A successful shakedown cruise with the new trailer. Went to Lake Guntersville State Park where we went last August in our last camping trip with the motorhome. All went well. No problem getting trailer up the driveway and on the road. The campground is only about an hour from our home so it makes a good short term getaway. Did have help with Liz's friend Dan hooking up before leaving home, but Nelda and I got it all set up on our campsite in under 30 minutes. Not bad, though more involved than was the motorhome. But pulling the trailer with the Jeep was not bad at all. Noticed a little sway because didn't snug up the sway bars enough. Did better on the way home.
We left home Sunday afternoon about 4 p.m. after visit with Jamie, Wendy and two daughters. They came over from Atlanta for church and stayed with us for lunch to catch up on things. We enjoyed our day Monday. Went into Guntersville the the morning and did some shopping, then just kicked back with new book, several walks and fire ring. Liz and Dan came to the campground after work on Monday. Got there about 9 p.m. This morning we packed it up and left about 11 a.m. Got home no problem. Took a bit to get it down the driveway but went better than first time. Nelda and I did it ourselves and trailer now conveniently parked on driveway pad. Good trip, good time, looking forward to going again soon.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Getting Re-rigged for Camping
Well, we finally got a new rig for Nelda and I to go camping. Our 1992 22' Flair Class A Motorhome served us well for 12 years through many memorable camping trips with family, friends, church groups and just the two of us. It also got us to Alabama and to our new church and home. But it was time to make a change, and after a year of unsuccessful attempts to sell it decided to trade it in on a trailer.
So first we traded our 1999 Mustang in on a 2005 Jeep Liberty. That was an experience in itself, getting the one we wanted with the equipment needed to tow a trailer. Picked the Liberty because we had already decided what trailer we wanted and needed adequate tow rating. The Jeep has 5000 lb rating and the trailer is about 3000 lb. Had to make several trips to Pell City to get the Tow Package installed and fix a couple things, but meanwhile begain negotiating on the trailer.
That too was an experience, requiring several trips to Huntsville and having to rerig the Jeep for the brake controller for trailer towing. But yesterday we picked it up and pulled it home. One delay was due to the Jeep spare requiring an extended ball extension on the weight distributing hitch to allow enough clearance with the tire. That caused the saftey cables to be too short, so stopped at Lowes in Albertsville and picked up two short pieces of 7/16 chain and removable links to give enough slack. That worked fine.
Then my biggest worry was backing the trailer down my 12 degree sloped driveway onto the pad in front of my garage. I had planned for it extensively with scale drawings and preparing two 2x12 8' ramps to soften the bottom angle. That worked ok, but still scraped the skids at the back of the trailer on the concrete pad. No damage though, so we made it, unhitched and pushed the trailer into its storage location next to the garage.
Now we get to open it up and get it prepped for camping. More later. Boy that hitch is heavy!
Check out my pictures:
http://www.pastorpj.com/Camping/New%20Jeep.htm
http://www.pastorpj.com/Camping/New%20Trailer.htm
So first we traded our 1999 Mustang in on a 2005 Jeep Liberty. That was an experience in itself, getting the one we wanted with the equipment needed to tow a trailer. Picked the Liberty because we had already decided what trailer we wanted and needed adequate tow rating. The Jeep has 5000 lb rating and the trailer is about 3000 lb. Had to make several trips to Pell City to get the Tow Package installed and fix a couple things, but meanwhile begain negotiating on the trailer.
That too was an experience, requiring several trips to Huntsville and having to rerig the Jeep for the brake controller for trailer towing. But yesterday we picked it up and pulled it home. One delay was due to the Jeep spare requiring an extended ball extension on the weight distributing hitch to allow enough clearance with the tire. That caused the saftey cables to be too short, so stopped at Lowes in Albertsville and picked up two short pieces of 7/16 chain and removable links to give enough slack. That worked fine.
Then my biggest worry was backing the trailer down my 12 degree sloped driveway onto the pad in front of my garage. I had planned for it extensively with scale drawings and preparing two 2x12 8' ramps to soften the bottom angle. That worked ok, but still scraped the skids at the back of the trailer on the concrete pad. No damage though, so we made it, unhitched and pushed the trailer into its storage location next to the garage.
Now we get to open it up and get it prepped for camping. More later. Boy that hitch is heavy!
Check out my pictures:
http://www.pastorpj.com/Camping/New%20Jeep.htm
http://www.pastorpj.com/Camping/New%20Trailer.htm
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