We took delivery of a gently used (if at all) 2017 Hummingbird 17FD from Camping World in Mesa, AZ on Friday!
Loaded up and hit the road for a short weekend shakedown cruise to Fool Hollow Lake in Show Low to learn how the heck a "real" travel trailer works.
We loved the teardrop, but our 50+ year old bodies are done contorting into it, and living without a toidy, shower, and adult sized bed!
I'm hoping I can learn a lot from the experienced folks here and not be too big a burden by using this thread for advice and assistance.
Some (most) of my queries could be answered myself if I could park the trailer at my house, but have to leave it in storage under a soft cover when we're not camping so access to pull this apart, and measure that thing is a little trickier than normal.
During the shakedown the following was noted:
1] Need new exterior 5-1/4" round speakers as the originals are blown. Any ideas if Jayco uses "regular" depth speakers (2" - 2.5") or some special shallow depth model?
2] I probably did the first damage to it by draining the freshwater system without turning off the hot water heater, so it was on probably 5 minutes with all "low point" valves open before I realized it.
Any odds on if I did or not? Couldn't fill and test when we got home due to schedule issues so won't know until the next trip. What part(s) normally fails when a dunce like myself does this?
3] Any tricks to keeping the rear bumper end caps on while driving? Both of mine keep jiggling loose (caught them before they disappeared on the highway and put a ratchet strap around them to secure them for now)
4] In Arizona I see a cover as a must if I expect to keep this for a while, but our first attempt to put it on took 30 minutes, two ladders, and a lot of cursing the TV antenna on top.
I need that antenna like a hole in the head, any ideas on losing it with minimal trauma to the roof? Short of a sawzall to hack off the most of it and a cover of EternaBond - I'm not sure what options are out there.
YouTube has been super helpful with a lot of ownership. First waste dump went without a hitch, as did most everything else. Now it's just getting out as often as possible and living it up.
Thanks!
Jim Davis
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