Comments and observations after my first extended camping trip with the T@b

vito

Got home last night after a four day trip of about 600 miles total with my new 2016 T@b S Maxx. Some additional observations, comments and questions beyond what I noted during my earlier one-night tryout with the T@b. First, everything worked wonderfully and we were at a great campground with full hook-ups. We had, by far, the smallest RV in the place, with most of our neighbors in gigantic 5th wheel trailers or huge motorhomes. And while I might have some motorhome envy, I did not feel that way about the 5th wheelers. Towing those things just does not seem like it would be fun, and in fact, most of the 5th wheelers were semi-permanently at the campground, i.e., seasonal or year round for summer use. Some of the motorhome owners stated that they hardly moved their rigs but use them as "summer homes". So in many ways I was really happy with the easy towing and versatility of the T@b. And with the use of the PaHaQue T@b tent, we were very comfortable.

Setting up the tent was a bit complicated, but with two of us we got it done despite a problem with the pole sections (I will be calling PaHaQue later today). Despite the fact that it leaves some small gaps where the skirt and the tent attach by Velcro, we did not have a bug problem during our several night stay. Yes, zipping the door open and closed every time one of us left the tent is a bit of a pain, but not a deal breaker. I found that the tent pegs provided with the tent are essentially useless and I will get superior ones shortly. 

The T@b itself worked great. As I noted in a separate thread, we discovered the Bluetooth capability and thus had Pandora all week through the Jensen system, which was great. Storage issues are still a challenge, and although there is plenty of room under the bench seats, getting to the rear storage areas is such a chore for me (maybe its my age and arthritis) that we didn't make much use of that area. We gave in and slept the way the bed is probably intended, with our heads under the cabinets, and while we both thought that would be terrible it worked out to be just fine. We showered daily in the T@b shower rather than use the ones in the campground and while certainly cramped, and a bit hampered by the limited water flow from the shower head, it was satisfactory. Although we were at a full hook-up site, I deliberately did not have the sewer line open all the time, in part to see how much the holding tanks could really hold. I was very impressed that even with relatively long showers and extensive sink use, we easily could have gone a few days without dumping (I opened the gray water valve every two days just to be safe). 

Traveling with the T@b I learned that I really should use a check list when getting ready to leave the campground. I forgot to raise the jack fully after hitching and later found when leaving a gas staion we scraped the jack on the pavement with a sound that made me think I had destroyed the T@b. No harm done, however. My spare tire, stored underneath the T@b, never scraped the ground and was not a problem.  My TV is a 6-cylinder Subaru Outback, and honestly, I am not sure how a smaller 4-cylinder vehicle would work out. Even with the 6 cylinder, the TV was really working hard to keep up decent highway speed up and down the hills of Wisconsin. Often the RPM was up over 4,000 which seemed to cause the a/c to cut off (not sure if this is a problem with my car or something intentional in the design of the Outback for high engine stress situations). We never over heated, and made the trip okay, but maybe next time I will tow at 55 or 60 mph tops, rather than the 65 or 70 I was doing on this trip (our mpg dropped to about 10!). As we were preparing to leave the campground I found out that one must be careful not to bump against switches inside the camper. After unhooking the electric, water and sewer, my wife said she heard something working and I said it must be from a neighboring camper. It turns out one of us had "bumped" against the water pump switch and our entire 5+ hour ride home the pump was working (with an empty fresh water tank). I turned it off when we got home and hopefully I did not damage the pump with my carelessness but it sure will remind me to check this next time out. 

Based on the advice of my dealer, I had been using a cordless drill to lower and raise the stabilizing jacks, but on this trip I forgot to take along the drill. I had to use the manual crank that came with the T@b. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually was easier using the crank, especially because the longer crank made access to the rear jacks much easier than trying to bend down with a cordless drill to get to them. I think from now on I will not bother bringing the drill on camping trips. 

I also found that the refrigerator works really well. I had left it on the highest setting, and it seemed to essentially freeze some of the food. As the trip progressed I found that we needed to lower the temp setting more than once, attesting to how well this appliance actually works. 

Maybe the biggest conclusion I reached was that of the value of the add-a-room tent. Having a table and chairs set up in the tent allowed us to leave the bed as a bed for the entire stay. It also gave us room to keep the two small suitcases as well as the dog's food and water and all of my wife's knitting and quilting stuff that she always brings along on any trips. The actual T@b was used for sleeping, showering, use of the toilet, and cooking and most of our time was spent sitting in the tent. It made the T@b seem like a much larger camper. We also set up a "snack table" in the tent, placing on it a small toaster oven that we plugged into the outside 110 outlet. Without the tent I probably would have wanted to keep that oven in the T@b and there really is no room for that. Having the toaster oven, plus the small Cuisanart grill that I bought, meant we never ended up needing to use the inside stovetop burners. At this rate I'll never have to refill the propane tank!

CanuckTabber

Thanks for the update....glad you had a solid first time in the t@b !!

jdargis

Looked up the owners manual on the Outback.  Couple of interesting points:

Any damage or malfunction of the vehicle caused by trailer towing, the warranty will not cover it.

Yes, your a/c will shut off automatically to protect the coolant system.

If you have a flat on your car, you cannot pull your trailer when the space saver tire is mounted.

Do not hold your trailer on a hill by applying gas to the transmission, as the CVT transmission will overheat.  Use your parking brake.

Also once again, watch your speed, as the trailer tires are a ST rated tire, which means they should not be used over 65 mph.

Glad you had a good time, maybe, might spot you here in the Door County area.

Nomad

I rarely cruise at more than 60 unless I'm really being pressed by semis/cars. But, I rarely hit freeways unless making a transition from one area to another an time is more important. Otherwise I prefer the state and county roads and cruise at 55-60.

ashaw

I tow my T@B with a four cylinder2010  Forester. On my first trip out I tried to keep up on the freeway and rapped up the rpms, my mileage dropped to 11 mpg.  I learned my lesson and when there is ample room to pass I don't try to keep up, keep my rpm below 4000 and now I average about 14 mpg and put less stress on the engine, transmission.  On some of the bigger climbs around here I'll even put on the blinkers and get to the top at my own speed ( again when there is a passing lane). Someday I may get a more powerful TV but for now we always get where we're going, we're just not the first ones there. 

Mouseketab

PXLated said:

I rarely cruise at more than 60 unless I'm really being pressed by semis/cars. But, I rarely hit freeways unless making a transition from one area to another an time is more important. Otherwise I prefer the state and county roads and cruise at 55-60.

Unfortunately for most weekend warriors including myself, time is important, so I stick to the interstates, cause I wanna get where I'm going! But I do poke along at 60-65.  Also, I went on a caravan trip over a week. Not all non-interstate roads are quiet country backroads. Part of our trip was through some very ordinary towns with mucho stoplights and the scenery was your average shopping strip road. The most interesting scenery was a plastic cow in a Walgreens parking lot . For me personally, I would have preferred the interstate for that portion.