Well I’m new here!

[Jfkmk]

Welcome from NJ!

You know you’re from NJ/eastern PA when it’s “down the shore”.

One word of advice would be to keep up on maintenance (check roof, bearing maintenance, etc) at the beginning of the season so you can have a trouble free camping season. Nothing worse than having issues when you’re on the road.

It’s hard to choose just one gadget or tool, but I’ll give it a try. I think the one thing that’s made my life so much easier is the combination of Beech Lane Levelers and a LevelMate Pro (although Beech Lane makes a leveler now). It makes leveling the camper so much easier.

There’s a couple of places I fondly remember camping with my kids when they were young. First is Ocean View near Sea Isle City NJ. Lots of things for the kids to do, has a nice pool and beautiful lake. It’s fairly close to Ocean City NJ which has a great boardwalk especially for young ones. The second is Knoebels! Best amusement park for young ones hands down.

[ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV]

Originally Posted by dblr

Welcome from Delware, one thing folks forgot to mention is to sign up and join FROG, Forest River Owners Group, there will be events held at different locations around the country and hopefully you might be able to attend one. Below is the link for FROG and check under events there is a rally near you at Knoebels

https://www.forestriverfrog.com/

Thank you dblr. Knoebels is great I rent camped there a good number of summers as a kid. The list definitely needs to include stays at Knoebels especially when the kids get older and can enjoy the rides! We’re going to check out the FROG, maybe I should renew my HOG membership too so we can be HOG FROGs. Happy RVing

[Bill and Gail]

Hopefully you can get to Sea Pirate for the car show. Unfortunately I won't be there this year as I'm undergoing chemo. My son-in-law usually brings the Time Machine (the one that actually was in the Macy's Parade). His name is Jon, if you see him, say hello. He might bring the Shelby GT350 (it's blue) instead.

[Camperman83]

Originally Posted by ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV

Thank you Camperman83, we’re excited to make family memories. Congrats on your purchase of the Campsite Reserve, we love the large window over the sink really set it apart from the other models we toured. We take delivery Thursday so I’ll put together a list for our orientation, maybe even have the wife try to film some portions to refer back to. I do already have a solar set up so hopefully I’ll be somewhat familiar with the system. If you have any particular questions I’ll try and bring them up, I have no problem stalling and making them answer my questions. Sounds like buying a RV from CW is like the hospital when you’re leaving with a new born, you leave with a lot of questions you don’t know you have yet and left to figure out when you get the new baby home. Luckily this forum seems ready to offer help promptly, and I thought forums were a thing of the past, glad to have found this resource.

I would 1.) demand they throw in a spare tire, as these models don't come with them (which seems unconcionable to me).

2.) make them show you the proper settings on the solar control panel which is unconveniently located in the front pass-through storage.

3.) ask them about the lippert quick drop stabilizer jacks that the trailer comes with. there is a warning sticker on them that says not to use them with <16" of ground clearance from the mount location, however they are mounted less than 16" off the ground to begin with. There's no way to fully deploy the jacks the way they (lippert) recommend IAW the picture diagram.

[bikendan]

Spare tires on towables are usually an option or in an optional package.
Good luck getting CW to provide a spare tire for free.

[NJKris]

Wow, no idea some RVs didn't come with a spare! That's crazy!

[Camperman83]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Spare tires on towables are usually an option or in an optional package.
Good luck getting CW to provide a spare tire for free.

Well they did for me. I told them i wouldnt sign any paperwork or take custody of the trailer unless I know I had the ability to change a tire in an emergency. Granted, they didn't have it in stock, but they did give me one for free.

[Camperman83]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Wow, no idea some RVs didn't come with a spare! That's crazy!

Right? It's unsafe IMO.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Wow, no idea some RVs didn't come with a spare! That's crazy!

Your trailer did not come with a spare tire unless the dealer included it with their price or it was included in one of the optional packages.

[ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV]

Well officially took delivery of the camper. Towed an hour and a few home. Managed to get it parked where we wanted it to be in the driveway against the garage first try. Driveway is long, windy and narrow, patting myself on the back a little as the biggest trailer I’ve towed any distance was a 12’ landscape trailer, so building some confidence at the least. Looking forward to a couple driveway dry runs then a local campground shakedown. Walkthrough went well though there just isn’t too much info on the solar beside the fact it charges the battery and runs one inverter outlet, I have a solar kit I might expand the system with. As far as the stabilizers I measured exactly 16” to the mounting bracket, that is if it parked on level surface so I’ll likely invest in a couple standard scissor jack style stabilizers for redundancy. All-in-all content with the CW experience thus far. More excited to get some stays under our belt and get to enjoying our vacation home on wheels!

[ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV]

Originally Posted by Bill and Gail

Hopefully you can get to Sea Pirate for the car show. Unfortunately I won't be there this year as I'm undergoing chemo. My son-in-law usually brings the Time Machine (the one that actually was in the Macy's Parade). His name is Jon, if you see him, say hello. He might bring the Shelby GT350 (it's blue) instead.

Well my family and I bid you well for a successful treatment and send our best energy for recovery. Thank you for your information and recommendations now that we officially have the camper we are beginning our bookings and sea pirate campground is on our list. If we can get a lot for the car show will definitely look for your son.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Your trailer did not come with a spare tire unless the dealer included it with their price or it was included in one of the optional packages.

Incorrect. It is standard on my trailer. Refer to page 7 standard equipment and options.https://www.forestriverinc.com/broch...robrochure.pdf

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV

Well officially took delivery of the camper. Towed an hour and a few home. Managed to get it parked where we wanted it to be in the driveway against the garage first try. Driveway is long, windy and narrow, patting myself on the back a little as the biggest trailer I’ve towed any distance was a 12’ landscape trailer, so building some confidence at the least. Looking forward to a couple driveway dry runs then a local campground shakedown. Walkthrough went well though there just isn’t too much info on the solar beside the fact it charges the battery and runs one inverter outlet, I have a solar kit I might expand the system with. As far as the stabilizers I measured exactly 16” to the mounting bracket, that is if it parked on level surface so I’ll likely invest in a couple standard scissor jack style stabilizers for redundancy. All-in-all content with the CW experience thus far. More excited to get some stays under our belt and get to enjoying our vacation home on wheels!

Excellent news! Once we got past the yelling at each other backing ours into driveway for first time (long, but thankfully not windey!) in the dark and rain (I think I got pulled in just far enough to get everything off road and said F it that night), I really enjoyed sitting there reading all the instruction books in the big pouch. I mean, I really like doing that. I'm INSTRUCTION MAN!
Not that night of course, was a long day.

[Red Roadrunner]

Originally Posted by ELM.Hill.Ltd. RV

Hello everyone! New member here! We just purchased a FR Campsite Reserve 26CJ, looking like it is going to be a popular model this year! I have childhood memories of summertime TT camping and am excited to make new ones with my own growing family, my wife has never been but is thoroughly excited after finding and purchasing our campsite reserve. We have a ~18 month old daughter and a son due in October so hoping to get a shakedown or two in this season. We plan to start our search for seasonal park rentals for the next few years til the kids are a little older. We then plan on doing some more exploring. Although I have childhood memories of staying with my grandparents at their TT down the shore, we are definitely going to be novices and quite green. I hope my Irish Tinker heritage instincts kick in haha. Anyway, glad to have found this forum and see that it is quite active, thanks in advance as I’m sure I will be receiving help via existing posts and likely a few new ones of my own. Anyways if you’d be so kind with your welcome messages drop 1. Top words of advice for some newbs. 2. One gadget, gismo, or tool you can’t RV without 3. An east coast/mid-Atlantic destination recommendation. Thank you all again and look forward to miles and smiles.

Make a plan for several short trips to a RV park with full hookups. Stay a few nights. It will give you a close to home experience of how to set up, what you forgot to bring and need, what you brought, but don't really need etc.
In the days or weeks before your first trial trip make a list of every thing you think you will need. Wife makes her list Husband makes his list. Compare list then weed out things you don't really need or add things that seem import. (Remember this is small home away from home and you are limited by space and weight, don't forget to add weight of all the stuff baby needs diapers car seats,everything including dad, baby, expecting baby and mom).

[Brother Les]

Every trip will take longer than you thing. Plan a head to time factors. if mapquest says 5 hours... factor it to be 6.5 hours. if you get in a hurry, bad things happen. never speed up and take chances, slow down and get there safe and sane. leave plenty of room in front as your camper will push you when you need to stop fast. deep breaths and remain calm.