Checking weather forecasts

[noFanofCB]

5th wheel configuration has a lot of advantages compared to trailer-hitch configuration. Stability, ease of maneuver, weight distribution, etc.

The "modern" way of greasing it is to "trowel" it on or I understand they make little bags of grease kind of like those laundry detergent capsules that you throw onto the plate then hitch up the trailer. (heard that in truck driving school but they didn't have us do much with connections other than drive them around the practice yard in reverse for many hours....)

[glc]

One downside to a 5th wheel travel trailer is it's not a good idea to try to tow one with a 1/2 ton pickup truck or any pickup with a short bed. The "pin" weight of a 5th wheel is a higher percentage of the trailer weight than a conventional "bumper pull" trailer. 1/2 ton trucks don't have the direct load carrying capacity to safely tow one, and if you have a short bed the front of the trailer will be too close to the back of the cab for safely maneuvering. Also, obviously you can't tow one with a car, van, or SUV.

This is an oldie, but don't try this!!!!

362090d1206799248-towing-5th-wheel-blazer-album_piccah13qpf.jpg

[DonnaR57]

I do apologize for my RV shorthand. Before landing here at RTA, I was very active on an email list for RV'ers. We used the following shorthand: 5W - 5th wheel; MH - motorhome; TT - travel trailer; TntT - Tent Trailer (pop-up).

Anyway -- back to the weather -- saw the cutest "meme" about Californians. "Things that get Californians excited: 1-Rain, 2-Avocados on sale, 3-A little bit of rain, 4-In and Out, 5-Water coming from the sky." Yes, that definitely says it! I get excited about rain here! (Not so much when I'm out on a road trip, unless it's just sprinkling and not threatening to kill my sightseeing time.)


Donna

[Mark Sedenquist]

I recently fielded a request from a new member for a map route that would give her the safest route for a road trip scheduled on the 10th of December. Notwithstanding that I still haven't figured out the algorithm that will get our timetravel app up and running, I actually thought about this for a moment....

It turns out that the folks at wUnderground.com have a tool that allows anyone to look at the "likely road conditions" for any route in the USA as for a time period not to exceed 10 days in the future. I've played around a bit with this and it's a pretty clever approach. So, I think it deserves a mention in this thread!

Mark

[noFanofCB]

Lots of neat applications mentioned here.

I think that folks coming here for Winter advice have Routes and Weather at about equal priority.

So making this a Sticky is very cool. Thanks Mark!

[landmariner]

WeatherUnderground Weather route map -- really nice. You can even add you daily departure times from point-to-point.

I recently fielded a request from a new member for a map route that would give her the safest route for a road trip scheduled on the 10th of December. Notwithstanding that I still haven't figured out the algorithm that will get our timetravel app up and running, I actually thought about this for a moment....

It turns out that the folks at wUnderground.com have a tool that allows anyone to look at the "likely road conditions" for any route in the USA as for a time period not to exceed 10 days in the future. I've played around a bit with this and it's a pretty clever approach. So, I think it deserves a mention in this thread!

Mark