Here's where we are so far. A little update from the beginning. Sorry about the length.
August 21 – Went to the RV show at Scotiabank Place with Alex and Katrina. Found a trailer that sleeps 7 and can be pulled by the Montana.
After supper we all went back and decided to buy it. The sales man wouldn’t come down to our price, and when he mentioned a $1500 trailer hitch + freight and PDI we were 5K over budget so we headed home disappointed.
August 23 – I’ve lost my mind and spend all of my free time at home and work making shopping lists of things we need for the trailer and van, camping, rv tips, and travel info. I stumble across a site http://www.cross-country-trips.com/ about a family and their 12 years of trips through north America. I’m envious of all the things they’ve seen and the adventures they’ve had as a family. I show Guylaine and comment how cool it is that they have a journal. She suggested that I do the same.
September 6 – Replaced the windshield wipers on the van with Veiwmax wipers and used RainX on all of the windows. The RainX made the rain bead up quite impressively, but the wipers were leaving streaks. Not impressive for $50. I asked at work what the return policy was. They asked me if I had removed the rubber protector that the blades were shipped in…….I’ll let you know how the new wipers work next rainfall.
September 8 – Brought the van to Canadian Tire for new tires. After much research, I can’t get LT tires for the van, so I decided to get the best passenger tires I could find. I got the Michelin Hydroedge tires. Cost me about $830, but they have the best warranty and a ton of benefits. I felt like I was driving home on a pillow. The ride is so smooth and quiet. With everything we are starting to plan, I think this is a wise investment. We’ll see how they hold up. Wipers are freaking awesome BTW.
September 14 – Dropped the van off @ RV Canada last night so they could install the hitch today. It still wasn’t finished when I got there, but they got it done before I was finished my walkthrough with Mike. Everything seems great. I was a little surprised by the imperfections compared to some of the larger trailers (not enough caulking in the shower area, corners not pressed into place etc) but you do get what you pay for. Mostly minor stuff I can take of myself. While we did do a thorough walkthrough, we didn’t test any of the LP system. I feel fairly confident in all of the onboard systems, so all that’s left is getting it home. While the van is rated to tow this vehicle you can feel every crack in the road. The van did seem to be labouring a little more then usual and I was nervous as hell. That being said, I’ve never pulled a 3000lbs trailer with any vehicle, so I wouldn’t know the difference anyway. Towing mirrors are an absolute must as I can’t see a thing behind me. It would also help me in determining the overall width. The scariest moment came just past the prison on Innes when a cyclist was right on the highway and I was boxed in by rush hour. I slowed down and veered into the fast lane a little bit to let him live, but it was defiantly the nail biter of the trip. I got it home and parked in front of the house (just as the bus was coming by…tight fit….sorry. I took off the sway bar, then one side of the weight distribution system. I got to the other side and wondered how I was going to get it off without ripping my index finger off when I let it go and the bar wedged into the pavement. It was then I remembered that the tech told me the higher I jacked the trailer the easier these were to get on and off. Duh! I was too far past the driveway, so I circled the block to take a run at it. I had it in place within 2 tries. All I had to do was uncouple and I was the hero. Then I couldn’t get it off. I tried raising it, lowering it, pushing the van back, pulling it up (against the tire blocks – no movement) I thought of taking the hitch off and just pulling the van out when I realized the coupler wrapped the ball from the back and front. I never claimed I was too bright. I got it into place. Let the kids jump in for a better look (I hope they’re this excited after 9 – 10 hours on the road next summer. I keep looking out the window because I can’ believe it’s here. I can’t wait.
