New TT owner

lori08360 · 04-21-2008, 08:26 PM

Hi everyone, i am new here. My wife, 3 kids and myself have been camping (with a TT) for about 6 years now. We've have always had used TT's our last being a 04 Fleetwood Terry 260BHS. Last week we decided to bite the bullet and order a 2009 Rockwood 8313SS. I will be towing with a 2006 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab Short Box with 5.3L (295 HP) factory 3.73 gears. I'm a little concerned with tongue weight especially once the TT is loaded in it's pass thru storage and i have firewood, bikes, toys, coolers, 3 kids, etc. in the truck. I have a couple of questions. 1) Does anyone suggest a helper spring on the rear axle of the truck or are air bags better? 2)Does the XM Satellite radio come with any free time (3 months? 6 months?)? 3)I can't find what kind of warranty comes with the TT? I'm know the dealer will probably let me know some of this information but our new TT isn't even being built yet. The dealer expects delivery in about a month. Let me know what if any suggestions anybody has.

Thanks,
Mike & Lori - NJ
(soon to be) 2009 Rockwood 8313SS
2006 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab 5.3L w/ 3.73 gears

welshman599 · 04-21-2008, 08:44 PM

Hi Mike, and welcome to you and your family... I hate to say it but I can't help with your three questions though --I don't tow so will stay clear of question #1 and FR's Rockwood brochure doesn't mention XM radio. I believe the standard warranty is 1 year with a 2nd year optional for a failrly low price. Many components carry their own warranty though.

NDJollyMon · 04-21-2008, 08:46 PM

Welcome and congrats! Wow, 2009's out already...seems like I just got my 2008!

Most trailers come with a pretty standard 1 year warranty. Many items are covered by their own warranty as well, which are sometimes longer. (roof=12 years, etc) Someone with a Rock will let you know soon.

welshman599 · 04-21-2008, 08:51 PM

And you're right about the dealer advising you on both the XM and the warranty... my dealer gave me a detailed list of all warrany info for the TT and everything in and on it. Pretty helpful and avoids arguments later on.

08flagvlite · 04-22-2008, 01:16 AM

Hi,and congrats on the new camper! My 08 Flagstaff came with a one year "everything" warranty, with the option to keep the same warranty one more year for 150.00 more, which I declined, but they also offered a 7 year bumper to bumper warr.,with a small 50 or 100.00 deductible for like 1200.00 more, which I bought. Also available is a carlisle tire warranty, that covers anything like road hazard insurance, offered for 2 or 3 hundred, which I declined, but after reading about the problems with carlisle tires on here, I wish I would have accepted that.
I tow with a Dodge 1500, and got a Hellwig helper spring set up. I think you'll probably need that, or the air bags. Mine didn't sag that much, but the ride when going across bumps made the shocks seem worn out, and the truck's side to side stability was lousy. The springs helped a lot. Randy

**KyDan** · 04-22-2008, 06:40 AM

I have air bags. They were not "easy" to install but really not that
hard if you have proper drill motor and bits. You have to drill a couple
holes in the frame for each mount. I was taking my time and it probably
took 3 or 4 hours. Hardest part is jacking the truck and removing and
replacing the back tires. (Some day I'm gonna spend the bucks and
get an impact wrench to do this!!)
They come in handy for non-tow times as well.
I once hit the local land fill where they were selling compost buy the
pick up load. The guy in front of me had a "normal" half ton truck and
when they dumped that load in there it looked like his back bumper
was going to drag the ground!
I had 80 psi in my air bags and just settled down to level with the
same size load.

I used to tow a slightly smaller trailer with a standard hitch.
With the motorcycle in the back and firewood and full water I put
in about 70 psi.

Now I have a weight distributing hitch and don't know if I'll put
any air in the air bags.
If you are going with a WD hitch, you might not need anything either.
Why not wait and see. You can always add the air bags if you need
them.
My 2¢

aintgotnun · 04-22-2008, 06:53 AM

Welcome to FRF!!

Got some good advise already

**Bama Rambler** · 04-22-2008, 07:34 AM

Your TW will probably approach 1000lbs. You'll definitely need weight distribution. I'd recommend one with built-in sway control. Either the Equal-i-zer or the Reese straight line dual cam will work great for you. I'm not sure you'll need helper springs or air bags but I'd consider a higher load range LT tire if you have P rated tires now. You'd be surprised how much just changing to LT tires will help sway.

Blugrassr · 04-22-2008, 02:32 PM

Welcome and I'll second Bama Rambler's advice!

CampingAddicts · 04-22-2008, 03:36 PM

Congrats on the new Rockwood! We also have always had used. (this is our 6th. trailer)
We also just bought a new Rockwood, the same as yours except we picked the 8318SS (the queen bed in the back instead of the sofa) We got ours last wednesday & took it out camping for the first time last thur-sat. to give it a test run. We are pulling with a chevy avalance 1500 2 wheel drive. (1/2 ton) We have an equilizer hitch & break controller. The only thing we added to the truck is a transmission cooler. It seemed to pull great, (After setting up the equiilizer hitch properly (very important) The dealer only transfered it over from our 2004 surveyor (2000lbs lighter and alot lower to the ground) and didn't set it up right & we swayed all the way home. Keep in mind that we have only towed once so far, while fully loaded (2 adults, 2 teens & 3 small dogs... some wood too!, We fill with water at the parks) But we are in the same boat as you!

About the warrany.... We got the 7 year bumper-bumper from the dealer, (thats it) it cost us, 1300.00 We bought this because our 2004 surveyors air & microwave went last year. (no warranty) :-(

On another note.... we LOVE! the new Rockwood.... it is soooo roomy it really is like a cottage on wheels!

As far as the the sattelite radio goes, (we got 1 free station that came in) But!! we pulled in over 30 stations on the t.v. , great reception! with HD & Digital channels! And....... the concertone worked great (so far)

lori08360 · 04-22-2008, 06:41 PM

Thanks for all of the great advice. We are really excited and can't wait to get the call from the dealer saying "it's here". We really hope to have it by Memorial Day weekend (earlier would be nice) to give it a test run. We don't want to use our Terry again, knowing that a new TT is just around the bend. Waiting is the worst part...

dagoracing · 05-14-2008, 10:55 AM

Congrats on your new TT. We bought our 08 rockwood 83177ss last October. Our 1st TT, Just love the trailer!! (Not The Concertone on #2). I tow w/ a 1998 dodge 1500 quad cab shortbed 2wd. It has the trailer towing package w/ 5.9l V8. The dealer installed an ez-lift weight distributing hitch and sway bar. The bed only drops to the rear tires 2". There is a little bit of swaying from semi trailers ans such but thats to be exspected! Good luck in your travels.

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