Hi all,
With some of the threads regarding quality and support, I thought I'd give a quick rundown of my experiences since having our 21NE delivered to Kansas City in early Sept. This is the first travel trailer we've ever owned, so we are learning as we go.
Since receiving the trailer, we did a weekend @ Smithville Lake (15min from our home) to test things out. Drove out to Colorado for 8 days at Mueller State Park (fantastic park!), had a weekend @ Knobb Knoster state park in MO, and just recently boondocked at a friends family farm in Nebraska to do some gravel bike riding. So have been attempting to get some good use in a short time.
First Impressions:
1. Love the trailer. The layout works well for my wife and I. While in colorado I worked from the trailer for a few days and enjoyed using the larger dinette as my work space (we have the Lagun mount as well)
2. Towing is easy with our Ram 1500. Was a bit nervous at first as this is our first TT. However, I took the trailer to a large parking lot after picking up from the delivery location, set up some cones, and practiced backing up a bit. Had it down in no time
3. Overall build quality for me has been to my expectations. I have been programmed enough not to expect perfection. But, things have been delivered as ordered
4. I've been happy with my choices on the build. At this point, there is nothing I wish I didnt choose. I probably should have gone with 2 steps as we did choose the raised chassis. In the end, we've purchased a stand alone step. We have not really used our solar/lithium set up yet - but will do 2022.
We have had our issues, however. I will say that most of them I caused myself!
1. Our Dometic 2 Burner stove in the trailer didn't work for quite some time even after bleeding the gas line for extended periods. However, it seems to have rectified itself last weekend!
2. We did have a water pump issue as well. I believe that was due to the fact that I had the pump on when attached to city water. Once using tank water, it took a while to clear air from the lines as well as prime the pump several times to get running consistently (had to do the suck on the sink faucet trick several times). Again. - believe this was my own doing
3. Issue with our Power Jack. Another one that was due to our own doing. Short story - our jack extended on us while on I-70 headed to Colorado. Didn't notice until we pulled in for gas and saw that it was extended and now at a 45deg angle! Fortunately, I was still able to retract the pole and we continued on. We also noticed a dent on our tailgate that matched the size of the power jack head. So, I surmise that our tailgate was not shut well, it came down on the power jack and extended it in transit, when the jack hit the road surface - the force bent the jack attachment point and subsequently shut the tailgate........with enough force to dent it. After a bit of head scratching and problem solving, I stopped a Home Depot in Colorado Springs and bought some Jack stands to allow us to finish the trip. Was able to get it all repaired quickly when we returned back to KC. Another Checklist item added to always secure the tailgate!
Through the experiences above, Dustin @ Escape was quite helpful - even scheduling a specific time to have a call on some of the issues we were having as new owners. Through the insights on this forum and his help, we were able to navigate through and improve our learnings.
We can also add to the list that we've had 1 flat that I was able to change in under 15mins. We've also already had our e2 Hitch stolen off the back of the truck (along with 4 others in our neighborhood!). So I have some spare stabilizer bars now
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In the short time we've had the trailer, it's amazing how quickly and easily we can now back in, level, and set up when we get to a new campsite.
No buyers remorse here at all. We've just scheduled a 4 week trip through the SW as we hit Feb/Mar 2022. And more planned for May, July, & Sept. Really look forward to continue to put some miles on the trailer after the holidays
Cheers!
Linear Mode
