8314 BSS observations

[Klbrown53]

Greetings all,

We made our maiden voyage in our Rockwood 8314 BSS back in March. Since then we have towed it about 2500 miles and stayed in about six different locations. My tow vehicle is a 2007 Toyota tundra with just over 50,000 miles on it. We traded in a 29 foot Jayco featherlight so I was not unfamiliar with RVs and towing. As posted on this forum on about our third trip out one of the stab jacks buckled and had to be replaced. While we had it in for that repair we also had three or four other cosmetic items on the inside that were repaired. No problems from any of these. Everything was covered under warranty. And thus far we have really enjoyed it. It is so much of an improvement over the smaller Jayco that we had.

As for my tow vehicle, I couldn't ask for anything to have been much better so far. It is obviously heavy but has been a pleasure to pull so far. Empty weight is just under 6900 pounds. I think conservatively speaking I have not added more than 1000 pounds total So that would put me someplace either under or around 8000 pounds total. I NEVER tow with water in any of the tanks with the exception of a few gallons with chemicals in the black water tank. My truck with the big V-8 engine and tow package is rated at 10,600 pounds. Max weight for the truck is 1475 as listed in owners manual. Hitch weight for my unit is listed as 941 pounds. That means I have a little over 500 allowable weight for my truck when towing. Power has never been an issue with this truck and this engine. Fortunately neither my wife or I are particularly heavy. Even if we take our grandkids with us we are looking at a max of something around 400-450 more pounds with luggage. Round the hitch weight up to 1000 pounds and I am close but still under. Point is that I know I am close and would love to have a 3/4 ton truck but just can see the need at this point.

All of our trip so far have been in Texas and Oklahoma. I am getting between 18 and 19 miles per gallon when not towing. In Texas with flat to rolling Hills I am getting 10 to 11 miles per gallon while towing. I have plenty of power and the trailer pulls like a dream. Sway is minimal even when passed by semi's. We are going to pull it to Colorado in September. Now talk to me when I get back and I may be singing a different song.

I have really not experienced a strong cross when yet. I understand that that's when three-quarter ton trucks really prove their worth when pulling trailers of this size. Maybe someday.

Maybe too much info for one post but I also installed a Tire Minder TPMS system on the RV just because I got paranoid about the cheap tires that came on the trailer. I want to finish this season on them and then replace them prior to Spring 2015. I was struggling a bit with tire pressure and constantly concerned that I did not have them inflated enough based on the readings from the tire minder system. I purchased a portable 12 V compressor and on this last trip really focused in on tire pressures. I inflated them to 52 pounds according to the gauge on the compressor. I also checked the pressure on all four with a electronic gauge that I've had for several years. It also showed 52 pounds on each tire. When the tire pressure monitoring system synced up it showed from 49.5 to 50.5 in each tire. So, the logical conclusion here is that the TPMS system is reading about 2 pounds less then the gauge. Not a problem, at least I have a point of reference when going down the road. Also, based on other recommendations from users here, my plans are to replace all four of the RV tires with either 8 or 10 ply rated tires when I do replace them. I am open to recommendations on this but right now I'm looking at Maxxis tires.

I also have a question about the gear system on the slide outs. I took a couple of pictures and will post them but will make it a different post.

Sorry so long

Ken


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums