Clermont, Florida – Annual Maintenance, Travel Planning, & Other Stuff

Clermont, Florida – The winter travel break is a time to kind of relax from the chores of being on the road. Don’t get me wrong. We still love the travels all over this great country, but there is a small downside in the stress of relocating the 41 foot beast of a fifth wheel trailer to new and unknown destinations. During the 3-4 month winter season, in the southern warm climates, we do get the chance to just relax, but we also tackle any annual maintenance, begin on the new spring/summer/fall travel plans, and some other stuff thrown in as well.

Calvin & Sue

I had mentioned our friends in a prior post, so will officially reintroduce them here. We first met this full-time RVing couple just over two years ago in Destin Florida. I was wearing my Virginia Tech cap and Calvin noticed it and introduced himself.

We were at a Destin Florida RV resort for a month and Calvin and Sue had just arrived for a few days. Cal told us that he was originally from Pulaski Virginia that was just down the road from our hometown of Christiansburg. What a coincidence!

Calvin served in the Air Force during the Vietnam war. Thank you for your service! He also said that most of his working years were in Williamsburg, Virginia in the accounting field. Another thing in common as I also had a career in accounting!

And to top it off Cal and Sue have a Bighorn fifth wheel (same brand as ours) and the same length as ours at 41 feet! The only difference is they pull with a large GMC dually truck and we opted for the Ford.

Sue is from West Virginia and has traveled the world in her past and now has turned to traveling this country that she loves. Sue and Cal make a great couple along with their loveable miniature dachshunds!

Since our original meeting, we met them on the road in 2018 as we traveled up the east coast and then again in 2019 out west. Making new friends as we travel is one of the blessings of this life.

Ford’s Garage Lunch

Cal had heard of this new place (Ford’s Garage) just up the road in Kissimmee Florida that is designed after a large Ford service shop. From the tool boxes to the shop clothes the wait staff wears. Our napkins were shop towels wrapped up with hose clamps! For a car enthusiast this place is great with some good food as well.

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Birthday Lunch

After church on my birthday, Pat and I stopped by a small Mexican restaurant for a lunch and a margarita. Good lunch!

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New Blackstone Griddle

I had mentioned this new griddle a few posts back and have now used it several times. I really like it as an alternative to the portable weber grill. It is great for cooking items that may slip through the spaces in the grill.

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So far I have cooked shrimp, fried potatoes with onions, hamburgers, and a pork tenderloin. All have turned out really well with some learning curve on my part. Mine is the small portable 17″ model.

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The hamburgers seemed to be better than grilled where they can become dry.

RV Maintenance Updates

Here is a list of some of the tasks that I have done or else had performed:

1. New tires – the old tires were almost three years old and most wisdom says to replace tires at 3-5 years on the larger, heavy fifth wheel trailers like ours. These are very heavy duty 235/85R16 tires with a load rating of G. The old tires had very little tread wear, but it is the sidewalls that get stressed on these units. I selected the same brand that came on the coach when new, Sailun. The new tires were about $700 plus another $100 to install. Some cheap insurance as I have seen the impact of a blowout on one of these coaches.
3. Washed & hand waxed the 40′ coach – I had this one done, because it is a bunch of hard labor that includes climbing up on the roof and cleaning it as well. I have this done at least once per year and wash it myself about every other month. $280 plus a tip.
4. Repacked the wheel bearings and checked the brakes – This one was actually done in November while we were in Myrtle Beach. $220
5. Replaced the fabric on our slide toppers and a couple of slide seals. About $800. Had this done in Myrtle Beach as well.
6. Replaced batteries in the TPMs (tire pressure monitors) – $10
7. Checked all caulking and replaced as needed.
8. Tightened all screws and fasteners.

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Truck & Car

1. Truck – replaced rear outer wheel rims due to aluminum fatigue at the valve stem area. Something about two dissimilar metals in contact and the electrons do not play nice. This was a known defect and under a soft recall. That is Ford does not issue a recall to replace them. Only if you complain, they will consider it. And they approved mine. No cost to me, under warranty. Interestingly, there may be a class action suit about them. LINK
2. Truck – added a steering damper. Again a soft recall to fix the “Ford Death Wobble” when you hit a hard bump or pothole. No cost to me, under warranty. And guess what? Another class action lawsuit it appears. LINK
3. Truck – Replaced both of the diesel fuel filters, air filter, and the oil and filter. $500. Diesel truck maintenance is much more expensive than gas vehicles! But, the road performance is worth it.
4. Truck – Washed and waxed and cleaned the floor mats. No cost, my time
5. Car – Washed and waxed. No cost, my time

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The bottom line is about $2,600 in maintenance costs to be safely prepare for the road again in 2020. Big rig RVing is not inexpensive, but neither is home ownership or paying the monthly condo fees. And we get to see this great country with our home!

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Travel Plans

We have been slowly building our travel plans for the spring, summer, and fall. I feel more comfortable with firm plans and reservations due to the heavy RV traffic these days. Plus we are both planners. Some people just wing it giving much more flexibility, but they also end up in Walmart parking lots or the less desirable RV parks. That would bother me more than all the up front time.

With the advance planning comes a ton of work to research the route, research the best destinations, then research the RV parks in each location. We check the park’s website and then check their reviews with prior RVers.

At this point, our travel plans include traveling north out of Florida and spending a few weeks in Virginia during May, then move up to Indiana for the month of June. After that we move north to Michigan for July and half of August. Then it is around the upper peninsula of MI to Wisconsin for a few weeks. By then it is almost fall and we start to head south, although no firm plans yet.

I will send out our travel details once I have the worksheet completed.

Wrap Up

It has been a fast month here in Clermont and now it is time to move on. We will move about 70 miles south on March 1st. Some of our activities while here have been to visit the Disney parks of Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and the Magic Kingdom. I’ll cover these visits in my next update. Take care and God Bless.