Newbie needing advice.

lbof

I have just purchased a 2015 T@B M@X S.  I need to outfit it and take a maiden voyage.  What to bring? Should I have it checked out by a dealer before I hit the road?  I drove it home about 400 miles and it tracked well. It needs to be "summerized!" I have all of the paperwork but I am oveerwhelmed.  I am older and single and anxious to jump in.  Any advice?

lbof

OK ...dishes Corelle or melamine? What kind of pans and sizes, patio mat size and brand?, Want to make the bed up as a single and leave it made up. Want a thick memory foam topper that has it's own cover. This is overwhelming!

Homebodyatheart

First, welcome! How exciting! We have a 2017 MaxS we are waiting to bring home soon. I've been reading these posts since we ordered ours and have learned a lot, and made new friends, too! A piece of advice for us newbies is to camp the first time or two in your driveway. That way if you have problems you arent stuck somewhere. Look over in the right column on the home page for tons of info. I've taken a lot of it and copied it to a One Note file on my laptop so Ive got it handy by topic. No question is stupid, everyone has messed up at least once, and the most important thing is if we don't see any pics it never happened! :-) Have fun and enjoy your new adventures!

Homebodyatheart

If youve ever dropped a piece of corelle, they shatter into about a million pieces. Ive replaced my camping plastic with nicer melamine. Another thing I've been told is to not go wild shopping until you try things out for a bit and see what your needs really are. I've been pretty well behaved all in all. :-)

ericnliz

Homebodyatheart, 'Splain well behaved.
Ibof, You should be able to get the Alde manual for the 2015MAX S by typing into the search column on the home page. Print it, and keep it in your trailer, it comes in REAL handy. If you're not comfortable with all the operations of your trailer, it would be a good idea for you to go to the dealer to see if they'll not only give you a refresher course on your trailer, but check out all the operations of them for you as well. That being said though, I would call them and see what the charge for such a service would be. Time with your trailer, and just trying things out with the help of this forum [as I have found out] are your best friends. Folks here are extremely helpful, and give it their all to help guide you in the right direction. Word of advise, read, read, read through this forum, ask questions if you don't fully understand, there really are no silly questions as I'm sure it has been a learning curve for us all at one time or another. The VERY best thing to do is to have fun, as that is probably what you bought the trailer for in the first place. Welcome aboard the T@B family!

Nomad

Ya - Pretty well behaved - on this forum gives you a wide swath.

Ratkity

*blinks innocently and smiles*

lbof

Thanks guys, I have been reading reading reading.  It has me frozen!!!  I will get melamine dishes, one decision made!  I will print out the Alde manual as well.  I live in an apartment so can't camp in my driveway but good idea to start out at a friends or Walmart or???  It came with the Pahaqua tent and Zamp solar panel and T@B  cover as well. Don't know how at 5' I will be able to set those up on my own but I will figure it out.  (Don't judge me but) My tow vehicle is a red 2010 Lexus RX 350 with 100,000 miles on it and factory tow package.  The service department at the dealership said that unless the load was over 4000 lbs I don't need to wire for the electric brakes.  I would love to know what you all think.  I am researching but not buying and am afraid when I start I will not be able to stop!  I do need to get a mattress or topper right away.  Old arthritic body can not handle sleeping without it.   I am off to Ikea tomorrow.  I am planning on eventually living in it full time.  Still trying to come up with a great name for my T@B that is not already being used.  Linda

Me_and_My_Dog

Linda, you might benefit from going out to a nearby campground for one or two days. Bring pre-cooked food, and food you can cook. Bring blankets and pillows and sheets and a rug and a chair and a flashlight. Bring your toiletries and a towel. Keep it simple. Get a "pull through" site so you don't have to back up. Download, print, laminate, and follow the Ready, Set, Tow sheet on this forum: http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/3879/ready-set-tow-document#latest.

Then . . . get to your campsite safely, unhitch and take your time. Then just sit and think and ponder. Breathe. Relax. Let yourself get comfortable with the T@B. Get to know each other. Fiddle with things. Look at things. Look in the cabinets, under the seats, under the sink. Just look. Bring a journal and start writing down things you might want to buy or do. 

Take your time. Use your intuition. And celebrate your awesome life.

Nomad

Even if in your state you don't legally need the elec brakes, I'd still get the hook up. If you ever have to make a quick stop or end up on any kind of steeper road grades you'll be glad you did.

Homebodyatheart

Eric, I'd 'splain it but it would probably do no good.   And PXL is right...we've got plenty of maneuvering room before the magic wand strikes.

Linda, if you go to the top right of the page and see a little gear button it takes you to settings. You can add info to your signature line, including the year and model of your T@B and your tow vehicle(TV)info, and what part of the country you live in if you're comfortable with that. This helps others know what you have when you have a question so they can help you better. If it were me I'd camp at the friends first, then a camp ground. Someone else suggested to hook up to city water, put water only in both your black water and grey water tanks and learn how to use the dump valves and hoses with just water before you go anywhere. That way you can water your friends plants or lawn and figure things out so you don't get messy doing it for real. I've heard that once you figure it out it's pretty easy. That makes a whole lot of sense to me. I'd second the foam topper. We were able to visit our T@B today and tried everything out. Those cushions and our aging bones need a break! My_Dog_and_Me has the right idea to slow down and enjoy the process (remind me when it's my turn, OK?)

