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Topic: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership (Read 934 times) previous topic - next topic

Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Before anything else I ramble about. let me say that I am very happy to be a Forum member.

I could easily spend several hours each day reading the new entries, right now I just can not keep up because I have two projects running, finishing the house we live in after the fire and making it ready for the winter (I just learned that my 22kw Generac Generator I ordered  3 month ago will not be delivered before March 2021) and getting the Solar System (24 V, 2KW) I bought for our cabin in the woods installed. I will post pictures when the Solar System is installed, this is one area I have knowledge about.

About 10 years ago I was hunting down the address of a former friend of mine. Someone suggested to open a Facebook account, which I did. Very quickly I realized that Facebook is not for me, I received multiple friends requests, of which I did only acknowledged about a handful. I always felt badly of not answering the others, mostly of people I liked and knew, I just did not want to be in that loop.
I have never posted a single item. My communication  medium is Email, I read it twice daily. My wife calls me a stubborn, old fashioned Kraut, and I think she is correct.

So imagine my surprise how quickly I got hooked to the Forum. I worked Engineering all my professional life, and am interested how technical systems and processes work.

But indulge me for a moment in reflecting why we are forum members, it is because we own a RV built by a specific manufacturer.
I have no idea whether there is a Monaco or CC forum.

So if it was only for receiving help for specific technical problems that would be a very good reason to be a forum member.
So I quickly learned that the technical forum is so valuable to many  of us, because there are a handful of members with large, detailed knowledge who are the dispensers of good , solid information.

In this life I will clearly be a recipient of advice, not a distributor,  unless you want to know something about about 12000 KW+ generators or gas turbines.. I will shamelessly pump the forum members for their expertise.

But it seems to be more than that. When I read posts about " returning to the farm" or " I am heartbroken" I formed a bond in my mind with the people who posted these.

So why is that different to Facebook, I can not answer.

But in these times of divisiveness it feels good to be a member of a non controversial group.


I am a dual German an US citizen, and the US has been my home for the last 40 years. I hold an elected office (school board president) for the last  7 years,  and this is my home. An now I am a also a Fortravel Forum Newbie.

I also  filled out the Motocade application, but did not hear anything back.

Perhaps I did not make the cut.

The owner of Colville, WA  Diesel Repair shop who worked on numerous of my diesel pick up truck over the years y worked for years for Camping World on their large RVs, he has ordered the Aquahot service.  He will also go over all my other systems, I will post the results.

Greetins

Klaus
 

The world is not interested in the storms you encountered, but whether or not you brought in the ship.
Raul Armesto

2003 U 320 4020 Unit 6145

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #1
Welcome From Texas Klaus! The forum is a great place. There is no" making the cut" to becoming a motorcade member, You have a Foretravel so you qualify. the COVID crap and the up coming GrandVention I'm sure has had Beverly busy. I suggest you give her a call at Foretravel I think she is option 7 and she will get you going, I talked to her today, she is a super nice lady. Hope to meet ya down the road sometime.
Please add what year and model coach you have to your sig

Keith
The selected media item is not currently available.Keith & Jo
2003 U320T 4025 PBBS Designer series
Build 6203    Cummins 500hp
2000 U320 4010 WTFE / Build 5762 —Sold—
Motorcade #18070   
Pasadena, Texas
2015 Jeep Wrangler Sahara-Sunset Orange pearl coat
Don't argue with a fool, people watching might not be able to tell the difference.

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #2
Good morning Claus, you have found the right place to be and get help here on this Forum. Welcome to the world of Foretravel. Let us know about your coach and likely someone in this group has a similar unit or may have had the same problem confronting you. This site has been "hooked" to a previous Foretravel "Yahoo" site so that the information that had been located there would not be lost.  ^.^d
The selected media item is not currently available.
Gerry & Brenda
CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL
1994 Grand Villa - # 4466
U300 Unihome - 6V92 Detroit
4 speed Allison - Jake Brake

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #3
Lieber Klaus,

Hallo! Mein großvater war in 1836 in Deutschland geboren (yes, grandfather) so I'm part German, part Mexican with several other countries thrown in.

Yes, members here are friendly and old enough to know that minds are not going to be changed about religion or politics but post about tire pressure, tire brands or engine manufacturers and the fur still flies. :D 

Yes, add your coach model to your signature, post with questions and someone will have had the same experience so looking forward to hearing from you.

Wir sehen uns dann, Pierce
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #4
I love reading that Foreforums continues to create a community, ever growing.  We have made some lifelong friends as a result.  So glad we got the opportunity back in 2010 to take the group from Yahoo to a dedicated site. 

Fun data to see the continued growth  https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=stats
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

Lifetime Escapees' member SKP 82766
Former 1999 30IB Lazy Daze (2000-2004)
Former 2003 U320 (2004-2016)
Former 2017 LTV Unity (2017-2023)
Shopping for our next coach

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #5
And the forum would not prosper without the hard work of Michelle and the other dedicated moderators. It does not stay on track by itself. So, disregard any letter bombs you may have received for my posts that have been censored or removed.  ;D  ;D  ;D

Pierce
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #6
And using the Foreforums Amazon link helps defray the cost of maintaining the site!

