Hello From Yet Another Ontario Newbie :)

[flumpydog]

I just wanted to say a big hello to everyone here! I have been reading the forums here for a few weeks, lots of great information and you seem to be a great group, friendly and helpful!

After tooooooooo many months of looking at trailers, we finally made the plunge. I have camped in tents all my life, but it has become a bit much with our growing family. There are so many trailers to look it, and we wanted something where the kids would all have their own beds, was comfy for mum and dad and we could get many years of use out of. We finally settled on a Prime Time Tracer 3150BHD, sort of stumbled across this one and we are so glad we did, as it meets everything we wanted. The unit has some extras we were not looking for, but they are an added bonus, mainly the outdoor kitchen and power stabilizers. It appears to be well built, the finish is good, lots of attention given to detail (we did see some really bad trailers that were new), and has all the comforts of home.

So we get to pick this unit up in the morning and go to 'travel trailer school' haha, to be educated on the various aspects, should be fun.

Looks like the boys have decided we are going to camp in the driveway lol and then we will be heading out next week to a local Provincial Park for the real thing. I am sure we will forget to bring a lot of things, but this forum has help a lot in that area.

I am hoping our truck will be ok in terms of the weight, we will be under the GCRW of the Expy, and the dealer is confident there will not be any problems regarding tongue weight with this unit. All the dealers we went to, stated the trailers we were looking at would be ok (they were about the same length, with some weighing a bit more or a bit less) with the our truck and yes they did discourage us from some heavier ones, so we hope our trust is not misplaced. We did go with the Reese Dual Cam setup, so I am sure this will help as well with the towing characteristics.

So hope everyone will go easy on me here and feel free to offer some first time advice on things we should know or do. So many unknowns haha, but will be fun (except the first time emptying the tanks lol).

All the best,
Chuck

[NWJeeper]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you have seen the charts concerning tow vehicle wheelbase to trailer length. Way to many people do not know about this or understand it but it is as important if not more so than the towing capacity of your TV.

Enjoy the new trailer and post pictures when you can. We love to see new rigs and great campgrounds.

[Dave_Monica]

Jeez, another new member from Ontario...don't we have any restrictions to membership!

Seriously, welcome to the forum from another Canuck. Post some specs on the camper as it's not a brand that's common. I'd be a little concerned in regards to the camper length verses the wheelbase of your tow vehicle. I'm guessing by the model number it at least 31.5 ft in length. If that's the case, buy the best weight distribution hitch with sway control that you can get. I see that you're buying a Reese dual cam...I heard that Henessey makes the best sway control hitch, perhaps we have other members that can comment on that.

Dealers are known to be notoriously bad for their recommendations of what your vehicle is capable of towing.

Dave

[revrnd]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

Dealers are known to be notoriously bad for their recommendations of what your vehicle is capable of towing.

X2

A high school classmate of mine who's a co-worker of my brother, bought a larger TT a few years ago from a dealer well known in western Ontario. His TV was and older Chrysler Intrepid.

The guys @ work figured they should start a pool about the car's longevity towing an RV.

I'm pretty sure the tranny went out of it partway along in a cross Canada vacation. The way my brother spoke, the TT was too big for the car even if it had been mechanically sound.

BTW, welcome to the site. A great bunch of RVers here.

[flumpydog]

we are gonna see how it goes with the Expedition and if then we can see if we need to get another vehicle for pulling this unit. Tis late in the season now, so we will only be using it a few times and sticking closer to home, so all should be well. Taking it out tomorrow for the week, so should be a lot of fun. Tis hard to know exactly what you should pack, will use, etc. Then figuring out where to store everything lol. I told my wife we are going away camping to spend time sorting out and organizing the trailer hahaha . Kids are all super excited as we are.

Best Wishes,
Chuck

[flumpydog]

I hear you on the dealer front, but will see how things go here. As for the hitch, I think the Reese should do a good job, as it appears that people either say the ProPride, Hensley or Reese are all good hitches, with different people saying they preferred one over the other, or saying "I had a Hensley, but now have a Reese and prefer that", so we figured we would start with the Reese.

When I picked up the trailer, it was fairly windy, lots of strong gusts and I was surprised at just how smooth the hour ride home was. We only drove on 2 lane highways, and had a number of oncoming tractor trailers blow by us, and I only felt some tugging, but never felt anything like I was being blown sideways a bit. So this made me feel a lot better. My fuel mileage sure went down the toilet tho lol, but was not quite as bad as I thought it was gonna be. We calculated it to be approx. 12 mpg (Canadian gallons that is), but our trip this week will give me a bitter idea as to what to expect.

Best Wishes,
Chuck