New 233s Roo

[Terier]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new 233s Roo!
Spring is right around the corner so you should be out and enjoying your new trailer pretty soon.

[mom28]

Originally Posted by WarMovies

Wow... Pulling your popup with a 3/4 ton van. I pulled my popup with a 1/2 van and I literally would forget that its back there. That must have been one fun tow!

I'm not sure how its supposed to feel. I've never pulled anything bigger than a popup. With the help of others here I made the decision to move to a bigger tow vehicle even before I have even pulled my 233s...which gets delivered in 10 days...but who is counting! :-)

With all the reading I've done on here yours is one of the few cases I've read about where all of the "tow experts" dont have to get on here and chirp in with "wayyy too much trailer for your tow vehicle". If you log on and read enough you'll see that a lot. I say good job on being prepared.

I'm asking this because I'm awfully curious how well my tow is going to be. The numbers are one thing...but reality is another. I'd love to hear what your first real tow experience with some distance turns out to be like. I've seen very few people on here towing a 233s with almost the same exact tow vehicle. Mine is a conversion but pretty much the same guts (6.0 and 2500). I have no idea what my wheel base is. Nice job on knowing those numbers btw! What year is your van? So..let me know how that first tow goes.

I don't really remember how it felt to tow the pop up. It was my husband's parents and we only used it once several years ago. We have been tent camping a couple times the last few years.

Our van is a 2004.

Too funny you mentioned wheel base. Our manual lists the short (135) and long (155) wheelbase and it had driven me crazy trying to figure out what ours was...nothing was on the sticker or any of the paperwork we had for the van. About the time we were getting serious about buying the camper, I googled wheel base and how to measure it. Took my 12 year old son out and measured from the middle of the front wheel to the middle of the back wheel.

We were lucky that we had a decent size tow vehicle. When I first saw the 233s, I knew it was perfect for us. We could handle the weight, hubby could live with the length (he did NOT want anything too long!), and the three beds and the slide gave us the space we need.

I feel totally comfortable towing it...just had to watch my mirrors when turning corners to make sure it cleared. I, too, am curious how it will go our first time out.

When the ice/snow melts and things dry up a bit, I really want to go get it and practice backing up, etc. in a large parking lot because I am most worried about having to back into a campsite.

[mom28]

Originally Posted by 4kmprs

First time camping at fort wilderness. Heard lots of great things about it so called up yesterday and was able to add on an additional night.

Gotta love adding an extra day to a Disney vacation!

[mom28]

Originally Posted by Terier

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new 233s Roo!
Spring is right around the corner so you should be out and enjoying your new trailer pretty soon.

Thanks! I know Spring is close, but I do wish it could come a little sooner!

[Terier]

Originally Posted by mom28

Thanks! I know Spring is close, but I do wish it could come a little sooner!

In the meantime just think of all the fun you going to have.

[PineForestCamper]

Originally Posted by mom28

We have been tent camping a couple times the last few years.

We were lucky that we had a decent size tow vehicle. When I first saw the 233s, I knew it was perfect for us. We could handle the weight, hubby could live with the length (he did NOT want anything too long!), and the three beds and the slide gave us the space we need.

I feel totally comfortable towing it...just had to watch my mirrors when turning corners to make sure it cleared. I, too, am curious how it will go our first time out.

When the ice/snow melts and things dry up a bit, I really want to go get it and practice backing up, etc. in a large parking lot because I am most worried about having to back into a campsite.

Well I hope you guys get out and put it to good use. I hear about so many out there that purchase a camper and it never seems to get the use that was hoped for. Used a couple of times and then........! It just sits there. Our popup was 5 yrs old when we got it and it had been used maybe 3x. Thats just too bad. We get out quite a bit every year and see this purchase as increasing our times out!

Your towing mirrors...
What are you using? Are you using? I found that with the Chevy Express options for towing mirrors were limited. Bleh. I was not happy with that. I actually went outside today...brrr...and attached one and it fit. Yeah!

What kind of WDH are you using?

I hope I dont overwhelm you with questions or thoughts...but its REALLY nice to see someone towing with a Chevy Express Van...AND...they are towing the same camper as mine! Talk about the odds of that! Its just a rare thing.