Rich
Rich and Peggy Bowman
2002 U270 3610 WTFS, build #5939--"Freedom"
2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4xe
SMI AirForceOne brake system
PakCanoe 15

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #7
Welcome to the FT family. Enjoy the ride.
2003 GV U295 (6230)
2006 Jeep Unlimited TJ
2018 Ram 2500 4x4 Cummins
Former 94 GV U225

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #8
Welcome to the Foretravel forum Klaus!  Congrats on purchasing a great coach!  We were on the Yahoo forum back in 2000 and it has a wealth of information on it as well.  However, this new site is top notch, thanks to those who put forth the effort!
Personally, we would not be able to consider another Foretravel without this site!
Joe & Dottie Allen
Sold!  December 2023.      2000 U320; build # 5645
Our coach " Maxine"
Motorcade #  15922;  Escapee 150950; FMCA F330833; Boondockers Welcome;  Harvest Hosts;  Thousand Trails
'98 U320 from 2000-'06
USAF '62-'66

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." ―Epicurus

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #9
Welcome and as Michelle state, I too have made a bunch of great friends on this forum. The common glue is our love of RVs and travel and Foretravels.
2015 Born Free Royal Splendor on Ford 550 nonslide version
Former Coaches  covering. 360,000 miles
1999 34 U270
2000 36 U320
2001 42' double slide U320
2018 Jeep Rubicon

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #10
Welcome. I joined this forums at least 3 years before I think I actually purchased one. I really wanted a sailboat I got a motor coach instead. Lol. I understand your comments about Facebook I gave it up 3 years ago and was quite happy to do so until I retired and went full-time and realized that having connections with people that I've known over the years was a good thing at least for now. I'm rarely on Facebook though, and do my post through Instagram which then goes to Facebook as well. That way they can keep track of what I'm at and doing. But I stay away from all the other political and news nonsense that they have there. And if somebody gets too annoying I just mute them.
As you said these are great forums for learning about our coaches, but they're also a great place to meet like-minded intelligent handsome and beautiful people. Well at least like-minded... Looking forward to meeting a lot of the foreforum members in the coming years.
'99 U320 40 WTFE
Build #5462,
1500 Watts Solar 600 amp Victron lithium
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Hemi
Instagram bobfnbw
Retired

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #11
Guten Morgen, Klaus!

We joined this forum and a few other brand-specific ones when we were doing our research. Back then we were pretty much starting with a blank sheet of paper - no preconceived ideas of what sort of RV we wanted for our full-time adventures. One filter we used was whether there was an active forum for owners of a particular brand. I was particularly interested in how much work owners did on their own coaches as opposed to those whose only tools are a cell phone and a credit card with a large limit.

Many, if not most, of us do at least some of our own work. Most of us know our limitations, and don't tackle projects that are well beyond our abilities. A few of us are periodically reminded (by our bodies) that we are no longer 25 years old, but I guess that comes with getting older.

Any motorhome is a complicated machine, and the learning curve will be steep at the beginning. The search function here is helpful, but if the answers you find are more than a couple of years old, please ask the question again, as there may be newer information available. For example, there are two major service centers in Nac (FOT and MOT), but there have been some smaller ones, too, over the years. Some of those are gone, so if you were to ask about one of them you would soon find out that they are no longer in business.

Enjoy the learning and the adventures.

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #12
We kinda went the opposite way.  Previously owned 2 Newells and fulltimed in the 45' 2 slide one.  A couple years ago after selling it and buying a house we decided to buy a smaller coach to continue our summer trips.  Since Newell doesn't make anything shorter than a 45' at least in the vintage we were looking for it led us to our 2nd choice.  I still am a participant on the Newell Gurus site and having an active FT forum was very important.  There are some differences here, mainly IMO there should be more categories in the technical discussion.  It would make searching for a previous problem/solution much easier.  But I realize that would create quite a bit of work to break out the topics into different categories.
Forest & Cindy Olivier
1987 log cabin
2011 Roadtrek C210P
no longer 1999 36' U320 build #5522
2013 Rzr 570 & 2018 Ranger XP1000
2006 Lexus GX470
2011 Tahoe LT 4x4
Previous 1998 45' 2 slide Newell, 1993 39' Newell

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #13
And using the Foreforums Amazon link helps defray the cost of maintaining the site!

Rich

Wait... what link do you speak of and how do I find it??
Christine & Jimmy
Nomadic, Full-time Life in Progress...
1997 U295/36/C8.3
600 AH BB-LiFePo/1080 Watts Solar
2020 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
** Social media: curiosity-in-motion

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. ~Dorothy Parker~

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #14
When you first open the page, the link to Amazon is right below the changing member photos of all the Foretravels.

Pierce
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Reflections of a Newbie Forum member after one month membership

Reply #15
It is on the community page right under the "add your coach picture" Not all members open on that page, I know I don't.
1999 40 ft. U-320 wtfe build 5563 Chuck & Lynda's "Rollin' Inn"  2030 watts solar
prev. mh's 71 GMC 5 yrs. 73 Pace Setter 1 yr. 78 Vogue 5 yrs 81 FTX 40ft all electric 18 yrs. 1996 Monaco Signature 3 yrs.
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland
Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die today.  James Dean