Brand New 2017 Windjammer

Dietzldub · 12-05-2018, 11:43 PM

Hey there all, what a great forum you have here.

We will be picking up our brand new 2017 3006WK Windjammer on 12/15. This was a unit that Camping World delivered for somebody a while back, and was the wrong trailer, and then brought back to Camping World. So since it was never used/titled it's still considered a new unit.

Anyway, we are very excited to be getting back into RVing. We previously bought a 31' Cardinal new back in 2003, then sold it around 2011.

I'm researching hitches, I know this is a huge topic. But I have a few more days to make my decision. We will be pulling it with an Expedtion.

I'm also concerned about the Chinese ST tires the unit has on it. I'll keep reading to see if there are any bad experiences with a new unit and these tires.

Thanks, Terry

Rsteph · 12-06-2018, 04:46 PM

Nice rig (I looked it up)! You're right, the whole topic of hitches is huge and varied. I am pulling my new Mini Lite 2507S (smaller rig than yours) with a F-150 eco boost 4wd. And, while it pulls just fine, I am using a simple old regular hitch with 1K bars and the small side mounted anti sway "brake". I am strongly considering either the Propride or Hensley hitch. Leaning towards the Propride. Yeah, they are spendy. But I'm impressed with what I see about them. Given the apparent size difference between your new TT and your proposed TV, one of those just might be the way to go for you. And, of course, there are other options our there that people swear by.

rockfordroo · 12-07-2018, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rsteph

Nice rig (I looked it up)! You're right, the whole topic of hitches is huge and varied. I am pulling my new Mini Lite 2507S (smaller rig than yours) with a F-150 eco boost 4wd. And, while it pulls just fine, I am using a simple old regular hitch with 1K bars and the small side mounted anti sway "brake". I am strongly considering either the Propride or Hensley hitch. Leaning towards the Propride. Yeah, they are spendy. But I'm impressed with what I see about them. Given the apparent size difference between your new TT and your proposed TV, one of those just might be the way to go for you. And, of course, there are other options our there that people swear by.

Suggest you check your current tongue weight and actual payload numbers first. The Hensley/Propride weighs about 280 lbs, so you'll probably be adding a good 200 lbs to your current tongue weight.

russhd1997 · 12-07-2018, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dietzldub

Hey there all, what a great forum you have here.

We will be picking up our brand new 2017 3006WK Windjammer on 12/15. This was a unit that Camping World delivered for somebody a while back, and was the wrong trailer, and then brought back to Camping World. So since it was never used/titled it's still considered a new unit.

Anyway, we are very excited to be getting back into RVing. We previously bought a 31' Cardinal new back in 2003, then sold it around 2011.

I'm researching hitches, I know this is a huge topic. But I have a few more days to make my decision. We will be pulling it with an Expedtion.

I'm also concerned about the Chinese ST tires the unit has on it. I'll keep reading to see if there are any bad experiences with a new unit and these tires.

Thanks, Terry

For the hitch you will need something like the Blue Ox that doesn't require lift and lock frame brackets because of the V nose. I have an Eez Lift hitch that used the lift and lock frame brackets but was able to get brackets from Reese that bolt to the frame. The problem with those is that I have to jack the back of the TV and front of the TT almost to the max lift of the jack with blocks under it to hook the spring bar chains.

If the chinese tires are West Lakes they shouldn't be a problem. I have them on my present TT and put them on my last one. They are almost five years old now and have been trouble free. You do want to keep them properly inflated and inspect the tires regularly for any cracks or bulges but that's true for any tire.

aceinspp · 12-07-2018, 07:39 AM

Welcome to the forum and to the V-nose group. I use a equalizer hitch on my V-Lite and works well. My first V-lite had china bombs tires and had two blow outs on my way to MI I'd sure be looking to change them out. Returned home and bought all new GY tires. My new trailer has GY endurance tires. Made in the USA Later RJD

nomad297 · 12-07-2018, 07:48 AM

Welcome!

You’ll love your Windjammer. I use the Husky Center Line TS weight distribution hitch. It’s what the dealer put on and I din’t know anything about the brand at the time. I was sure it wouldn’t be as good as my Reese Strait-Line dual cam hitch that I was used to and really liked, but it turned out that the Husky does a much better job than the Reese did, for me, at least.

