RE: Summer Vacation, Tahoe/California Coast
Hopefully you have reservations for Tahoe???? It's starts to book up in November - and I barely got a spot for August when I book several months ago. There might be a few spots in the dry camping/no hookup areas (we don't have a generator yet so at least need electric) but you might want to call to see what's available and reserve if possible.
Re: Hearst Castle. Don't remember many stairs. I say "backpack" the 1 year old and at least do one tour. They have one main tour that's a good overview of the place and would be a good one to take. Don't forget the elephant seal colony that's North of Hearst Castle.
Alcatraz is a self guided tour. Everyone wears their own set of headphones and you are told where to go, where to stop and are told all about the place. Don't think the 1 year old will enjoy that...don't know the ages of the other kids. My son loved Alcatraz, my daughter hated it. Just depends on the kids but you won't know till you get them there. It also not an amazingly long tour so it's do-able with the kids. Definitely make reservations though as it also books up - especially in the summer time. And take warm clothes - San Francisco can be cold in the summertime. There's a reason someone said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". I have pics of us in July in sweatshirts in the middle of the day and the Golden Gate was shrouded in thick fog.
RE: what TV is oulling your 27BH
1: what is tow vehicle
2007 GMC Yukon Denali (shorty).
2: What is mileage empty and towing
Mileage non-towing: 14 city/22-24 hwy
Towing: 9-10 flatland/hwy, less on grades
3: how is maitenence on vehicle
So far, just oil changes and standard services. 1 1/2 years old.
4: Are you happy with rig
LOVE IT! The horsepower, torque w/6 speed trans makes towing this trailer a breeze. Everytime we tow we continue to be more and more impressed with how well it does. Last summer did a 10% grade for 9 miles without any problems - and passed a LOT of cars just struggling up the hill. 'Course mileage up that grade stunk but to be expected.
5: if u can switch TV, would you?
No. Actually it's hubby's daily driver. If it was me i'd switch to the Denali XL - same car, just longer. He came out of a Lexus LS430 into the Denali and he likes the Denali seats and ride over the Lexus hands down. Done 11 hours towing home and for 10 of those hours - not a problem. That last hour did us in but 10 hours without a single complaint from 2 kids! That tells you how comfy the car rides. Also, takes it up fishing with his buddies - actually, he'd like to not drive but they insist because they can't believe how comfy the car is and they don't want to give that up! lol!
6: do you tow with full tank of water?
Never. Always have 10 gallons or so to flush/wash hands while on the road. Typically camp with full hookups but if not, we fill once we're in the park itself.
7: how does rig handle in mountains?
Almost all of our trips have been to mountainous areas. Grand Canyon, South Lake Tahoe, Julian etc. Does great. No problems and typically we have to really watch our speed as we won't realize how fast we are actually going.
Coming down the hill many times we actually had to use the gas as the transmission downshifts so well and with the 6 speeds sometimes it takes us down too slow.
On the plus side - it also makes for a great sightseeing vehicle. Comfortable, easy to park and drive. All around great vehicle. We have just a bit under the 1 1/2 years left on the lease. We're now wishing we went with a 3 1/2 or 4 year lease we like the car so much. When lease is up, we'll go right back into the Denali version of the Yukon once again!
PM me if you want anymore information on the tow vehicle. Pics in my signature.
RE: Would to tow a 5900lb 33' trailer w/ a Tahoe (7800 tow cap)?
We have pulled the combination below over 20,000 miles in the last 15 months. I pulled 10 passes in one day across Nevada and Colorado without a problem. Loaded I come in just over 7500#.
Unfortunately for the OP, this won't be a good comparo as the Tahoe is not available with the engine, hp, torque, suspension or transmission that the '07 Denali has that you tow with (and us too).
To the OP:
Look for a lighter, shorter trailer.
As far as length - we are towing 29' and weight in at 6500#'s with a 850# tongue weight with out Denali. Lengthwise - we are at the top limit of that short wheelbase and would definitely NOT go any longer. Weight wise we have no issues, however we have the big engine, huge torque, 6 speed trans and different suspension like the person I quoted and is completely different than what you have in your Tahoe.
