Buying our first 5th wheel - first rv of any kind - eek!

Thank you to everyone who posted a reply! We pulled the trigger on the purchase yesterday & went and "visited" our rv on the dealer lot afterward - I could barely drag myself out of there. Just wanted to stay & be magically transported to a campsite! The dealer is going to go through it really thoroughly and fix anything they find - they are a family owned dealer in small community & have a good reputation. Then they are delivering it to our new rv mechanic so he can do an independent thorough inspection for us, and the dealer said (on a handshake - sigh. Eek ) that they would fix any big thing he found. Hope so - but our new rig is 24 years old so we couldn't get an extended warranty. Then our rv mechanic will install the 5th wheel hitch and we will tow our baby home!!!

Congratulations!!! So jealous ;) - we are still in the planning stages.
Enjoy and have fun!

Congrats, welcome and enjoy the opportunities RV'ing allow. Advice is always free and nearly always wrong but here goes; keep good tires (hopefully not made in China) on it, keep the wheel bearings greased and/or repack every year or two, and have a road service plan. Disposable gloves are a good thing to keep for sewer hookups. A good tool kit including Duct tape, electrical tape will help as well. The most important thing to remember is Enjoy Every trip. :B

Welcome to RV.Net, and if I, or anyone can be of any help, just let us know.
On a 24 yr. old unit be sure to check out the tires, wheels, brakes, bearings, springs, axles, and roof, for a start.

We are on our 6th RV in over 40 years and everyone stressed us out a bit. Always wondered if we could really afford it (no 1 can because they depreciate so much), how it would be to drive or tow it, how much trouble we would have, etc. Have gone from 3 pop-ups to a hybrid trailer to a 5th wheel(same size as yours) and now a 30 ft. motor home. Haven't regretted any of them a bit.

Congrats !!! On both of your purchases, and WECOME to the world of RV'ers and this community. As you have probably found already there is a lot of information that you can gather here, on your unit, where to camp etc. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!!

I really hope you enjoy the new to you RV. Before you take a trip, look it over good, run all appliances and everything else. I would also make my first trip reasonably close to home. If you should have a problem with truck, fiver or towing, it will be much easier to deal with close. A trip or 2 close to home with no problems, then go wherever you want. I say this assuming it's your first RV. Have fun.

If you have done the research there should not be many surprises. Being self sufficient & having an understanding of how things work or able to figure it out is a big plus. Coming from the cruising boating world or one who does all own home repairs is a huge plus.

Stuff is going to happen. Most of the time it is a simple fix.

Search on line for check lists for a 5er and RVing. Follow the check lists. Take your time and double check when hooking up or unhooking. Chock first and remove chocks last. IF you hurry you will forget something. hook up check list

congratulations and welcome aboard.
lots of great information here.

take your time and don't stress.

rv'ing is supposed to be a great enjoyment and it will be.

Mike