RE: Need to purchase another set of TT keys. Please help.
Can someone post the phone number for FIC please? We've lost a set of keys.
Edit: doh, I think I just put 2 and 2 together and realized that FIC *is* Fastec Industrial Corporation...
- Chris
RE: Leaks... How many of you have had them , big or small?
New leak found...Water fill neck. It was an easy fix. I noticed it when installing the Sure Flo pump silencer kit.
I just found this on my 2008 Rockwood too.
- Chris
RE: 1 yr old Rockwood leaking, won't cover under active warranty
Add another Rockwood here, less than a year old and leaking around one of the front cargo bay doors. Upon close inspection, there are gaps in the sealant. It's been happening for awhile, and there is water damage. My local dealer tried to claim "water leaks aren't covered by the warranty."
- Chris
RE: Issues with new 2008 Rockwood 8317SS
Our kitchen GFCI blew after six months too. There are a lot of reports of this on another Forest River forum that I've browsed. They don't seem to use a high quality GFCI outlet from the factory.
Besides the GFCI, other problems in the first ten months:
water pump not connected from factory (I wired it up)
water leak in front cargo door (gaps in caulking behind molding)
catches on two doors were not lined up from the factory (could adjust one, had to redrill/reinstall the other one)
flickering reading light in bedroom (pulled light, re-crimped connections)
black tank dump valve leaks, nasty stuff collects behind cap - surprise!
strong odor in bathroom despite water seal in bowl and fan running - faulty seal between toilet and floor? still pending
- Chris
RE: Leaks... How many of you have had them , big or small?
We recently found a leak in our 2008 Rockwood TT. There was insufficient caulk around one of the front cargo bay door moldings, allowing water to run down the wall and saturating the plywood subfloor. Unfortunately the cargo bay has a linoleum floor surface, so we didn't know there was a leak until one day when I hitched up and pulled the trailer forward, and my wife saw a bunch of water pour out of the front underside of the trailer. After taking a closer look in the cargo bay with a flashlight, we pulled a corner of flooring up and saw that the plywood was completely saturated. (It had been a good 24 hours since it rained.)
The trailer is a month away from its warranty expiration. I bought it from a Rockwood dealer four hours away because the nearest Rockwood dealer (99 miles from my doorstep) was not interested in negotiating on price. However, any Forest River dealer is authorized to perform warranty work. I called my closest FR dealer (not Rockwood) and they claimed that "water leaks are not covered under Forest River's warranty." What a load of BS. Given the limited warranty time, I will be taking it back to the home dealer four hours away. They are so booked with service, the soonest they could fit me in was a week away from the warranty expiration.
- Chris
RE: Heartland North Trail 28BHS
BoarderExman,
I would also be curious what caused you to choose the Surveyor over the North Trail (besides the poor fabric choices with the North Trail which I fully agree with).
- Chris
RE: Any Heartland North Trail owners out there?
smildrum, we recently started looking at this model too. Can I ask what you paid? I really like that most things are standard, it makes the price and weight not such a guessing game.
- Chris
RE: RV BUYING SERVICE WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE...
I'd just be happy with a site that easily provides me with accurate dealer cost figures. I'm looking to buy a Surveyor SV249, but I have no idea what's a good price and what's a price that would make me the fool. I tried looking it up on the NADA guide but it's not very straightforward with the number of options they give you, and with every one of them driving the price up (even options which don't make sense or aren't available).
John, if you are looking for a good way to help the average Joe, that would be a good way.
- Chris
Hensley Arrow Tips
Hi all,
I am starting this thread so we can share Hensley Arrow tips. I looked for an existing thread on this topic but couldn't find out.
We had a problem where if the hitch was tilted forward/downward, the latch arms wanted to swing forward and interfere with hitching. The solution was simple - go to the hardware store and buy a package of six small rare-earth permanent magnets. I stuck them to the hitch where the latch arm hits the hitch when it's swung all the way back towards the TT. I only needed one on each side - four left for other purposes! The magnet stays stuck to the hitch even during travel (they're very strong), and will hold the latch arms out of the way during hitching. They are not very big at all - about halfway between a pencil eraser and a dime - as rare earth magnets are small for their size.
