A128S Converted from ALINER Ranger

[DGrissom]

Originally Posted by ko777

How about any tips on how to hook up the trailer, never done it so I have no clue how to align the hitch.
Do they teach you how this is done when you pick it up from the dealer?

We all go through this at one time or another!

Make the dealer show you as much as possible about everything! If necessary, bring a video camcorder and record everything they show you.

Most likely, they will show you enough to get started. You will rapidly figure out the rest. My dealer gave me some misinformation about the electric brakes. I sat down and studied the manuals and viewed videos on the web that helped a lot.

I used to own a boat years ago. I was shocked that I had forgot how to hitch to and back up the trailer properly.

I agree with Jeep4two.
Backing into the hitch is probably a two person job for most of us. Try not to get too frustrated with your helper during this process. The main thing is to take it slow and be careful! If you use a helper, have them give you accurate arm and hand motions. It is helpful to have them visually gauge both alignment and distance to the ball -- show the distance between their two hands, etc. I still get out of the vehicle and check when I am within a foot or so of the hitch.

Like handbuilder, I've used the guide mechanisms. They work well. However, I've gotten used to hitching the unit up by myself now. I've only dented the tow vehicle's bumper once or twice. Just kidding!

[ko777]

Awesome information I'm getting here, much appreciated and thanks. I think I'll enjoy my experience getting my first camp trailer tomorrow.

[gregory]

Adding to DGrissom's advice: remind your back up helper to stay in your mirrors or view. If they can't see your face, you can't see them.

Agreed also, talk over with your helper what the hand and arm motions mean, that they are using, before attempting to hook up.

Deb

[ko777]

I got my A128S and it is parked in my front yard. What do you recommend for locking the trailer. I use a cable to lock the propane tanks and battery. I also lock the tongue pin. What do you use when parked at home and in your trips.

[FarFromStock]

Originally Posted by ko777

I got my A128S and it is parked in my front yard. What do you recommend for locking the trailer. I use a cable to lock the propane tanks and battery. I also lock the tongue pin. What do you use when parked at home and in your trips.

Check out this thread for some really good information on locking batteries and ball coupler:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...eft-26315.html

Personally, we are using the B&D battery lock (see the above thread for links and pictures).

We will most likely follow what dunnnc and HemiCab did for the ball coupler, we just haven't gotten to that yet. We are able to park our camper in the garage, so locking the coupler hasn't been a high priority... however, it'll be done before we step out into an actual campground!!!

By the way...CONGRATS on your new camper!!!!!!
Life is good!!

[gregory]

How about some photos of your new rig!

Deb

[ko777]

Originally Posted by gregory

How about some photos of your new rig!

Deb

Here is a pic of my rig, my mini-house.




I'm going shopping for security stuff, I'll attach what I get later.

[gregory]

Lookin' good
The front storage compartment should be really handy. Use caution to not over load it

Deb

[FarFromStock]

Looks great!!!!! Enjoy!!

[ko777]

Ok I got all the security stuff I could find and now I have to carry 8 keys total. Here are some interesting stuff I got for my mini-home:



This should give me peace of mind of my trailer walking away






I got all moving parts chained up even the bike carrier

Now my challenge is the tongue weight, it is already over 350 pounds w/o the bikes. I may have to temporary remove the propane tanks and store it at back storage during my trips. Any suggestions to counter balance the front will be appreciated.




These extended mirrors both sides helps me see cars at the back of my trailer.

After filling up the fresh water tank, I have a problem with the water pump, turned it on and it never shuts off, waited as long as 45 minutes, I hope I did not burn the motor. Also I cannot fire up the hot water furnace, put it in level 3, turn it on and press the red starter button lots of time...no fire I even try lighting it up manually and it did not help. I made sure the propane is turned on by lighting up the stove.

I hope you know what causes these problems; hopefully save me a trip to the dealer.

How do you drain the water tanks of A128S?

[handbuilder]

Youve been busy! I like your wheel lock. I use a coupler lock and sometima pin lock..it all came as a 3 lock set..so whatever I grab first. haha

A weight distributor hitch is ideal and necessary if you are loaded heavy in the trailer's front better yet - repack and reorganize and rethink what you are carrying on the front....you dont want to pull unsafe or break down your tow vehicle prematurely.

Regarding multiple keys - I use a lock box that I attach to the trailer so I dont have to carry trailer keys when I leave my camp site. Works great for locking everything in the trailer when leaving for a hike, a trip to town or whatever. If someone really wants something, they'll take it...but locks, cable and chains sure can deter a thief and make them reconsider the trouble to get it...

