Winter trip to Chicago

[johndjmix]

Well, I bought a new forklift. Rather than have it shipped I went and picked it up with my DX3 and trailer!

Went to Denver, grabbed my trailer. Waited there 2 days since it was snowing.

Headed out of Denver Tuesday at noon. Roads were clear and dry. Hammer down till I got to around Des Moines, Iowa. Light snow so I figured I would stop. That’s where the fun began.

Towing my 20’ deck over, I exited the highway. Everything was snow covered. I took it slow and careful to find a place to park and sleep. I thought I had a good spot, i looked like it had an exit so I would not have have to back up. so I entered this lot that contained other trucks. Little did I know they were all stuck. As proceeding through the lot the snow got deeper and had ice under it. No problem, just don’t stop I thought. Then came the kicker, it was a dead end. I was forced to stop. Managed to backup a bit till I was stuck. Just as this happened a heavy wrecker arrived to pull out the trucks.



Also a local cop in a pickup pulled up. He offered to give me a pull with his 1500 pickup. so I accepted. It worked! I was free but still had to try backing up again. I did, diff locked, and had enough momentum to make it out!

Rest of the trip was uneventful until, on my way back, fully loaded 11,000 lbs in tow I tried to stop at McDonald’s for a McRib. (Who doesn’t love a McRib!). I go up this hill which got worse, snow ice, I was commited. I couldn’t stop, so I turn into a gas station on the hill only to find the parking lot is solid ice and slanted. I slowly traversed across the slant, knowing that at any molment I could lose traction and begin sliding off the hill into parked cars. I creeped through it at a snails pace! Made it!





Finally got my McRib at a different McDonald’s on the way back.

The DX3 performed perfectly. Zero issues. One night I did have to run the generator to keep the fireplace going for heat, as the aquahot wasn’t enough. (It was 13 degrees).

No frozen water lines, no freezing anything.

One thing I would recommend everyone does is to adjust their outside cabinet door catch’s so the cabinets close tight! Just about every one of mine had play in it which would have let the cold in!

Oh yea, and buy automatic tire chains. Defiantly getting those suckers.

—john

[FOURWHL]

I will say this at least.... glad to not be the only one around here making bad decisions and putting my rig into situations I shouldn't anymore!

Glad it all worked out

[halla]

Cool write up, glad the trip was completed safely. Make sure you spray the undercarriage really well, lots of salt spray I am sure.

[vlamgat]

What are "automatic" tire chains? I have had to stop and fit every set I have ever purchased. Some of these new one-time (or two if you are careful) plastic grippers also have to be fitted manually.

Pray tell?

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by vlamgat

What are "automatic" tire chains? I have had to stop and fit every set I have ever purchased. Some of these new one-time (or two if you are careful) plastic grippers also have to be fitted manually.

Pray tell?

Automatic tire chains are merely a device mounted next to drive wheels that when activated spin and fling lengths of chain ahead of tire to enhance traction.

Found on school buses, fire trucks, ambulances, and snow plows.

Not as good as fitted chains but better than nothing.

[johndjmix]

Originally Posted by halla

Cool write up, glad the trip was completed safely. Make sure you spray the undercarriage really well, lots of salt spray I am sure.

Just doing that right now. Cold, wet, power washing. Not fun but got to do it.

—john

[richp]

Hope you are tucked in safely, because here in the west suburbs it's been raining off and on all day on top of heavy wet snow, the temps have been dropping, and now we're likely to get into the teens tonight.

Any other year and I would have been caught somewhere in this system on the way to Quartzsite...

Rich Phillips

[johndjmix]

Yep. Montana to Denver 1 day. Left denver Tuesday afternoon, made it to Chicago Wednesday around 2pm. Headed out right away, made it back last night around 10pm.

Just washed up. Got under it with a creeper and washed underneath real well, really wasn’t that rough to do. Then made it a workout and washed the rest of the coach.

Got to hit the sack, snowmobiling up in the Colorado mtns at 5am! One day I’ll actually make it to my house to sleep at home

—john

[outlawten5]

Aquahot didn't provide enough heat? I thought they were designed to be overkill for a coach that size

[MAC D]

"The DX3 performed perfectly. Zero issues. One night I did have to run the generator to keep the fireplace going for heat, as the aquahot wasn’t enough. (It was 13 degrees)."

Great write up! Good advice on the latch adjustments.

I'm getting an M2 soon in Iowa. Just wondering if you spent the night with the slides in or the slides out??

Thanks

[vlamgat]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Automatic tire chains are merely a device mounted next to drive wheels that when activated spin and fling lengths of chain ahead of tire to enhance traction.

Found on school buses, fire trucks, ambulances, and snow plows.

Not as good as fitted chains but better than nothing.

Strange - never saw them discussed on any site. I wonder if anyone reading this thread actually carries chains of some kind. I always have, thought everyone did from November to April, at least in the North and the mountains but it appears not so much. I have only used them twice in 6 years but both times the alternative was to wait a week which employment made impossible to handle. It was that or read some books a third time. Not addicted to TV.

