Maiden Voyage now some newbie questions...

[ericboutin]

Hey all, Since we finished the rebuild of our 70'ish TC we were able to take our maiden voyage of about 450 miles round trip. 90% of it was interstate. As you can see in my sig we have had a couple diff varieties of campers. The TC definitely gives a different feeling in my butt-o-meter than the long TT did but overall not anything crazy. Mostly the top heavy feeling more than the weight feeling. My questions are do you ever get used the the feeling that you are going to tip over at any moment??!! Lol...especially on corners? Geez always gives me a pucker factor. Second question is on turnbuckle tension....I've read and read but I can't get a handle on exactly what folks do. I know I know and I will upgrade my tie-down system eventually but for now I'm using a Brophy style stake pocket tiedown system. I've read that they should not be to tight but one guy says he knows he has it right when he can hear the turnbuckles rattling behind him...lol....should they really be that loose. What I did for this trip is tightened them (hand tight) and then released the turnbuckle a turn ...turn and a half until it was just jiggling. It seems to have worked but I'm still a newbie to the whole TC scene and would like some reassurance. Sometimes on a corner I swear the TC is gonna roll right out of the truck!! I know that is prob just my newbie-ness and I probably need to stop driving in my rear view but anyway is that the correct way to handle the turnbuckles? Anything I've ever hauled I've cinched right down so it kinda goes against the grain not cinching the TC....Thanks for all the suggestions and help. This place has been wonderful in all the years I've been a member!

[ericboutin]

LOL..the first question was more rhetorical than anything actually. My wife laughs at me because she says she is not feeling what I "think" I am. lol....so I'm sure my butt will get used to the new feeling of the top heavy weight. In my small brain I want to understand how something so big can stay in the back of a truck with only a 4x9 foot base. Lol. It doesn't make sense so I scare myself by watching it in the mirror. Lol....so yah it is not as bad as my brain is trying to scare me into thinking it is....lol. I have weighed the camper and she comes in right at 2300 pounds give or take. I'm sure we weighed a bit more on our trip. I know I will get used to the "feeling" of the TC. She really is surprisingly stable I just need to convince my brain that it makes "sense"!
The turnbuckle tension I would really love to know everyone's thoughts.

[dadwolf2]

I've had two TC's now with a SRW truck and have yet to feel the white knuckle, pucker factor feeling. Doesn't sound good though!! Have you weighed the camper so you know what your dealing with? Is your truck's suspension and shocks in good shape? What tire pressure are you running? Do you have an anti-sway bar?

Not familiar with the Brophy style tiedown, but I wouldn't use them for anything but a really really light camper.