First Timer - preparing for "dry run"

[Moseh]

Greetings! We are new owners of a Jay Flight 29RKS. Never had a TT before. We are picking it up from the dealer this coming Friday 9/29, and towing it all the way across the street from the dealer to a campground. We want to camp the weekend to work out the bugs and put together our punch list.

The dealer said the TT will come with a starter kit, which is "everything needed to hookup and camp" (I don't exactly know what that means...probably the time to have asked for more info..).

Here are my questions:
1. What things should we be looking for, and where, to make sure everything is working properly and no issues for the dealer to address?
2. What things are the "must haves" (hopefully in the starter kit) and the "really should haves" for our first setup and shakedown stay?

[Marcm157]

Congratulations on the new rig and welcome to the group! This question is asked often and is difficult to summarize in one post. Here is a thread or two to read through to get you started but read with caution as its a slippery slope!

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ler-34658.html

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...rst-45730.html

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ist-33776.html

[tee-bone]

Be sure and run ALL appliances and electronics ......including furnace. Hook up water and look for leaks. Turn on gas and make sure appliances that work with gas .....do work with gas. Smell for gas leaks. ( ours had an outside connection that leaked ) You will probably have loose trim and cosmetic stuff too. I would usually fix that myself because they get sloppy with those staple guns. Starter kit is not much but will get you by. Good luck !

[Siamese]

A dealer starter kit will have very little of what you need. Our dealer provided a sewer hose that we just threw away in favor of a proper hose and connections.

You can get most of your questions answered on Youtube. Plenty of entertaining videos that cover many aspects of trailering. Just go there and do a search on trailer camping, boon docking, travel trailer maintenance, etc.. There will be videos like, "10 must have items for every trailer camper". Very entertaining.

There's no substitute for educating yourself via youtube, and other sources, and really thinking everything through. Not everyone is happy with the same gear. Develop your own list of must haves, and make your best choices. If you want to camp efficiently, and safely, you'll really need to dig in and educate yourself. There are no shortcuts.

Just one example: tire pressure
You need to know the max pressure for your tires, and know how often to check them (very often!). You'll need a good gauge, and a method of filling your tires. Been camping for three days, and now you're ready to depart? Your compressor needs a power supply regardless of where you are.

Fortunately, everything you need to know can be found on the internet. Takes diligence, though.

[NCMFFD]

Welcome and Congratulations on your new TT.

I'll add that we had a leak under the kitchen sink that came from the plumbing fittings above the p-trap that had worked itself loose. Simply tightening the fittings stopped the leak. We drove a little farther than across the street from the dealer on our shakedown trip.

[jamaddox]

Our dealer provided a starter kit but I got to choose what was in it so I was able to get upgraded stuff. You will need a drinking water hose, not a regular green one


John Maddox
2017 Ford F-250
Jayco WhiteHawk 27DSRL

[jonesykay]

Just finished our 'dry run' with the sole intention to try everything out. Must haves included: water pressure regulator, white drinking water hose, surge protector, levelers and chocks. Check all water lines, make sure HWH fills and turn it on. Found one small leak under sink but just tightened connection and was fine.

[Moseh]

Fantastic information and links! Sorry for not searching first....

[travelingjw]

I have enclosed my pre-inspection check list. It was originally created by "Changing Gears" and they encourage people to share it. When I showed it to my dealer he was more than happy to go through the entire list with me; it took almost 2 hours.

I have also enclosed our combined checklists for trips. Good luck and welcome!

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

I have enclosed my pre-inspection check list. It was originally created by "Changing Gears" and they encourage people to share it. When I showed it to my dealer he was more than happy to go through the entire list with me; it took almost 2 hours.

I have also enclosed our combined checklists for trips. Good luck and welcome!

Those are very good list.
I took 3 hours to go thru my PDI. I also found some screws missing from a couple cabinet hinges and the Black tank rinse fitting. (there were 2 screws and there were supposed to be 3).
Could see thru the bathroom door when it was closed as it did not fit very tight against the stop. Dealer put foam rubber down the stop. The door was very crooked too. Fixed that as well.
Check the Roof and make sure there are no exposed screws. The DACOR should cover them very well.

As for my starter kit, the dealer gave me a ridiculously short sewer hose with a fitting on the one end. I threw it away and brought my own RHINO hoses.

[Wireman]

Originally Posted by tee-bone

Be sure and run ALL appliances and electronics ......including furnace. Hook up water and look for leaks. Turn on gas and make sure appliances that work with gas .....do work with gas. Smell for gas leaks. ( ours had an outside connection that leaked ) You will probably have loose trim and cosmetic stuff too. I would usually fix that myself because they get sloppy with those staple guns. Starter kit is not much but will get you by. Good luck !

X2 If you have a walk thru or PDI inspection B4 delivery that is a good time to check out that all the basic things working properly.

As far as I'm concerned you dealer should have checked all this B4 you take it home.

Some do, some don't.

The moment you connect it to your water source, go around and listen and check for leaks. Seems to be a lot of issues with this, including mine, a 2016 23RLSW.

[Jagiven]

Lots of good info. One thing I would add, make sure to ask where are the winterizing valves, and how to get to them. Along with what orientation they need to be in for everyday use and winterizing.

As for stuff! Everyone has there opinions, your style camping will really affect what you need. For example I rarely ever have full hookups, so the cheap short sewer hose works for me. But those who like to stay with full hookups, really like a nicer sewer hose. I have a cheaper, but not the cheapest pressure regulator. As we might have water hookups once a year. A 30 amp extension cord I picked up after about 3 years and about 3 times when it would have been nice to have. I have only used it once since I got it.

Probably the most important thing to have is paper and pencil to takee notes and make a wish list of things to bring next time.

As for pots pans and the other basic stuff, we use plastic plates and soforth. And all that stuff stars in the tt year round. Non of it is our good stuff.

[tomanderson]

My favorite saying is "camping is a learning experience". Biggest problem I ever had was learning how to use my Manual awning. I am so thankful for my power awning!

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by tomanderson

My favorite saying is "camping is a learning experience". Biggest problem I ever had was learning how to use my Manual awning. I am so thankful for my power awning!

I love my power awning(s) as well... the best thing you can do is prepare yourself for the day when they won't come in under power and make sure you know how to get them manually in...

On that note, to the OP, take some time each trip to learn something new about your rig, how it works, how it could fail, and how to recover with the least amount of disruption when it does.

I once read a post on an internet forum by a person who said they plan on something failing each trip... that way when it does they aren't suprised, and if nothing goes wrong it was a complete success. That always stuck in my head for some reason.

[Woodworker]

I would suggest looking on you tube for a Jayco walk thru. Before picking mine up I found a great video a dealer in Fl did with a customer. That video pointed out things my tech did not during my walk thru. Also learned a few tricks from the video.

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