2 camping trips in the books with the new camper!
We now have 2 camping trips and one weekend set-up, in the in-laws driveway in the books with our new camper. We are still learning the art of setting up and breaking down camp, but we have had an absolute blast so far. Truth be told, weather has been great both weekends we've camped so far. The only thing wrong with that is we haven't gotten a ton of camper learning time in the books yet.
I pulled the trailer at 66 on the interstate on this last trip and it did great. I got a whopping 10.1 mpg, but hey, that's expected. It's still taking me some getting used to judging how long my rig is with the trailer, so I have limited my lane changes so far. We also took the dog on this past trip and he did fantastic! He seems to really enjoy both being outdoors as often as possible and just chilling in the camper. He approves.
Anyways, here is a picture of our rig. The tow vehicle is a 2014 Ram 1500 Bighorn(4x4, 3:21 rear gear) equipped with a Tekonsha Voyager electronic trailer brake, and an Equalizer weight distribution hitch. The trailer is a 2020 Cherokee Grey Wolf 26RR by Forest River.
Jon
I pulled the trailer at 66 on the interstate on this last trip and it did great. I got a whopping 10.1 mpg, but hey, that's expected. It's still taking me some getting used to judging how long my rig is with the trailer, so I have limited my lane changes so far. We also took the dog on this past trip and he did fantastic! He seems to really enjoy both being outdoors as often as possible and just chilling in the camper. He approves.
Anyways, here is a picture of our rig. The tow vehicle is a 2014 Ram 1500 Bighorn(4x4, 3:21 rear gear) equipped with a Tekonsha Voyager electronic trailer brake, and an Equalizer weight distribution hitch. The trailer is a 2020 Cherokee Grey Wolf 26RR by Forest River.
Jon
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Nice looking rig. We have gone twice this year also, 3 more on the books. Next trip is to the beach in August. Everytime you tow your rig you will get better at it. Same with setup and takedown. Be warned, if you are setup and decide to go on a excursion away from camp for the day or even several hours, roll in your awning. We have seen too many awnings ripped off from rogue wind storms and they are very expensive to replace. Also, use a water pressure regulator and a inline water filter while at the campground. They normally have very high water pressure to accommodate all the units and you could blow a line and flood your unit. Also advisable to drain your water heater if the unit will sit for any length of time between trips. I normally drain ours if its going to be more than a month between trips. Some of the campgrounds have some funky water and it can go stagnant sitting in the water heater.
Also, when storing your unit, keep it as level as possible. Your refrigerator is a ammonia system (no compressor). The ammonia in the system can crystalize if the unit isn't stored level. Also not a bad idea to run the refrigerator every so often between trips (48 hours run time every 2 months).
Like I said before, feel free to ask if you have any questions. I have owned 6 different units over the past 25 years.
Best of luck, Jay0 -
+100 on the awning.
I found that a set of extended clamp on mirrors were a true blessing when I had my camper.
Picked mine up at JC Whitney.0 -
Be safe pulling it. Load for that Dodge. 0 -
Congratulations on your new rigs, and have fun with them 0 -
We sold our last camper to a couple from N.C. He pulled it home with a Dodge D1500. It was a toy hauler and tongue heavy, but the equalizer hitch was a big help. The camper was over 5000 lb. and 12 ft. Tall at the back end. 0 -
Nice set-up and well done. Your Ram has the tow package as shown by the tow mirrors in the photo. Your choice of the Equalizer hitch is excellent with built in 4 way sway control. Didn't your Ram come with built in trailer braking module? If not, your selection is great.
+1 on the awning. I've always done a walk around before moving to assure everything is hooked up correctly and ready to roll, including the doors are locked and nothing left lying on the ground. And I'm sure you know, the first thing you do before unhooking and the last thing you do when hooked up is to remove the wheel chocks to prevent the trailer from moving on it's own.
The 10 mpg is about average when pulling a camper. It's not the weight/length as much as the wind resistance of the front of the camper that cuts your mileage.
