twiceblessed....nacole

 We only have 10 bikes, a tandem and 2 unicycles.    People always make some kind of comment if they see into our garage.

Hmmm.... I think those combined may count as your super sized SUV 

Oh my gosh... I need to attend an RV class (do they have those?)... reading all of this (because I cannot picture what you're talking about)... we'll, let's just say  :banghead:

Thanks fiends!  As always... great advise and a huge help.

The books are only helpful if you need advice while on the road.  If you have access to the internet you can get a video of most everything you have that breaks and how to fix it.  I fixed my hot water heater and refrigerator that way.  There are also web sites like this one and Irv2.com that have a lot of very helpful information, particularly about towing.  Look for a thread called the physics of towing.  Finally, I suggest that you take some short trips to get the feel of the rig.  Don't buy any expensive equipment until you determine what you really need.  If you are towing a trailer you may need anti sway bars that may help the problem you will experience when a truck passes you.  Let me be the first to warn you about that so your hubby knows to keep both hands on the streering wheel and to always have one eye on the rear view mirror to look for trucks.  Practice backing the trailer in an empty parking lot.  You will need to do this so that you can back it into a spot at the Fort.  If you can back the trailer into a spot at a 30 degree angle you will do just fine.

We're definitely going to drive it around and find an empty parking lot to unhitch/set-up and then hitch it back up.  The trailer actually came with both the anti-sway bar and a WDH :)   Great tip on keeping both hands on the steering wheel though.  That's basic stuff, but (especially on long trips) you get use to getting comfy which doesn't always mean both hands on the wheel.  Guess we're back to 10 and 2 :)

Does anyone have this guide; if so, would you recommend it to a fellow fiend and her husband who know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about how to tow and/or maintain their new camper?  I was thinking this book, or I believe there's an RVing for dummies :)

Thoughts??

.2 inches?  You could run with less air in the tires....lol

Haha... for better or worse, that's what I said to my husband

My next door neighbor came home with a new Hummer he bought.only to find out it wouldn't fit in the garage.  Bugged him so much he went back to the dealership and an hour later he was back with a Corvette.  Talk about not knowing what kind of vehicle you want. 

Oh gosh... that's too funny.

Ours go in our garage every day :)

Jealous!!   I just measured our garage... 6' 5"... website says Armada is 6'5.2".     .2 inches... really?  

If you need rain, I can just come back.

Just what I was thinking...except I thought all the rain saved up for our visit :)

I squeeze our 2500 crew cab in the garage, when we get tires, not going to happen.  My neighbor was renting the house across the street and was one of those little guys who worked out all the time, cold barely get his arms to his sides.  He went out and bought a big ol jacked up Tundra and tried all afternoon to measure the garage so he could get it in.  Hilarious!   Great entertainment at watching him and his little man temper get all riled up.

Oh gosh... that would have been one to watch :)

Interesting that many people have the same issue... maybe that's why I see so many pick up trucks, parked in the driveway.  Funny, we never thought about that.

Okay... so here's one we never expected.  Searched around for a tow vehicle and decided that a large SUV would be the best fit for us (leaning towards the Armada or Infiniti QX56).  We've test driven a few and one dealership had my husband take one overnight which turned out to be a good thing because.... we cannot fit it into our garage!  Our home was built around '64 and (apparently) the height of the header was not designed to fit today's super large SUV's.  It is 6'5" and the SUV's are around 6'7".   Seriously?!  

Hadn't planned on that one.... 

Congratulations!  

 

Don't worry about being newbs and not knowing everything.  We all started somewhere.  Ask questions and you'll be the ones giving advice in no time.  

Thanks!  I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions so...get ready :)

Congrats! Post pics or it never happened. :)

Working on that! :)

Congrats on the new camper! 

We will be there May 5-10 in the full hookups. If you see a guy pull over a lawn chair and a "beverage" and plop down to watch you back in, that is likely me :)

We'll actually be pulling in on the 10th, so we'll likely miss you.  Maybe we'll be able to connect another time.  I really need to get my Fiends sign! :)

Yes they did have the tents along the ridge off the sites and what we heard several times from CM's was "we have a group of 500". Whether it was that group or the gang in the "Group caming area" since it was also full, I don't know. Consequently they were more lenient about the number or cars per site since the overflow and the overflow overflow parking were full. But as I said earlier I cannot believe how well behaved everyone seemed to be this weekend at least the couple times I was up in 1600 abd going by 1500. Also we did not see the usual number of teens driving recklessly nor did we see any Gators or Mules or the mass congestion at the 3 way that usually occurs on the holiday weekends.

