New TH Owner..couple questions...

[gtsum]

New Fuzion 345 Chrome TH owner as of Friday. Yeah!!

Had it at the house for the weekend but took it to the storage lot where I will keep it in between uses. When not plugged into electric in storage (say for 2 weeks or longer between uses), do I need to auto level it or no? Today, I auto leveled it, but it resulted in one of the wheels completely off the ground a few inches..so I manually adjusted so all wheels were on the ground. If I get electric run to where I am parked, then obviously I would level it for the fridge. In doing this, and a wheel or two is off the ground (rig supported by the 6 hydraulics), should I put some lynx pads under the wheels or dont worry about it?

Last one...has three awnings, but two main ones on the side..I am shocked that when they are extended, they go up evenly..ie no way to tilt it to let water run off? The PDI guy said if it rains, dont have awning up as it will sit up there...seems odd..old style manual ones could be tilted. I did get 2 awning stabilizer kits(corkscrew things)...1) do these need to be put up and 2) if so, couldnt I tighten one down on one side to get a tilt to the awning to drain water? I would think it would compress the strut on that one side and work? When using these stabilizer, PDI guy said I would have to carry a ladder in order to put them on and take them off....so I need to carry a 10ft ladder around just to have awnings? Surely I am missing something here?

[gtsum]

avvidclif1 wrote:

gtsum wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
Nice rig but you look a bit overloaded based on how your truck is sitting. Have you been to any scales?

Went to the scales today:

Truck unhitched and loaded up

Drive 3480
Steer 5220
Total 8700

Truck and Rig Hooked up ready to camp (no toys in the rear), about 1/3 full of water

Drive 6900
Steer 5260
Total 12160

Trailer Axle 11200

GCW = 23,360

So, it looks like I have a pin weight of about 3295 (accounting for 125lb hitch in the bed), and Toy Hauler weight of 14535.

Truck GVWR is 12400, Max tow rating is 16,830, GCWR of truck is 25,000. RAWR is 7000, so I am close there, tires are rated at 3620 each, so couple hundred lbs under that.

1500lbs atv's (max) in the bed will lighten up the pin a couple hundred lbs and still keep me under GCWR and Max Tow...so, it appears I am close to some numbers, I am under all of them. That being said, I did add Timbrens and they made a big difference. Better ride and only sags about 3 inches when hitched up now (vs 5 without). Will see how it goes with some upcoming trips, but I can see the merits of a Dually for sure

Just one note. If the hitch was in the bed when you weighed the truck it's weight is already factored in. Pin weight is 3420.

Hitch wasn't in the bed when i weighed the truck...actually the b&w hitch is 206lbs not the 125 I stated so pin weight is 3214

[avvidclif1]

gtsum wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
Nice rig but you look a bit overloaded based on how your truck is sitting. Have you been to any scales?

Went to the scales today:

Truck unhitched and loaded up

Drive 3480
Steer 5220
Total 8700

Truck and Rig Hooked up ready to camp (no toys in the rear), about 1/3 full of water

Drive 6900
Steer 5260
Total 12160

Trailer Axle 11200

GCW = 23,360

So, it looks like I have a pin weight of about 3295 (accounting for 125lb hitch in the bed), and Toy Hauler weight of 14535.

Truck GVWR is 12400, Max tow rating is 16,830, GCWR of truck is 25,000. RAWR is 7000, so I am close there, tires are rated at 3620 each, so couple hundred lbs under that.

1500lbs atv's (max) in the bed will lighten up the pin a couple hundred lbs and still keep me under GCWR and Max Tow...so, it appears I am close to some numbers, I am under all of them. That being said, I did add Timbrens and they made a big difference. Better ride and only sags about 3 inches when hitched up now (vs 5 without). Will see how it goes with some upcoming trips, but I can see the merits of a Dually for sure

Just one note. If the hitch was in the bed when you weighed the truck it's weight is already factored in. Pin weight is 3420.

[avvidclif1]

Just my notes but I have 2 awnings on the side, abt 16" apart. Both were set up to tilt the same way. I changed them to both tilting away from the middle. Worked pretty good last weekend in the rain. Main flood was at each end of the RV and not one in the middle. I set them for one hole difference and it was plenty.

