New RVer

[Winstons]

Wow, this was a great message. I appreciate all of your advice. I’m printing the inspection now.

[jeffba]

LOL if you have not figured out yet, this forum wil spend your money

[Vet4jdc]

The best money you will spend is on a 12 pack of beer. An RV will make you smile, make you mad, spend your money, frustrate the hell out of you and all the while can give you many hours, days and weeks of enjoyment.

When you get mad or frustrated about something.......that's what the beer is for!

[Winstons]

There’s not much left........

[FlyNavy]

Congratulations on your purchase, you’re going to have wonderful experiences in your new “rig.”

I wanted to share a source of info and entertainment that’s been invaluable for my family...YouTube. There are some fantastic channels that will give a million ideas & tips.

Here are my favorites:

Keep Your Daydream
Less Junk More Journey
Changing Lanes
Long Long Honeymoon

An example; Long, Long Honeymoon just released a video called “Do you have “MayPop” tires on your rv?” It’a a humorous/serious look at what they’re using and why.

Enjoy your journey

Cheers

[oakland ironworker]

I would say most people buy alot of stuff they don't end up using. Start minimum and keep a list of things you find you need. Find a campsite near your house (make sure it is an easy pull through) and stay for a weekend. you can still go and shop somewhere familiar and get what you need. I spent alot of time in my local industrial park on weekends getting used to towing and backing my trailer. Alot of new owners get overwhelmed by the size of their trailer and end up not using it as much.

[FlyNavy]

Wanted to add a bit of info about YouTube, and how to find & use the channels I recommended above.

1. You do NOT need an account with google to watch a YouTube video.

2. You can use an app or go to YouTube to watch videos.

3. Enter the name of one of the channels I recommended.

3. Tap on their logo to go to their channel. Once there, go to the top of the page and touch “videos,” that will show their videos in chronological order. Very helpful as these channels (sometimes) create videos that need to be watched in order.

That’s about it. Once again, you don’t need to have an account or share personal info to watch videos. Google (the owner of YouTube) and the channel owners make their money from ad revenue. The channel creator/owners also make a small commission if you use a link in their video descriptions to buy a product.

I think you’ll enjoy the adventures these people have documented and shared. Keep Your Daydream did a whole season in Alaska, and another season in New Zealand (a stunningly beautiful country).

Also, these people are great at sharing the fun things & places, but...they’re all “full timers” and share an immense amount of trial and error information.

Another example; Changing Lanes pulls a huge toy hauler and just had MorRyde independent suspension installed. It’s a two part series that shows them being towed in their rig, before and after the suspension install. Without seeing a video, who would have ever guessed the difference in ride quality.

You get the idea. Hope it helps you have a safe & happy journey.

Cheers

[RickyRobert]

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! With a little time, a fair amount of patience, and a bunch of money you're in for a whale of a time. Been 5th wheeling for almost 25 years now and just acquired a new 3931FB with all of the bells and whistles. Personally, I strongly suggest that you join Good Sam and Camping World/et al, and acquire their various protection policies - remembering that you're buying "insurance", so the return comes in time of need (plus the Camping World/et al membership provides for 10% discounts. While Walmart is great for a lot of RV stuff, and definitely less expensive than the RV stores, they do, after all, only carry so much RV inventory. May I ask you where you are located geographically? The reason is if you are anywhere near Kansas MO, I am going to be at the Camping World Grain Valley location next week for some warranty work and would be happy to be your guide through the store etc. And even if this cannot be, by joining Good Sam you are opening your world to a great bunch of people who would make the same offer as I. Take care, have fun, and dependent on where you're located make sure that the selling dealer has winterized the unit for you. Cheers.

[Winstons]

Thanks for the offer, but we're in Texas. And we're looking forward to joining the "Good Sam" network.

[Winstons]

We are bringing our trailer home on Monday and will not be storing it near any pavement or blacktop. We live in the country and will be resting the landing legs either in the grass or on gravel. Does anyone recommend using blocks, and if not why? Thank you.

