Just ordered a 2020 Tab 400 Boondock Lite

jrhamel

Hello fellow T@Ber's
My wife  and I, after much consternation, ordered a 400 yesterday. We, at first, thought we would get the 320 but decided on the 400 for more room. The only downside is we now have to buy a new vehicle because our Honda Oddessy won't cut it. We will more than likely buy a full size 4x4 pick up because we need to have room for our mountain bikes and other toys. Thinking of the F 150 in a 4 door. 

Can,t wait to hit the road.

jgram2

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! And a new TV, double the fun!

McMullap

Congrats @jrhamel  Very exciting. I’m thinking about a 400 Boondock as well for the added room. And we also have an Odyssey so we’d need to upgrade our tow vehicle. I think we may lean towards the Jeep Grand Cherokee since we have little ones. More practical for our family. But you’re certainly going to be living the dream. Hopefully I’ll be posting pictures of my 400 within the next 6 months. (That’s the goal at least.). Cheers, Andy. 

jrhamel

Thanks Andy. Only reason we are going with a full size pickup is we need a place to keep our bikes. Don't want to keep them out in the weather while we travel.

Look forward to seeing pictures.

klenger

I recently purchased a 2019 F150 SuperCrew 5-1/2' box.  I'm really liking it so far.  I am usually a Mopar person, and set out to buy a Ram 1500 but found the F150 with the 3.5L Ecoboost (twin turbo) gave me the best tow capacity, power, and fuel economy.  I also installed a terrific bed-mount fork-mount bike rack that will hold 3 bikes.  Happy shopping.

Ford F150 Rack:  https://rockymounts.com/collections/adaptor-and-truck-mounts/products/ford-f150-track-system

Quiick Release Mount: https://rockymounts.com/collections/adaptor-and-truck-mounts/products/loball

Thru-Axle Mount: https://rockymounts.com/collections/adaptor-and-truck-mounts/products/hotrod

jrhamel

Klenger,
Thanks for the recomendations, exactly what I'm going to do. 

TNOutback

@klenger I like that bike mount rack a lot, but I think my BAK Revolver roll top would interfere with it.

dragonsdofly

@jrhamel, welcome and congratulations on your trailer.  Sorry to be late to the party, but we are remote camping around the Pacific northwest.  At least I have a 1x signal here. Most places, none. Remember, no pics or it didn't happen.  Our motto here! We love pics.

klenger

TNOutback said:

@klenger I like that bike mount rack a lot, but I think my BAK Revolver roll top would interfere with it.

That's why I intend to get a soft top.  I'm told that they will clear w/o any problems.  Looking at a Truxedo Lo Pro 

https://truxedo.com/lopro/2019/ford/f-150

jrhamel

@dragonsdofly As soon as we get it pictures will go up. 

PamandJohnUpNorth2

Welcome to the T@B400 family of the nuCamp Clan. You're going to love it!

Full size pick up and a T@B400 is a great go anywhere combo.

jameskuzman

Congrats, @jrhamel! We’re about to officially join the family as well; we pick up our new T@B 400 from Beckley’s in MD tomorrow morning. 

We were initially looking at the 320 as well, and I actually preferred the larger dinette over the 400. In the end the 400 won out for the convenience of not having to continually swap the dinette for the bed (and vice versa), for the much roomier shower, and for the option to sleep one more person so that we can take a grandkid or two along now and again. 

I actually had to get a new TV to tow either model as my Volkswagen Tiguan would only pull 1,500 pounds, which limited us to pop-ups (which we didn’t want) or an A frame. The ALiners were quite nice in their own way but the interiors were a bit spartan, we’d heard of wind and water leaks (inherent in the design), and they felt a bit cramped. 

Once we knew we wanted a T@B, a new TV was a must. We chose the Volkswagen Atlas. I looked seriously at getting a 1/2 ton pickup instead but since it will be used to tow much less often then it will be used as a car, an SUV suited us better. 

Anyway, sounds like the F150 will suit you guys just fine - they’re great trucks - and it’s good to find another (soon to be) T@B 400 owner out there. Best of luck, and let the adventures begin! 

jrhamel

Thanks@jameskuzman, and welcome. I'm envious that you are getting yours sooner than. we are. Any plans for your first outing? 

I like the the Atlas, wish it could hold to bikes in the back. 

Have fun

N7SHG_Ham

@jameskuzman be interested in how the Atlas and the 400 get along, could be a future tow vehicle for us.

jameskuzman

@jrhamel - First trip will be in a couple of weeks to Guilford Lake State Park, about 45 minutes south of us. Figured we'd keep in close by for the initial outing just in case there are any bugs to work out. 

@N7SHG_Ham - We took delivery last Friday and towed our new 400 home from Beckley's in MD to the Youngstown, OH area, a distance of about 275 miles. Bearing in mind this is our first camper and I have limited towing experience, here's what I can tell you so far: 

• You definitely feel the weight of the trailer in terms of acceleration and shifting as expected, but the Atlas never felt taxed or strained on what I would call moderate hills on the PA turnpike; for the ride home all holding tanks were empty and the propane bottle was full.
  
