Category Archives: Camper Upgrades

Trailer Tongue Weight Voodoo

Camper Upgrades, Travel Trailer, , ,

Almost three years ago I wrote a 3-part series titled, How Much Trailer Can You Tow? 

You can read them here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 contains the information on Weight Distribution Hitches (WDH)

I have received many inquiries from trailer owners about Weight Distribution Hitches and there is a lot of confusion out there in trailer land. I have always advocated weighing your tow vehicle and trailer periodically to ensure everything is within specifications, and herein lays the confusion. People try to interpret the scale readings and assume a WDH will subtract weight from the tow vehicle’s rear axle and add it to the front axle; that is: the front axle of the tow vehicle will weigh more with the trailer hitched. We do not want this to happen. After completing my yearly maintenance on Monday, I loaded everything up, to include full water tanks and temporarily filled the refrigerator and headed over to the local CAT scale. I’ll use those measurements to hopefully explain how to weigh your set up, what weights you should be looking at, and how to interpret them.

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My Favorite Camping Gear of All Time

Camper Upgrades, Camping

gear article PUBackpacker 05-01-2013

It is common for backpacking bloggers to publish their favorite gear for the year. I have done this every year since 2012, and there has only been one change to my favorite gear in four years as documented in my favorite backpacking gear for 2015. This is different than most backpackers, who seem to have new favorite gear each year, which leads me to believe that their focus is gear-centric and not walking-centric. This begs the question, why do so many backpackers constantly buy new gear? Is it consumerism or do they not focus on skills instead of magic equipment to keep them safe in the backcountry? I’ll let you, the reader, sort out that conundrum.

I have never posted a list of my favorite camping gear. I have been camping for over 50 years and for the past 25 years it has included a camper. The previous 25 years I camped with a tent. In 2003 I refined my camping equipment and little has changed since then, other than we have bought two larger campers over the past 10 years.

So instead of presenting my favorite camping gear for 2015, I will share my favorite 3 of all time.

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ProPride 6,000 Mile Update

Camper Upgrades, Travel Trailer, , , ,

The more I use this, the more I like it! Hitching up the trailer takes seconds, not minutes. But a while back I ran into a small problem.

Propride upper caps dented
ProPride hitch removed from the packing box

When I unpacked the hitch, the upper dust caps were dented. The dents didn’t affect the functionality of the hitch, and was really just a cosmetic issue. However, they caps really should have fitted a little more snug.

Eventually one fell off, lost in the wind while traveling.

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Dometic Sunchaser Awning & Other Stuff

Camper Upgrades, Travel Trailer, , , ,

Dometic Sunchaser Awning

For us, a trailer awning is a critical piece of camping equipment. The awning extends your living space, or as it should, it limits the need to spend time inside the camper. When we are at camped, we spend most of our campsite time outside talking, cooking, working on a suntan (me), or just napping. If it is raining, you can sit under the awning staying dry and enjoying the percipitation, although the camping goal should be to spend most of the time hiking, biking, boating, or even fishing.

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Odyssey 4000 Tongue Jack

Camper Upgrades,

Ultra-Fab Odyssey 4000 Tongue JackAre Americans getting too soft?

Are we too lazy to use a hand crank to level our trailers?

No. We are timesavers. The time it takes to level and stabilize a trailer, and reverse the procedure is better spent hiking when camping.

Like most trailers, ours came with a hand crank tongue jack. Based on past experience, I didn’t bother using it even once. Before we even purchased our Milan, I had bought an electric tongue jack – The Ultra-Fab Products, Odyssey 4000.

We had the same jack on our Niagara tent trailer, so I knew it was a great product. Once we got our newly purchased trailer home, I switched the jacks before I even unhitched the trailer.

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ProPride 4,000 Mile Update

Camper Upgrades

We now have over 4,000 miles on the ProPride Trailer Hitch. Operation has been flawless, and with continuing practice I can hook-up, or disconnect in a matter of seconds. Considering that most of our camping trips are about 100 miles round trip, that is a lot of hitching and unhitching. The trick is to try and keep the tow vehicle lined up with the trailer, so the hitch isn’t at an angle when parking the camper.

4000 miles-1

About every 500 miles I lube the unit via the two grease fittings.

The modifications I had to make (documented in our 1,000 mile update) have worked well.

45 Gallon Fresh Water Transfer Setup

Camper Upgrades,

One of the more popular articles here is the Fresh Water Transfer Methods; I posted over a year ago. These worked fine for our Starcraft and Fleetwood tent trailers, which had 20 and 26 gallon capacities (including the water heater).

Our Milan is a different animal. It has 100 gallons of fresh water capacity, plus the water heater. Not having to replenish the water has been a camping pleasure. We have gone up to two weeks without the need to add water.

But eventually on one of our long trips, we are going to run out of water. The small capacity solutions we have used in the past aren’t going to be convenient. So I went searching for a new solution.

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