Safe travels and happy camping.0 -
I learned a lot about RV'ing from this web site. Free to join, many good ideas and posters answer any questions.
https://www.rv.net/forum/
{yes, there are other forums out there!!}0 -
That's the way to travel! 0 -
DONDALINGER wrote:Nice looking rig. We have gone twice this year also, 3 more on the books. Next trip is to the beach in August. Everytime you tow your rig you will get better at it. Same with setup and takedown. Be warned, if you are setup and decide to go on a excursion away from camp for the day or even several hours, roll in your awning. We have seen too many awnings ripped off from rogue wind storms and they are very expensive to replace. Also, use a water pressure regulator and a inline water filter while at the campground. They normally have very high water pressure to accommodate all the units and you could blow a line and flood your unit. Also advisable to drain your water heater if the unit will sit for any length of time between trips. I normally drain ours if its going to be more than a month between trips. Some of the campgrounds have some funky water and it can go stagnant sitting in the water heater.
Also, when storing your unit, keep it as level as possible. Your refrigerator is a ammonia system (no compressor). The ammonia in the system can crystalize if the unit isn't stored level. Also not a bad idea to run the refrigerator every so often between trips (48 hours run time every 2 months).
Like I said before, feel free to ask if you have any questions. I have owned 6 different units over the past 25 years.
Best of luck, Jay
Jay,
Thanks for the recommendations and advice. I always appreciate, especially in a area that's newer to me. I do have both a filter and regulator on our water hose. What order do you recommend hooking them up in? As of right now, I have it this way starting from the water spigot.....pressure regulator, filter, hose, 90 degree, trailer connection. I have also seen where people hook the filter up at the 90 degree connection of their camper.
We have 2 more trips planned so far this year. The 1st is a Friday-Sunday weekend stay about 45 minutes from our house. We're just camping with my brother and his family, so nothing to extravagant. The 2nd will be a 3 1/2 hour trip across most of the state, to a nice state park that we have tent camped at in the past. That one will be just the wife and I during a Monday-Thursday(we both took a week of vacation from work) and I'm pretty excited for that one. Away from camp we are going to a Brewers baseball game and planning on visiting a nice microbrewery. At the park we want to do some hiking and maybe some kayaking.
Jon0 -
Chief Shaway wrote:+100 on the awning.
I found that a set of extended clamp on mirrors were a true blessing when I had my camper.
Picked mine up at JC Whitney.
10-4 on the awning.
I actually grabbed a cheap set of tow mirrors at our local Fleet Farm a while back. I think $25 is what I paid for the pair. They are certainly not the fanciest or prettiest thing I've ever seen, but so far they have gotten the job done.
Jon0 -
select-fire wrote:Be safe pulling it. Load for that Dodge.
Thanks and yes sir.
The max tow capacity is 8,000 lbs. as it was set-up from the factory. The trailer weighs in at 5,055 lbs. dry. Being a toy hauler(although it's technically not a true toy hauler) it is tongue heavy. The TW is 775 lbs. That Equalizer WDH is definitely getting put to use here.
I drove on the interstate this past trip with a speed limit of 70 mph. I just keep it around 65. On a windy day or if I'm in a really hilly area, I'm sure I will need to back that down closer to 60 or so. That being said, I have been surprised by how the complete set-up has towed so far.
Jon0 -
jimdeere wrote:We sold our last camper to a couple from N.C. He pulled it home with a Dodge D1500. It was a toy hauler and tongue heavy, but the equalizer hitch was a big help. The camper was over 5000 lb. and 12 ft. Tall at the back end.
Man,I'm not sure I would be comfortable doing that myself! My camper weighs just over 5,000 lbs. as well, but it doesn't have the tall profile of a true toy hauler. It's more or a camper 1st, can haul small toys 2nd trailer versus some of the others. I want to say 10' 6" is what it stands at it's tallest point, but I would have to look again to be exactly sure.