RE: All this talk about warranty work has me worried
If your handy as you say, then chances are you'll be able to fix anything that does go wrong.
And yes, RV dealers typically won't service what they sell and that's the norm. So you are taking a chance on that. Only exceptions i've seen is if your traveling - most places are happy to help those stuck on the road far from home with something major. Warranty work does not hardly even pay the salary and overhead of an RV dealer so you kind of can't blame them for only working on the trailers that they sold. I've never had a problem with the idea though some do.
I think you'll be fine. If it's the brand I think it is since only a couple offer a two year warranty, I own one of those brands and we've not had to take it in for anything in the almost 2 years we've owned it - it has been perfect and the couple little things that were needed (fuse box beauty cover tabs broke) I was able to have the parts ordered and shipped to me (under warranty) and did it myself.
Also, many of the appliances have manufacturer warranties by the maker and those will still be going after your trailer's warranty expires. In that case, they'd send someone out to you or tell you where to go as they have their pre-approved repair places (i.e. - refrigerator, microwave, stove etc.)
Enjoy your trailer! At least you tried to work with the local guys but $4500.00 is a lot. Ours got to within $500.00 (I think it was - I know it was close) so we went with them.
RE: Coordinating trade in and purchase of new TT
We use the KISS Principal..
First we sell our current unit ourselves (we always get more for it that way)
Then we go buy the the new one.. It is easier getting a fair deal when there is no trade in involved.
We do this with cars as well.
We do the same.
If your still going to trade it's better to get a price on a new TT first before you even say your going to do a trade. This also keeps it simple. They will ask - do you have a trade. Our answer is usually "it shouldn't matter if we have a trade or not. We deal on out the door price. If they won't deal that way then we walk and go elsewhere.
This is an article regarding cars - but it is true for RV's as well. Though long, it's well worth a read and will help you to recognize sales tactics and the like making it much easier to seal the deal or walk away: Confessions of a car salesman
But...answer to your question - if you do what you did before you will have hoops to jump through like before. Kinda no way to get around it since they all want something before they'll let go of the check or trailer.
RE: so disappointed in jayco and rv direct
Unfortunately you've found out that RV dealers typically don't service the units they don't sell and if they do, those get dropped to the bottom of the priority list. Nature of the RV business - doesn't mean it's right, but it does mean you need to work around this issue to get your trailer fixed. This is the reason we paid a bit more and bought it from a local dealer as opposed to a discounter.
The cracking/splitting linoleum isn't limited to just Jayco or your trailer model. Seems the extreme cold caused a lot of linoleum floors in a lot of trailers to crack. There have been a few threads on here of the same problem all with different brand trailers. This problem seems to be an "equal opportunity" issue.
Re: your slide. There should be a manual way to get it in. Once you've got the slide in (check your owners manual or call Jayco for help) you need to get it to the repair shop. Now...typically you bought from RVDirect so you probably should take it back there. Your other option is to call Jayco and ask where you can take it for repairs and have them contact that place on your behalf if they will do so. This way the place KNOWS your coming and that Jayco authorized it even though you didn't buy your trailer through them.
Hope your issues get resolved soon!
RE: Which Equal-i-zer shank
Sounds like you need to put more tension on the bars.
Actually, on the Equalizer, it is recommended that you add washers to the hitch head FIRST before adding tension to the bars. The bars should be parallel to the A-Frame on the trailer.
If you need more weight transferred to the front of the vehicle, add an additional washer or two and then re-measure and test drive.
We left the hole in the L-Bracket at #5 and ended up adding 3 more washers to our hitch head - and it tows like a dream.
Also make sure to weigh your trailer and tongue and have your tongue weight at 13% of the trailer weight. This in combination with bringing down the front end of the truck will help a LOT.
PM me if you have any set-up questions or measuring re: the Equalizer - i'm glad to help.
