring.com/stores/two-camping-gurus-2
Website https://twocampinggurus.com
Free ebook https://pretripchecklist.gr8.com

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If you’re considering buying a used RV in these four areas are quick spots that you can check right away to see if it is a potential water problem for the leak. I highly recommend checking these right off as soon as you enter a used RV that you are considering purchasing.

There are many additional areas that you should check however these first four spots are quick and easy and will give you an idea right off the bat what you may be dealing with. The first area I would check is around the air-conditioning unit this is typically a spot where RVs start the leak when the sealant and caulking starts to break down on the roof. If there has been a leak in the past you will usually see some sort of yellow staining for where water has seeped in the camper and onto the ceiling. Another important area to check is in cabinets more poorly check any cabinet that’s in the corner of the RVs this again is another typical area where you will see leaks before other spots.

You can see in this particular unit in the back you can see that the ceiling panel is actually wavy indicating that there has been moisture present at some time causing it to delaminate. And if you look closely you can see staining as well. Another important area to check is around any roof vent just like air-conditioners these are also areas that typically will start to leak earlier than other spots on the roof. Again it’s due to the breakdown of the sealant and caulking around the roof fence that are exposed to the sun and eventually will allow water to penetrate and causing damage to the internal structure of your RV. And last but not least in this particular example is looking where the camper unit meets the vehicle itself in this case specifically around the cabin area. You can see when I step outside the deterioration of the caulking and sealant around this area and if it’s not leaking yet it certainly will soon if not dealt with appropriately.

Now in other units, you may not have this area to check but whenever possible look at all seems that are exposed. Like I said earlier there are many other areas that you should check however these are four spots that you can check pretty much right away without any problem to see if there is a potential issue due to water leaking into the RV. And just because you find leak or signs of a leak at one time does not mean you would not purchase the RV however you want to have an idea of what the repair costs could be before you make an offer or actually purchase it. If this is a project you do not plan on doing yourself or not capable of make sure you get professional advice as to how much they think the repair could cost. Hopefully, you found this video helpful and hopefully it will help prevent you from getting a unit that could be very costly to fix. Don’t forget to download your free e-book in pre-trip checklist if you haven’t done so already and swing over to my website at www.2campinggurus.com.

TeeSpring Store https://teespring.com/stores/two-camping-gurus-2
Website www.twocampinggurus.com
Free ebook https://pretripchecklist.gr8.com

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If you plan on covering your RV for the winter take a few minutes and watch this video first. This particular RV is from the 1970s so it’s not so important but it’s a good example you can use as to how not to cover your RV or travel trailer for off-season or the winter months. You can clearly see in this case that there are lots of ropes and straps directly against the RV.

This will result in damaging the finish of the RV as they will rub back and forth throughout the season anytime there’s a wind blowing or inclement weather causing the tarp and ropes to shift. Ideally, it would be best if you had an actual RV cover as they are made out of material that will drastically reduce the possibility of damage to your RV. With that said if you going to use a tarp or anything to cover your RV should cover completely down to the bottom edge but not to the ground. The reason for leaving the space between the bottom of the RV and the ground is to allow for adequate airflow underneath the RV. This will help prevent moisture buildup and decrease the chance of accelerated rusting.

If you are going to use a tarp make sure covers the whole thing so that you can use either bungee’s rope or ratchet straps to secure the tarp underneath the RV so none of those ties down items are against the sides of your travel trailer. By doing this once again you will drastically reduce the chance of damaging the finish of your RV because they will not be there to rub the clearcoat off. In the end, I think it’s a great idea to cover your RV or travel trailer for off-season storage is laws is done properly. Covering it completely on the top so no moisture can penetrate through the roof as well as reducing damage from the sun while at staying in one location for extended lengths of time.

The other thing you see wrong with this particular situation is this RV is parked on the loom. Now loom holds moisture a lot more than gravel or of course a paved driveway so where this RV is parked will definitely cause more moisture buildup underneath the RV on the frame structure and other metal components causing accelerated an early rusting of these materials. This is once again why it’s good to leave space between the tarp and the ground to allow for adequate airflow but any rate it’s still not a good idea to store or park any vehicle on the loom as like I said earlier it holds the moisture a lot longer. Hopefully, you found this video helpful.

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Finally, in today’s video, I finish up the composting toilet. There is only minimal fine tuning to do otherwise this project is complete. We painted it up put on some hardware that I attached the seat. Everything seems to work perfectly fine.

So if you decide you want to buy a compost toilet such as the sea head or the natures had this is a great alternative if you have a little bit of time to build one yourself. It ended up being a little bit bigger for the bathroom size that I built on the bus but nonetheless it will work and be just fine. In the end, I saved well over $500 building this toilet myself using stuff I had around here. I believe the total cost was under $60 and most of that was the toilet seat. So before you run out and spend $600-$1200 on a composting toilet watch some YouTube videos including this one and consider building your own and saving yourself a lot of money.

By having this composting toilet in the bus will be able to boondocks for a much longer time as well as not have to deal with sewerage waste and we will not have a black water tank. That’s a huge plus because that also cuts down on the terrible odor you get when you mix solid waste with urine. These toilets typically as well as the one I built separate the liquids from the solids thus not producing sewer and in the end, there is very little older at all. As you know we will be using this composting toilet on our bus build but it can be used to swap out any RV Toilet such as what is used in a travel trailer or camper.

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Today we are testing out the power pressure cooker XL. Now I hear a lot of talk about the Insta pot and how great they are but I had this one given to me.

Based on all the videos I’ve seen it seems to work just as good as the Insta pot. Both run at approximately the same price.

Today I am making a chicken soup which I have made several times in this power pressure cooker and every time he comes out fantastic. Build quality seems to be great controls seem to work intuitively and you can have a large soup on the table and ready to eat in approximately 45 minutes. That also includes the time of cutting up some of the vegetables as you’ll see in this video.