I already talked to the wife about upgrading to a 3/4 ton truck in the future. For now, this is what we got and we'll make it work. I will just have to be patient and easy on the pedals.
Jon0 -
Flying Clay Disk wrote:Oh, and another pro-tip to help increase the fun factor. ...
Don't get too wrapped around the axle about setup and take down rituals. Obviously some structure is required, but be careful you don't get into a rut where everything has to be perfect every time. You want to have fun (rule #1).
I've seen people who bought bigger trailers, and as soon as they got it all set up, they were already stressing over every single element of breaking everything down, to the point where no one had any fun because it was like being around a drill instructor the whole time. Seriously.
In fact, this is why I'm actually looking for a smaller trailer with out so much set up and take down. Just something I can hook onto and go, then pull off the road somewhere for a few ZZZZ's and continue on. No major reservations, no choreographed "gotta' be here on this day at this time, and out by this hour, and then over here by this exact day/time"...and so on.
I've got one buddy who bought this giant 5th wheel. The thing is like an apartment. He's got to show up early to get it set up, and it takes him hours, and then midway through the trip he's already starting to stress out about breaking everything down. I want to sweep it out, throw the crap in my truck and go.
Just something to think about. The whole 'perfect planning' thing can be a real drain on the fun factor.
That's actually some really good information right there FCD. Reason I say that, is because this past trip, the wife and I just kinda winged it on set-up. I forgot my little checklist manual I made before our 1st trip. Funny thing is, that I set the exterior up, the wife set the interior up and we just kind of enjoyed methodically working through the process. It actually went really smooth and we finished with what will be a ritual.....cracking open a beer after set-up is done.
When we started packing up camp, I actually had the wife hop in the truck and back it up because it was raining. She did a really good job there. She's not interested in towing yet, but she does want to give it a try some day.
Jon0 -
babun wrote:I learned a lot about RV'ing from this web site. Free to join, many good ideas and posters answer any questions.
https://www.rv.net/forum/
{yes, there are other forums out there!!}
Thanks for the link.
I will have to check it out, as I already have a few questions.
Jon0 -
Quick&Dead wrote:Nice set-up and well done. Your Ram has the tow package as shown by the tow mirrors in the photo. Your choice of the Equalizer hitch is excellent with built in 4 way sway control. Didn't your Ram come with built in trailer braking module? If not, your selection is great.
+1 on the awning. I've always done a walk around before moving to assure everything is hooked up correctly and ready to roll, including the doors are locked and nothing left lying on the ground. And I'm sure you know, the first thing you do before unhooking and the last thing you do when hooked up is to remove the wheel chocks to prevent the trailer from moving on it's own.
The 10 mpg is about average when pulling a camper. It's not the weight/length as much as the wind resistance of the front of the camper that cuts your mileage.
Safe travels and happy camping.
Mine didn't come with the module. It did come with the harness in the dash, so it was just a simple plug N' play install though.
10-4 on the wheel chocks. I actually broke down and spent a little more money then I was originally planning on those. Most people I know just buy those cheap plastic ones from Wal-Mart. I'm sure those will get the job done at most sites for most people, but I ended up buying a decently heavy duty rubber set off Amazon. I am very pleased with them so far.
Jon0 -
Well I am just putting the information out there for you. Don't know what load range tires it came with but probably they are D. When replacing them when flats occur ( and they will ) at the most unlucky times.. Go with a 10 ply load range E. Heat is what gets the tires to blow out. Read the sidewall of your tires. My load range E's on my car hauler say 65MPH max. You see folks running faster than that on the interstate. Then usually I see them pulled off changing a tire. 0 -
Looks good, someday we'll have a travel trailer, I already have the truck to pull it, just need the time to use one! 0 -
I do have both a filter and regulator on our water hose. What order do you recommend hooking them up in? As of right now, I have it this way starting from the water spigot.....pressure regulator, filter, hose, 90 degree, trailer connection. I have also seen where people hook the filter up at the 90 degree connection of their camper.
