Newbie seeking advice

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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