Once you poke around here for a bit you may find others who live in your area. In our area we've started a breakfast group one Saturday a month and have made new friends and camping partners. T@bbers are the best people! Have fun, and we love pics and sharing experiences good and not so good so we all learn together!

marknjudy

Still a newbie myself but the best advice I ever got came from my dad. Make a list in terms of wants and needs. You need certain things for RV camping - water hook up, regulator, electric hook up, sewer hook up and, as you said, a mattress topper to name a few (the needs list is much longer and is essentially everything you need to make the RV run). Wants are more personal but you can improvise until you figure out what kind of camper you are and what works best. We're still experimenting with a lot of things things (I finally convinced my wife that the massive table needs to go so am ordering slats next week). Every trip we take, we make a list of what works and what we think we should get based on how we are growing or developing as campers. This list is unique to each of us but there are a lot of excellent ideas on this forum. So I'm saying that, after my own bouts with analysis paralysis, I've learned that as long as I have the things I need in the camper, I will eventually figure out the wants. By the way, I don't use much of the "wants" I thought I needed when I first bought mine. 

fiddlefoot

You will be so happy when you go on your shakedown cruise.  It was so fun, we had several shakedown weekends just figuring things out.  Do get the brakes, I went to a horse trailer repair place and they installed mine in about 45 mins and charged less than $200.  That includes the box.  I drove several places, mountains and beaches that were in the country without them, but coming down the mountains from Lake Moomaw convinced me that my truck deserved them.  (Too much wear on the truck brakes)  Also really wanted them for the long trip down crazy I95 with sudden stopping.  They make a big difference. 

It's gonna be great!

ericnliz

Ibof, Wholeheartedly agree with getting the brakes set up for your trailer. Saves on the brakes on the tow vehicle, and quite frankly, the piece of mind knowing that you DO have them is priceless.
fiddlefoot, I95 is a perfect example of the piece of mind with the brakes. That highway is dangerous without towing anything. Some of our trips include going over Sherman Pass, not only steep and long, but winding downhills as well. Even towing with a 1/2 ton truck, I was really glad I had the trailer brakes to assist in slowing down on those grades and around bends. As far as I'm concerned, safety has to take precedence over everything else.

IrishCamper74

There is tons and tons of good information on here, Linda, from awesome peeps willing to help you. I learned so much before I ordered mine. I found that bookmarking certain pages has helped me. (click on the star on the top right of said post.) It can be a bit overwhelming at first but tackle each topic, one at a time. I also have a notebook, specifically for t@b info as I'm a huge fan of writing stuff down. I'm planning on printing out the 2017 T@b manual, also the hook-up and tear-down steps, as listed above & keeping it all in a folder in the t@b. 
JKJenn and Photomom have 2 great posts listing the basic essential gear you need. Here are the links:

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1692/complete-list-of-everything-we-need#latest

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/636/for-new-t-bbers-what-do-i-need-to-get-t-b-supply-list/p1

As far as the additional brakes, I would invest the money.
Good luck & welcome!

dmerzbac

Linda, welcome to the group!  You have already received tons of great advice. I, too, was a little overwhelmed when I brought my new T@b home in January. I have sort of taken my time working on it and deciding what to add. I've incorporated a lot of great ideas found on this forum. I'm taking R@nger out on his maiden voyage this week, I can't wait! 

TabberJohn

Your RX 350 is AWD not FWD, right? Tow capacity is listed at 3500 lbs.
Is there a 7 way electrical connector or was an adapter used to hook up the trailer?
I'd also recommend adding the brake controller using a 7 way connector or by a RF wireless unit.
Nice to know your T@B is braking the same time you are under all driving conditions instead of 2000 lbs bearing down on your TV.

lbof

Thanks all.  I made an appointment to bring the T@B to my local dealership and then to have the electric brake controller installed in my TV.  The back of my TV is filled with purchases for my new home.  I have resisted and only picked up absolute necessities and kept them inexpensive.  No wine yet but wineglasses!!

marknjudy

Yep. I filed the wine glasses under "need" as well.

TulsaTime

Power cord with adapters to be able to plug in at home
White garden hose with regulator and filter
Socket to lower the stabilizers.
Wheel Chocks
Sewer hose and wrench to remove the cap
Plenty of flash lights

Nomad

Garden Hose - Make sure you get the one with a blue stripe - That's for drinking water.
You'll need some kind of levelling device - blocks are my favorite. Search forum, several discussions, people are passionate about their preferred method :-)

lbof

Thank you once again.

Mouseketab

Also, don't worry about getting it "right" the very first trip! I've had my T@B for 10 years, and I'm still working on "getting it right" You will get things you love, you will get things you think you need, but it turns out you don't, and as new toys surface that other T@Bers have acquired and posted, you will try those too. It's all good, and all part of the fun!

Nomad

Yep - Ask Verna how many trips she's made to Goodwill - None of the rest of us have of course :-)

Verna

They miss me!  Goodwill sent me an email saying that

Nomad

I'll bet :-)

Dalehelman

Well that's a start, but don't put your money away just yet.

Mariner459

Extra fuses and know there are fuses other places than fuse box.  There is a wonderful post about that someone, maybe in the Electrical category here on the site.
DVDs, e.g., The Long Long Trailer by Lucy and Desi, The Great Outdoors by John Candy
Swivel head coat hangers to hang wet coats etc
We camped in our driveway a couple of times first.  :-)

jgram2

Yes-in electrical-at the very top-Fuses for Newbies!

solowmn

Wondering about storage hints, I'm downsizing from a Casita, and still have lots of stuff I don't know what to do with.  

Nomad

I searched on "organization" - "cabinets & storage are others you could try.
Here's three links to get you started...
http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/56215#Comment_56215
http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/4414/our-mods-organization/p1
http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/55927#Comment_55927