I also used a trick I read here about using something in the TV's receiver to get the initial angle/position pretty close. I had a scrap of 1.5" PVC pipe sitting around, so I tried latching the stinger into the HA, and putting the pipe into the receiver. This gives me good feedback on when I have the rough positions and angles correct. I'll cut the pipe down (or switch to a shorter wooden receiver insert) once I get a backup camera.
I use another tip during unhitching shared here on the forums. Once everything has been disconnected, I pull the TV only a couple inches forward, then raise/lower the TT tongue to ensure that the stinger is loose in the stinger socket. This way, I am sure that there is no sudden slam as the stinger comes free of the socket and the TV's suspension loads/unloads to its resting height.
- Chris
RE: Ultra Light Trailers
Also have a look at the Surveyor travel trailers:
click for Surveyor
They are related to the Rockwood/Flagstaff lines, but are a bit of a step up in build quality with their stronger wall construction. They also have more aerodynamic front ends and enclosed underbellies (the Rockwood/Flagstaff units have neither).
- Chris
RE: Towing with our 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD (turbodiesel)
Hi all,
It's been awhile, so I thought I would post an update.
After our two camping trips last year, we had a cold snap and it was time to winterize. I used compressed air to blow out the supply lines, and poured some RV antifreeze in the drains.
Once spring rolled around, I decided to work on the weight transfer again. I previously hadn't had enough weight transfer from the Hensley, and I ran out of range with the Hensley jack towers. After contacting Hensley, they instructed me to move the pin below the towers one hole up to change the adjustment range. I moved the pin up one hole and headed to the CAT scales.
Baseline weigh with no occupants and a full tank of fuel:
STEER AXLE 2400 lb
DRIVE AXLE 1980 lb
TRAILER AXLE 0 lb
GROSS WEIGHT 4380 lb
After that, we hitched up and weighed to see how much trailer weight was transferred to the CRD's axles. Each reweigh was $1. This time my wife and I used walkie-talkies. She'd radio me in the incremental transfer to each axle from the weight desk, and I'd adjust the bars out on the scale. Here's how it weighed the way it was configured for the drive to the scale:
STEER AXLE 2420 lb (+20)
DRIVE AXLE 2600 lb (+620)
TRAILER AXLE 4320 lb (-640)
GROSS WEIGHT 9340 lb
No wonder it didn't feel very sure-footed on the trip to the scales. It was okay on flat road but bump roads did not feel stable. (Of course, since I had just moved the pin up, I was totally guessing on how far to bring up the bars!) On the fourth weigh (third hitched weigh), we got it:
STEER AXLE 2680 lb (+280)
DRIVE AXLE 2280 lb (+300)
TRAILER AXLE 4380 lb (-580)
GROSS WEIGHT 9340 lb
From the numbers, we can see the static trailer weight is 4960 and we got nearly perfect weight transfer. This was also our first tow with the Pirelli Scorpion ATR load range D tires, aired up to about 50psi. With the adjusted bars, the tire sidewalls still squatted a bit and I'll probably try 60psi next time. It felt a world of difference better on the trip back home. Other than pulling the weight, it was easy to forget it was back there even on a bumpy highway.
One thing I didn't like was that I hit the end of the adjustment range (again!) with the Hensley jack towers. I can't move the pin up any more, so this is as much transfer as the Hensley will give me. Why only 600lbs? Well, the problem appears to be that the natural receiver angle of the Hensley stinger is angled upward due to the front-raked stance of the Liberty. Since the receiver already has some angle to it when unloaded, I've already used up some of my weight transfer "angle range" when trying to use the weight bars to tilt the nose down. If the receiver angle were more horizontal, I'd have more range. Another possibility would be to trade in the Hensley stinger to bring down the tongue another 2", but that wouldn't buy me much.
So all things considered, I have started pulling the trailer with my truck. Yes, I also have a 2005 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with the V8. It's a regular cab and it's rated to tow somewhere around 7100lbs. Conveniently, by flipping the Hensley stinger to get a 2" drop instead of a 2" rise, the Tundra hitches up quite nicely. With the Hensley and the V8, it really pulls like a dream. I haven't even been to the CAT scales yet - I just kinda pull the bars up to "about there" each time, and it just feels great every time.
