Had to escape the heat!! Take a look!!

[made2care]

Decided to head to the mountains. Tired of the 3 digit heat waves. I chose Red River , NM. Been there before, but not with a TT. Overall, fun experience.Did not have to run the a/c once. Camper handled pretty well and experienced real camping for the first time. Chose Road Runner RV park, little pricey but a very nice place.
Here are some issues I experienced and maybe someone out there can help.

1. Pulled trailer with a nissan titan, 1/2 ton with tow mode. Question, do I have to use the tow mode, it seems to use more gas?

2. Do I leave the the lighted toggle switch( inside the trailer) for the hot water heater on all the time? This tank is propane heated.

3. How tight do the stabilizers need to be? If i overtighten or tighten one, the others have to be retightened.

Thanks for your help and enjoy the pics.

[puttin]

I would leavit it in tow/haul- it's easier on the transmission. In my opinion, I would leave the hot water switch on all the time. I tried to keep it off until I needed it, then you never know when you might need it. I took a shower once and forgot to turn it on- now I leave it on all the time. I can't reccomend anything with your jacks because we have a m/h, but I'd get a drill to put them up/down. The pictures are great! Have fun....

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by made2care

2. Do I leave the the lighted toggle switch( inside the trailer) for the hot water heater on all the time? This tank is propane heated.

You don't have ANY provision for heating the water electrically?? If not, there are any number of retrofits available to add an electric heating element for use when 120VAC is available. The campground's electricity is cheaper than your propane and isn't limited by the capacity of your propane tank(s).

If you have a 30 amp rig, you may not be able to use it when you're running the A/C, microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc., but when you can run the water heater on shore power, it's a money saver.

Rusty

[Rysh]

I agree with Puttin to leave it in tow/haul mode. It doesn't help the fuel mileage any but it does help the transmission. We leave the water heater off until we need it. Ours heats up really quickly so it is never an issue, so my thought is why wear out the equipment or waste propane/electricity.

[JRNOLL]

With the stabilizers, I do this: Run all the stabilizers part way down, then place a piece of wood for each stabilizer to sit on and run that stabilizer down untill it just touches. then turn the handle about 1/2 turn. Do this to all the stabilizers and they will all be about the same tightness. Don't forget to chock the wheels as this prevents the foward/backward movement that may loosen the tightness of your stabilizers. Hope this helps.

Joe

[made2care]

Originally Posted by JRNOLL

With the stabilizers, I do this: Run all the stabilizers part way down, then place a piece of wood for each stabilizer to sit on and run that stabilizer down untill it just touches. then turn the handle about 1/2 turn. Do this to all the stabilizers and they will all be about the same tightness. Don't forget to chock the wheels as this prevents the foward/backward movement that may loosen the tightness of your stabilizers. Hope this helps.

Joe

Thanks ! I believe i have been overtightening them!

[Beagle RC Air]

Exception to leaving hot water tank burner on, would be when you fuel up. I know it is a long way to your fuel tank but you might be fueling next to someone who is close to your hot water heater. Some risks are not worth taking.

beagle

[JMonroe]

We had an 05 Titan and towed a TT of what I'm guessing was similar in weight to yours. I forgot to turn on the tow/haul mode once, until I noticed the trans temp rising well above normal. Turned on the tow/haul and the temp went back down and we never had another problem.

[made2care]

Originally Posted by JMonroe

We had an 05 Titan and towed a TT of what I'm guessing was similar in weight to yours. I forgot to turn on the tow/haul mode once, until I noticed the trans temp rising well above normal. Turned on the tow/haul and the temp went back down and we never had another problem.

Thanks for the info. much apprciated!

[GPW]

Just as a matter of course , I had a transmission cooler installed in the Tow vehicle (Silverado )... seems to really help ...

[Ray,IN]

Tow/haul is there for a valid reason, use it when towing a heavy load You can buy a lot of gas for the price of a transmission rebuild. Hot water heater will stay hot all day while traveling, then again overnight. When we park, we turn on the LP heater until showers, and dishes, are done, then turn it back off. Same procedure in AM. I'm not tight, but it's like Ben Franklin said, "take care of your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves".

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by RustyJC

You don't have ANY provision for heating the water electrically?? If not, there are any number of retrofits available to add an electric heating element for use when 120VAC is available. The campground's electricity is cheaper than your propane and isn't limited by the capacity of your propane tank(s).

If you have a 30 amp rig, you may not be able to use it when you're running the A/C, microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc., but when you can run the water heater on shore power, it's a money saver.

Rusty

According to the WH manufacturers adding a Hot Rod type unit will void the warranty so take that into consideration. That said, I have installed two of them, one in our rig and another in a friends. They work but are slow to heat. Better to heat with gas then keep it warm with the elec. If you take a shower turn the gas on also as that will keep the water hotter.
Like a lot of motorhomes our water heater has gas/elec and is plumbed into the engine coolant. That works well for a motorized unit but the water is extremely hot when we first stop as it's the same as the engine coolant temp what can be 180° or more.