Picking up a new 36CKTS Wednesday

[DKRITTER]

We are moving from a 37' TT to a 5th wheel on Wednesday and I really wanted to garner some insight from my fellow experienced 5th wheelers. We spent almost a 100 nights last year in the TT traveling for both business and pleasure and have towed for many many miles but know a 5th wheel is different.

I had a great conversation with Mr. Forbes a couple of days ago and he went over a wonderful list of things about the 36CKTS which is greatly appreciated.

We have never towed (forward or reverse) a 5th wheel, I had a great place picked out with a huge empty parking lot to use Wednesday but it is a school and that starts Monday.

Tell me about the do's and don'ts of pulling and backing a 5th wheel, please?

Anything we need to know about a 5th wheel please give us feedback.


Thank You in advance

[Duckogram]

The "don'ts" are TV, Hitch and pin box dependant. I'm very familiar with the 36CKTS however it towed very differently when I had a 3/4 T CC SRW SB and a pullrite superglide 2700 then it did with my 1T SC DRW LB with a Reese Elite/Ford.
The "Do's" are easy: Enjoy, Be Safe, Plan ahead and Take your time. Thats 7+ Tons behind you.
As for backing, I suggest you use a spotter, stay focused and think of your path from A to B as a french curve rather than square corners.
Hookup and disconnect can be dangerous. Not a good time for conversation, kids, pets or other distractions. Got a checklist?

[ttanous]

Buy a good FRS radio (Walkie Talkies) for you and your partner to communicate. When you don't hear them stop and wait till you are back in communication. That eliminates any issues. Always move slowly. Keep your partner on the passenger side and you watch the drivers side have them about 10 feet behind at all times. Find a church parking lot during the week they are usually empty. Schools on the weekend.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Joe_GA]

We don't know what truck and hitch you have. Some combinations, especially short bed trucks, could be damaged when making extremely sharp turns when backing into a space. This happens when the front corner of the camper hits the back of the truck cab. Also, be advised that your camper is about 13'4" high and you need to be sure of the routes you take to ensure no low bridges.

[cfiowa]

congrats on your 5th wheel.
I have a 2014 ckts. these are the problems that I had in the first 6 months.
1. sliding glass doors in shower leaked water to the floor due to the sliding tracks not sealed properly found out on our first camping trip. My suggestion is to have dealer put water in the tank and jump in shower and spray water on glass doors. You will know if its sealed or not. Had to pull my tracks apart and reseal them.
2. wheel wells shrouds were loose and coming apart, while driving down the rode. shake the shrouds make sure they are tight. had to baby camper home and redrill new holes because the screws broke.
3. If you have a lp fridge we had cooling issues. fridge never got cooler than 40 degrees the first year. Had to install additional fans in the rear of fridge 5 total and connect it to the thermal switch setting of 110 degrees to move more air over the coils. also installed additional fan inside the fridge for circulation. now fridge stays at 32 degrees. you can find a forum on how to add more fans.
4. if you have hydraulic jacks check for leaking seals--mine were leaking after 6 months dealer had to replace all 3.
5. my bedroom slide--i can smell hydraulic oil after 6 months, could not figure out why my hydraulic tank was getting lower each time I look at it...had to pull my bed osb plywood up and found a leaking pin hole in the hydraulic hose and soaked osb plywood. dealer replace hose and all of the plywood.
6. bedroom slide showed spider web cracking on the slide out fiberglass after 6 months--dealer replace slide out with new panel.
7. knock on wood--dont break a window like I did, dealer stated it would cost 900 plus to replace--they dont fix just the window-they replace the whole assembly. I found a glass company in elkhardt ID and paid 75 for a piece of tinted tempered glass. replace it myself. looks great.
8. check your slide out seals-found numerous staples coming thorough the soft seal due to factory miss judging the solid space when they installed trim.
9. if bought the washer option, check to be sure its solid, ours was on a raised platform that was 2 inches short. washer tipped over and landed on its front when I arrived home from camping. I removed the platform and sat it on the flat floor. much better now.
10. due pdi check on washer and dryer make sure they work. ours did thank god--did not try it out till i got home.
11. check your kitchen floor-we found 3 screws that was coming though the floor. after we got home and step on floor with bare feet.
12. if your comes with a central vac..insure bag is installed. our was not, luckily i check before i used it for the first time--oh check your hose connection ours was kink had to re-route hose.
13. my biggest gripe the fresh water take vent/over flow hose. when filling tank hose starts flowing water out--thinking tank is full check gauge says full, but you go though water fast---flows out while driving down rode-i had to put on a shut off on hose while driving so not to leak water out and open the valve up once i level my camper out at the camper site so tank can vent. Also I think the tank vent is sitting about 2 inches below the top of the tank so you are not filling the tank full. found out this weekend when I installed extension hose and held it up higher than the tank, i can get more water in the tank. Once I see water I turned the water off. My fresh water lasted a whole lot longer this week.
14. check your black tank flush-mine was loose and leaked water inside by storage area. You will need to hook a hose up and flush black tank to see if it leaks.
15. have the dealer show you the water valve system layout on which valve is normally open for camping and which ones you close for winter storage. the chart layout can be confusing.
16. tv has crappy speakers-insure your radio can play tv thorough your radio speakers. they sound much better, after much trial and error I found the proper setting on my radio and tv setup to play thorough my speakers
17. rear couch window area--couch would bounce and break knobs of window--we just took ours off and place a blanket on the couch to protect the leather from tears on the metal spindles when driving the rode.

otherwise I am happy with our ckts. once I got all the bugs worked out.

since all of the items above has been fixed we are happy with the camper.


2014 cedar creek 36ckts
2014 Chevy 3500 1 ton crew cab 4x4 long bed.


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[cfiowa]

if you have a shortbed truck- i would be asking for a automatic slider--dont have to worry about getting out and manually moving the slider around tight corners. my last truck was a short bed and we had a manual slider. only has to use the slider twice.

this new truck is a long bed, no need for a slider.

if you pay attention when you make corners you will be ok


2014 cedar creek 36ckts
2014 Chevy 3500 1 ton crew cab 4x4 long bed.


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[cfiowa]

Originally Posted by Joe_GA

We don't know what truck and hitch you have. Some combinations, especially short bed trucks, could be damaged when making extremely sharp turns when backing into a space. This happens when the front corner of the camper hits the back of the truck cab. Also, be advised that your camper is about 13'4" high and you need to be sure of the routes you take to ensure no low bridges.

x2


2014 cedar creek 36ckts
2014 Chevy 3500 1 ton crew cab 4x4 long bed.


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[SilverbackMel]

My advice: listen to all advice and try what works best for YOU IN YOUR LIFESTYLE. You HAVE TOWED so you do have experience (s) . Use them. A fifth wheel IS easier than a long TT. I went that route. Had a new 36 ft Keystone triple slide that we took x country to AZ and stayed very comfortably for the winter. After 3 years we bought a 2015 Silverback 36 foot, rear living....love the choice 1 1/2 years later. We were one of the first '15's built. It's been 3 times from N Georgia to all parts of Florida; north to northern Michigan; 2014 FR Rally, lots of short trips. ( retired). Tip that works for me is placing orange cones in my back in path when no spouse spotter. I say spouse because others trying do not seem to communicate well.
No matter how much you practice, you may never reach the skill set of a pro semi truck driver. DO WATCH YOUR MAX HEIGHT CLEARANCES.
Have fun and safe travels.

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by Joe_GA

We don't know what truck and hitch you have. Some combinations, especially short bed trucks, could be damaged when making extremely sharp turns when backing into a space. This happens when the front corner of the camper hits the back of the truck cab. Also, be advised that your camper is about 13'4" high and you need to be sure of the routes you take to ensure no low bridges.

Sorry folks, it's a LB with a Reese GooseBox. We chose this primarily because of the space it allowed in the bed and the air ride. I'll have a box which will about clear the sides and be about 36" long, so space was a premium.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by DKRITTER

Sorry folks, it's a LB with a Reese GooseBox. We chose this primarily because of the space it allowed in the bed and the air ride. I'll have a box which will about clear the sides and be about 36" long, so space was a premium.

Are you saying that you have a Goose Neck Hitch? If so you may want to check to make sure that the Goose Neck Hitch will not void the frame warranty on your new Cedar Creek, I do not think Lippert will warranty the Goose Neck Style Hitches for their frame design do to the twisting moment that the Goose Neck can cause to the frame.

Just a thought.

Also I did not see if this was posted or not but the 5th wheel will track inside of the truck turn radius as you turn; so you will need to allow for this when making turns. Swing wide; Swing wide.

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

Are you saying that you have a Goose Neck Hitch? If so you may want to check to make sure that the Goose Neck Hitch will not void the frame warranty on your new Cedar Creek, I do not think Lippert will warranty the Goose Neck Style Hitches for their frame design do to the twisting moment that the Goose Neck can cause to the frame.

Just a thought.

Also I did not see if this was posted or not but the 5th wheel will track inside of the truck turn radius as you turn; so you will need to allow for this when making turns. Swing wide; Swing wide.

I understand what you're talking about and this is not that.

The Reese Goose Box is approved by Lippert, I made very sure it didn't void anything prior to finalizing the deal.

It replaces the pinbox rather than attaches to the original pinbox.

[Mahlstedtd]

Just purchased same trailer 7 weeks ago. Pulls easy. Had an Anderson hitch installed. No noise rides daily well. Still having issues with residential refrigerator.

[asquared]

I moved to a 40' fiver from a 30' tt. Towing was night and day differences. The fiver will tow nicer than the tt but you may have some chucking you didn't get with the tt. The fiver will track more inside the truck than the tt. I was taught wait to turn until the truck rear wheels are in the intersection. Swing as wide as you can get away with because that rear will cut in.

When backing you will get frustrated as it will take relearning what you already know. The same concepts apply but you will need to pull forward to straighten out instead of straightening out while going backward. I have learned to get my rear slightly pointed where I want to go and then a last second do in of the truck front end to get it lined up for an easier back. When backing it will take a minute to start turning and then turn really quickly on you. Practice this a lot!

[mikey]

I think Duckogram said it first, take your time and plan. I have almost 80K on my 36 CKTS, no dings, no curbs; pull wide because the inside of the trailer wants to drop to the inside of almost every turn. Like that sage advice mentioned earlier; hook up and unhook times are not a good time to have any distractions. And finally use a checklist. I like All Stays RV Checklist. Besides, 5 bucks is worth the peace of mind it gives me.

Let us hear about your travels and experiences as you get it broke in. Travel safe & enjoy your journeys!

[DKRITTER]

Had a question regarding the grey tanks, it looks like there a 2 different tanks since there are 2 pulls in the bay.

What fills each tank? W/D , Bathroom, Shower
Are they each 40 gallons?

[DKRITTER]

BTW This waiting till Wednesday to pick it up is driving me nuts.

[cfiowa]

2 grey tanks.
One for kitchen and bath sink
Other shower


2014 cedar creek 36ckts
2014 Chevy 3500 1 ton crew cab 4x4 long bed.


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[SilverbackMel]

Info on your unit is found by going to Forestriverinc.com
Scroll to recreationsl products; then fifth wheels; then gallery to find your unit, then specifications.

Enjoy!

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by cfiowa

2 grey tanks.
One for kitchen and bath sink
Other shower


2014 cedar creek 36ckts
2014 Chevy 3500 1 ton crew cab 4x4 long bed.


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

Our you sure; maybe on your model and year this is true. But on all of the fivers (3) that I have owned the bathroom sink and shower have always been routed together and the kitchen sink is separate including on my new 2016 Cedar Creek34RL. Why is this simplest way to route the plumbing to the tanks.

[Joe_GA]

On mine, the kitchen has its own tank. The bathroom sink, shower and washing machine are all on the other tank.