I turn on the water pump when I use the water and turn it off when I am done...

[gregory]

"After filling up the fresh water tank, I have a problem with the water pump, turned it on and it never shuts off, waited as long as 45 minutes, I hope I did not burn the motor. Also I cannot fire up the hot water furnace, put it in level 3, turn it on and press the red starter button lots of time...no fire I even try lighting it up manually and it did not help. I made sure the propane is turned on by lighting up the stove.

I hope you know what causes these problems; hopefully save me a trip to the dealer.

How do you drain the water tanks of A128S?"

Weell, here's what I'm thinking:
The water pump is trying to build up pressure so it keeps running.
The water heater will not fire unless there is water in the hot water heater tank.

I think the two problems you are having may be related.

There is a bypass switch for winterizing the HW heater tank which may be the reason it does not have water in it and it won't fire.

Under the camper, on the side of the fresh water holding tank is a valve called a pit-cock. The pit-cock is the drain for the fresh water tank.

Do some searches in this forum. I haven't read through the links below, but they may contain some hints or answers to your questions.

Here is a link that shows what the drain looks like:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...age-27205.html

Here is a link to lighting your hw heater:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ter-23614.html

hth,
Deb

[ko777]

Originally Posted by gregory

"After filling up the fresh water tank, I have a problem with the water pump, turned it on and it never shuts off, waited as long as 45 minutes, I hope I did not burn the motor. Also I cannot fire up the hot water furnace, put it in level 3, turn it on and press the red starter button lots of time...no fire I even try lighting it up manually and it did not help. I made sure the propane is turned on by lighting up the stove.

I hope you know what causes these problems; hopefully save me a trip to the dealer.

How do you drain the water tanks of A128S?"

Weell, here's what I'm thinking:
The water pump is trying to build up pressure so it keeps running.
The water heater will not fire unless there is water in the hot water heater tank.

I think the two problems you are having may be related.

There is a bypass switch for winterizing the HW heater tank which may be the reason it does not have water in it and it won't fire.

Under the camper, on the side of the fresh water holding tank is a valve called a pit-cock. The pit-cock is the drain for the fresh water tank.

Do some searches in this forum. I haven't read through the links below, but they may contain some hints or answers to your questions.

Here is a link that shows what the drain looks like:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...age-27205.html

Here is a link to lighting your hw heater:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ter-23614.html

hth,
Deb

Thanks Deb, I called the dealer and they were able to show me how to solve the problems. What I thought was the water heater was for the refrigerator propane power, I had to press the level button while clicking the red button. The water pump was not stopping because the 1/4 turn was set to stop the water flow.



Turn the 1/4 turn switch parallel to the red and blue tubes then turn on the water pump

Finally all the parts checked out fine and now I'm going for my parking the trailer practice in a big parking lot.

[DGrissom]

So that's what the back of my cabinet is supposed to look like!

It's been loaded full since the first day we owned the camper (I had forgotten there were valves down there!).

[gregory]

I'm sure you are on information overload about now. Good you found out about your appliances before your first trip. Take a breath every now and then while learning about your new rig.

FYI: Be very careful when storing items in the cabinet in your pic. The blue and red lines are water lines. The T handles are for draining them when winterizing. You don't want to accidentally bump or break any connections or fittings with heavy objects or by pulling out something that might get hung on them.

What I store in that area (but, you do as you see fit):

In the area bottom left, under the shelf, is where I store hand towels and wash clothes. (light and soft).

On the right, behind the boxed area, is your water pump. I don't put anything around/in front of the water pump. I'm afraid it will overheat if it doesn't have air around it.

In the area under the sink (upper shelf) I put our plastic dishes and plastic drinking cups and mugs. I also put a light weight sauce pan and teflon coated skillet. I also have a plastic basket for cooking condiments (salt/pepper/dried minced onion) and cooking utensils. Nothing heavy that might bounce around and break anything.

Deb

[ko777]

Originally Posted by gregory

I'm sure you are on information overload about now. Good you found out about your appliances before your first trip. Take a breath every now and then while learning about your new rig.

FYI: Be very careful when storing items in the cabinet in your pic. The blue and red lines are water lines. The T handles are for draining them when winterizing. You don't want to accidentally bump or break any connections or fittings with heavy objects or by pulling out something that might get hung on them.

What I store in that area (but, you do as you see fit):

In the area bottom left, under the shelf, is where I store hand towels and wash clothes. (light and soft).