You can put the pressure regulator and filter in any order and configuration that works best for you. As long as the water is filtered and the pressure regulated before entering the unit, you are good to go. If your pressure regulator ever gets lost or starts leaking, you can regulate the pressure coming into your unit with the water supply ball valve at the campground- just open it a quarter turn to a half turn instead of fully open and it will reduce the pressure. Best of luck and enjoy.0 -
DONDALINGER wrote:I do have both a filter and regulator on our water hose. What order do you recommend hooking them up in? As of right now, I have it this way starting from the water spigot.....pressure regulator, filter, hose, 90 degree, trailer connection. I have also seen where people hook the filter up at the 90 degree connection of their camper.
You can put the pressure regulator and filter in any order and configuration that works best for you. As long as the water is filtered and the pressure regulated before entering the unit, you are good to go. If your pressure regulator ever gets lost or starts leaking, you can regulate the pressure coming into your unit with the water supply ball valve at the campground- just open it a quarter turn to a half turn instead of fully open and it will reduce the pressure. Best of luck and enjoy.
Cool, thanks sir!
Jon0 -
Flying Clay Disk wrote:select-fire wrote:Well I am just putting the information out there for you. Don't know what load range tires it came with but probably they are D. When replacing them when flats occur ( and they will ) at the most unlucky times.. Go with a 10 ply load range E. Heat is what gets the tires to blow out. Read the sidewall of your tires. My load range E's on my car hauler say 65MPH max. You see folks running faster than that on the interstate. Then usually I see them pulled off changing a tire.
+1 on the load range "E" tires! That's all I run on my truck and all three trailers. Just remember, load range 'E' tires run at much higher pressures than what you're probably used to (like 80psi for mine), and it's important to keep them properly and evenly inflated. Most convenience store air pumps (and portable air pumps) won't go this high (or anywhere close), so you might have to go to a truck stop to air up.
Another thing about travel trailer tires (not sure if someone mentioned it already); a lot of new travel trailers come with real S# Chinese tires on them. They're complete crap. I've known lots of people who've blown a trailer tire inside 2,500 miles on a new trailer. Just figure on replacing all four tires soon.
Plus, always check your trailer tire pressure before towing. Check the pressures cold. And, on a new trailer, ALWAYS (without fail) check the lug nuts for tight on the trailer for the first few times out! They WILL work loose as everything breaks in. Last thing you want is a wheel coming off going down the highway!
And one last thing about tires and wheels, and this is probably common sense; ALWAYS make sure the very best tires you own are the steer tires on the front of your tow vehicle (i.e. the front tires)! Spare no expense here! Probably one of the most terrifying things you can ever do is to blow a steer tire at speed. Trust me on this one, I know!
I had a blowout on a steer tire once coming down a steep grade on I-80 in WY at about 75mph towing a 24' tandem axle trailer loaded to the gills with ceramic roof tiles. Worse, I was right next to a semi (passing me) when it happened! I was able to keep it sort of straight and get it stopped without incident, but that was an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy! I figured I was taking the big 'Dirt Nap' that day for sure! Probably about the only thing which saved my bacon was I was driving a 3/4 ton Suburban and had the back of the Suburban loaded down with roof tiles also which kept the back end of the Suburban down and in front of the trailer. (Blowout was so bad it completely tore out the whole fender well liner, broke the starter, tore off the shock and ripped both of the transmission cooler lines off the side of the engine block! )
Even the trucker had to pull over to clean out his drawers! :P
Yep, it has the Chinese tires. I did check lugnut torque before this trip and 2 actually tightened a bit.
Thanks for all the good information. Like I've said, I appreciate it. You can never given too much information.
Jon0 -
select-fire wrote:Well I am just putting the information out there for you. Don't know what load range tires it came with but probably they are D. When replacing them when flats occur ( and they will ) at the most unlucky times.. Go with a 10 ply load range E. Heat is what gets the tires to blow out. Read the sidewall of your tires. My load range E's on my car hauler say 65MPH max. You see folks running faster than that on the interstate. Then usually I see them pulled off changing a tire.
