New owner hitch/unhitch checklist?

L

lakeside

Active Member
Greetings all,
We are picking up a new 2013 Bighorn #3685RL, 5er nextmonth. We have always used a class “C” to do our camping with. This will be our first 5er. Anyone have a good and complete “hitch up” and “unhitch” check list available that will walk us through the process and possibly keep us from making beginner mistakes? We have a Trailersaver TS3 hitch. Thank you.
Lakeside
 
danemayer

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi lakeside,

Here's a checklist that I laminated and used during our first year. It's all pretty engrained in memory now.

We have the BD3 hitch which operates the same as yours. The hitch handle has 3 positions: full front is jaws open to unhitch. Handle in the middle is the Autolock position, when you're backing up against the pin to hitch up. Full rear position is locked. Always, always, always visually check that the handle snapped to the rear position when hitching, AND that the jaws are locked around the pin. Then always, always, always do a pull test with the tailgate still down, and the landing jacks an inch off the ground. If something goes wrong, you won't damage your truck, and you won't have a trailer disconnecting from the truck as you pull onto the highway.

When unhitching, as you raise the landing gear to take weight off the hitch, you'll see the truck and hitch start to rise. When the weight is unloaded, the upper plate will lift away from the hitch slightly before it starts to pull the hitch and truck up. Stop when you see the gap. Then wiggle the hitch to ensure it's unloaded. If you pull away and it's not unloaded, the trailer will slide down the hitch and it could have an unnecessarily hard landing on the jacks.

If you don't have the auto-leveling option, before unhitching, you'll need to level the wheels left-to-right. With only front landing gear, left-to-right leveling is done in back. Front-to-rear leveling is via the front landing jacks.

Happy camping!
 

Attachments

  • Departure Checklist.doc
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L

lakeside

Active Member
danemayer,
This was a very inforimative checklist, thank you. Do I just reverse parts of this list when arriving / unhitching? Thanks again.

Lakeside
 
porthole

porthole

Retired
lakeside said:
Greetings all,
We are picking up a new 2013 Bighorn #3685RL, 5er nextmonth. We have always used a class “C” to do our camping with. This will be our first 5er. Anyone have a good and complete “hitch up” and “unhitch” check list available that will walk us through the process and possibly keep us from making beginner mistakes? We have a Trailersaver TS3 hitch. Thank you.
Lakeside
Click to expand...

Do you have a smart phone?

I use the full version of this List app on my iPhone - every time I hook up to leave.
I have a full list of items after hooking up at the house that are easily checked off. And I have them sorted by importance. Also very easy to reset to use when we break camp.

I even have such benign things listed as getting the dog food ready, as once loaded and closed up we can't access the storage container easily.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/list!/id377625479?mt=8
 
rgwilliams69

rgwilliams69

Well-known member
If you have a 2011 and up Ford Super Duty there is a nice 5th wheel checklist available on the dash information screen. Runs you right through the basics of getting everything hooked up and tested.
 
L

lakeside

Active Member
Answer to questions:

Danemayer: Yes, we did order the auto-leveling option.

Porthole: No, we do not have a smart phone. Will I be able to open your checklist link on a regular laptop? Thank you.

Rgwilliams69: We bought a new 2011 Ford Super Duty F-350, but I have not found the dash program to walk me thru hooking up a 5er. I guess I will have to refer to the owner’s manual. Thank you for the idea.

Lakeside
 
danemayer

danemayer

Well-known member
I don't have a checklist for unhitching and setting up. But it goes like this:

