The Official Camper and Camping Thread
- Thread starter hickslawns
- Start date
Great pictures Drake! Good to hear you are using the camper tooickle:
No kidding. I'm jealous. Although I must say, my camper has done a fantastic job of holding down my driveway next to the building at the 65 property. lmao
Lol, come on Phil, make time for some campfire therapy!
Made it over to our site to take the last of the outside seating, to mow, and restock the firewood stack. Headed back Thursday evening for the weekend, driving to work Friday. Enjoy the weekend guys!
Made it over to our site to take the last of the outside seating, to mow, and restock the firewood stack. Headed back Thursday evening for the weekend, driving to work Friday. Enjoy the weekend guys!
Not possible. Not this time of the year. Simply not a reality. We have had 8 guys working and I am hoping to take off an evening on the last weekend in June to watch the motorcycle races. The following weekend I hope to be able to make it to our family reunion. 80-100hrs a week is where I have been and will be the next few weeks. Then I should be able to back off to 50-60hrs a week. That is my cruise control range. It is getting close.
Tis the season Phil! Grass is growing like crazy around us as well, my grandpa has been slammed with his properties.
Muck has been blowing like crazy around our area with the winds we've had, so our camper is getting it's first wash tonight. Going to try Adam's mixture for the awning as well.
Muck has been blowing like crazy around our area with the winds we've had, so our camper is getting it's first wash tonight. Going to try Adam's mixture for the awning as well.
Wear old clothes when doing the awning Drake lol.
I did not get a chance to wash mine before setting it in place and have had the slideout open for over a month. Going to take a ladder and get the slideout cleaned up and waxed this weekend, then powder up the seals. The storms that have blown through the last few weeks plus the spring tree droppings is enough to drive a man insane! Looking forward to yanking it in late July and giving her a bath.
I did not get a chance to wash mine before setting it in place and have had the slideout open for over a month. Going to take a ladder and get the slideout cleaned up and waxed this weekend, then powder up the seals. The storms that have blown through the last few weeks plus the spring tree droppings is enough to drive a man insane! Looking forward to yanking it in late July and giving her a bath.
Care to elaborate on this? Haven't read much on slide out care and maintenance yet so this has me curious.
The tech (family friend) at the dealer I purchased our unit from (will never buy anything from them again) advised me to use baby powder/talc powder on the seals when I asked. I then looked to see what was out there for slide maintenance and racked my brain on how we "maintained" the rubber parts when building crash test dummies and it made the most sense. Lots of sprays, gels, etc. out there but to me that means more of a mess and attracting/holding dust & dirt. This is the first camper with a slide out for us and while it has only seen 2yrs of use, the powder seems to be working as intended.
Awning cleanup went well. I sprayed the camper off and didn't like all the streaks and spots. Broke out the spray wax and went to town. I'm beat.
I bet so. Next time call me. I'll send Geoffrey over. He is as tall as me. Can reach high enough to help. Probably do it for an ice cream cone. lol
woodyw333
Junior Member
Well we took the camper out for its first real trip. It ended up being a very expensive trip... First destination Levi Jackson State Park in London Ky. We get to the Mt Vernon exit to stop and use restroom and stretch a bit then get right back on 75 South. 1 Mile down the road the truck starts binging and yelling at me "check gauges" I look down and the temp is at 245! Pull over turn off A/C pop the hood and antifreeze is blowing out the overflow bottle. I think oh shit not again, no way I blew another head gasket... WRONG! :tantrum: So I fill it up with water and continue on, as long as it stays cool I will be ok. Get to the campground, set up all is well. Saturday afternoon the rain started and so did the drips inside the camper.. Over the table on the slide out I have a sunroof that thought it would be a good idea to leak. Sunday comes around and we pack up and leave, destination #2 Dale Hollow Lake. We get almost all the way there with no issues, (granted I pulled over 3 times to fill the radiator with water) we are going down the large hill (at the bottom in the turn into the CG) I hit the brakes and heart the most god aweful grinding sound. At this point im so stressed and frustrated with this trip im ready to bail out and just let the mountain do what it wants with both camper and truck.
Anyway get pulled in and all set up and start to look at the truck and discover that one of the caliper bracket bolts came out and every time I hit the brakes the caliper was grinding on the rim. My parents were already at the CG with my son so Dad and I jumped in his truck and went to the parts store to order the bolt, went back the next day and picked it up. That part of the truck was fixed. Now to deal with the leaky sunroof, sprayed Flex seal clear on it as a temporary fix It never rained anymore so I don't know if that worked or not, but today I will seal it the correct way. Today we get up, pack up, dump, put about 15gal in the fresh water tank so I can fill gallon jugs to add to the radiator of the truck on the way home and discover the pump quit working... ugh!! Well got home safe and sound made some calls and AAA is coming to get my truck today to take it up to Heartland Diesel Performance where my buddy Jeff is gonna fix it for me.
