Cardinal RV Club

Last fall we picked up a new 30RKLE and a chev 3500 dually. I have never owned one of these and havent got a clue. I was able to tow it home and get it parked but it hasnt moved since. Any advise is welcome and we cant wait till next summer to get out. Im retired Coast Guard and plan on retireing from my second job next summer. Ill be 55 and we already have a reservation next winter from Nov to April at Macdill AFB.


Thanks for the good advise, Ill make a copy of the check list and hope to see meet some of you on the road.

Jash, welcome and you've come to the right place for help. I remember the first time we saw our rig hooked up to our truck at the dealers....our first thought was, "Oh my God, what have we done", my poor DH was white knuckle all the way home, complaining about how the roads had all shrunk since we had left home...lol Some advise going to an emply school parking lot on the weekends and practice backing up, making tight turns, etc til you get more comfortable. The main thing is, take your time, and don't let anyone rush you. I'm sure there will be others on shortly to give you some great advice and if you have any questions at all, DO NOT hesitate to ask...there is NO ONE on this web site that will make you feel silly. The ONLY silly question about rv'ing you could ask...is the ones you don't ask!! Have fun and we can't wait to read about your rv'ing adventures!!!

Hi Jash,

Welcome both to the club and also to RVing.

Like you we retired at 55, now ten years later we still are enjoying all that RVing has to offer.

We had planned to retire on a boat, a hobby we had done for over 20 years and loved. But health issues forced us to look at something else. Our first RV rig was a gas powered motor home, follow by 2 diesels pushers. We got out of RVing for about a year, but missed it and last year bought our Bird. So at least you are starting something that took us 10 years to find.

We didn’t know the first thing about RVing, from driving the thing to how to put the awning up. But RVers are just a great bunch of people who are always willing to help out.

Do some shake down cruses with your new Bird, ask questions, and like Linda said, have fun.

Hi Jash,

One of the first things you should do is to get check lists for hooking the fifth wheel up to your tow vehicle and disconnecting from your tow vehicle. These will help you make sure you don't forget anything that can damage the trailer, pickup or yourself. There have been several talked about on this website and the one below is what Linda and Virgil posted in the Cardinal , Manuals, and Checklists section.

Fifth Wheel Hitching
1. Raise or lower the 5th wheel trailer to set the 5th wheel kingpin to proper hitch height .
2. Drop truck tailgate ... if you don't have a special tailgate.
3. Open locking bar on hitch.
4. Back under trailer until hitch engages the fifth wheel kingpin.
5. Secure hitch locking bar on the fifth wheel hitch.
6. Put truck in forward gear (don't give it any fuel/acceleration)
and 'bump' the hitch to make sure it is locked.
7. Connect umbilical cord and breakaway switch cable.
8. Check fifth wheel trailer lights and brakes.
9. Raise pickup truck tailgate.
10. Raise 5th wheel trailer Landing gear.
11. Remove wheel chocks from trailer wheels.


Fifth Wheel Unhitching
1. Pull into the site/storage, and situate the trailer where you want it.
2. Chock the wheels tightly so the trailer will not move.
3. Drop the fifth wheel landing gear. (important!) Do this first so you won't forget!
4. Disconnect the umbilical cord and breakaway switch cable.
5. Drop the truck tailgate... if you don't have a special tailgate. *
6. Gently put your truck into reverse... don't give it any fuel/acceleration. This effectively moves the 5th wheel kingpin off the locking bar which will allow you to easily disengage it.
7. Shift in to neutral, step on brake and and apply parking brake.
8. Disengage the kingpin locking bar on fifth wheel hitch.
9. Slowly drive away. Making sure the kingpin is clear of anything in the truck bed and the umbilical cord and breakaway cable are not snagged.
10. Raise truck tailgate.
Adjust 5th wheel height to proper front to back level.

Other things to remember:
When towing you now have a very long extension to your vehicle and you have to make wider turns than before.
Watch for clearances of trees both overhead and side when towing in Rv Parks and city and country roads.
Watch for clearance of low bridges and service station awnings. The height of my trailer is 13' 3" and yours should be about the same.


As Linda said find a large parking lot one as empty as you can get it and practice. Backing up is going to be the most difficult subject to conquer. Take saftey cones with you to use as objects to make turns around and set them up like they were a rv pad you need to back into. The thing about cones are they are more forgiving than concrete islands in a parking lot and they are easier to see.

One of the most important things to remember is that your spouse has not done this before either and have patience with each other because at first it will be frusturating that you don't do as well as you thought you should! Even after you have been RVing for some time you will find that backing will still ocassionaly cause you to get frusturated!

