The New T@B is Home!!!

Well a strange turn of events late last week...

Wife changed her mind (<sarcasm> how rare is that!! </sarcasm>) and decided that Sliver/Black would be a better choice than Silver/Blue I talked about in my previous post.  So I did a quick search and found a loaded 2016 T@B Max S at a dealer (Chilhowee RV Center) near Knoxville, TN.  It is about 170 miles from the house so I called them and worked out a deal and put down a deposit.  It did not have the external shower, but it did have the portal window in the wet bath and I kind of like that.  It has the the scuba black interior.  Not my favorite, but we can always change out the cushion covers if it is ever an issue.

We picked it up yesterday (10/10/15) and bought it home so my first drive was a bout 170 miles (in the rain of course).

I parked it in front of the lower garage.  I will need to pour a cement pad for her to live on full time....

A few initial notes:

1) The dealer was pleasant and did a GREAT job installing my Tekonsha Prodigy Wireless Brake controller on the trailer for me.  I had already already installed the 7 pin plug with charging power on my 2015 Lincoln MKC and paired the unit to the hand held controller.  It worked flawlessly on the entire trip.

2) My tow vehicle is a 2015 Lincoln MKC AWD with the 2.0L Ecoboost engine and it has the towing package.  It is rated to tow 3,000 lb.  It seems to tow the little T@B very well.  The Lincoln is a bit heaver and wider than the Ford Escape it is based on.  It had plenty of power and I drove 60-70 mph all the way home.  I averaged a little over 17mpg in the rain so that seemed acceptable.  It gets about 23-25 mpg on the highway normally.  The Lincoln has sway control and it activated once when a really strong gust of wind hit the trailer.  It worked much better to control sway than I though it would.  I often tow a boat that weighs about 2000 lb so I was reasonably sure it would handle the T@B.

3) The bed is plenty wide, but a hair short for me (I'm 6'-4") but It was comfortable.  I took a nap in it when we got her home.  However, I can see hitting my head on the rear cabnites a few times.  I will probably have to re-vent the heat vents as I am sure my pillows with cover the slots.  That seems to be a common modification.

4) The monster heavy table will have to go and be replaced with bed slats and couple of TV trays....

5) I did note (but kept to my self) that the little short 5'-2" wife looks like a Keebler Elf in the tree house when she is inside the trailer.  (I guess I look like a giant...)

6) We already had our first zombie experience at the very first rest stop.  An RV owner and a trucker...

7) I still can't get over how well the trailer vents and the window slide screens/shades are near perfect.  This one does have the new metal clips that hold the shade/screen together.  Nice little mod.  The Front window is a great option...

8) I am pretty good at backing trailers, but the short tounge makes this one a little twitchy... (Go very slow and make small corrections)  You can see from one of the picks how challenging my rear driveway is...

9) I've got a lot to learn about the trailer and camping in it.  I am more or less a complete Newbie to RV's in general.  I have learned a lot from reading the posts here (thanks for that)  Any Tips on winterizing will be most welcome....

10) We are going to attempt a weekend trip in a week or two once I get a few essentials put together. (Again the posts here are most helpful)