T & E Stables' New Camper!

[lynnmor 8,004]

45 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

I towed my heavy tandem axle 28' camper with an F-250 crew cab.  I had around 400 lbs on the hitch with the equalizer bars and it handled great including several trips to Florida at 65 mph.    Then one day I didn't bother connecting the equalizer bars or the brakes for the 3 mile trip to the inspection garage.

At around 40 mph it went into a violent fish tailing that nearly rolled the truck.   When I braked it got worse and I had to coast to a stop.

Be careful out there.    Bad things can happen.

 

You should have had nearly 1000 lbs on the ball.

[Ed Kennell 42,683]

20 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

You should have had nearly 1000 lbs on the ball.

I always set 10% on the ball.   

[Racinbob 12,117]

3 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

I towed my heavy tandem axle 28' camper with an F-250 crew cab.  I had around 400 lbs on the hitch with the equalizer bars and it handled great including several trips to Florida at 65 mph.    Then one day I didn't bother connecting the equalizer bars or the brakes for the 3 mile trip to the inspection garage.

At around 40 mph it went into a violent fish tailing that nearly rolled the truck.   When I braked it got worse and I had to coast to a stop.

Be careful out there.    Bad things can happen.

 

 

I never spared any expense when it came to the hitching up equipment. Properly rated equalizer bars and always two sway controls and a brake controller that allowed me to apply only the trailer brakes. There was one time that, totally without warning, the 30'er behind us decided it wanted to take control of the truck and it pretty much did. I manually applied the trailer brakes as much as I could and feathered in more throttle. In the excitement my wife screamed 'Hit the F#%!g brakes, not the gas!' The rig almost immediately yanked itself straight and I was able to come to a stop. She didn't understand and the best way to describe it is to try and make the truck and trailer separate themselves. It works. 

Inspecting things after we were safe I found that a factory weld on one of the sway controls had failed. I snugged up the other sway control to compensate and went straight to the nearest Camping World. They didn't hesitate to give us a new control even though rewelding the damaged unit would have been easy.

[Handy Don 14,396]

The longer this thread gets the less I’m interested in owning the complexities of a camper trailer!

Edited September 25 by Handy Don

[ebinmaine 73,906]

1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

The longer this thread gets the less I’m interested in the complexities of a camper trailer!

 

 

That's why we went NEW. And that's why we went SIMPLE.

 

 

[Ed Kennell 42,683]

33 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

 Properly rated equalizer bars and always two sway controls and a brake controller that allowed me to apply only the trailer brakes.

Yep, I had all that Bob.  My brake system had the trailer variable controller that could apply the trailer brakes only and had a panic wheel lock up switch.

Never had a control problem even when the idiots pulled out in front of me, except for the day I failed to hook it all up for the 3 mile trip to the inspection station.

[WHX?? 52,416]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

went SIMPLE.

Yep you can get large,  luxurious, complicated and expensive, comfortable and affordable or just plain simple and basic. All depends what she wants...

If I didn't exhibit and have to get tractors to shows I would just have one of those little pods. As long as it's got something for her to pee in at night. Guys ... well you know we just go outside... 

[nylyon-(Admin) 8,181]

I’ve been camping for a very long time, started when dad came home with a 1967 Coachman 12’ pickup camper.  When my kids were born I got a 19’ Antigua hybrid camper, basically hard sided with pop-up bunk ends, then worked our way up to a 43’ 5th wheel.  Obviously as you go up it get’s more expensive, but I find that setting up on the larger campers to be far easier than our old hybrid. The Jayco we have now is like the Jetson’s car, press a button and it does everything for you.

[SylvanLakeWH 29,089]

We had this Tab for two years. Great little unit. Could pull with ease. Excellent quality. Just didn't use it enough to justify...

 

[Retired Wrencher 5,972]

I I just found out through My wife. She’s been there when she was living up there or I should say visited that area. Very beautiful spot. You’re almost in Canada that far west sounds good. Have a good weekend. Make sure you post up some pictures when you get that camper.

[ebinmaine 73,906]

3 hours ago, Retired Wrencher said:

You’re almost in Canada that far west sounds good. 

 

 

We're still several hours from Canada 🇨🇦 at our spots....  but closer than you.  

 

 

3 hours ago, Retired Wrencher said:

Make sure you post up some pictures when you get that camper.

 

Absolutely!!

[squonk 44,281]

20 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

That's why we went NEW. And that's why we went SIMPLE.

 

 

Yes. I had an 18 1/2 foot Real-lite trailer that I bought at the dealer I worked at. I new it's history. It had a leak from the ceiling vent that ruined the floor under it and it was traded in. We but a new floor in and carpeted it. Redid the vent. Everything else was like new. Had a shower/ toilet, water heater, fridge, furnace and stove. That was it. No slide outs, TV antennas (that never worked) Had a sewer tank but no gray water tank. As stated before I found out how fast the shower could empty out the fresh water tank. So I improvised. I got 2 of those blue tanks with wheels that you can tow with your trailer ball. 1 was for gray water and the other was for fresh water. I ran wires from the battery to the back where the tank was and put 2 external terminals there. Then I got a 12v transfer pump and would connect the pump and refill the trailer tank from the blue tank. I did put a brand new roll out awning on it but that's it. We ended up selling it for money on a down payment for our house. 

 

We got a pop up later but in true pop up fashion one of the lift cables snapped. I knew from working at the dealer that a cable replacement is like the last thing you ever want to do in life. I made custom fit props to keep the roof up that worked well and actually looked pretty decent. But it got to the point where my wife would get homesick as soon as the camper was set up so we gave up camping

[ebinmaine 73,906]

We're planning on picking up the camper this morning. 

I was surprised to find that there are NO extendable/extended/wide mirrors available for the '09 - '15 Pilots. There's a ton of em on the road...

Ahh well. 

Clamp-on mirrors can be a PITA but that's the only option. 

So I did some research and found the "least disliked" set. 

Got these yesterday. 

 

 

 

They do look pretty good... for what they are. 

I'm thinking some carefully placed zip ties could help hold them in place if/when they work loose.  

[SylvanLakeWH 29,089]

Over the years I've used extenders of various types... one common theme - vibration. They work, but they vibrate making the image a bit blurry... better than nothing. 
 

[ebinmaine 73,906]

4 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

better than nothing. 

 

Agreed. 

Lesser of several evils, so to speak. 

I figured they're able to show a vehicle of some fuzzy sort while driving and allow vision to the back and sides while parking. Sort of....

 

[Handy Don 14,396]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

help hold them in place

Hmmm.

Know nada about the Pilot, but on my car the “wing” mirrors have a LOT of technology: heated, dimming, turn signal, BLIS indicator, remote adjustable, video camera, remote folding, and, oh yeah, a mirror!

Hanging an extension is surely gonna add strain--especially at highway speeds.

[ebinmaine 73,906]

1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

Hmmm.

Know nada about the Pilot, but on my car the “wing” mirrors have a LOT of technology: heated, dimming, turn signal, BLIS indicator, remote adjustable, video camera, remote folding, and, oh yeah, a mirror!

Hanging an extension is surely gonna add strain--especially at highway speeds.

 

Agreed. 

Unfortunately it's the ONLY way...

 

The Pilot has basic electrically moved mirrors. 

 

 

[ebinmaine 73,906]

[nylyon-(Admin) 8,181]

Congratulations!

[SylvanLakeWH 29,089]

Looks nice!!! 

 

Did you get it from @Pullstart's guy? 

[ebinmaine 73,906]

1 hour ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Looks nice!!! 

 

Did you get it from @Pullstart's guy? 

 

Ouch!   

[ebinmaine 73,906]

[wh500special 2,303]

You can also mount a rear view camera to the back of the trailer.  Power it from one of the running lights and drive with your parking or headlamps on to supply it.  
 

i put one of  THESE on the back of our pre-backup camera car that my daughter drives (powered by the backup lights so it only runs when the car is in reverse).   I liked it so much I put another on the back of my boat that I use as a rear view camera when towing.   The signal easily makes it from the rear of my 18’ boat to the dashboard of the truck. Works really well day and night.  I steal power from the boat cranking battery, but it’s commonplace to use the trailer running lamps. 
 

My boat is wide and big enough that it hides anything directly behind me and this makes me feel better that I can fill in the gap.  
 

They apparently don’t make the exact model that I bought anymore, but there are a lot of options.  Mine have been out in the weather for a couple of years now and still work like new.  
 

There may be some legal reason that might require extended mirrors, but this is a great supplement. 
 

Steve 

Edited Saturday at 08:01 PM by wh500special

[ebinmaine 73,906]

11 minutes ago, wh500special said:

There

 

is definitely a

 

legal reason that might require extended mirrors

 

 

I can't site the legalities formally but I KNOW for a Commercial vehicle you MUST have mirrors wider than the trailer and load.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 73,906]

......

 

Trina's already doing modifications to the shelving/ bunk bed/ storage situation. 

 

We'll be ordering better quality tires and a spare soon.