Introduction - Hello
Hello, let me introduce myself and wife; we are Jeff and Debbie Maxwell. We recently (3/18/2017) took delivery of our new Rockwood 8280WS (2018 model). We took the plunge and upgraded from our 2005 Trailmanor 3124KS. For those not familiar with Trailmanor, let me take a brief detour to explain what they are as a number of people confuse them with a HI-LO. Whereas a HI-LO simply raises and lowers, a Trailmanor actually folds and collapses onto itself. There is an inner box and 2 shells that are on torsion bars. Each is slightly wider than the other and both are a bit wider then the box. This allows it to fold and collapse as well as raise and expand. So, for a 3124, when folded, it was 24 feet in length and when expanded, it was 31 feet. The width did not change, still 7 feet.
The downside, is that, anything above waste high, needed to be lowered, the fridge was a small 3 cubic feet floor level model. There was a wardrobe and bath with shower, but the walls of the bathroom needed to be folded and collapesed and the wardrobe tilted over to the floor. Any cabinets, taken off the walls and stowed on the floor.
With all this, it was getting to be alot of work for our old bones.
The up side is that pulling it was a dream. I did not even know it was behind my vehicle and the gas mileage did not drop off.
Enough of the old, and now into the new. Well, the day we picked up our 5th wheel, I managed to do to it what all those YouTube videos said not to do...I left the tailgate up when unhitching. This resulted in a smashed breakaway release.
Secondly, I had not noticed that the pantry door had come unlatched as I put the slide out. The hinges only go so far.
Lastly, the radio antenna had fallen over.
So, I contacted my dealer and made arrangements to have repairs done.
On the day I took the 5th wheel in for repairs, their main gate was opened, but not fully. I thought I had enough room to clear the gates, but, I did not make the turn quite right. The padlock that was left on the gate caught the entry door.
Oh, well, its only money.... The dealership noted that Forest River had not used screws that were long enough to securely attach the antenna. The dealership was able to fix that quickly.
They replaced the breakaway switch as well.
The pantry was another issue. When they looked at it closely, the found that the framing did not appear to be correct allowing the latch to not fully catch. It was so bad, that the slights vibration caused the door to swing away. They submitted a warranty claim to Forest River for repairs.
I ordered a new entry door.
I am still waiting to hear back as to when Forest River will deliver the parts so final repairs maybe made.
Aside from the initial hiccups, our inaugural trip was quite a nice experience. We visited Tropic Palms Resort in the Old Town area of Kissimmee, FL. My wife and I had stayed there previously, and have enjoyed visiting Old Town and listening to the bands and seeing the classic cars on parade every Saturday night.
The tow vehicle we have is a 2006 Dodge Ram Big Horn edition with the 5.9 Cummins Diesel. Per the sticker on the 8280WS, fully loaded, it comes in a 9996 LBS, and 1334 on the pin. My truck is rated at 2435 LBS cargo capacity and 12,900 towing.
We are looking forward to a trip from our home in Florida to the Black Hills later this year.
We look forward to participating in the forum to learn more about our new 5th wheel.
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