What to leave in when going to trade - Montana Owners Club

Okie Guy · 11-18-2007, 04:27 PM

I am convinced we should leave everything in the trailer and then switch it ot he new trailer when we get to Missouri. My partner is persistant that we take everything out before we leave the house then put it back in when we get home. If the dealer was just down the street I would have no problem with this idea...but the dealer is 9 hours away and this is an overnight/weekend trip to pick up the new unit.
What have others been through when trading off? Do dealers mind if you transfer over the contents at the dealer? Is it better to just empty out then go pick up the new unit? We have been fighting about this all night.

stiles watson · 11-18-2007, 04:39 PM

We have a home base in Central Texas. We traded units while on the road in Grain Valley, MO near Kansas City, MO. We rented two sites side by side at a campground near the dealership. We pulled the new unit beside the old unit and moved all the gear over from the old to the new.

That way we put things were they needed to be rather than just cramming stuff into the new Montana to be sorted out later. It was a lot of work, but we think it paid off because when it was done, it was done. We spent an extra day after I pulled the old unit to the dealership to straighten things out for going on the road in the new unit.

clutch · 11-18-2007, 05:03 PM

We brougnt our 5er home and transfered all the stuff from our old travel trailer to the newer unit. Then we sold the TT for a lot more than the dealer would have given us.

Dustytuu · 11-18-2007, 05:38 PM

We just parked the old unit door to door beside the new unit and switched everything. But my DH took some things out before we left home that I wish he had not! Things we needed.

But we managed.
We did take along boxes and packed those the night before.
Have not met a dealer that objected to moving stuff from old to new. We have done this 4 times!

bsmeaton · 11-18-2007, 06:00 PM

Our Dealer was an 8 hour drive away as well. We chose to unload everything, clean the trailer, sort the manuals, and deliver it exactly as we would expect to buy one. For us it was just easier that way, and we stayed at a hotel.

Part of the reason was it was -17 F in January

, but I still think I would do it that way again. We spent 2 months doing upgrades to the new one before we ever loaded anything back into it. It was nice not having to work around dishes, linens, etc while running new wires and the like.

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-18-2007, 10:49 PM

We were fortunate in that the dealer was just 6 miles away.
At our CG we unloaded about 75% of our stuff and at the dealer, with the rigs sitting door to door, we moved the remaining 25%. I had also purchased a skirt for the pin box area and put it in place when we returned to the CG. I than started loading the 75% of stuff. Most went back inside where it belonged and the balance went behind the skirt to be put back as I set up each compartment individually. I than took the next 2 months putting everything exactly where it belonged.
I learned a very valuable lesson watching others try to switch everything and not having the time to do it right the first time. Usually doing it that way took time to get everything back in it's place and until it was totally organized you couldn't find a thing.
Of course like I said "We were fortunate" in that I was sitting for the winter and had all the time in the world to do it the way I wanted it. A place for everything and everything in it's place.

Joyce H · 11-19-2007, 12:29 AM

When we traded the last time the dealer parked our units door to door and we moved items from one to the other. However it did take a few days to get everything into the proper place. When we trade in early December for the Big Sky we plan to pre pack some things into containers or boxes so the move can be done more efficiently. Again the dealer has said they will park the unit door to door for us.

H. John Kohl · 11-19-2007, 12:55 AM

You have heard both options. We had to do it quick and did not have a sick house for a home base so we did a DOOR to DOOR swap. That took six people about three hours. Yes, things were not where they were suppose to be because the storage spaces were not identical. Best of luck and tow safe. If you have the time to stage it is also a good time to sort out the nice to have that have not been used.

Parrothead · 11-19-2007, 04:44 AM

When we traded the dealer allowed us to move things from the old to new although we did pack up a lot of stuff and left it at our site with owners permission. The first time we traded the dealer park the units side by side (front to back) and put a board at the doors above the steps so we could just walk from one to the other. The 2nd time the dealer wasn't so nice and we had the oppsite problem Brad had, it was 104 degrees! Depending on the weather be sure the dealer will have electric for both units hooked up.
Happy trails........................

richfaa · 11-19-2007, 05:32 AM

Well we unloaded absolutely everything from the old camper but that was only because we wanted to find out what was IN the old camper. Found stuff we did not know we had and was a chance to not load all the junk you never use into the new camper. Your individual circumstances should dictate what you need to do.

Bob & Lee · 11-19-2007, 10:28 AM

We were in Colorado and traded in KC Mo. we took out what we didnt use much and put in shed, boxed the remainder and drove to KC Mo. pulled side by side at dealer and unloaded and reloaded then pulled to sons in white city Ks and unpacked, unpacked the remainder as we needed it in Colorado.

Okie Guy · 11-19-2007, 02:06 PM

Oh my lord! I never could have imagined all the stuff I had tucked away in the corners of the cabinets of our trailer. I started boxing up all of the stuff Sunday and ended up throwing two big trash cans(curb cans) full of stuff away. I bought a bunch of those plastic tubs from the dollar store so I can have everything sorted when I get to the dealer and just put it in the trailer then take off. When I get to the RV Park for the night I will put stuff up.

I am still trying to figure out exactly what I why we had 4 queen sized memory foam matress pads stuck in the back of the closet. We have a pillow top matress and two for the hide-a-bed sofa stuck under the bed. It must have been a good sale ore something. I was also surprised to see how much dog stuff was in the trailer. He has more toys than most small children. Mister PeeWee has lost his cabinet space and will now be limited to one tennis ball, one chew toy and raw hide in the camper. The most bizarre find was a box full of cable splitters and other electric gadgets which I have been looking for over the past 6 months.
Its amazing how much stuff we have and don't realize it until a good cleaning.

mobilrvn · 11-19-2007, 03:32 PM

When you full time there isn't really a choice. We parked at the dealers and put the rigs door to door. Found that a couple of five gallon buckets were handy in transfering stuff.

Dustytuu · 11-20-2007, 02:56 AM

Good luck and congrats on the new model!

An early Christmas present!!

Fordzilla · 11-20-2007, 02:59 AM

We unloaded everything at home but realized when at the dealer that they normally park them door to door and put a 2x12 across the two entrances and walk across. Would have been quicker. But as some have mentioned we would have not had the opportunity to leave stuff home that we don't use any more.

TLightning · 11-20-2007, 05:33 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by clutch

We brougnt our 5er home and transfered all the stuff from our old travel trailer to the newer unit. Then we sold the TT for a lot more than the dealer would have given us.

Same here...for much more than the dealer was going to give us.

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