New TT owner

[Darrin-JAY]

Hi all, we are picking up our new 26BH on Thursday and I'm hyperventalating a bit here. We are trading in our popup, a Fleetwood Williamsburg, for this one and it's the thought of pulling something that's not only 5 feet longer, but something that will also block my view in the rear view mirror! And getting into camping spaces. I have never had a problem with the popup, but I guess it's just the imposing size of it all.

some basic questions:
*is the water pump as loud in a TT as it was in our popup? I am putting on the silencer kit to try and help that out, but man was our popup load when I first turned it on! Every pipe was rattling on something below and making all kinds of noise. I wonder, since the piping is now inside versus under the carriage, if it will be a little quieter??
*for a family of 4 (two girls, ages 7 and 4), do I need to buy a blue tote for water waste right away? We only emptied out our canister toilet a couple of times over the course of a typical 4 day outing (holds 5 gallons). And the grey water was really only 10 or 15 gallons. This 26 BH has 32 gallons per black and grey, which seems more than enough, but just want to know before we head out in two weeks for our first trip.

Darrin

 

[Denise-JAY]

Welcome to the Jayco Owners Forum Darrin! Congrats on the new tt!!! Our experience.... When we use our pump (traveling or dry camping) we can definitely hear it. As for the blue tote... when camping or traveling we may typically stay 4 nights (occasionally 5-7 days). With just the two of us camping with full hookups, we only dump when we leave the CG. Will you usually camp for up to four nights and camp with no dump? If so, you can play it safe, buy the blue tote and keep the receipt. If you find you don't need it, then take it back. Have fun on your trip

 

[OurJayco]

Hi Darrin and welcome to the Jayco forum!!
I have never heard a water pump in a Pop-Up, so I can not compare them.
I will tell you that you will hear the pump, but our pipes do not rattle at all.
As for the blue tote.....
Black Tank of 32 gallons may be enough for 4 people for 4 days.
Grey Tank of 32 gallons may be pushing it a bit with the 4 of you and all the dishes. If you conserve water while doing dishes, brushing teeth, washing hands and faces or if your family takes baths/showers.
I guess I would wait for a few trips to see how it goes and let everyone know to be a little more conservative until you learn the usage.

 

[Texas Sam]

Ah, another family that has upgraded from a popup (and a really nice one, at that) to a travel trailer! My wife and I made the jump four years ago and can't imagine going back to a popup--even if it was easier to pull and manuver at the campgrounds. No more having to deal with too little privacy, wet canvas when needing to break camp, not being able to access the refrigerator, pantry and bathroom while traveling.

You will quickly get the hang of the bigger rig. Get you some good extendable mirrors (I personally like the Mckesh mirrors available from the Hensley Hitch folks), plenty of leveling blocks (you can make your own from 2X6 or 2X8 lumber or you can purchase some of the plastic blocks from an RV dealer or Wal-Mart), a good level to make sure the TT is level side-to-side before you unhook, and a waste hauler to take the fear out of toileting, dish washing and showering. I know Healthi and Daryl&Sandy suggested that you might get by without one but take it from a proud owner of a waste hauler--you will be glad you have one when the monitors tell you the gray water tank is full and you still have another day or two of camping. I carry a standard hitch ball and stinger to insert into my receiver hitch (I store the equalizer hitch after I unhook the TT) and I can pull the full waste hauler at slow speed for as far as I need to to reach the campground dump station. Wouldn't leave home without the waste hauler unless we were planning on spending no more than one night in a campground. Oh, you might want to get a waste hauler with a capacity of at least 32 gallons--you don't want to overflow you waste hauler. I'm just sayin'. . . .

 

[kipper]

Hi Darrin Welcome
Well we also had a pop up and this is our first year with our 19bh , the water pump is a little quieter but you will hear it . Last time out I took a shower and felt bad for the people in the next sight , they were in a tent. We have had our Jayco out 4 times this year , each time for 2 nights and we always end up at 2/3 s full or full on the morning we leave , thats on gray and black tanks , 3 people 2 adults and a child .
As for towing and not being able to see behind you , well I could'nt see out the rear view on our pop up due to the a/c on the roof . But that was never a problem anyway because when I switch lanes I close my eyes and drift into the other lane . (only kidding) no it wont be hard to adjust . Have a great time , let us know how you make out , and again welcome Kipper

 

[Darrin-JAY]

Thanks for all the great hints. I think I may just buy one and see what happens. (My wife is hyperventalating to all the cost and me to the towing/manuvering!). Knowing my kids, I know I'll have to eliminate some of the grey and/or black on this first trip or two!

We loved the popup we had but, after having back surgery this year, it was just too difficult to work with. I even had the electric tongue wheel installed on this new one to help eliminate some of effort that will be left.

I plan on adding a silencer kit to the TT and go with that.