Good idea to get it out and practice towing/backing up. With the popup we used to use walkie talkies and we'd communicate with them while backing it in. Eventually, we'd pull in to a site and I'd yell around for help (everyone would vacate the van when we got to the campground and scatter). I'd yell for someone to eye me in and I'd get the "oh you never need our help anyways".

I think its great you'll get out and tow it. Thats awesome. So do you have any ideas where you will be camping?

[mom28]

Originally Posted by WarMovies

Well I hope you guys get out and put it to good use. I hear about so many out there that purchase a camper and it never seems to get the use that was hoped for. Used a couple of times and then........! It just sits there. Our popup was 5 yrs old when we got it and it had been used maybe 3x. Thats just too bad. We get out quite a bit every year and see this purchase as increasing our times out!

Your towing mirrors...
What are you using? Are you using? I found that with the Chevy Express options for towing mirrors were limited. Bleh. I was not happy with that. I actually went outside today...brrr...and attached one and it fit. Yeah!

What kind of WDH are you using?

I hope I don't overwhelm you with questions or thoughts...but its REALLY nice to see someone towing with a Chevy Express Van...AND...they are towing the same camper as mine! Talk about the odds of that! Its just a rare thing.

Good idea to get it out and practice towing/backing up. With the popup we used to use walkie talkies and we'd communicate with them while backing it in. Eventually, we'd pull in to a site and I'd yell around for help (everyone would vacate the van when we got to the campground and scatter). I'd yell for someone to eye me in and I'd get the "oh you never need our help anyways".

I think its great you'll get out and tow it. Thats awesome. So do you have any ideas where you will be camping?

I really don't mind the questions because it actually gets me thinking about things that we may have never thought of.

Ack! Mirrors! We were just using the ones on the van. One more thing to add to the list....

To be honest, I am not sure what brand the WDH is? I have asked my husband several times. He answers and then I completely forget. I have looked through and read so many manuals that I think my brain is fried a bit. I think friends of ours had the same brand and were pleased with it.

I know it will be easy to just let it sit there but I am going to actively work this spring/summer/fall to NOT let that happen. We have a first communion, confirmation, high school graduation and graduation party that will take up valuable weekend time in April, May and June.

We have reservations with several friends in mid MI in August and we plan on going to Cedar Point with our kids in May for a long weekend. There are a few campgrounds we are looking at that are within an hours drive from my husband's work so I plan to have him help me set up on the weekend and we will stay during the week and he will just meet up with us after work during the week. He does have some vacation time we hope to use in July...where to go? where to go?

If I recall correctly, 9 days, right?

[hockeytownmom]

We go to Mackinaw Mill Creek every July 4th. We love it there.

[clancythecamper]

When we got our Roo, the dealership gave us lots of coupons for freebie camping as well as discounts. Yay! We are towing with a Chevy Silverado. DH says he def knows it's back there but is quite happy with how it tows. We do have electric brakes, sway bar, equalizer, etc. One thing we have learned is that the worst thing you can do to a camper is just let it sit. It needs to be used / loved

[mom28]

Originally Posted by hockeytownmom

We go to Mackinaw Mill Creek every July 4th. We love it there.

We have been eyeing that place for years. Do you go over to Mackinac Island?

[mom28]

Originally Posted by clancythecamper

When we got our Roo, the dealership gave us lots of coupons for freebie camping as well as discounts. Yay! We are towing with a Chevy Silverado. DH says he def knows it's back there but is quite happy with how it tows. We do have electric brakes, sway bar, equalizer, etc. One thing we have learned is that the worst thing you can do to a camper is just let it sit. It needs to be used / loved

How long have you had your Roo?
I am curious as to how it will tow when we are all loaded up. I have only towed it with the van and trailer pretty empty.
My oldest is graduating high school this year and I really wish we had purchased a trailer years ago....but I have a 1 year old, a 2 year old and 5 other children age 16 and under, so I am sure we will get much use out of it over the years. It will probably be loved to death when we are done with it.

[hockeytownmom]

We really don't do the touristy stuff anymore. Just love Mackinaw and the campground. I've been going there since I was a baby, every year. It's like "comfort food".

[PineForestCamper]

Originally Posted by mom28

I really don't mind the questions because it actually gets me thinking about things that we may have never thought of.

Ack! Mirrors! We were just using the ones on the van. One more thing to add to the list....

