What to do pre-trip?

[DaBearSox]

So I have a few more finishing touches on my build and then I am off for a 3 week road trip. However I of course want to be safe and make sure I dot my i's and cross my t's before I head out. The weekender is built on a NT 5x8 and I repacked the bearings last august. Since then the trailer has been pulled once for about 5 miles and at this time it was just the bed before I built the teardrop on top. I should be able to go out on some test runs starting this weekend to make sure it is still pulling well and do a little highway driving around town and maybe a stop for the night. Am I completely insane to get done with a build and take it on such a big endeavor? I will have 2 spare tires with me as well as spare bearings packed and ready to go if needed. Most of the trailer places are booked up but I did find one around town that said to bring it by and they will give it a quick inspection. My main concern is alignment, obviously water tightness is the next but I can accomplish that by spraying it down with a hose (rain is hard to come by this time of year in Denver). So put my mind at ease? Thanks guys and gals!

[les45]

Here are a few tips that I have developed from experience over the years:
1. Practice backing your trailer if you haven't done a lot of it already.
2. Put together a "trailer tool box" with all the tools that you might need for any emergency.
3. Purchase electrical adapters that will let you use any of the outlets on the park power pole.
4. With the electrical adapters, take a circuit checker (simple plug in type) to make sure power sources are safe/correct.
5. Chop some kindling and take it in a bucket (don't depend on finding enough at the campsite). Also some newspapers and lighters for starters.
6. Purchase a small military type folding shovel (I've had to dig a hole to get my tongue jack to swing down).
7. Buy an entire spare hub rather than just spare bearings (much easier to install on the side of the road if you ever have to).
8. Decide how you will secure your trailer while you are away from your campsite (chains, locks, etc.)
9. Plan your meals and how you will keep your food cold.
10. Take a tarp and some spare rope (sooner or later you will need it).
11. Buy a small fire extinguisher and keep it in an accessible location (I keep mine in the TV).

Hope these help.

[tony.latham]

You're not insane, just eager. I'd recommend a one-nighter first. You'll be surprised how long your "next time" gear list is.



Tony

[Redneck Packrat]

Good list, Les45! Editing my post to quote you to put it all in one spot....

Here are a few tips that I have developed from experience over the years:
1. Practice backing your trailer if you haven't done a lot of it already.
2. Put together a "trailer tool box" with all the tools that you might need for any emergency.
3. Purchase electrical adapters that will let you use any of the outlets on the park power pole.
4. With the electrical adapters, take a circuit checker (simple plug in type) to make sure power sources are safe/correct.
5. Chop some kindling and take it in a bucket (don't depend on finding enough at the campsite). Also some newspapers and lighters for starters.
6. Purchase a small military type folding shovel (I've had to dig a hole to get my tongue jack to swing down).
7. Buy an entire spare hub rather than just spare bearings (much easier to install on the side of the road if you ever have to).
8. Decide how you will secure your trailer while you are away from your campsite (chains, locks, etc.)
9. Plan your meals and how you will keep your food cold.
10. Take a tarp and some spare rope (sooner or later you will need it).
11. Buy a small fire extinguisher and keep it in an accessible location (I keep mine in the TV).

Hope these help.

First order of business is having your camper like you enough that it'll follow you wherever you go.

Check your hitch and your tire pressure. About 5 miles into the trip, pull over and feel your hubs. Shouldn't be even warm, really, yet. Look at the hitch setup while you're stopped. Check for slop in the ball connection. (I had a new coupler with a weld BB on something inside, apparently, snugged it all up with that 1/2" nut underneath that takes the 3/4" socket. By a few miles down the road it'd knocked that BB off and I had a goodly amount of slop in the latched-up ball hitch.) Look for anything that doesn't look the same as your last check. If your mind doesn't remember in that degree of detail, snap a few pics with your phone to compare to at the next check.

Repeat this process another 10 miles into the trip. And any time you stop, go feel both hubs. warm is okay, hot is not. Shouldn't be warm enough where you even *think* about pulling your hand away.

Make this hub checking thing a routine, every time you stop and get out. Gives you a chance to look at the tires too, see if they are gaining "cheeks", might save blowing one out if you catch it early when one gets a piece of road debris.

That should cover the mechanics of getting to the campsite and discovering you're still being followed by your camper

The spare whole-hub is a good tip. They're NOT that expensive, not that large, and the peace of mind is well worth it. Besides, shelling out a bearing can sometimes booger up a hub, then you'll need it regardless.

Tool box denizens (off the top of my head, including the obvious): Jack, 4-way, aforementioned hub and the tools to replace it (water pump pliers and needle nose, minimum), at least 1 spare tire, tube of grease/can of spindle grease, spare bulb(s) sized for your taillight fixtures, roll of #16 wire, electrical tape, small multimeter or icepick tester (multimeter can serve the purpose of Les45's campground tester), and of course the obligatory baling wire, duct tape, and a couple of bungee cords or ratchet straps. Small amounts of whatever adhesives you used to build trailer, as well as a caulk gun and a tube or 3 of caulking that can be applied to wet surfaces *might* be a lifesaver. I plan to carry some scraps of canvas and TB2 in my "junk drawer" just in case of snagging a branch or a piece of road debris gets flung up. Oh, and some sort of lighting, easily accessible, if you even think you might be traveling down the road in the dark. Walmart has cheapo headstrap lamps (also the plastic shotgun shell sized ones) for a buck each complete with batteries. I have those little critters scattered out EVERYWHERE, in glove boxes, tool boxes, stashed anywhere I might need a light RFN. Lighting redundancy is one of my must-haves.

