Funny Stuff!

I pick it up next Saturday when I get back from Vancouver. May drive it to the beach Saturday night.

Its actually easier to drive then my old trailer hooked up to my Son's Tacoma. With a rear camera I can at least see behind it. On ramp acceleration is surprisingly better than I anticipated. Which makes sense, you want to be up to highway speed at the end of the on-ramp.

Looks great Hugh, congratulations! Let me know when you are swinging by Boston.

One thing a rig like that has over a fifth wheel is that when you get to "there," the A/C already has the place cooled off.

This can be particularly important along parts of the gulf coast, at certain times of the year.

Nice!!!
I would like to know how you like it compared to towing. I towed for a while in my marriage, used arguments like, I already have the tow vehicle, or drop the trailer and run anywhere. But really I guess the next fun part will be finding the perfect tow along vehicle now.
Its a very nice looking rig!!

Towing the Targa behind it would be pretty cool.

You could fit a whole home construction crew in that. I know first hand, it's what they do in North Dakota.

Heck of a ride, enjoy it.

I guess this means you are officially old now.;)

In the event of a major earthquake, I could live in it if I had to.

Very nice!

Am hoping to get something like that but a 34 footer with a diesel in the future. Wish I could afford a new one...

You could fit lots a booze and strippers on that thing..... Jut sayn. ;)

Actually its not for business. I re-read what I wrote earlier and clarified my statement. I'll be traveling a lot for business, but by commercial flights.

Wow, that looks really nice Hugh. I think i'm going to stay with my 30' Dutchman and diesel 4x4 F-250 I have for awhile and then upgrade to a nice 29-30' Coachman after the kids have flown the coop.

I had thought about a class C RV, but I still need a pickup truck for so many reasons, a trailer makes more sense.

Well Done Mrs. R! Only thing I might add is check the brakes. My folks bought a 42' Monaco new when they retired. Went up to Vancouver to shake it down...nearly lost it into the water when the brakes cooked on a long downhill. They uprated the binders...to what I don't know. Now let's see what kind of rental rates the Mrs can get :D

Nice ride Mr. R. Enjoy that thing to the fullest, safe travels.

Very nice.

Well played, sir.

Hope you make it down toward Austin so we can drink
margaritas again at Guero's...Jack

Road trip movie! For the baby boomer generation :D

Watch to movie for the Robin Williams driving tips......

Looking forward to it again! We'll just park there for the night. SmileWavy

Now looking at attachments for hauling the Mazda 3, apparently I need an electrical braking system for the car that is tied to the unit. Coachmen says any vehicle being towed over 1,000 lbs MUST have a tied in braking system. Having towed trailers, I agree. I want that puppy to break so it doesn't come around me in a quick stop.

I'll apparently have to cut the valence for the attachments, don't want to do that on the Targa, although that would be cool towing it instead. I'll search/post a thread on the 911 Technical forum on towing it behind an RV.

The Porsche's front bumper itself is the attachment point for a tow bar. Bolted directly. I would buy a used bumper crossmember, paint to match your car, mounts permanently attached, and bolt it in place of your bumper (put your bumper in storage). When not being towed, you'd remove the A-frame of the "tongue" and all that would be visible is the two small attachment points on the bumper.

Your Mazda would take a little different system as your bumper crossmember is well-hidden under all that plastic. But you could do the same thing and buy a used cover to chop up and paint to match. Then keep your current factory cover.

You can get remote electric and/or surge hydraulic brake applicators (like Brake Buddy) that sit in the seat and literally press the brake pedal.

Here's another idea:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/667229-tow-911-912-a.html

Here's photos of the way I suggested:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361764800.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361764813.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361764827.jpg

Thank you Eric!

There's a 944 guy who does that for the autoX/track in the Orange County PCA. He goes to the effort of swapping his front bumper for towing vs. driving.

Get a jeep to tow. I am impartial as we have been towing ours with the motorhome for the past year and it has been a blast.

A friend of ours has a 38' diesel/diesel that is for sale. They lived in it as they traveled the country for work, but he is anal about maintenance. They are selling it to buy a house now that they are settles in one area. It is stored at our house if you want pics.

that is super nice!! i'd love a mega class C, diesel rig one day. built on a commercial truck..like a peterbuilt. gotta wake up now.

Well done, especially on the warranty by Mrs. R.

You're welcome to park in my RV drive anytime! :D

My Dad is building a '32 ford roadster as his tow behind!

Hi Brent, I would like to see pics and details of your friends motorhome. Thanks

Richard

You know Hugh, if you were to use that for work, a la John Madden, it would be a deductible item. If your accountant thinks it would fly...

If you can make the tax code work for you at all, I say do it. Even if it were a percentage of use, it can't hurt to check.

What am I saying, no doubt your wife already checked that out

Picked it up yesterday and drove about 70 miles home from Orange County. I've not driven one before, it'll definitely take some getting used to. Traveling to Toronto and Boston from the next ten days or so. I'll sort it out and transfer stuff from the old camping trailer to it today and when I get back. Mrs. Hugh R and I are going to break it in after lunch. :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362332736.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362332779.jpg

That is great Hugh, so shinny and new! Bet you are are excited to have it home. Are you going to build a shelter for it there at your place?
Looking forward to the stories of learning to get around in it and those first hook ups. rubber gloves are your friend.

Cheers Richard

Thanks,

Behind it to the left is a double-wide gate. I may have to get rid of 8 feet of lawn and put in gravel, but it will fit nicely. My current camping trailer is there right now. Which I'm going to sell. Going to look at some kind of pop-up cover for the acorns and the UV protection. Lots of buttons and gizmos to figure out.

Gonna need a mattress pad for sure!

Florida has more RV's on the roads here in Jan, Feb, Mar then the rest of the US combined. :mad:

First hitch. I was in it yesterday and ran four dome lights on the Marine Battery and it died within two hours. Battery was on the charger the day before for 24 hour or so. Tested it again today and same result. The marine battery should last the weekend with minimal lights and water pumps for sinks/showers/toilets/etc.

With the engine running, I got 14.6 V, when charged the battery, had 12.6 V, after fully charged, after a few hours, 1.2 volts with the dome lights on. Gonna call the dealer tomorrow and see about taking the battery back to them in my Camry. Its about 70 miles each way and I'm not going to drive the RV from LA to Orange County for a freaking battery. I may take the battery to Sears to load test, but I'm pretty sure its crap.

Check your ground straps to the battery as well.

You's think a dealer would BRING a battery to you after throwing down on that rig.

My old trailer was an hour to open and load, an hour to unload at the location, an hour to load to leave and an hour to unload when I got home. This, I pulled up first time and once parked the time to set out the stabilizers, push out the sliders, hook up water and power was six minutes. Ditto on packing up to leave.

Hugh, how big is the battery? Interstate has some new deep cycle batteries that have worked well in my camper.

Bill

Yea, a manual transmission, silver/champagne colored Jeep Liberty that matches the main color of the RV would be perfect as a tow along.

I imagine an RV would be quicker to set up at a campground than my 30' hardtop bumper pull camper, especially if the jacks/leveling, and slideouts are all powered. I remember how much easier my hardtop was to setup for camping than my old tandem axle fold down tent camper.....what a chore, which BTW, was so much easier than tent camping.

Many folks are converting all of the interior lights to led bulbs. Apparently much less draw on the house batteries.

The house batteries don't generally last long anyway but a few hours seems a little short to me.

Do you like to ski? Mammoth Mountain has an RV park in the town that is open year round and a great place to camp during ski season.