To be honest, I am not sure what brand the WDH is? I have asked my husband several times. He answers and then I completely forget. I have looked through and read so many manuals that I think my brain is fried a bit. I think friends of ours had the same brand and were pleased with it.

I know it will be easy to just let it sit there but I am going to actively work this spring/summer/fall to NOT let that happen. We have a first communion, confirmation, high school graduation and graduation party that will take up valuable weekend time in April, May and June.

We have reservations with several friends in mid MI in August and we plan on going to Cedar Point with our kids in May for a long weekend. There are a few campgrounds we are looking at that are within an hours drive from my husband's work so I plan to have him help me set up on the weekend and we will stay during the week and he will just meet up with us after work during the week. He does have some vacation time we hope to use in July...where to go? where to go?

If I recall correctly, 9 days, right?

So you you towed w/o mirrors? Hmmm. How was visibility? Here is what I purchased. I have tried them on but thats about it. There arent that many choices out there for the Express Van.
http://www.etrailer.com/tm-2004_Chevrolet_Express+Van.htm

Your WDH. Its steel and has some bars and it distributes weight. I'm not sure we really need to know what the label says the brand is. Mine is coming with a blue ox. My daughter heard that and mentioned something about Paul Bunyan. We are from MN after all.

Sounds like a busy start to the summer. I also didnt miss the details that mentioned 8 kids. Wow. Did you buy one or two campers?? Do you plan on fitting everyone in the camper? I have a friend who has 6 kids and I've told him that he had better keep the pulse on things in his house otherwise he could have an insurrection/coup attempt at some point. You have two more!

How far is the camper storage from home? I mentioned your situation to the co-pilot and having to store it and she said that would be a serious bummer. But..you gotta do what you gotta do..period. :-)

What kind of mileage are you getting with your van? We just purchased ours in January and drove it home from San Diego. We got 12-13mpg the whole trip at 75mph. However, on the tank driving over the rockies in CO we got nearly 16mpg but we barely got over 50mph by choice as we didnt want to drive very fast and miss anything. Since getting home I've been fighting to get 10mpg (rarely getting it up to 60mph). Most of the miles being town mileage with lots of warming up in this MN winter. Bleh. I'd love to know what you guys are getting. Mine seems to be very thirsty.

Yup. Nine days...but who is counting.

[mom28]

Originally Posted by WarMovies

So you you towed w/o mirrors? Hmmm. How was visibility? Here is what I purchased. I have tried them on but thats about it. There arent that many choices out there for the Express Van.
http://www.etrailer.com/tm-2004_Chevrolet_Express+Van.htm

Your WDH. Its steel and has some bars and it distributes weight. I'm not sure we really need to know what the label says the brand is. Mine is coming with a blue ox. My daughter heard that and mentioned something about Paul Bunyan. We are from MN after all.

Sounds like a busy start to the summer. I also didnt miss the details that mentioned 8 kids. Wow. Did you buy one or two campers?? Do you plan on fitting everyone in the camper? I have a friend who has 6 kids and I've told him that he had better keep the pulse on things in his house otherwise he could have an insurrection/coup attempt at some point. You have two more!

How far is the camper storage from home? I mentioned your situation to the co-pilot and having to store it and she said that would be a serious bummer. But..you gotta do what you gotta do..period. :-)

What kind of mileage are you getting with your van? We just purchased ours in January and drove it home from San Diego. We got 12-13mpg the whole trip at 75mph. However, on the tank driving over the rockies in CO we got nearly 16mpg but we barely got over 50mph by choice as we didnt want to drive very fast and miss anything. Since getting home I've been fighting to get 10mpg (rarely getting it up to 60mph). Most of the miles being town mileage with lots of warming up in this MN winter. Bleh. I'd love to know what you guys are getting. Mine seems to be very thirsty.

Yup. Nine days...but who is counting.

Yes, we do plan on fitting them all in the summer! 2 oldest boys in the back bed, 2 oldest girls in the side bed. 1 boy on the dinette bed, 1 boy old on the sofa bed, 2 year old with us in the front bed. This will change but she is my horrible sleeper. And we plan to bring a pack-n-play for the 1 year old. It will be tight, but 8 of us fit in a tent last year with TWO pack-n-plays! (That did not include my husband or my oldest son, they did not go on that trip.)

How many do you plan to fit in the camper? Doesn't everyone fit 10 people?

