Hello from North Eastern Maryland

[strat56]

We just picked up our 2015 Rockwood Windjammer 3008W yesterday.

We bought a "starter" model from another manufacturer last year and quickly outgrew it. We spent most of the winter looking at floor plans and specs and weights and deciding between getting another TT or a 5th wheel. We decided to go with Forest River based on what we heard in talking with other RVers and the final decision was based on going to a dealer and walking thru several TT and 5th wheels and comparing them. In the end the decision was simple, my wife loved the front kitchen in this one. We shopped around for the best price and here we are. So happy and excited to have a TT with some room and nice features.

We'll pull it with our 2013 GMC Sierra 2500HD 6.0L using a Blue Ox Swaypro WD hitch as soon as we get new spring bars for it. I had to go with 1000lb spring bars, the new trailer is about 2000lbs heavier than the old one dry.

The dealer delivered it for me because they wanted to get the sale in for April and I'm glad they did. I have an incline at the street end of my driveway and when we got home and he started backing it in the rear stabilzer jacks on the trailer started dragging against the driveway. Luckily the incline gets less across the width of the driveway and it was able to back in without dragging by using the far right side of the driveway.

Next problem was the parking space I have for it beside the house. My old one fit there nicely but this one being 5ft longer and the slides being deeper doesn't fit so well. He got it backed in and we can open the slides but I'm going to need to extend the width of the parking space a little somehow. I'm already getting estimates on having the driveway resurfaced so maybe I'll see what it would take to make it foot wider in the trailer parking area.

I'm a little disappointed in the amount of exterior storage available on this model but I knew what it was when we picked it (happy wife, happy life). I'll need to figure out how to condense some of the things I had in the pass thru on the old trailer and make everything fit in the new one. Maybe I'll get rid of most of the wood blocks I'd been using and get some of those plastic stackable things and see how they work for me on the stabilizer jacks and for leveling by stacking them and driving up on them.

Great to be here and looking forward to hanging out. I don't usually post much in forums but I lurk and soak up the wisdom.

Thanks,
Jack

[ependydad]

Welcome from Howard County, MD! I had a pop-up that would drag on my sloped driveway as I dipped down into the curb/gutter/whatever its name is. If I put 2x10 boards into it, it gave the little bit of clearance that we needed.

I think other folks are putting caster wheels on the rears of their campers for the same reason.

[Wiscampsin]

Welcome from Wisconsin and congrats on your new Rockwood Windjammer 3008W.

[Flybob]

Welcome from Annapolis.

[Paradise115]

Welcome from western PA...formerly of Harford County, MD.

[dblr]

Welcome from just up the road in Newark De, Glasgow area

[Mowgli64]

Hello and welcome from Minnesota.
I just purchased a set of Anderson levelers after hearing good reviews of them. They take the place of boards and the stack blocks and level from 1/2 to 4 inches.

[Ford Idaho]

Good evening and welcome to the site from SW Idaho.

[Grn_Mtns]

Hello from Eastern MD! We are spending this week on the Md Shore at Tall Pines Harbor CG.
Couldn't be happier on our second trip from VT to FL with our 3025W. I did switch tires to Carlise E's for piece of mind.

[Brush]

Welcome to the forum from Southern MD and congrats on the new Windjammer!

[buskirk21921]

Welcome from another Elktonian.

[FordHauler]

Buskirk, you are one bad dude! Your post makes my mouth water! What a beautiful picture. How I would love that bushel of crabs!
Really miss crabs and oysters, in Kentucky. Lived in St. Michaels for 10 years, then 10 more in Easton. Was never without a boat on the Chesapeake Bay. Retired in '09. Moved in '12.
Never thought a thing of crabbing for a pot full or going to the dock for party fixins. Was just back there last week, too early for crabs. We travel a lot. Will be back before summer is over. Keep checking those crabpots.
Travel safe

[NavySailor]

Welcome aboard from Michigan!

[strat56]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, congratulations and advice. Looking forward to our first camping trip with the Windjammer.

@ependydad - For the 2X10 in the gutter, I'm assuming it's laying along the width of the driveway and not being used like a ramp? I'm not really liking the idea of caster wheels on the rear of the frame. Seems like a lot of stress on the frame.

@flybob - I grew up in Annapolis, went all the way thru high school there, graduated from the old Annapolis High in 1974,

@dblr - my wife works in Glasgow in Peoples Plaza at a lawyers office.

@mowgli64 - thanks for the tip on the Anderson's, I'll order a set from Amazon and try them next camping trip.

@grn_mtns - I noticed my tires are load range C, are they not sufficent for the weight of the trailer?

@buskirk21921 - I live in Manchester Park between Elkton and Fairhill on 213.

[ependydad]

Correct, not a ramp- just laid in the gutter where the tires were. I'd usually backup close and then my wife would put them down into the path of the tires. We used 2 pieces- one for each tire.

[Grn_Mtns]

Tires are always highly debated in this forum! IMHO the C rated tires FR uses for a 35' trailer seems nuts! They go with the cheapest tires money can buy. If they would just put on Goodyear Marathons their approval rating would jump 50%!
Just the conditions of driving our crumbling roads alone is reason to switch to D's or E's. I don't overload my windjammer. The heavier tires are simply much less likely to fail. We see one or two campers a month by the side of the road with blown out tire or tires. The last one in I saw in FL was sitting on it's drums! As an added bonus the tires usually cause $1000 or $2000 in damage to the wheel wells.
I would not run the roads with stock tires from FR.

[strat56]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Correct, not a ramp- just laid in the gutter where the tires were. I'd usually backup close and then my wife would put them down into the path of the tires. We used 2 pieces- one for each tire.

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a shot. I'm hoping when I have the driveway resurfaced it won't make it worse.

[strat56]

Originally Posted by Grn_Mtns

Tires are always highly debated in this forum! IMHO the C rated tires FR uses for a 35' trailer seems nuts! They go with the cheapest tires money can buy. If they would just put on Goodyear Marathons their approval rating would jump 50%!
Just the conditions of driving our crumbling roads alone is reason to switch to D's or E's. I don't overload my windjammer. The heavier tires are simply much less likely to fail. We see one or two campers a month by the side of the road with blown out tire or tires. The last one in I saw in FL was sitting on it's drums! As an added bonus the tires usually cause $1000 or $2000 in damage to the wheel wells.
I would not run the roads with stock tires from FR.

So what about the rims themselves? If FR uses tires that just meet the minimum requirements, might they do the same thing with the RIMS?

It seems kind of odd to me that they would spend the money on having better materials elsewhere and then scrimp on tires but I'll do some research.

[buskirk21921]

Originally Posted by strat56

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, congratulations and advice. Looking forward to our first camping trip with the Windjammer.

@ependydad - For the 2X10 in the gutter, I'm assuming it's laying along the width of the driveway and not being used like a ramp? I'm not really liking the idea of caster wheels on the rear of the frame. Seems like a lot of stress on the frame.

@flybob - I grew up in Annapolis, went all the way thru high school there, graduated from the old Annapolis High in 1974,

@dblr - my wife works in Glasgow in Peoples Plaza at a lawyers office.

@mowgli64 - thanks for the tip on the Anderson's, I'll order a set from Amazon and try them next camping trip.

@grn_mtns - I noticed my tires are load range C, are they not sufficent for the weight of the trailer?

@buskirk21921 - I live in Manchester Park between Elkton and Fairhill on 213.

We live around the corner on Kirk Road between Uncle Bobs and Pleasant Hill Store.

[MrJoe]

Welcome from your southern neighbors!