Our first long haul trip

[TheGreatWaz00]

Well, we just completed our 4,475 mile round trip from Annapolis Maryland to Custer South Dakota with our new Rockwood Roo 23ss.

My TV is a Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab, 5.7 Hemi and tow package. I averaged 10.1 miles per gallon and that included the mountains of WV and the Great Plains of SD. We did not encounter any stop and go traffic anywhere on the trip.

We found our new HTT very comfortable and water tight - BOY does Ohio get some rainstorms!!!!!! The refer worked great, no AWESOME. Kept food at 35 degrees (froze some carrots when we went from 95 degree ambient temp to 78 degrees then balanced out). I placed one of the small fans on the bottom shelf and I am guessing that helps circulate the air.

We encountered problems with blowing fuses. First the slider fuse. We didnt blow the fuse in the fuse panel but the fuse hidden under the trailer (THANK YOU FORUM as I had to search the forum to find out where the second fuse was).

Then we kept blowing the small glass fuse (again THANK YOU FORUM) in the thermostat (dealer never told me about this one either). We blew this fuse 5 times. It seemed to occur when the fan was on anything but AUTO HIGH. If I moved it from AUTO HIGH to AUTO LOW it would blow. So I placed it on AUTO HIGH and enjoyed the cool air.

In both cases I had nothing by the refer running (AUTO).

I called the dealer (McGeorges in VA) and they have me set up to bring it in in August. Seemed genuinely concerned about it occurring on a new HTT. We will see how they resolve the problem. They "estimate" 7 - 10 days on average to diagnose and resolve. Seems reasonable during summer months.

I do need to instigate why my WDH creaked all the time, anytime I turned.

While climbing the mountains I did not worry about MPH and kept the RPMs at 3000 RPMs. Any experienced long haulers here on the forum, did I do right???

It was interesting, however, to see the bug line (must have killed every bug between Maryland and SD) on the top 1/3 of the HTT.

[BigSkyTrailer_G]

That creaking hitch... wondering if you have a friction anti-sway device. Ours, if I tighten it a little too tight, it likes to let out a groan with every turn I make.

[mgpassport]

Same as Utah....No gas between towns....Most stations have a list of how far to next gas....

[Roo_Camper]

Thanks GW..
I don't have a slide.. so that won't be an issue. 🙂
But will look into the others to have on hand..and definitely great advice about the gas thing!!!Will keep it full, good excuse to stop and stretch, walk the dogs..

[TheGreatWaz00]

Hi Roo

You will love your Roo. The Refrigerator worked great!

The fuses are 12v you can get from Walmart or similar. You want 7.5 ,10, 15, 20, 30 amp. The 7.5 is for the AC in the fuse panel beneath the refridge. You can buy a sample pack with a little pincher tool which is helpful in pulling the fuse. Next to impossible via finger.

The 7.5 is usually sold separately. You will want these just in case.

Inside your thermostat is a little glass fuse. Best to go to local RV shop and buy them. I could not find them at Walmart or auto stores.

Now crawl under your Roo and toward the very front on the side where the slide out is you need to locate a bright green rubber item. That is your fuse for the slide out. It is a 30 amp. Keep a bunch of these on hand. Better than hand cranking the slider in. I couldn't even find the hand crank nut.

Important!!!!! In Minnesota and south dakota fill your gas tank when you hit half a tank! I was getting 10 miles to a gal and would normally fill up at 1/4 tank but after finally finding a station and having 3 gallons left I started looking for gas at 1/2 tank. You can go what seemed like 60-80 miles before finding a gas station.

Let me know if you have any questions


Sounds like you just took the route I'm about to take the first of Sept..with my new Rockwood Roo..I also purchased this from McGeorge's.. and nothing was said about fuses... hmmm is that something I should look into, and make sure I have some? And where do you get them?.. sorry.. complete newbie at this..

[bikendan]

Roo Camper wrote:
And where do you get them?.. sorry.. complete newbie at this..

They are just standard 12v automotive fuses and are available everywhere.
I carry a pack of 30 amp fuses I got at Walmart.

[DutchmenSport]

Sounds like you had a great time, and a great learning curve.

About the WD hitch popping. This is normal. You'll never get rid of it. Metal against metal... even with all the grease in the world, will still pop and creek.

Now... here's what's going to absolutely surprise you, after a long-haul trip! The next time you go camping and your destination is 100 miles or less from your home ... you will think to yourself ... Man! That was short! It takes about 3 short week-end camp-outs to kind of get over the "long distance" mode!

[Roo_Camper]

TheGreatWaz00 wrote:
Well, we just completed our 4,475 mile round trip from Annapolis Maryland to Custer South Dakota with our new Rockwood Roo 23ss.

My TV is a Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab, 5.7 Hemi and tow package. I averaged 10.1 miles per gallon and that included the mountains of WV and the Great Plains of SD. We did not encounter any stop and go traffic anywhere on the trip.

We found our new HTT very comfortable and water tight - BOY does Ohio get some rainstorms!!!!!! The refer worked great, no AWESOME. Kept food at 35 degrees (froze some carrots when we went from 95 degree ambient temp to 78 degrees then balanced out). I placed one of the small fans on the bottom shelf and I am guessing that helps circulate the air.

We encountered problems with blowing fuses. First the slider fuse. We didnt blow the fuse in the fuse panel but the fuse hidden under the trailer (THANK YOU FORUM as I had to search the forum to find out where the second fuse was).

Then we kept blowing the small glass fuse (again THANK YOU FORUM) in the thermostat (dealer never told me about this one either). We blew this fuse 5 times. It seemed to occur when the fan was on anything but AUTO HIGH. If I moved it from AUTO HIGH to AUTO LOW it would blow. So I placed it on AUTO HIGH and enjoyed the cool air.

In both cases I had nothing by the refer running (AUTO).

I called the dealer (McGeorges in VA) and they have me set up to bring it in in August. Seemed genuinely concerned about it occurring on a new HTT. We will see how they resolve the problem. They "estimate" 7 - 10 days on average to diagnose and resolve. Seems reasonable during summer months.

I do need to instigate why my WDH creaked all the time, anytime I turned.

While climbing the mountains I did not worry about MPH and kept the RPMs at 3000 RPMs. Any experienced long haulers here on the forum, did I do right???

It was interesting, however, to see the bug line (must have killed every bug between Maryland and SD) on the top 1/3 of the HTT.

Sounds like you just took the route I'm about to take the first of Sept..with my new Rockwood Roo..I also purchased this from McGeorge's.. and nothing was said about fuses... hmmm is that something I should look into, and make sure I have some? And where do you get them?.. sorry.. complete newbie at this..

[TheGreatWaz00]

I have a Reese. The bars ate attached via chain links. I will have the dealer check the hook up again when I bring the HTT in.

[kknowlton]

Sounds like a good trip, despite the fuse problem. I hope that gets resolved to your satisfaction!

What kind of WDH do you have? The ones that have friction sway control included (such as the Equal-i-zer) always make noise in turns - that's part of how they work. Sort of a deep squealing noise or squeaking.