Pre-Newbie Purchase Help Needed

[Jagiven]

[QUOTE=giddyup;220137] If you can help with any of of this please chime in:

• Does upgrading to a 15K BTU AC make sense instead of the more standard 13.5 BTU?

• Does the AC have a thermostat or is it just an off/on type switch?

• What type of water hose is best for connecting at parks?

• Thanks to the person who posted the long ago thread about how to weigh the TV/TT. There was no way that I could see to leave a "thank you", and I learned a lot from that posting.

• Again, we are in So. CA - do we need mud dauber screens?

• We have a bicycle rack that fits into our hitch. Is there something that the dealer can install so that we can carry our bikes on the back bumper of the TT?

• Can someone tell me about a 12V converter for a Resmed C-pap? Do they work?

• Any suggestions for a rear camera for back end of TT?

• We like the idea of the heated mattress pads (for our colder trips). How do they work? Do they plug in or are they hardwired. Will we need extra batteries or what for these?

• Suggestions for best hitch lock or way of protecting the TT while we are out hiking, etc?

IQUOTE]


The 23B is a great HTT.

AC: As for the AC that is your choice. We have the 13.5 BTU unit and even on 100+ degree days we have not had any issues with keeping ours cool. I have only see thermostatically controlled ACs on ducted systems and the HTT is not. So I would fully expect it will be just a couple knobs up in the ceiling to control it.

Water hoses: just get one or two that are drinking water approved. I was out at home Depot last week and noticed they had about 3 hoses that are drinking water approved, and none of them where white. I also recommend having two hoses. Most likely one 25' hose will come with the HTT to get started with. I added a second 25' hose; personally I wish I had bought a 10' hose instead. Do not forget back flow preventers, water pressure regulator, and a 90 deg elbow.

Bike rack: You cannot attach directly to the bumper; you will rip it right off. Have a welding shop install a 2" receiver hitch welded directly to the frame. Depending on where you go it should only cost between $250 - $350.

Inverter: Cannot help here. I just leave my machine at home when camping

Backup Camera; I use my DW as a spotter, and we communicate most of the time by hand commands, getting into the driveway at home we use cell phones too.

Mattress Pad Heaters; we just bought aftermarket ones that plug into a regular 110 wall outlet. My understanding the optional ones also just need to be plugged into an 110 outlet to.

Hitch lock; I only lock my hitch up at home, I do not recall the brand, but it covers the entire coupler, making it nearly impossible to cut off. When on the road I just pin the hitch lock mechanism (not sure the name) with a cotter type pin, just to make sure it does not come uncoupled while driving down the road.

[giddyup]

Originally Posted by kinga07

My wife and I are from Corona and we are picking up our new X23B from Richardson's later today. I am excited!

Well, that is exciting. We are picking up from Richardson's in Menifee. Hope the delivery was a good experience. So, where are you headed for your first trip?

K

[docmarrin]

Originally Posted by giddyup

Well, that is exciting. We are picking up from Richardson's in Menifee. Hope the delivery was a good experience. So, where are you headed for your first trip?

K

We picked up our new X19H from Richardson's on August 11th. Had a great experience, a full PDI was done, our anti-sway hitch was installed by a great guy, and our "tour guide," Ron, was very experienced and complete. Their store was also very well-equipped and we purchased some of the "little" things that we needed at fairly competitive prices in that they gave us a 15% discount. All in all, we were most pleased. We left the dealership and were home in Arizona in about five hours with NO problems even in pulling the unit up the Palm Springs grade. Since I checked when we went from Arizona to California, the gas mileage went from about 22-23 MPG without the trailer to about 11-12 MPG with it. Oh, well!!

[giddyup]

Originally Posted by docmarrin

We picked up our new X19H from Richardson's on August 11th. Had a great experience, a full PDI was done, our anti-sway hitch was installed by a great guy, and our "tour guide," Ron, was very experienced and complete. Their store was also very well-equipped and we purchased some of the "little" things that we needed at fairly competitive prices in that they gave us a 15% discount. All in all, we were most pleased. We left the dealership and were home in Arizona in about five hours with NO problems even in pulling the unit up the Palm Springs grade. Since I checked when we went from Arizona to California, the gas mileage went from about 22-23 MPG without the trailer to about 11-12 MPG with it. Oh, well!!

Wow! That is ALL good news. The grade can be a real bugger so it is good to know that you were able to tow. Sometimes, the winds can be ferocious thru there. I bet the mileage will be much better in a more forgiving landscape. Did you install a WDH? If so, what kind.

Did you go to the Menifee Richardsons? Can you tell me more about which upgrades you got and the pricing? We have seen the x19h there at about $19,500 - but we seemed to have jinxed something by ordering the 15K BTU AC. We also want both of the upgrade packages, TV, etc.

Thanks for any feedback you can give us and enjoy your new HTT.

