jayco 228 comes home

bigbird · 04-12-2012, 02:07 PM

Haven't posted for while but since we brought her home i thought i'd share our first day with you. The inspection and walk through went fine. It tows well but I was a little green on backing into our driveway when realized I would have to use my mirrors only. Since I towed a boat most of my life i thought it would be second nature but that was because I could see how my trailer was turning while looking out my back window. Today I put in a max air vent so we don't have to worry about rain when the fan cover is open. Its all knew to us and I'm certainly glad we have these forums to search. Has anyone purchased a bbq that works off the quick disconnect and are you happy with it.

cbaka27 · 04-12-2012, 02:09 PM

Goodluck and enjoy the new toy.

Quahog · 04-12-2012, 02:21 PM

It's funny... as a new TT owner, I think one of the most intimidating things was "how the heck am I going to squeeze this big old thing in that little space when I can't see anything?". It does get easier with time and practice. For me, if I approach from the driver's side, I can see the rear of my TT and I use that as a guide. Coming in from the blind side is much harder IMHO. One other thing I might mention is to overshoot the space so you can get a better feel for where the back end is. Anyway, that seems to work for me.

Here's a neat little video I found when I was first trying to learn how to back up. And like you, I had trailers before but the TT just seemed soooo much bigger. Enjoy

http://longlonghoneymoon.com/2010/03...king-up-an-rv/

**Crabman** · 04-12-2012, 02:45 PM

You gotta trust your mirrors!

bigbird · 04-12-2012, 03:01 PM

Thanks for video as I have been doing that all along and didn't know it had a name. I also like you said back in on the drivers side which in my case happens to be an added benifit since its less of an angle because our driveway is not on a 90 degree to the street. Yes taking it slow is good advise so i can think about which way i have to turn my wheel.

Quahog · 04-12-2012, 03:10 PM

Put your hand at the 6 o'clock position and move it in the direction you want the rear end to go. It's easier than trying to fight what your brain is telling you to do.

bigbird · 04-12-2012, 03:22 PM

I'll definetly will try the 6 olclock' position. I was also thinking about putting a small marking on my my driveway and put something visible there when backing in so nobody has to see if i'm to far off the edge which is a blind spot in my case.

Ry-guy · 04-13-2012, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbird

Haven't posted for while but since we brought her home i thought i'd share our first day with you. The inspection and walk through went fine. It tows well but I was a little green on backing into our driveway when realized I would have to use my mirrors only. Since I towed a boat most of my life i thought it would be second nature but that was because I could see how my trailer was turning while looking out my back window. Today I put in a max air vent so we don't have to worry about rain when the fan cover is open. Its all knew to us and I'm certainly glad we have these forums to search. Has anyone purchased a bbq that works off the quick disconnect and are you happy with it.

Hey bigbird, we are still waiting to take delivery of our 228. Hopefully in another two weeks the custom window for the bottom bunk will be in and installed. Up here in northern Alberta we are just getting out of the snow. Hopefully we will be ready to go out in early May. As for a BBQ, I found the camp chef expedition 90 on sale at Costco. To describe it in one word - AWSOME! I have used it twice at the house to test it out and it works just like a regular BBQ. we bought the grill box as well and I just ordered the 8' hose from a camping supply store in Louisiana (only ones I could find who had it in stock) that will plug into the quick connector gas fitting at the back of the TT. Only down side is that it works so well you need to be mindful of the amount of propane it can use. 90,000 BTU's can use up a 30 lbs tank pretty quick when you use the stove to cook breakfast lunch and supper. I may look at converting to TT to a two tank setup to ensure we have enough gas.

As for backing up, one thing I found useful a long time ago when learning was to find an empty parking lot (we had a local grocery store that was closed o. Sunday's) setup a couple of pylons and practice practice practice. After two or three hours of trying out straight backups, and 90 degree backup turns I felt pretty comfortable backing into the tight areas.

bigbird · 04-13-2012, 02:30 PM

thanks ry-guy. 90,000 btu's does seen like quite a big volume of gas. I am considering one from the dealer that runs on 12,000 btu.s that comes with the male disconnect and then a short hose with regulator for 1 pound tank. If i want to i can buy a ten foot hose to plug into my trailer disconnect without the use of the bbq regulator. The ten foot hose is half the price of the barbeque but i want to keep my barbeque away from my trailer. It's a small barbeque (camco) but it's just the two of us and after what your saying i don't want to go through to much gas with only one tank. By the way I found that two bicycles fit side by side in the large dinnette area. This was my project today. I purchased fork mounts at the bicycle store. I place them lengh wise to the wall with the dinette seats removed. They fit perfect and competely out of the aisle.

