Newbie overnight question

[Dan G]

Opinions please. Traveling to from Wisc to Ft Myers Fl leaving 12/28. 4 stops overnight. Do you folks disconnect the monte from your truck each night? A friend of mine who has full timed for years said he disconnects each night to give his springs on truck a break. He pulls 40 ft toy hauler with a f250 diesel. My truck is a f350 dually.

[mlh]

I do need ever disconnect at night. I don’t see any reason to.
Lynwood

[Fish]

I only disconnect for an overnight if I'm running into town for cheap fuel.

Montana rep told me it was ok. Drop the front jacks and take some weight off the truck, drop the back jacks to somewhat level. Put out the slides.

We're leaving Friday from So. IL for Labelle Florida, about 35-40 miles east of Ft. Myers.

[mhs4771]

We do pretty much the same as Fish, provided the site is somewhere near level.

[richfaa]

We always ask for a pull through full hookups and they are most always long enough to stay hooked up. Most CGs ask for the length of the RV.

[DutchmenSport]

I do not unhook ONLY if the trailer is level (which almost always never happens). We do not boom dock in Wall Mart or Cracker Barrel parking lots. We always overnight in a campground: Good Sam or KOA campgrounds. And only very rarely have we been on a campsite that was completely level.

So we unhitch. It only takes a moment to unhitch, pull the truck forward about 4 feet and let auto level level the trailer. Then we are truly safe to pull the slides out.

I know there are those who say you can pull the slides out and not be level, but for me personally, I'm not a risk taker. I'll take the extra 5 minutes to unhitch, level, and set up so nothing goes wrong. When hitching up, everything is reversed. Simply back the truck straight back and hitch up again. With our Lippert 6 point auto level, the system remembers the height of the fifth wheel when retracting the jacks and makes it easy-peasy hitching back up.

Now, when we had our travel trailer with no slides, I very seldom ever unhitched. I'd slip lumber under the trailer tires and get it as close as possible, unless it was really on a front to rear slope. But with slide-outs, I want the camper level as possible and jacks down.... always.

I personally do not think there is a right or a wrong here. Test the waters with your own camper and see what works best for you. But when your wife slides off the bed at 2:30 am .... I think you WILL be releveling... in your pajamas!

[AZ Traveler]

Dan,

First - welcome to the forum! This is a great place to learn and share.

I generally only unhook if I need to fuel the truck or run out for dinner. Either way will work.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

I do not unhook ONLY if the trailer is level (which almost always never happens). We do not boom dock in Wall Mart or Cracker Barrel parking lots. We always overnight in a campground: Good Sam or KOA campgrounds. And only very rarely have we been on a campsite that was completely level.

So we unhitch. It only takes a moment to unhitch, pull the truck forward about 4 feet and let auto level level the trailer. Then we are truly safe to pull the slides out.

I know there are those who say you can pull the slides out and not be level, but for me personally, I'm not a risk taker. I'll take the extra 5 minutes to unhitch, level, and set up so nothing goes wrong. When hitching up, everything is reversed. Simply back the truck straight back and hitch up again. With our Lippert 6 point auto level, the system remembers the height of the fifth wheel when retracting the jacks and makes it easy-peasy hitching back up.

Now, when we had our travel trailer with no slides, I very seldom ever unhitched. I'd slip lumber under the trailer tires and get it as close as possible, unless it was really on a front to rear slope. But with slide-outs, I want the camper level as possible and jacks down.... always.

I personally do not think there is a right or a wrong here. Test the waters with your own camper and see what works best for you. But when your wife slides off the bed at 2:30 am .... I think you WILL be releveling... in your pajamas!

