Our first outing

GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 01:25 PM

With our Shamrock 23ws..... Was a great time though wet, cool, and muddy. Couple of hiccups but everything worked.

Headed out Friday afternoon after hitching up in the rain [emoji19] ... The tow was very good (I'm the rain) and the V8 Durango handled the mountain detour without screaming at us[emoji1] (did I say in the rain?). we get to the campground (a Maryland state park), fill up the water tank and back into the site, it is electric only site. The new E4 hitch gave us some issues and we could not unhitch easily as the torsion bars would not move sideways at all. We had to have the car in a straight line to the camper to get the bars off. Took some doing, but we finally got unhitched. Nice that there was a break in the rain for our set up. We were only an inch off level and it took only a single layer of lynx blocks to level her right up.
We now turned to the inside, we turned on the water pump to fill the lines from the FW tank, and waited and waited and waited. The pump was humming away but no water was coming.... Then the thought occurred to me that when we brought her home from the dealer she had still been winterized. I had only flushed the pink stuff from the lines and took the water heater off bypass but the water pump, it must still be in bypass......(my pop-up had not been that fancy). Yep found the bypass valve, turned it and voilà water was flowing!! Filled the water heater and turned it on in propane mode. Heard it click a couple of times and start heating. We had hot water[emoji2] . It rained all night, but we were snug, warm, and dry[emoji3] . and the furnace worked.[emoji3] and the heated mattresses worked[emoji3] .

Saturday dawned cloudy but cool. We had a hot breakfast and took a hike to the water falls, all the streams were full and the water fall was wonderful. There was drizzly rain off and on, but no deluge. We get back to camp and start a roasted chicken in the Dutch oven for dinner. One of our favorite camping meals. Perfect. We attempt a fire but everything is too wet and I had forgotten to bring my sure fire fire starter. We managed to get some flames and some coals so we at least had smores.

Sunday dawned bright and a full blue sky (figures). We take our time packing up. The torsion bars are still an issue but we can now move one bar a slight bit and we had less issues hitching up. We get home without incident though the wind has picked up and the camper was slightly affected but the E4 said the job. When we get home, we took off the torsion bars while we were still straight and before we parked it, they came right off. We had a great time but now have mud to clean up.

I talked to the service manager at the dealer ship today about the difficulties we are having with the E4, he said the bars are just stiff as they are new and that they will loosen in a couple of outings. I certainly hope so because other than that, the E4 is performing very well.

So success!! We are happy campers.

**ependydad** · 05-09-2016, 01:32 PM

Great report, but what? no pics?!

GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 01:34 PM

Lol picture was on another thread but can repeat here

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GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 01:36 PM

We were at Cunningham falls state park.

Mainframe · 05-09-2016, 03:50 PM

Awesome! Glad it all went well, had mine out for the second time and all went fine as far as the camper is concerned, noisy campground but that happens sometimes.

Feasba · 05-09-2016, 07:37 PM

Can you share your roasted chicken recipe in a Dutch oven?

deerhunter21n · 05-09-2016, 08:08 PM

Next time you hook up to your camper, hook to the ball on your receiver hitch, then lower your jack. It will actually pick up the front of your camper and the rear of your TV. It will make it easier to attach the bars on your E4 hitch. Once you have it attached, lower the tongue back down and check to see if it sits level. if it does, your good. When it comes to unhooking once your level at your campsite, just do the process in reverse. Lower your jack down while still attached to your vehicle until it takes the tension off the bars and it should come off easy. That is the way our dealer showed us how to do it.

GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 08:09 PM

Sure. It is a nice one pot meal.
I use an oven stuffer roaster, they are big and meaty with a pop-up thermometer.
I put the whole chicken in the foil lined DO, and place an onion in the cavity. Red potatoes (quartered) and baby carrots are placed around the bird with a half can of chicken broth. McCormick Mesquite seasoning liberally sprinkled on top.
Hot coals both under the DO and on the lid. Takes about a 1.5 hours for the popper to pop.

GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deerhunter21n

Next time you hook up to your camper, hook to the ball on your receiver hitch, then lower your jack. It will actually pick up the front of your camper and the rear of your TV. It will make it easier to attach the bars on your E4 hitch. Once you have it attached, lower the tongue back down and check to see if it sits level. if it does, your good. When it comes to unhooking once your level at your campsite, just repeat the process. Lower your jack down until it takes the tension off the bars and it should come off easy. That is the way our dealer showed us how to do it.

Yeah we are doing that. The bars do not swing around to clear the L brackets.

**bikendan** · 05-09-2016, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

Yeah we are doing that. The bars do not swing around to clear the L brackets.

That's because it's a new Equal-i-zer and the bar sockets are still tight.
They'll loosen up after a while.
You could spray a little Teflon lube where the sockets pivot.

GalsofEscape · 05-09-2016, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

That's because it's a new Equal-i-zer and the bar sockets are still tight.
They'll loosen up after a while.
You could spray a little Teflon lube where the sockets pivot.

That is what the dealer told me today. He recommended WD40 to lubricate ad well.
Was not fun having hitch issues in the rain. Will try to get it loose before our next outing.

**bikendan** · 05-10-2016, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

That is what the dealer told me today. He recommended WD40 to lubricate ad well.
Was not fun having hitch issues in the rain. Will try to get it loose before our next outing.

WD40 is a lousy lubricant, compared to other choices.
WD40 is a great solvent though.
You should read your Equal-i-zer paperwork for their recommendations.

jking46 · 05-10-2016, 08:54 AM

You might try Slick50 aerosol lube. It's more of a dry lubricant and won't leave a greasy deposit all over. I use it on the crank mechanisms on the windows in my house. One application lasts 6 months.

Summer2Go · 05-10-2016, 05:03 PM

I went though all of that with my equalizer last year. Sprained my finger trying to get the bars out. I pulled and pulled until it came flying out, and whacked my finger pretty bad. I now hitch with a pair of leather gloves. I have since learned to spray the dickens out of it if it doesn't cooperate. I was asking my son, or the male guys on the trip to pull on the bars to swing out. I haven't been doing that anymore. I put the bars on right before I leave the driveway with the TV in line straight with the trailer and on level ground. I jack up the hitch a bit, and I then slide the bars in, they are in the correct position already from the last trip and fit right in place just off the bracket. When I lower the hitch they land right on the shelf where they need to be clipped in. The guys can swing the bars in and out, but I can't. If I need to adjust them a little I give them a few whacks with a big rubber mallet. It works.

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