  • When you think you're correctly positioned on the site, before unhitching, check placement of utilities to make sure the power cord will reach the pedestal, the water hose will reach the UDC, the sewer drain is within reach. Reposition as necessary.
  • Set the parking brake on the truck.
  • Lower the tailgate.
  • Disconnect the trailer cable and breakaway cable from the truck.
  • Extend the front landing jacks and watch the pin box as the truck rises. When you see the top plate (on the pin box) lift slightly above the bottom plate (top surface of the hitch), stop extending.
  • Wiggle the hitch to double check that it's unloaded.
  • Move the TS3 lock lever to the full-forward position to open the hitch jaws.
  • Double check that the tailgate is down and cables are out of the way.
  • Carefully pull the truck forward far enough to close the tailgate.
  • Coil the cables and tuck into the pin box area.
  • Plug the power cord into the Electrical Management System/Surge Protector (EMS). (Get one if you don't have one).
  • Turn off the 50 Amp breaker at the pedestal.
  • Plug the EMS into the pedestal.
  • Turn the 50 Amp breaker on. (Takes about 2 minutes for power to come on).
  • Press the AUTO-LEVEL button on the controller. The auto-level will lower the front of the coach a bit and then start leveling. Wait for it to completely finish.
  • If using wheel chocks, put them into position.
  • Open the coach and check for anything out of position in the bedroom. If ok, extend the bedroom slide.
  • Open the doorside slide part way. Check for anything out of position that might get caught. Finish extending the slide.
  • Don't open the off-door-side slide until the water and sewer lines are hooked up.
  • Install the water pressure regulator (mandatory), water hose, and filter (if you have one).
  • Turn on the water faucet and check for leaks.
  • Connect the sewer hose. (Get an external gate valve and clear flush king extension for the sewer pipe outlet).
  • Open the gray #1 and gray #2 dump valves (or leave them closed - personal choice).
  • Take a quick look to make sure the Water Heater Bypass Valve is in the normal operating position.
  • DO NOT open the black tank dump valve. Only open that valve when the tank is full or nearly full.
  • Check for obstructions inside and then extend the off-door-side slide.
  • Open the kitchen sink faucet and check for cold water coming out of both cold and hot water settings. Run the hot water setting for 10-15 seconds to make sure there's water in the Hot Water Tank (If you didn't check the Water Heater Bypass Valve, this is not meaningful.)
  • Turn on the Electric switch for the Hot Water Heater. (If you do this with no water in the tank, you'll burn out the element in a very short time.)
  • Check the battery charge indicator. On shore power it will read 4 lights. If it drops to less than 4 while on shore power, you need to investigate.
  • Leave the water pump switch OFF if you are hooked up to city water. If using the pump, be aware that it should run only when you have a faucet open. If it runs with all faucets closed, you must investigate right away.
  • Check that the refrigerator switched to electric mode (if you had it running on LP while towing). If it's in AUTO mode it will switch automatically when shore power comes on.
  • Carefully open the refrigerator doors to check if anything is going to fall out or has spilled.
  • Carefully open cabinet doors to check if anything is going to fall out.
  • Unstrap and position chairs.
  • If using the TV antenna, raise the antenna and turn on the signal booster. Set the TV menu to AIR and do an auto scan for local stations.
  • If using cable, connect the park cable outlet to the cable connector in the UDC. Then turn the signal booster off. Set the TV menu to CABLE and run the auto scan for available channels.

Hopefully I didn't forget anything.
 
porthole

porthole

Retired
The ford factory dash check is a bit lame. I would have rather the engineers added some really useful stuff in the display

lakeside said:
Porthole: No, we do not have a smart phone. Will I be able to open your checklist link on a regular laptop? Thank you.
Click to expand...

The list I use is an "i" app, phone, pad, pod list

List.jpg

What I like about it is that I can "group" some items together, like the dog stuff (they really don't like early starts and me forgetting to have the chow ready), house get ready etc.

You can see in the picture that stopping the mail is number 1 priority.

As you click on the box it drops to the bottom of the list.
I have the items that are required for both leaving the house and breaking camp prioritized so they are on the top, makes it easy to unchecked them when at camp.

The list is sorted by priority then alpha.

Very easy to add or subtract items too.

Here is my current list. If we are ready to go the entire list takes less then a minute to go through.
Although some items seem quite benign, they are not when you forget ..............

Stop mail
-Dogs

  • Food
  • Life jackets
  • Meds
  • Rabies papers
  • Supplement
  • Water

-House

  • HVAC off
  • Wash machine water off
  • Water heater off
  • Gate locked
  • Shed locked

-Tools

  • Impact gun & sockets
  • Torque wrench

EZ-Pass out of bike
JT Strongarm's loose
Reset truck shocks
Tire pressure check
Antenna secure
Bathroom doors secure
Bike tied down
Cart tied down
Close gray water valves
Coffee maker secure
Couch draws secure
Dog food prep
Garage drawers lock bar
Garage slider locked
Ladder stored
Shower door secure
TV antenna stowed
TV's secured
Apple TV in trailer
Bikes
Bottled water
Camera chargers
Cameras
Cat
Cat food
Cat litter
Coffee
Cooler, electric
Cooler, ice
Electric razor
Fresh water tank filled
Fridge vent latched
GPS Deb's
GPS reset trip
Handicap placard
Headphones
Ice maker
Laptops
Milk crate for recycle
Toiletry bag
Wheel chair
 
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