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...are on tap for this summer, and I'm looking forward to it. We just purchased this little gem. I'll pick it up on Tuesday. It's an extremely lightly used 2013 Starcraft Autumn Ridge 245DS that's the perfect size for the two of us and the beagle. I took several hours going through it and found absolutely nothing wrong with it. No mold, no soft spots, no stains, no nothing. Dryer sheets everywhere to keep the rodents out. Pulled the wheels and the bearings are good with no grease on the brakes.

 

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Very nice.

Flush and treat the reserve tank, replace flush gasket and your good to go.

I here they have great filtration units for trailers now.

What are you  going to tow it with?

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Very nice.

Flush and treat the reserve tank, replace flush gasket and your good to go.

I here they have great filtration units for trailers now.

What are you going to tow it with?

The new F150 I got last July. It'll tow 12,200 and the trailer weighs 5,450 dry. It shouldn't be any problem.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll con the dealer into showing me how to flush the tanks.

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Very nice.

Flush and treat the reserve tank, replace flush gasket and your good to go.

I here they have great filtration units for trailers now.

What are you going to tow it with?

The new F150 I got last July. It'll tow 12,200 and the trailer weighs 5,450 dry. It shouldn't be any problem.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll con the dealer into showing me how to flush the tanks.

 

If you've got an ecoboost motor, keep a close eye on your temps when towing.

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Be sure to check the rating on your hitch.. One thing you may want using an F-150 is a sway bar set, pulling 6500 lbs gets pretty hairy (weight of water in tank plus the stuff you will likely have)..

 

There are travel trailer forums that have all sorts of helpful info.

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Be sure to check the rating on your hitch.. One thing you may want using an F-150 is a sway bar set, pulling 6500 lbs gets pretty hairy (weight of water in tank plus the stuff you will likely have)..

 

There are travel trailer forums that have all sorts of helpful info.

Be sure to check the rating on your hitch.. One thing you may want using an F-150 is a sway bar set, pulling 6500 lbs gets pretty hairy (weight of water in tank plus the stuff you will likely have)..

 

There are travel trailer forums that have all sorts of helpful info.

The weight distribution hitch is being installed on Tuesday as well. The truck has the sway control, and brake control, and the 3.73 rear end for towing in the package I bought.

 

I wrote misinformation earlier. The max towing capability is 8500, and the trailer dry weight is 5100 (according to the specs). Anyway, it is well within the capability. The 12,200 is the GCWR.

 

I really appreciate the advice, and I have been reading so much I'm getting boggled.

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We wore out a couple trailers over the years. GOOD TIMES!

 

Things to look out for. 

Pull the AC off the roof, and reseal UNDER it very carefully. This is where most campers will leak, everyone reseals the roof, but do not pull the AC, and THAT is where the condensate drips, and this is never well sealed from the factory.

Keep your water hose separate from the rest of the kit. Screw the ends together when not in use. Get a water filter, AND a pressure regulator (some camp grounds have VERY high pressure water.).

If you do not have power leveling jacks, then make sure the ones you do have are NOT a royal pain in the ass to set up!

A hitch mirror is worth it's weight in gold.

You really need an entire kitchen - pots ,pans, knives, dishes etc. JUST for the camper, the ones at home are too big and make cooking hard.

TIRES - if the date code is 8 years old, or there is alligatoring or cracking, get NEW ones, ESPECIALLY the spare!

Carry a jack and wrench to change the trailer tires if needed!

 

AAA - is your best friend!

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We wore out a couple trailers over the years. GOOD TIMES!

 

Things to look out for. 

Pull the AC off the roof, and reseal UNDER it very carefully. This is where most campers will leak, everyone reseals the roof, but do not pull the AC, and THAT is where the condensate drips, and this is never well sealed from the factory.

Keep your water hose separate from the rest of the kit. Screw the ends together when not in use. Get a water filter, AND a pressure regulator (some camp grounds have VERY high pressure water.).

If you do not have power leveling jacks, then make sure the ones you do have are NOT a royal pain in the ass to set up!

A hitch mirror is worth it's weight in gold.

You really need an entire kitchen - pots ,pans, knives, dishes etc. JUST for the camper, the ones at home are too big and make cooking hard.

TIRES - if the date code is 8 years old, or there is alligatoring or cracking, get NEW ones, ESPECIALLY the spare!

Carry a jack and wrench to change the trailer tires if needed!

 

AAA - is your best friend!

Wow! Sounds like a list when I had a boat on the gulf.

Looked like the roof was 1st class from the photo.

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We wore out a couple trailers over the years. GOOD TIMES!

