I worked in a tire shop for a couple years as a younger man and spent a decade working as both a tractor trailer diesel mechanic and auto mechanic. A piece of advice on tires, especially trailer tires. Buy the best tire for a trailer you can. In smaller sizes, even the best tire is pretty cheap, under $100/ piece usually. I would avoid any Chinese/Taiwanese/Yokohama Teakettle Company type tire. Buy the highest load rating and speed rated tire you can in the size you need. BALANCE YOUR TIRES. Even if you don't feel any vibrations or anything as you're towing, vibrational forces shorten the lifespan of the tire, hub, and everything else it's connected to. Change them every 10,000- 15,000 miles, whether they look like they need it or not. They're cheap. If you don't put that many miles on just keep an eye on them and as soon as you start to see any weather checking get rid of them. Keep them for spares, sell them to someone else if there's enough tread left on them. It's a lot cheaper to change them before they blow out than to repair your camper. Most importantly, check the tire pressure every time before you move the camper. There's stuff everywhere that can cause a slow leak, and you may not notice anything until it's too late. Sometimes there's a little rust along the bead that starts to cause a leak, you don't even have to run over a nail. The leading cause of trailer tire blowouts is improper inflation.
Great items to have. My last camping trip that I took, I wish I had an extra crank for my pop-up because when it came time to opening the little door that all that stuff we shove in for the pop up the crank handle some how got lodged up against the the lock and I wasn’t able to get the door open. So I told my girlfriend let’s go around the campgrounds and see if we can find someone with a Jayco Pop-Up to see if then will let us borrow there handle. Thanks to the Pop-Up community in Wisconsin at Governor Thompson State Park in Crivitz, Wi I found a family that had one. One thing I wish I knew before I cranked it up was to check to make sure it was leveled, it looked level but it wasn’t. We made it work and still enjoyed our camping trip non the less, with some tubing on the Peshtigo River with 30 of our close friends. Next trip Devils Lake Labor Day weekend 2022.
I have a travel trailer, but I believe the rules are similar: I have an emergency kit with a number of similar items, but here's the difference - I strongly recommend that the emergency kit be stored with the camper/trailer, and not the vehicle (and keep a separate vehicle-emergency kit with your vehicles). Because everybody knows the moment you have a crisis with your trailer is when your vehicle is nowhere near your trailer! The think I didn't see on the emergency kit is a couple of good tarps for when the repair kits don't make the grade, and a 12v small battery charger for the items that I don't charge via USB. Regarding lanterns - I have several that have 'flash' and 'low' mode. Was stranded on the side of the road at night once, and they were an absolute life-saver for warning oncoming traffic. Wait for Harbor Freight 'free with purchase' sales of the magnetic lights, too - get them when you can!
Well thought out emergency supplies. When you began speaking of preparedness for emergency I started smiling. Wife was smiling also, because she realized I was not the only tool Nerd in the world. Thanks Little Brother. NAPA had heavy duty tool bags on sale in June for $ 6.00, I bought 8 of them. Was then able to take three larger boxes, and reduce everything to more manageable tool bags. However, the Nerd in me went into full what if mode. I went to Amazon and got metal tags with small ball chains to place on each bag, with metal stencils produced a bag name w/ name of contents. Nerd what if, went off again, I rattle can painted the tag. I would make a suggestion, the only one that was not covered, you mentioned a first aid kit. I am EMT trained so I go nowhere with out my STOMP Bag in the vehicle. Which takes me to the recommendation, we know that you travel with Fur Babies, therefore we have two first aid kits for dogs, one in our tow vehicle, the other in the popup. If we go on a hike I put one in my day pack. We conferred with our Vet many years ago to prepare a kit for our Fur Babies. You have to monitor, and change out items every year, such as Benedril, blood stop powder, and from time to time checking cling tape, also other consumables. You are truly an old soul in a young body. Most people do not take the extra steps to guard against what if, but you are very ahead of the curve. We know that life is very good at pitching curves at us when least expected. How we prepare for those curves makes all the difference between a bad day, and a slight inconvenience. Attitude also prepares us to accept the curve , smile, and say, " Not my first rodeo" handle it, move on. Thank you as always, for an information laced, forward thinking, and I might add admitting the Nurd in you vid. lol Bless you and yours. See you on the trail.
We are very thankful that you are putting out content specifically for popup campers. So many channels, blogs and websites out there for popups haven't added to their content in years. So little information out there! Keep up the great work!
Recently took a trip and had the dreaded blowout. Had to use the tow vehicle scissor jack to get access to the tire. Problem was that I could only get about an 1/8 of a turn on the drive nut jacking up and back down. That turned a 10 minute job to about an hour. Of course this was on the side of the busy interstate and it's late July in Florida. Not a good time. I now have a cordless impact wrench I bring with me, and a bottle jack. Will still finish the lugs by hand, but the impact wrench will make much shorter work of it.
We are currently on a two week road trip with our pop-up. Not sure if it’s the 100s of KMs and road bumps but we keep finding some new areas daily where the caulking has cracked... even fresh stuff! so thankful we had some caulking with us!
One extra piece of emergency equipment that I carry with me in my tow vehicle are magnetic emergency hazards/flashers. I know tow vehicles obviously have hazards, but if your electrical cable connection from tow vehicle to trailer becomes damaged, having a set of magnetic emergency flashers to mount on the back of the trailer is handy to have. Also just great to use so you don’t kill your tow vehicle battery with with the hazard lights of faced with a lengthy repair. Otherwise, great video!
I think the best tool kit you can get is $99 dewalt set at Costco. Comes in a hard case that isn't too big but has almost every tool you'd need. Great video I also love emergency preparedness stuff!
