RE: Any Jayco 29A owners out there?
We also own a 2007 29A. Over all we love it. Plenty of room and all the functionality/amenities we could ask for. Only complaints would be the already mentioned "have to crawl over each other" orientation to the queen bed, and having to crawl over the dinette to get into bed, but those are minor.
As far as towing goes, we pull it with a 2003 Silverado 5.3L Z71 and it tows well, although I don't have a lot to compare it to. We arent going to win any races, but we have about 1000 miles towing it so far and on the road, its fine. With the Equalizer hitch, you cant really feel it back there unless you need to speed up. Properly adjusted prodigy brake controller and it stops easily also. Only think I DONT like about it is its LONG! Its not a problem, but it makes for some heightened pucker factor in some of the tight turns in a CG.
We've had some minor quality issues, but all have been repaired quickly and easily by our dealer under the 2 year warranty. So far, we needed to have the clutch on the slide replaced, one corner of the unit re-glued/screwed together, and the electrical outlet in the TV cubby rewired.
If they would just make a 23' camper with quad bunks, a super side slide, full kitchen, queen bed, and weighted about 3500# we'd be all set. Until then, the 29A was our top pick (did I mention its really really long?)
RE: off-road danger.....
After reading the initial post I was going to point you right to snopes.com for a lesson in urban legends, but his appears to be on the up and up. I can't image this will continue. All it will take is for this guy and a few others to sue the government and one jury award of a few billion dollars and these little spike will go away.
Shock upgrade, will they help the ride that much?
After the response from everyone with my "towing on concrete roadway" issues (porpoising of trailer and truck when I cross the expansion cuts in concrete roadway) the overwhelming recommendation was to upgrade the stock shocks on my truck (03 Silverado Z71). I'm looking at a set of Monroe MaxAirs. Would these be good? Can I expect much improvement? Do need all 4 or can I get away with only doing the rears?
Thanks.
"Tail Wagging Dog" Question
I have a question about my particular situation.
First off, here are the specs,
2003 Chevy Silverado K1500 Ext Cab 5.3L Z71, Equal-i-zer hitch, pulling Jayco Jayfeather 29A (6500# GVWR)
Here is my problem. When we are going down the road, if we are on normal road surface, everything is fine. If we go over bumps, everything is fine. Even had 30-40mph side winds and any sway was minimal (barely felt it in motion of the vehicle, no active compensation of any sort required). However, when we would get on PAVED interstate or 4 layne roat, every expansion cut in the concrete made a little bump. These bumps would work into a motion that was a total pain. Felt like one of those one shaking belt things that you used to see in all the fitness films from the 50's. Anyway, is this caused by my Equalizer set up or is this "tail wagging the dog"? The frequency is quite high, maybe 4-5/sec at 60mph. I thought it might be a resonance of some sort, but between 30 and 70 mph it just changed frequency and does not change at all in intensity. Once we get on any other type of road surface, good asphalt, bad broken asphalt, city streets, etc, the ride is normal and smooth. Even in the "bad" road, when we hit a bridge, the ride will smooth and level out until we get back on the pavement. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help.
Equalizer Lube? What do you use?
Getting tired of the squeaking/creaking of the Equalizer hitch. Do you use lube and if so, what kind. Does it make a mess when hitching/unhitching?
Also, I noticed a few other things. Each time I use my hitch, after the end of the trip, the head attachment to the shank is a little loose? I tighten it and the bolts after every trip, but is this expected? I also have some amount of "slop" where the hitch meets the receiver. Anything I could/should do about this? Seems like I would just have to adjust a little further than a hitch without slop, but not sure.
Anyone tow with 08 Tundra or Sequoia with 5.7L V8
Based on the specs (381hp and 401 ftlb torque) it sounds like it ought to pull really well. anyone have any first hand experience?
What are you pulling and how does it go?
First real trip with Jayco 29A...success!