On the right, behind the boxed area, is your water pump. I don't put anything around/in front of the water pump. I'm afraid it will overheat if it doesn't have air around it.

In the area under the sink (upper shelf) I put our plastic dishes and plastic drinking cups and mugs. I also put a light weight sauce pan and teflon coated skillet. I also have a plastic basket for cooking condiments (salt/pepper/dried minced onion) and cooking utensils. Nothing heavy that might bounce around and break anything.

Deb

Your right about information overload, I've learned so much here and plus I got someone teaching me how to backup the trailer. I was practicing yesterday in a big parking lot so much that my left hand got a blister; it hurts now just making a fist. I was able to park my rig on my driveway but took over 5 minutes, waving cars to go around me; here is a pic of my first parking on my driveway(I had to ask my friend to park my rig when I got it):


Also I had my first hitching but I came up with a way to do it solo, I just have to align to orange peg to the tongue and let it touch the peg so it will be perfectly align to lock up, look at the pic see if it make sense to you:


Thank you for the idea of how you store stuff in the cabinet and to watch out for the switch being hit. Do you store your fresh food in the car when camping?

I have booked a campsite for 2 days and 3 nights, just me and nature. I'll practice setting up all the stuff I got and will post pics here.

The tongue weight of my rig after getting it from the dealer was 400 pounds, I was surprise and now I have a problem because I have a bike rack in front and the max limit of my hitch/SUV is 350 pounds. I think that storage in front did it. These is what I did so far to counter balance the tongue weight:
- move both propane tanks to the back of the rig
- move all the foam seat/bed to the front
- move the big table to the back
- store all camping gears to the back
- debating if I should fill up the fresh water tank since it is behind the wheel

I'm still loading my rig for tomorrow's trip and I'll post what my tongue weight ended up.

Now shopping for food, what the heck have all the junk food I could master since no one will bug me that it is bad for my health...lol (I just psychologically bugged myself)

Thanks again...

[gregory]

Your parking job looks great! Practice makes perfect and you'll ease up on that "death grip" on the wheel the more you are familiar with it.

You may want to give handbuilder's suggestion some serious thought. A weight distributing hitch will help take some of the load off of your hitch weight.

You could probably get by with a smaller WDH unit, but keep in mind how much weight using the storage compartment on front will add.

Here is a link to an example of what one looks like (there are other designs) and how they work:
HowStuffWorks "How Towing Weight Distribution Systems Work"

The bike rack is definitely adding to the weight up front too. Maybe a good welding shop can weld it to the rear frame?

A lot of our food goes in the 'fridge. For a short trip I usually take 1 can of baked beans and 4 potatoes to slice up. Chips and snacks are carried in a small tote along with a few slices of bread. The tote also is used to transport the refrigeratored food to the camper then in goes We're pretty much carnivores, so the grill is our friend.

I wouldn't go overboard on canned food. It just adds more weight, especially if you aren't going to eat it during the tip.

We keep zip lock bags, plastic wrap and quart size, or smaller, containers for left overs.

Deb

[ko777]

I finally had two camping trips and the A128S worked very well. Towing it was easy and I'm still learning how to park it going backwards.

The only problem I had was the water pump was not stopping after using up 10 gallons of water from full tank, did anyone have this issue? The water flow at this point is bad so I had to turn it off.

The tongue weight problem(over 420 pounds after I got it from dealer) was reduced to 370 pounds, I removed both propane tanks store them at the back storage and put all the heavy stuff at the back: 20 pounds over max for my SUV




The screen room is a great addition, I could set it up in less than 15 mins and take it down in 10 mins:


My gas mileage was reduced from 23 mpg to 14 mpg, I've added a transmission cooler to it. Also using the cruse control worked well with towing the trailer:


Campsite 1:


Campsite 2:


Change/shower room and port-a-potty room:


Some pics from the campsite, we did hiking, biking and kayaking plus watching movies before bed, I got a 29" HD TV:




I'm very satisfied with the A128S and looking forward for more trips.

[FarFromStock]

Awesome, ko777!!!!!!!

Does your shower room have a drain capture floor?

[Jeep4Two]

Very nice.

On the water pump: make sure before you leave home : hook up to your home water supply and bleed air out of all lines. Make sure your hw heater bypass is set correctly to not bypass. This will fill your heater before leaving and won't require the pump to run forever to fill.

Also, you'll find the water filter (under the sink) severely restricts water flow).