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Old 08-28-2011, 05:40 PM   #1
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New Skylark and Jeep Liberty...

Hi everyone:

Well we stayed the weekend with our new Skylark...Stayed at the dealer's adjacent RV park last night. They were supposed to install a WDH with Sway bar. When we got there, the guy who was in charge of hooking everything up, said our Skylark was so light that we did not need a WDH, only a sway bar. He said that the TT was so light he could lift it himself..

Anyway, we believed him as we figured he knew what he was talking about.
This morning we pulled out and headed out down the highway (on the access road at first to get a feel for it.) When we got just over 40 mph, the trailer was all over the place, and the hubster said like it felt as if he had no control over steering the Jeep Liberty.. We immediately went back to the stealership, and I noticed when I got out that the trailer was sitting pretty low on the hitch, as if it were pushing down too hard on it.

Ok I was pretty upset, because the guy who worked on it was also the guy who took us thru the orientation of the TT. He spent about 30 minutes with us...was in a hurry and said he actually should have been off work that day but was called in to work on our TT. Because of the odd shape of the Skylark, I'm wondering if he couldn't get the Reese to fit, and just didn't want to mess with finding another one.

The funny thing is, when we talked to our original salesman again, he gave us a business card of another place, and whispered to us to take it there, as the guy there really knew his stuff and would do it for about half the price.

This was a terrible experience. Because we are new to camping and know absolutely nothing about all the stuff in a TT and how everything is done, we don't feel good about the situation at all. This is a reputable RV center in Buda, TX (near Austin), the huge Crestview RV center, not some fly by night mom and pop shop.

Any thoughts on all of this, and if anyone has a certain WDH they have found to work with the Skylark...thanks,

TejasTerry
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Old 08-28-2011, 06:25 PM   #2
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I`m sorry to hear you had such a negative first experience. I will make a few observations.

1. You do need WD on your vehicle. If you were pulling it with an F350 I would say no, but you are not, a Jeep Liberty instead. The hitch weight was making your front end light combined with the effects of towing the trailer. IMO that is why you had a bad towing experience. If they "were supposed to" install one, was it in the contract? If so they should have.

2. 30 minutes is no wheres near enough time to get acquainted with a new RV and its various systems, especially for someone who has not previously owned one. The fact that it was his day off was his and the dealerships problem, not yours. Noone wants to hear that after spending all that money. This is nothing to rush through.

3. If they have so little faith in their own people as to recommend someone else to install the hitch, perhaps you should go elsewhere provided you did not pay for the system.

4. Here is a thread from a fellow member with a Skylark that addresses the Reese hitch question. You may try sending him a PM fo more info. I hope some of this helps.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...hlight=skylark
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Old 08-28-2011, 06:47 PM   #3
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Thanks Crabman for your reply. I know you have enough on your plate right now to worry about, and appreciate your lengthy reply.

Yes, it was in the contract to install the WDH, and we paid for it with the financing package. They told us they would reimburse us with a check for the amount (around $500), and we would get that check this week.

After the towing issue today and telling our salesman about it, this is when he handed my husband a business card of the guy he said is an expert with WDH's, and would cost less. This was said on the side where no one else from the dealership could hear.

I am pretty sure we are going somewhere else. I have no faith in these people. The problem is, my husband has to tow it in this condition to downtown Austin, to the other guy. He said he will just do it, even if he has to go 35 mpg...

Thanks for the link to the post of the other member with the Skylark. I have DM'd him and hopefully he can shed some more light for us.
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Old 08-28-2011, 06:51 PM   #4
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Oh man! I am sorry you had a bad experience. I did look at WD hitches, but like you said, the nose makes it a bit hard to get one that would fit.

What do you mean low on the hitch? I have a 3 1/4 drop ball mount and could probably drop another inch. I have a friction style device that cost about $55 shipped. After seeing how that worked this season, I will probably skip the WD hitch for a while. Trailer tows well, just wish I had more power.


A couple things to check that many people skip. Make sure your tire pressures are good. Also make sure you have enough tongue weight. You don't want all he weight behind the skylarks axle.

Feel free tp pm me if you need help!
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:07 PM   #5
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TejasTerry,

Wow, not a good way to start your TT experience. We have a new Skylark and Liberty (about 1.5 months) and we had the Reese Sway Control, Weight Distribution hitch installed (Reese part number 66153) and are pleased with the combination. With regards to our TT demonstration, ours took every bit of 2.5 hours.

I know you indicated you spoke to your salesman but have you escalated this to the owner of the dealership? This is unacceptable at all levels and some level of compensation should occur, IMO.

If still unsatisfied a call to Jayco might be warranted. If this is one of their larger dealerships they might feel compelled to get involved on your behalf.

