RV Newbie Introduction

MarkL · Jan 26, 2011

My wife and I purchased a 27RLSS on Sunday and we take delivery on Monday 1/31/10. We're sooo excited! This will be our first real RV and we have a lot to learn. We had a Four Wheel Campers Hawk pop-up camper for about 4 years but it was just to small so we went to a local RV show and decided a Fifth Wheel fit our needs best. After looking at what seemed like hundreds of trailers, we chose the ElkRIdge 27RLSS. For our money, the ElkRidge seemed to be of the highest quality in our price range.

We're looking forward to our first trip to the coast (Bodega Bay,CA) and will certainly share our trip report with our new found ER family

jimtoo · Jan 26, 2011

Hi MarkL,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family of owners. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

When you go for delivery, do a really good PDI,, make sure you check everything, water in sinks, TV, sewer drain,,, the whole 9 yards...

And then, go camping and make lots of great memories with your new Elk Ridge.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

MarkL · Jan 26, 2011

Thanks for the warm welcome Jim! You're not the first person that told me to do a thorough inspection duing the PDI. Luckily, my Sister In Law and her husband have had trailers for more than 20 years and have given us some direction.

SJH · Jan 26, 2011

Hello and welcome from WA state! Congratulations on the new rig. I am sure you will have many hours of camping enjoyment with the Elk Ridge! Watch out for the crows at the bay!

TravelTiger · Jan 26, 2011

Welcome, Another Elk Ridge, YAY! We love ours. Like Jim said, proper PDI. Try out EVERYTHING. Ask LOTS of questions. Video it if you can, so you can refer back.

Hope to see ya 'round the forum and on the road!

Cimriver · Jan 27, 2011

I'm sure you will love your Elkridge. We certainly love ours! Welcome aboard!

MarkL · Jan 28, 2011

Thank again everyone!

We're having the Slider Hitch installed today and the walk thru on Monday. We're getting very excited!

westxsrt10 · Jan 28, 2011

Good choice...the Elk's and a notch above the Sundance yet still a bargain. I'm sure you will love it and being only 30' long makes it easier getting into and out of tight areas. (great ground clearance too)

Nabo · Jan 28, 2011

Congratulations on your new ElkRidge from the state of Tennessee. It's a great coach. If you are ever over on the eastern side of the states, come by and see us.

Ray LeTourneau · Jan 28, 2011

Mark, Welcome to the Heartland Family & Forum. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new rig. We're all here to help so don't worry, just come back and you'll get all the help/advice you'll need. Only a short weekend to go before the new rig is in your driveway.

goodtruck · Jan 29, 2011

Welcome to the Heartland family.I know that you will really enjoy your ER. We love ours.Besure to do a good PDI plan on at least 2 hours for it.run the slides in and out several times to make sure the adj is right b4 you leave.ER is a great unit for a great price.we have a slider hitch in our TV but don't use it.the unit is made to turn without haveing to use a slider hitch.

MarkL · Feb 1, 2011

We did our PDI yesterday and we spent 2 hours going through EVERYTHING! Thanks for the suggestions on what to look for. We decided to add a SlidderTopper as well as a dual battery set up so we left the trailer at the dealer to have the work completed. It works out well since we just had the parking pad poured on Friday and it needs to cure for a couple weeks. Here's a couple pics of the ER's new home

boatto5er · Feb 1, 2011

Very nice - wish we had room to do that. We are parked 20 miles from the house

.

JohnDar · Feb 1, 2011

I'm not envious of too many things...other than RV owners that can store their rigs next to their houses!! Mine is 10 miles away during the winter (200 miles during the summer [if we're not in it]).

MarkL · Feb 2, 2011

We're very lucky to have the room to store the RV at the house. We've lived in the home for 18 years and we've always wanted to pour a pad but never had the $$$ to do it. With the kids done with College, we were able to save the money and finally get it done. We are truely blessed.

I have water and power but no sewer clean out. Can't have everything I guess

MarkL · Feb 19, 2011

Well, we finally picked up our new trailer but ran into problems right off the bat. After we got the trailer level and ready to go, we tried to open the slider but it is hung up at the top! We had a SliderTopper installed at the dealer and I'm afraid it's not allowing the top of the slide to open. We've called the dealer and they've never heard of such an issue. We're hoping to have a Tech pay us a visit on Monday to see what's up but, as you can imagine, we're pretty frustrated right now. Has anyone here heard of such a thing?n Any ideas?

JohnDar · Feb 19, 2011

Unless they drove an excessively long screw in that caught the top of the slide, I would hesitate to blame it on the topper. They are essentially at the mercy of the slide going in and out. Sounds more like a slide alignment problem or a problem with the mechanism to extend it.

MarkL · Feb 21, 2011

Thanks for the reply John! After sleeping on it and, at the suggestion of my more level headed wife, we took the unit back to the dealer yesterday morning for inspection. One of their technicians spent some time and showed us how the Slide really works and that it was working properly. At home, when the bottom kicked out and the top didn't, I assumed it was binding. The Tech explained how the bottom kicked out first and dropped in a tray before the top began moving. Wow, did I feel like a dummy! During our PDI, we were shown the button to operate the Slide and that it did move in and out but not shown the complete travel action. That would have been helpful. Anyway, all is good with the Slide. Now, it's time to plan a trip!

TravelTiger · Feb 21, 2011

No one is a dummy, just a newbie!

Remember, this is a house on wheels, but with systems and functions like no other house you've owned. Lots of things to discover and learn about, lots of new and exciting questions! Don't worry, we're here for ya!

TT

MarkL · Feb 21, 2011

Thanks TT! I'm finding that you're so right. I'm finding that I have a lot to learn and I'm really looking forward to new experiences.

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