[docmarrin]

Originally Posted by giddyup

Wow! That is ALL good news. The grade can be a real bugger so it is good to know that you were able to tow. Sometimes, the winds can be ferocious thru there. I bet the mileage will be much better in a more forgiving landscape. Did you install a WDH? If so, what kind.

Did you go to the Menifee Richardsons? Can you tell me more about which upgrades you got and the pricing? We have seen the x19h there at about $19,500 - but we seemed to have jinxed something by ordering the 15K BTU AC. We also want both of the upgrade packages, TV, etc.

Thanks for any feedback you can give us and enjoy your new HTT.

I am new to some of the terminology, so what is a WDH? If it is a weight distribution hitch, then yes I got one for about $385 including a brake controller. I did get mine at Richardson's in Menifee and it had just about everything but a TV or a 15000 BTU A/C for about $19,000.

[giddyup]

Originally Posted by docmarrin

I am new to some of the terminology, so what is a WDH? If it is a weight distribution hitch, then yes I got one for about $385 including a brake controller. I did get mine at Richardson's in Menifee and it had just about everything but a TV or a 15000 BTU A/C for about $19,000.

Your guess was correct on the WDH - do you know the brand/model of the it and the brake controller?

Richardson's told us about 3 weeks ago that all the 2014 x19h models were sold - but I could be confusing that with the fact that maybe all the 2014 with Truffle interior were sold as we want the vinyl sofa and it is on the Truffle interior only.

I was concerned about installing anything myself as I am likely to NEVER getting around to doing it. So I wanted it fully loaded. Will let you know when we get ours as we are planning to take it to the Colorado River so we will be going your way. Thanks for sharing the info as it helps to have "company" on this buying excursion. Safe and Happy Travels to you.

[docmarrin]

Originally Posted by giddyup

Your guess was correct on the WDH - do you know the brand/model of the it and the brake controller?

Richardson's told us about 3 weeks ago that all the 2014 x19h models were sold - but I could be confusing that with the fact that maybe all the 2014 with Truffle interior were sold as we want the vinyl sofa and it is on the Truffle interior only.

I was concerned about installing anything myself as I am likely to NEVER getting around to doing it. So I wanted it fully loaded. Will let you know when we get ours as we are planning to take it to the Colorado River so we will be going your way. Thanks for sharing the info as it helps to have "company" on this buying excursion. Safe and Happy Travels to you.

We got a Husky bolt-together WDH. The model number is either 31421, 31986, or 31995 (max. tongue weight of 400-600 lbs. and max. gross trailer weight of 6000 lbs.). Richardson's was the one who recommended this one and it is probably their standard unit. The brake controller is a Prodigy 2 which my research said was one of the best. It was also the standard used by Richardson (cost uninstalled of ~$135). Seeing what the tech. had to do to install it, I would not attempt it unless you are quite skilled at electrical installations.

We got a unit with the Truffle interior, but purchased it a month ago!

[giddyup]

Originally Posted by docmarrin

We got a Husky bolt-together WDH. The model number is either 31421, 31986, or 31995 (max. tongue weight of 400-600 lbs. and max. gross trailer weight of 6000 lbs.). Richardson's was the one who recommended this one and it is probably their standard unit. The brake controller is a Prodigy 2 which my research said was one of the best. It was also the standard used by Richardson (cost uninstalled of ~$135). Seeing what the tech. had to do to install it, I would not attempt it unless you are quite skilled at electrical installations.

We got a unit with the Truffle interior, but purchased it a month ago!

Good to know that the last 2014 / Truffle has gone to a good home! When it comes to being handy, a box of rocks has a slight edge on us, so we are having the dealer do everything. We wanted the 15K BTU AC - the factory says that it is a dealer installed option but dealer says it pushes us into the arena of being a special order, which takes 10 weeks and costs about $2500 more, so we are still mulling that one.

We will post again when we have all the info. Thanks for sharing. I am sure that it helps others also.

[IceOnFire]

We purchased our 2014 X23B via Richardson's in Riverside after seeing it at an RV show in Oct. The model available for purchase was Truffle interior (dark green and brown), but we liked the Brick (dark red, beige, and brown) better, so we ordered one straight from the factory. 13.5k BTU AC works fine on temperatures below 95. Anything warmer and you will want to run some fans. We purchased an EZ-Lift WDH via Amazon.com and it works pretty flawlessly. We've been on 14 trips so far within 8-9 months. We're headed to San Clemente State Beach next weekend trip #15.

[docmarrin]

We were just over to San Clemente (not at the campground, though) for a family wedding just before we picked up our X19H from Richardson's. Love to eat at the Fisherman on the pier! If you haven't checked out the Chula Vista RV Resort down south, do so. We will be staying there for most of September and it is just full of amenities and right on San Diego Bay. It will be only our second trip so we have a lot of catching up to do with you!!!

[IceOnFire]

We went to Chula Vista Resort back in March, and that place is large rig city. Not the greatest surrounding area, however the it is full of amenities. We would have been back sooner, however it is out of our price range during the summer, and the drive is pretty long. Have fun.