New-to-us Keystone Springdale 2003

[bluenoserv]

My husband and I are awaiting the servicing of our 27-foot Springdale 2407 FBLS with a small slide. As this will be a big jump from our Jayco popup, we're nervous about the change in towing. We'll spend this summer updating the trailer while looking for the best tow vehicle. Of the two of us, I'm a little more experienced in camping, my family has done it forever, my husband's outdoor experience comes from cottage life and scouting as a young man. We live in eastern Canada and hope to see more of the country and meet up with family and friends we left behind after our move east. Even before our purchase was finalized, I've been combing these forums and I'm thrilled with the fountain of information. Thanks to everyone for contributing to help others. I will need to do a lot of reading.

Cheers and hope to meet on the road.

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum :wlcm :

Congrats on you new to you purchase. Take your time picking the correct tow vehicle, you may want to go bigger than minimum. I speak from experience, once the RV bug bites it’s terminal. You’ll want bigger once you experience the convenience and ease of setting up camp.

Anyway, post the specs (GVWR) of the trailer, it will help us help you better.

[wiredgeorge]

First thing you will want to do is read up on sealing the roof. Don't assume who ever "services" this trailer will do it properly. A leaking roof or area where the roof meets the front & rear caps and sides will ruin a camper in no time. I have a 2002 Cougar and know of which I speak. Camping in a tent or cabin will not help much with RV upkeep skills so start asking questions and the one thing you can assume is that everyone on this forum started at the beginning and made really really dumb mistakes. You can avoid this by asking lots of questions, no matter how simple the question may seem and let some of the experienced hands chime in with advice! Good luck. Last. go to the UserCP and build a signaure (function is under the UserCP tab) with year, make and specific model of you camper and tow vehicle. Gives questions context.

[Ken / Claudia]

Welcome to the forum, I was told all RVs will leak somewhere at some time. After owning 7? I found that to be true. Make sure any leak found is fixed right away. Learn how to read the tire date code, no matter how new they look. They age out before wear out.

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[Gary R.]

Hello and welcome!

As others have said, be sure to address wherever the water leak is from. Water intrusion is the number one enemy of a RV.

Enjoy and take care!

[LewisB]

Welcome!

You may get temporarily overwhelmed by the "things you need". The guys have already addressed "leaks". This should include things leaking IN, and also things leaking OUT - e.g. drains and water fittings inside the trailer. RV's just don't do well with uncontrolled water inside or out.

Strongly recommend you research the following and consider the purchase of:

• A water pressure regulator (not the cheap plastic restrictor) - the one that has an adjustable setpoint and gauge. Only cost $25-$30 but can save you from blowing out the water lines inside your rig.
• An EMS (electrical management system) to protect the expensive appliances in your rig (refrigerator, AC, microwave, etc.) Don't just buy a cheap surge protector (e.g.$100 or less). A good EMS might be $300 or so.
• TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system); a blowout tire can do thousands of dollars of damage to your rig. The TPMS will monitor pressure and temperature of your tires and warn you ahead of time of a potential issue.

By doing a search, you should be able to find an abundance of information in the forum for the above subjects. There are also some good learning videos at this site: https://www.youtube.com/user/technorv/search as well as on YouTube.

Have fun & enjoy your new RV!

[bluenoserv]

I appreciate the welcome and the advice. I have been doing a ton of reading and I have very close friends with a little more travel trailer experience, albeit a much more up to date rig. I think the question was about weights: gross dry weight is 4490 lbs., cargo capacity 2950, hitch weight is 440, GVWR 7440. I would feel safer with a vehicle that performs to a higher standard as that is the way we played it with our previous pop-up. The length is 27 ft. stem to stern. We are making changes as there is only two of us so there will be weigh-in before we make any decisions on a truck. I guess the best way to start is to weigh what comes out and what goes back in. The modifications planned are hypothetical until the trailer comes home. The servicing that was requested is dependent on the arrival of parts (which seem to be a problem this year due to Covid). So far, I am confident that our service tech has sealed the problem area for now and the other work will happen when the season slows, maybe even next winter.

[sourdough]

Welcome to the forum! I'm a little late to the party.

Looking at your numbers I'm curious; It's 27' long and weighs 4490 dry. I'm assuming a bumper pull. Are you sure about that cargo capacity? Almost 3000lbs. in a trailer that weighs only 4490 seems way high. Maybe somewhere in the 1400 - 1800 range?? I tried to find some specs on it but they don't list a 2407 model; they all have 3 numbers.

Don't be fooled by the listed hitch weight of 440. It will be considerably more than that. As you try to pick a TV I would work with something in the range of 975lbs. or so (7500gvw x 13%). Doubt the gvw will be quite that high but should give you enough room for "guesstimating".

If you've been scanning the forum you know there are lots of discussions revolving around tow vehicles. As you assess what you need keep in mind that length. 27' hangs a good ways behind the tow vehicle and can cause some serious issues if you don't have enough truck. Get a good weight distribution hitch with a sway control before you go anywhere.

Guessing at a 7500lb. gvw and 27' length I would recommend you look at nothing smaller than a full size 1/2 ton with a payload in the range of 1700lbs.+. DO NOT be misled by claims of "max weight towing capability" etc. Go by the weights.

Lots of good folks here to help when you hit a sticking point. Ask away with questions and we will do our best to steer you clear of problems.

[flybouy]

^^ Would agree with Danny. According to profile it's a 2003 Keystone RV M-247 FBLS which I would agree will require a 1/2 up with sufficient payload. What do you have now or do you have a tow vehicle ?

[Ken / Claudia]

As for me, I am not going to weight everything or for that matter anything I put into the trailer. Load it up the way you want to use it and than weight it at a scale. In the end it's the loaded tongue wt. and loaded trailer weight that matter. So if the loaded trailer weight is under the trailers GVWR your good, if the real tongue wt. is about 12% and your trucks loaded weight is under the trucks payload your good.
Bty, my listed trailer below said tongue wt. was 560lbs. Real wt. loaded for 3 days of camping for 2, full fresh tank, propane, 2 batteries scaled at 920lbs.

[bluenoserv]

We haven't purchased a tow vehicle as we have refurbishing to do along with other commitments this year. Looking to purchase a truck next year.