Visit our Popular Forums

Hullap · 10-04-2016, 02:29 PM

We bought our 2017 FC 25 FB Twin on 15 September 2016.

I wanted to call the AS Frank and our two F150s Lloyd and Wright. After some soup for lunch one day, my wife decided that it needed to be called Campbell.

Based on what I have read here and elsewhere, I got it with 16" wheels and Michelins from the factory. I got 300W of solar, Centramatics, a Blue Ox WDH and a 75 Amp Progressive Dynamics Converter from the dealer. I also had the dealer replace the boards under the beds to make them level and the same size as the mattresses.

I picked Campbell up in Vancouver and brought it back to Victoria to load it up for a pretty aggressive shakedown cruise, especially as I hadn't towed for about 15 years. We left on 19 September.

Once loaded, we spent 14 nights in Campbell and towed 2,896 kilometers (1,799 miles) from Victoria, BC to Salmon Arm, BC to Cochrane,AB to Waterton Lakes National Park, AB to Jarvis Bay Provincial Park, AB to Salmon Arm, BC and then home.

The dealer loaded it with 80% freshwater and too many chain links showing on the WDH which is why the truck is so tail heavy in the first picture on the way back to Victoria. I tightened up the chains by a couple of links and only carry 25% water now which helped the problem a lot.

Campbell is perfect for us. We love the front bed and the twins. Converting the dinette to a bed was a comfortable place for our one overnight guest. We thought that a 23FB would be enough for us. After reading a lot of advice, we decided to go one size larger. I am relieved that we did. After spending a few days in a Provincial Park, I don't think that I could handle anything bigger. We found our sweet spot.

Everything worked as it should. Patrick of Colonial's videos were especially useful. His walkthrough video of the 2015 version of our trailer is the best instruction manual ever.

The truck also did very well, especially once I got the hitch set up a bit better. It handled the Rockies well. The 3.5L EcoBoost engine never ran out of steam. It was a bit tight in some of the snow sheds where one lane was closed and the other lane was made into two way traffic. Having to pass a semi going the other way with very little room to spare was a challenge by fire for me.

We did see an Airstream that looked similar to ours going in the opposite direction in the construction zone in one of the snow sheds. I was concentrating too hard on driving to even notice that they were waving at us according to my wife. We also saw what looked to be about a 30 footer from the 1980s or 1990s going in the opposite direction to us near Lake Louise. We did do the obligatory headlight flashing thing. I also met a lovely couple from Nanaimo at the ferry terminal in Vancouver who have the same trailer as we do.

We are going to out once more for about four days if we get a good weather window in the next few weeks and then put Campbell away for the winter. We are really looking forward to next spring, summer and fall.

NorCal Matt · 10-08-2016, 12:33 PM

Thanks for sharing, that's a nice looking setup! We pick up our 2017 25FB twin in a week and will also be towing with an F150/blue ox setup.

Hullap · 10-08-2016, 12:48 PM

The truck was very capable. He had 60 kph (35 mph) 90 degree crosswinds on the way to down to Waterton. I slowed down a bit but the rig was very solid. The impact of getting into and out of the wind shadow was not much worse than with the truck alone.

The tow/haul mode is very good. Letting a bit of energy dissipate at the top of the hill and then braking slightly just over the crest to get it to drop down a gear or two meant that I hardly used the brakes at all going down the big hills in the Rockies. It is a bit disconcerting to be running at such high rpms in a very low gear at first but I got used to it pretty quickly.

I hope that you love your setup as much as we do.