# New Member Introduction



## garyb1st (Dec 6, 2007)

Hi everyone,

We joined this forum a few months ago but since we didn't own an outback and weren't sure if we were going to buy one decided not to post. Well my DW and I just signed the papers this afternoon. We're picking up our new 28KRS Thursday morning. This will be our first and the only prior experience I have is pulling a small tent trailer from Minnesota to Florida almost 40 years ago.

First of all I want to thank everyone for all your wonderful advice and contributions to this great forum. The information we picked up here was instrumental in our decision. We're barely able to squeeze the trailer into the space next to our driveway which is why we almost bought the 23KRS. But after reading the thoughts of others who bought the larger unit, we decided to go for it and pick up a rather large shoe horn before settling in. Not really that bad but it will be tight. Still, better than $100.00 plus per month for storage.

The tow vehicle is a 2005 F250 with a 6.0 powerstroke. More than enough power and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will hold up. We've had a few problems and I'm hoping for at least a few years of trouble free travel.

So I'm sure we'll be reading many posts and looking to all you experts for your thoughts and ideas. Already have plans for changing the rear slide to a King.

GaryB


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi GaryB









Congratulations on your new Roo!

You will have no regrets on your decision to go with the 28krs. We have a 2006 and couldn't be happier!
There are many great mods for this model as you probably already know, and we've done quite a few. If you click on my screenname, you can view our list of mods completed so far.
I'm looking forward to seeing your solution for the king bed mod.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!









Enjoy and Happy Camping,


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## ember (Jan 17, 2008)

HI Garyb1st,
Welcome to Outbackers!! We joined not so long ago ourselves, both the forum, and the camping (still not really sure it's camping but.. we'll go along with that story







). Everyday we are glad we did!! 
Would you mind sharing where you're from? Theres bound to be a rally in your area. We are so happy we went to NH to the spring rally, and met some fellow outbackers, and got some faces to go with the screennames.
TTFN
Ember


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## 'Ohana (May 20, 2007)

Welcome to Outbackers from our family to yours and Crongrats on the New TT









Ed


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Glad to have you with us!

Enjoy.

Mark


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## bradnjess (Mar 25, 2007)

Welcome to Outbackers Gary. You made a good choice with the Outback. Once you find the path of least resistance for backing into your driveway it will be the easiest thing you'll do. I was a little nervous when we brought ours home, I too had only pulled a pop-up before. Now my DW doesn't even have to get out of the truck. I just make sure I get the truck and trailer in the right spot on the street and back her in the same way each time. A tip my brother-in-law gave me from his fire dept. experience was to spray paint a box on the driveway around the trailer tires on the drivers side and just slowly aim for the box. This way I get the camper in the perfect position every time. Good Luck I'm sure you'll do great. Happy Outbacking.

Brad


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## Zymurgist (Apr 2, 2007)

Welcome to the neighborhood, it's a little on the big and sprawled out side, but just shout from wherever you are and we'll shout back!









Enjoy and safe travels

Carl & Terri


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## campfirenut (Aug 9, 2006)

WELCOME to OUTBACKERS and CONGRADULATIONS on your new TT. You will enjoy it many years to come.

Bob


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## Camper Louise (Aug 7, 2004)

Congratulations on your Outback. It is so exciting purchasing a new trailer. 
You will love all the helpful information you get from this web site. There is something for every one.
We look forward to seeing your posts.


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## jitch388 (Apr 19, 2008)

Congrats, I'm a bit of a newbie myself. I'm finding it very imformative as well.
Blessings


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## hpapa4 (Apr 11, 2007)

Let me welcome you to Outbackers and congratulate you on the new Outback.


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

_CONGRATULATIONS!!

Tami_


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## garyb1st (Dec 6, 2007)

Hi again.

First of all, thanks so much for the warm welcome. I can tell from reading only a few of the many posts that this site it is going to be my salvation again and again. I am even more of a newbie than I thought. Thank God my DW has a brain. Unfortunately I don't always listen to her. *I *decided which surface streets to take from the FRWY after an uneventful 40 mile trip. The two she suggested would likely have made the last two miles as uneventful as the first 40. But being the designated driver, I decided to take MY "best way home" route. Now the 40 mile trip from the dealer to house went quite well. But after we exited the FRWY we had a minor glitch. That would be a minor incident with one of the cities traffic lights which literally jumped directly in front of my trailer as I made a right turn. Those right turns are really tough. Anyway, this traffic light had the nerve to rip a fairly significant hole in my awning. Then another one of those warning signs had the gawl to scratch the shiny side of my new Outback. I guess I'll have to check with the city tomorrow to see how they reimbursement the locals for damage caused by negligent placement of traffic signals and warning signs.