Bruce

rvee-nut · 12-07-2018, 09:11 AM

Dietzldub - You should closely inspect those tires. Your trailer was likely manufactured in 2016, so the tires are probably pushing 3 years old and been sitting in the sun on a lot.

Ken

Dietzldub · 12-07-2018, 10:06 AM

Wow thank you for all of the great responses, and recommendations. Sorry for the late reply, my son is getting married today and haven’t had much time to follow back up.

I had a friend that uses the Equalizer on an Air Stream and likes it, but said he’s thinking about going with the Husky Centerline with the way it’s engineered to bring the TT back to center.

The weight of the Propride and Hensley I think will definitely prohibit and out of allowable capacity for the TV.

I’ll try to follow back up with the actual name of the tires when I go back to Camping World Monday. We are planning on a trip to Helen Ga. during Christmas/New Years approx 650 miles round trip. I hope I can leave the OEM tires on there till then because I plan on putting pressure and temp sensors on the wheels when I do change the tires out. I don’t think I have enough time with the holidays, and prepping before we go on our trip.

Thanks again!

gectisme · 12-07-2018, 11:27 AM

Congrats on your Son's Marriage and picking a great trailer!

We had the 2016 Model of that Trailer and it was an excellent trailer for us, pulled it ~30k miles in ~2years. It came with the Equalizer with 1400lb bars which worked well for us.

Tires... take a look and see what the load rating is on tires, if it is Load D, (which our trailer came stock with), figure out your maximum loaded trailer weight and you will probably be surprised how close the max load capacity of your tires come to that. Not much of a cushion. IMO, If you can get the dealer to upgrade to Load E tires before you take possession, you will be better off. The consensus here on the Forum is Maxxis, Carlilse and GY Endurance with the caveat, the GY Endurance are still fairly new to the market and lot of people are waiting to see how they do long term. We had a blowout at 5k Miles on the stock Castlerock Load D Tires in the middle of nowhere, (TPMS gave no warning). We couldn't wait so we ended up putting TrailerKing II Load E tires on. The TK II Tires went 15k miles before one of them started to have tread separation, (TPMS warned us). We then put GY Endurance Load E on at that time and had around 10k miles on them when we sold the trailer. I think the biggest thing is to make sure you have a decent cushion on the max weight of the trailer versus the tires...

aceinspp · 12-07-2018, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dietzldub

Wow thank you for all of the great responses, and recommendations. Sorry for the late reply, my son is getting married today and haven’t had much time to follow back up.

I had a friend that uses the Equalizer on an Air Stream and likes it, but said he’s thinking about going with the Husky Centerline with the way it’s engineered to bring the TT back to center.

The weight of the Propride and Hensley I think will definitely prohibit and out of allowable capacity for the TV.

I’ll try to follow back up with the actual name of the tires when I go back to Camping World Monday. We are planning on a trip to Helen Ga. during Christmas/New Years approx 650 miles round trip. I hope I can leave the OEM tires on there till then because I plan on putting pressure and temp sensors on the wheels when I do change the tires out. I don’t think I have enough time with the holidays, and prepping before we go on our trip.

Thanks again!

If you like Helen you should plan on returning to attend the Peach Frog rally in Sept. We love to have ya. Once you pick up your tt make sure to register to become a Frog(no cost go here to register
Forest River Owners Group - The official owner's group of Forest River RV, manufacturer of world-class recreational vehicles.
Also read the Rally thread mine is listed as rally zone/Frog events. Later RJD

Aggie Dad · 12-07-2018, 04:10 PM

I have 2015 Windjammer and I tow with F250 diesel. I have equalizer hitch 12000lb/1200 lb tongue weight. There were China bombs on trailer and last year bought Goodyear Endurance tires and went from C load rating to a E load rating.

dankirk · 12-07-2018, 09:12 PM

We bought our 2017 Windjammer 3006WK last year and love it! I tow with a Ram 2500 diesel, and use a Reese Dual-Cam 1200 lb hitch. It works very well. I did not trust the Castle Rock tires, and replaced them with Goodyear Endurance. So far they have been great.

