[dchaviland]

As most on this forum likely already have their RV's, hopefully some that are considering one, my intent in this note is to suggest you do one thing when you take possession of your trailer:

TAPE YOUR WALK-THROUGH!!

You will be hearing so much information about your new trailer that you will end the hour mentally obliterated as if you needed a sip of water but instead drank from a fire hose. There is a LOT information being conveyed and the easiest thing to do is tape it.

DW and I have done that for our first trailer, and then when we traded it in, we did it for the second. I have found time and again, after turning the tape into a DVD, being able to go back and review certain aspects of the tape we realized what we had forgotten and more importantly, questions we needed to go back and ask.

Again, tape your walk through, you won't regret it!!

David :thumbup1:

 

[heruide]

In addition to David's suggestion to video tape the "walk thru" I would recommend that you actually do the set up yourself with the dealer or previous owner guiding you through the process. There are a lot of little details like where do you actually light the hot water heater pilot that you might not capture on a video cam.

Specifically for folding trailers, dealers may have the unit set up when you get there for your walk thru. I know the first time the dealer did the set up was before I bought my PUP and they were trying to convince me how easy it was to set up. The next visit was the walk thru and this time it was already set up. So I never knew how to set up the awning until I had to figure it out during my second camping trip. The same thing applied to folding up the camper caddy.

Now while we are on this topic, I would also encourage every one to share the break camp details with your spouse or significant other.

Why?

Well if you are like me, your spouse is taking care of the inside details while you are working out side. I've always been concerned that if I had an accident she might not know how to break camp. In fact the first time we talked about this her response was "I'd hang a 'FOR SALE AS IS' sign up at the camp ground". So video taping that process or taking photographs is another way to document what needs to be done.

Ruide

 

[dd45529]

Too Late

I needed this advice 3 months ago before we went for the walk through. It is a good idea. We have a small video (FlipIt) recorder. It would have been perfect for this. I'm thinking our first camp out will be the park near the RV dealership. We can get the help we need without traveling too far kkd

 

[mikey]

Great info, I wish we had done this the first time. We got home and went camping the next weekend, and I was scrambling trying to remember how to do everything. I had to call the dealer twice on the first camping trip :smack-head:

So, I highly recommend doing what the folks above mentioned, taping the walkthrough, and actually doing it yourself, versus them just showing you what to do.

 

[glfortner]

I totally agree with all of the above. dd45529-we went to a park close to our RV dealer also. We weren't afraid to call with questions either!