New Shamrock 233S Tomorrow!

[shamrocked]

I haven't seen it in person yet so not 100% sure until I can inspect it but as long as it checks out and there are no major problems we will be picking up a 2017 Shamrock 233s tomorrow. We've been inside the similar Roo a couple of times when shopping and then found a great deal on this Shamrock and arranged everything by phone so far.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that posts here in this community. I've been reading like crazy over the last month or so and the information here has been extremely valuable.

We currently own an older (2000) pop up camper that we bought used in 2012. We actually absolutely love our pop up. Only reason we are switching to a hybrid is that we believe (hope) that we can have what we love about our pop up but have it be more convenient and easier to set up. Our old camper is quite old also so we were looking to replace it either way.

One of the main things we like about our pop up is that it has no AC and we've almost never needed it. We felt like a regular TT would require AC where we camp in the summer and at least half the time we are dry camping so we just worried it would limit us. Would rather stick with a pop up vs. only going where they have hook ups. We are hoping the hybrid will allow us to operate same way as pop up in the heat- stay out of it during the day, run a vent fan and open windows at night. In Michigan it usually cools off to a comfortable temp at night no matter how hot it is during the day and we also have MANY very pleasant days where you're comfortable with windows open. Even when we traveled down south in the summer we've always managed to sleep pretty comfortably- it just feels like being up off the ground and having all those windows makes it work. If we go south in the summer I will consider the pugs / reflectix stuff and we noticed most camp sites down south have power so we can run the AC then. I've camped in a tent down to -15 so pretty sure I'll be OK in early spring / late fall situations where it might dip below freezing for a couple of hours. If it's any colder than that, we just won't be using our camper. My wife works in outdoor industry so we have pretty good connections for gear and so have many really nice down sleeping bags, jackets, shoes and boots, etc. to be comfortable in any temp.

The other stuff we're excited about with new hybrid - faster setup time with power awning and those easy to drop down bunks, not having to open it up to get to the fridge. I don't mind setting up our pop up camper at a camp site but I hate setting it up at home just to gain access. Having a fridge that is big enough to where we don't need to use a cooler all the time and having a freezer will be great. A bathroom will open up some more dry camping options for us at some places we really like but they just have terrible pit toilet situations that are very unpleasant to deal with.

I will miss the gas mileage with our old pop up and the roof mount four position bike rack is great too. I also appreciated how frugal it was with battery power with no parasitic load whatsoever.

Some of the gear to go along with it:

TV = Silverado 5.3L with tow package (9500, 1475 payload). Passenger tires but they're fairly heavy duty with higher payload rating than most. I added extendable mirrors and Tekonsha P3 brake controller myself recently but have never used it. Going with the Blue Ox weight distribution hitch with built in sway control. Slightly worried that setup won't be ideal right from the dealer (they special ordered it for me and so probably don't have much experience with it) and it looks like 20-30 mph gusts of wind tomorrow when we might be driving back with it. Considering taking back roads at slower speed and staying off the interstate. Dealer is a bit over an hour away via expressway. 1.5 hours using back roads. I might also just leave it there and come back in a couple of days when it's not windy.

Will be purchasing a dual battery box for two 6 volt golf cart batteries. I have solar and will be adding a bit more to that as well. Our old standard single dual purpose battery worked fine with small solar panel for us but I didn't have any parasitic draw on our old camper so now thinking I need more solar power and more battery capacity with new camper. Goal is up to a week of dry camping using very little power - led lights, maybe some fan use, water pump- that's about it. Or a two or three night stay in moderate temps where we will run the furnace some at night.

Well thanks again to everyone that has contributed here. Hopefully as I learn about the new HTT I will be able to contribute some as well.

[Wiscampsin]

Welcome from Wisconsin and congrats on your 2017 Shamrock 233s. Make sure you do a thorough PDI tomorrow.

[jgourlie]

congrats on your new trailer and good luck with your pdi. Just don't let them rush you and everything will be great.

[shamrocked]

Picked it up today and everything went really well I think. The only thing I found that I thought needed attention was that all of the tires were inflated to exactly 40 PSI and it seemed to me they should be at 50. They didn't disagree and had someone put some more air in them. Otherwise everything I looked at seemed to be working and in good shape.

Dealer was not familiar with the Blue Ox SwayPro WDH - they were listed as a dealer but when I ordered it they informed me it was a special order item that they didn't normally stock so I kind of expected it might be new to them. The guy hooking up the trailer clearly had not read the manual or learned how it worked at all but he was nice and didn't try to BS me like he was an expert or anything. We figured it out together with his knowledge of general WDH hitches and what I had learned in my research about that particular model. Had I not been prepared though, it would not have been set up right at all.

I was worried about the drive home as it was windy today- 20 mph with gusts up to 30 - kind of a combo of cross wind and head wind. New trailer, new brake controller setup, new WDH- just a lot that could go wrong along with my inexperience so I was nervous. I really didn't notice much sway at all though, just a little bit sometimes when a big bus or semi passed but barely noticeable and not every time. I have never used any other weight distribution hitches though so I have nothing to compare it to. My wife took a nap though and I just used cruise control and one hand light touch on steering wheel was all I needed to keep it straight down the road. My takeaway was - "yeah, this isn't going to be a problem at all". I kept it to about 63 and my truck didn't seem to be laboring too much though gas mileage was low with that wind- about 7.8 MPG. Closer to 11 once I got off the expressway with a little more favorable wind.