If you like camping and cooking while in an RV this is a great product to have with you. One good thing is if you are trying to Boone dock and conserve power you could make a large soup and then just reheat as you want over the next several days. It’s easy cleanup because everything is being made in one large pan that is part of the pressure cooker itself. However, it is easily removable and washed with minimal effort. As I said earlier I have used this pressure cooker a number of times and has worked flawlessly every time so I think it’s a great alternative to the Insta pot. However, I also think they’re both probably somewhat equal quality from what I have read and seen so really it comes down to a choice on your part. The bottom line is this makes for easy cooking easy cleanup and great meals.

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Today, I am unboxing a new emergency crank radio. The radio itself is not a new model, in fact, it’s been around for several years however is still brand-new and in the box and I’m going to take it out and tested. This will be an item that I will add to our RV for those situations where you have no power and need a way to find out whether conditions and any other emergency situation that you might want to be aware of. So we’re just going to unbox this emergency radio give it a quick test. I have not used this one long enough obviously to give it a review but I highly recommend you have some sort of radio with you that does not require external power so you can tune in to local radio and emergency stations as needed while on the road.

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Today we are talking about protecting ourselves from the harmful rays of the sun. There are many ways you can do this but one way I find very effective is using a good quality hat.

In this video I show you several hats some funny ones that could be worn to protect yourself from the sun and the elements, however, in the end, one is a clear winner in my opinion and that is the real deal Brazil hat. This particular hat is made from the truck canvas covering so it’s an environmentally friendly and extremely durable product. There’s nothing you can do to it that hasn’t already been done before you bought it.

Every hat is different but they all will have some style in a rugged appeal as well as protecting you from the sun. Whether you’re sitting at your campsite or walking trails or laying out on the beach it’s important to protect yourself from the sun and with this hat, you can make sure you don’t burn your four head and your scalp especially if you are thinning hair like myself. The bottom line is you want to have a good time and not have to worry about putting on burn lotion in the evening because you’ve burned your head or face. I highly recommend you picking up some sort of hat for sun protection even if it’s not this particular one although I do highly recommend the real deal Brazil hat.

This is an incredible hat for sun protection. Each had is unique with its own interesting features. These features hide a story of when it was on a truck protecting other product and possibly people from the sun before it made it to your head.

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Today we are talking about the value of a good camping directory. The one I’m talking about today is a Woodall’s directory however there are many good options out there.

In this directory, you can find everything from campground listings to repair shops listed by state and everything in between. If you’re traveling in an RV one of these directories is a valuable resource to have on board with you. You can use this to plan your next destination you know where you’ll be staying and know the AAA rating for a particular campground if that’s important to you. They also give you an idea of the price point of campgrounds and some of the amenities.

Having one of these camping directories with you will also provide information about the area you’ll be traveling in and some of the attractions and interesting places that you may want to visit. There are so many benefits to having one of these directories with you it would be hard to list them all. But knowing if the campground is Tripoli approved or not could be something important to you if you’re a AAA member because it may mean there are additional discounts at the beginning of each section for each state section it gives you some travel information about that particular area so you can kinda get an overview of what might be important to know.

Like I mentioned earlier one of the most important sections is a section that many of us will never look at but will be very helpful if needed and that is the service shop section if you find yourself in a position where you are broke down and need to find a place to repair your rig these books have a pretty good listing of service shops by state’s you can use this information to find the one that will work on your particular rig save you the time of driving all around in a cab, taxi or something like that or making phone calls endlessly just to find out you’ve made no progress, you can use this directory to get in touch with the people that typically work on RVs and campers.

Now I don’t recommend any particular one I’ve used a couple of different ones so that will be your choice there are several options out there I will put a couple of links here for you to head over to Amazon and see if one of these may be right for you.

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In today’s video on talking about the benefits of a trip tick from AAA. If you happen to be a AAA member you should definitely take advantage of a service they provide revolving around planning your road trip.

First of all, having a roadside service available to you I think is a fantastic idea but along with that, they provide so much more in this particular case with talking about the trip tick itself from AAA. If you stop into their office talk about your next vacation or road trip they will help design a root plan as well as areas to avoid and stuff to make sure you see along the way. This could include several Tour books as well they give you much more detailed information about certain areas that you will be traveling through some of the things that included in these books are campgrounds with ratings, of course, all the contact information you need as well as sightseeing and attractions in each area.

They also have a great section for advertisement revolving around vehicle repair so if you find yourself in the situation where you’re broke down and you need to get service you can refer to these books to find the closest one that’s right for you. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what these Tor books provide. On top of that, they’ll put together a small binder packet of your route and give you turn by turn instructions on a map in written form as well. If you happen to be going through a particularly difficult area or congested area they will provide a more detailed area map of those locations and again with instructions on what turns to make and where.

On top of that binder, they also provide full-size maps with your route highlighted and any special notes that need to be made to let you know you should refer back to the detailed guide. The bottom line is these are fantastic tools for traveling. I like to do a lot of my own research and planning however there are times it’s great to have this as a backup plan because it also helps you avoid construction areas. if you want to you can have it set up to avoid toll roads as much as possible as well as weight limits if you’re traveling in a large RV, and also help you avoid roads with low overhead restrictions.

In the end, of course, you’re responsible for your trip and to make the best of it but using these tools that are provided for you if you are a AAA member, I think is a must do at least once especially if you are heading into uncharted territory. Once again the whole idea is to be prepared plan for the worst hope for the best and have a good time. Another way you can be prepared of course is to download my free e-book and checklist to make sure you and your rig are ready for the road.

Another way to be prepared is to download my free ebook and checklist.

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