The camper storage is about 7 miles away. We pass it regularly on our way to church so it isn't too far away. We have considered moving over the years because our HOA can be restrictive but we love where we live. So storage it is!

Your numbers sound about right. I know we do better on our trips to Florida straight down I-75. Yes, this one is a gas guzzler. But it has been good to us. My husband is always writing numbers down and calculating for the car he drives to work. He tells me all the time I mess up his calculations because I fill the van and don't write down the numbers!

I thought visibility was ok with the van mirrors. But I may not know better and the mirrors could help. I am going to hold off buying them until you use them and you can tell me if they are worth it! If you don't mind.

How long did it take you to get home from San Diego? One of these days, we would love to go west..see the Grand Canyon and go to southern California. We thought about doing it this summer but decided it was just too much driving for the 1 and 2 year old. Some day!!

[mom28]

Originally Posted by hockeytownmom

We really don't do the touristy stuff anymore. Just love Mackinaw and the campground. I've been going there since I was a baby, every year. It's like "comfort food".

We went to Mackinac Island twice in the last three summers. I do love it even though it is touristy. We stayed on the island 2 nights and once everyone left on the ferry at night, it was AWESOME!!

BUT that being said, I do not want to have to pay for the ferry ride over for all of us. I felt like we would have "had" to go over to the island if we camped in Mackinaw....why? I do not know??

[Kaytee1206]

Originally Posted by mom28

We went to Mackinac Island twice in the last three summers. I do love it even though it is touristy. We stayed on the island 2 nights and once everyone left on the ferry at night, it was AWESOME!!

BUT that being said, I do not want to have to pay for the ferry ride over for all of us. I felt like we would have "had" to go over to the island if we camped in Mackinaw....why? I do not know??

We went to Mackinac last summer for our first big trip. We stayed at Wilderness State Park and it was beautiful. We stayed in the loop with the woods instead of the beach. The beach side is a little cramped but I think they are redoing it this year. It was wonderful and we didn't have all the touristy stuff right in our faces. It's only a 10 minute drive to the bridge though. Oh , and there were wild turkeys just hanging out in the campground walking site to site. Our kids loved it.

[clancythecamper]

She's still new to us Only taken her out one time. DH has pulled many a trailer tho and was reasonably impressed. Have you done any modifications? I love the great ideas on here ~ thinking we're pretty set but always love to hear others ideas I had a board left over from the closet shelving project and was trying to think of a way to make that a countertop that folds out when cooking and back in when not needed (think ironing board on a door concept...... I wonder if that would work....... til someone opened the door unexpectedly..... ~ sorry, l'm wandering again....) anyhow, wishing you many great adventures.

[mom28]

Originally Posted by KKapa

We went to Mackinac last summer for our first big trip. We stayed at Wilderness State Park and it was beautiful. We stayed in the loop with the woods instead of the beach. The beach side is a little cramped but I think they are redoing it this year. It was wonderful and we didn't have all the touristy stuff right in our faces. It's only a 10 minute drive to the bridge though. Oh , and there were wild turkeys just hanging out in the campground walking site to site. Our kids loved it.

I love hearing about campgrounds in Michigan! Sure beats just randomly searching online.

[mom28]

Originally Posted by clancythecamper

She's still new to us Only taken her out one time. DH has pulled many a trailer tho and was reasonably impressed. Have you done any modifications? I love the great ideas on here ~ thinking we're pretty set but always love to hear others ideas I had a board left over from the closet shelving project and was trying to think of a way to make that a countertop that folds out when cooking and back in when not needed (think ironing board on a door concept...... I wonder if that would work....... til someone opened the door unexpectedly..... ~ sorry, l'm wandering again....) anyhow, wishing you many great adventures.

Extra counter space sounds nice! How many shelves did you add? I am assuming you put the shelves in the closet in the back next to the bathroom?

My husband does not have a lot of spare time right now with a big work project and I am not very handy with a screwdriver.....so I don't think we will be making many modifications right now. I want to get out camping when he finally gets some down time!

[Kaytee1206]

Originally Posted by mom28

I love hearing about campgrounds in Michigan! Sure beats just randomly searching online.

http://maliasmiles.com/michigan/index.htm

Go here! I have read some of her reviews of Michigan state parks. She posts a lot of pics too.