Newbie seeking advice

[buddy306]

Hello all, I'm a newbie at camping and just purchased my first camper. It's a 2017 Aspen Trail 2750. I know very little about travel trailers but I also have a 35 foot cabin cruiser boat and it's kind of like camping, only on the water. Anyway, I have a few questions. First of all what accessories do I need for the camper? I know I need a sewer hose, and from my experience on the boat I know I need RV/Marine toilet paper as well as toilet chemicals. What else do I need? I purchased this camper because my wife and I go to the beach alot and there arent many hotels there that allow dogs and the ones that do are extremely expensive. Our daughter is graduating this year and she's not much on going to the beach so she usually stays home with the dog but since she's graduating and off to college soon we are losing our dog sitter.My next question is about towing this RV. It's dry weight is 6200lbs. I have a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 that is rated to tow 9200lbs. I've towed smaller boats in the past but nothing this big or heavy. Any tips or things I need to be concerned about? The truck is equipped with the tow package as well as the trailer brake controller. I dont plan on loading the RV up with anything. I take delivery of the camper Wednesday and plan to take it straight to the beach campground and leave it there. They have storage on site and will set it up for us when we get there then return it to storage when we leave so added gear is not an issue. Anything we need we will bring to the RV as opposed to loading it up and then towing it loaded. Any advice or tips you all can give me to get started will be greatly appreciated.

[buddy306]

Thanks for all the great info. I'm sure I won be referring back to this post once I actually get out there using the camper. I pick it up today.

[MitchF150]

buddy, the jacks are to stabilize. You put a little tension on them, but not enough to do all your leveling for you.

Before you unhitch, check the trailers side to side level. If it's within half a bubble, call it good. If more, lay the level blocks of your choice next to the low side tires and then pull forward. Push the blocks behind the tires and back up on them. Check the level again and if it's good, set your wheel chocks and unhitch.

Set your front to back level with the tongue jack. Once level, starting in the back, put down the stabilizer jacks, low side first, then do the fronts.

I only hook up the sewer hose when I'm ready to dump, but that's just me. Most folks hook up from day one. Leave the black tank closed until you want to dump.. There is not enough water to flow it out like at home. I like to leave the grey tank closed to fill up too, but that's optional.

The reason you want to leave the black tank until it's full is it will drain a lot better and get most of the solids out in just the drain. You may still need to fill it with water from a green hose and drain again to make sure you get the solids out. I like to finish up with dumping the grey tank, so it kinda rinses out the hose.. It's still nasty water, but not as nasty as the black tank!

Still lots to learn, but we all figured it out eventually!

Enjoy.

Mitch

[buddy306]

Ok, so for my first outing I need: Sewer hose, white drinking water safe hose (already have plenty of those with the boat), water pressure regulator, septic tank safe TP (RV/Marine TP not necessary, and wheel chocks.

Question about the leveling blocks, isn't that what the jacks at all 4 corners of the RV are for?

Question about the sewer hose/black water tank. so regardless of whether the hose is connected or not when i flush the toilet the waste goes into the black water tank correct? No way to bypass the tank and go straight to the sewer?

[naturist]

Congratulations and welcome to the scrum. You will need some leveling blocks, either several 8 inch long pieces of 2 x 8 lumber, or better yet a set of Linx blocks. RV sites are rarely level. Add some wheel chocks.

[garyemunson]

x2 on the 'normal' toilet paper. Remember, an RV toilet is not the same as a boat's that has to pump sewage. As for chems, try without it. Modern RV sewage systems are tight enough that smell is usually no problem. Just remember with the toilet, water is your friend. Never leave the black water valve open, only open it when dumping and try to get everyone in the habit of filling the toilet bowl with water and making a 2nd flush after use to help prevent the dreaded "poop pyramid" in the tank just below the toilet. The extra slug of water helps distribute the solid waste in the tank so it will more easily drain out when the black valve is opened. Always dump black first and follow with grey to help flush out the sewer hose.

[afidel]

An electric management system (smart surge protector basically) to protect your RVs electrical equipment from spikes/brownouts/sags, etc. It's relatively cheap insurance considering any one appliance or system saved would cost more than the EMS. Progressive Dynamics is the big name but there's at least one other decent manufacturer (name's eluding me).

