Hello from South Carolina!

[chops1sc]

My parents recently decided to give my wife and I their 1995 Coachmen Catalina 23' 5th wheel camper! We were thinking about buying a camper and they told us they wanted to downsize and that they knew that wouldn't hardly get anything for it if they sold it. So here we are with our "new" camper!



My dad included the hitch in the deal, all I had to do was buy a set of rails. I got a custom installation kit from etrailer for $300 and installed it myself.



My truck is a 2011 Silverado 1500 LTZ Crew Cab with the "HD trailering package" that boosts the max trailer weight to 9,600lbs. The camper lists at 5,810lbs. I hope the truck will be able to pull it without issues.

We are looking forward to going camping!

[Mr__Camper]

Jebby14 wrote:
what about them? how is the age of my rig in any way related to them? leaking black/gray tanks or propane or something fine. but that's not age that's condition.

Again, their park, their rules. Lots of campgrounds have them. We've run into campgrounds that only allow coaches, don't allow kids, don't allow certain breeds of dogs, number of pets, length of stay, etc. It is what it is.

[Jebby14]

what about them? how is the age of my rig in any way related to them? leaking black/gray tanks or propane or something fine. but that's not age that's condition.

[Mr__Camper]

Jebby14 wrote:

djgarcia wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
any place that limits rigs to 10 years new is no place I want to camp. ill spend my money elsewhere

The 10 year Rule does mean your automatically excluded from registering at a RV Park. It just means that they will want to do a general overall inspection of your RV before they will let you register. In one case, they just had a staff person come out and do a "Walk Around" look see if the RV has any major issues i.e. cracked fenders, wires hanging down under the rig where they shouldn't, large areas of rust, major dents or broken parts. Some parks also have a min. length of a RV i.e. 26'.

my tent is 60 years old. my camper is 24, my boat is 45 ish, my tow vehicle is 13 and im willing to bed $ to donuts that all are in better condition than half of the 9 year old rigs sitting in the fields waiting to be used.

I paid my fee if I want to camp in a porta jon I will

Hey think about your neighbors.

[Jebby14]

djgarcia wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
any place that limits rigs to 10 years new is no place I want to camp. ill spend my money elsewhere

The 10 year Rule does mean your automatically excluded from registering at a RV Park. It just means that they will want to do a general overall inspection of your RV before they will let you register. In one case, they just had a staff person come out and do a "Walk Around" look see if the RV has any major issues i.e. cracked fenders, wires hanging down under the rig where they shouldn't, large areas of rust, major dents or broken parts. Some parks also have a min. length of a RV i.e. 26'.

my tent is 60 years old. my camper is 24, my boat is 45 ish, my tow vehicle is 13 and im willing to bed $ to donuts that all are in better condition than half of the 9 year old rigs sitting in the fields waiting to be used.

I paid my fee if I want to camp in a porta jon I will

[ken56]

Did you do a bearing repack and check the brakes when you got the tires? Ready to roll is good but stopping is important too. Very nice of mom and dad to give you their trailer. Looks good too and like others have said..... if they want you to prove your 10 yr old unit isn't dilapidated then find another CG. You do need to find the pin weight and then after you get loaded up for a trip you need to visit the scales to know exactly you weight numbers. Payload and rear axle weight rating are your important numbers. Now go have fun.

[GMandJM]

Congrats! Best wishes for many happy adventures!

[MarkTwain]

Jebby14 wrote:
any place that limits rigs to 10 years new is no place I want to camp. ill spend my money elsewhere

The 10 year Rule does mean your automatically excluded from registering at a RV Park. It just means that they will want to do a general overall inspection of your RV before they will let you register. In one case, they just had a staff person come out and do a "Walk Around" look see if the RV has any major issues i.e. cracked fenders, wires hanging down under the rig where they shouldn't, large areas of rust, major dents or broken parts. Some parks also have a min. length of a RV i.e. 26'.

[chops1sc]

Thanks everyone! After giving it a good wash and getting new tires it is pretty much ready to go. I want to replace the vinyl trim that goes along the edge and get a set of tire covers to keep the sun off them as much as possible.

[Jebby14]

any place that limits rigs to 10 years new is no place I want to camp. ill spend my money elsewhere

[Mr__Camper]

To echo, it looks extremely well kept. Some campgrounds keep out RV's older than 10 years. Be sure to send them a photo when you make the reservation to allay their fears of a 20 year old rig. Happy Camping.

[Rede2]

Congratulations, It looks like it is well kept and will give you many miles of camping adventures. What a great gift.

[icanon]

Ah parents aren't they the Greatest!
Hope you have many good times with it.

[spoon059]

Awesome! Good deal. My bride had never camped before. Shortly after we married my parents decided to sell their old class C. Before they sold it we borrowed it for a trip down to Florida to visit an old friend, visit Disneyworld and get out of DC over the winter.

The wife ended up having a good time and we bought a used camper a couple years later and just bought a brand new one this year. Sometimes you just need that little nudge to get started!

Hope you guys have as much fun camping as we do!

[2012Coleman]

How about some interior shots? I love these older TTs. Yours looks very nice and well maintained.