Picking Up the Roo 21SS Thursday

gscarter100 · 04-08-2013, 01:18 PM

Hello all, I am new to the forum as well to travel trailers.

I have been a tenter all my life with only an occasional trip where I had the luxury of staying in a Class A with my parents. We purchased our 2013 21SS after several years of Camping and RV shows in the North East and where it is just the two of us and our dog, felt the 21SS was perfect giving us the best of both worlds - a tent and trailer.

Anyway, we are picking up our Roo on Thursday and are very excited about it. I was wondering if there were any pointers we should be aware of as we go through the walk through with the tech? Also I drive a 2012 Ram 1500 Crew 4x4. Are the standard mirrors sufficient to tow or should I look at extensions?

Appreciate all and so far have enjoyed the forum!

grege · 04-08-2013, 02:21 PM

Congrats and welcome.

We also have the 21SS and just got back from camping in Florida in it for a week. We really loved the space in it compared to our old popup.

One issue we had on the way down was the screws that attach the base that our propane tanks sit on to the trailer all sheared off.

They were just 6 small self tapping screws. Fortunately the tanks didn't fall off as we were on the interstate. They did fall off as we were going thru a hotel parking lot. I got some stainless steel bolts and reconnected the base to the trailer while in Florida. Now it is rock solid. I have been in touch with RVW and they are going to re-imburse me for the parts and send a new propane tank since one of them got pretty scratched up and I am worried about it being rejected next time I need to fill it.

I did buy the Cipa tow mirrors for my F150 and liked having the better vision. I towed it home from RVW without and liked towing more with them.

gscarter100 · 04-08-2013, 04:13 PM

Thanks grege! I appreciate that little bit of information on the base for the propane tanks... maybe will just take care of that right away. Our first trip in the Roo will not be until May 17 when we head up the Maine Coast for the weekend (at least thats what we have planned so far!)

I have been looking at the Cipa clip on tow mirrors as well. If you don't mind, which did you purchase? I know that getting the real tow mirrors (OEM) is way out of my budget for now so think this is the only way to go if I do indeed need them.

Cheers

grege · 04-08-2013, 07:19 PM

I got these for my F150.

CIPA 11800 Ford F-150 Custom Towing Mirror - Pair : Amazon.com : Automotive

I also did a few mods. I added wire shelves to the closet to make it into more of a pantry. I made a wood cover to go over my stove cover so I had some counter space in the kitchen (didn't want to just put stuff on the metal cover). We bought one of those shoe pockets hanging thingy at Walmart and cut it off and then hung it on the bathroom door to give us a nice easy place to store bathroom stuff. I replaced the thermostat with a Hunter digital one. I changed out the tongue jack with a powered one.

grege · 04-08-2013, 07:20 PM

BTW, I posted on here and nobody had heard of that happening before but some did say they just went ahead and changed out the screws for bolts anyway. I think it's worth doing just for piece of mind.

Wiscampsin · 04-08-2013, 08:48 PM

Congrats on your new 21SS. I would recommend taking a PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) checklist along for your walk through . Triguy has one posted under the Library tab above. Look on the left side under 'Most Popular Files'. Or you can google or bing 'RV Pre Delivery Inspection Checklist.

ChooChooMan74 · 04-08-2013, 09:03 PM

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new camper. I hope you have many enjoyable nights in it!!

J R · 04-08-2013, 09:06 PM

Congrats on your purchase! We had a few problems after picking ours up. Make sure your heater works. Ours didn't fire up right away so they has their techs look at it. I just figured they fixed it. Didn't work our first trip out. Check your caulking on the exterior of the slide. Ours came loose and I had to re caulk. Otherwise, enjoy! We are!

redrider13 · 04-09-2013, 07:53 AM

Congratulations as well. I have a 21ss on order now and we are waiting for that phone call... I just wanted to give my 2 cents on the towing mirrors. I have the cipa mirrors as well and used them once previously on a Toyota Tacoma with a 19' shamrock hybrid. I was not impressed to much with them as I previously installed sticky curved mirrors you can purchase at Wal-Mart and was able to see just as much with them than with the towing mirrors on. They are still sitting in the garage in the boxes they came in. I haven't gotten rid of them yet as the new trailers are 8' wide so it will be trial and error again. I would look into the mirrors as they only cost 2-3 dollars for the pair rather than spending a lot for mirrors you may not use like I did. Good luck with the new trailer!

Triguy · 04-09-2013, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gscarter100

Anyway, we are picking up our Roo on Thursday and are very excited about it. I was wondering if there were any pointers we should be aware of as we go through the walk through with the tech?

Congrats!

