Large Scale Central

Camping Trailers (Moved from TrainOps 2024)

Jon,
I really hope you didn’t mean a whole quart of dish soap :smiley:
We have always used dry laundry detergent and Calgon bath beads, couple spoons of each and 3-4 gallons of water and the bouncy ride home does the rest. Have never used chemicals and never had a smell issue and especially that nasty chemical smell.

Mom says that if the site doesn’t have everything up to and including WiFi we are Boon docking, and she doesn’t do that anymore. Probably goes back to our early days and hunting/fishing trips when the gear was an ice chest, camp stove, and a sleeping bag in the truck bed, she was a good sport for quite a few years.

Our latest trailer the Wildwood FSK, 179DBK and our mods.
A screen shot of how the bunk area looked from the factory, I didn’t take before pictures because I wasn’t planning a build log around this project :smiley:

Our modifications to the area.
The top bunk turned into an 18 inch wide wrap around shelf and the bottom bunk was cut back to 28 inches wide for the dogs bed. We have a Mini Aussie and a Border Collie that love camping. The wardrobe on the right has a cubby hole under for a step stool to be stored. The stool makes it easy for the little dog to jump to the bunk and gives us better access to the storage bins on the top shelf.

The cabinet we added to expand the kitchen, where it sits was just dead wasted space.

At least a dozen other small modifications and additions have been put in place, the last major one I am working on now is pullout drawers for the storage spaces under the dinette seats, instead of having to lift the cushions and the plywood sheets to access things.

Wow! $500 +petrol to get there!
Rumours here are you can O/N at Walmarts. Or is that an urban myth?

Nice work Rick!

The detergent is usually Simple Green or Fabuloso if I can’t find the Simple Green.

Like I said earlier, I wanted to convert the 1 twin over 1 double bunk to an office area with a desk. That idea was killed when I used the area under the lower bunk to run new duct work for the furnace. Mice got in the heating system one year. I had to completely tear down the furnace to get the smell out and I sealed up and abandoned the under floor ducts that they used as tunnels.

You can say it’s had a few issues :smiley:

You can, but a lot of them are in sketchy areas. Cracker Barrel restaurants are a better choice if available. They have great breakfasts too!

The petrol (gasoline) isn’t too bad and prices here have been relaxing. I get over 15mpg towing the camper and its only 160 miles door to door.

We stayed at the Cabela’s in PA during our recent trip. Felt very secure, and both times there were only about four other rigs there. The area for RVs is gigantic, and they have a dump station and potable water, which a couple dozen rigs used while we were there.

What vehicle are you going to pull theses trailers with Jon?

Same one I’ve been pulling my current 32 footer: KIA Sorrento with the 5K Rated tow package. My current unit is well over 5K unloaded (4.7K as built + many add-ons). I run a Hensley Arrow hitch which makes a huge difference.

EDIT to add a P.S. It tows great even in the hills and gets over 15MPG towing! My GMC Envoy struggled on hills and got 7MPG towing at best.

We went and looked at the Surveyor today and stopped at a dealer that sells the Apex. Even though the Surveyor MSRP is $5K more than the Apex the bottom line deal is $600 cheaper for the Surveyor. Because it’s in-stock and the 2025’s are on the way, the Surveyor dealer made a trade offer of what I was planning to sell it outright for. The Apex dealer gave me an insulting trade allowance of $500.

We looked in some of the other Apex models that were in stock. The fit and finish just isn’t quite as good as the Surveyor. The Surveyor is very roomy looking inside with a light decor. Apex is changing to a dark decor for 2025 which would be what I could order.

The only sticking point keeping me from pulling the trigger on the Surveyor is the single axle. I’m not worried about handling, but rather what happens if a tire goes. It does come with TPMS installed.

Jon,
We found a tandem set up gives better stability when towing and when set up but there is twice as much running gear to maintain and replace. What’s your tradeoff?

First thing we do with a new trailer is go directly to the tire shop and have new upgraded tires and wheels (if necessary) installed, eases the mind considerably.

Have you found that service departments want to give you some grief because of the Hensley?

Other than the initial “We Owe” fixes (stabilizers ripped off in transit, interior slide roller foot broke off) we’ve never needed dealer service. Nothing else broke in warranty and I do all my own maintenance. The only time the Hensley was an issue is when my tow vehicle blew a water pump on the interstate. The tow truck they sent had a welded on ball, no 2" receiver box. They finally decided to tow it still connected. Fortunately it was only a few miles from the dealer where I bought the SUV.

I just did a side-by-side feature comparison. The Surveyor wins on nearly every point. And the most important thing - Marilyn loves it.

If the boss say’s that’s the one, well, done deal :smiley:

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Talked to the sales guy this morning. He is trying to convince us to take delivery before our Train Ops trip. I’m not sure I can get it emptied, and swap out the Fantastic Fan and cover for the original vent in time. Especially with the heat wave this week.

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We did it! They offered us what I would have asked private sale for our current trailer. The dealer I bought the current one from insulted us with a lo-ball trade and so-so discount. They lost a deal!

We close on Friday the 28th.

I think we are good. Goodyear radials on aluminum rims. Makes me sad that I’m giving them 4 brand new Maxxis on my old one. Buying China Bombs for it to keep the Maxxis doesn’t make sense as they will age out before I will need them.

I am swapping out a Fantastic Fan and Max Air cover for a cheap Camco roof vent which was what it came with. AC is running - we start packing out today!

Is it done yet? Roosta wants to know!
:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

:smiley: --------------------<20 ?

They even put our name on it :grin:

You gave him your real name and not your alias :laughing:

We tend to note the annual migration of the caravan people tends to peak in January at the peak of summer during school holidays.

Is there a Caravan Season where you live, or do you use your caravan year round?

Herself, wants to RV a trip in the USA and I’m wondering if that is a good way to see the national parks.

We are in the Northeast US (Connecticut) and don’t camp in winter.

Our old unit we would use into mid fall and again in early spring. It has heat, and used to have a heated underbelly, but I would not have intentionally taken into freezing temps.

The new unit is “Extended Season” meaning it’s good until the hard freezes and can survive overnight freeze for a few days with heated underbelly and tank heaters. We don’t have any plans (yet) to take advantage of that.

Lately, campsites in the parks are hard to get. We’ve never done anything other than commercial campgrounds, but this fall we will be taking a long road trip out West and I’m sure several nights at Cracker Barrel or Cabella’s is in order. Walmarts are too busy and often in sketchy areas.

If you have never used an RV, or are new to it. Find the movie RV. It’s a comedy, but pretty true to RV life!

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I’m still a tent camper with the goals of eventually being a trailer camper but unless things change with more campgrounds built, it’s hard to find campgrounds on the spur of the moment.

We start will be planning summer of 25 during this years camping adventures as many state parks are 9 months in advance reservations. And the popular places you are reserving 9 months to the minute when they open.

If/when we get a trailer I can see us staying in a lot of forest service campgrounds and dry camping.