[PenJoe]

We had a similar experience years ago. Just passed Elgin heading for Chicago en route to Florida, it started to rain and freeze. We were towing an 18' boat trailer that did not require trailer brakes. At that time, CBs were pretty common and we could hear the truckers talking about the treacherous roads. We managed to make it to a truck stop for the night. Actually, the weight of the boat trailer weight on the tongue helped traction. It was not fun. The next morning, we decided to have breakfast before starting out. The eggs in the frig were frozen.

[richp]

I carried and used chains regularly when I lived in Colorado. Saw lots of school buses and other heavy trucks with the self deploying chains.

Here in Illinois, both chains and studded tires are illegal. Go figure...

Rich

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by vlamgat

Strange - never saw them discussed on any site. I wonder if anyone reading this thread actually carries chains of some kind. I always have, thought everyone did from November to April, at least in the North and the mountains but it appears not so much. I have only used them twice in 6 years but both times the alternative was to wait a week which employment made impossible to handle. It was that or read some books a third time. Not addicted to TV.

I always have chains in my vehicles. Even a set to fit my trailer.

It only took one time crossing a mountain pass in June, towing a trailer in a sudden snowstorm, to get into this habit.

At least one chain on a rear trailer axle tire will help keep the trailer behind you where it belongs going down the hill.

[johndjmix]

Slides in. I don't take them out when im just doing a quick park-sleep-leave.



When staying longer i take out the DS living room and bedroom slides. I almost never take out the kitchen slide...simply because there is so much room with just the DS slide out, theres no need to.

Originally Posted by MAC D

...
Just wondering if you spent the night with the slides in or the slides out??
...

[johndjmix]

The auto chains, the biggest most popular brand is "on spot". As said, they work well but not nearly as good as regular chains. But for the most of us who dont drive the coach in the snow/ice, the auto chains are good to have. In my case i wont drive in snow/ice with the DX3, but when the highway is clear and dry, and you turn off the highway and your in snow/ice what do you do? You pull into a truck stop and its solid ice (See my pic)....your stuck. This is why you need them.



If you have never used chains before, you would be blown away. In snow/ice they work better than 4 wheel drive. WAY better. I would rather have chains on than 4 wheel drive for ice/snow anyday.


That said, putting regular chains on is a PITA (Pain in the ***). Since your doing it in the snow and slush, under the coach, on the side of the road...it just sucks. Not fun at all.


--John

[Bill Davis]

Originally Posted by johndjmix

Slides in. I don't take them out when im just doing a quick park-sleep-leave.



When staying longer i take out the DS living room and bedroom slides. I almost never take out the kitchen slide...simply because there is so much room with just the DS slide out, theres no need to.

Interesting. I had a diesel pusher with 4 slides. I always wished it didn’t have slides on the camp side. I hardly ever opened the living room slide on the camp side because it was in the way outside where I spend most of my time.
When we are looking at RVs and I see slides on the camp side we don’t consider them. I don’t see them giving any more useful space inside just more floor space. We call it the dance Hall effect. That said, we don’t camp with kids so maybe that floor space is needed for that.

[vlamgat]

Originally Posted by johndjmix

The auto chains, the biggest most popular brand is "on spot". As said, they work well but not nearly as good as regular chains. But for the most of us who dont drive the coach in the snow/ice, the auto chains are good to have. In my case i wont drive in snow/ice with the DX3, but when the highway is clear and dry, and you turn off the highway and your in snow/ice what do you do? You pull into a truck stop and its solid ice (See my pic)....your stuck. This is why you need them.



If you have never used chains before, you would be blown away. In snow/ice they work better than 4 wheel drive. WAY better. I would rather have chains on than 4 wheel drive for ice/snow anyday.


That said, putting regular chains on is a PITA (Pain in the ***). Since your doing it in the snow and slush, under the coach, on the side of the road...it just sucks. Not fun at all.


--John

Thanks. I had never seen them until now. Seems like they reduce clearance around the wheel area and would be the lowest hanging items on an Isata undercarriage - which is low anyway.

What Class Chains are you carrying or have you already installed the One Stop. I used S Class on my Ford which never specified a requirement but RAM specifies U Class and the choices in 19.5 are few. Thinking of trying an oversize 19" U Class as a compromise.

I agree, fitting is always a military exercise but I remind myself of the consequences of not fitting but at Truck Stops this usually not an option.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by outlawten5

Aquahot didn't provide enough heat? I thought they were designed to be overkill for a coach that size

Depends if this is the Diesel version or the LP. Also, when it gets really cold (which most people aren't doing) an extra heat exchanger up front is ideal. We have started adding those on all models just in case.

Depends on the year of the coach as we have seen more people camping in the teens, we have made several adjustments to the system since 2018

[joet19711]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Depends if this is the Diesel version or the LP. Also, when it gets really cold (which most people aren't doing) and extra heat exchanger up front is ideal. We have started adding those on all models just in case.

Depends on the year of the coach as we have seen more people camping in the teens, we have made several adjustments to the system since 2018

BC: you mean another cozy?. what location? any pictures of location?

Thanks