Towing a Parkliner

[k8t]

Hey all you Parkliner folks!

We'll be contacting Parkliner with these same questions but thought we'd ask here too, as it's Sunday and we're thinking about this stuff now...

1.) What kind of plug comes on the Parkliner, the one that comes from the trailer to the tow vehicle? We have a 7-pin receiver and are hoping this will work. Here's a picture:

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#...3-04BA1E60CB2E

2.) What kind of hoses and tools will we need for emptying the black water tank at a waste dumping station? Our tent trailer didn't have a toilet so this is new for us. Any suggestions and recommendations for tools you wouldn't be without for this task would be greatly appreciated. We have our kit of wheel chalks, basic tools, and bungies, etc., but we know there are more for this "new" set-up.

Thanks!!!
Katie

[deryk]

Hi Katie, the ParkLiner comes standard with the 7 pin connector because it has brakes.

For hoses and stuff there are more knowledgeable people here then me. It comes with a real short hose. I would suggest a longer one with the fitting that would go into the pumpout hole...and rubber gloves. I have a porta potty and can dump that in a toilet. My grey water tank isnt the big deal because its mostly food particles and soap going in there.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ewer-kit/44151

[k8t]

Thanks Deryk! Very helpful!!!

[accrete]

Hi Katie,

Yes on what deryk said : ) and on the tank dump...?

If you have the macerating toilet all you need is to hook a standard garden hose up to the stock 4" to 3/4" adapter that should have already been mounted on the tank outlet. The macerating toilet does just what the name implies, and by the time the _stuff_ from toilet reaches the holding tank it is liquefied. So you only need a standard garden hose from Parkliner's holding tank to your dump site/inlet. I purchased the inlet adapters from my local RV shop and carry them in a bag inside the curbside seat storage with a coiled up garden hose.

Happy Trails,
Thom

[DJO]

Thanks yet again Deryk and Thom for your great advice. I think you two should write a Parkliner newbie owner's manuel. I need one!

[deryk]

Originally Posted by DJO

Thanks yet again Deryk and Thom for your great advice. I think you two should write a Parkliner newbie owner's manuel. I need one!

heh...Thanks, Im sure your going to be very happy with your ParkLiner. I just came back from a 540 mile trip. Towed great as always... till I got into jersey and hit the rain and winds, had to drop down under 70mph lol

[War Eagle]

DJO,

Have you gotten your Parkliner yet? If so, have you noticed any tire rubbing marks on the fiberglass inside either wheel well? There appears to have been an issue with this on some trailers made back in April/May, and several of us are wondering if that has all been resolved with the newer models. Any insight would be appreciated.

Dale

[DJO]

Yes we did get our Parkliner about 6 weeks ago. When Roger delivered it there was a small bit of rub on the right well, at the bottom front. I think it made contact as the camper was backed up the curb. I noticed it again after another "backing bump".
We will keep an eye on it but may ask a friend to work the fiberglass and give us some more clearance.
We really enjoy the layout and the great fiberglass work inside the camper. I can't imagine having another brand. Hopefully the tire issue is a minor one.

[Glenn Baglo]

So, would one want to avoid towing on washboard, forestry roads, and be restricted to pavement, to prevent damage?

[War Eagle]

DJO,

I'm glad you got your ParkLiner (in early July?) and are enjoying it with no wheel well rub problem to speak of. I hope that means ParkLiner has worked through the problem, but do keep an eye on the wheel wells just in case.

Just as a production reference point, would you mind sharing the production number (serial number) of your camper if you know it? Somewhere between #040 and #050? Just curious....

Happy trails!

Dale

[Ice-breaker]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

So, would one want to avoid towing on washboard, forestry roads, and be restricted to pavement, to prevent damage?

It sounds as if with the current configuration, towing should be restricted to smooth pavement.

The solution to this rub issue mess with the Parkliner is not to play around with tire sizes, which may give minimal short-term improvements in clearance (what happens in 10yrs when the rubber in the torsion axle has deteriorated?). If I was a purchaser of a new Parkliner, I would insist on the manufacturer dropping the axle by about 2" to 4" before I purchased.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

If I was a purchaser of a new Parkliner, I would insist on the manufacturer dropping the axle by about 2" to 4" before I purchased.

I understand this logic, but the manufacturer went to some lengths to make the trailer ride as low as possible. Jacking it up means keeping all of the sacrifices for low height, with none of the benefit. The real fix appears to be in the fiberglass - the tire simply needs more room, or to be placed correctly in the available room.