Best of luck and feel free to contact me.
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:08 PM   #6
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When I say low on the hitch, I mean as if the trailer weight was putting a lot of pressure on the hitch and making the Liberty kinda low to the ground in the back. Not terribly so, but I noticed it, and I'm a dumb ole girl !

As I said in my earlier post, when my hubby was driving, we were on the access road, got up to about 40, and he said he felt like he didn't have control of the steering wheel..

My husband is 69 years old now, however worked for years with the Texas HIghway Department and has towed huge trailers, ran heavy equipment...etc., and he said this actually scared him a little. He felt like he had no control.

Anyway, we are going to call another dealership tomorrow, and see what they recommend.

I will DM you Z if I have any other questions.
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:08 PM   #7
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The dry hitch weights on the two Skylark models are 285 and 320lbs. The loaded weight will be somewhat more. Does the Liberty squat much with that much weight on the receiver and no WD hitch?.
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:11 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TejasTerry View Post
When I say low on the hitch, I mean as if the trailer weight was putting a lot of pressure on the hitch and making the Liberty kinda low to the ground in the back. Not terribly so, but I noticed it, and I'm a dumb ole girl !

As I said in my earlier post, when my hubby was driving, we were on the access road, got up to about 40, and he said he felt like he didn't have control of the steering wheel..

My husband is 69 years old now, however worked for years with the Texas HIghway Department and has towed huge trailers, ran heavy equipment...etc., and he said this actually scared him a little. He felt like he had no control.

Anyway, we are going to call another dealership tomorrow, and see what they recommend.

I will DM you Z if I have any other questions.
OK you just answered my question, it is squatting too much suggesting a WD system is in order. Also good to hear some Skylark owners chiming in. Nothing like hearing from someone who actually owns and tows one.
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:15 PM   #9
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TejasTerry,

Wow, not a good way to start your TT experience. We have a new Skylark and Liberty (about 1.5 months) and we had the Reese Sway Control, Weight Distribution hitch installed (Reese part number 66153) and are pleased with the combination. With regards to our TT demonstration, ours took every bit of 2.5 hours.

I know you indicated you spoke to your salesman but have you escalated this to the owner of the dealership? This is unacceptable at all levels and some level of compensation should occur, IMO.

If still unsatisfied a call to Jayco might be warranted. If this is one of their larger dealerships they might feel compelled to get involved on your behalf.

Best of luck and feel free to contact me.
Thanks for your quick reply. I am writing down the info you gave me on the Reese part number, etc., and will call them tomorrow. Hoping we can get this resolved. Urrrrgggg....I just don't have a lot of faith now in this dealership. I will see about talking to the owner, or someone else in management. I really wanted to have a good working relationship with this place, as before all this happened, they really seemed "on the ball".
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:19 PM   #10
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On a lighter note, is that a toy poodle in your signature? We have one that looks similar, of course hard to tell with those cute sunglasses on!
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Old 08-28-2011, 07:48 PM   #11
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On a lighter note, is that a toy poodle in your signature? We have one that looks similar, of course hard to tell with those cute sunglasses on!
He weighs about 15 pounds. We got him from rescue about 2 years ago, he only has 3 legs, so we named him "Pogo"...He rides on the back of my motorcycle with me...so those are his "doggles"...lol

Poodles are great, aren't they? He is so smart...how old is your dog? Is he a tiny toy? We had a tiny toy for 16 years, he was our little man. Pogo "rescued" us after losing our baby...
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Old 08-28-2011, 08:08 PM   #12
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I would ask to speak to the owner and explain what you have experienced. A good dealership should spend much more time with you. Yeah - I know you are not buying a 60K 5th wheel - but folks like us that purchase less expensive trailers often come back to purchase more expensive trailers!

I am not an authority on WDH by any means - but I can say this -- my 26BH fully loaded with WDH rides better than my fairly light 10 food box trailer with no WDH. Without the spring bars, the little trailer and truck loves to propose. Seems to me like just about any travel trailer would benefit from one.



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Old 08-28-2011, 09:33 PM   #13
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It's hard to notice my liberty squat. I did the bathroom scale board thing and it reads around 270. I agree with tue above; maybe a call to jayco is in order.

When we picked up our trailer they spent a couple hours with us. With your experience, I wonder if they even set you up with a brake controller?

Hope you get on the road soon, it really is a great trailer!
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Old 08-29-2011, 06:31 AM   #14
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When we picked up our trailer they spent a couple hours with us. With your experience, I wonder if they even set you up with a brake controller?
They did install a trailer controller (brake?)...But I forgot to mention, then didn't explain how to use it, and when we pulled out, down the road we noticed when we stopped, it was jerking really bad...so when we went back to the dealer, out salesguy then showed us how to adjust it. Again, I think this should have been explained in our orientation....