The more information and experiences the better. I appreciate it.
Jon0 -
I used to live in my 35' Rockwood travel trailer when I was working out of town. I had a remote control water shut off valve and a high dollar stainless steel pressure regulator on it.
Some of the RV parks had some very high pressure. I've heard some stories of people that were off some where and returned to find a water fall coming out the door of their trailer from high pressure. I used to turn my water off when I left the trailer or at night when I went to bed with the remote control. It's a lot easier than having to turn it off at the valve by hand each time.
I also had power everything on my trailer including electric stabilizers, electric tongue jack and electric awning.0 -
Sig220_Ruger77 wrote:select-fire wrote:Well I am just putting the information out there for you. Don't know what load range tires it came with but probably they are D. When replacing them when flats occur ( and they will ) at the most unlucky times.. Go with a 10 ply load range E. Heat is what gets the tires to blow out. Read the sidewall of your tires. My load range E's on my car hauler say 65MPH max. You see folks running faster than that on the interstate. Then usually I see them pulled off changing a tire.
The more information and experiences the better. I appreciate it.
Jon
I carry a small generator it weighs like 50 pounds, a small pancake air compressor, sawzall, metal blades to cut the steel belts off after they wrap around an axle when a tire blows out. Never forget to stop no more than 50 miles after you change out to re snug the lugnuts. Pending if your trailer has leaf springs..if it does the wheel will drop down and get destroyed when a blowout occurs. If you have torsion axles they are independent of one another. Pending the axles you can remove one wheel and tire if faulty and drive down the road for a short time with 3 tires. Spares are a premium on long trips. I take two.0 -
THIS^^^^^^^^^
Plus get a set of bits for your 1/4" nutdriver handle. It must have an assortment of Torx and SQUARE drive bits.
Most Rv's have "odd" hardware.
Many Rv'ers buy the cheap blue plastic cylinder water filter from walmarts. They only last about 6 months. AND they come apart on the insides and clog every faucet nozzle in the rv.
Buy a good "whole house" filter and change the element often.0 -
babun wrote:
Many Rv'ers buy the cheap blue plastic cylinder water filter from walmarts. They only last about 6 months. AND they come apart on the insides and clog every faucet nozzle in the rv.
Buy a good "whole house" filter and change the element often.
I think most of the higher end travel trailers have a pretty good filter system built in these days. Mine had a large one under one of the closets in the bathroom that I would take out and flush every couple of months.0 -
Sig220_Ruger77 wrote:Flying Clay Disk wrote:select-fire wrote:Well I am just putting the information out there for you. Don't know what load range tires it came with but probably they are D. When replacing them when flats occur ( and they will ) at the most unlucky times.. Go with a 10 ply load range E. Heat is what gets the tires to blow out. Read the sidewall of your tires. My load range E's on my car hauler say 65MPH max. You see folks running faster than that on the interstate. Then usually I see them pulled off changing a tire.
+1 on the load range "E" tires! That's all I run on my truck and all three trailers. Just remember, load range 'E' tires run at much higher pressures than what you're probably used to (like 80psi for mine), and it's important to keep them properly and evenly inflated. Most convenience store air pumps (and portable air pumps) won't go this high (or anywhere close), so you might have to go to a truck stop to air up.
Another thing about travel trailer tires (not sure if someone mentioned it already); a lot of new travel trailers come with real S# Chinese tires on them. They're complete crap. I've known lots of people who've blown a trailer tire inside 2,500 miles on a new trailer. Just figure on replacing all four tires soon.
Plus, always check your trailer tire pressure before towing. Check the pressures cold. And, on a new trailer, ALWAYS (without fail) check the lug nuts for tight on the trailer for the first few times out! They WILL work loose as everything breaks in. Last thing you want is a wheel coming off going down the highway!
