Im so happy I found your channel. I'm saving up for a T@b, have no idea what I'm doing, and need all the advice you have. Meantime, can't wait to join the world of happy campers.
I backed the ball into the coupler too hard which warped the coupler to not seat onto the ball. With the tire iron and hammer I was able to push the warp coupler to open enough and allow seating on the ball. Second dingbat thing was I drove away while still electrically plugged in. Fortunately the external plastic threaded coupler receptacle mounted on the side of the TAB pulled out and the weak plastic threads and the electric cable plug and its cheap plastic screw on cap just separated. The wiring inside has well done strain relief which nothing got damaged. I fixed in 15 minutes, by reinserting the cable outlet and rotate a few degrees and re-drill new screw holes. Nothing got damaged. 2018 & 2019 I did about 80 weeks of work camping, tow from home to camp and back every week. Something is bound to go wrong. T@B always provided hot showers every morning for work via propane or electric. Here's another one: the electric trailer brake on passenger side only locked up on the freeway. Tire did not pop but had a melted flat spot on the tire. Never found root cause but never happened again.
I'm a new to me TAB 320S owner, and I decided to stuff a 3" memory foam mattress topper behind the sofa. Needless to say my taillights stopped working. This was about a $350 mistake because I had to call a mobile mechanic to fix. Thanks for sharing some of your mistakes, it does help us newbies!
Thank you for sharing your mistakes. I also killed my battery from misuse. I did use the kill switch when I wasn't using the trailer. I did not understand what the gauge numbers meant. (If it reads 8.2, I am still above half, right?) Thanks to your website and the T@b Forum, I learned a lot. BTW, I am the woman whose dog locked me out of my tow vehicle, and the crazy woman who kept pestering me to let her use my bathroom. Now have a key hidden on my TV, and two hidden on/in my trailer.
@@JennGroverPhotography No. lithium will produce 12v til almost dead. Lithium you can take down to a very low percentage of capacity, it’s still 12v. 12v devices will burn up running under low voltage. Be careful with words like voltage and percentage. They are not the same.
Great tips! I would add to crank the jack up after hitching up, to make sure it's actually connected correctly. If it's not, it will come right up off the ball when you crank it back up. If it is connected correctly, it will try to lift the tow vehicle.
Thanks for the suggestion! That actually happened to me! There, I said it out loud!!! Believe me, that will only happen once! Thank goodness there was no damage! Just a bruised ego!
Loved your comment on the locking out of the trailer. I have now locked myself out of my new T@B TWICE. The first time i simply shut the door as I headed off to pay the state park fee. Opps no pen, turned to open the door and it was locked WHAT??? Luckily pups and I are outside and leashed, but its getting dark my phone is not charged and there’s no signal anyway. OMG!!! After major panic attack I realized I had an extra key in my car which was not locked. Second time was a bit more problematic. At six AM one of my dogs needed to go out. I really didn’t want to get up so... leaving one dog inside grabbing the leash I pooped outside. Turned around to go back inside and it was LOCKED. I was in long Johns, barefoot, with one dog and another locked in my trailer the keys to my tow vehicle and T@B were inside.........4 hours later I got a locksmith to unlock-now I have a key wired to the outside of my trailer. Some very nice folks at the campground (luckily I was not boondocking) lent me their phone to reach out to roadside assistance and later offered me coffee, breakfast and most important socks. Lessons learned TWICE!
Jenn, we have the same tow vehicle (Grand Cherokee)… I’m picking up a TAB 320S Boondock Edge next week near Portland Oregon and would appreciate knowing what size hitch drop you use… I have different sizes already but don’t want to drag them all along…. Thanks, Mike Eggert
Our pre inspection would include tire manufacture date. We never expected the tires on our new 2019 320 cs s tires were 3 years old from the start. A catastrophic blow out was no fun one season later..
