Brand new

[KGMarie]

I am brand new to all of this. Just bought a trailer (which hasn't even arrived yet) and will be going to Ft Wilderness for Labor Day weekend!! Any advice? It's going to be me, my husband and my 3 years old DD. thanks!

 

[KristinU]

Congratulations! How exciting!!! Here's my .02 off the top of my head:

1. be patient with each other when backing into sites and don't get freaked out by onlookers, they're probably not paying attention like you think they are. You'll get better over time and work out your own system that works for you.

2. pack what you think you'll need, but most importantly on your first trek out pack a pencil and paper. If you forgot something you'll most likely be able to live without it for a weekend or a week. (of course don't forget to pack any meds or things like that)

3. don't sweat it when things need modifying or repairing. RVs have all of the amenities of home, are built lightweight and at a comparatively low cost, and are subjected to barreling down the road at 60+ MPH. Things WILL need fixing, and it helps if you are handy.

4. have fun, lots of memories to be made!

 

[Nature Mom]

How exciting! Congratulations.

I agree with KristinU, keep a pencil and paper with you because you will be thinking of things constantly, heck, even years later. lol There are so many camping lists, I think even in the archives here, that can give you basics on what you need, but everyone lives and camps differently so tweaking is always going to happen.

Waiting on your camper to arrive, you could start going over the house for kitchen items, towels, bedding, extension cords, and things like that. I know I always seem to have more stuff than I need so I do a yearly purge and stuff either goes to the camping gear or out for donation. My husband got a new alarm clock for his phone recently and so instead of storing the old one in the closet, my camping gear got a new clock (which is a great clock with a light, dock and charging station, so yay! lol).

A camper is your home on the road, using your own stuff to personalize and make it comfortable to you is part of what it is all about. Welcome to the club.

 

[SCCamper1966]

If this is your first camper, I would suggest taking it out for a test run at a local campground first. Get used to setting it up. As pp suggested, make a list of things you need or want in your new camper. I think doing that will make your trip Labor Day more enjoyable. Just my two cents.

 

[retired and happy]

Since I have a MH, I don't have two cents left, but I'll drop in a penny for your thoughts. How will you use your new RV? I mean besides your many trips to the Fort. How big is the trailer, ands what is your tow vehicle? Enjoy.

 

[KGMarie]

If this is your first camper, I would suggest taking it out for a test run at a local campground first. Get used to setting it up. As pp suggested, make a list of things you need or want in your new camper. I think doing that will make your trip Labor Day more enjoyable. Just my two cents.

I really wish I could do a test run first. They have even promising that my trailer would take 6-8 weeks since ordered in early June but now told me that I will not be done until August 26th which is the Monday before our trip!! Freaking out a bit here!!!

 

[KGMarie]

Since I have a MH, I don't have two cents left, but I'll drop in a penny for your thoughts. How will you use your new RV? I mean besides your many trips to the Fort. How big is the trailer, ands what is your tow vehicle? Enjoy.

Currently we have 3 trips planned to Ft Wilderness this year. After that I am not really sure what we will be doing travel wise. I want to go from FL to Maine next summer but everything else is up in the air.
I bought a 37 ft trailer to be towed by our 2012 Ford F150.

 

[KGMarie]

Congratulations! How exciting!!! Here's my .02 off the top of my head:

1. be patient with each other when backing into sites and don't get freaked out by onlookers, they're probably not paying attention like you think they are. You'll get better over time and work out your own system that works for you.

2. pack what you think you'll need, but most importantly on your first trek out pack a pencil and paper. If you forgot something you'll most likely be able to live without it for a weekend or a week. (of course don't forget to pack any meds or things like that)

3. don't sweat it when things need modifying or repairing. RVs have all of the amenities of home, are built lightweight and at a comparatively low cost, and are subjected to barreling down the road at 60+ MPH. Things WILL need fixing, and it helps if you are handy.

4. have fun, lots of memories to be made!

Thank you!!! I am excited for our family to get out of the house and have lots of quality time together! There is going to be a no cell phone rule for our camper!!

 

[KGMarie]

How exciting! Congratulations.

I agree with KristinU, keep a pencil and paper with you because you will be thinking of things constantly, heck, even years later. lol There are so many camping lists, I think even in the archives here, that can give you basics on what you need, but everyone lives and camps differently so tweaking is always going to happen.

Waiting on your camper to arrive, you could start going over the house for kitchen items, towels, bedding, extension cords, and things like that. I know I always seem to have more stuff than I need so I do a yearly purge and stuff either goes to the camping gear or out for donation. My husband got a new alarm clock for his phone recently and so instead of storing the old one in the closet, my camping gear got a new clock (which is a great clock with a light, dock and charging station, so yay! lol).

A camper is your home on the road, using your own stuff to personalize and make it comfortable to you is part of what it is all about. Welcome to the club.

I have already been looking at all my really old dishes and pots and pans in the kitchen thinking I can switch them to the camper

 

[loislane]

I have already been looking at all my really old dishes and pots and pans in the kitchen thinking I can switch them to the camper

We don't use "real" dishes in our popup, just plastic ones that won't break during the jostling of travel. But we were able to fully stock all our pots and pans needs when DH and I got married and consolidated two whole houses into one. We had boxes of pots, pans, and small appliances in the basement storage area - so when we got the camper, we did a shopping trip at home to stock it up first!

Now, after some trips, there are a few things I knew I wanted special for the camper. An electric kettle was one - we do flavored coffee packets vs. regular brewed or we'd just have a small coffee pot in there instead. But the electric kettle is super quiet and since I'm an early bird, I no longer have to worry about waking others up just so I can have my morning coffee.

I'm also learning to love Command Strips - they are super awesome for putting hooks wherever you need them without having to screw things in. Love them!

