Truck Camping, here we come!

[theclarkster]

Thank you all so much for your help so far. We've had numerous questions and you have all been very helpful. Our search for a TC + truck combo has finally come to an end. Our choice is:

2014 Wolf Creek 850 & 2011 Chev Silverado 3500 CC V8 6.0L

Picking up our truck this Friday and then we'll drive down to Washington State to pick up our camper sometime next week. Will definitely post a picture of our rig as soon as we have it all set up.

From what I learnt from other posts I read we are supposed to leave our tailgate at home before we go 'n pick up the camper. Well, that leaves us with not much space to pack for our Washington trip and we have a 2-year-old son with us. We plan to camp for a couple of days before we head back home.

What are some things we should bring/buy that we absolutely must have in order to pick up the camper and camp for a few days???

This is going to be the first RV we own and currently we haven't bought anything yet. Here are some things I thought we might need for the camper:

-Sewer hose
-black tank chemicals
-Toilet paper
-A small portable electric heater for our son(we'll have hook ups at the camp site)

Do you notice anything else important that I'm missing? I don't expect to have everything for our first trip. Just want to make sure we have all the essentials.

Thanks so much. We are very excited. Please come say 'Hi' if you see us camping!

[theclarkster]

Hi guys, we just got back from our first camping trip after we picked up our camper. It was a fun trip but frankly a little stressful too because we ran into a few problems that we did not expect at all. I'll do another post about the issues we ran into. Here are some photos from our trip:

Our 2014 Wolf Creek 850



Our view from the camper


Fussing


We didn't have any firewood so we used our mini wood fire stove to burn the twigs and pine cones we collected from around our camp site.


Dinner - pan fried potatoes


Dinner - wood fired steak


Bath time

[Bedlam]

It worked well on my toy hauler. My TC has a black flush inlet that doesn't seem to do much more other than not having to haul an additional device with me.

[billtex]

Jaxom wrote:
Evidence would suggest that flushing through the drain adapters don't work.
http://www.thefitrv.com/category/rv-tips/page/2/

Interesting, the article does show the Flush king to be more effective at cleaning the tank than just a straight dump.
We have a FK that we use with the Airstream, the Eagle Cap has a built in black tank flusher.
I am pretty good at dumping a bucket or two of water in the black tank before I dump so I really only use a "flusher" at the end of the season...

[Jaxom]

Evidence would suggest that flushing through the drain adapters don't work.
http://www.thefitrv.com/category/rv-tips/page/2/

[Bedlam]

I've had mine so long I think they called it something else when I bought it. They are under $30 at Wal-mart:

Camco RV Dual Flush Pro 39062

[theclarkster]

Oh okay I think yours is a similar system as the Dual Flush. Thanks!

[Bedlam]

We used one of the reverse flush clear elbows with knife valve on the sewer end to clean our toy hauler tanks. We didn't need anything else. Just make sure you fill the tank at least half full with liquid before dumping to get the solids out.

[theclarkster]

I noticed there's no black tank flush on the Wolf Creek 850. I'm curious what you guys use to flush out your black tank?

We are contemplating the Camco Dual Flush system. Seems quite straightforward and no drilling required. The only thing I'm concerned about is where to store it. Our long bed version does not have very much outside storage.

[joeshmoe]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
Our 2012 has a screen for the passenger, over-cab window.

kerry4951 wrote:
joeshmoe
We have screens in all our windows.

More2Explore wrote:

Yes, it should have a screen....my 2014 has a screen on all opening windows.

I figured as much. Thanks.

[bka0721]

More2Explore wrote:

joeshmoe wrote:

anutami wrote:

Incidentally, did any of you Wolf Creek owners get jipped on a screen for this window? There's nothing there on mine.

I don't know. Maybe that window doesn't come from the factory with one--which seems dumb. There's a screen on every other window.

Yes, it should have a screen....my 2014 has a screen on all opening windows.

What did your Wolf Creek dealer tell you when you asked them?

b

[More2Explore]

joeshmoe wrote:

anutami wrote:

Incidentally, did any of you Wolf Creek owners get jipped on a screen for this window? There's nothing there on mine.

I don't know. Maybe that window doesn't come from the factory with one--which seems dumb. There's a screen on every other window.

Yes, it should have a screen....my 2014 has a screen on all opening windows.

[kerry4951]

joeshmoe
Your dealer doesnt know what hes talking about. The emergency egress window can be used and is used like any other normal window. We have screens in all our windows. Not a Wolf Creek, but its an AF made by the same company Northwood. Id go back to the dealer and tell him you want a screen.

[Carb_Cleaner]

Our 2012 has a screen for the passenger, over-cab window.
The bathroom door was replaced when we took delivery. The original door was bowed, way out of whack, and scratched all to heck on the bathroom side (due to the inward bow). We didn't notice it (the other door face was excellent), at first, but when the bath door was partially closed and I peered into the bath, I noticed the scratches in the medicine cabinet mirror. There was zero hesitation or baloney about it needing replaced. There happened to be a suitable spare, hanging around the dealer's shop. A bonus was a set of larger pull-cups in the door, instead of the factory thumb-sized cups.
I forgot about the door being boogered up. Good call.

[joeshmoe]

anutami wrote:

Incidentally, did any of you Wolf Creek owners get jipped on a screen for this window? There's nothing there on mine. This, along with a few other things were amiss when I picked up my camper. I think dealers rob parts from other units if a customer says something. Otherwise, they just hope that we won't say anything. My bath door had some pretty decent gouges in it, but the dealer was just gonna let it slide. I made a stink and they reluctantly replaced it. Took one from another unit, and of course, no screen on the passenger cabover window, but I didn't notice it during the inspection.

I don't know. Maybe that window doesn't come from the factory with one--which seems dumb. There's a screen on every other window. Drive us nuts with flies and what not coming in when we need a little air and don't want to climb down. The opposite window is the emergency egress. It has a screen, but the dealer "said" that it's not meant to be used regularly, like a sliding window.

[joeshmoe]

Leave the clear elbow on the outlet. Don't bother taking it on and off. It's a PITA.
Just make sure it's pointing downward before you back the truck to load the camper.

Nolan, Is the camper sliding forward causing it dig into the bumper or are you backing the truck up into it? On mine, I know there's barely a 1/4" space between the two if I back all way to the stops. Get yourself a couple 2X4 (or whatever) blocks between the bump stops and the bulkhead of the bed. Should give you the clearance you need at the rear. Or just don't back up so far. I would think with a bed mat, the camper should not be moving forward much, if at all.