Well, after the trials (almost entirely weather related) with our shake out run (single night at local park) we went on our first "real" trip with our new TT. Happy to report that we could not have asked for better performance from the trailer and that we all had a wonderful time. Was a great way to spend mothers day weekend (two mothers/three generations on board for the weekend). We went to George Wyth state park in Waterloo IA for 4 days/3 nights. Here are the specs for information purposes.
Total round trip miles: 640 (one way distance 310 plus some running around when there)
Average cost of gas: $3.648/gal
Fuel Economy: 9.0mpg out (neutral wind to slight tail wind), 7.6mpg back (strong side/head winds). See signature for TV details.
Average speed: 62mph (a few 70mph down hills and a few 50mph up hills getting to/from the mississippi river)
Water useage: 35 gal (out of 35gal capacity)
Tank usage: 2/3 black, 2/3 grey
Equalizer: did really well. Still loud as heck when making corners, but I think it really helped with the strong side winds. On the way home they were 30-40mph blowing at 90 degrees to the trailer for the entire trip. Zero to very light sway.
All the systems seemed to work well, heater ran most every night and kept the trailer warm. Rained one day, no leaks to report. Internal humidity was less of an issue with slightly warmer temps during. Did run into a few more "must haves" for the next trip.
10" DO to go with the 12"
DO table
Lynx levelers
Wider mirrors
10gal water jug for refill without moving the trailer
Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. One more question though. The biggest problem with the trip was cement paved interstate. Every line cut in the cement would cause a bounce in the cab that was really annoying. Those who live in MN/IA/WI know what I am talking about. I initally thought it was my setup, but on any other road surface asphalt, older paved road, anything else, at same speed, the ride was smooth and even. On concrete interstate, it was bouncing like a jackhammer. Any suggestions? I tried more/less tongue weight and that did nothing. Slower/faster 10mph did nothing either. Only thing that altered it in any way was changing surface.
RE: First trip...we survived and even thrived...
dmzempr,
Did not hang a towel rack yet, but plan to. We actually have a lot of different things added to the list "to do". Storage stuff and what not.
Very happy with the trailer. I think being locked in it for 24hrs was a good way to break it in.
Our next trip is in 2 weeks to central Iowa (meeting relatives for a weekend camping trip)
Sounds like your trip was good too. Congrats...
RE: Are we unreasonable? Recent Camping experience...
We ran into the same exact thing at an AmericInn in Souix Falls SD. Basketball team from somewhere in MN was up all night banging doors and running through the halls. Parents were no help. Finally had to get the manager up there 4 or 5 times before they stopped. Was horrible.
First trip...we survived and even thrived...
If the weather had at all cooperated, it would have been the perfect trip, but between the tornado warnings, and rain, cold and wind, we had a really fun time. We actually parked the trailer, set it up, went inside, and didn't go outside until the next day at 3pm. (Well, except to leave the campground to avoid the tornado that was on the ground about 3 miles away, but that was only for 45 min or so).
All the systems seemed to work great. We had MANY firsts.
First "navy" shower. Plenty of hot water and water pressure. The shower was actually really nice.
First trip to the dump station. All went well got it all flushed out and everything put away clean. I guess thats all you can ask for.
First meal cooked totally in the camper kitchen. Worked awesome. made pancakes and sausage.
First time using a microwave while camping. Before I thought that was the biggest waste of space (hah, a microwave in a camper). That thing was the most used system in the whole thing ( well, except for the heater).
First time taking the Equalizer on the road. WOW. Got a chance to audition it with about a 35mph wind and on thip home managed to go all 4 directions in it (head, tail, let and right side). The EQ hitch did really well. Even with a 35 mph cross wind, we only had a little sway when it was really gusty or a semi went by
Other observations:
- HWH worked really well. Plenty of HOT water. Even with back to back showers.
- Heater worked well. Kept the interior temp at ~68F with only running about once an hour (outside temp was ~33F)
- Need to be diligent about condensation. This is probably not as big a deal in the summer, but when it was 35 outside and 70 inside, we had to wipe the windows down a couple times.
- Got most of the noise out of the pump, but could still do a little more.
