Hello from Woodstock, GA

[DarylW]

We purchased a 2017 Passport Express 239ML on Black Friday and picked it up the following Friday. After PDI, Orientation, de-winterizing, getting the weight distribution hitch and brake controller installed and setup, we headed out that same evening to a campsite at a local campground.

In short, we had a great weekend! We have lots to learn and are looking for any tips, suggestions, mods and upgrades. We do have to travel light as the trailer weighs in around 4050 lbs and our tow rating is 4500 on our Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk V6 with Tow Pkg.

Trying to link to pics on Flickr... hope this works...





Daryl

[66joej]

Nice outfit! Enjoy it. Lots of mods on this site. Do a search.

[DAN d]

welcome to the forum enjoy

[srvnt]

Welcome , lots of good stuff here!

[WarEagle]

Very nice!!! Did you go to Redtop for first trip?

[summerhummer]

Welcome.... If you did go to red top I hope you love it like I do... I love red top. Its a nice place to camp...

[m&m]

Welcome. We do a lot of camping in Ga. Great S/P, county pks and COE parks.

[tgoodwin321]

Welcome! Wife and I used to live in Woodstock 4 years ago before moving to Vancouver,WA. Also own a 238ML. We love it. Happy camping old neighbor!

[Tbos]

Welcome to the forum from Southern MD. I used to own a 238ML. Traded it for our 2810 so we would have a little more space. Have fun. They are great TTs.

[DarylW]

Thanks all for the responses! We spent our first weekend at McKinney Campground at Lake Allatoona, GA. Then we winterized for a cold spell that came through Atlanta area. On the 16th we de-winterized and took it to see family in Tallahassee, FL and stayed at a Leon County park called Coe's Landing on Lake Talquin. We winterized it on the way back home and it's now stored till the spring thaw.

We have had a great time with it so far and have been working on equipping it. I have already started on some simple mods - towel racks and rods, command hooks. I want to find a way to protecting the ducting under the kitchen so I can more effectively use the storage there without worrying about crushing the ducting.

[DarylW]

Awesome! We really like the floor plan on the 238ml. It's the most RV we can get for our tow capacity - some would say borderline. But it has performed great over 800 miles so far. We did have it weighed at a CAT scale and we came in within limits, so I'm happy about that.

I would love to visit Vancouver, WA. Maybe we'll head cross-country with it at some point in the near future!

[Boxto]

Hi there!
I'm looking foward for this trailer (239ml). I'm driving a 2013 Toyota Highlander (5000 lbs tow capacity/ 500 lbs tongue weight capacity). I use to pull a 3700 lbs Jayco with 370 lbs tongue weight, but i was not 100% comfortable with my future set-up.. Seem that i should be ok with the Highlander? What do you think?

[DAN d]

welcome from carver ma (plymouth)have fun enjoy

[DarylW]

Originally Posted by Boxto

Hi there!
I'm looking foward for this trailer (239ml). I'm driving a 2013 Toyota Highlander (5000 lbs tow capacity/ 500 lbs tongue weight capacity). I use to pull a 3700 lbs Jayco with 370 lbs tongue weight, but i was not 100% comfortable with my future set-up.. Seem that i should be ok with the Highlander? What do you think?

Our 2017 Jeep has the V6 with a 4500 lb. towing capacity. The sticker on our 239ML is 4050 lbs (with full propane), so you can see we have to travel very light (no fresh tank water to start with). With a 5000 tow capacity I might feel better about it, but we've recently come to a realization that our 2nd bottleneck is that we only get about 10 mpg on a 15 gal gas tank when towing, so we have an effective range of only 100-120 miles before having to fill up. You might want to consider this as well. BTW, I would consider a WD with Anti-Sway hitch to be mandatory - our Curt Trunion Bar hitch has performed flawlessly. We are considering a Grand Cherokee or 250/2500 class truck to improve allowable weight, fuel capacity, mileage and, thus, range.

[BirchyBoy]

My first camper was a 238ML. It was pushing the limits of our Grand Cherokee with me, my wife, our small dog and would suggest you look at something else. The limiting factor is going to be your payload and tongue weight.

We are moving to Atlanta this weekend and then will be looking for a place to move to by July. Woodstock seems like a good area and is on our list. It's on the outer edge of where I want to commute from, but time will tell. And I'll have lots of time on my commute!

[DarylW]

Hi BirchyBoy,

Yeah, we were looking at GC with Diesel with 7200 lb tow capacity, but tongue wt / payload capacity on GC is very limited - not a lot of room for future growth either, especially if we want to take our 2 dogs. The F-250/2500 class diesel crew cabs seem to be our next upgrade.

As for Atlanta, welcome! I can highly recommend Woodstock. But I sit in about 3 hrs of rush hour a day (both ways combined), so it's not for everybody. Be aware of additional commute impact if you live and work on opposite sides of the I-85 bridge out. There are a lot of nice campgrounds all over northwest (Lake Allatoona) and northeast (Lake Lanier) Atlanta. Warmest wishes for your relocate!

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by DarylW

Hi BirchyBoy,

Yeah, we were looking at GC with Diesel with 7200 lb tow capacity, but tongue wt / payload capacity on GC is very limited - not a lot of room for future growth either, especially if we want to take our 2 dogs. The F-250/2500 class diesel crew cabs seem to be our next upgrade.

As for Atlanta, welcome! I can highly recommend Woodstock. But I sit in about 3 hrs of rush hour a day (both ways combined), so it's not for everybody. Be aware of additional commute impact if you live and work on opposite sides of the I-85 bridge out. There are a lot of nice campgrounds all over northwest (Lake Allatoona) and northeast (Lake Lanier) Atlanta. Warmest wishes for your relocate!

Thanks! My office is in Dunwoody, just north of I-285. Hopefully we'll find something in Roswell or closer, but Woodstock is not out yet.

[PARAPTOR]

to The Forum From Western PA

Congrats on your new Passport! Enjoy!!

Be Safe and Happy Camping

[Keystone Camper]

Just joined the forum and saw the posts from DarylW. You can see from my sig we're in Woodstock too.

[Chief Mole]

Welcome from the Midlands of South Carolina!