Thom and Cari's Parkliner

[accrete]

"odd that way"

U R 1 Funny Guy deryk

[emers382]

Thanks Thom, glad you replied, I really like the way your new PL looks from the pics in this thread. We'll go check them out. We're going to see an Escape 5.0 in Hope Mills and an Escape 19ft in PA on way home (home now is Southern On) but we're moving to Manitoba sometime this year and retiring. So we won't have rain and more rain like you, but snow and more snow, then lots of mosquitos in the summer but plan to travel a lot and see these great countries of ours. (There's someone I correspond with whom we've never met not far from you - in Washougal WA and I have a cousin in Seattle)

I'm now looking at going a bit smaller since with the PL we can leave the queen bed set up and have the two person diner which can become a couch and a berth for when we take our grandkids camping, plus I don't have to buy a huge tug.

You are right about the wood, I think I now prefer the more sleek look of just the wood doors (although Reace does a beautiful job on his Escape wooden cabinets).

Adrian

[accrete]

Originally Posted by emers382

...
You are right about the wood, I think I now prefer the more sleek look of just the wood doors (although Reace does a beautiful job on his Escape wooden cabinets)

You are right on the Escape woodwork, very nice!
Though i sort of grew up with sailboats in the family and grew fond of gel coat interiors with simple wood accents (like Chandler has done on the PL). . . that and my wife an i are surrounded by hickory cabinetry in our _home_ so the change when away is refreshing.

here is where we call home...warm and cozy look & feel of woodwork:



And here is where we like to play!
(and soooo much easier to keep clean)

[k8t]

Hi Thom,

Congratulations on your new Parkliner! It looks fabulous and makes me itch to get ours. It's been fun watching your trailer's progress from factory to current. I like the color scheme you've chosen~very welcoming. I'm also glad things worked out so well with your shipper. That's great news for the rest of us out here on the west coast!

We still have a little time to make any changes on our trailer and I'm wondering about the fan. Is the MaxxAir fan significantly quieter than the stock fan that Chandler is installing? Just the fact that you can have the MaxxAir fan open in the rain is pretty significant!! But conversely, can you NOT have the stock fan open during the rain? Does it leak? Is there no cover on it?

And is it fairly easy to open the MaxxAir fan manually?

Thanks for any input on this from any of you ParkLiner folks.
We're moving up from a pretty basic tent trailer to our first hard-sided rig so this is all fairly new to us.

Kate and Chris
Excited ParkLiner owners-to-be

[accrete]

Greetings Kate and Chris and best wishes on your build and new arrival

I would ABSOLUTELY (if i could yell i would) get the MaxxAir MaxxFan 5100k... there is NO comparison to this fan's quality and versitility to the stock Fantastic Fan (which we also have in our Van Conversion, and i will be swapping out this spring with the 5100k). If you have the option (and i believe Chandler was going to make it so) do it! You will be very pleased.

Cheers,
Thom

[Francesca Knowles]

You know what's funny?

The Fantastic Fan is touted as an upgrade by many trailer makers!

I guess that just goes to show ya that not all baselines are as high as Parkliner's.

Francesca

[Glenn Baglo]

Maxxfan is standard on Escape

[deryk]

What's involved with opening it manually? I kinda like the idea of being able to leave it open while its sitting at my parents between weekends to keep air moving.

[Glenn Baglo]

You turn a knob, inside the trailer where the other controls are. Ie. for temp ( you can set it to come on and off according to the temp ), direction of flow ( in or out ) and speed. If you pull down on the knob it locks the fan cover.

[Brian M. in NY]

Had I known that the MaxxAir was an option, I would definitely have ordered one for our build. Fortunately, the jalousie windows allow for some ventilation in the rain so we'll see how that works out for us before considering a retrofit/upgrade from Fantastic to MaxxAir.