  
• I normally keep the Atlas in "S" mode for shifting as "D" short shifts, lugs the engine, and is generally "busy" shifting a lot; I tried both with the 400 and preferred "S" here too; never saw the tach pass 3,000 RPM even on grades, though I kept the speed between 60 and 65mph.
  
  
• Oil temperatures in the Atlas in hot weather tend to run between 205 and 210 degrees; the oil temp when towing ran a steady 225 degrees in 85 - 90 degree outdoor temps which I find more than acceptable for the synthetic oil. 
  
  
• Speaking of oil and at the risk of opening a can of worms, I would never in a million years run VW's 10,000 mile drain interval if you're going to tow; that said, I wouldn't go beyond 5,000 miles *without* towing on the Atlas, as the VR6 has a reputation for fuel dilution anyway; just my two cents. 
  
  
• Braking with the Prodigy wireless controller was seamless once properly adjusted; no drama at all.
  
  
• The weather was calm and pleasant so I can't comment on sway from crosswinds, but there was zero sway or other shenanigans from the 400 when being passed by countless tractor trailers; on flat ground it was easy to forget it was back there.
  
  
• Mirrors: The 400 sticks out 6-8 inches on each side, but I felt no need for mirror extensions once I adjusted the stock mirrors to look out a bit further; I'm planning to add stick-on convex mirrors once I determine where the blind spot sensors are behind the mirror glass so I don't obscure those.
  
  
• Speaking of the blind spot detectors: Bear in mind that the Atlas disables all of the electronic vehicle safety sensors except adaptive cruise control (if your vehicle is so equipped) when you attached the trailer wiring harness; this includes lane departure, blind spot monitoring, and rear collision avoidance; what it does NOT do is re-enable any of them once the harness is disconnected - you must do so manually from the control on the steering wheel - but the vehicle gives you no indication that it's done so and no reminder that they're off; you just have to remember to re-enable them (an oversight on VW's part IMO).
  
  
• Gas mileage - which, if we're honest, isn't the Atlas' forte to start with - was 12MPG. Without the trailer, I get high teens around town and about 26 highway, so it got cut in half.
  
  
• I'm going to look into the Firestone Ride-Rite air bags (Kit Number W237604175 for the Atlas); the back end didn't look like it was sagging badly and it didn't feel light in the front end (though again, we had dry, clear roads the whole way), but it's off kilter enough to affect the headlights; low beams ended up aiming about where the high beams normally do, and the high beams made no visible difference as they were aiming for the tree tops.
  
  And that's what I can tell you so far from the first trip! 

N7SHG_Ham

@jameskuzman thanks for details! I have an older TDI Jetta pre dieselgate with 10k oil intervals, been doing that since new and 14 years+ with no noticeable issues. I do run the expensive VW recommended oil. Does the Atlas reduce OCI when towing? I run a Dodge Ram diesel around 10k too after moving to full synthetic a number of years ago, usually 7500-10000 but occasionally i have gone further, 306k and counting.

jameskuzman

@N7SHG_Ham - Indeed, using an oil with the proper VW 501.xxx rating is crucial on all Volkswagens, though VW themselves have muddied the water quite a bit by shifting recommendations for the same vehicles/engines on the fly and providing conflicting information between the owner's manual, under-hood sticker, and official bulletins - but I digress! 

VW makes no additional recommendations about adjusting the OCI when towing.

I did 10,000 miles intervals on my 2005.5 Jetta (2.5) and it was as clean as a whistle internally at 150,000 miles. On subsequent VW's including a CC, Passat, and Tiguan with the 1.8 and 2.0 turbo engines, I went back to 5,000 simply because of the heat inflicted by the turbo. 

I'm sure the synthetic would withstand 10,000 miles in the Atlas as well, but 5,000 still makes me feel better and is inexpensive piece of mind if you get the oil when it's on sale. That said, I can't argue with 306K out of the Ram - outstanding! 

jrhamel

Well, we've had a little change in plans. Our dealer called us to let us know when our new T@B 400 would start to be made and approximate delivery date and oh, by the way, the floor you wanted is no longer available. This was very disappointing to my wife who really wanted the upgraded floor. Our dealer gave us the option of coming to buy one off the lot or wait for the one we ordered to come in. At the same time I just happened to be looking on FB Marketplace and there was a 2019 Boondock Lite 400 with everything we wanted, including the upgraded floor, and the best part of it all they were only 20 minutes away. Long story short we are now the proud owners of a barely used T@B 400 Boondock Lite. 
Going to look at trucks today.  

jgram2

@jrhamel Talk about serendipity! Congratulations!

jameskuzman

@jrhamel - Sounds like things worked out for the best then - congratulations! Out of curiosity, what floor did you want that was no longer available for the 400? 

jrhamel

@jameskuzman - not sure what they called the flooring but it was available on the 2019. Brown with white stripes. 

jrhamel

Finally brought home our two new family additions

jgram2

Congratulations, 2 beauties!