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Old 06-29-2009, 03:06 PM   #1
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2008 28' Safari SE
winter garden , Florida
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First real camping trip.

we have owned our 28' safari for about a month now and finally decided to take it on a little road trip last weekend. After living in florida for 6 years my wife wanted to see the beach, so off to Jetty park campground we went! I now realize that when you get the only site that is available you should probably just go home! Remember this people site 62 at Jetty park in cape canaveral should be avoided at all costs!!!!! Yes it is shady, but that shade is provided by a tree created by the devil himself, it produces a burgundy berry that covers everything and never stops dropping them. These miserable berries ooze a sap that you cannot escape from, its covers your camper, awning, tow vehicle, pets and people! and all night you can listen to them drop on your roof. Back to site 62, it has a lovely view of the dumpster out your bedroom window and at the dinnette you can watch all the campers taking their trash to it, but since you are in a direct path to the dumpster they all walk thru your site dragging more berries onto your outdoor carpet. If you get really bored you can watch all the people showering since they apparently don't understand the function of a door. Which now brings me to my final point, when leaving your camper always take your keys, if not and you accidently brush up against the upper door lock you too can spend an hour grilling perfect steaks and baked potatoes only to find out that it takes pop- a -lock 45 mins. to unlock your door!
I figure that if there is a hell for campers it would be site 62 at Jetty Park!!!
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Old 06-29-2009, 03:36 PM   #2
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Well besides all the things that can go wrong,did go wrong,wasn`t it nice to get the camper out and on the road. A BAD DAY CAMPING IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY AT WORK. Dave
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Old 06-29-2009, 03:41 PM   #3
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I am so sorry to hear that you had such an awful experience. I have never stayed at Jetty Park, but have always heard mixed reviews and the big draw is to watch shuttle launches. I hope you have good luck getting the berry juice and sap off your new Safari. I'm no expert on cleaning sap from Airstreams so I will let someone else chime in on that process.

I would highly recommend that you "go west young man", to the west coast of Florida that is, and try De Soto Park. I believe it is in St. Petersburg, FL. Again, I haven't stayed there, but have many friends that have and it is highly recommended. It is on the bay, not the actual beach, but many of the campsites are directly on the water. The sites are heavily wooded and very private from the photos I have seen. No one that I have talked to has had any negative comments...unless you consider not having sewer hook-ups to be a negative. Well, actually, I do, but that is a different story (hate towing that blue tank to the dump station every day!).
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Old 06-29-2009, 04:01 PM   #4
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thanks I will look west next time. As far as berries, yes it took most of yesterday and today but I am berry free. One good thing about being locked out was it occurred at the same time as the atlas 4 rocket went up, the bad part is it scared the crap out of my American Eskimo and she jumped on the side of the trailer. well I learned, next time will be better.
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Old 06-29-2009, 04:03 PM   #5
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I also noticed you have the same tow vehicle as me, don't you just love that 11 Mpg, towing or empty, 20 mph or 100 mph still 11 mpg
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Old 06-29-2009, 04:15 PM   #6
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We're laughing WITH you. Really.
Well Almost.

I take it the naked people showering weren't attractive. They never are, are they?

Oh my. Makes one yearn for the sterility of the local WalMart parking lot.
You will have better luck next time. (OH, and the BEST place to spend a major holiday weekend could well be your own driveway!)

Here's a trick. Look under your Airstream. See the black tube where the slinky hose goes? A good place to hide spare keys cause no one wants to feel around in there! (HINT think black electricians tape to disguise them...) Think of the ROOF of the tube, or the hollow spot in the cover, or inside the pristine slinky itself. (I use a Sewer Solution and keep it in a bag in the rear bumper.) Or even inside a nasty smelling rubber glove stuffed in the tube. I know I'm sick. Thinking back to Caddy Shack, I could put an unwrapped chocolate candy bar in there and let the summer heat melt it to the bottom of the tube....

Paula
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Old 06-29-2009, 04:21 PM   #7
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not a bad idea, I could find some unique places to put it. actually it seems the people who forgot about the use of a door always seemed to be teenage girls, i say that because thats the side we faced. My wife probably would have preferred the other side of the building.
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Old 06-30-2009, 12:19 PM   #8
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I guess you know that you need to add binoculars to the list of supplies to include before going on your next camping trip !

You're right I do like my PSD. My trailer is a 30' Safari and I hardly know it's back there. I have very little trouble keeping up with interstate traffic even in hilly terrain.

One of our favorite places to go is Walt Disney World and have even considered becoming one of your neighbors, but then the bottom fell out of the job market. My wife likes a couple of the neighborhoods near Fowler's Grove. I like the convenience to the expressway and, of course, Disney. Maybe after the recession.
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:35 PM   #9
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Look on the bright side: you've gotten a lot of new information, regarding that particular campsite, berry stain removal, anatomy lessons, lock procedures, etc. You wouldn't know any of this stuff if you'd just sat at home and watched t.v. and grilled a 'burger.

'course, there is always some stuff we learn that we'd rather not know, but that's just the way it is.
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:40 PM   #10
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I live about 2 miles from Fowlers Grove, house prices are really dropping here in Winter garden, you should look in a place called indepedence its really nice and lots of foreclosures, its also about 5 mins. to disney. What hitch do you have, I am using an equalizer setup by Bates when i bought the trailer, do not think it is right. I get lots of bounce in the cab. since you have the same truck i thought i would ask. I do not know if this makes a difference but mine is a 4x4 with the off road package. Also do you get better than 11 mpg?
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:50 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bob34787 View Post
but that shade is provided by a tree created by the devil himself, it produces a burgundy berry that covers everything and never stops dropping them. These miserable berries ooze a sap that you cannot escape from, its covers your camper, awning, tow vehicle, pets and people! and all night you can listen to them drop on your roof.
It's customary to burn these berries in the camp fire to dispose of them. Please see http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...res-52943.html for further instructions.
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:53 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by AirsDream View Post
Look on the bright side: you've gotten a lot of new information, regarding that particular campsite, berry stain removal, anatomy lessons, lock procedures, etc. You wouldn't know any of this stuff if you'd just sat at home and watched t.v. and grilled a 'burger.

'course, there is always some stuff we learn that we'd rather not know, but that's just the way it is.
At my age I have seen all the anatomy I want to. As far as the rest, I just want a nice peaceful camping experience. Thats what retirement is for, atleast I thought.
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:58 PM   #13
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It's customary to burn these berries in the camp fire to dispose of them. Please see http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...res-52943.html for further instructions.
not a bad idea, start a campfire at the base of the tree........ no more berries
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Old 06-30-2009, 03:44 PM   #14
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We have an Equalizer too. The dealer did not set it up correctly, although it towed fine. I finally downloaded the instructions off their website, took the whole thing apart and set it up very carefully. It's a tedious experience because you have to keep trying different combinations to get it right, but then you can be sure it's done right. You can also call Equalizer and talk to a tech when you can't figure it out. There's a learning curve, but after a while, I started to get it. As the hitch breaks in, you may need to add one or more washers. You use #8, the hardest ones made, 1/2" ID, approximately 1/8" thick.

Check out this thread, especially posts ## 13 and 14: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ort-34484.html

I had to read those posts several times to make sense of them. I explained my experience in post # 157: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...s-47817-2.html

When you do all the adjustments you can understand why the dealers often don't do it very well—they can't afford the time it takes. Every truck and trailer combination is different.

Sorry you had such a bad first trip. Someday it'll look funny, but maybe it'll take a while. It's up from here.

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Old 06-30-2009, 04:35 PM   #15
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thanks, i will check out the links, I just do not think the 20 year old at bates who spent a total of 25 minutes installing it was as anal as I am when it comes to my safety
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Old 07-01-2009, 06:45 AM   #16
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Bob, for the bolts on the hitch head you will need a 1 1/8" open end or combination wrench and a 1 1/8" deep socket, somethings not in most tool kits. A monster torque wrench is handy too since these bolts have to be torqued something around 200 lbs. Mine goes to 150 lbs and then I just guessed, probably limited by my strength.

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Old 07-01-2009, 08:09 AM   #17
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I have an email into equalizer asking them some questions regarding the installation, waiting to hear back.
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Old 07-01-2009, 12:42 PM   #18
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I got my answer from progress today, my ball height is too high, they were surprised that one of their volume dealers did not know the proper height to set the ball. If the inside of the socket is 18" than the top of the ball should be as close to that height as possible. I also noticed that the installer did not put any slack in the gas line and it is snug up against the bottom bolt of the L bracket, not good. After contacting Bates RV, they say they will correct these problems if I want to drive 150 miles, or I could just pay one of the local dealers to install it correctly. I know, I could just do it myself but I do not have the proper tools such as torque wrench or sockets large enough. I guess I will weigh the costs of buying tools as opposed to paying a dealer and see which is better.
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Old 07-01-2009, 01:48 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bob34787 View Post
not a bad idea, I could find some unique places to put it. actually it seems the people who forgot about the use of a door always seemed to be teenage girls, i say that because thats the side we faced. My wife probably would have preferred the other side of the building.
We keep a spare set of camper keys in the truck. If the unthinkable occurs and we are locked out of our AS AND truck, we have onstar to unlock our TV. Just another thought although I like the cap of the sewer hose holder idea!
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Old 07-01-2009, 02:34 PM   #20
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The gas line on ours is riveted to the bottom of the tongue. Some models have it screwed to the tongue. Not willing to drill out the rivets, I reinstalled the two link plates on that side (not the L bracket which is screwed to the plates) with the bottom screw below the gas line. This can cause the link plates to bow if you torque them too tight. Equalizer is now recommending torquing them to 50 lbs. The link plates will bow out with more torque. You can reinforce the link plates with another plate and they will never bow, but you'll have to get longer bolts.

The top of ball is now recommended to be equal to the height of the inside of the "socket" as you call it. Their instructions are different and so is Airstream's. I tried it with them equal and it didn't work well. The height of the ball largely determines whether the trailer is level. The height of the bars and the amount of washers affect weight distribution. But these three variables work together, so there's a lot of tinkering. So I raised the height of the ball (raised the bolts on the shank from the bottom to the next ones up) which added an inch to the ball height. This came out about the same, but a little lower, than recommended in the instructions and the Airstream manual. As you tinker with it, the front and back of the truck go up and down until you get them as close to equal compression as possible. It is recommended to have the bars as closes to parallel to the tongue frame as possible also, but that can be very difficult to do.

It's good to have a torque wrench to check the torque on the wheel lug nuts (120 lbs on most trailers), so having one of those is a good idea anyway. I found a pretty cheap one on sale, though I don't remember the price—maybe $25. If I were using a torque wrench all the time, I would have bought a better one. Then I got a deep socket for the lug nuts—about $15. The combination wrench and the deep socket cost about $45. This is just part of owning a trailer. If you do it yourself, you'll be able to adjust it when necessary and tighten bolts if they loosen, and they do. Jacking up the trailer while hitched to the truck can loosen the top bolt on the shank (the 1 1/8" ones), so it pays to check them. The top one is an adjustment, so it has to be correct.

It took me hours to get it right. It's a real pain. I'm sure someone experienced could do it quicker. Getting it right means proper weight distribution and a level trailer. If you don't have both, it puts extra wear on the truck, possibly too much weight on the rear truck axle, too much weight on one trailer axle, and possibly not very good sway control. When I bought the trailer, I had no idea I would have to deal with this, or a lot of other things either. I'd rather spend my time doing something else, but it is part of the trailer life.

Gene
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