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Specifics of our camper:
Normal load:
We made our maiden voyage during the summer of '96 -- from middle Tennessee to The Grand Canyon and back in a somewhat leisurely 2 weeks. To the above load, we added a small cartopper on the minivan (contained lawnchairs, fishing& swimming gear, etc.)
The Chrylser is adequate for the loads stated above. Westbound, we kept the cruise on 70 mph with transmission in "3". The first time the rig shifted by itself into second gear was one of those long, deceiving mountain grades in New Mexico (at about 60 mph). The coolant temperature gauge stayed in the middle of the range except for very steep grades in second gear when air temps were above 80 degrees F. [I remember the first was on a two-lane in the Four-Corners area...I passed an unladen passenger car that was maintaining about 40 mph....I should have stayed behind him]
We used the nomad lifestyle while enroute – typically pulling into camp in mid-afternoon, setting up camp for the night, and leaving after breakfast in the morning. To give Mom a break in the kitchen, we made lunch (at a restaurant) our "big" meal of the day. The evening meal (supper for us Suth'nfolk) usually consisted of quick-heating meals with which the kids could help, or fresh salads, or sandwiches. Our young 'uns took their showers at night, and the adults showered in the early morning hours. Breakfasts consisted of cereals, quick-heat pastries and the mandatory coffee.
A hot-water heater is not among the appliances in our rig, so dishwashing is truly a family affair. A large vessel of water is heated, then poured into the small sink and a similarly-sized plastic container for washing and rinsing. Every idle hand is issued a dish towel and the process goes pretty smoothly (especially if we wash on our portable table under the awning just outside the door.)
My wife, 12-yr-old son and I can typically have the rig ready for habitationin less than 15 minutes from the time the trailer is backed into its position.
Leveling and stabilizing:
Notes: I use "some" type of lumber under every stabilizing jack. Why? I feel the the more the jack legs are extended, the less stability the rig will exhibit. And, it never hurts to have a bigger "footprint" on the ground. I carry short 2x6's and 3/8" plywood squares for this purpose.
The barn-raising:
Our current pop-up is the only one we've ever owned, so it's the only one I know how to set up. I won't focus on the details, but on hints to make it go more smoothly.
Whenever you "perfect" the process, do it the same way every time [we can do ours in the dark without flashlights]. If you have removable poles, ropes, etc., be consistent with where you place them. Our rule is: the poles are either in their proper storage area under the dinette, or they are installed on the rig – NOWHERE ELSE. We don't remove the poles, then scatter them about the campsite. We haven't left one behind (yet).
The first lesson we learned on a break-in run was, "Don't attempt to level the trailer with the stabilizing jacks!" Yea, it's in the manual,the Pop-up FAQ and a zillion other places, but we had to prove it to ourselves.
After setting up a coupla times in our driveway, we scooted to a nearby state park for our first overnight run. We chose a beautifully wooded sitethat sloped away from the roadway (rear low). Of course, I had to raise the tongue extraordinarily high in order to drop the front stablizing jacks. Then the tail was too low to drop the rear jacks. Soo....I raised the tongue, raised the front jacks to stow position, re-lowered the tongue until the rear jacks would fall to the ashpalt. Next, it was time to raise the tongue high enough to drop the front jacks. Now, we have a trailer ith four stabilizing jacks down, with the tail *very* low. Breaking all the rules, I began using the rear stablizing jacks to level the rig from front-to-back. About 2/3's of the way through that procedure, the wheels of the trailer came off the ground. It looked funny, but hey, we had a level trailer. When I then attempted to open the cabin door, I found that I couldn't! The entire frame was bowed (temporarily) downward in the middle – and the door was seized between the jambs. Moral of the story? The frame is designed to be supported at the front jacks, the rear jacks, *and* the axle. Do *not* unload the axle, or face the above.
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