The Rockwood 8329SS Thread

[uhduh camping]

Originally Posted by ChateauV10

UC, I am talking about putting the jacks directly under the frame, directly supporting the frame just ahead of the tires and where the suspension connects to the frame. That way, the trailer is supported stiffly near the center rather than being allowed to bounce on the tires & suspension. I would not advocate suspending the axles themselves (which is not what I think you meant...)


Cheers

You are exactly right. My comment was not directed at you. It is frustrating to hear someone say they do not experience any bounce. When we seen this unit at a RV show and even they had to block up the frame in front of axles. They have us a lame excuse for their reasoning. They were trying to hide the fact that these units are trampolines.

[Maron]

Originally Posted by Webhair

Actually we have the power stabilizers however the they are not levelers so I do not push them too far when lowering them - how much pressure do you put on them?
I would prefer not to break them... The bounce comes from the tires and people walking around.

We level our TT w a 2x8" 5' long board we carry in the tow vehicle. It levels our TT 98% of the time we set up.
As for the stabilizers we put them down just to the point of starting to lift the TT. They then shut off automatically. The TT ends up being rock solid w no movement side to side or front to back. We have been full timing for 1 1/2 years and have owned the unit for 2 1/2 years with no problems and see no detioration in the stabilizers performance.
If you are experiencing movement when you are set up you must not be using the stabs to their optimum performance level.

[ChrisV]

Great thread! We are picking up our 8329SS this weekend, and will definitely be looking into the Husky stab jacks. Our last (well, current for the next couple days) trailer is a 30ft Outback Super Lite and it has minor bounce when set up (all of them of this length tend to when certain people are walking in them...lol).

I'm hoping to love this trailer as much as some of you are. The layout is perfect and the quality seems pretty good (way better than Rockwoods were in the '90s when I was working at an RV shop). My only trepidation comes from a lack of external storage to hold our outside chairs (zero gravity ones that don't mount well to the back ladder) and water hose/sewer elbow as well as other sundry outdoor gear that I carry in my Outback (like large outdoor ground mats that get dirty and I don't want to put inside).

[ChateauV10]

Welcome to the modern Rockwood world!


I put my mat in the storage area in the entertainment slide. I roll or fold it and slide it into a small bucket I carry so if it's wet, it drains into the bucket. In the same area I keep my chocks, 2 packs of leveling blocks, a set of leveling block caps, my spider electronic level and my entry mat and my 50' roll-up hose. that space is bigger than you think and it goes up, so think vertically.


I don't have your chairs, but all my other stuff goes under the bed through the outside hatch. It too has more volume than you'd think. My tools stay in the van, along with bicycles, food, clothes, firewood & misc. "stuff". It took me two week-end campouts to figure it out, but it works!


Cheers!

[uhduh camping]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

Great thread! We are picking up our 8329SS this weekend, and will definitely be looking into the Husky stab jacks. Our last (well, current for the next couple days) trailer is a 30ft Outback Super Lite and it has minor bounce when set up (all of them of this length tend to when certain people are walking in them...lol).

I'm hoping to love this trailer as much as some of you are. The layout is perfect and the quality seems pretty good (way better than Rockwoods were in the '90s when I was working at an RV shop). My only trepidation comes from a lack of external storage to hold our outside chairs (zero gravity ones that don't mount well to the back ladder) and water hose/sewer elbow as well as other sundry outdoor gear that I carry in my Outback (like large outdoor ground mats that get dirty and I don't want to put inside).

I will recommend Rubbermaid totes for storage. We have one for all things fresh water related and another for the dump tank related things. They are short enough to fit easily thru the door and strong enough to things on top of them.
I have large plastic bag we put the mat in. Removed the shelf next to closet to store broom and zero gravity chairs.
Have good PDI sheet and check everything. We had a punch list of about 15 items at just was not right. Maybe 10 more things we found later. Most were minor but they will fix it a thousand times faster the day you pick it up vs. if you bring it back later.

[ChrisV]

Yeah, I know all about the virtues of doing a thorough PDI and punch sheet from my days at the RV dealership. Good call on the totes. And I'll probably carry the chairs and mat in the back of the Suburban to save space in the trailer.

[ChrisV]

Picked it up today. Was going to bring it home Saturday but the torrential rains that day (that killed a couple people in a little town next to us, Ellicott City) made us leave it until it cleared up.

Got our Sleep Number bed swapped over from the last trailer, and had basically very little on the punch list after the walkaround.

Man, it tows excellent. Absolutely love this trailer. Can't wait for the first camping in it...

[moff34]

Looks gorgeous. Glad to hear your fix-it list was short after the PDI. Prepping ours now for a six week trip with a new satellite dish and adding some scissor jacks for a bit more stability. How you enjoy yours as much as we have been enjoying ours.

[uhduh camping]

Glad to hear it tows well. I see your TV it concerning. My tongue weight is pushing #1200. What hitch are you using?