 

Things to look out for. 

Pull the AC off the roof, and reseal UNDER it very carefully. This is where most campers will leak, everyone reseals the roof, but do not pull the AC, and THAT is where the condensate drips, and this is never well sealed from the factory.

Keep your water hose separate from the rest of the kit. Screw the ends together when not in use. Get a water filter, AND a pressure regulator (some camp grounds have VERY high pressure water.).

If you do not have power leveling jacks, then make sure the ones you do have are NOT a royal pain in the ass to set up!

A hitch mirror is worth it's weight in gold.

You really need an entire kitchen - pots ,pans, knives, dishes etc. JUST for the camper, the ones at home are too big and make cooking hard.

TIRES - if the date code is 8 years old, or there is alligatoring or cracking, get NEW ones, ESPECIALLY the spare!

Carry a jack and wrench to change the trailer tires if needed!

 

AAA - is your best friend!

Good tips. Thank you.

 

We've been AAA members for 25 years or so.

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I'm looking at campers, getting ready to retire in a few years and we want one to travel some. Looked at a new Kodiak 24' bunkhouse for 21K yesterday but probably a 2 or 3 year old used one would fit the budget better.

If you can wait until fall, you'll be able to find a used one much cheaper, as the owner won't want to winterize and store for the winter, and the dealers will want to clear out inventory before the winter sales slump.

 

Same reasons you look for motorcycles in the fall/winter.

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I'm looking at campers, getting ready to retire in a few years and we want one to travel some. Looked at a new Kodiak 24' bunkhouse for 21K yesterday but probably a 2 or 3 year old used one would fit the budget better.

We got this for the same reason, but we definitely didn't want a bunk house. Guests will have to bring a tent. We learned this last year when we were invited to go camping with friends. Little did we know the hosts had invited her sister's family along, too. 5 adults and two teen boys in a camper will never happen with me.

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Visited Austin, Tx, last week. Our daughter is in for her first Texas summer!

 

Too hot and humid, IMHO. I could still live there.

 

We visited the state capital building while the govenor was signing a pro-gun bill at a gun range.

 

$140 dollars to $40, for concealed carry now, in Texas!

 

Go Texas!

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  • 4 weeks later...

We finally got it over to VT for our maiden land voyage. Pure boondocking. Stayed four nights at some friends private property with heaven like views. Pulled out on Monday morning and swung into a dealership dumping station a couple miles from home to dump and flush for $10. We used about 4 gallons of gas in the generator to charge the battery and watch some tube during the two hours of rain we had. That made for a cheap mini-vacation. We're headed back for the holiday weekend, starting Thursday.

 

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The view OTD of Birdseye Mt. Ben's Slide, and Herrick Mt. 

 

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A short ATV ride to the top of the hill and a better view to the East, and to the West into the Adirondacks on NY. We put about 10 miles on that day on the wheelers.

 

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Good video. I don't disagree with any of it. Even shotguns can be vodka specials. LOL This is the reason I spent about 8 cumulative hours going through it before we bought.... especially a used one. I had to replace a brush spring in the power jack motor. No warranty on used so I knew going in I was going to save 2 hours labor charge doing something I could do easily.

 

There was a local Skyline mobile home factory local to here for decades. I know scads of people who worked there and you definitely didn't want to buy a home that was built on a Monday, or a hot muggy Friday afternoon when the assembler wanted the first cold one of the weekend.

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RV's HAVE to be built LIGHT, you gotta TOW the bastards! Insure the hell out of them, full replacement cost - they do not survive any accident. Even a small accident where you see NO VISIBLE DAMAGE, may make it completely unusable! I have had this happen to me, but as my stuff is always 'well abused' before I even get it I did the repairs myself and got several more years out of it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rvs were built in my town for one of the crappy brands and one considered premium. I wouldn't call either well built from a structural standpoint.

 

I also used to work for the company which makes the best quality machines for vacuum laminating the panels together. Our techs went out to almost every manufacturer from here to the UK and Australia. Most places are running barely functioning machines which make warped panels and have iffy glue spreading consistency. They just don't care. They will run them until they don't work at all rather than pay their people $10/ hour to replace an occasional glue nozzle or repair a vacuum seal. 

 

Then they get downtime while our guys would go and fix the machines. The pictures and stuff they would show about how sloppy the assembly and build quality is were shocking. Some brands were worse than others, but none really inspired confidence.  

 

It is about the polar opposite of airplane construction.

 

The trailer chasis has to be built to DOT certification (for a weight that is probably less than it is with your stuff and your tanks full of water and sewage...), and the rest is pretty much a free for all.

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