^^^^^Same here. I used to stop and stay hooked up but that leaves you in some odd feeling situations....and didn't run with slides. Now, I unhook every time then level to avoid any issues and feel more comfortable. I always plan my stops anyway and with that I plan fuel and a nice restaurant...if available. I do however try to always stop by 4pm or so that I can do those things.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by sourdough

^^^^^Same here. I used to stop and stay hooked up but that leaves you in some odd feeling situations....and didn't run with slides. Now, I unhook every time then level to avoid any issues and feel more comfortable. I always plan my stops anyway and with that I plan fuel and a nice restaurant...if available. I do however try to always stop by 4pm or so that I can do those things.

I'm with these guys. It only takes me minutes to disconnect. I will stay connected if I can get it really close to level while connected. The fridges and slides do not like to be operated out of level.

As far as relieving the weight on the truck, that makes no sense at all. You travel 1000,s of miles down the road without worrying about that. Why worry when you are sitting still overnight.

[BobStack]

Only stay connected on level ground such as overnighting in a parking lot. I always try to use the auto leveler before opening the slides. No sense putting any stress on things.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by BobStack

Only stay connected on level ground such as overnighting in a parking lot. I always try to use the auto leveler before opening the slides. No sense putting any stress on things.

Do NOT under any circumstance use auto level when the trailer is still connected the tow vehicle. You will be sorry you did that !!!!!

[mazboy]

i just MAUALLY DROP THE FRONT LEGS.


i also disconnect the cable to the truck to avoid drain on our truck.

[GreG L.]

We always use Good Sam, KOA or something close to that. I only unhook if we are very close to level left to right looking at the Level Up display, don't worry about front to back (residential refrigerator) unless it is so bad the shower wont drain, it will drain on the road but not where you want it to.

IMHO leaning the slides too far off level does not seam like a good idea but that is a judgment call you have to make.

[Twinlens7]

We full time rv in fifth wheel we drop rv go out eat meal fuel up eat meal next morning hook up and leave Lowe -home depot- bass pro- gander mountain are good place to ck with most let us stay overnight

[Bob and Jeannette]

I am thrilled to stay in a level pull through on the road so that I do not have to disconnect.

[team bradfield]

I'm with B & J, we stay at CG's with pull thru sites, 95% of the time they are level, rarely need to unhook, been pulling a fiver for over 20 years

[jwengermt]

We unhook every night. We haven't been on a site yet that was completely level and don't want to run the tip outs if it is not level. As someone else said, if you're doing a hookup anyway to sewer, water, and power the little bit of time it takes to unhook is minimal. We only stay in RV parks. Don't do the WalMart etc. If we did, i might consider leaving it hooked up.

[CaptnJohn]

May see you in Ft Myers. We arrive 1/3. I do NOT disconnect or drop landing gear if near level. Residential fridge makes a difference. I usually connect electric and water only.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by Dan G

Opinions please. Traveling to from Wisc to Ft Myers Fl leaving 12/28. 4 stops overnight. Do you folks disconnect the monte from your truck each night? A friend of mine who has full timed for years said he disconnects each night to give his springs on truck a break. He pulls 40 ft toy hauler with a f250 diesel. My truck is a f350 dually.

For me it depends on what time I arrive and what time I intend to leave the next morning. Its all about time. For instance, If I arrive around 4-6 pm and I am leaving around 8-9 am I might unhook. If I arrive around 6-7 pm and leave at 7-8 the next morning I likely will stay hooked up but might drop my front jacks to take some weight off the truck and then drop my rear jacks for stability. In the AM I just hit “ retract all” and bring up the jacks, do a walk around, and hit the road.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

For me it depends on what time I arrive and what time I intend to leave the next morning. Its all about time. For instance, If I arrive around 4-6 pm and I am leaving around 8-9 am I might unhook. If I arrive around 6-7 pm and leave at 7-8 the next morning I likely will stay hooked up but might drop my front jacks to take some weight off the truck and then drop my rear jacks for stability. In the AM I just hit “ retract all” and bring up the jacks, do a walk around, and hit the road.

I only use pull through sites so as long as they are fairly level I will manually drop front and rear jacks to take a little weight off TV and add some stability.