Episode 174: Do You Need a Tire Pressure Monitoring System for your RV?

This is a jam packed episode where we talk about: TPMS – Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems for RVers. Do you need one? Stay tuned and we’ll explain why you may. How to Shop an RV Show – We’re in the heart of the RV Show season right now. Before you attend a show, though, you need to make a plan. In this episode we talk to the marketing director for what many think is the biggest RV show in the country: The Florida RV Supershow, which opens next week. Dave Kelly will join us with some great tips appropriate for whatever show you attend anywhere in the country. And we’ve all heard of the Bourbon Trail, right. Well there’s another trail in Ohio that is equally rewarding. We’ll have an awesome Off the Beaten Path Report about the Great Donut Trail of Butler County, OH. All that, plus your RV questions, RV News, Traveling Tech Tips and much more. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #174 Jan. 10, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:31"] We’re back home from Rochester, MN and a visit to the Mayo Clinic for an annual physical. We share our very positive experience with the place voted the Best Hospital in America. The bitter cold has finally broken but for more than 10 days, nighttime temperatures were well below zero F in many parts of North America. Even parts of Florida saw snow! We talk about problems that can arise if you leave your sticks and bricks house unattended while on an RV trip and the temperatures drop so low. This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer’s trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 19 locations and growing  JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="14:16"] Here’s a question for you: How do you place your hands on the steering wheel when you drive?  For decades, driver's ed teachers recommended that students place their hands at the ten o'clock and two o'clock positions, which were assumed to be the gold standard for leverage, comfort and control. But as a listener named Tom pointed out in an email he sent to us recently, that's not true anymore, due to new research in ergonomics, and new technology in steering wheels. The correct way to place your hands on the steering wheel Placing the hands at nine and three—"parallel position," it's called—is now recommended by AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other authorities. This is especially important for unsure drivers, who often get into accidents by oversteering. Parallel position lowers the body's center of gravity, and tends to allow smaller and more accurate steering corrections. But airbags are an even bigger issue. Many of us learned how to handle a steering wheel in an age when there wasn't a super-heated gas ready to explode right into our head and hands in case of impact. The old ten-and-two position puts the hands closer together, and has led to many cases of fractures and serious injuries when airbags deploy. Parallel position keeps your hands farther from the point of airbag impact. Also, to better protect your thumbs in case of a collision, rest them on the wheel itself rather than hooking them around its interior edge. And more driving myth buster: Thanks to airbags, that crossover "hand-over-hand" way that old-timers were taught to make sharp turns is now out of date as well, say many insurers and driving instructors. Crossing your arms can knock your other hand off the wheel, or seriously injure you when airbags pop. Here’s a link to a detailed article in this - https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-should-your-hands-be-at-ten-and-two-on-the-steering-wheel Meanwhile… be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle.