38 day - 8500 mile - 18 states in our 2906WS - F150 – ProPride hitch – Reporting back!

[strider_gts]

Trip in a nutshell:
I am an RV virgin so the only experience I've had with RV's was riding along in my parent's motor-home as a kid. I hauled my wife and 3 toddlers from Oregon to Wana RV in Indiana to get our 2906WS, then looped down through Kentucky, Louisiana, coming back through Texas, Nevada and back to Oregon. We drove 8508 miles through 18 states. Our 2906WS had a dry weight of about 6500lbs. It was about 500lbs higher than I expected but I'm guessing that was because we added nearly every available option. Based on my estimates we were roughly 7500 loaded but I haven't put it on our scales yet so I can't be sure of the exact loaded weight.

Tow Vehicle:
2016, Ford F-150 Super Crew 3.5L Ecoboost. On our way to Indiana we got about 19mpg. When we got the trailer I reset our mileage calculator and we averaged about 12 on the way home, with about 8.5mpg while towing. We never once had any problems towing the weight/length of this trailer. I just set the pickup's cruise control at 65mph and drove. It had plenty of power when going uphill and honestly, my only minor complaint was that tow mode going downhill was almost too aggressive with how much the truck tried to slow you down. It kept dropping me down into lower gears than I would have normally used. I barely ever had to use the brakes going downhill though unless it was an extreme grade. We went from Arizona to Flagstaff on those crazy hills in 90 degree heat without any problems. I know it sounds cliche' but I honestly forgot it was back there on occasion... but I also credit that to the.....:

ProPride Hitch!:
I LOVE this thing. ZERO sway. None. Ever. When semi trucks passed me I would sometimes feel them pull me in a little but it was barely noticeable and you could drive one-handed through any kind of traffic. I'll admit that I have nothing to compare it to but the ProPride gave me complete confidence while driving. Sean at ProPride was as easy to talk to as rumored. I emailed him asking if he had any discounts and he sent me a code for $200 off the hitch, told me which model I wanted, and shipped it to me well before I left on our trip to Indiana. I carried that heavy beast all the way there in the back of my pickup and paid a couple guys at the dealership to install it. They had never seen one before but by the end of installing it they both said that they wanted one and were really impressed with it. Hitching and unhitching takes a few minutes and if anyone is ever interested in some tips on how to do that just ask me. I had some trial and error unhitching it.

2906WS thoughts:
Why would anyone get this floor-plan with 3 children you ask? Probably because we are crazy. Most parents of 3 kids would probably get something with bunks, but we really wanted a nice living area where we expected to spend most of our waking hours inside the trailer (also I REALLY wanted recliners). We put our 5 year old and 3 year old on the tri-fold bed and put our 1 year old in a pack-n-play right beside that bed. Everyone slept just fine. It probably took 5 minutes to set up our sleep area. (Fold out the bed, throw on a waterproof queen bed pad, then lay out some blankets and pillows. Easy peasy.) If we were in an area for multiple nights we just left the bed unfolded and the kids or myself lounged on the couch-bed or recliners if we wanted to watch a movie or something.

We had a fully loaded model other than opting out of the tv in the master bedroom. I had expected to just buy a better/cheaper tv online after our trip but after spending a month it in I don't think we ever missed not having a tv in the bedroom so we'll probably just go without. We got the Sterling decor and love it. I probably spent 200 hours going over floor-plans and color schemes and we actually drove to Indiana as opposed to Iowa just to get Sterling in a Rockwood instead of the Flagstaff because I wanted the Sterling color of the Rockwood. I didn't like any of the Flagstaff colors. I HATE THE BROWN that you see in every trailer out there. This has more of a grey tone to it which we all like a lot more. Everyone who's seen this trailer has been impressed with the colors. The large couch looks especially nice.

We got the slide toppers on all available slides which was really nice in the heavy downpour rains we had on occasion. I expected water and debris to get underneath the toppers but I don't think we ever had a single pine needle or drop of water get underneath them. That made pulling in the slides worry-free. We had one night during a downpour that acorns were pelting the roof of our trailer and other than it being incredibly noisy and scary for the kids, we never had any damage from it (I hope).

There is a ton of interior storage and we never did utilize all of it. We wife and kids occupied all of the bedroom slide-out space and I took the other side of the bed. I do kind of wish that the exterior storage compartment was larger (or I just need to get more organized).

I LOVE the interior fireplace. I completely thought those were a joke before having one. Other than aesthetics, it's actually a great little space heater. If it was cold at night we would just set the space heater to turn on at about 65 degrees and it did really well keeping up. It was never so hot that we worried about our baby touching it and burning themselves on it either. If it was hot during the day or night we left the dual air conditioners running and they kept up pretty well other than a hot day in Arizona when the highs hit 100. We typically like running fans at night for white noise in our house and we quickly found that having 2 AC fans running all night was awesome for background noise. It really helps our kids sleep by drowning out the little grunts, whines, whimpers and other strange noises that kids make at night.

The shower is great. I brought along one of the oxygenics shower-heads that everyone raves about and installed it after a single shower with the stock shower-head... big upgrade. I guess I never really considered how little an RV water heater tank is but I could get through a full shower in the available 5-10 minutes (depending on how hot the incoming water was), but my wife wishes it had a little more buffer room. After my first shower I was considering upgrading to a tank-less but by the end of the trip I didn't really care anymore. With both gas and electric hot water heat working we didn't have to wait very long between showers.

Random thoughts:
I went the entire trip and only used about 1.5 gallons of propane, so that was never an issue.

I brought along all manner of electrical adapters and extension cords and never once had to use anything but the standard 50 amp cord that came with the trailer.

I couldn't fit a RhinoFlex sewer hose in the bumper which bummed me out at first. It folded up nicely in a 5 gallon bucket w/ lid which worked fine.

I wondered if we would miss not having an outdoor kitchen. We didn't even think about it until we were home, but your feelings probably vary on this based on how you travel. I do kind of wish that I had an outdoor sink occasionally for hand washing. We kind of forgot about the outdoor shower and never used it though I think it might come in handy sometimes.

I took along x-chocks but never used them. The optional stabilizers were good enough for us.

We never cooked in the RV other than with the microwave and a toaster so I guess I don't have much to report on that. The very first day I pulled off the stove knobs and stored them in an overhead cupboard because... toddlers and explosions.

The only repair we've required so far was that our water pump check valve had a leak so when we filled up with fresh water the water flowed through the water pump and into the fresh water tank. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the fresh water tank was always full (I'm new to this so I just thought it must be how it worked), but later on discovered what was wrong, called the dealer, and they shipped me out a new water pump which it took me 20 minutes to install.

We didn't have any problem with the tires in the thousands of miles that we drove and it was nice that they were rated for 75mph instead of the more common 65mph. But regardless, after seeing roughly 5 RV blowouts on our trip, when we got home I swapped out the stock tires for the beefiest 15 inch Maxxis trailer tires you can get (10 ply). The increased head-room helps me sleep at night.

We've traveled a lot in the past but about a week into our first ever RV trip we wondered how we've ever traveled without a RV and would never want to go back to hotel hopping! It's so nice to sleep in your own bed and shower in your own shower and not have to pack suitcases through hotel elevators.

Well if you have any questions or concerns or want to call me crazy let me know! I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot =)

[Big1]

Wow, awesome write up and yes I agree with the taking your motel hotel with you, we are new to rv'ing and look forward for the summer. I just bought my TT this Aug. so we didn't get to much use out it but we did went out twice. We are planning a trip to Las Vegas this summer which is a 1,130 miles trip one way.

[youroo]

Thanks for the information Youroo! !

[aceinspp]

Great write up. Sounds like you did your home work. Later RJD

[markb422]

I dont have a f150 but with my 2016 e350 HD with 6 speed transmission in tow/haul mode it will down shift and stay engaged just like if you have a manual trans.. If you are going down grade you can switch off the t/h and the trans will freewheel.

[mdstudey]

We have had ours for a year now and were able to do about a 3,000 mile trip and in two weeks. It was mostly visiting relatives, but it was very nice to have our own place with us. We traveled with a dog and cat. Both were allowed in parents house, but brother in law had dogs galore and did not want to add ours to the mix. Camping in the State Park was wonderful. I always have hated having to pack up the tent and everything else. With a TT you basically have to put everything back after using it so not a lot to do with tear down. We brought a T.V. but only used it for a slide show after a day of taking pictures. Glad you and your family had a wonderful trip and no major issues.

[Steinbaum]

Excellent lay down of your experiences. Thanks for adding to the 2906ws lessons learned.

[BMullins46]

Strider gts, Welcome to the world of RVing. GREAT write uo!
As you found on your trip it really is an adventure. You mentioned that you used up the hot water when you showered, as you now know the water heater in an RV is rather small, most of us normally take what is know as a Navy shower, that is we wet down then push the button on the handheld shower head to shut off water flow while we lather up, then reactivate the water flow to rinse off. We do this for several reasons, 1: conserve water, 2: to save HOT water, and 3: to avoid over filling the gray water tank. My wife and I dry camped for a week at the Good Sam Rally in Phoenix a few years back and were able to get by on one 54 gallon tank of fresh water. This is just something you'll have to experience to understand. I know that with the 3 kids it won't be as easy as it was for us. I am assuming that you were staying at campgrounds with full hook-ups and that you left the gray tank drain open, you will find that there are differing opinions regarding this, personally I prefer to keep ours closed except to dump as I don't like the idea of being a vent for the campgrounds sewer system.