Second, aside from the traffic signal and warning sign, the trip home went quite well. We got to the dealer at 10:30 this morning. I figured it would take about 3 hours for the inspection and we'd be on the road by 2:00 PM at the latest. That way we avoid the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. Long story short, after a two hour system check (the brake controller doesn't work), we take off for home. Now it's 4:30 PM. Ember, we live in Los Angeles. There are a lot of cars here. I've never done this before. Bad combination. My TV is the longest Ford Super Duty they make. Almost 22 feet. The trailer is almost 31 feet. Total is more than I can count. But the traffic Gods are with us and we arrive at our home an hour and 20 minutes later. Now if any of you aren't familiar with L.A., going 40 miles in less than 3 hours if reasonably fast on a Friday afternoon.

Third, parking the Outback next to the driveway. Ain't no way Jose. I figure we either have too much travel trailer or too little area to park it. Brad, can you send your brother-in-law to help figure this one out. For tonight, it's parked in front of the house on the street. Still hitched to the Super Duty. Actually, the space is fine. The real problem is getting the trailer up the incline without coming into contact with the driveway. After many tries and finally running out of day light, we park it on the street.

Fourth, tomorrow we're off to Home Depot. Now this is where I need some advice. I know you Outbackers have answers for everything. Right? Here's my plan. Build a ramp. Literally. I think if I can bridge the gap, a dip which serves as a gutter between the street and my driveway, I can do it. I'm thinking maybe two sheets of 3/4 inch playwood scewed together with 2 x 4 bracing spaced about 6" on center and positioned beneath each wheel. Hopefully that will give me adequate support. But I've only done this once and only to accommodate a motorized wheel chair. Total weight with driver was probably 5 to 600 pounds. The Outback is like 10 times that so, I may do nothing more than break through the plywood and end up enriching the checking account of the local towing service.

Fifth, any help is appreciated.

Sixth, I'm going to freshen up my Chardonnay. Hey, it's been a challenging day.

OK. We live in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. My DW is Maria. Between us, we have lots of kids. Six at last count. Ages range from 39 to 7. The 7 year old call me California Grandpa. She from one of my twin daughters. In case you don't know, grandkids are really great.

I retired 3 years ago after spending 22 years in the Corporate world of Aerospace. Maria is going to take an extended leave sometime late June or early July. Like for two plus years. So it's going to be Maria, me and the Outback. As an aside, Maria's way too young to retire. But, she's not too young to enjoy the great outdoors. We both love being in high in the mountains. Up until now, it's been the old 9 x 9 Coleman tent or the back of Clifford. Clifford is what Maria calls our fire engine red Super Duty. I guess my memory's also retired or Clifford was not in my library when I was growing up. I just call her Big Red.

Big Red is not yet 3 years old and has had the joy of riding on a flat bed twice. Any 6.0 diesel owners out there. We need to talk. I was a bit worried about pulling anything other an a coaster wagon but decided to bite the bullet. Actually glad we did. The 28 KRS is really nice. Even though we can't park it next to the driveway, we're both quite excited and are looking forward to many wonderful moments.

We got the Kargoroo because we're a two motorcycle family. I bought my neighbors 2005 Yamaha FZ6 last August. My first bike. I turned 65 last Saturday. Yeah, I know, I'm nuts. Maria's got a brand new (well at least never owned) 2007 Yamaha VStar 650 Custom memorial day weekend. Now we're almost ready to roll. Not sure I want to load both in the Kargoroo. Even thought I've seen at least one other do it with bikes larger than ours, it seems a bit like overload.

Well, that's about it for now. It's Saturday and I need to turn off the headlights.

Again, thanks for all the great responses.

Gary and Maria.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

garyb1st said:


> Hi again.
> 
> First of all, thanks so much for the warm welcome. I can tell from reading only a few of the many posts that this site it is going to be my salvation again and again. I am even more of a newbie than I thought. Thank God my DW has a brain. Unfortunately I don't always listen to her. *I *decided which surface streets to take from the FRWY after an uneventful 40 mile trip. The two she suggested would likely have made the last two miles as uneventful as the first 40. But being the designated driver, I decided to take MY "best way home" route. Now the 40 mile trip from the dealer to house went quite well. But after we exited the FRWY we had a minor glitch. That would be a minor incident with one of the cities traffic lights which literally jumped directly in front of my trailer as I made a right turn. Those right turns are really tough. Anyway, this traffic light had the nerve to rip a fairly significant hole in my awning. Then another one of those warning signs had the gawl to scratch the shiny side of my new Outback. I guess I'll have to check with the city tomorrow to see how they reimbursement the locals for damage caused by negligent placement of traffic signals and warning signs.
> 
> ...


