# Picking Up New Rs250 Friday. Excited/nervous



## knauby (Aug 16, 2012)

Picking up my new RS 250 on Friday! Excited but kind of scared too. My camping experience has been limited to tents so I'm worried I went to big to soon by skipping the common pop-up stage. We have our first trip planned over the weekend at a nearby state park. Will my fellow campers be patient with me as I try to back that thing into place?

Glad I found this forum, any questions I have I know where to go, the experts on here who have been through it.


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## cdawrld (Jul 31, 2011)

Welcome and congratulations on your new adventure. I too skipped the musty tent trailer stage. From damp tents to now waking up dry and warm. We love it.









If your new at trailer backing. Take it over to a store parking lot in the evening and practice backing. Using the paint stripes will help give a visual aid when backing up.
A little practice finding how sharp you can turn can be valuable knowledge to know ahead of time. There is alot less pressure when other campers aren't watching or trees to hit.

Good luck and hope to read some good experiences from you.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Welcome to the site!

I recommend that you print the Pre-Delivery Inspection writeup by Oregon_Camper. Give a copy (in advance) to your dealer and let them know that you intend to follow it faithfully.

A good PDI will take upwards of 4 hours. Leave the kids home--they'll get bored very quickly and distract you. Wear old clothes so you can get down on the floor or up on the roof. DW should wear slacks or jeans, etc., so she doesn't flash the assembled multitudes.

Bring a pad of paper each, pens (and extras so when you drop one you have a spare), plus each should have a flashlight.

Your camera may be useful if the tech is explaining stuff like how to set up your Weight Distribution Hitch (WDH).

Good luck and have fun.


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## Tim Mel Smith (Jul 7, 2012)

We were also tent campers for years up until last month when we picked up our 09 250RS. I was just as concerned and wondered if we went too big. I can tell you that our family of 5 loved it! I especially enjoyed how quick the set-up and tear-down time is with a Travel Trailer! (Still some work but nothing like Tent Camping) We did the Tent camping up big with lots of equipment so set-up was a timely affair.

We're looking forward to traveling farther and opening up more days of the year to camping.

All my concerns have been erased with our first trip! Hopefully yours will be as well! Welcome!


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## ORvagabond (Apr 17, 2009)

WELCOME and Congratulations!!!


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## kobuyashi (Sep 30, 2009)

knauby said:


> Picking up my new RS 250 on Friday! Excited but kind of scared too. My camping experience has been limited to tents so I'm worried I went to big to soon by skipping the common pop-up stage. We have our first trip planned over the weekend at a nearby state park. Will my fellow campers be patient with me as I try to back that thing into place?
> 
> Glad I found this forum, any questions I have I know where to go, the experts on here who have been through it.


Don't sweat backing in too much. If someone sees you struggling they will usually help you out with some guidance. Just don't get frustrated, that's the worst thing you can do. I've nailed it on the first attempt and screwed it up terribly also. The latter of the two is usually when I got frustrated and it just doesn't help. Besides, if you hang around long enough, someone usually does worse than you. (I won't deny that it feels good to see that)


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## hoodscoop (Mar 29, 2012)

knauby said:


> Picking up my new RS 250 on Friday! Excited but kind of scared too. My camping experience has been limited to tents so I'm worried I went to big to soon by skipping the common pop-up stage. We have our first trip planned over the weekend at a nearby state park. Will my fellow campers be patient with me as I try to back that thing into place?
> 
> Glad I found this forum, any questions I have I know where to go, the experts on here who have been through it.


Tents to a RS250, heck, your like a pro to me. I went from nothing to a 5th wheel. Didn't have a clue. As a matter of fact, I towed it to a campsite nearby, set it up, and got the owners manual out. Because I bought use, hand no delivery training. After I read the section on hooking up the sewer hose, I had to hook the 5th wheel back up and move it about 10 feet.







I soon learned that everyone at the campground is willing to help. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Just keep your educator in cold ones.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

Congratulations on your purchase!!! We used to own a 2006 25RSS and loved it!!

By skipping all the intermediate stages (popup, hybrid, etc.), you saved yourself about $20k from trading in TV's and trailers. I wish I had enough sense as you when we were upgrading our equipment every year or two. You made the right decision.

As for backing up, practice in an open parkng lot, you will be an expert in no time. It is also good to always have somebody behind the trailer to guide you. Avoid having your spotter using hand signals and yelling to give you directions. They just end up looking silly and really are not very helpful, half the time you will not be able to see or hear them. Get a set a walkie talkies so you can get timely and effective feedback from your spotter.

DAN


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## Jewellfamily (Sep 25, 2010)

Couple of things for backing up.

1. If you are using a friction bar sway controller, loosen it before backing into your spot.

2. The parking lot suggestion is a good one as its open and you can see well.

3. I've actually found that the bigger the trailer is the easier it is for me to back into a spot. The longer trailers are less reactive to your steering wheel movements so it seems more forgiving.

4. Put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel (6 o'clock) when backing up. The rear of the trailer will go whichever way you move your hand (ie if you turn the wheel right to 9 o'clock the rear of the trailer will move towards 9 o'clock) and vise versa. Most people that are new at backing up have trouble with which way to turn the wheel to make the trailer do what they want and this is a good way to remember.

5. Know how far your slides stick out so you know how much to leave on the side or rear for clearances.

6. Dont be scared of backing it up. Every camper in the campground was a novice at it at one point or another and most of them are helpful if you need it.


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## knauby (Aug 16, 2012)

Well thanks everyone. We picked up the camper Friday and have our first week end camping in the books. Backing went better than expected and we did have some friendly help when I couldn't get the thing in unhitched. Did I mention the pouring down rain on arrival, if I could set the thing up in that rain I think I could do it anytime. Have to return it to the dealer for some "bugs" we found but all should be taken care of under warranty.


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