[jsb5717]

It's a personal preference. I like blocks under the jacks, especially on gravel or grass.

[DutchmenSport]

Originally Posted by Winstons

... We live in the country and will be resting the landing legs either in the grass or on gravel. Does anyone recommend using blocks, and if not why? Thank you.

If you are parking on grass or dirt, yes, absolutely, put something under the tires and under the jacks. The more, the better. Use the heaviest, longest, widest board under the tires). Use blocks, or stacks of blocks under each jack. Again, with the widest and longest foot print on the ground possible.

Why? The trailer will sink in the ground! The shear weight of the trailer alone will sink in the ground, especially if the ground is already soft or wet. It will continue to sink the longer it sits.

The last thing you want is for the trailer tires to sink in the ground an inch or two. By having the tires on a large sized piece of lumber, the weight is distributed over a much larger area. And the tires are not sinking in the dirt. When you hitch up, the tires will roll off the lumber and then get through the grass with no problem.

The jacks will also sink from the weight. If one jack has a greater weight than another one, the jack carrying the heaviest load will start to sink farthest, causing the trailer to soon be unlevel. Not to mention, sinking in the dirt, which may be hard getting them them to raise when you decide to hitch up.

So, ON GRASS, you want as much foot print as humanly possible under the tires and jacks. On asphalt, gravel, concrete, all that lumber and square footage is not necessary. Simple Lego blocks are OK for leveling. But on grass, dirt, and sand, trailers sink.

Just a bit of advise. Good luck!

[GreG L.]

All the above is great information, but there is so much more you can get by reading through the forums or just experience.
One of the simple things we learned early on, is get good ground cover (a rug), to put out under and around the stairs when you are camping, this saves a tremendous amount of dirt and sand from getting inside if your some ware without grass, especially with dogs, it can be found at Camping world.
As for Camping World, it is a great resource for stuff, especially if you become a member. Opinions vary about Camping World as a service shop, again read the forums and make up your own mind.
Have a wonderful time.

[DebNJim B]

Well, congrats on the new camper and welcome from Upstate NY to the MOC.
That’s a very nice floorplan you’ve chosen and you’ve come to the right place for advice on how to set up to begin camping adventure. Just want to comment on a couple.
First that camp coffee pot. We picked one up at a garage sale maybe 30 years ago for $.50 and it’s been with us through at least 10 campers. Started when we camped a state parks w/o electric and now it’s just for back up but it’s good sometimes to just have that good old camp coffee to start the day.

Then there’s the air compressor. We only carry one. It’s a a/c, d/c, battery tankless. It replaced a tank compressor to reduce space and weight. Whether you go tank or tankless you’ll need something to go up to 150psi for the tires you have. BTW I have the Sailins and love them and you start them out cold at 110psi. I don’t “air down” on arrival and don’t know what that is.

One piece of equipment that’s particularly important is an electric management system referred to here as an EMS. That will guard you against power surges but more than that it will warn you of high or low voltages and open grounds among other things that can cause big $$ damage to your unit. Campgrounds (CG) don’t have the best reputation with their service pedestals and if your EMS detects a problem it will shut if down.

One thing we did with our first 5er about 8 years ago was to stay in it in the back yard for 3 weeks just like if we were camping. A stay-at-home shakedown cruise. We used all systems except the A/C and electric side of the W/H because we only had a 20A service. We had a septic system near by so used all the water systems. When you bring it home and park it, if you’re close to the house you may want to try that. You’ll discover a lot of things you need to supply the rig with. Speaking of parking it, I can’t emphasize enough the advice you got to put planks and blocks under the tires and jacks. This is very important anytime you’re parked on bare ground and especially on grass.

After you’ve used the camper for a year you’re going to find things that you wish were different. The good news is you can make it the way you want it. Check out the mods section of this forum and you’ll see what I mean. I find doing the mods and tweaking things is as much fun as the traveling and camping.

Here’s hoping you have many years of enjoyment out of this stage of you life as we have.

Oh, and the best deal on a patio mat is Walmart. High quality mat at a great price.