Just as I said at the beginning of the thread, setting up the Liberty CRD has been something of an experiment. The straight-line highway stability with the Hensley is fantastic, and the CRD has enough power with the tune. However, there are three primary reasons I prefer the Tundra over the Liberty for towing:
The price of diesel is no longer in favor of the Liberty's somewhat more economical towing. The Tundra takes RUG and while it sure doesn't get 14mpg like the Jeep, it still works out pretty reasonably. (I don't have an exact towing fuel economy for the Tundra yet. I know it's not pretty though!)
For some reason, I could just never get the Liberty's braking with the TruControl dialed in. Every time I hit the pedal, I didn't know if I would jerk to a stop or would have that dreaded "not enough brakes!" feeling in my stomach. Braking just did not feel confidence-inspiring to me. The Tundra (outfitted with a Prodigy) felt much better. The Tundra and the Liberty are nearly the same weight within 200lbs, so I'm not sure what to make of that. Maybe the Liberty's softer suspension makes it harder for the TruControl to get a good read on the situation?
When going around tight turns or making turns on bumpy roads, the lever effect of the trailer on the Liberty was always there. You could feel that there was something heavy and long behind you wanting to remind you of its presence. The Tundra was affected too - you knew you were towing something - but it shrugged it off more easily.
We have our Rockwood 2605 up for sale because we would like to replace it with a Surveyor SV249. They're actually pretty similar in length and width (SV249 is half a foot shorter, 200lbs lighter) but the Surveyor's front is more raked and it's about 8" shorter vertically. The real reason for the switch is after only three camping trips in the Rockwood, we realize that the floorplan of the Surveyor is a much better fit for two people and two dogs. Our dogs did not like the narrow main hallway of the Rockwood and were having some anxiety issues in the cramped space. Plus, they were always underfoot during the day. The open layout of the Surveyor should be much more dog-friendly. We are not aggressively selling it - if/when the Rockwood sells, we'll order a Surveyor. Until then, we'll continue to enjoy our camping experiences in the Rockwood.
Here's a picture of the Tundra and trailer:
Tundra and Rockwood
I know the trailer angle isn't perfect, but it's good enough for me.
Oh yeah, one more benefit - the Tundra has a Line-X'ed bed and a Jeraco cap. We put their beds in the back and they have plenty of space to run around from window to window to sniff, or to lay down in their beds and nap during the trip. And the best part - no more dog hair in the passenger cabin! :)
- Chris
RE: Level Fridge on Electric
When running a fridge out-of-level during one trip, then running it level on the next, does running it level "undo" some of the damage that's done? My understanding is that the coolant precipitates/solidifies in the tubes, and I'm wondering if running it level with the fluid flow helps to dissolve the buildup.
- Chris
RE: Breakaway cable for electric brakes
browns329, I wondered the same thing. At first, I tried elaborate ways of attaching it to the hitch pin. But, I didn't have confidence in that route. Finally, I ended up doing what everyone else appears to have done - a small 180lb-rated carabiner. My reasoning on the rating was the same as hilldude's.
- Chris
RE: dealer "lack of" service
My first purchase experience was also disappointing. If I were in your shoes, I would push back too. I'll leave it to other members and yourself to decide if it makes sense for the dealer to temporarily install a lesser hitch for you, then reinstall what you asked for later. However, I completely agree that nothing less than receiving what you asked for is called for here, and if you need to come back in and get your hitch situation rerarranged, you ought to have some compensation for your time.
- Chris
RE: Clear Propane Tanks ? Are they legal
How are they better? Do you really need to see the propane? Are you reducing tongue weight?
I am past spending money on something like this unless it really solves a problem.
My automatic regulator gives a visual on when to refill.
My freebie regulator on my Rockwood doesn't tell me anything. No, I don't need to see the level but I want to. Tongue reduction is probably not that much and is just a side bonus. The bigger benefit is less weight for me to lug around removing/reinstalling come fill time. I suppose I could buy a regulator with a gauge like yours instead, but I confess I'm a bit fascinated by these tanks. It doesn't get much more direct than seeing the propane level!
I buy a lot of things that I want but don't need. My travel trailer was one of them. :)
- Chris
