Shakedown Trip - DONE!

[fusedlight]

Now I know why they call it a "shakedown" cruise. Things, well... things "shake down". Total trip: 4,617 miles of which around 3,200 were in the Scamp.

Major Stuff:

• Hydraulic tongue lift (remember that? Kinda at a weird angle??) got taken out by a way too tall speed bump. Got it replaced.
  • Got a 3" higher ball hitch at the same time. The trailer how rides level and the bottom of the lift is 3" higher than the bottom of the hitch.
• Drain hose popped off the bottom of the shower. Crappy repair job done by someone in the past. I'll fix it with some JB Water Weld and Silicone Goop.
• Prodigy brake system reading "not connected". The trailer brakes worked fine, and I really didn't want to spend time screwing around with trying to find a U-Haul place that actually knew how to fix the controller. U-Haul Corporate kept sending us to places that didn't have a clue. I'll just bring it back to the place we got it from.

Middle-Major Stuff:

• Refrigerator door kept popping off. Temporary fix with Our Friend Mr. Duct Tape. I've got some permanent ideas on this one.
• Door to toilet/shower popped off. Piano hinge screws going into the door all pulled out. Fix will be longer screws and gorilla glue injected into the existing screw holes.
• Minor water leak at the edge of the back window. All the other windows had a bead of sealant. I'll add that to the back.
• Role-out awning legs popped out. The whole assembly is all wangy now. I haven't bothered too look at it to see what I need to do. Duct tape provided a temporary fix.

Minor Stuff:

• Pipe fittings not snug. The compression fittings going into the shower leaked. Snugged up and all was OK.
• Screws popping out of various things, such as heater cover. Lock-Tite should take care of that.

Mods coming up:

• Replace all incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs. They are wending their way to me from China now.
• Install 12' LED strip light on door-side under awning. I've got the strip, but am going to wait until I get the awning fixed.

All in all it was a great trip! Even in 100+ heat the AC worked like a champ.


I'll be posting some camping reviews, pictures, and the like after I catch up on two and a half weeks of work. Those pesky customers!

[Raz]

Funny how that stuff happens. Last fall on a trip west Maggie went into the camper to make lunch and found the closet door on the floor. Duct tape...don't leave home without it. Good post. Raz

[fusedlight]

Forgot to say...

TV is a 2008 Toyota V6 Rav4. Without the Scamp we get around 20-25 MPG with the Scamp we were hitting 15-18 MPG. No overheating at all. On the open road we averaged 58-60 MPH. There was some slight swaying, and the occasional oscillating up-and-down (thank you Wisconsin Dept of Hwys... nice roads ya got there).