And one last thing about tires and wheels, and this is probably common sense; ALWAYS make sure the very best tires you own are the steer tires on the front of your tow vehicle (i.e. the front tires)! Spare no expense here! Probably one of the most terrifying things you can ever do is to blow a steer tire at speed. Trust me on this one, I know!
I had a blowout on a steer tire once coming down a steep grade on I-80 in WY at about 75mph towing a 24' tandem axle trailer loaded to the gills with ceramic roof tiles. Worse, I was right next to a semi (passing me) when it happened! I was able to keep it sort of straight and get it stopped without incident, but that was an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy! I figured I was taking the big 'Dirt Nap' that day for sure! Probably about the only thing which saved my bacon was I was driving a 3/4 ton Suburban and had the back of the Suburban loaded down with roof tiles also which kept the back end of the Suburban down and in front of the trailer. (Blowout was so bad it completely tore out the whole fender well liner, broke the starter, tore off the shock and ripped both of the transmission cooler lines off the side of the engine block! )
Even the trucker had to pull over to clean out his drawers! :P
Yep, it has the Chinese tires. I did check lugnut torque before this trip and 2 actually tightened a bit.
Thanks for all the good information. Like I've said, I appreciate it. You can never given too much information.
Jon
One more thing about the factory tires made in China. I purchased a brand new, special order unit. It came with 'China made tires'. I used the camper for 8 years before deciding to replace them .... never had an issue with the "china bombs" as some call them. Camper ST trailer tires are a 4 -5 year recommended life span by most RV owners so I was really pushing the envelope on them. The factory china made tires have a speed rating of 65 MPH ONLY!!!
I purchased Goodyear Endurance tires (highly recommended along with Maxxis tires) and when ordered stated the order would be refused if they were more than 6 months old upon delivery. The Goodyear Endurance ST tires have a speed rating of 86 MPH!
I was unable to find a mfg date on the factory tires UNTIL they were dismounted. The mfg date was stamped into the bead area where it seals to the rim.......the tires were 2 years old when I purchased my new camper.
I was most fortunate as they were 10 year old tires when I replaced them and they were due as the sidewalls were showing signs of cracking.0 -
Thanks for the info on the Goodyear trailer tires. 0 -
select-fire wrote:Thanks for the info on the Goodyear trailer tires.
That is definitely good info.
We were almost ready to pull the trigger on a Jayco Jay Flight trailer before we ended up buying the Cherokee Grey Wolf. The huge upside to the Jayco, to me anyways, was that it came with Goodyear tires.
Jon0 -
You also might consider a "surge guard" to safeguard the electrical system and appliances in your camper.
It was the first item I purchased after buying my camper and I have been amazed as how many campgrounds have mis-wired power pedestals, reverse polarity, etc. One power surge or low amps can ruin the electronics in your camper and ruin your air conditioner.
Multiple models are available, some portable and some can be wired into the camper itself.
Available from various vendors including Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Surge-Guard-34850-Portable-Display/dp/B00T36QHUO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=24Q6AFRCPDWZI&keywords=surge+guard+30+amp&qid=1561728787&s=gateway&sprefix=surge+guard,aps,230&sr=8-9
Sized in 30 amp or 50 amp, whichever to match your unit.0 -
Quick&Dead wrote:You also might consider a "surge guard" to safeguard the electrical system and appliances in your camper.
It was the first item I purchased after buying my camper and I have been amazed as how many campgrounds have mis-wired power pedestals, reverse polarity, etc. One power surge or low amps can ruin the electronics in your camper and ruin your air conditioner.
Multiple models are available, some portable and some can be wired into the camper itself.
Available from various vendors including Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Surge-Guard-34850-Portable-Display/dp/B00T36QHUO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=24Q6AFRCPDWZI&keywords=surge+guard+30+amp&qid=1561728787&s=gateway&sprefix=surge+guard,aps,230&sr=8-9
Sized in 30 amp or 50 amp, whichever to match your unit.
That is 1 item we haven't gotten yet. I will have to look into those.
Jon0
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