RE: New Outback Loft from Keystone - missed the boat on this one
Cannot be left up in winds/rain. So...if the wind or a good rainstorm comes up during the night - you'd have to get up and close it.
It is a cool idea, but I hadn't thought about this little problem; and from the looks of the pics (unless I am not seeing things the way I think I am), when you put down the loft, you lose your sleeper sofa that is in the loft so when you get up in the night to close it, you end up displacing anyone sleeping up there - is that what other see?
If you using as a bed, then yes, I see it the same way. If it's just being used as a sitting area - no one would be displaced.
I just keep thinking about a couple of weekends ago out here in the California Desert - at about 2:00am an awful noise woke us up and shaking - turns out the wind gusts decided to pick up and it spent the next 20 minutes blowing so hard it was rocking and shaking the trailer.
I'm thinking at that point, the last thing I'd want to worry about was whether or not I needed to close the loft or displace some sleepy child or adult and try to find somewhere for them to finish a night's sleep while I push the button to pull the loft in.
RE: Economy,,,,,,,Do you really feel the "sky falling"
I think alot of it is the media hype much like the global warming. JMHO
I will second this thought. The media makes WAY too much of some things and causes panic that does not need to be there.
The housing market is in self-correction mode. Those banks that made bad loans are paying the price. People who bought houses that they couldn't afford are paying the price. It's unfortunate and I wish that no one would lose their home at all but 0 down loans with no income verification on a house that is hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than it should have been - self-correction in the real estate market is bound to happen. Expect another wave in a year....
Global warming - don't even get me started. Those that STUDY global warming say it is naturally occuring AND they've also said this last week that the earth will be going through a "cooling process" that will last several decades and is also NATURALLY occuring.
I think those in the media need to get a hobby and do something with their lives - they are apparently bored and feel the need to cause trouble :W
RE: Vitco RVQ Grill
We use our RVQ grill every time we are out camping. With 4 of us we find it works great for what it was designed to do. The convenience of it just makes it that much nicer. We done everything from hot dogs, hamburgers and carne asada to chicken and a tri-tip roasts.
I will be sad for the day it stops working as we've nothing that is as convenient to use - especially those quick last minute "don't wanna pack the weber and charcoal to grill hot dogs" type trips that we do.
RE: New Outback Loft from Keystone - missed the boat on this one
Take it to a NASCAR event once and see how many people will want one. This is the kind of rig most die hard fans would love to have so they can carry the toys and sit up high for the race.
You mean TOY (singular) not TOYS (plural) with that cargo capacity - you'd have to pick between the ATV or Bike and the wife....;)
RE: 2008 Jayco 32BHDS - JAYFLIGHT G2
Looking at our owners manual it says with the towing package we can tow 10,600lbs. I don't like the doors on the bedroom either, but liked the back area for the grandsons as well as being able to come into the bathroom from the outside with tracking all the way thru. The weight of the trailor is listed at 7250lbs.
You said you had a 2006 Tundra - is this correct? i'm pretty sure your limited to 6800#'s and it will be much less once you add all the weight of all the options that were added onto the truck depending on what model you have. Older Tundra's (prior to 2008) were notorious for not being a true 1/2 ton pickup - which is why the new designed Tundra's were born beefier with bigger brakes, suspension, engine and therefore - bigger tow capacity.
Your UNLOADED, dry weight (7860#'s I think it was)on this trailer is WAY more than your Tundra can handle and you haven't even added options into that weight such as propane tanks and propane, batteries. The brochure weights don't include microwaves, air conditioners, refrigerators. Basically a shell without added options such as awnings, spare tire, ladder etc. Much less all your stuff - food, appliances, kitchen, bathroom, clothes etc.
You really need to do more research before you jump into buying a trailer. Here's a great place to start to familiarize yourself with towing, weights and how to match a trailer to your vehicle RV Towing Tips
For that particular trailer your looking in 3/4 ton truck category.