[gtsum]

avvidclif1 wrote:
Look on the lowest rail next to the wall where the gas cylinder crosses and see if there is a series of holes. If so that's for tilting it.

Thank you much sir! Indeed, several holes to tilt it...tech missed that one on walk through. Thanks!

[gtsum]

N-Trouble wrote:
Nice rig but you look a bit overloaded based on how your truck is sitting. Have you been to any scales?

Went to the scales today:

Truck unhitched and loaded up

Drive 3480
Steer 5220
Total 8700

Truck and Rig Hooked up ready to camp (no toys in the rear), about 1/3 full of water

Drive 6900
Steer 5260
Total 12160

Trailer Axle 11200

GCW = 23,360

So, it looks like I have a pin weight of about 3295 (accounting for 125lb hitch in the bed), and Toy Hauler weight of 14535.

Truck GVWR is 12400, Max tow rating is 16,830, GCWR of truck is 25,000. RAWR is 7000, so I am close there, tires are rated at 3620 each, so couple hundred lbs under that.

1500lbs atv's (max) in the bed will lighten up the pin a couple hundred lbs and still keep me under GCWR and Max Tow...so, it appears I am close to some numbers, I am under all of them. That being said, I did add Timbrens and they made a big difference. Better ride and only sags about 3 inches when hitched up now (vs 5 without). Will see how it goes with some upcoming trips, but I can see the merits of a Dually for sure

[gtsum]

Thanks bob. Have a good time in Moab and get some pics!

[bobx2]

That's a good looking setup you have there gtsum. I wouldn't bother with leveling up when in storage. The landing gear and suspension is the best place to carry the load. I also can't think of any good reason to keep the fridge running while in storage? Just fire it up the day before you head out and it will be plenty cool. No reason for all the needless hours on it while stored. Especially at the cost to replace RV appliances.
Again, congrats and enjoy.

[gtsum]

avvidclif1 wrote:
What truck do you have?

2014 Ram 3500 CTD Megacab (laramie trim). Completely stock (how I ordered it anyways), with exception of DVD players in the headrests for the kids

[avvidclif1]

What truck do you have?

[gtsum]

avvidclif1 wrote:
I also would be curious about your pin weight. I have a similar size unit (38') and my pin weight is around 3500 ready to camp with no water. Mine had a shipping weight of 12,820 lbs. More than my F350 SRW wanted.

I will find out the actual pin weight this Friday. Will only have a few gallons of water in the tanks as we will be staying at full hook ups 90% of the time

[gtsum]

N-Trouble wrote:
Nice rig but you look a bit overloaded based on how your truck is sitting. Have you been to any scales?

she squatted a good bit. I have weighed the truck, but not the rig yet. Truck weighs 8700lbs with full tank of fuel and me in it..12400 GVWR. I have 4074lbs payload per door sticker, but real world according to scales is 3700 left. GRAR is 7000, tires are rated to 7200 or so.

The 345 has claimed weight of 13510 per yellow sticker...friend that works at another dealer weighed the same model as mine (sticker on that one showed 13690) and the scaled weight was within 50lbs...also the pin weight on the other rig was within 25 lbs of the advertised pin weight...right at 3100lbs...mine should be very close.

I am guessing I will be around 3300-3400lbs on the pin loaded up..all my heavier items (camp stove, grill, bikes, cornhole boards, etc, etc are in the garage behind the axles..I have maybe 75lbs max in the basement)...will have even less pin weight when I have the atv's in the garage...I will be up close to the max payload of the truck, but I should be ok.

I ordered a set of Timbrens as I felt the squat was a bit much (about 4 inches hooked up). I am going to weigh the rig loaded for camping this Friday so we will see for sure how the numbers work out

[avvidclif1]

I also would be curious about your pin weight. I have a similar size unit (38') and my pin weight is around 3500 ready to camp with no water. Mine had a shipping weight of 12,820 lbs. More than my F350 SRW wanted.

[N-Trouble]

Nice rig but you look a bit overloaded based on how your truck is sitting. Have you been to any scales?

[gtsum]

avvidclif1 wrote:
Look on the lowest rail next to the wall where the gas cylinder crosses and see if there is a series of holes. If so that's for tilting it.

Thank you. I will look at it this weekend and see what I got. Thanks for the tip!