She's HOME!!

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by rbrdriver

You can swap those batteries out for 4 lithium batteries and then you won't have to worry about venting, Plus they are a lot lighter. Just saying.............

Holy cow!
How many years are you able to finance 4 lithium batteries?
The batteries may be lighter, but not nearly as light as your wallet after buying 4 of them!!!!

[ewbldavis]

Wow. I love those Montana's and a HUGE fan of the front living.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Holy cow!
How many years are you able to finance 4 lithium batteries?
The batteries may be lighter, but not nearly as light as your wallet after buying 4 of them!!!!

In addition, the OP "delayed the install of a $2500 generator due to costs".... Adding $4000 (typical price) or even $3000 (budget price lithium batteries) probably wouldn't be a "yeah, let's go that route to save some costs" type of decision.....

[crowbar]

That is one beautiful trailer! I'd be inclined to put a retractable roof over it so it never got rained on! Mmm, I wonder, could I pull that thing with my F150?

[Javi]

Originally Posted by crowbar

That is one beautiful trailer! I'd be inclined to put a retractable roof over it so it never got rained on! Mmm, I wonder, could I pull that thing with my F150?

Just ask a salesman... you're good.. sign here

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by crowbar

That is one beautiful trailer! I'd be inclined to put a retractable roof over it so it never got rained on! Mmm, I wonder, could I pull that thing with my F150?

You might not be "good to go" with just any F150, but a "properly equipped Ranger"...... Now that might just be the ticket to "economical towing" and we know it'll tow anything on the dealership lot...

[Ksupaul]

She’s a Beaut Clarke!

[Big1]

Nice, very nice and congrats.

[Bill-2020]

Gawd that's beautiful... and the head on picture with the slides out...!

If the slides were any wider... "Montana Heavy, you're cleared for immediate departure"

Ok, educate me on 5th wheels... I can't make out any wheel chocks. So is the landing gear ample enough to hold her steady after disconnecting the truck?

[notanlines]

Bill, generally in RV parks with level, concrete pads we might not chock, but we always chock if there is any doubt. Just takes both of us about 30 seconds and then it's done.

[ewbldavis]

We ALWAYS chock.

[Bill-2020]

Originally Posted by notanlines

Bill, generally in RV parks with level, concrete pads we might not chock, but we always chock if there is any doubt. Just takes both of us about 30 seconds and then it's done.

Ok, I thought so. I deploy the old fastway one step chocks, love 'em. I just didn't see any in the OP's pictures so I thought maybe there's something about the leveling of a 5th wheel with the landing gear that makes the chocks unneeded.

[sourdough]

We always chock both sides before unhitching. When the pin is released the trailer leveling has not been set up and it's only sitting on the 2 front legs. Having had a bumper pull swivel about 15 degrees as soon as it came off the ball because I only chocked one side....I don't want that happening again.

[JRTJH]

Danny brings up a point to consider for everyone. If you "back into a site with a sideload on the tires" (from being at too tight an angle) when you unhitch or uncouple the trailer, there's a "torque force" on the tires. That can, in some situations, move the front of the trailer a significant distance as the tires "unload". Chocking, if done properly, will stop that from happening, as will pulling forward then backing straight into the site (to unload the tires). If left alone, that sideways movement might/could align the trailer with a downslope and potentially "help" it roll off the campsite pad.

Will it happen???? Probably onlly about 1 in 100,000 times.... Question would be: How many other times has it not happened, and am I "the lucky/unlucky one" ?????

[sourdough]

John brings up an excellent observation. The situation I described with the shifting tongue was like his example. Stayed at a park we had never been in on the side of a hill/mountain. The assigned site was new and had been made by making a built up site out of gravel on the side of the hill. Surrounded by trees, utility peds, narrow road and the site that was narrow and elevated it took a couple of minutes to get the trailer negotiated onto the pad. As an example of the way they had built this site; the power ped was at the back of the trailer/site. When connecting the power cable to the ped (3-4' tall) I was looking UNDER the trailer.

Anyway, I learned a couple of things that day when the trailer decided to take off on its own - first, I had no idea how much pucker power an individual could generate....I could feel my jeans being drawn in so much they were getting light across my legs and secondly, although I was standing uphill when the tongue starting moving, a 200+ lb. guy actually has ZERO to say when pulling/holding onto a 9300lb. trailer as it shifts. Thankfully it stopped on its own. Chock both sides....yep, your jeans will thank you for it.

[JRTJH]

Going back to the basics, if you're going to uncouple a travel trailer "ball hitch" it is always advisable to leave the safety chains and breakaway cable connected to the tow vehicle until after the ball coupler has been disconnected from the truck ball. That way, if there is some movement, the chains will limit that "trailer runaway" to the length of the safety chains.... If you've got the breakaway wire also connected, even in a "worst case scenario" once that pin is pulled, the brakes "should" stop the trailer from going much further than the edge of the campsite... As Danny said, there's not much a 200 pounder can do to alter a 9300 pound trailer's movement once it starts. Use the tools/safety devices that are there to do the work for you.

It helps to step back and think about what you're doing, why you're doing it the way you are and whether there's a safer or more "logical" way to achieve the same results, often by just rearranging the sequence of what you do..... YMMV

[BrooksFam]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Going back to the basics, if you're going to uncouple a travel trailer "ball hitch" it is always advisable to leave the safety chains and breakaway cable connected to the tow vehicle until after the ball coupler has been disconnected from the truck ball...………..

^^ This is what I do on any ball hitch trailer...…..

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by BrooksFam

^^ This is what I do on any ball hitch trailer...…..

Me too, but I can't begin to count the number of people I've seen who first disconnect the safety chains, the breakaway cable and wrap them around the tongue, leaving the trailer "completely ready to roll away in a perfect storm situation'.....

I've even see utility trailers and snowmobile trailers that when disconnected from the ball, go straight up in the air from being improperly loaded (light tongue) or from a shifted load.....

[sourdough]

[QUOTE=JRTJH;421372]Going back to the basics, if you're going to uncouple a travel trailer "ball hitch" it is always advisable to leave the safety chains and breakaway cable connected to the tow vehicle until after the ball coupler has been disconnected from the truck ball.


I did have the chains still connected to the truck but that really doesn't cross your mind when the trailer takes off on its own as soon as it comes off the ball....and those loops in the chain sure leave a lot of room for the trailer to swing.

[flybouy]

My BIL did that one trip. I was set up, he came in after. The site ran down hill to the back of the site with about a 5' drop off into large trees. He unhitched, then I heard gravel noises and looked over. It looked like a cartoon. He was hanging on for dear life trying to stop a 30' Jayco loaded to the hilt. Luckily it stopped before going over.

He was angry that I didn't help. I told him that I don't do "trailer anchor duty". But he learned his lesson. He never again forgot to chock his wheels or remove the safety chains before raising off the ball.