Rate the hassle of set up & take down, please.

[HVAC Bill]

I too started with a 31ft. 5th wheel Toyhauler without all the power leveling set-up. My new DP is a total dream in comparison. Most of our previous camping was dry camping, simple hook up to services are great. My suggestion to all new rv owners would be to visit your local high school parking lot on the weekend and practice maneuvering the beast, it will make your trips much more enjoyable, and less stressful on you. Bill
______________________
2013 Palazzo 33.3

[donie]

I have to agree with the previous poster
If you have never driven or have very limited experience driving a MH, it makes sense to practice to get use to the handling of the rig your going to be using.
For us, the rating is probably a 2-3 depending.
Get out and go RV ing and good luck.

[Fl_Richard]

All of it is better than not traveling.

I rate the entire setup as "Better than making coffee in the morning but not as fun as planning for the next trip".

[jerichorick]

Each rig is different. Our patio awning is stored with the simple touch of a button. The door awning needs the button to be held till it is stowed. Packing the inside and outside stuff is as big a hassle as one makes it. More stuff out, more time and effort needed. Once DW's plants are in the shower and the galley and interior stuff is secured, the patio and other outside stuff is stowed the actual coach related things can be addressed.

I push a button to stow the Directv dish, hand crank the TV antenna down if it were used, dump the black tank and flush with clean water with the hose to the fitting, dump the grey tank, cleaning the dump hose at the same time, stow the hoses and power cord, retract the slides, stow the jacks, stow the jack foot pad blocks, lock all the basement doors, do the pre-drive checks, start the engine and attach the car when the coach air ride is charged and I can move.

Some things are done the day before. Program the GPS if need be and check the coach vitals... water, oil, tire pressure, etc. Even washing may be needed.

In all it does take a bit of time. But with good through thought and diligence all can be accomplished in a reasonable amount of time with little trouble. Develop a routine and stick to it.

The more simple your life needs on the road are the quicker you can set up and close up.

[csrrsr]

I would say a #1 with the dp. BUT, I must admit my stress level is around an #8. It all starts with the batteries....are they charged up enough to bring in our giant slide? Will both slides come in correctly? Are the starter batteries charged? Will the "Wait to Start" head heat up? Does the starter sound good? Will the engine start? Will the jacks come up all the way? Is air building in the system? Do all the gauges look normal? If I have a green light on all functions at this point my stress level subsides to a #2....still have to do a check of the outside and inside! I believe the checks that need to be done are just as important as a pilot to a preflight check on his plane. He can't afford to pull over 10,000 feet up, but pulling over a DP on the road is no picnic either.

[Finally]

It's a 1 for me and I love every very few minutes it takes to setup and take down.

There is an ease to a DP than in my previous toy hauler. I don't have to bend, stoop, contort my body trying to get thens loaded and ready to go. That was my prerequisite when looking to purchase a rig. Start up the rig, bring in the slides and go. Upon arrival, I can press a button to level and hook up power later.

[Lightning83]

I agree with most everyone I had a 5'r and it was a pain in the butt ...... For weekend trips 2 nights and now with th MH it's a breeze and I still have my garage and toys !

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by csrrsr

I would say a #1 with the dp. BUT, I must admit my stress level is around an #8. It all starts with the batteries....are they charged up enough to bring in our giant slide? Will both slides come in correctly? Are the starter batteries charged? Will the "Wait to Start" head heat up? Does the starter sound good? Will the engine start? Will the jacks come up all the way? Is air building in the system? Do all the gauges look normal? If I have a green light on all functions at this point my stress level subsides to a #2....still have to do a check of the outside and inside! I believe the checks that need to be done are just as important as a pilot to a preflight check on his plane. He can't afford to pull over 10,000 feet up, but pulling over a DP on the road is no picnic either.

Time to trade. That unit sounds like it has outlived its usefulness. Why when the newer coaches have such improved systems. My '05 Vectra 40FD was a 8 to 10 to set up and close down. As my comments in my earlier post indicate, this new to me since May coach is a dream come true.

