Another New Owner

[vort]

Hello Forum,

My fiance and I will be picking up our brand new 2014 Surveyor 220RBS next week. We both are very excited, this will be our very first travel trailer after many years of tent camping.

I've been pouring over these forums. The dealer will be installing a break controller on my F150, and the purchase also includes a weight distribution hitch. We have several hours scheduled for this and the walk through. This being our first, what items should I make sure I have the dealer go over? One of my concerns is, due to the time of year, the trailer is winterized. We most likely won't be using it for the first time until early spring. Would it be too much to request the dealer to make sure that everything is working properly before we drive it off? I don't know if that would involve dewinterizing and rewinterizing (I'm willing to purchase the anti-freeze) to make sure everything, including water heater works? I'm afraid of driving off the lot, and then finding out in early spring, when dewinterizing, that something wasn't working.

Thank you, and I look forward to being a member here.

Nathan

[Terier]

Congrats on the Surveyor 22ORBS! If I don't check something it's usually the item that doesn't work when I need it. My suggestion would be to check everything. While the Surveyor would be under warranty in the spring I would avoid needing service especially when camping season starts. And this might be a good time to learn how to winterize.

[oldcat]

We got our 220RBS a year ago next week. Almost 7000 miles and over 100 nights and we love it! Great layout for two people. Do not leave the dealer until you understand everything and are sure it all works. It's your money and you are in charge. We videotaped our entire walk through and after a year we still refer to it when we aren't sure of something. Hope you enjoy your 220 as much as we do. Be sure to get the second year factory warranty, cheap insurance.

Safe travels.

[Oaklevel]

Congrats & Welcome From SW Virginia

[Wiscampsin]

Welcome from Wisconsin and congrats on your 2014 Surveyor 220RBS. I don't think it's too much to ask the dealer to dewinterize and rewinterize seeing as you're willing to pay for the antifreeze. Neither take that long and I wouldn't think they are super busy this time of year. Best thing is to have you there for both processes so you can see how it's done.

[S1LV3R4D0]

Congrats and welcome from California

[pt1655]

Hi and welcome from northern Arizona!
My wife and I have had our 220 since April '13 and really enjoy it. Haven't had any problems with it. Search the Surveyor forum here for good hints on mods and questions. A couple of things most of us have done that are very helpful are changing the shower head to an Oxygenics one (about $30 at Camping World) and some kind of mattress topper (we love our memory foam one from Costco). Some of us have upgraded the bathroom fan, put Maxair covers over the roof vents for ventilation, upgraded to an electric tongue jack, etc.
I think the most important thing you can do though is a thorough PDI with the dealer (pre delivery inspection). I like how a previous post said they recorded their PDI, very smart, I wish we had done that.
Happy Camping!

[cjearle2]

Welcome from Alabama. I as well would not drive off the lot until you know everything works properly and you know how everything operates. We bought our camp in Oregon. Luckinly we stayed a a camp ground down from dealer. Advice from a fello forum. So glad we did. Ac did not work,the reading light fell off the wall. It is good business for dealership to do a complete walk thru (PDI) with camper hooked up to water and elec. It will not take long form them to rewinterize or to even charge for this, plus it would allow you to see how it is done. I as well like the idea of the Video. Good luck and happy camping!

[Ford Idaho]

Welcome to the forums from SW Idaho.

[mjones12]

We love our 2013 Surveyor 220 and camp in it all winter here in North Carolina. We end up winterizing and de-winterizing several times each year between cold-weather trips. It's about a 15-minute job. Regardless of who does it the first time, make them show you where the water pump and suction hose are for drawing anti-freeze into the system. It can be hard to locate behind the dinette, at least in the 2013 model.

Be sure the dealer shows you the manual override for the slideout. It's hard to find and requires taking a panel off in the lower front of the dinette. Make them take the panel off and show you.

They should show you how to set the heat, air and fan on the digital thermostat. Some people run into trouble because they don't set the fan on auto when they are using heat. It can be confusing, but simple once someone explains it.

If you get the Equalizer weight distribution hitch, an electric tongue jack will make it much, much easier to use. Well worth the money. And as others suggested, the Oxygenics shower head is great. Best camping accessory I ever bought.

Have fun, and just ask if you have more questions.

[schrederman]

Welcome from North-Central Texas...

[jtownstumpjumper]

Welcome from NE Arkansas......we bought our first TT last year the middle of February.....when we scheduled our PDI with the dealer he had de-winterized the trailer and had it ready to demo all water, electrical, and gas components throughout.....it was a complete PDI...nothing left out....when we finished they ask us what we wanted...leave it like it was or re-winterize....we told them to winterize it and they did , no questions asked, no charge either.....it was a good thing because when we brought it home and parked it, in two weeks we were covered in 6 inches of sleet and ice that stayed with us what seemed like forever.

[vort]

Thank you all for the greetings, replies and suggestions. Couple more days till it is ours!

Hope to report back soon!

[vort]

Due to the weather in the North East, our dealer recommended and we agreed that we put off the pickup of the trailer till nicer weather. They will store it until we're ready.

[rana]

Originally Posted by vort

They will store it until we're ready.

Welcome, Nathan! I don't know how I missed a new 220'r. Congratulations!

I've been full timing in my 220 since 2012 and still love it as much as the day I got it. You gotta love the floor plan.

You've been getting some great suggestions to help make things more comfortable, so I won't repeat it. The only thing I haven't seen mentioned yet that I consider one of the best mods I've done is to replace the door window glass with tinted glass. Something similar to this one from CW.

It really seems to 'open' things up when you can actually see out the front door. Just a "mental mod", but does make the entry way feel larger, and you don't have to bend over the kitchen counter to see out.

Enjoy your new rig, and don't hesitate to ask questions.

[vort]

We finally were able to pick up our trailer. The dealer did the walk through. I had them try everything we could. Found out the porch light was out, they changed the bulb. We're very excited for our first trip. I posted a question on the general forum. We also have a call into a relative of ours who has an RV to do another walk through and see if we're missing any necessary accessories.

[hydrostream]

Congratulations from Toronto Canada, we love ours


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[vort]

Quick question on the pump. I found the suction hose, but the water pump itself does not look very easy to get to. I am going to dewinterize this upcoming weekend. Is there a valve or bypass setting I need to look for by the pump? Any tips on how to get the panel apart to get to the pump if needed? Thanks!

[mjones12]

The bypass valve on my 220 is at the water heater.

[vort]

Thanks. I should clarify. I was looking to see if there is a valve for the pump suction hose for the antifreeze. We are going back to the dealer this weekend, as they needed to fix the keyless entry. I will get them to show me how to get access to the pump. Also, when looking under the slide inside, there was a small loose piece of wood that looked like the slide may have torn out. I'll have them look at that as well.