Now for the real "hero" of the story. The wife and I were supposed to be leaving on Monday to got to Pigeon Forge for our delayed honeymoon, yup pulling the camper down there for a week. Well my truck wont be done by then because the head is getting shipped out to get machined and wont be back until next week. Called a buddy of mine that has an 06 Dodge Quad cab long bed 5.9 Cummins, and he is letting me use his truck for the trip!!ickle: Wife is happy, which means I am happy but with a LOT LIGHTER WALLET!!! When it rains it pours. Firm believer that if God brings you to it, he will bring you through it! Happy camping fellers and I will try to post pics after vacation month is over!
Sorry I had to vent..
Anyway get pulled in and all set up and start to look at the truck and discover that one of the caliper bracket bolts came out and every time I hit the brakes the caliper was grinding on the rim. My parents were already at the CG with my son so Dad and I jumped in his truck and went to the parts store to order the bolt, went back the next day and picked it up. That part of the truck was fixed. Now to deal with the leaky sunroof, sprayed Flex seal clear on it as a temporary fix It never rained anymore so I don't know if that worked or not, but today I will seal it the correct way. Today we get up, pack up, dump, put about 15gal in the fresh water tank so I can fill gallon jugs to add to the radiator of the truck on the way home and discover the pump quit working... ugh!! Well got home safe and sound made some calls and AAA is coming to get my truck today to take it up to Heartland Diesel Performance where my buddy Jeff is gonna fix it for me.
Now for the real "hero" of the story. The wife and I were supposed to be leaving on Monday to got to Pigeon Forge for our delayed honeymoon, yup pulling the camper down there for a week. Well my truck wont be done by then because the head is getting shipped out to get machined and wont be back until next week. Called a buddy of mine that has an 06 Dodge Quad cab long bed 5.9 Cummins, and he is letting me use his truck for the trip!!
ickle: Wife is happy, which means I am happy but with a LOT LIGHTER WALLET!!! When it rains it pours. Firm believer that if God brings you to it, he will bring you through it! Happy camping fellers and I will try to post pics after vacation month is over!Sorry I had to vent..
Last edited:
Damn Woody, that's a hell of a vent.... Glad everything turned out ok and I gotta say your attitude thru it was a lot better than mine would of been lol.... Always good to have friends, especially ones who are kind enough to loan you a truck like that....
Enjoy your time with your bride my friend....
Enjoy your time with your bride my friend....
Looks great Drake!
Dang Woody, hate to hear of the bad luck, but glad that it was nothing worse and no one was hurt! I know it's hard to see right now, but I think you guys were pretty lucky. I'll try to put it into perspective, then you can tell me to go pound salt but hopefully it puts a smile on your face:
- A seized caliper could have sent that rig into a crazy frenzy leading to a crash or off that mountain like you quickly thought of lol!
- The entire engine could have "ran away", burnt down a piston, or seized. At least it can be fixed and you're not putting in a whole new engine or buying a different truck!
- It's a dodge, you could have had the tranny or rear-end grenade - again more expensive, although quicker to fix:smiley_coolpeace:
- A simple tire blowout could have ripped the entire wheel well out in the camper, leaving a much larger hole. It could have damaged a vehicle behind you. Then you would may have been stranded on the side of the road, not been able to camp, and scratching your head on how to fix with a pissed off guy behind you waiting for the LEO's.
- You could have been camping under a tree and had a widow maker create a new vent hole over your bed. Then when you sat up in the dark, poked your eye out.
Just don't let it get you down man. Keep in mind these are toys and these trips are always an adventure. Enjoy the vacation!!
Dang Woody, hate to hear of the bad luck, but glad that it was nothing worse and no one was hurt! I know it's hard to see right now, but I think you guys were pretty lucky. I'll try to put it into perspective, then you can tell me to go pound salt but hopefully it puts a smile on your face:
- A seized caliper could have sent that rig into a crazy frenzy leading to a crash or off that mountain like you quickly thought of lol!
- The entire engine could have "ran away", burnt down a piston, or seized. At least it can be fixed and you're not putting in a whole new engine or buying a different truck!
- It's a dodge, you could have had the tranny or rear-end grenade - again more expensive, although quicker to fix:smiley_coolpeace:
- A simple tire blowout could have ripped the entire wheel well out in the camper, leaving a much larger hole. It could have damaged a vehicle behind you. Then you would may have been stranded on the side of the road, not been able to camp, and scratching your head on how to fix with a pissed off guy behind you waiting for the LEO's.
- You could have been camping under a tree and had a widow maker create a new vent hole over your bed. Then when you sat up in the dark, poked your eye out.
Just don't let it get you down man. Keep in mind these are toys and these trips are always an adventure. Enjoy the vacation!!