Quahog · 04-13-2012, 03:09 PM

How about some pictures of that mod, Bigbird?

bigbird · 04-13-2012, 04:03 PM

I'll definetly try to post a picture quahog and was expecting to be asked. Thats how i got the idea in the first place . Seen it done on this or another forum but it was a small dinnete and bikes were facing the counter blocking the aisle. I'll take a picture tomorrow but i haven't got a clue how to post. Maybe our son can come over and show us. not to computor savy.

Quahog · 04-13-2012, 04:49 PM

I started to put together a how to on posting pictures when I stumbled across this most excellent one that one of the other mods (Terry) put together. Check it out:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthread.php?t=2783

bigbird · 04-13-2012, 04:51 PM

I just did a search on the jayco forum "bicycle" and found a post with photos. Its titled" more bicycle solutions". Ours looks the same but both our wheels sit flush on the floor with the wide dinnete.

29BHS ECO · 04-14-2012, 02:48 PM

bigbird- congrats on the tt-- As far as a grioll goes we got the RVQ II AND LUV IT--It connects to the tt quick disconnect and slides right on the the bracket Jayco put on the tt.The rig that tyhr grioll sets on keeps the grill about a foot from the side wall so there isn't any heat build up. Larry

bigbird · 04-14-2012, 08:38 PM

Thanks larry, i'll keep that unit in mind. I'm also tossed with idea of having a free standing unit so that its at the side of the trailer. Today i finished up the bicycle storage project in the dinnette installing tydowns so they won't move around. Took some pictures since I have the instructions how to post them. Tomorrow i might make a portable step since it is quite a big last step to make when coming out. One thing i noticed about this unit is it sure has a lot of storage area.

bayleightucker · 04-15-2012, 11:17 PM

Quahog is right, put your hand at 6 oclock on the wheel and turn the way you want the back of the trailer to go.

Lsuduke · 04-17-2012, 03:04 PM

Can't wait to see the pics bigbird, I have a 228 on order mine will be a 2013 , very excited to get it.

ctsvslp · 04-18-2012, 06:25 AM

bigbird,
congrats on getting it home!!!

we have camped two times in ours now. LOVE IT!!! have a couple pics on my page.

on the grille, i got the optional grille with our camper and i dont like cooking on the back of the camper or hanging the grille from it. the hanger that came with our grille stands on the ground also so i put the grille on it beside the camper and relocated my gas line to the side, just behind the tires underneath, instead of on the rear of the camper so i didnt have to buy a longer hose. i can sit in my camping chair and grille away.
i put two bikes where the dinet goes also. we will be putting four in it though. may put two in the sequoia. havent decided yet.

Jayco 228 · 04-20-2012, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ry-guy

Hey bigbird, we are still waiting to take delivery of our 228. Hopefully in another two weeks the custom window for the bottom bunk will be in and installed. Up here in northern Alberta we are just getting out of the snow. Hopefully we will be ready to go out in early May. As for a BBQ, I found the camp chef expedition 90 on sale at Costco. To describe it in one word - AWSOME! I have used it twice at the house to test it out and it works just like a regular BBQ. we bought the grill box as well and I just ordered the 8' hose from a camping supply store in Louisiana (only ones I could find who had it in stock) that will plug into the quick connector gas fitting at the back of the TT. Only down side is that it works so well you need to be mindful of the amount of propane it can use. 90,000 BTU's can use up a 30 lbs tank pretty quick when you use the stove to cook breakfast lunch and supper. I may look at converting to TT to a two tank setup to ensure we have enough gas.

As for backing up, one thing I found useful a long time ago when learning was to find an empty parking lot (we had a local grocery store that was closed o. Sunday's) setup a couple of pylons and practice practice practice. After two or three hours of trying out straight backups, and 90 degree backup turns I felt pretty comfortable backing into the tight areas.

Hey Ry-Guy another fellow Albertan here waiting on our 228. Which dealer did you purchase yours thru? Also curious what they are charging you for that window modification? We had a tub surround added to ours at the factory, dealer is charging us $350 for the upgrade, I am hoping that we get lucky and get the skylight over the shower like some people on here seem to be getting. I am getting a little impatient for the new trailer to arrive, dealer tells us the completed build date was March 28th and it is in transit, still a no show.

Ry-guy · 04-20-2012, 12:43 PM

Hey Jayco 228. We bought ours from RV City as they are local and both myself and my wife were former employees (I worked part time after school, during high school and my wife worked part time while in university). We are still waiting for the new window to come in and be installed. Jayco is custom making it for us. Total cost with the install was $690 for the window. As well when they install the window we are having the skylight over the tub added, $425, as the unit did not come with it. Ours is a 2012 model and what I have seen so far the 2013 are coming with the skylight. I never really thought about the tub surround. May be something we will have to look at after we get the trailer home. They are hoping to have the window next week and we can take delivery end of April, beginning of May. Really looking forward to getting ours so I can load this big pile of stuff into it and out of my garage. I will post pictures of the window mod once it's in. Ryan

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