[uhduh camping]

Hope you survived the rains. We have friends and family that have been affected. Did you get that unit from Chesaco RV?

[ChrisV]

Got it from Camping World in Hanover PA. Just went up for their 50th birthday to get supplies for our other one, and ended up buying (we had been looking at this sort of layout for a while, though). Got a pile of of list, of course, but they also gave us a lot on trade for out Outback.

I'm using the Equal-I-Zer hitch from my old 28 footer. Absolutely stable towing, and the Suburban barely knows it's back there.

[KAISOR]

I put manual jacks in front of my tires near the center of the frame and the bouncing has stopped.
Been doing for a couple years now.
I have a 8325ss 35 ft.


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[ChateauV10]

My family had a great time in our trailer this week-end in Half Moon Bay California. We camped with our club, Nor-Cal StarCraft and had a wonderful time with 12 other families. It's not a long trip for us, 35 minutes from home, 55 minutes from our storage yard but it still went well.
The trailer continues to be super-comfortable and works well for us. My adult daughter spent Friday night on the loveseat pulled out to be a bed and reports it was quite comfortable (she has been sleeping in all manner of bunks & beds in our 20 years of camping). To keep up with our mods, I replaced the blue light in the refrigerator, making everyone happy and used the telescoping jacks to de-bounce the trailer. We took out the funky spice cabinet above the sink and added a mirror the same width but from the bottom of the overhead cabinet to the top of the tile backsplash. We all like the new look. Still have not plumbed the small electric WH to the output of the Girard on-demand, but having an un-ending flow of hot water for a shower is wonderful just the same.
I added a 7th washer to the WD hitch to transfer a bit more weight and the trailer continues to tow very well behind our '99 Ford V10 E350 van. No leaks, drips or blowouts to report. The IRV sound system is still slow and irritating, but sound eventually does come out of the chosen speakers so that's good.


I know people have problems with their trailers when they go out to have a nice time, but so far, our 8329SS has been nearly trouble-free and I hope it continues that way!

[ChrisV]

Loving the weekend in the new rig. The iRV system does suck though, often not recognizing button pushes on the remote or the wall unit either when watching movies. But everything else is great.



Definitely going to get the center stabilizer jacks as I am noticing a bit more bounce than the old trailer.


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[lakejumper]

ChrisV, glad that you are enjoying your new RV! I recommend contacting IRV directly and bypassing the dealer as it will take a longer time to get a replacement unit. It is easy to remove and hook up the unit or you can have the dealer do it. The contact is Nelson Arzadon at 574-970-8348. They will send you a return shipping label for the old unit. Their customer service has been very prompt.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by lakejumper

ChrisV, glad that you are enjoying your new RV! I recommend contacting IRV directly and bypassing the dealer as it will take a longer time to get a replacement unit. It is easy to remove and hook up the unit or you can have the dealer do it. The contact is Nelson Arzadon at 574-970-8348. They will send you a return shipping label for the old unit. Their customer service has been very prompt.

His problem may not be the unit, it may be the way the unit is mounted. If the unit is mounted 90 degrees to the way he's pointing his remote, it may just not be "seeing" the remote. FR doesn't install these things so that you're head-on to the unit from wherever you are most likely to be sitting. A small mirror appropriately positioned might help, or just try bouncing the IR light off a wall (pretend you're playing pool - ).

[ChrisV]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

His problem may not be the unit, it may be the way the unit is mounted. If the unit is mounted 90 degrees to the way he's pointing his remote, it may just not be "seeing" the remote. FR doesn't install these things so that you're head-on to the unit from wherever you are most likely to be sitting. A small mirror appropriately positioned might help, or just try bouncing the IR light off a wall (pretend you're playing pool - ).

The problem is that it usually won't respond to the buttons on the front of the unit either. Tried to unpause the movie an none of the buttons on the unit itself did anything. Finally the stop button on the remote worked from 1 ft away and had to start the movie all over and then fast forwarding couldn't be stopped from the front panel again. So the issue is in the unit itself.


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[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

The problem is that it usually won't respond to the buttons on the front of the unit either. Tried to unpause the movie an none of the buttons on the unit itself did anything. Finally the stop button on the remote worked from 1 ft away and had to start the movie all over and then fast forwarding couldn't be stopped from the front panel again. So the issue is in the unit itself.


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OK, that's a bad unit! (I missed "or on the wall unit.")

[lakejumper]

For those of you with the 8329SS, where did you mount the extra stabilizers? The exterior frame on the passenger/door side has a propane line running along side it and there isn't enough room to attach the stabilizer with the crank facing outward.

[uhduh camping]

I didn't mount mine yet, but I was looking at mounting them between steps and wheels. I don't have a propane pipe there. I currently use the jack stand thing. I didn't use them this weekend due to schedule. I had forgotten how much of bouncy castle it was without them. I will look again at the areas I planned for mounting for obstructions.