Camping America - One State at a time...

Reese 5th Wheel Slider Hitch

2010-11-22T15:25:00.001-05:00

When I first started pulling a 5th wheel I was overwhelmed by the amount of options I had for towing this beast I was planning on purchasing. I wanted a name brand that knew would hold up to the abuse and needed the slide features since my truck is a short bed pickup. Didn't want to smash out the back window when backing the rig up into tight spots. After weeks of research I found the Reese Towpower 30056 from their Pro Series line. This hitch has the name I wanted, the tow capacity needed for pulling my 12K lbs monster, and the best price in these series hitches. I have had the hitch installed in my truck for almost a year now and it still looks and performs as it did the day I installed it.

That's right...I installed it with the help of a friend of course. The hitch took about 4 hours to install and is one of the easiest installations I have ever done when it comes to hitches. The kit comes with universal mounting rails and all hardware needed to do the job right. Once the rails are installed, the rest of the hitch is installed by rods and pins. This is great because when you are not using the hitch, the hitch can be removed freeing back up all that cargo space that was lost. The only thing that stays in the truck permanently is the rail system. I have pulled over 10K miles with this hitch, checked all the bolts, and none have even come close to loosening up! I plan on doing my entire cross country trip on this hitch and will never worry about break down or heavy wear. There has been no sing of either of these concerns in the 15K miles I have gone so far!

See you down the road!

Maxxair vent covers

2010-11-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

I have been using Maxxair vent covers for years and highly recommend these to anyone with an RV or trailer. These covers can save you from unexpected rain storms when you are either sleeping or not at the camper. Water has to be the Kryptonite of campers and these covers are the solution to protecting your asset. It is nice to be able to leave the vents in the RV open and not have to worry about the rain coming in.

These vent covers are very easy to install and are made of a hard plastic material that will not fade in the sun and can stand up to most weather conditions.

I have 3 vents in my 5th wheel and have them all covered. I would rate these as and A++ on the easy of installation and the performance of this great camper saving product!

Need More Storage??!!!

2010-11-22T10:41:00.004-05:00

Like most of us that camp, we tend to bring more than we can carry, or even need. My family and I have recently been living fulltime in our 5^th wheel and find that storage is a hot commodity. With only 350 SQFT of living space for 6 and one outside storage compartment, it is very difficult to find room for the sewer hoses, water hoses, and other things that you wouldn’t want to store with your folding chairs and kids toys. On our 5^th wheel we have a 2” trailer hitch receiver installed on the rear bumper. This comes in handy to add storage to your rig without taking up extra space. If you don’t have one of these nice receivers installed, any welding shop should be able to fasten one on for a fair price and as you will see, it is worth its weight in Gold.

There are many different style trailer hitch racks that can be purchased. They make ones that fold up when not in use, have siding so you can strap cargo down, and ones that are completely flat with a metal mesh bottom like shown in the image above. The kind that I purchased is the one like in the image above because I needed the ability to mount a cargo box to the rack. This gives me the ability to have more covered weather proof storage.

The cargo box that I recommend is one made of hard plastic with little or no metal parts. This will keep the latches, etc. from rusting in the weather. Once you find a box that you like, place the box on the rack where you would like it mounted and mark with a chalk on the bottom of the box where you will drill the holes. Depending on the size of the box you may want to drill 6 – 8 mounting holes. Once the holes are drilled, place back on the rack and use 2 washers (1 per side), a lag bolt, and 1 nylon nut to mount the box to the rack. Once the box is mounted, find yourself a nice weather resistant lock and load it up with stuff that you will use to connect your RV at the campground, or other outside stuff. This will help keep your basement and inside storage clean.

Marshall Gas Control Indicator

2010-11-22T10:34:00.001-05:00

Most of the RV’s on the road today tell you everything you need to know about liquid, battery, and power levels with the RV’s on-board sensors. The one thing that is most commonly missing is how much propane you have left in your tanks. This is an important need to know especially if you’re camping in cold weather. What would you do if you ran out of propane in the middle of the night and your family had no heat to keep warm? With this simple solution, you will always know when your primary tank is out of fuel and you are running on your secondary / reserve tank.

My 5^th wheel has (2) 30 lb tanks. I know exactly when I need to refill the primary tank by an amber light that comes on when I automatically switch over to the second tank. In order to accomplish this modification your RV needs to be equipped with a Marshall 250 series 2-stage LP regulator or similar model.

Dump your waste the right way!

2010-11-22T09:09:00.001-05:00

First off, let me say that this is a wonderful, innovative product that will change the way RV’ers dump waste from the black tank! This product not only dumps the waste, but makes clean up and storage a dream. SewerSolutions is powered by water from any garden hose and uses a much smaller 3/4" hose to transport the waste from your RV to the parks sewer system. The pump uses a water jet to shred the waste and then pumps it through the transport hose and away from your RV. Smell is greatly reduced due to flooding the waste with water at the same time the waste is being pushed away from the RV. The water jet can then be turned and used to flush water up and into the RV black holding tank. This helps to clear out any leftover paper or waste that may remain in the tank. Once this process is done, you can either remove the system from your RV or you can connect a plug that is supplied to continue using as at full hookup sites leaving your gray tanks open.

Cleaning is simple since the water just forces all the waste out of the pump and hose creating an automatic cleaning system. The hose is small, so it is very easy to coil up and store away tightly. We all know how RV storage can be limited. This leaves such a small footprint compared to the standard 3” hose, that alone this makes the product worth a look.