[Ice-breaker]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I understand this logic, but the manufacturer went to some lengths to make the trailer ride as low as possible. Jacking it up means keeping all of the sacrifices for low height, with none of the benefit. The real fix appears to be in the fiberglass - the tire simply needs more room, or to be placed correctly in the available room.

Brian, I guess I have never really considered low height to be a significant benefit to me, other than possibly being able to store the trailer within a shorter garage (and possibly a slightly smaller profile to catch wind while towing). My personal preference is to have adequate ground clearance and to be able to tow my travel trailer over rougher terrain without worrying about dragging the bottom on every obstacle or rubbing the tires inside the wheel wells as I travel over a bump, therefore my suggestion to raise the Parkliner by dropping the axle. I agree with you that it would also make sense for the Parkliner folks to enlarge the wheel wells to give adequate clearance for the tires. I would consider the use of smaller tires to solve the current problem as a band-aid solution at best, and probably only temporary.

[DJO]

Chandler told me that our camper was one of the 40+ campers made. The sticker says June 2013 as it's manufacured date. It does seem that we are limited to smoother roads. I've wondered what it'd be like to raise the thing up and have some nice 15 inch tires under it so we could travel on dirt roads with confidence.

[accrete]

just passing through with comments on our PL#35... tire rub with the new tires is still an issue.

And for what its worth... a trailer, any brand, should be able to handle highway roads and dips/bumps and such without rub...our PL is unable to do so at this time & we are awaiting a reply from Parkliner for ideas on how they will fix the issue.

I would keep a very close eye on that fiberglass rub. Ours had ~2.5K highway miles during the delivery out here to Oregon and had gone through at least one full layer of glass cloth at that point. I repaired the damage per Chandler's recommendation after new tires were put on, and it is through the new epoxy paint coat and down to about 1/2 the depth of first damage.

Thom

[War Eagle]

Thom, I recognize this would be an added expense ($$ and time) on your part, but if you're the investigative type, it might be interesting to get one of those little helmet action cameras with integrated digital video recorder that mountain bikers attach to their helmets to record their riding adventures, then use PVC tubing, suction cups, duct tape or whatever to construct a bracket you can mount on the side of the ParkLiner around the wheel well so you can point the camera at the area where the tire rubs. Then start the camera and take off for a ride - smooth road, bumpy road, high speed, hard left and right turns at various speeds, etc. Then view the recordings to see if you can figure out what specific driving maneuver(s) causes the tire to rub. I think the cameras usually put a "real time" time stamp on the video to keep track of what time you're looking at to match how you were driving at the time. Otherwise you'll have to come up with some other way to match how you were driving at the same time you see the tire rubbing on the video. May be a crazy idea, but something to think about trying if you're game....

[Brian B-P]

Video analysis

Originally Posted by War Eagle

May be a crazy idea, but something to think about trying if you're game....

I think it's a great idea. Although the well-known Point Of View action cameras are not cheap, I saw an ad yesterday for someone selling an off-brand high definition (although only 720P) unit for $70.

The ideal setup would be to synch the video with GPS data, for speed, cornering, and the location of notable bumps.

[accrete]

Great idea W.E. and my wife already has one that will work...and i get to play with PVC

...all this and Heaven Too

[War Eagle]

Thom, if you'd prefer real-time viewing, I know someone makes a small video camera (12V or dry cell battery powered?) and wireless transmitter that can be mounted inside a horse trailer along with a 12V wireless receiver and small monitor that can be mounted on the vehicle's dash so that people transporting horses can keep an eye on the horse while in transit. I recall it was fairly expensive - but probably because it was being marketed to horse owners. But the technology is out there, so it's likely that some company offers a less expensive model (RadioShack?, BestBuy?). That would let you drive while your wife keeps an eye on the monitor (or visa versa) to watch the monitor real-time for tire-rubbing. And that would also give you an excuse to buy a nifty new gadget rather than borrow your wife's helmet cam. Just another something to think about trying, and you still get to play with PVC for the camera mounting bracket...

[Ice-breaker]

I am a little bit skeptical about the value in using a video camera to try to catch the tire rubbing. Unless you have a very high quality camera with a large number of frames per second, it is unlikely that you will even be able to see rubbing happening on the recorded images. Since you already know that rubbing is happening, even if the camera does record the rubbing, the best that the camera will do for you is tell you on which bump the wheels rubbed. How can that information be used. Surely, you would not take the approach that you will solve the rubbing issues by avoiding those bumps in the road! The only two feasible (to me) solutions that I have heard so far regarding the tire rub issue is to lower the axle or re-work the fiberglass on the wheel wells. I personally would lower the axle.