Sept 15 – Nice weather prompted me to pull out the wax and get the vehicles ready for winter. NOTE TO SELF: RUBBER ROOFS ARE ALREADY WEATHERPROOF AND DO NOT NEED WAXING!unwax the roof. I had to get a bucket of hot water and scrub the wax off with a sponge. I began the morning by removing the LP tank and battery, then washing the trailer and the van, thinking they’d dry quickly and I could start waxing by 11:00. I finished washing and was puttering around when I decided to pull the awning out for no apparent reason. Next thing I know, the bracket is up against the hood of the van and I can’t figure out how to retract it. I figured it must be retractable, so I moved the van and pulled it all the way out. Still nothing. I followed the instructions written on the bracket (or so I thought) and ended up pulling it out to the point where it was rolling in reverse and would no longer budge. I went to the website of the manufacturer and found nothing. Watched a few videos on Youtube, but nothing seemed to match my delima. I decided to give it one more try before sheepishly calling the dealership to tell them what a moron I was. I finally figured out that I had to reverse the direction of the pin on the spring. I almost lost my arm as it flew into action. I guess it’s better that it happened in the driveway and not at a campsite as we were breaking camp. So much to learn, so little brain. Once I had that up (yeah, an hour or so later), I got busy on the van. NOTE TO SELF: NEVER WAX TWO VEHICLES ON THE SAME DAY UNLESS YOU ARE IN SOME SORT OF WAXING COMPETITION. I felt like the karate kid. All day, wax on, wax off. I finally finished the van at about 2:30 and took a well deserved lunch break. The new orbital waxer I bought works great, but requires liquid wax. Luckily, I had an old bottle of Turtle wax laying around. Not so lucky was the fact that the Turtle wax I used was old and didn’t quite live up to expectations. Next time I’ll take my father-in-laws advice and try the Mother’s wax. (I just like to say “Carnuba”) The RV wax I bought (Premium from Camco - $15) was awesome. I used it on all of the plastic on the Montana as well. It did a great job. By the time the kids were home I was in the home stretch, and finished up just after 5:00pm. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a little over 8 hours to wash and wax 2 vehicles. (Are you following this camera guy?) What a nightmare. At least it’s over till spring.
Sept – 17 – Drove to Mr. Transmission for the next step in the overhaul of the Montana. They did a conplete maintenance on the tranny and put in a cooler with a towing capacity of 18000lbs. (don’t think I’ll try it out for accuracy). Yan picked me up about 8:00 and brought me home. He checked out the trailer and loved it. I realized after talking to him about all the breakins in the neighborhood thst I don’t even have a lock on the coupler, so I stopped at Crappy Tire to pick up a heavy duty one before heading to work. Hopefully the trailer will still be there when I get home.
Sept 20 – Got the rustproofing done at WalMart
Sept 29 – Not much to report. Did I mention that Canadian Tire put the rear tires on backwards? (You know I’m not surprised.) Anyways, they fixed it (look at the big arrow on the tire tech guy). The coupler lock I bought there didn’t fit either, so I took it back and got the Reese lock and the hitch lock at WalMart.
I’ve been researching air lift systems, but before putting any more money into the van, it looks like we’ve decided to upgrade the TV to a Toyota Sequioa. V8 with 9000lbs towing capacity. I think we’d be fine with the van, but for the extra piece of mind, it seems like a worthwhile investment. They are hard to come by used (which tells me they last forever and/or people love them enough to hold onto them.
We’re thinking of moving the trip to Niagara Falls to the long weekend in May so we can squeeze everything in next year. Our 1 week trip to the Maritimes has evolved into a 2 week extravaganza mainly do to the fact that our research has turned up so much natural beauty that we want to make sure we don’t miss anything. I think this is the trip I’m most looking forward to.
I’ve been trying to order a cover for the trailer. There are already black streaks down the driver side (which come off easily with a quick rub.) That being said, I don’t see many covers at the storage places I’ve passed. I can’t get a definative answer from any of the forums I partake in, and all of my research on the different types of covers available has left me running in circles and confused. I finally made a decision and tried to order the Goldline cover, but they don’t ship to Canada. I contacted them by email and they said they would ship it if I called my order in, but they fact that I haven’t seen any covers and the fact that these guys don’t do enough business north of the 49th make me wonder if I’m making the right decision.
Oct 15 – After much searching I finally found the waterpump. I was actually smart enough to plug in the shore power and turn the pump on to follow the noise. It turns out I had to remove the top of one of the benches of the dinette, and there it was. And great news, it already had a suction inlet hose. I grabbed the 6 gallon jug of antifreeze I bought at Crappy Tire and within 20 minutes had my whole plumbing system winterized. I found some taps to empty the hot water tank, but removed the drain plug and opened the relief valve just to make sure I got it all out. I also made sure to bypass the hotwater tank with the builtin bypass. This is easier then I thought.
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