We have a PDI Checklist that works well for hybrid owners. It actually can work with any trailer, but has material specific to hybrids, as well.

grege · 04-09-2013, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redrider13

Congratulations as well. I have a 21ss on order now and we are waiting for that phone call... I just wanted to give my 2 cents on the towing mirrors. I have the cipa mirrors as well and used them once previously on a Toyota Tacoma with a 19' shamrock hybrid. I was not impressed to much with them as I previously installed sticky curved mirrors you can purchase at Wal-Mart and was able to see just as much with them than with the towing mirrors on. They are still sitting in the garage in the boxes they came in. I haven't gotten rid of them yet as the new trailers are 8' wide so it will be trial and error again. I would look into the mirrors as they only cost 2-3 dollars for the pair rather than spending a lot for mirrors you may not use like I did. Good luck with the new trailer!

My F150 has the built in convex mirror on the driver side. It didn't help me with seeing down the side of the camper. The Cipa's are just far enough out that I can see on the side of the trailer and better behind it with them. I'm sure it may be different with a different TV so I would try without them first and see.

gscarter100 · 04-09-2013, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grege

I got these for my F150.

CIPA 11800 Ford F-150 Custom Towing Mirror - Pair : Amazon.com : Automotive

I also did a few mods. I added wire shelves to the closet to make it into more of a pantry. I made a wood cover to go over my stove cover so I had some counter space in the kitchen (didn't want to just put stuff on the metal cover). We bought one of those shoe pockets hanging thingy at Walmart and cut it off and then hung it on the bathroom door to give us a nice easy place to store bathroom stuff. I replaced the thermostat with a Hunter digital one. I changed out the tongue jack with a powered one.

Thanks Greg, I checked on these and as I expected not available for my 2012 Ram

. Also the mods you have done sound like things I have been thinking of since we decided to purchase.. Can not wait to see what I can come up with. The only real downside is the lack of counter space, but I am a wood working hobbyist so figure I can come up with something to add a personal touch.

gscarter100 · 04-09-2013, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redrider13

Congratulations as well. I have a 21ss on order now and we are waiting for that phone call... I just wanted to give my 2 cents on the towing mirrors. I have the cipa mirrors as well and used them once previously on a Toyota Tacoma with a 19' shamrock hybrid. I was not impressed to much with them as I previously installed sticky curved mirrors you can purchase at Wal-Mart and was able to see just as much with them than with the towing mirrors on. They are still sitting in the garage in the boxes they came in. I haven't gotten rid of them yet as the new trailers are 8' wide so it will be trial and error again. I would look into the mirrors as they only cost 2-3 dollars for the pair rather than spending a lot for mirrors you may not use like I did. Good luck with the new trailer!

Thanks redrider. I have been thinking about the stick ons.. I guess I really will end up deciding after I pull it off the lot and onto the road and verify the visibility with my stock mirrors.

ddemme · 04-09-2013, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gscarter100

Thanks Greg, I checked on these and as I expected not available for my 2012 Ram

. Also the mods you have done sound like things I have been thinking of since we decided to purchase.. Can not wait to see what I can come up with. The only real downside is the lack of counter space, but I am a wood working hobbyist so figure I can come up with something to add a personal touch.

Cipa part #11400 fits 2009 and up Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500. I also have the F-150 version and live them. A few people even thought that they were OEM before I showed them how they slide on.

http://www.cipausa.com/product/custo...-mirrors-11400

gscarter100 · 04-10-2013, 08:36 AM

Thanks Drew! I really appreciate the information. Not my usual way but I never thought of going to CIPA's site for information.. Looks like these are easy to install and sure beats the price of OEMs.. by the way is there any marking from the knobs on the original Mirror from tightening it down.

grege · 04-10-2013, 10:00 AM

The knobs don't tighten on the original mirror. There is a wedge that slides in on the backside of the mirror that the knob pushes against the mirror. Here is an example of the wedges and there is a soft piece that sticks to the wedge. I also uses the soft side of some velcro to go inside the mirror to protect my OEM mirror.

clancythecamper · 04-10-2013, 05:53 PM

Welcome and happy camping!!!

gscarter100 · 04-10-2013, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clancythecamper

Welcome and happy camping!!!

Thank you! Planning too. Two weekends booked so far and looking for early May (but finding up here in New England most do not open till mid May) trip..

pony express · 04-10-2013, 06:39 PM

Welcome cater from central mass most use memorial day as opening weekend..congrats and great camping

gscarter100 · 04-10-2013, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pony express

Welcome cater from central mass most use memorial day as opening weekend..congrats and great camping

Thank you Pony Express. Finding that out about camping here.. As a past tenter I never went until after the 4th.. but now .. want to go much earlier..

Happy Camping yourself!

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