I hope you enjoy your RV as much as my wife and I have enjoyed our various units the past 44 years.

[strider_gts]

Originally Posted by BMullins46

I am assuming that you were staying at campgrounds with full hook-ups and that you left the gray tank drain open, you will find that there are differing opinions regarding this, personally I prefer to keep ours closed except to dump as I don't like the idea of being a vent for the campgrounds sewer system.

Oh! Thanks for mentioning this!

Everywhere we stayed had full hookups. Eventually I'd like to get to the point where we could stay at state parks that didn't have full hookups but we aren't there yet, and it's definitely more difficult with 3 munchkins.

My opinion on what to do with my valves changed mid-way through the trip. I had no idea there were multiple opinions on this and just assumed that you put out your stinky slinky and then leave the grey open your entire stay, so this this is what we did for the first 5-6 stops. Eventually we made our way to a campground north of Carlsbad and our first night there smelled HORRIBLY like sewage! At first I thought it was a leak in our septic system and spent 6 hours at night crawling around trying to find a leak and researching online trying to figure out what it could be. Through that research I discovered that if you are opening your grey water line then you are leaving a direct, open connection to the rv park's sewer system into your RV which can lead to stinky situations on occasion.

The next morning we discovered that what was actually smelling was a nearby natural gas field off-gassing at night but all of the research and panic was enough to convert me into a person who now leaves all of the valves closed unless I'm actively draining them. So by the end of the trip I was just opening the grey to drain it once per day.

[strider_gts]

Originally Posted by markb422

I dont have a f150 but with my 2016 e350 HD with 6 speed transmission in tow/haul mode it will down shift and stay engaged just like if you have a manual trans.. If you are going down grade you can switch off the t/h and the trans will freewheel.

Yea I eventually found myself kicking off tow mode when I was going downhill because I didn't appreciate it sticking me in 2nd gear going down short hills.

Before the trip started I was afraid of wearing out my brakes on this trip and by the end of the trip that wasn't a concern at all and I found myself more concerned about the engine running in too low of a gear for that long. I have no idea how bad that actually is for your engine but I can't be good. I don't mind picking up a little speed going downhill if it is safe but good grief... this pickup will hardly let you!

[lbrjet]

Do a little research on engine braking. You will find it doesn't hurt your engine.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[strider_gts]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

Do a little research on engine braking. You will find it doesn't hurt your engine.

Thanks for the message and vote of confidence. That's what I kept telling myself but it always sounds so bad when it revs up that high.

[ProfChuck]

Thanks for your post. It was very enjoyable reading about your adventures while watching the winter storm outside dump 10 inches of snow on us. We go camping quite often with our daughter, her husband, and our grandchild in our Windjammer, and it has worked out quite well doing just what you did. Hope you have many more enjoyable family moments in your trailer.

[Restcure]

Great write up! We're dedicated ProPride users too - since 2009.

Mods - Propride 3P 1400 Hitch

[timfromma]

Next summer I have 3 trips spanning a total of 22 states and 10,000 miles over 28 total days.

[strider_gts]

Originally Posted by timfromma

Next summer I have 3 trips spanning a total of 22 states and 10,000 miles over 28 total days.

That's a lot of miles in only 28 days!

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by strider_gts

That's a lot of miles in only 28 days!

Yep.

Orlando, 2800 miles round trip, 10 days
Wyoming / Colorado, 5000 miles round trip, 15 days
Kentucky, 2200 miles round trip, 6 days

Miscounted days apparently. 31 total days

[DreiHunde]

Great post thanks for sharing!!

And glad it went so well!

[craigster_mi]

[QUOTE=strider_gts;1379502]Trip in a nutshell:

I wondered if we would miss not having an outdoor kitchen. We didn't even think about it until we were home, but your feelings probably vary on this based on how you travel. I do kind of wish that I had an outdoor sink occasionally for hand washing. We kind of forgot about the outdoor shower and never used it though I think it might come in handy sometimes.

strider,

I bought one of these fish cleaning tables and hooked it to the outside shower hose to use as an outdoor sink. Just put a 5 gal bucket under table for drain. works pretty well. the faucet originally went thru the table but I mounted to my little cabinet for quicker setup/breakdown.

craig

[rockfordroo]

I bought one of these fish cleaning tables and hooked it to the outside shower hose to use as an outdoor sink. Just put a 5 gal bucket under table for drain. works pretty well. the faucet originally went thru the table but I mounted to my little cabinet for quicker setup/breakdown.

craig

Someone else posted using a fish cleaning table like that. As I recall, he hooked the faucet up to his outside shower somehow.