Sounds like a lot, but it's pretty compact, and could be the difference between 3 weeks of fond memories and 3 weeks of hell

[dancam]

Your not crazy. Alignment can be checked yourself with 2 people. You can google or youtube it but basically take a tape measure and measure from the centre of the ball socket to the same point as far out as you can on each side of the axle. Mine was out and i had to reweld the axle square.

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[DaBearSox]

Here are a few tips that I have developed from experience over the years:
1. Practice backing your trailer if you haven't done a lot of it already.
-Will be done extensively over the next week
2. Put together a "trailer tool box" with all the tools that you might need for any emergency.
-Great call
3. Purchase electrical adapters that will let you use any of the outlets on the park power pole.
-done
4. With the electrical adapters, take a circuit checker (simple plug in type) to make sure power sources are safe/correct.
-done
5. Chop some kindling and take it in a bucket (don't depend on finding enough at the campsite). Also some newspapers and lighters for starters.
-i have so much scrap from the build that the table saw and miter saw is going to be chopping me up some great expensive kindling
6. Purchase a small military type folding shovel (I've had to dig a hole to get my tongue jack to swing down).
-done
7. Buy an entire spare hub rather than just spare bearings (much easier to install on the side of the road if you ever have to).
-I bought 2 just in case
8. Decide how you will secure your trailer while you are away from your campsite (chains, locks, etc.)
-So i have one of those coupler locks and will also have a wheel lock, the doors are prefab with nice deadbolts and the hatch has swing locks on each side
9. Plan your meals and how you will keep your food cold.
-coleman steel belted will travel with me in the car but fits in my galley, also have a 20 Grizly and a 20 Yeti cooler at my disposal
10. Take a tarp and some spare rope (sooner or later you will need it).
100ft paracord and 2 6x8 tarps
11. Buy a small fire extinguisher and keep it in an accessible location (I keep mine in the TV).
-done
Hope these help.

[HarryL]

I know that a home made teardrop is always evolving. Every time we go camping we start a "to do" list that we keep on the dash of the truck. Each time we go camping we have ideas for improvements or fixes of design flaws. Fancy talk for I screwed up!

Slowly the list gets shorter and shorter, but there is always something to improve on. That's the fun of it!

[DaBearSox]

Got her hooked up today and took a few laps around the block. Seems like the ball is too low. One wheel is actually on the curb so it doesn't look as bad there but was pretty jerky over bumps and felt the weight on the rear of the car. I can't even lower the coupler onto the ball with the jack. So think I need to get a little higher ball mount.

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[dancam]

Got her hooked up today and took a few laps around the block. Seems like the ball is too low. One wheel is actually on the curb so it doesn't look as bad there but was pretty jerky over bumps and felt the weight on the rear of the car. I can't even lower the coupler onto the ball with the jack. So think I need to get a little higher ball mount.

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Ideally with bumper pull trailers you want the trailer level or slightly tilted down. You dont want it tilting up, but what you have is tilted too far down, so juat flip your reciever over and see what it looks like.

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[DaBearSox]

Bought an adjustable mount today and that did the trick. Took her out on the highway and pulled very well. No sway what so ever and the CX-5 did a nice job pulling her. She shakes (up and down) a little bit at lower speed but then it stops when I am at 45+ so I am wondering if that will be rectified when I have her all loaded up.

[les45]

Bought an adjustable mount today and that did the trick. Took her out on the highway and pulled very well. No sway what so ever and the CX-5 did a nice job pulling her. She shakes (up and down) a little bit at lower speed but then it stops when I am at 45+ so I am wondering if that will be rectified when I have her all loaded up.

I had the same problem with my stock 5.3X12 NT trailer tires when I first towed it. That's just the nature of the stiff trailer tires. I cured the problem by going to passenger car tires in a bigger size (175-70RX13). That's the largest size I could use and still clear the frame. I did have to raise and widen the fenders a little.

[Midget]

We have a small notebook that we record every trip we make. Information like where we went prices we paid (fuel, food, camping space), distances we traveled by day, things we saw. In the back of the notebook we started a list of things to take with us. Tools, camp stove, propane bottles, chairs....... At first we would get out of town and find we left our chairs behind. This helps us stay organized.

Bob

[DaBearSox]

What's the best way to store spare hubs? I cleaned all the Chinese gunk out of my replacements and repacked the rear bearings and installed a new seal. I will repack the fronts should I just keep those in a separate baggy or put in the hub and cover with dust cap?

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[les45]

What's the best way to store spare hubs? I cleaned all the Chinese gunk out of my replacements and repacked the rear bearings and installed a new seal. I will repack the fronts should I just keep those in a separate baggy or put in the hub and cover with dust cap?

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I keep mine fully assembled (held together and protected with blue tape) and store both spares in a small tool box that I can throw in the TV with the other towing stuff.

[Camp4Life]

One important thing that wasn't mentioned (unless I missed it). Torque the lugnuts before EVERY trip, on the trailer and the vehicle. Takes 1 minute to go around with a tire iron and just give each nut a good press to make sure none have come loose, and it'll save you a big headache of losing a wheel on the highway. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you have a wheel wobbling and about to come off on a trailer.