Well the wife and I took out the new trailer for our first camping excursion last weekend.

First, towing with the KR. It has absolutely no problem towing the new trailer, GVWR of 4850lbs, although I did go ahead and get an equalizer hitch and anti-sway bar just to ease the wear and tear on the KR. On the interstate, I do have to pop the O/D off, otherwise it tends to shift back and forth and I don't like that. That's really hard on a transmission. anyway, with the O/D off, I'm cruising at 65mph at 2500 rpm. It likes the gas that way, but like I said it never shifts down when going up a hill when I do it this way so I feel it's better.

As for the trailer, I had a couple of little items I had to fix on it before we took it out. Assembly floor personnel at Forst River need a few lessons on quality control I believe. They cross threaded the plastic connector on the water heater when they hooked it up at the factory and it leaked, so I had to replace that. Then when it rained here I had a leak in the TV antenna that dripped. Not alot of water, but still, shouldn't do that. Low and behold they didn't have the o'ring on the crank shaft for the antenna so I had to replace that as well. The dealer also had to replace a bracket on the slideout before we took it home. Fortunately, I didn't have to mess with that. I had a nice conversation with the customer service person at Forest River. Anyway, after those items were fixed, we had a great time in the new trailer. Got a little chilly on Friday night and I didn't want to turn the furnace on so I plugged in the heated mattress. The wife liked this almost as much as the heated seats in the KR. (I have reported her outlook on the heated seats before, I don't think I really want to know what she does with that in the passenger side). Everything else worked great. Slept like a champ on the mattress, which sometimes in trailers can be pretty thin, but I am very happy with the comfort on these. Toilet was nice, didn't have to go outside in the middle of the night to do our business.

Anyway, I can't remember who it was that wanted a report after I tried it out so thought I would post it. If anybody wants any more details, just let me know. I'll try to post a couple of pics in the future, hopefully I can get some when we are at the campsite next weekend so ya'll can see what it looks like.

 

I was one of the ones interested IL6 as we are thinking of getting a camping trailer. Waiting for those pics

Thanks
G

 

Pooh - I'll post as soon as I get them.

 

Camp trailers rule. As far as the quality control, I had a friend that worked for Fleetwood and they do literally slap those things together.

 

Glad to hear that all went well on the tow.

 

Pictures!

 

IL6fan

I am towing something very similar, it is a 25 ft Mallard by Fleetwood RV. It's a travel trailer, GVWR 5,600# and a dry weight of 4,200#.

It works great with the wife and I and three kids, yes that's right 3 kids. Hate to date myself on this board as I am sure this will prompt many a response.

I had read in a previous post you picked up some clip on miror extensions, who are they made by, and approx how much were they.

I have the ones that mount to the door with a strap that runs from the window down to the base of the door with a support arm part of the way down. I would like to cange them to the clip on style.

Canuck

 

Let me see if I can find them on the net and post a link. I'm at work right now, and am trying to remember the brand. I'll find 'em tho. Hang tight.

IL6fan

 

No rush, tomorrow is fine.

I am guessing that I might not be able to find them up here anyway but I thought I would ask just in case.

Canuck

 

These are the ones that I have. You can order them online from Campingworld, I bought mine I think at an Autozone or one of those type stores. I have used these several times when we have pulled the camper and have not had any problems with them. They clip on the black plastic trim on the mirror, and they have foam pads that seat on the painted surface of the mirrors. No scratches or any of the such, which was a big worry of mine when I was looking for some tow mirrors. I'm happy with them. You can also do a search on camping world too for other options, but this is what I have. Oh, BTW, the turn signals on the KR mirrors are still visible with these on the truck too.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...=SRCH&tcode=37


Let me know if you have any questions.

IL6fan

 

Thanks for the info, I have sourced a retailer here and will be checking stock with them tomorrow.

Happy camping.

Canuck

 

NP, glad I could help. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info on your trailer towing experience IL6Fan. I was wondering how you handled the mirrors, glad to have that bit of info also.

I'm getting ready to call on a 1973 Airstream International 31', sounds like a steal at $5,200. I'm not sure if I want one that big, I also found a 26' in Tulsa that I think would be less of a load on the KR.

When I get my Airstream I will post pictures.

Jayhawker in Texas

 

Hey Jayhawker, did you see my thread with the pics?

 

I saw your thread with the pictures, the trailer looks great.

Jayhawker