Welcome to Outbackers and keep the posts coming! I love your writing style!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

garyb1st said:


> Third, parking the Outback next to the driveway. Ain't no way Jose. I figure we either have too much travel trailer or too little area to park it. Brad, can you send your brother-in-law to help figure this one out. For tonight, it's parked in front of the house on the street. Still hitched to the Super Duty. Actually, the space is fine. The real problem is getting the trailer up the incline without coming into contact with the driveway. After many tries and finally running out of day light, we park it on the street.


Gary....I think I have a win-win for you. Steve (Y-Guy) has a great little electric mover he used to park his Outback (mine now) on the side of his house. I wanted it, but there is no power where I pakr my Outback.

Here are a few pictures of the mover. This should solve all of your problems and make for stress free parking along the side of your house.

PM "Y-Guy" for more info. Hope this help.









As far has height goes, getting the axles flipped will give you about 4" to 5" of additional ground clearance. I had this done last summer and it was worth every penny. Think is was about $150 to have done.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Gary,

Is it the rear end of the camper that is coming into contact with the driveway or your rear steps?

If it's the rear of the camper, I'm wondering if something like these could help you Swivel Skid wheels

We had problems with our rear steps scraping occasionally, and had a lower profile double step installed to replace the original set that got destroyed on one of our first trips.

On another note, since you're in So Calif, we'd love to have you and Maria (and kids!) join us at our Southern California Fall Rally at the Newport Dunes in October.


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## garyb1st (Dec 6, 2007)

Thanks Jim. My neighbor mentioned the same thing earlier this morning. Who makes it? If it's not too expensive I might pick one up. It looks like your trailer is similar in size to ours so the weight is probably comparable. Does the small mover have the power to push the 6 to 7,000 pound load up about a 10% incline? Also my parking area is not paved which will probably put more drag on the wheels.

The other possibility I know will work is flipping the axles. From what I see, there are pros and cons to the flip. But if I did it, I could easily put the trailer in the space I have. The 4 inch difference is more than enough.

Gary


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

The axel flip would probably be alot more cost effective than one of those RV movers









Power Caster


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## garyb1st (Dec 6, 2007)

skippershe said:


> Hi Gary,
> 
> Is it the rear end of the camper that is coming into contact with the driveway or your rear steps?
> 
> ...


Hi Dawn,

No, it's the front and I suspect if/when we get it over the dip, then the rear is also going to bottom out. I've read a bit about the skid wheels and thought that would be a quick inexpensive fix but then saw some comments on the forum about the possibility of tweeking the frame. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks for the invite. If we're in town we'll try to make it. The site looks great and at that price it's a real deal.


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## garyb1st (Dec 6, 2007)

skippershe said:


> The axel flip would probably be alot more cost effective than one of those RV movers
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ouch that's a lot of camping fees. I think we'll go for the flip.


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## wtscl (May 22, 2007)

Welcome to the world of OUTBACKERS!

I'm sure you have figured out by now that there are a LOT of knowledgable people on this site. You absolutely have to check out the MODIFICATIONS section. I am addicted to that part of the forum. I have gotten so many idea and helpful hints from there, DW gets annoyed. I am always mentioning what someone has done to their OB.

Have fun,


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

Welcome to Outbackers!









If you like your OB half as much as we like ours, you will LOVE it.

Yeah, we too have an '05 powerstroke. Has been on a flatbed twice. First time in CO. They didn't find the problem as it was intermittent, this fall the ting went from intermittent to permanent. The high pressure fuel line was cracked.

Things have been good ever since.


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## jitch388 (Apr 19, 2008)

HOWDY YALL!!


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## snew (Apr 17, 2007)

Hello fellow Roo owner!!! I hope you love yours as much as we love ours. Just think when you solve you initial issues with towing







and parking - then you get to start modding







. The outback can get expensive









BTW we are at least one of the Roo owners that puts 2 larger bikes in garage. It is not easy or fun - but it fits. We are all over the 1000lb limit for the garage, but so far no problems. In order to get the bikes in and strapped down you have to move into positions that should be reserved for the circus, but we get the job done.

Best of luck to you on figuring out all your challenges and don't hesitate to post a question on here. It seems somebody on this forum knows a little something about everything.

Most of all Welcome!!!


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