Delivery complete! 26.5RLS

[Flapper]

Whew - the anticipation, and decision making, is now over. Took delivery of my first ever "camper" - a Jayco 26.5 RLS. Now we can give our tent to our kids. Overall, the PDI went pretty well. Took about 3hrs, in addition to the 2 hrs of instruction. Only very minor issues, most of which I could have fixed in a total of 1/2 hour, but since we were paying them.... The three big issues were: The living room slide jammed open during the demo, and would not retract. Had to leave it overnight for that. And, despite a pretty standard hitch, they ran into install issues and lost parts, and the install ran past their closing (a couple hours of idle time for us, as we had already done the PDI). And, of course, then they decided that the trailer was too nose high, and strongly suggested an additional cost lift kit to get it to sit level and increase clearence for the truck sides. This after boasting how many combo's just like ours they had done. You'd thing that I would have been advised during the sales process....grrrr. And no deals for the additional "option". Sigh!
I was very unsure about driving it, and had studied up on "truck driving" theory so I wouldn't cut corners, etc. I was very, very pleased to find how well it towed, and especially how well it made turns on city streets. No problem at all. I just have to remember to drive a little deeper into the intersection than I might otherwise have, but nothing excessive. Highway time was limited, but the F150 does get it up to speed pretty quickly, so while not a sports car, it is still far, far better than the old Plymoth "K-Car" we had when we were younger. I think I can deal with highways well. DW liked driving it as well (yea!)
Backing was backing. I'm no pro, but have a far bit of experience with a mid-sized boat, so this wasn't much different - except I can't turn around and look out the back window anymore. Gotta practice with the mirrors more. Got it in the drive with a minimum of backing and filling, so I'm happy. Of course, the DW tried backing for her first time in an empty parking lot, and she was ready to return it after trying for an hour. That means I get to do it all in the future.
Did the first driveway overnight last night, and all was well. Everything worked. Dogs liked it (dogs like everything, pretty much, though).
One boo-boo - cord to the truck was too long, and with an underbody connector on the truck, the excess cord ended up dragging on the street as we drove. Now have major road rash on it, with a couple of exposed wires. Will have to splice and repair them this afternoon. Guess this means we own it now.

[Will's]

Congrats !!!

[Crabman]

Congrats! Of course we need some pics!

[RSRDER]

Congrats on the new trailer. We have the same model and enjoy it. Tip on the cord since I have the same connection and found it dragging one time - I use a bungi cord in the bed of the truck to hold the excess cord and still allow room for the cord to move when I am turning.

[Power247]

Congrats on the new TT!!!! Enjoy making it your own.

[jal0710]

We have always had the connection in the bed of the truck up near the front of the wheel well rather than using the one in the rear bumper. That way it's in the same area where we attach our breakaway cable so we "kill two birds with one stone" and get them both hooked up at the same time. And we don't have any cable hanging down toward the ground. But, I would just second the bungee cord for the cable, they are stretchable so they won't really hurt your cord but would help keep it off the ground. We use bungee type cords for the cords when we are pulling our boat or tav trailers so they don't hang down and drag on the road or get caught between the bumper and trailer hitch and get cut, don't ask me how I know this, but it happened a long time ago and then I started using the bungee cords.