For your Tundra you need to look at trailers with dry weights around the 3000-3500 dry weight. believe it or not, you'll add about 800-1000# (or more depending on people/stuff and kids). The total weight of the LOADED, ready to camp trailer should be around 80% of your tow max capacity - or in your case 5440#'s - maybe a little more but I definitely would NOT tow more than 5500#'s with that Tundra.
BTW: Our tow max is 7900#'s and we're towing 6000-6500#'s (depending on trip) - towing is easy for our truck BUT I would not go heavier and would never attempt that trailer with our truck either.
New Outback Loft from Keystone - missed the boat on this one
Was just reading in my Trailer Life about the new Outback Loft trailer by Keystone. Picture here
Cool idea - A few problems that I can see just from looking at it/reading the article.
First off - it will be a bear to keep cool/warm as it's just tent materials in the loft area. And it comes with only one 13.5 BTU AC - a second, allbeit smaller one, should be for just the loft area.
Cannot be left up in winds/rain. So...if the wind or a good rainstorm comes up during the night - you'd have to get up and close it. It does say that it's is rated waterproof under normal conditions - hmmm what do they consider normal? What is "normal" here in California is not "normal" in Virginia. Seems to me another little "loophole" for them to not fix something rain/weather related should it break.
Second - and this one was glaringly bad IMO. Loaded weight with full propane, freshwater water heater and NO cargo was 7180#'s. The GVWR for this trailer is 7860#'s leaving a grand total of 680#'sfor ALL your stuff....
....and this is a TOY HAULER! :E
Ummm...maybe their research and development teams need to actually pack a trailer and weigh their stuff and go camping before they build these things! :S
RE: bed sheets
I just bought queen sheets for the short queen, double for the double and twin for the twin. For me, I bought the sheets at Ikea - $1.99 each for the twin, $2.99 each for the double and $4.99 each for the queen. AWESOME sheets - so good I went back and bought sets for the house.
I've also bought sheets from Overstock.com - really good prices on sheet sets.
I used to use the sheet holders (the elastic things underneath) but found them to be more of a pain - sheets stay on the beds just fine and haven't had any problems whatsoever.
So..go to overstock.com, target or walmart and buy what you like.
RE: Which Equal-i-zer shank
Ron -
On the Equalizer website you can plug in some numbers from your tow vehicle and trailer and it will tell you which shank you should have - Scroll down the page to the bottom, follow the directions, plug in the numbers and see what it tells youClick here
If you are still unsure, give them a call or an email with your question. They have amazing customer service and are good honest people and will get back to your email or answer your question very quickly.
RE: do jayco jay feather trailers have trailer brakes?
You'd be hard pressed to find a travel trailer that does not come with brakes. Yes, the Jayfeathers have brakes. You will need to buy a brake controller and have it put in on your tow vehicle. When you hook the cord into the 7 pin controller you will be hooking the brakes up to your tow vehicle so to speak. The brake controller brakes the trailer with the truck (in very simplistic terms)
Recommend the Prodigy.
RE: 07 Jayco 27bh.....anyone have one?
Hi, we owned an '07 Jayco 27BH for about a year and a half. Great unit, but after actually camping in it found that if company came to visit...or if it rained and we HAD to stay inside, it was too tight.
We just upgraded to a '08 Jayco 29FBS. It has a similar floorplan to the 27BH, but ALOT better layout...IT HAS A SLIDEOUT, bathroom is away from kids (better for at night when kids are sleeping so they wont be be bothered), it has wooden pocket doors...not those cheap accordian doors, and both bedrooms are a bit more secluded.
Look carefully at your needs so you dont have to trade it in in a few years like I did, just like trading in a year old car, you will get raked over the coals:M
As I said, 27BH is really nice, the 29FBS is even better!
It's also quite a bit longer and quite a bit heavier (dry weight is at least 2000#'s more).
We love our 27BH because of what you get for the weight and length and pulls easily with our shorty Yukon Denali - not to mention it falls within the restrictions for the state parks re: length that we like to visit and we've rarely had a problem getting into any sites. Believe it or not - we did not want a slideout and are very happy without one. We've had up to 6 people in our trailer all at once in inclement weather and it didn't feel "tight" to us. I grew up camping with 6 people and a dog in a 10 1/2' truck camper - now that's tight!
