So after a few months of searching for the perfect trailer (for me) and a couple more waiting for it to be built i have finally joined the XLR family...or an XLR has joined mine. I ended up with a 2012 factory order 23FBV from Jeff Couch's in Hamilton Ohio. The hardest part was that i'm located in Alberta Canada and he is near Cincinnati Ohio about 3200kms away.
I took 2 days to drive down ad met the the dealer on Monday morning last week. I didnt leave myself nearly enough time to fully go through the trailer before leaving with it but the setup guys over there did a pretty good job with what time i gave them. They also did a great job of having all of the necessary paperwork for my border crossing there for me.
We tested all of the lights the fridge, AC and the furnace only to find that the furnace vent knock-out wasn't removed so that had to be removed and fixed on site. I had to stop in Saint Louis on my way back to pick up a bike so i hauled it there that evening. I spent the night in the bike dealers parking lot and found myself wishing i brought my Gen to run the AC as it was stink hot and muggy. Instead i spent my first night in the trailer trouble shooting the wiring under the trailer...the battery cable was connected on an unbridged breaker so there wasnt any power in the trailer unless i hooked my truck up =(
After 2 1/2 days driving to get home i did an extensive check on all of the trailers systems and only found a few deficiencies that i ended up fixing myself.
- water heater cold inlet fitting wasn't crimped and was leaking.
-water heater 110/AC cord wasn't plugged in
-video RCA cable from DVD player was loose and not working.
-window valences were coming loose and required longer screws
all in all im very pleased with the build quality and fit and finish of the unit. XLR changed the spec on the Half-time oven and i ended up with a microwave instead. They also took out the switch for inside/outside speakers so i have to fade the stereo to switch between the two. They did however build the bed lift with the rigging for a second bed of couch so to add one later will be an easy job.
I towed the trailer with a 2007 Chev 1500 with a 5.3 and 3.73 4spd. I purchased an E2 1000/10,000 hitch that was easy to setup and did a marvelous job keeping the sway in check ( had some crazy winds ). The trailer stated it weighs 5800lbs and i added an 850lb bike and another 2-300lbs of gear for the journey. I averaged 10mpg over the 3900km trip home and left it in 3rd gear the whole way (5.3's love to rev).
Hope this wasnt too hard to read but i had a couple requests on this forum for a log of how things went.