Towing. Dodge 3500 Finally Theirs!

Be careful when determining tow capacity of a vehicle

"When you are determining the tow capacity of a vehicle make sure you know what the rear axle ratio is. It's possible to have the same type and size of vehicle with the same engine, yet the tow ratings may vary by several thousand pounds. "  More at:
http://markpolk.rvtechtips.com/2009/02/be-careful-when-determining-two.html
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Last two days:

Oh! This finding the right truck, cabover camper, and getting them, has been quite an ordeal.   This would have all been eliminated if the man with the original truck and camper hadn't reneged on the deal.


As I said, I took my brother, Nigel, and sister-in-law, Pamala to Huntsville, TX, and Southwest Houston on Friday to look at trucks.  Here is a picture of the HOV lane on the way back.  Reminds me of the one in Seattle.

Friday, they put a deposit on an immaculate white 2006 Dodge 3500, Diesel 5.9, Mega cab, Dually, 4x4, Lone Star Edition, but it wasn't ready to pick up until yesterday afternoon.   It was too late, and hot, to battle the Houston traffic.

 
We couldn't pick it up then anyway, as Pamala and Nigel didn't want to insure the truck until they were sure they were getting it, so we did that yesterday afternoon.  Even that wasn't easy.
They can legally drive in the USA with their British drivers licenses for 6 months, but several insurance companies didn't understand that, or about insuring the slide-in cabover camper.  They finally bought a policy with State Farm who seemed to know what they were talking about.

We had been cooking and eating here, and Pamala and I got along great in my little kitchen.  (Unusual for 2 women!)  It is really strange that as big as Pamala is, she takes up less room than Jay does, when he gets in my kitchen.

Yesterday we had to go into town, so we ate at Bing's Chinese restaurant nearby, and I had something I haven't had for a long time, glass noodles.


Today, we got all their things out of my B+ motor home, where they had been staying while here, packed it in my van, including all the dishes, silverware, cooking utensils, teapot, sheets, blankets, pots and pans, etc, out of my vintage Class A motor home, "Pugsy", so all that could go with them, to equip the camper. I also gave them a MaxxAir for the roof vent, and bubble level for their freezer.

This morning, I drove them back to the dealer in Southwest Houston.  The paperwork there took a long time as the truck will be exported back to England when they leave the US.  Finally, after a couple of hours that was done, so we transferred all their stuff including the new plastic chests of drawers and bins, into the back seat of their new-to-them truck.

We got a bite to eat at Subway, and went our separate ways.  They went back to my daughter's house in West Colombia, TX to get the rest of their things.   I came home in really gulley-whomping, pouring rain, but the rain stopped when I got to Conroe.

They will stop back by here on their way to Ponca City, OK, where the cabover camper is.
They are getting the rest of the camper light hook-ups and tie downs done there by an RV tech friend of the seller of the camper.   The seller is also going to take them to a rodeo this weekend.  So they are very excited about that, as they have never seen one in the US. (They lived Down Under for 7 years, so they have seen Aussie rodeos.)

Then they go west along Route 66, stopping to see the Texas Grand Canyon (Palo Duro State Park), near Amarillo, TX.  Then on to Monterey, California, to see where our mother was born.   Then to the other Grand Canyon, and north to Alaska.

 You know I got them set up with Live Writer, and Blogger!

What a day!