New member

[Cindy T]

Hi all! Having been a "lurker" for several months, I'm happy to say that we are finally taking delivery of our Sanibel 3400 tomorrow! We'll be parking it at a seasonal site for the next few years until both of us retire, then plan on doing a lot of traveling. Now the count down to April (when our campground opens) begins....can't wait for spring! I'm anxious to hear any tips or advice that you can offer.

[BarryD0706]

Congratulations! We're very happy with our 3500.

Two pieces of advice from me:
- Check everything thoroughly. You'll likely find lots of things that need to be fixed.
- The slides will destroy anything that gets in their way, and don't assume that cabinet doors or drawers will stay closed during travel. Translation: Check that everything is clear before opening any slides, even if that means that you have to use the control valves to open some slides before others.

[Cindy T]

Thanks Barry! I don't know if you are the one that had the issue with the cabinet door being ripped off when you opened the slide, but when I read that, we decided that the cabinet doors will be locked in place with plastic tie wraps that can be cut off when we reach our destination.

That's why I love this forum, I never would have thought to take that precaution without reading it here!

[DnD]

Congratulations on the new Sanibel! I am soooo envious!

Here's wishing you many years of camping fun!

[Dude57]

Congrats on your new Sanibel, glad to know there is another owner to share info with. We also have a summer site and waiting on warmer weather. We went with the 3600. Can I ask you what you pull it with? We are having ours delivered and in a couple years (retirement) we will upgrade from our 1/2 ton.

Happy Holidays

[Cindy T]

We are having ours delivered also. Since we won't be towing for a couple years, we are waiting on a vehicle also. Right now we are leaning towards a Chevy Sierra 3/4 ton diesel, but with models changing so quickly, we'll make a final decision when the time comes.

[Terier]

Glad to meet you and congrats on your new Sanibel! How did everything go? Are you all settle in yet? I know that you won't be hitting the road just yet but there are advantages of having a seasonal site.

Reminder that pictures are always welcome.

[wmcclay]

Congrats
We love our 3500 we have spent 60 days camping in it since Aug. Its the right trailer for us. Enjoy
Wayne and Donna

[kozzy]

Congrats Cindy. ,might I recommend the Velcro awning straps for your cabinets. That is what I use, they are strong enough, and you can reuse them over and over. In my old camper I used them for the tv cabinet, there was an older tube style 20" in there and they held it closed no problem. Never had one pop open. I did all this after learning the hard way, as one of my doors was damaged by a slide when I went to open in. Anyways they are like 5 bucks at camping world for a set of 2

[BarryD0706]

Two of you have asked about the tow vehicle. I went with a Chevy 3500 (srw) when I had to make the decision. I did that based on the following footnote in the Chevy Trailering Guide (page 10): "Fifth-Wheel and Gooseneck Kingpin Weight Notes: Fifth-wheel and gooseneck kingpin weight should be 15% to 25% of total loaded trailer, up to 3,000 lbs. on 2500HD models or up to 4,000 lbs. on 3500HD SRW models and 5,500 lbs. on 3500HD DRW models."

Sanibels can weight up to about 15,400 pounds. Their quoted dry hitch weight is 18% of the unloaded weight. Even if you assume you'll stay at that ratio, that gets you 2775 pounds, just 225 below the 2500HD rating. If you use 25% of 15400, that's 3850 which is way over the 2500HD rating.

Remember, the goal is not to fudge the numbers to get by. The goal is to improve the odds that you are still alive when you get into a bad situation while towing that behemoth behind your little truck.