And you are absolutely correct it was a beautiful weekend.

As many of you know, when there are large groups like this many of them leave havoc behind. Well not this group. We looped through this morning after about 75% of them departed and again later in the day. The place looks great. No large piles of "junk" around the trash cans or any of the usual signs of large crowds. So I salute the people from Plato Academy, we'll done folks.

Wonderful reports.   Nice to see others respecting The Fort :)

Thank you, each of you, for your (very) helpful advise.  My husband and I inspected the trailer yesterday...I think I touched every inch of that trailer, including up on the front and crawling on the ground looking underneath.  I pushed the siding, interior walls, walked the floor slowly and everything looked/felt solid.  I saw no evidence of leaks and all the mechanics appeared to work well.  This particular owner has his new trailer, parked next to our storage spot...so I feel (somewhat) confident that his words were honest as he we know, where he "lives"    All that being said.... the trailer really did appear to be in good condition and we do feel that this past owner took good care of it so... we are now the new owners of a cute hybrid trailer! :)  Completely thrilled, but also freaking out a little bit as while this man was explaining about the camper (how to do this and that) we came face-to-face with the full realization that we know NOTHING about how to set up, take down or maintain a camper.  Zero.  Nada.  Zip.  Yep... we're going into this blind (as I'm guessing several have).  So, come May if any of you fiends see a family with a Hybrid completely lost at 1) trying to back the thing into the spot and 2) trying to set it up....that would probably be us :)

Now... on to finding a tow vehicle....

What is make and model?

2006 Trailer Cruiser / Trail Lite by R-Vision  ... but I can't remember the model   It has two pop-out beds and is around 23' when closed.

On a different note... when we were there last week, Disney said that they would reserve campsites IF you were with a large group (20 or more sites).  Of course..I was told this when I requested a specific (EMPTY) spot in the 1500 loop; I was told that a large group was coming in and would occupy 20 of the 21 sites in the 1500 loop.... this never happened and the site we wanted was empty for two days.  I kept asking people I met, if they were part of a large group...and each said no, single families only  

Trailer is a 2006...

Oh...one thing I did notice at the first walk, there is rust on the rack in the fridge... is this normal/okay?

Thank you fiends!  HUGELY helpful!  I'm going to print all of this out, compile a list, and inspect...inspect...inspect.

I know that this seems to take away the fun and enthusiasm out of buying a trailer but you do not want to discover any of these problems while driving down the road.  Once you do hit the road you will go with confidence.     

My thoughts exactly :)    Thank you!

Thanks fiends!!

Yes, check the water, and the electric too, all the lite switches, the turn signals running lites, brake lites, water heater

Can I check the turn signals and brake lights, without hooking it up to the car?

Edited to say:  They will have to move the trailer, to the front of the storage facility (for water and electricity), so it will actually be hooked up to his truck... we'll definitely check those lights!

Is this trailer fiberglass or aluminum sided?

I'm not sure.  Do you know, how I can tell?  Either way...something specific that we should look for?

Final walk on a used trailer this weekend.  I know to look for the following, please let me know what I am missing:

Exterior:

tires,

windows

siding

hitch area

Interior:

Flooring (check for soft spots)

Fabric

Cabinets

Check functions of:  stove, a/c, furnace and microwave

Check blinds/curtains

SHOULD I connect the water and flush the toilet or run water down the sink?

Thanks fiends!!!

Update:   Well, we did get rained out and had to leave a couple of days early...Disney refunded our money, no questions asked :)

I know you can run a carfax on the VIN number, on a vehicle.... 

Is there a VIN number for a camper?  If so, should you check it...or just do a really good inspection?

I don't know much about towing but FWIW, I love my 2011 QX56. It's really comfy for long rides.

Thanks!  Tom just found one online that he's really interested in... now if the snow/ice would just go away, maybe we could actually look a few vehicles! :)