[FrankShore]

You can Google "RV Camping Checklists" there are many available. Also available as apps from Android & Apple. I am in total agreement with the guy who said "Chock your tires first" and they should also be the last thing off, when you're ready to go somewhere.

[Rainier]

Your dealer should set you up with sway bars. This will help your trailer from moving side to side when you are traveling down the freeway.

Black water tank is toilet waste and gray tank is filled by showers and sinks.

I forgot...another essential is water pressure regulator. A quick Amazon search will pull one up. This will protect your water lines when you hook up to city water.

[donn0128]

Forget that cheap crappy rv toilet paper. Most of us use either kirkland TP or most any septic safe paper. Water hose, sewer hose, maybe a 10 and a 20 footer, plus connectors and sewer hokup is about all you really need. To that you will probably want to add gas grill, chairs, cooler for drinks. Be very careful with your 1500. RVs are way different than boats. Think in terms of a huge sail being towed down the road.

[MitchF150]

Sounds like once you get the rig there, you are going to keep it there, so to initially setup, you'll need the sewer hose, white water hose, pressure regulator, maybe some boards to level with and for your stabilizer jacks. You should just be able to plug in your shore power cord to the pedestal with either your 50 or 30 amp plug no problem..

The rest just depends on how you wish to "camp" and what you wish to carry back and forth..

I've found that having a fully stocked TT with all the kitchen gear and utensils is essential.. Stock it so all you have to bring is food and clothes depending on what you decide to keep in the trailer.

We like to use "real" plates, bowls, glasses and utensils, so the trailer has it's own stock of these things. If you don't like doing dishes, then go for the disposable stuff. No big deal.

Since you own a good size boat, you should already know about the holding tanks.. Well, you comment about the "grey tank" means your boat probably only has a single waste tank, but the grey tank is for sink and shower water. The black tank is just the toilet.

Since you are going to take delivery and go straight to your seasonal site, I'd suggest bringing along whatever you feel you need and go from there...

Take a note pad and jot down the items you need or don't need for your next visit.. Continue this until you are comfortable.. Took us about 5 years to get our trailer fully stocked to where we like it!

Still always tweaking on it too... We've made mods to the trailer, which then adjusts the stocking of it... To this day, we do something new and say, "why didn't we do that earlier?" My one comment I always say as we are leaving, is "well, if we forgot anything, we can always buy it..."

This is our 15th year with our TT..

Good luck!

Mitch

[buddy306]

Rainier wrote:
Congrats and welcome to forum. You will get tons of advice. Your truck should be fine towing the vehicle. Just make sure you are set up properly with weight distribution bars and sway bars. Safety is important (obviously) but you will feel more confident if you make sure you are set up correctly. One way I reduce weight when I travel is to only travel with minimum water in the tanks. Water weighs around 8.3 lbs/gallon. Filling up your tank with tons of water when you travel adds substantial weight. I avoid that. I also avoid traveling with a full black tank as well for this reason.

There is tons of stuff to buy, most of which you don't need...Keep a pencil and paper to write down needs as they arise when you camp.

Finally, always chock your tires. Don't forget...bad things happen....Chock, chock, chock. This is from personal experience

You do need some leveling blocks, an extension cord, 30 to 15 amp adapter, chocks, nice cold beer and a cigar! Have fun

Thanks for the info. I don't plan on doing any camping away from a campground so towing with water in the tanks is not an issue. I believe the black water tank is the toilet tank but my camper also has a grey water tank. What is that? Also could you elaborate on the sway bars? The dealer is installing my weight distributing hitch Wednesday. Is that not the same as sway bars or do I need something else?

[Rainier]

Congrats and welcome to forum. You will get tons of advice. Your truck should be fine towing the vehicle. Just make sure you are set up properly with weight distribution bars and sway bars. Safety is important (obviously) but you will feel more confident if you make sure you are set up correctly. One way I reduce weight when I travel is to only travel with minimum water in the tanks. Water weighs around 8.3 lbs/gallon. Filling up your tank with tons of water when you travel adds substantial weight. I avoid that. I also avoid traveling with a full black tank as well for this reason.

There is tons of stuff to buy, most of which you don't need...Keep a pencil and paper to write down needs as they arise when you camp.

Finally, always chock your tires. Don't forget...bad things happen....Chock, chock, chock. This is from personal experience

You do need some leveling blocks, an extension cord, 30 to 15 amp adapter, chocks, nice cold beer and a cigar! Have fun