Back from our Maiden Voyage

[GoodoleBob]

Hello all,

History has been made! We finally went camping in our new Sunline after having it sit since we took delivery in Oct 2006. The stars aligned and we hit the road heading to a camp up in Maine. I was encouraged to see that in spite of fuel prices plenty of people still go RVing and the campground was at capacity. Since the cost of traveling was on my mind I took careful notes on mileage for my rig. My driving habit is conservative and I rarely exceed 57-58 mph when driving an RV. I was able to use cruise control and overdrive since my diesel truck has plenty of torque to move this setup. I was pleasantly thrilled to get 15.1 MPG average for this trip.

Let me relate some assorted thoughts on my first Sunline experience. I should point out I am a seasoned Rv'er having Motor-Homed for 17 years previous to getting our T-2499. I generally knew the RV routine and as such the towing and maneuvering of my Sunline was my biggest "new" adventure. I have the Reese 1200lb Strait-Line setup. Arguably the best way to tow a travel-trailer short of perhaps the Hensley. My setup was pretty much right on after studying all the valuable data my good friend JohnB puts out on the subject. Hey John, my shurline scale had me at 1075lbs TW. That was after some trial an error. Anyway I had five links, and my rig was nice an level and towed like a dream. I started out being wary of fast 18 wheelers passing by me, but after a while I realized they were having less affect on my rig than I use to get on my Class A Motor home. I found the towing to be "FUN" and I wished it could have gone on for longer than the 5 hour trip. It is definitely worth perfecting the hitch setup for those who may wonder if it's worth all the bother.

The Campground guy lead me to my site and helped me get into position. Nice of him, and maybe he saw trailer backup greenhorn written all over me. He was about correct really since I never backed it up except to get it into my driveway when I first took it home near two years ago. I managed to make it happen without much stress and each time will be easier until I get one of those impossible sites some day. I read people saying their WD hitches make a lot of noises especially when maneuvering. Maybe my 60 year old ears are failing but I hardly heard a thing except my DW telling me to be careful a hundred times.

Ok before this becomes a novel let me wind it down with a few Sunline comments. That freezer door is absolutely the hardest opening door ever once it gets running up to full temp for a day or so. I kept seeing DW trying to pull it open to no avail...I say your not pressing the release button, and she says YES I am...well I tried and all I can say is "PHEW" that thing had a seal beyond belief. The interior lighting is awesome...a light is everywhere I needed one...the bed was a might hard to suit me...that sliding shower door is fussy to retract...but a nice feature regardless. Things moved around much less in towing than I was preparing for...that was an unexpected bonus. The small swivel rocker is not so comfy for a big guy. I can see why people replace them. I definitely need a step platform a bit lower than the Sunline pullout metal one. It was a long way to the ground it seamed. That pesky bathroom door needs a holding setup to keep it open. I used a wedge but that needs to be improved. Day/Night shades take some getting use to, but I like them. The clasp on the screen door is wimpy, and it will break on me...only a matter of time on that. Ok enough for a while...Sunline has met with approval.

Bob

[JohnB]

Bob

WOW Great Travels. Glad things worked out.

A few comments:

The freezer, ah yup it is like super glued shut BUT only right after it is closed. There is something that goes on inside that once you close it, it is sucked shut. Almost like a vacuum inside. However if you wait about or say 30 minute to an hour, then it opens up many times easier. I know, just remember everything the first time…. As if you forget, it does open real hard. I feel the handle coming off one of these days…

You might want to cruise thru the mod’s section. There are a lot of T2499 owners here on the site and we have posted many ideas on how we solved some of those issues your where talking about.

Here is a few:

The front door step.
New Steps for 2499
Kitty also has a new plastic store bought step. The one in that post was her woods ones.

Here is the swing bath door fix or at least one of them. Scroll down in the post T2499 and T310SR Pass Thru Bath Upgrades (with Pic's)

HenryJ has a bath door swing gizmo that was different then mine. He did his after me and I can’t put my finger on that post. He may pop in here with it. If I would of seen his first I would of used that principal in place of the magnet. But the magnet works well too. I had some in the shop from years ago so I finally used them up.

Glad the hitch worked out well and it looks like your Sherline has done you well and you loading the TT.

Oh, pics are great and we like to see Sunlines in action. Hint, hint…. The back of your TT we see every time we log on. But that is about it....

John

[Tweety]

Steve had built a wooden step, but it was so heavy and hard to store that we finally bought the one linked below, which we LOVE
I use a dry sponge under that bathroom door to keep it open.
So, glad you finally got to use your camper!
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ing-step/38293

[henryj]

Here's the link to my door stop:
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/ph...ging+door+stop

We've been out a couple of times since I did this and it works flawlessly. I highly recommend it, but measure carefully.

I had never seen one of these and didn't even know what it was called. John said it's a "ball detent latch."

Henry

[kanyonkitty]

Here ya go Bob,

These are pool/spa steps, weight about 18 lbs and I just slide them inside the door when we travel. Probably one of the best improvements I have done.



Here is a link to my webshot album where I have pics of my mods:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...dRqhWr?start=0

If you have any questions, ya know all ya gotta do is ask

Kitty

[Nightlites13]

Our bathroom door solution isn't elegant but is completely effective. Just ouside the bathroom is a closet with a handle style pull instead of a knob. I used a black ball bungee twice around the handle so it just hangs out there and to keep the door open we just open it all the way then pull the loop and hook it on the handle of the bathroom door.