 

[Darrin-JAY]

Thought of something else! As I never really payed much attention to it with the popup, what IS the size of my trailer - do you say it's a 26 footer or is it considered a 30 footer (I know it's an additional 3 feet with the tongue)? when I booked sites online for Michigan State Parks, you have to pick 25', 30', 35', etc. and I don't know if I should be looking at the 25' or the 30'?

 

[gone camping-THOR]

Welcome to the forum. I would go with 30'.

 

[Texas Sam]

Darrin,

If you are eliminating things that will stress your back, invest in an inexpensive cordless drill and get socket and drill adapter to use in lowering and raising your four stabilizer jacks--easier and faster than using the hand crank supplied with your trailer.

Also, if you have an equalizer hitch you can avoid having to use a breakover bar to put tension on the equalizer bars. Just hitch your new trailer to your tow vehicle, then raise the trailer tongue and rear of your tow vehicle with the electric tongue jack on your trailer. Once it is high enough to attach the equalizer bars without use of the breakover handle, attach them and retract the electric tongue jack all the way.

Many happy camping trips with your new trailer.

 

[Darrin-JAY]

Good tips on the hitch, Sam, thanks!

As for the drill, I have one manual one that loves to do the arms - my 7 year old daughter! that was her job on the popup and fought with her younger sister to do it. However, I do plan on getting one anyway - comes in handy for various other 'what-if's', I'm sure!

 

[Denise-JAY]

Thought of something else! As I never really payed much attention to it with the popup, what IS the size of my trailer - do you say it's a 26 footer or is it considered a 30 footer (I know it's an additional 3 feet with the tongue)? when I booked sites online for Michigan State Parks, you have to pick 25', 30', 35', etc. and I don't know if I should be looking at the 25' or the 30'?

Years ago we booked at a site at a popular campground on what turned out to be a "peak" weekend. Don accidently booked the site for the "box size" of our tt. They literally gave us that sized campsite. They wound up turning us away because they didn't have a bigger spot to accomodate us, and wouldn't allow us to camp in the smaller site because we hung over by a couple of feet Yup! Definitely go with bumper (include bikes if they are attached) to hitch length!

 

[barrelslime]

darrin welcom. First the water pump is what it is loud, second the waste tote, i wanted on real bad and thought id use it. DW was concerned with money and said LETS SEE IF WE NEED IT. We use the shower house for showers, and most bathroom visits, Our camper rules are, CONSERVE WATER EVERY CHANCE YOU CAN. Thus conserving waist tank space. We also take 2 5 gallon drinking jugs with water from home for drinking and cooking. So the camper water is used for flushes, and washing hands and dishes. My wifes reward for conserving water is a Sunday shower in the camper. I personally like the shower house. Turn it on HOT and let it RUN. We usually dump half a tank of fresh water and neither of our black or grey tanks are ever half full on a 3 night stay.
The ball hitch, if it is a new hitch give it a year and it will rub the new off and loosen up. Our new rig was the same way, seemed Id lift the truck off the ground b4 the ball would let go. Now it comes right off.

 

[Texas Sam]

If you haven't greased the ball, give that a try, too.

 

[Darrin-JAY]

My wife and I conserve as well, using the showers (when deemed "OK" by the DW!) and such. The toilet and "bath" is for the two kids, as it's much easier to clean them up after a long hot day in the camper.

I'm still just amazed at how many people were picking up new trailers this past Thursday and heading out to go camping right away. I literally spent two whole days not only familierizing myself with the camper, but also working through little problems. the awning wasn't retracting properly (needed to work the unlock/lock slider many times to even out the movement) and this took some time to sort through. Like I said in my earlier post, the electric tongue jack blew a fuse (which was a unique fuse, one I would not have had - have since switched) and just plain putting all our camping stuff back in the trailer properly.

Like with my popup, I'm a firm believer in "Camp Driveway". Being an engineer, I just like to know how it all works and, more importantly, what the work-arounds if something goes wrong. I also drove the trailer in tight shopping areas (Home Depot during a flower sale! Now that was a little intimidating), on the highway for awhile and through the backroads.

anyway, enough rambling! We are excited to be taking our first trip next weekend to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (one of our absolute favorite campgrounds - Platte River)!

 

[Denise-JAY]

One question I do have is are there any tips for getting the hitch off the ball? It just seems like I need to raise the tongue so high for it to get off. Too high, in my opinion, so I know I must be doing something wrong.

thanks again for all the help!

Of course it's good to keep it greased but there are times when the hitch doesn't want to lift from the ball (or go onto it). When that happens, one of us will put the transmission into neutral and let the truck settle into where it wants to connect/disconnect with the ball.

LOL Now if you can envision this... when all else fails, Don or I (usually Don) will stand and bounce on the bumper to encourage it along

 

[PhilTodd]

The drill saves a lot of time but be careful....when it's tight it will jerk your arm! You will also be surprised how easy your TT will be to manuver in the campgrounds. I went from a 35 ft 5er to a 35 ft TT and the TT is much more responsive when backing, much easier to hit your mark the first time.