[accrete]

On MaxxAir vs Fantastic fan... i actually requested it...so Chandler bought one and put it in for me. : ) very kind of him!! I prefer opening the fans manually rather than by remote and have a motor/servo to go out eventually. I have three fantastic fans on our Mobile Suite, all remote...but then i've got 9 foot ceilings in that thing! Even the shortest of us can reach up to the ceiling in our little egg campers or a van conversion...so manual saves batteries and fix-it-bills down the road.

`````````````````and now to breaking news

Today's holiday present was the Tradesman tongue box that will fit a honda 1000w generator. I though my Yamaha gen would fit but it doesn't so back it went (i had only read the manual...still brand new in its box)

It is not mounted yet, but i couldn't resist setting it on the rig to get a quick photo to share:

[Brian M. in NY]

Nice look Thom!
With the dual propane tanks on mine, it would get a little crowded or have to be so small that it would only hold a couple of AA batteries. I'll keep the 2KW Honda in the back of the Taco. BTW, whats that blue stuff above the PL?

[Brian M. in NY]

It just occurred to me that you've got a pair of jacks under the front of your rig. Do they really increase the stability enough to make it worth your while to get down on your hands and knees to crank them up? Do you use a set of four or do the standard BAL jacks handle things is the rear?

[accrete]

Amazingly the "Blue Stuff" above the Parkliner is one of our ~80 days we actually have blue skies and see the sun disk!! One funny side note...sometime i'll take a nice side profile shot of the Parkliner as it sits next to our Mobile Suite...You could literally fit the PL inside our front master suite bedroom and still have room to spare!

Yes we like the small jacks up front, we could almost do an Irish Jig inside with them set. Stock BAL stabilizers work well in rear.

When we are at Camping World on Friday we will pick up one of the Ball Light Trailer leveler for single axle trailers. We had one with the A-Liner and it came in handy, easier than carrying assorted chunks of wood to level the trailer out in our unimproved camps off the road.
. . . and then there is the fact that i'm a Gadget Guy...and this is a gadget!



I will be away on Costco business Thursday (4/26-4/27) and then at the NOG over the weekend...so I hope you all have a great few days and i'll check back next Monday. Hopefully able to upload some fun pictures of the NOG outing in Salem Oregon.

[Brian M. in NY]

I'm guessing that my nylon case containing 10 oversize, bright yellow Legos, doesn't qualify as a gadget. I'm going to have to check that out.

[accrete]

yea they are gadgetry
i just found that in undeveloped camps it is a pain to find a level spot by simply backing/driving in. So out comes the BAL and where ever you find your tailer, it can be leveled in a jiffy. We once were in a spot that actually had the BAL nearly all the way extended...the bottom tread was about 10" off the ground. I would be crazy scared driving up my lego blocks to that height! But the BAL was rock solid!

[deryk]

yeah Im thinking as well about getting the BAL leveler since I boondock mostly and rarely is the ground flat and I want the fridge to run properly. Ive seen them on ebay a bit more reasonably priced.

This weekend Im going to see how it goes with the cargo carrier on the back of my ParkLiner's receiver. Since its apparent the real issue on the last trip was I needed an anti-sway bar from the high winds I wanna see how it goes. I did ratchet strap the left and right side to my bumper to serious limit how much it can move around. If all goes well I will get a receiver tamer and try it without the straps. I have a small trunk, probably weigh's 40 pounds..I can carry it with 1 hand so its not very heavy...has 2 hoses, extention cord, some cedar blocks, tent stakes, a hatchet and my rocket stove... if all goes well I can get a real trunk and bolt it down. I have my fingers crossed.

[Glenn Baglo]

Alternative is to carry a shovel and dig a hole for the tire on the high side.

baglo

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Brian M. in NY

I'm guessing that my nylon case containing 10 oversize, bright yellow Legos, doesn't qualify as a gadget. I'm going to have to check that out.

I've got the same Lego set, Brian, and a Bal leveler, too!

A word to the wise:

I've had the blocks since the beginning of my adventures with my trailer (+/- 7 yrs) and they've served me well...but I bought the Bal thinking it would be an improvement. Little did I know it was not only heavier, it takes more space than the blocks!

It's a great gadget, but since the blocks are multi-use and I have to apportion space carefully, the Bal usually stays at home....

Francesca

[deryk]

I bet it would fit in the closet...Dimensions: 20 x 16 x 4 inches ; 12 pounds... might add a few pounds to the tongue weight but not enough to make a difference. I carry a few wooden blocks with me (cedar, so its light) but Ive read alot of reviews and seen some video's and it looks like a good deal.

On my little gypsy caravan I just slept on the side that was higher never really cared. Now tha I have a 3way fridge I really want to be able to use it without messing it up. I might still carry 1 longer block that I could drive onto if the spot I was planning on camping in is real bad. I have heard buying an insulated pizza bag makes a good case for it since the threaded rod is greasy.