Timothy
Wisconsin
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Joined: 05/20/2002
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I just want to say congratulations on your trailer. I believe the Cavalier is made by Gulf Steam though and not Coachman.
Tim & Cindy
2010 Canyon Trail 35FLFT
2001 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Crew Cab
8.1 Allison
www.gsowners.com
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anaro
Mebane, NC
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Joined: 01/16/2011
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Ride Naked wrote:anaro wrote:At RV parks/campgrounds, you have full hook ups and partial hook ups (water/electric sites). THe full hook up sites have sewer connection on the site so you can just hook up to dump. The water/electric sites do not have sewage connection and you will have to drive to a dump station to dump, in that case a tank is needed. The grey tank is for things like wastewater from the kitchen sink and shower. THe black tank is for the toilet. Fresh water tank is for potable water, this needs a pump to run. You only need this if you are not hooked up to a city water supply. Also, looking at your rig, it looks like you don't have a weight distribution hitch (WDH)or sway control. I highly recommend getting that. If you look at your front end in the picture, it appears to be riding high. This will make your steering light. A WDH will help to fix this.
Thanx Anaro, the more I read the more I'm leaning toward just leaving the 'park model' thing as it stands. I'm no beginner at plumbing and I'm pretty mechanically inclined but why buy 3 tanks/pump/plumbing fixtures when I can probably do fine without them right? I guess I will probably get a better feel for what my needs are when I get out on the road again, I'm just excited not to have to stay in a hotel/motel!
TOWING... It actually towed just fine even with me going through the bands of tropical storm 'beryl' just came through the day I bought it (figures lol) the Excursion seemed to handle fine (granted I was towing the TT unloaded) I wonder how it will tow loaded. What do weight dis hitches usually run for a good one? do they attatch the same as regular ball hitches?
The WDH is a different shank that will attach to your existing receiver. It then will also have bars that attach it to your trailer. There are different styles. The most popular on these boards are the WDH w/ integrated sway control such as reese dual cam (reese strait line is good too), equal-i-zer, hensley arrow and propride. I have the reese dual cam and it works well. You are probably looking at $500-800 for something the level of reese or equal-i-zer and well over $1000 for hensley arrow. Hensley is considered top of the line. With your set up you will probably be fine with something like the reese dual cam or equal-i-zer. To give you an idea, here is the reese strait line.
Here is a link to the WDH set up procedure thread and the how WDH works thread both of these are in the towing forum and are a great resource. Oh and as others have said, make sure you have a good brake controller. Ideally you will want a proportional brake controller (like prodigy P3) and not a time delay brake controller. Good luck
2009 Ford F250 Lariat Crew Cab 6.4L diesel 4WD
2011 Crossroads Zinger ZT26BL
Reese Dual Cam
6 nights camped in 2013!
21 nights camped in 2012!
27 nights camped in 2011!
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SaltLife
Everywhere
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Joined: 05/28/2012
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Timothy wrote:I just want to say congratulations on your trailer. I believe the Cavalier is made by Gulf Steam though and not Coachman.
Thanx we're super excited about it!!! And you're correct it's a Gulfstream I guess I said coachman accidentally because I looked at like 100to TT's before I bought lol, good catch!
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Perrysburg Dodgeboy
Perrysburg, Ohio USA
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Joined: 12/06/2003
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First let me say welcome to the site.
I would think you might want to add holding tanks (black and gray) for the simple reason you can't always find full hook up sites. During peak camping season it will be more difficult, also what are you going to do in the winter. All campgrounds in colder climates close down for the winter usually around the end of October. That TT is not set up for cold weather so you are going to be limited as to where you can camp.
The other thing you could use is a tote. Click Here
As for the brake away system on the trailer, you can use a small 12 volt battery to provide the power for the brakes. It would need to be installed be someone that knows how to wire it up to keep the battery charged. They use them on utility trailers. Click Here
Perrysburg Dodgeboy
2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab SLT Cummins HO
2005 Keystone Cougar 304 BHS
Chrysler the only one to pay back 100% of their loans from the Government. *The Old Car Company" still owes 1.6 billion. Is that better Chuckles 
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DE88ROX
West Michigan. The other West Coast
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Joined: 03/08/2012
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are you sure theres no holding tanks? looking at the pic it looks like your drain pipes for blk and grey are behind the axles.
TV- 2010 GMC Sierra Z71 EXT. cab
TT- 2012 Starcraft Autumn Ridge235fb
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dyb
s.c.
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Joined: 01/24/2005
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It will have those plumbing pipes anyway, for hooking up to full hook up. A friend of ours bought a Fema trailer and found out he couldn't install holding tanks. Will be limited to a full hook up site. The applicances I belive are standard house type.
2005 F 250 5.4, 4.10 Gear, Tow/Haul, TorqShift Tranny 8ft. Box
Built in Break Controller
Super Duty super cab 158" wheel base
Eagle 320 rlds 2008
Raised Oct, 1988
Reese Dual Cam
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civlized
South
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* This post was
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civlized
South
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* This post was
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wannavolunteerFT
South Georgia
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One thing nobody mentioned which really isn't related to the mods... ask for monthly rates at parks you stay at. some have monthly rates and then even lower discounted rates for 4-6 month stays. be aware though whether the prices quoted include electric or not.. most Rv parks include elec for daily or weekly rates, but go to metered electric as seperate charge once you go to monthly or seasonal rates..
I would ask among my friends and find someone familiar with RV's to come help you look for brakeaway cable, brake wiring, water and plumbing connections.. I have discovered sometimes things don't look like we think they will.
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civlized
South
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* This post was
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