- Simple TON of storage. We are coming from a PUP and wow. it is SO much easier in a trailer to go because you can load everything in before you leave.
- Fridge worked great. Ton of room in there also.
- Going to have to get better about water use. used 1/2 our fresh in 24hrs (although we wont likely be making and cleaning so many meals in the trailer on normal trips)
- Grey filled up fast. Black did fine.
We figured it all out and had a blast doing it. And we figured we have been through the worst weather that we could image so it can only get better.
One thing I am worried about is its supposed to get into the 20's tonight. I opened up all the cupboards and am going to leave the heater on 55F all night. Do you think that is enough? I drained the fresh tank, but didn't drain the lines. Dont have a compressor or I would try to blow them out. I drained the HWH.
Any suggestions?
Go...No Go...Do you let weather dictate your camping plans?
We are going out this weekend for the "shakedown" run with our new TT. Weather is not supposed to be that great. A mix of rain and cold and wind in the forecast (not freezing though). We are going none-the-less as the main point of this trip is to see what we forgot/learn how to use the systems in the camper. We are only going about 10 miles from home so it if gets too bad we can just come home. Anyway, that got me started thinking. Then we were part of the PUP crowd, we would only go if the weather looked passable (warm, no rain for at least 2 of the three days). This would cut down many potential camping opportunities and was one of the reasons we stepped up to a hard side trailer (we can go regardless of the weather, within reason).
So my question to you is, do you:
Only go when it looks to be "nice" the whole weekend/week?
or
Schedule the trip and go come heck or high water?
Thanks!
Water pump is WAY LOUD...what is best isolator solution?
I am fairly sure its working properly, but its pretty loud. Its bolted to the floor of the TT. I know there are isolator kits, but what home brew solutions are out there? I'd like to fix this.
Thanks!
Equalizer Install Complete
Just got the equalizer installed and all I can say is WOW. Everything seems much more stable, much tighter and much "easier". I think I need about 1 more washer in the adjustment lug, but I can do that later. I was 37.5" in the rear and 35.5" in front with nothing hitched. With trailer and no bars I was 35.5" in the rear and 36.25" in the front. With bars and trailer I was 36.5" in the back and 36" in the front. I would like to get just a little more weight up front, but I can already notice a huge difference in steering and braking. I have 6 washers in and bars on 4th hole. I think one more washer will do it.
Whole install took about 45 min, but I had done enough reading to know that I needed to err on the side of "too much transfer".
All in all I am very pleased so far, but have yet to do any real highway travel with it yet. I'll report again after our first trip. Hopefully next weekend.
Am I supposed to "seal" the roof of my new TT?
I don't remember the dealer talking about it or anyone here talking about it. I thought resealing was only for older trailers that leaked? Is there some piece of up front "break in" that I am missing out on here. I have seen no leaks in the trailer and it has sat 4 seasons on the lot with no adverse affects.
Thanks for the info (in advance)
RE: Question...where is(are) my water heater bypass valve(s)
Found it!
Lifted the panel right behind where the water heater is and there they were. Although, from what I can tell they were not in the "winter" position. I flushed out all the antifreeze and fired her up. On both gas and electric, 38 degree hose water was hot in about 20 min. I didnt run it cold and see how it would recover yet, bit I will this weekend. No leaks and all is well! I did learn the lesson on putting in the drain plug before you try to fill up the tank. Funny how that has a tendency to not fill up until you do that.
Thanks to all for your help with yet another newbie question.
RE: Question...where is(are) my water heater bypass valve(s)
Thanks all!
I was hoping I would catch dmzempr. Sounds like you and I are going to learn a lot together. Thanks for the info. I thought it was back there, but I didnt think I should have to unscrew a panel to get to it. (besides, it was late last night when I was looking).
Good call on the manual. It seems like they wrote down everything you would ever want to know about the camper and its use, filtered out all the important things (like where things are) and left the rest. More pictures would have been a big help. Owners manual is not a good reference on the "nuts and bolts" of the camper.
We are set to de-winterize this weekend (in the rain likely).