Congrats on your new camper!

 

[KristinU]

Currently we have 3 trips planned to Ft Wilderness this year. After that I am not really sure what we will be doing travel wise. I want to go from FL to Maine next summer but everything else is up in the air.
I bought a 37 ft trailer to be towed by our 2012 Ford F150.

37ft? or did you mean 27 ft?

 

[KGMarie]

37ft? or did you mean 27 ft?

It is a 37ft trailer.

 

[KristinU]

It is a 37ft trailer.

Respectfully, with 37 feet with an F150 you may want to double check your numbers in regards to weight. Published towing capacity typically includes only a driver, so you'll need to account for passengers and gear. And the published weights of campers are typically dry, without any options added so you'll want to account for that as well. Not trying to be preachy! I just know that we had a rig that on paper looked like a no-brainer (our 1500 lb Aliner with a 3500 lb tow capacity Hyundai Santa Fe), but once we added us, dog, gear, bikes, and kayaks we really could feel a power shortfall when we were traveling in hill country.

 

[KGMarie]

Respectfully, with 37 feet with an F150 you may want to double check your numbers in regards to weight. Published towing capacity typically includes only a driver, so you'll need to account for passengers and gear. And the published weights of campers are typically dry, without any options added so you'll want to account for that as well. Not trying to be preachy! I just know that we had a rig that on paper looked like a no-brainer (our 1500 lb Aliner with a 3500 lb tow capacity Hyundai Santa Fe), but once we added us, dog, gear, bikes, and kayaks we really could feel a power shortfall when we were traveling in hill country.

Already looked at all the capacities and have enough weight wise even if fully loaded so we should be good. Thanks tho! The f150 has a over 9000 lb tow capacity and the trailer is 7000 dry

 

[bama_ed]

Wow! 7,000 pounds dry? Really?



Here we go again....

If you have a 9,000 pound tow limit, you should figure a 10-20% safety margin. Then you add all the people, stuff (which grow over the years), and you are at your tow limit.

I'll be the one to say it: that is TOO much trailer for an F150. People then protest, say "nothing's happened yet" (can't say that in your case since you don't have the trailer yet), then they stop posting. They don't want to hear they are borderline unsafe.

You can disagree with me but I wouldn't put my loved ones in that truck, take that big trailer loaded up and heavy on a big trip in a driving rain, heading downhill on the interstate towards Maine, and have some Toyota Prius cut in front of me and hit the brakes. The issue is not being able to pull a big load - the issue is being able to safely STOP a big load - in the worst of conditions.

I've spoken my mind. I'm done here. KristenU is trying to help. I am too. We have posters who have had a bad experience because of these same conditions.

It's an issue of personal safety. Be safe.

Bama Ed

 

[KGMarie]

Wow! 7,000 pounds dry? Really?

http://s947.photobucket.com/user/ba...itude Forum/baby_puzzled_zpsf184f18a.png.html

Here we go again....

If you have a 9,000 pound tow limit, you should figure a 10-20% safety margin. Then you add all the people, stuff (which grow over the years), and you are at your tow limit.

I'll be the one to say it: that is TOO much trailer for an F150. People then protest, say "nothing's happened yet" (can't say that in your case since you don't have the trailer yet), then they stop posting. They don't want to hear they are borderline unsafe.

You can disagree with me but I wouldn't put my loved ones in that truck, take that big trailer loaded up and heavy on a big trip in a driving rain, heading downhill on the interstate towards Maine, and have some Toyota Prius cut in front of me and hit the brakes. The issue is not being able to pull a big load - the issue is being able to safely STOP a big load - in the worst of conditions.

I've spoken my mind. I'm done here. KristenU is trying to help. I am too. We have posters who have had a bad experience because of these same conditions.

It's an issue of personal safety. Be safe.

Bama Ed

I appreciate the concern but have done my homework and so has the place I am buying from. I work for a body shop so I am sure I will step up to another truck if I feel the need or unsafe. Right now I am only going to be using the trailer to drive an hour to Orlando. I have done tons of research and was going to get a fifth wheel but that was pushing our limits so we switched to make sure we were being safe. I don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head but I'm sure everything is ok.

 

[tiggerdad]

I appreciate the concern but have done my homework and so has the place I am buying from. I work for a body shop so I am sure I will step up to another truck if I feel the need or unsafe. Right now I am only going to be using the trailer to drive an hour to Orlando. I have done tons of research and was going to get a fifth wheel but that was pushing our limits so we switched to make sure we were being safe. I don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head but I'm sure everything is ok.

Please do be careful. I bought our 35 foot Jayco last year, bumper pull. She is going at roughly 8500-8900# dry. Originally pulled home with a 1500 Sierra, but would not dare try a long trip with it. When I go from MS to the Fort I use the f-250, which has no trouble pulling or controlling it. Trailer brakes can make or brake you but if that much weight starts to take on the "death swurve" as some people call it, you could be in real danger fast. Keep your speed low and be safe.

Sent from my Desire HD using DISBoards

 

[Born 2 Fish]

I can absolutely understand your excitement, but with all due respect I agree with Ed. We once ruined a 1500 Dodge Ram equipped with the heavy tow package (over a period of time) but the specs said the truck could handle it. Ya need to remember, when they list the specs on trucks, they are giving you the VERY most and under the very best circumstances possible to rate the trucks.


And don't forget about all the fish'n equipment ya'll are gonna need to bring too.

 

[KGMarie]

I tend to buy a new vehicle every 9 months or so. If it seems to be trouble my husband is already itching to buy himself a F250.

 

[thegoofyfamily]

It is a 37ft trailer.

That's alot of trailer for a F150. Be careful with your weights.