When I got home I noticed the water heater cover was flopping down, no longer latched in place. Actually my wife noticed and said "they must not have closed it properly" and I had to admit to her that I had opened that on my own to look inside at one point and didn't understand how the closing latch worked- figured it out easily once at home, ooops. No damage though.

When I went to unhook the WDH I lifted it up quite a bit with the tongue jack but forgot to actually feel the chains to see how tight they were before using the tool to release the tension. First one caught me a little bit by surprise at how easy I could get it over the hump vs. how violently it let loose after that. I guess I thought I would notice that they were loaded as I tried to release them. This is after reading all about this from other people on this and other forums as to what not to do. I wasn't injured at all but it was startling enough to where I don't think I will repeat that mistake again.

I disconnected my battery manually to keep it from getting drained in my yard. I noticed a battery disconnect switch and I meant to test it to see if it turns off all of the parasitic devices. I don't mind if it's not a complete disconnect - leaving power for brake tether or other switch operated things like the slide- but I need to make sure it shuts off the detectors and radio memory and anything else that will kill my battery when it's just sitting there. If anyone else knows answer to this let me know.

[Wiscampsin]

Glad to hear things went well!

[heather73]

Congrats!! We are looking at purchasing that same trailer. Do you mind sharing how much you paid? Prices online seem to be all over the place.

[Mainframe]

Congrats on the new Shamrock! We need some pictures! I too came from having a pop up and after having the hybrid we feel they are the perfect camper. You get the tent ends to open during the day and the amenities of the larger TVs.

I am not sure how your 233s is when folded but our 23ws is great to use while traveling. We like to have lunch in it and have stopped to rest and use the bathroom. Once you get set up at your campsite they are cozy and have a lot of useful amenities like the stove, fridge, shower, tv, radio etc. I am chomping at the bit here to get playing with and using my Shamrock. Enjoy!

[shamrocked]

Originally Posted by heather73

Congrats!! We are looking at purchasing that same trailer. Do you mind sharing how much you paid? Prices online seem to be all over the place.

I sent you a private message.

[shamrocked]

Originally Posted by Wiscampsin

Glad to hear things went well!

Thanks!

Hopefully we will be making a trip out to your area at some point- Looks like it's too big to go on the ferry across Lake Michigan though!

[shamrocked]

Originally Posted by Mainframe

Congrats on the new Shamrock! We need some pictures! I too came from having a pop up and after having the hybrid we feel they are the perfect camper. You get the tent ends to open during the day and the amenities of the larger TVs.

I am not sure how your 233s is when folded but our 23ws is great to use while traveling. We like to have lunch in it and have stopped to rest and use the bathroom. Once you get set up at your campsite they are cozy and have a lot of useful amenities like the stove, fridge, shower, tv, radio etc. I am chomping at the bit here to get playing with and using my Shamrock. Enjoy!

Well it's snowing on it now but I'll try to get some picture when we get it set up later.

We thought about the positive of being able to stop somewhere and have lunch in it - I think that's going to be great when traveling. On our last camping trip with the pop up we stopped to grill some hot dogs at a road side park and discovered the ketchup was in the little fridge inside the camper. No chance I was going to set that up after just taking it down just to get it! Turns out salsa isn't too bad though!

[Harris85]

Congrats on the new Shamrock! Enjoy!

[Maman325]

Congrats from Colorado on your new camper!!!

[MuddauberE]

Congrats on your new RV. The best thing about going from a pup to a hybrid is not having to raise and lower the thing all the time. We did the same and have not regretted the decision. The biggest thing we wanted in the hybrid was big windows. We loved the ability to open up the pup all the way around. The 233s worked out great. You can open up all the beds and the windows and get a terrific breeze through the entire trailer. The conveniences of the hybrid is just what you are expecting from my opinion. Being able to keep items in there all year round and easily accessing those items while parked.

[Wags2237]

Congrats on your new Shamrock, you will love it.

[shamrocked]

Originally Posted by MuddauberE

Congrats on your new RV. The best thing about going from a pup to a hybrid is not having to raise and lower the thing all the time. We did the same and have not regretted the decision. The biggest thing we wanted in the hybrid was big windows. We loved the ability to open up the pup all the way around. The 233s worked out great. You can open up all the beds and the windows and get a terrific breeze through the entire trailer. The conveniences of the hybrid is just what you are expecting from my opinion. Being able to keep items in there all year round and easily accessing those items while parked.

That's great to hear and it puts my mind at ease a bit. I found cranking up that extra heavy tongue the extra distance to connect / disconnect the weight distribution hitch was a little bit too reminiscent of all the various cranking of my old pop up! Between the roof lift, stabilizers and tongue jack I could soak a new shirt in sweat on a hot day just setting up.

