First trip out, Maumee Bay, OH

gruss01 · 05-20-2014, 12:13 PM

Just a short run about 10 miles from my house to figure out storage/setup etc. Hoping to head to SW MI and the middle of Indiana for some much longer stays. So far so good, really like the layout even if storage is a little lacking. We do notice a little "thunk" when closing up from the front drivers side corner? If you raise back up a few minutes later and bring down no more thunk...only problem that has me remotely worried right now. Dont wan't to smash anything, maybe just to much material right there?

Got a little cold Saturday, but good test of furnace I guess, heated mattresses took the chill off too.
Now to see if Google will let me post a pic?

jgahlhoff · 05-20-2014, 12:17 PM

great look!!! Happy trails

Ringbill · 05-20-2014, 12:46 PM

Great! I love my pup too! I have to find some patio lights soon or people will think I am anti-social.

Gruss, what did you do for the sink drain outlet? I just bought the Valterra cap with the 90 elbow and threaded end- somebody suggested the washing machine type hose? I do have a 5 gallon water tote as the collection container. I also need the entry step carpet and the entranceway rug too.

kinma13 · 05-20-2014, 02:04 PM

Gruss01 great looking setup. I have a question, We bought the 2014 highwall 276 but haven't towed it yet at higher then 50mph i am wondering if i should get a sway control. We have a 2014 Explorer.

gruss01 · 05-20-2014, 02:48 PM

@Ringbill I also just got the Valterra 90 elbow and a 4 ft piece of hose on Amazon, about 9 bucks total, washing machine hose would work too and be a good length. Neighbor had a bucket with a screw on lid that I knocked a 1" hole in, and by dumb luck (just grabbed the biggest bit handy) the hose fits in pretty snug so doesn't fall out easily. We didn't have any problems with the sink draining...and I know because the 5 yr old thought the running water in the camper was the coolest thing ever, that boy has never washed his hands that much. Wife used it quite a bit to cleaning up, I dumped it 3x in 2 nights. Also Menards had folding dolleys for $20 that I picked up a long time ago, makes hauling it easy. Dealer had the propane and battery offset instead of mounting in the middle so adding extra would be easy, but now the bucket lives next to the propane tank and I just secured with a cinch strap...toss my wheel chocks in it when ready to pull out.
Menards had those carpets on sale for $10, I let our old carpet go with the old camper it was way to heavy. this one is nice and light, I roll it up and strap it to the bumper to keep the grit out of the camper.
@kinma HW is probably quite a bit heavier than mine so I'm not sure I can answer? I think the new Xs are kind of car based but not sure if wheelbase is longer or not? I guess I can just say I pulled ours home on a windy day on a 3 lane highway, and keeping it around 60-65 didn't notice any sway...pulled very nice.
You might want to check around some explorer/ford truck forums, they usually have a towing section...can probably find someone pulling a similar trailer with one there.

kinma13 · 05-20-2014, 03:00 PM

thank you will check those, never thought of them, duh me!!

**Terier** · 05-20-2014, 03:41 PM

Great picture! Now I wish I was camping too....

Good idea to camp close to home for your first outing. I did the same and felt it took off some of the stress of being an new RV owner.

campfire joe · 05-20-2014, 04:24 PM

Gruss01, yours looks exactly like my 2318G, except mine is set up in my driveway. Just picked up sat. so we are still checking things out before take out and put it through the rigors of the great outdoors.

gruss01 · 05-20-2014, 06:37 PM

yup, we set ours up once in the driveway, then that was our quick trip to see how it does "in the wild" temp got down in the 30's one night, rained the whole night before so it was a good test.
Next trip we figure out how to use the potty...just cause.

Ringbill · 05-21-2014, 10:47 AM

Good deal, Gruss! I need to change out the washing machine hoses so I'll use the one for the sink drain connection feeding into the water bucket.
What I found very flimsy was the battery tie down- does not really have one- the battery box was screwed into the tongue frame only. I replaced these with machine bolts/washers and for the moment a stout bungee is also helping to keep the battery still.
For the upcoming holiday with most place crowded, I think we'll camp at home, will be warm enough here to setup an outdoor shower and of course I plan to BBQ! I grew up in Oak Park, Michigan, I would love to visit that state again- maybe the Upper Peninsula!

campfire joe · 05-21-2014, 11:44 AM

gruss01, since we have basically the same units 2318g, I was wondering if you knew what the switch works that's under the converter almost on the floor. I know it shuts off my water pump, but I was wondering if shuts off other stuff like the refer? Also closed ours up last night ,1st time we tried that, and found that we cannot leave the sleeping bags layed out flat on the beds. The roof just wouldn't go down enough. Had to crank back up a little ways and pull them out. I guess probably everyone already knew that, but we didn't.

gruss01 · 05-21-2014, 12:58 PM

As far as I know all that switch is for is the pump. There is another closer to the front of the camper for the WH. All the fridge switches live outside under the access panel so you can fire it up without opening the camper.
I agree with the roof, it's a tighter fit than I thought it would be. We just roll up the sleeping bags and leave them under the gaucho.

@Ringbill: yeah even though the 4 footer wasn't much money I was still kicking myself for pitching the washing machine hoses I switched out about 2 months ago. they were leaky but with no pressure would have been fine.

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