You can see many of the mods I've done to our trailer here:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...er-145379.html

Enjoy your new trailer, the floor plan is great for kids, and the outdoor kitchen is awesome!

ProfChuck · 12-08-2018, 10:54 PM

We got our Windjammer 3008W in 2013 and just love it. We did put the GY Endurance tires on it after 3 seasons. Got the E rated tires. Dealer said to use the same pressure as old tires since the weight of the trailer hasn't changed, however we bumped it up about 5 pounds and found it worked well. Towing with the Equal-I-Zer hitch and find it works really well. I posted a storage option for the hitch bars on another string, but, it works well, locks the bars down, and we haven't gotten any grease on ourselves using it. Enjoy your Jammer, they won't be making them (so I'm told) after 2018.

Dietzldub · 12-09-2018, 12:22 AM

Thank you all once again, and it was a great wedding.

I'm still bouncing around on making a decision on hitches. I think it's back to the Equalizer, and I'm looking at the ReCurve 6. Anybody running that? I saw some videos on the Husky Centerline while pulling forward and turning hard left the stabilizer bar almost come out of the frame bracket, that is concerning to me.

What is the tire size that the Jammer has on it?

Thanks

Go West · 12-09-2018, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dietzldub

I saw some videos on the Husky Centerline while pulling forward and turning hard left the stabilizer bar almost come out of the frame bracket, that is concerning to me.

There is a lot of adjustability in the Centerline TS frame brackets. I don’t see how it would be possible, properly installed, for the stabilizer bar to come out of the support bracket. I tested mine having my wife turn the truck full left and full right with me checking by walking alongside the hitch. My brackets are installed within 1/2” of the maximum length specified by the manufacturer and they are not even close to coming out. Hope this helps.

Kimber45 · 12-09-2018, 03:06 PM

side note: be very cautious on price. all though new, in a few months it will be 3 model years old. that will effect value/price when you go to sell/trade. I have bought two "new" old units and have done ok but they should be discounting asking price greatly.

Dietzldub · 12-09-2018, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimber45

side note: be very cautious on price. all though new, in a few months it will be 3 model years old. that will effect value/price when you go to sell/trade. I have bought two "new" old units and have done ok but they should be discounting asking price greatly.

Yes thanks, we definitely thought about that. We think we did pretty good on the purchasing price. We ran NADA with the items it has and it was much higher than what we paid. Not sure what others have paid for 2017 3006WK’s. Based on what we saw used 2016, and 2017’s going for, we got it much less then anything we had seen used going for. So we feel pretty good based on that.

CurtPutnam · 12-09-2018, 06:00 PM

Welcome & Congratulations!

For the lightweight hitch, look at the Andersen (I'm using it)

Did use a Husky Centerline with 1200 Lb bars - which is now sitting on the garage floor until I can get an ad posted.

Both hitches perform well.

Dietzldub · 12-09-2018, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CurtPutnam

Welcome & Congratulations!

For the lightweight hitch, look at the Andersen (I'm using it)

Did use a Husky Centerline with 1200 Lb bars - which is now sitting on the garage floor until I can get an ad posted.

Both hitches perform well.

Thanks for the welcome y’all.

What is the weight of your TT? I’m a little concerned about the Andersen being able to fully do the job on 900 lb tongue wt.

CurtPutnam · 12-09-2018, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dietzldub

Thanks for the welcome y’all.

What is the weight of your TT? I’m a little concerned about the Andersen being able to fully do the job on 900 lb tongue wt.

My Sonoma is 34' and the GVW is 8818 ~ 9000
9000 x 0.15 = 1350 lbs

We just pulled the TT from Palm Springs to Sedona, Az and then up to Williams, Az and then came down the 95 thru Quartzite. So we went up, down, and flat with trucks blowing on by and saw some mild winds. Considering the trip as a whole, my novice drive (and wonderful wife) was entirely comfortable with the rig. When I asked her to compare the two (Husky & Andersen) she rated them as equal, then hesitated and said if there was an edge in sway control, it went to the Husky. For every other measure, the Andersen is the undisputed winner (my paraphrase.) YMWV

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