[mvpmich]

Originally Posted by jerichorick

Each rig is different. Our patio awning is stored with the simple touch of a button. The door awning needs the button to be held till it is stowed. Packing the inside and outside stuff is as big a hassle as one makes it. More stuff out, more time and effort needed. Once DW's plants are in the shower and the galley and interior stuff is secured, the patio and other outside stuff is stowed the actual coach related things can be addressed.

I push a button to stow the Directv dish, hand crank the TV antenna down if it were used, dump the black tank and flush with clean water with the hose to the fitting, dump the grey tank, cleaning the dump hose at the same time, stow the hoses and power cord, retract the slides, stow the jacks, stow the jack foot pad blocks, lock all the basement doors, do the pre-drive checks, start the engine and attach the car when the coach air ride is charged and I can move.

Some things are done the day before. Program the GPS if need be and check the coach vitals... water, oil, tire pressure, etc. Even washing may be needed.

In all it does take a bit of time. But with good through thought and diligence all can be accomplished in a reasonable amount of time with little trouble. Develop a routine and stick to it.

The more simple your life needs on the road are the quicker you can set up and close up.

Wow, I rated my experience a 1 and perform about the same tasks as you, except maybe the plants in the shower, but I felt tired and exhausted after reading your post.

As for CSRRSR's post, I think a little less coffee in the morning may help!

It is interesting to read everyone's perspective. Ours changed substantially when we retired as there is no longer a 'hard' schedule. I don't miss the days of trying to fit in a month's worth of traveling in two weeks.

[ohhwell]

With any of our travel trailers : 7-8
With our Motorhome : 2-3

[JohnBoyToo]

again it depends on YOUR needs and the features on YOUR rv... not a fair comparison to say my 10 year old 5er was hard to set up and my 10 dayold mh is easy...

If it's all manual - it's work...
if it's all pushbutton, how hard can it be ?!?

doesn't matter if it's a tent, popup, tt, etc !

should we compare difficulty per square foot of living space ?

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by mvpmich

Wow, I rated my experience a 1 and perform about the same tasks as you, except maybe the plants in the shower, but I felt tired and exhausted after reading your post.

As for CSRRSR's post, I think a little less coffee in the morning may help!

It is interesting to read everyone's perspective. Ours changed substantially when we retired as there is no longer a 'hard' schedule. I don't miss the days of trying to fit in a month's worth of traveling in two weeks.

I love irv2! Thanks for the jab. It almost takes more time to write about it than to do it all. DW is the one with the BIG job. She loves 'stuff' and has lots of it to stow. Coffee is the only thing that gives us the focus to find it all.

[caissiel]

Originally Posted by bdickson

We can have our MH set up in 20 minutes. One thing I have noticed is that 5ers and TT's seem to take longer, mostly getting level.

I have been leveling my 5th wheels for 22 years and it has never been an issue. As I said before my worst is the sewer hose that everyone has to do anyway.

[ohhwell]

Originally Posted by csrrsr

I would say a #1 with the dp. BUT, I must admit my stress level is around an #8. It all starts with the batteries....are they charged up enough to bring in our giant slide? Will both slides come in correctly? Are the starter batteries charged? Will the "Wait to Start" head heat up? Does the starter sound good? Will the engine start? Will the jacks come up all the way? Is air building in the system? Do all the gauges look normal? If I have a green light on all functions at this point my stress level subsides to a #2....still have to do a check of the outside and inside! I believe the checks that need to be done are just as important as a pilot to a preflight check on his plane. He can't afford to pull over 10,000 feet up, but pulling over a DP on the road is no picnic either.

Yowsers. That's a lot of worrying! I don't neglect maintenance and inspections to the best of my ability but I prefer to be surprised when something doesn't work as opposed to worrying about it too much.

I do mean surprised too as in ... Wow, I didn't expect that when our truck just stopped running as I was pulling out of the driveway once.