I'm calling Jayco today, and explain what happened, as well as the stealership and see if I can track down the owner.

I got to thinking last night (in the middle of the night)...the contract was written with WDH, etc. If they don't know how to make it work with the Skylark because of it's odd shape on the front, they can just keep the trailer and we'll go somewhere else. I'm thinking they would be breaching the contract, and we shouldn't have to endanger our lives, to get it to another dealer and fixed right.

Thanks for everyone's input...
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Old 08-29-2011, 12:17 PM   #15
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He weighs about 15 pounds. We got him from rescue about 2 years ago, he only has 3 legs, so we named him "Pogo"...He rides on the back of my motorcycle with me...so those are his "doggles"...lol

Poodles are great, aren't they? He is so smart...how old is your dog? Is he a tiny toy? We had a tiny toy for 16 years, he was our little man. Pogo "rescued" us after losing our baby...
Our toy poodle, "Scout" is about 5 yrs old and I think is about 15 lbs also. He is smart now but it took awhile to house break him when he was a puppy! We also have a 12 yr old Black Lab, "Princess".
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Old 08-29-2011, 01:18 PM   #16
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Call your bank and see if your check has cleared yet? If the dealership won't honor their contract and treat you fair call your bank and have the check cancelled and leave the tt with them! JMO
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Old 08-29-2011, 02:22 PM   #17
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I found that my Skylark sways more when the garage in the rear is fully packed so we move more cargo forward and the swaying is reduced. I also added air bags to the FJ's rear springs and eliminated the squat. If it starts to sway with a heavy wind or when a truck passes, I apply a little bit of electric brake through the brake control and it stops.
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Old 08-29-2011, 03:17 PM   #18
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I found that my Skylark sways more when the garage in the rear is fully packed so we move more cargo forward and the swaying is reduced......snip
Just food for thought..., ideally you want your loaded tongue weight to be 10% to 15% of the loaded trailer weight, thus providing best TV/TT handling characteristics when towing. On longer and heavier trailers 13% to 15% is more desirable.

I always recommend that a TV/TT combination should visit a CAT scale at least once under loaded conditions to insure that the WDH adjustment and weight limits have been confirmed.

It's a simple process that provides a lot of great information and insures that one will be within the safety limits of the TV, TT, and WDH. http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthread.php?t=3871

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Old 08-29-2011, 03:57 PM   #19
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Well, this is my update for today. I contacted Jayco directly, and talked to one of their technicians. He said they usually don't get involved with weight distribution issues, however told me that based on my description of what happened on the road, we definitely needed the WDH. He gave me the Reese part number, #66151, that specifically fits the Skylark, for anyone else that may need this info.This is the description of it on the Reese website:

Reese SC 600 lbs. Trunnion Bar Wt. Dist. Kit & Built In Friction Sway Control w/#54970 Shank

I called the dealership several times today, left messages with 3 different people on their voicemails.(service manager, finance officer, general manager). Finally after not getting my calls returned 5 hours later, I called and asked the receptionists if anyone was working there today, as I had been leaving messages all day. She put me on hold and said she would personally go and get the general manager to take my call.

I finally got him on the phone, explained to him our situation, and said that I had talked to Jayco that morning. By the end of the conversation, he was assuring me that the WDH would be ordered and installed this week, and the service manager would personally accompany us on a drive to make sure it was towing safely. We were also assured that they would do another orientation with us to make sure we were comfortable with all the workings in the RV and brake system.

Anyway, will post updates on everything this week. Sorry this has turned into such a long thread, but I wanted to have all this documented in case any other Skylark owners in the future run into similar problems, got the same run-around about the WDH, etc.

TejasTerry
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Old 08-29-2011, 05:06 PM   #20
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Glad everything "seems" to be turning in your favor. Unfortunately we had a similar expierience at the same dealer. Fortunately I purchased a WDH off of craigslist and spent severl hours of research online so i knew enough of what i was doing as to not need any help, although they told me they would set it up for me. The tech also rushed thru the walkthru with us also. I made sure to ask as many questions as i could but felt i knew as much as the "tech" there. I have learned much more just thru camping and expierience. Overall i would give them a grade of B- with the entire expierience. They only reason i give them that high of a grade is we purchased our pop-up from their sister store in Selma and they (pardon my language) SUCKED! I waited until i got her home to send an hour or two to get the WDH hitch setup. We stayed the night at their campground then the next night at Mckinney Falls State Park. Since setting up the WDH here at home i can tell a HUGE diff from now compared to that 1st drive home. Im not sure where your located but i can offer as much help as i can. Going to Mustang Island State Park this weeked if your in the area stop by and if you have any questions ill be glad to help.
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