@@JennGroverPhotography We didn't let it stop us from camping. I thought the lug nuts were the same size as our TV but they were not. The tire wrapped around the axel and sheered the brake wire off. Here in Florida we have State Farm Road Rangers who assist stranded motorist free of charge. I can't thank them enough for providing rescue service. We cut tire off with bolt cutters and put on spare, thankfully I had moved to the spare tire to the trailer jack. Believe it or not from call to back on road 45 minutes. We went to the Discount Tire store after camping and installed new rims and tires on our new camper. We found a screw in our TV tire while we were there. Great service I must say to Discount Tire. Damage to camper was replacement of section behind blown tire. This would have taken many trips to the dealer to warranty repair. Nu Camp said we were 2 weeks past warranty so no fix. If I wanted to have it fixed at a Nu Camp shop it would take 2 to 3 months because nearest shop low on help due to Covid. All I can say is check your tires as I did with tire pressure at fill ups but most important date is a must. I repaired with aircraft aluminum better than new. Sorry about long post but your jack experience is hard felt also.
@@JennGroverPhotography Jenn, Sandy and I are happy campers. Remember stuff happens and as long as you are okay the rest is easy. Live long and prosper.
Yeah some of the rv techs don't care & could make things dangerous. I had a sway bar installed but they didn't tighten the screw underneath the ball. Was swaying badly. Had to just just get a new ball unit.. You tow with a jeep grand cherokee would a jeep cherokee trailhawk require a different ball height setup than the the standard Reese etc ones?
I fully charge the battery and remove the battery for winter storage. Do Not store the battery directly on concrete. Keep an eye on the voltage. Recharge as necessary. A good battery should only need to be recharged once halfway through the winter.
Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to hear what your first mistakes were. Share in the fun by dropping a comment.
i have yet to make my first mistake..which i anticipate to be not soon after i pull away from picking up my TAB 320 S aprx Oct 2023..can't wait!
Im so happy I found your channel. I'm saving up for a T@b, have no idea what I'm doing, and need all the advice you have. Meantime, can't wait to join the world of happy campers.
Me too!
Yes, checklists for setup, tear down, hitching, leaving camper for the day, winterizing, spring startup, sanitizing, etc...
I backed the ball into the coupler too hard which warped the coupler to not seat onto the ball. With the tire iron and hammer I was able to push the warp coupler to open enough and allow seating on the ball. Second dingbat thing was I drove away while still electrically plugged in. Fortunately the external plastic threaded coupler receptacle mounted on the side of the TAB pulled out and the weak plastic threads and the electric cable plug and its cheap plastic screw on cap just separated. The wiring inside has well done strain relief which nothing got damaged. I fixed in 15 minutes, by reinserting the cable outlet and rotate a few degrees and re-drill new screw holes. Nothing got damaged.
2018 & 2019 I did about 80 weeks of work camping, tow from home to camp and back every week. Something is bound to go wrong. T@B always provided hot showers every morning for work via propane or electric.
Here's another one: the electric trailer brake on passenger side only locked up on the freeway. Tire did not pop but had a melted flat spot on the tire. Never found root cause but never happened again.
Wow, some of those things could have ended up worse. Glad they didn't. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! Buying too much stuff has definitely been my biggest mistake and I am continually paring down what goes in my T@g.
I'm a new to me TAB 320S owner, and I decided to stuff a 3" memory foam mattress topper behind the sofa. Needless to say my taillights stopped working. This was about a $350 mistake because I had to call a mobile mechanic to fix. Thanks for sharing some of your mistakes, it does help us newbies!
Oh, no! Glad you were able to get it lfixed!
Jenn, you’re really getting better at the vlogging! And really like the free flow conversation. Enjoyable and engaging.
Thanks!!
Thank you for sharing your mistakes. I also killed my battery from misuse. I did use the kill switch when I wasn't using the trailer. I did not understand what the gauge numbers meant. (If it reads 8.2, I am still above half, right?) Thanks to your website and the T@b Forum, I learned a lot.
BTW, I am the woman whose dog locked me out of my tow vehicle, and the crazy woman who kept pestering me to let her use my bathroom. Now have a key hidden on my TV, and two hidden on/in my trailer.
Tammy that remains one of my favorite stories!! I love how you can laugh at that!!
Do not go below 12.0 volts.
Unless you have lithium batteries 😁
@@JennGroverPhotography No. lithium will produce 12v til almost dead. Lithium you can take down to a very low percentage of capacity, it’s still 12v. 12v devices will burn up running under low voltage. Be careful with words like voltage and percentage. They are not the same.
Great tips! I would add to crank the jack up after hitching up, to make sure it's actually connected correctly. If it's not, it will come right up off the ball when you crank it back up. If it is connected correctly, it will try to lift the tow vehicle.
Great suggestion!
Thanks for the suggestion! That actually happened to me! There, I said it out loud!!! Believe me, that will only happen once! Thank goodness there was no damage! Just a bruised ego!
Lol. Thank you!
Loved your comment on the locking out of the trailer. I have now locked myself out of my new T@B TWICE. The first time i simply shut the door as I headed off to pay the state park fee. Opps no pen, turned to open the door and it was locked WHAT??? Luckily pups and I are outside and leashed, but its getting dark my phone is not charged and there’s no signal anyway. OMG!!! After major panic attack I realized I had an extra key in my car which was not locked. Second time was a bit more problematic. At six AM one of my dogs needed to go out. I really didn’t want to get up so... leaving one dog inside grabbing the leash I pooped outside. Turned around to go back inside and it was LOCKED. I was in long Johns, barefoot, with one dog and another locked in my trailer the keys to my tow vehicle and
T@B were inside.........4 hours later I got a locksmith to unlock-now I have a key wired to the outside of my trailer. Some very nice folks at the campground (luckily I was not boondocking) lent me their phone to reach out to roadside assistance and later offered me coffee, breakfast and most important socks. Lessons learned TWICE!
Holy cow! What a story!!
Jenn, we have the same tow vehicle (Grand Cherokee)… I’m picking up a TAB 320S Boondock Edge next week near Portland Oregon and would appreciate knowing what size hitch drop you use… I have different sizes already but don’t want to drag them all along…. Thanks, Mike Eggert
Do you have air suspension?
@@JennGroverPhotography yes, Overland with Hemi and tow package
I use a 4" drop.
@@JennGroverPhotography ha ha… I have a 3 and a 5” drop… and guessing I need the 4… figures!
Our pre inspection would include tire manufacture date. We never expected the tires on our new 2019 320 cs s tires were 3 years old from the start. A catastrophic blow out was no fun one season later..
Ouch. Hopefully it didn't cause a lot of damage!
@@JennGroverPhotography We didn't let it stop us from camping. I thought the lug nuts were the same size as our TV but they were not. The tire wrapped around the axel and sheered the brake wire off. Here in Florida we have State Farm Road Rangers who assist stranded motorist free of charge. I can't thank them enough for providing rescue service. We cut tire off with bolt cutters and put on spare, thankfully I had moved to the spare tire to the trailer jack. Believe it or not from call to back on road 45 minutes. We went to the Discount Tire store after camping and installed new rims and tires on our new camper. We found a screw in our TV tire while we were there. Great service I must say to Discount Tire. Damage to camper was replacement of section behind blown tire. This would have taken many trips to the dealer to warranty repair. Nu Camp said we were 2 weeks past warranty so no fix. If I wanted to have it fixed at a Nu Camp shop it would take 2 to 3 months because nearest shop low on help due to Covid. All I can say is check your tires as I did with tire pressure at fill ups but most important date is a must. I repaired with aircraft aluminum better than new. Sorry about long post but your jack experience is hard felt also.
That is an amazing story!
@@JennGroverPhotography Jenn, Sandy and I are happy campers. Remember stuff happens and as long as you are okay the rest is easy. Live long and prosper.
The lovely Nanette returns! I have made many mistakes with my campers! Luckily, none were serious enough to give me nightmares! 😅
Net is such a delight!
Yeah some of the rv techs don't care & could make things dangerous. I had a sway bar installed but they didn't tighten the screw underneath the ball. Was swaying badly. Had to just just get a new ball unit.. You tow with a jeep grand cherokee would a jeep cherokee trailhawk require a different ball height setup than the the standard Reese etc ones?
I use a 4" drop.
Oh yes they're helpful. But if you're having dreams like that you might need to go see somebody lol have a great day Jen and stay safe! TQ out
I fully charge the battery and remove the battery for winter storage. Do Not store the battery directly on concrete. Keep an eye on the voltage. Recharge as necessary. A good battery should only need to be recharged once halfway through the winter.
AGM batteries shouldn't need to be recharged or removed if the battery switch is set to off.
@@JennGroverPhotography shouldn’t is the operative word, still keep an eye on it so it does not go below 12 V