This is a very enjoyable endeavor you are beginning so most of all have fun !!

Don

Hey Don, great post!! Virg laminated our ck list and Virg still uses it....no point in leaving things to chance, specially when we have our "senior" moments...lol It's too easy to get complacent and that's when you make mistakes.

Great Post about hooking and unhooking your fifth wheel. One the most important things that I have found out in my noob camping career, I like doing it myself. I'mtrying to be rude but I have a routine and if someone helps me out-- I get out of sync, and I'm not very comfrotable after that. Sometimes so far, nobody has taken offence, which I hope they understand. After talking to a few others about this, so far everyone has stated, they have the same feelings. Plz get your routine down pat.
The Captain says. 'Don't let one bad skid ruin your whole Day."

lol, cap, I know there's gotta be a story behind that name...lol

Jash,
Thank You for your service to our Country!! Well Done!!
Welcome to the club!!
Just like everyone has said comfort comes from doing. My trouble is that every spring around here is just like starting over. By the time fall comes I wonder why I was so uncomfortable hooking up, unhooking, backing, and everything that goes along with it.
I know it's not alway possible but when picking a camp site I try and look for ones that are on a corner or curve that might allow me to back straight in rather than cutinng in at a 90 degree angle with a tree on the opposite side of a narrow campground road. Heck I've been known to pay an extra $10 bucks for a pull thru sight.
The list that Don posted is invaluable, one thing I do a little different is on number 6 hitching up, I always lock the trailer brakes prior to "bumping" the hitch.
My wife and I like to use 2 way radios for her to guide me back into a space.
I've found out that it's easier to move the rig over 2 feet than it is to move it 2 inches. LOL
Have fun!!
Bill

Hey Linda did Virg bold the part about not having a Pooh fountain. ROFL

And he says I confuse him.........

Mikey, slow down, read your question....then clarify for me....I've slept since then so I need my memory refreshed...lol

OHHHHHHH.....you talkin about when he was back flushing....walked off and got busy or was yakin or something....and we had a purdy water fountain on our roof????? rofl....yep....he hangs around now when he's back flushing!!! Apparantly something broke loose and stopped up something....water went up the vent pipe, blew the little vent pipe cover thingy off and we had a waterfountain on the roof!!! Sometimes when they cut the holes for the toilet...they kinda let the lttle piece of wood fall into the tank...so watch out for roof top water fountains!!!!

Hey Linda! I WONDERED if Mikey was talking about the little side show we had down in Bourne!! LOL~! We kept watching their trailer parked next to ours and wondered just HOW the water was running off of their roof.. Den said it is dripping because of the air conditioner... I told him that is WAY Too much water for an air conditioner drip!!!! LOL! I was right.... again....
We found out on our maiden voyage with our rig that the factory had left that wooden cutout fall into the tank.. Luckily with ours, it went through the drain hose and Den found it. I sure would think the factory would make it a point to be a bit more careful of that happening. Donna

Hi Jash, welcome to the club and thanks for serving our counrty. When the weather warms up in PA, try camping in your yard/driveway. This way, you'll know what items you need for the road. What the other members have told you is important, but if you forget something important, it wure won't be fun. Enjoy the new camper, hope to meet you on the road. John

Hey LUISANNE glad you like my post. There was too much wine going in and I should prooffff read mine before posting it. But then again, I'm on a weekend Holiday and yes the wine is flowing again. lol I will never tell the pun of my script, since it's better to leave it to one's emagination. We have all had bad things happen, one way or another. Cheers Still I have found out ---Get a rountine down for loading and unloading is a must procedure. Heheh My very first thing I do is make sure the TV ANTENA is down. How many wish they would do tha first! We all have to have a starting point <--- this is mine. "Roll the TV Antena Down; thats an order!" Is my cup half empty or half full?

Luizianna wrote:OHHHHHHH.....you talkin about when he was back flushing....walked off and got busy or was yakin or something....and we had a purdy water fountain on our roof????? rofl....yep....he hangs around now when he's back flushing!!! Apparantly something broke loose and stopped up something....water went up the vent pipe, blew the little vent pipe cover thingy off and we had a waterfountain on the roof!!! Sometimes when they cut the holes for the toilet...they kinda let the lttle piece of wood fall into the tank...so watch out for roof top water fountains!!!!

Yep thats the one pooh fountain rofl that was great never forget that one, cant remember what you said we were online chatting at the time but it almost made me spray my coffee all over the place. rofl hahaha