Our shamrock came with the manual crank. I offered to trade the grill for a power tongue jack with dealer but they were not interested. I ordered the Barker VIP 3500 today and I have the fitting for my drill also now for the stabilizers so hoping to get completely out of the hand cranking business! I went with the Barker because they seemed to have good customer service from what I read and they are based in Battle Creek, MI which is near me. Went with white color because it was cheaper- even though I think the black would look better. One picture I saw of a complaint on the white one showing how it had discolored after a couple of years - well the discolored version looked very similar to the "oyster" color of the new Shamrock so I'm kind of hoping it ends up matching the camper eventually. Probably wishful thinking!

We are going to do an over night in it this weekend in the yard since it's so warm here this weekend. Not planning on using any water so I don't have to mess with winterization. Of course my wife reminded me that I need to open up the old pop up so we can "move in" to the new one... which means more hand cranking....

[shamrocked]

Funny- texted my wife today: "Just realized we brought it home from dealer and never opened the bunks- that means the guys at the dealer were the ones that folded up the tent ends. They probably folded the tent up into the seals because they're so careless"

Sure enough, went out and checked it and the back side bunk had tent folded into the seal on BOTH sides. One side would be more forgivable - you're doing it yourself and can't see both sides at one time so it's a little trickier (but not real difficult). I didn't see any water damage but it's hard for me to figure out how there ever is water damage- the tent ends seal to the frame so even if water gets past the seal, I don't get how it can get into the actual camper. Or can it get into the wall or bunk end wood somehow at that point? But if so, why wouldn't it get in there any time it rains and the bunks are open?

[yetavon]

Congratulations on getting "Sham-Rocked" Your story is similar to ours, over 25 years in a basic Pop Up mostly boondocking. moved to a Hybrid in 2013, got our Shamrock 21DK 2 years ago. To say we love it would be an understatement.
Hint for closing, turn on your fans on high and it will help suck the tenting in as you close it up.

[shamrocked]

Thanks yetavon for the fan trick for the bunk ends, works great!

I wanted to add some info in case someone in the future does a search looking for info about this specific trailer or the Rockwood Roo version. Before we bought, I did a ton of reading and searching in this forum for info and it was extremely helpful. For everything I looked for and learned, I would stumble on 2-3 other tips or bits of info. There were a few things that were specific to this model that I just couldn't find though so I thought if I added them here, I might help someone else in the future. So this is just a random dump of info:


On the Blue Ox Swaypro WDH- I wanted to order it ahead of time because dealer price was really high but there are two versions - one that has a saddle that sits on top of the frame and one that bolts right to the frame. The bolt on version is in case you have something in the way like battery bracket or propane mount and you can't set the bracket on top of the a-frame in that area. I preferred the saddle type mount so I wouldn't have to drill holes in the frame. The installation instructions tell you exactly how far to measure from the front of the tongue to where the brackets go but without owning the trailer, I just couldn't tell if that part of the tongue / frame was clear on top. So now I know, the version that rides on top of the A frame fits fine on the 233s

For the battery box- I wanted one to fit two golf cart batteries in a row and so I wanted the Century Plastics white box that I saw some people using. Was unsure if it would fit in the factory bracket though. After I got the trailer I measured and ordered it but in case someone wants to order the box ahead of time- it does fit down inside the factory battery bracket really well.

Another thing I noticed was that some trailers seem to have a battery disconnect switch that doesn't actually disconnect the battery from everything. That's fine but if it's still connected to parasitic draw, then I would need to add my own battery shut off so my batteries don't get killed while sitting away from power between trips by things like propane detector. Also I wanted to make a battery tester that I could check voltage of battery bank without having to remove the cover to the battery box under the bunk end. What I found is that on the 233s, the disconnect switch turns off everything except for two wires that are hot all the time- one goes to the tethered emergency runaway brake device and the other goes to the solar. This is perfect because no parasitic draw from either of those lines and nice to be able to shut off all power but still be able to charge battery with solar. Also, I'm able to use the solar power port as a place to plug in my battery voltage tester and check it while nothing else is on and with solar disconnected. For my old camper I had purchased a little simple digital voltage meter that reads out to the 100ths (maybe 1000ths? can't remember) so I just ordered a standard two prong SAE automotive plug which is the same as the solar connection and I will use that to plug it into the solar port when the panel is disconnected in order to test voltage.

I installed the Barker VIP power tongue jack yesterday. I got the 18" 3500 pound version. Just wanted to mention it fits perfectly in the factory hole with no modifications. It seemed to raise up the back of my stock Silverado half ton enough to take weight off the WDH so I can attach the chains. - but barely. I suspect if I'm on a hill or something I might have to put something under the foot of it to get it up a little higher- no big deal. It clears the tailgate of my truck bed in the normal position also so I can open that without a problem. One thing that kind of surprised me though was how close it was to the bunk end when that is lowered. There is maybe 1 to 2 inches there is all. So it does fit, but it's close. I read that with the 24" model the head sits 6" higher, which makes sense, but be aware if you have a hybrid the front bunk would not be able to be lowered if you tried to use a 24" model.