It all comes down to what you want, what you have to tow with and what will work best for YOU and your family. Ultimately, you need to make the decision. I will offer one piece of advice. Before you buy take the entire family and plan on spending 1 1/2 hours or so in the trailer itself. Bring along a deck of cards. Have the kids play cards or a game, pretend to cook, pretend to "camp" so to speak to get a real good idea of what it will be like if all of you are inside due to inclement weather. Then you will know what will work best for you. If you like it - buy it. I wouldn't trade my 27BH for anything else out there because it's perfect....for US.
RE: 07 Jayco 27bh.....anyone have one?
OHHHH
I love, love the pictures of your mods...I can't wait to start doing stuff like that with our TT. I was wondering about your flast screen tv, does it have a bar attachment so you can pull it out and turn it side to side or does it mount on a wall, free standing? Does it sit too high if your watching from the couch or tv? Sorry for so many questions, but am curious. Thanks soo much for your pictures and review on this particular tt.
It's just a regular freestanding tabletop type of LCD tv. Hubby found it really cheap at a closeout sale. We just pull it forward and turn it towards the couch. It doesn't swivel but it does adjust to tilt forward or back. We've been on the queen bed, sofa and dinette to watch a movie and no one's complained they couldn't see the tv well. I've also watched from laying down on the bed and also the dinette area and both were fine. We typically don't watch tv while camping and until recently I had the ban on a tv in the trailer (as did the 14 year old) till hubby brought it home (missed one too many UCLA football games while camping apparently). Honestly we've only used the tv twice for a movie since we've had it - about a year or so. We're usually out and about or playing games instead.
I'll answer any questions you have. We love the floorplan and one reason we bought it was that the storage was amazing (under the double bed bunk area and under the queen bed) and the fact that it was big enough for the 4 of us and small enough for the 2 of us when the kids are done. Figure the bunkhouse will become a closet when they stop camping by removing the mattresses and using curtain rods or tension rods.
We were going to buy one trailer, one time. I've yet to see another trailer that I like better and each time we go out we look at each other and say "yes, the perfect trailer for us" and have no desire whatsoever to get anything else.
RE: Tow vehicle...need your input about this.
Thanks everyone for your advice/thoughts! Wow! What a response!
I think, with all your kind input, we have decided to go ahead with the V8 (gulp). I found on the website www.fueleconomy.org that there is only about 1-2 mpg difference...so, with that in mind we are going to go up for the future.
We are going to be buying used (new to us), around 200-2005 depending on mileage/price combination. We think we are either going with the Ford Explorer or the Mercury Mountaineer. Drove both this past weekend, and the Mountaineer was definitely a better ride.
So.... if any of you out there have these vehicles and would like to give your input on your favorite options/likes/dislikes, etc. I would appreciate it!
Thanks again everyone!
I think you'll be much happier in the end with the V8 and will be a much better choice and you'll be a lot happier in the long run. Buying the V8 now will save you a LOT of $$$ in the end as you won't be having to consider another tow vehicle upgrade because you moved from a pup to a regular TT - and real world mileage you'll not notice much of a difference between the V6 and V8. Paper mileage isn't worth - well, the paper it's written on and I often wonder if the person was dreaming when they wrote it down (in the case of my V6 Pilot they said it would get 19 city - what a joke. I don't know of anyone who gets above 16 city in theirs - and most get 12-14mpg city).
So...really the V8 will be no difference in mpg so no *gulp* needed!:B
Though I won't buy a Ford - I do like how the Explorer drives - it, to me, was just a fun car to drive - but that's how we buy cars - the "fun factor". We would rather drive a car that's not as smooth and have a blast and get that "I love driving this car" feel everytime we get behind the wheel over a smooth, boring to drive car. Never drove a Mountaineer so can't comment on those.
