New guy

[jamesrw54]

Just bought an Imagine xls 23bhe and take delivery 7 June. Late 60s and never pulled a trailer before. Joined in hopes of learning the ins and outs. Already have a local trip planned just a couple hours away to try it out. I’m hoping to do a little traveling with the wife and dog. Looking forward to learning a lot here!

[Yoda]

Just bought an Imagine xls 23bhe and take delivery 7 June. Late 60s and never pulled a trailer before. Joined in hopes of learning the ins and outs. Already have a local trip planned just a couple hours away to try it out. I’m hoping to do a little traveling with the wife and dog. Looking forward to learning a lot here!

Welcome
Just go slow, take wide turns.

I recommend finding and empty parking lot / fairgrounds, etc and practice backing and pulling into parking spaces. Get some orange cones (soccer) and lay out some practice camping spots and practice backing in. Pay attention to tail swing. As you turn and the trailer rotates on the tires the tail will swing wider than you might think.

Tip - to know which way the trailer will go when backing, hold the steering wheel at the 6 PM position. Which ever way you move your hand the trailer will go.

Hope this helps
Safe travels

[ThePowells]

jamesrw54 Welcome to the family and the forum. I second what Yoda said, plus weigh the tow vehicle and then the entire rig first chance you get so you will have a baseline and know if you are close to weight maxes somewhere. Another favorite trick is to driveway camp for a bit so you can practice going thru the paces and have a better understanding of the systems before you get out into the wild. If anything comes up you aren't scrambling for a solution and can take your time to resolve it.

When you have a chance, the moderators have put together a posting to help new members find their way around the forum, create a sig line to help with knowing which model you have, and help members search for help within the forum. You can find it at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

[Jlawles2]

jamesrw54 Welcome to the group. As Yoda stated grab the wheel at the 6 position palms up (comfort when turning). Move slow, and be cautious. When in doubt, get out and look for yourself.

It's best if you can explain to your helper what you are looking at and what information you need. Learn hand signals and teach the helper that if they cannot see you in the mirror, you cannot see them. Sometimes they may need to be 10' or more from the unit so you can see them.

[jamesrw54]

Thanks to everyone for your advice and gracious welcome. We will do a driveway camp test, and I will use our fairgrounds parking lot as a practice parking area. I have been accumulating various things like chocks, leveling blocks, water pressure regulator, adapter for 30 amp to use my 110 outlet, black tank water treatment, sewer hose and slinky, etc. On pickup date I’m having an equalizer hitch installed at dealer. Reading thru the online manual it seems there are a lot of steps to remember when setting up and preparing to leave a site. Is there a checklist that anyone could point me to? Old USAF guy, so I would like one to laminate and dry erase check items off as I go.

[TucsonJim]

Welcome to the tech forum James. Unfortunately we've reached our allocation of James/Jim on the forum! LOL. Best wishes for successful RV ownership.

Jim (Another one from '54).