26RR Maiden Voyage

[bsmcron]

So far I am liking what i see with the 26RR. I have made some mods that I have gotten off of here. Being a rookie camper hauling person I am looking for any tips, tricks or input before and for the first trip. First trip is going to be about 1400 miles round trip. I guess I will know after that if it is really 1/2 ton towable. Has anyone had any main issues I need to check before the trip. I have not had the water hooked up yet so hopefully no leaks there. I guess in my mind the wife and I have checked about everything out but i am figuring that we missed something somewhere. I guess that is one way to learn - do a trip and see what's missing. I have all my weights and they all have checked out good but figuring i will have to load some stuff on the rear of the trailer to bring the tongue weight down just a little more.

2016 Grey Wolf 26RR
2014 Silverado 5.3

[ChipBruce]

Good luck to you. I pulled my 26rr with a 2015 Silverado with a full-blown tow package and the same engine as you. It pulled great with no bogging down.

I also had no issues with any of my systems but my dealer did a very thorough pre-PDI and had already checked everything and fixed any deficiencies before I signed my papers. That meant no worries for us!

Enjoy your unit. It's a great camper.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[rmac04401]

I would suggest camping in your driveway for a night. Fill fresh water an use all your faucets and toilet. That will make sure all your water fixtures are working and no leaks. Also connect to city water to make sure. Take panel off the front of bathroom sink two screws and make sure your connections are tight. Mine were not that tight. I did a 2000+ trip in January and had no trouble. Pulled with 2002 f150 short bed super cab. PA to FL so I did not have any mountains to overcome. But bringing back from Ohio I had some steep grades I did fine. I don't need to be going top speed on hills. The trailer does drift a bit on corners so make sure you take extra room on any turns.

What mods did you do? What toys do you haul? Have a great time. I love my camper.

[Mother]

We bought our 26RR late last August and took it camping to our local Forest Service campground. 30 miles round trip, 3-4 times. We have a 2006 1500 Silverado Z71 with HD tow package and 5.3. Use an EAZ Lift Elite WDH. It sagged some on the short trips so I also installed Air Lift Suspension installed. Right now we are in Ft McDowell, AZ. We arrived Sunday, 1900 miles one way. Generally the pickup did pretty good. I was able to go 60-70 mph on interstate generally speaking. Pulled off one afternoon in Albuquerque because of high winds. It did pretty good from Albuquerque to Flagstaff. However once we got up over 5000 feet. The pickup struggled more on uphill grades. Shifted down to 2nd gear. Between Flagstaff and Phoenix generally downhill. There is one stretch where there is a long uphill grade 4-6% steady. We struggled and wife looked over at me and said, "I want bigger truck". Lol. We probably would have been ok, we were in second gear at about 25-30 mph, but caught up to semi going 15 had to slowdown about 1/3 of way up grade and struggled the rest of the way. Truck could not decide between 2nd and 1st. We head back home Saturday. We are going to avoid the Arizona mountains. Going
Towards Tucson then North. Will add about 200 miles, but I think it will be worth it. I don't use cruise, tow haul mode and 3rd gear. We got between 7.5 and 9 mpg. We also have a Ultra Classic with. I weighed trailer fully loaded with all our stuff, bike etc and it came in at 6380, tongue weight of 810 pounds. GCVW was 12100. I did order a transmission temp gauge but because of weather it arrived day after we left. Grrrr! Half ton towable generally speaking, but in mountains questionable. Especially on long grades. Hope this helps. Sorry it's so long.

[Mother]

Air bag suspension eliminated sag completely. Worth the expense.

[mxdad]

Have fun....we don't go long distances, but we use ours every other weekend and the only major issue we had was the aluminum siding on the passenger side bubbled up, but we were able to finish the drive home.....fixed under warranty. Make sure to drain your holding tanks if you are going somewhere that has hookups....the extra weight is noticeable. Lastly, make sure your WD hitch is set up right...makes for a lot easier towing experience.

I tow ours (loaded with bikes - about 6800 lbs, unloaded about 5250) with an Escalade ESV and it has no problems. With Tow/Haul on about 65, it will pull in 5th about 2K RPM....large hills it will downshift to 3rd sometimes and hit 3500 RPM, but other than about 8MPG loaded and 10 unloaded, no issues.

[statticcling]

we towed ours last year with a yukon denali with the 350 engine ,its a 2000, and it pulled ok but diddnt really have any power on these pennsylvania hills ,so this year we upgraded tow vehicle to a 2500- 454 suburban ,what a difference

[nomad297]

Take your water heater out of bypass and close the winterize valve at your pump.

Bruce

[moligney]

After 120 days and counting in our 26RR from Mi to Fl. Tows great w/2000 6.0 2500 Silverado. 10.5 mpg and pulled the grades in 3rd. Needed 24" ramp extension to load Valkyrie. Still dumped it once because to tentative loading. Problems: anti friction hinges to strong. Removed two. Stool plugs up. Hot water clears it. Water overflow not connected. TV antenna worthless. Power awning will not stand any wind. 6000+ miles on China Bombs no problem. Unit is not designed for two to live in. If I keep it the couches will go and a folding table in front of window. Table was a joke and couches two big. All in all it is a good value. Just for grins I got a quote in FL for what I paid for it on a used fifth wheel trade in.

[drb1984]

Where in Florida

[moligney]

Bartow

[drb1984]

Thanks