I need HELP!!!: Winter travel??

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Winter travel??

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Topic: Winter travel??

Posted By: lowell
Subject: Winter travel??
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2021 at 12:31pm

im from northern Illinois and we usually travel in the fall for about 3 weeks. We are thinking about going to Florida some winter How do I travel from freezing temps to Florida and then back into freezing temps without doing damage from the freezing temps? Thanks for any help. Lowell

Replies:

Posted By: Olddawgsrule
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2021 at 3:30pm

You boondock or glamp, would be my first question. I'd approach it differently for each.

Our past excursions have been either early or late season, meaning either left in cold or returned in. Leaving in cold, I de-winterized (anti-freeze) and blew the lines clear. We traveled to warmer climate before filling the water tank. We're used to boondocking and using water jugs when needed to get by, so no big deal to us. I call it going 'winter mode'.

Returning to cold, I didn't worry about it as much being it's just a few nights and I'm back home to winterize. Fulll tanks take a bit more to freeze that nearly empty ones.

I was fully loaded at a hookup site (glamping) for the night because the previous was cold (want electric for my heater) and following was to be again as we ventured through the Colorado Mts Pass. The spigot froze and split (neat art formed), yet nothing happened to camper systems. We had hit 3 consecutive below 20°F nights... Maybe we were lucky, maybe just cold enough nights and warm enough days.

Just my 2 cents.

P.S. We're heading out Jan 20th for the Gulf Coast (out of NH). We're boondocker's, so already setup for weird climates changes.

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJduGeZNFgtptH67leItRFQ - Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=72408 - Truck Camper Build
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Posted By: lowell
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2021 at 8:30am

Thanks Olddawsrule. We boondock when we can. I guess just get to destination as fast as possible and then get home also fast!! Not really a simple solution? Lowell, another old dawg LOL

Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2021 at 12:51pm

A couple of suggestions:

Make sure the water line from the tank into the trailer is covered with some foam pipe insulation.

Try leaving your furnace and water heater turned on while driving to keep the interior a little warmer. If there are closed spaces, open the panels or doors to allow the warm air to get in.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Posted By: lowell
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 6:02pm

Thanks for the tips. They all make me think of the possible problems and their fixes.

Posted By: hogone
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 6:43pm

referencing lostagains comment. i have always thought about stopping an hour before arrival and firing up the furnace to arrive toasty warm. cool or not? jpp

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Jon & Pam
2013 RP177
2010 F150
2017 HD Streetglide
2009 HD Lowrider
CHEESEHEAD

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 7:09pm

Originally posted by hogone

referencing lostagains comment. i have always thought about stopping an hour before arrival and firing up the furnace to arrive toasty warm. cool or not? jpp

I’d be inclined against it. The furnace puts out enough heat that it will warm the trailer pretty quickly so it’s not really necessary. The way the furnace works is it will try three times to light and if it can’t it will go into lock out mode. So if the wind or vibration from trailer movement causes the furnace to fail to ignite or stay running you might have to reset it to get it to run after you stop.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 13 Jan 2021 at 5:43am

+1 Depending on how cold the outside temp is, as offgrid points out, that furnace will get you toasty warm in a very short time. Suppose if you can't wait for that then you could sit inside your warm vehicle for 10 minutes while waiting for the pod to warm up.

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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

Posted By: PilotPodder
Date Posted: 13 Jan 2021 at 8:57am

I've gone MI to FL several times in winter (and back late winter). I usually take three days to get to FL. We start out winterized and usually hit southern Indiana or norther Kentucky the first night at a full hook-up private campground ($20-25). If the weather permits, we'll dewinterize then. By weather permitting, I am looking at the next evening's temps as well in Alabama (if we go I-65 out of Nashville) or Georgia if we head east and take the I-75 route through Atlanta. If the second night is forecasted above freezing, I'll dewinterize the first night, otherwise wait and play it by ear the second night. I again go to private full-hookup campgrounds using the All-Stays app and rarely book ahead. It is easy to get in to these at this time of year and they are not expensive. On the way back, I do this in reverse and carry an air compressor and RV pink antifreeze with me. If I can pick my timing weather-wise, I'll avoid needing to winterize until I'm back in MI.

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Portage, MI — 2017 RPod 179 - sold / 2017 Toyota Tundra — https://johnmarucci.com/r-pod-video-list/ - My RPod YouTube Videos