The pop-up lanterns are a great idea I hadn't thought of. Your videos have been invaluable to a 50-something (that's the new 30-something, right?) woman planning on some solo camping. I've been binge-watching you since I got a pop-up last week. 😂
@@brittanymcdonaldbarr1106 Yes! A friend and I visited a local campground for the maiden voyage. Had a great time. Looking forward to the next trip. Thanks for asking.
Great video..FYI, the tinyurl needs to be a complete URL to be clickable on the description. I see the URL on the pinned comment, but thought I'd let you know.
Nice video and I always carry a variety of tools with me. The bare minimum is any tool I needed during the maintenance and prior repairs of the camper at home. With changing tires, it is always best to do a practice run at home, using only tools one would bring with you. Also, I had contacted FR a while ago and they said not to jack up by the axle. Though, I believe that will depend on the style of axle. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Here is a complete list, easily printable by-the-way, of our pop up camper emergency kit list: tinyurl.com/5d3f9er4
I worked in a tire shop for a couple years as a younger man and spent a decade working as both a tractor trailer diesel mechanic and auto mechanic. A piece of advice on tires, especially trailer tires. Buy the best tire for a trailer you can. In smaller sizes, even the best tire is pretty cheap, under $100/ piece usually. I would avoid any Chinese/Taiwanese/Yokohama Teakettle Company type tire. Buy the highest load rating and speed rated tire you can in the size you need. BALANCE YOUR TIRES. Even if you don't feel any vibrations or anything as you're towing, vibrational forces shorten the lifespan of the tire, hub, and everything else it's connected to. Change them every 10,000- 15,000 miles, whether they look like they need it or not. They're cheap. If you don't put that many miles on just keep an eye on them and as soon as you start to see any weather checking get rid of them. Keep them for spares, sell them to someone else if there's enough tread left on them. It's a lot cheaper to change them before they blow out than to repair your camper. Most importantly, check the tire pressure every time before you move the camper. There's stuff everywhere that can cause a slow leak, and you may not notice anything until it's too late. Sometimes there's a little rust along the bead that starts to cause a leak, you don't even have to run over a nail. The leading cause of trailer tire blowouts is improper inflation.
Ratchet straps, impact gun, cordless drill and all bits and sockets. Collapsible shovel.
Great items to have. My last camping trip that I took, I wish I had an extra crank for my pop-up because when it came time to opening the little door that all that stuff we shove in for the pop up the crank handle some how got lodged up against the the lock and I wasn’t able to get the door open. So I told my girlfriend let’s go around the campgrounds and see if we can find someone with a Jayco Pop-Up to see if then will let us borrow there handle. Thanks to the Pop-Up community in Wisconsin at Governor Thompson State Park in Crivitz, Wi I found a family that had one. One thing I wish I knew before I cranked it up was to check to make sure it was leveled, it looked level but it wasn’t. We made it work and still enjoyed our camping trip non the less, with some tubing on the Peshtigo River with 30 of our close friends. Next trip Devils Lake Labor Day weekend 2022.
I have a travel trailer, but I believe the rules are similar: I have an emergency kit with a number of similar items, but here's the difference - I strongly recommend that the emergency kit be stored with the camper/trailer, and not the vehicle (and keep a separate vehicle-emergency kit with your vehicles). Because everybody knows the moment you have a crisis with your trailer is when your vehicle is nowhere near your trailer! The think I didn't see on the emergency kit is a couple of good tarps for when the repair kits don't make the grade, and a 12v small battery charger for the items that I don't charge via USB. Regarding lanterns - I have several that have 'flash' and 'low' mode. Was stranded on the side of the road at night once, and they were an absolute life-saver for warning oncoming traffic. Wait for Harbor Freight 'free with purchase' sales of the magnetic lights, too - get them when you can!
Well thought out emergency supplies. When you began speaking of preparedness for emergency I started smiling. Wife was smiling also, because she realized I was not the only tool Nerd in the world. Thanks Little Brother. NAPA had heavy duty tool bags on sale in June for $ 6.00, I bought 8 of them. Was then able to take three larger boxes, and reduce everything to more manageable tool bags. However, the Nerd in me went into full what if mode. I went to Amazon and got metal tags with small ball chains to place on each bag, with metal stencils produced a bag name w/ name of contents. Nerd what if, went off again, I rattle can painted the tag. I would make a suggestion, the only one that was not covered, you mentioned a first aid kit. I am EMT trained so I go nowhere with out my STOMP Bag in the vehicle. Which takes me to the recommendation, we know that you travel with Fur Babies, therefore we have two first aid kits for dogs, one in our tow vehicle, the other in the popup. If we go on a hike I put one in my day pack. We conferred with our Vet many years ago to prepare a kit for our Fur Babies. You have to monitor, and change out items every year, such as Benedril, blood stop powder, and from time to time checking cling tape, also other consumables. You are truly an old soul in a young body. Most people do not take the extra steps to guard against what if, but you are very ahead of the curve. We know that life is very good at pitching curves at us when least expected. How we prepare for those curves makes all the difference between a bad day, and a slight inconvenience. Attitude also prepares us to accept the curve , smile, and say, " Not my first rodeo" handle it, move on. Thank you as always, for an information laced, forward thinking, and I might add admitting the Nurd in you vid. lol Bless you and yours. See you on the trail.
Always appreciate your comments Steve, thanks!
We are very thankful that you are putting out content specifically for popup campers. So many channels, blogs and websites out there for popups haven't added to their content in years. So little information out there! Keep up the great work!
Color-code taping the ends of the lug wrench is a great idea!
I’m still building up my kit but one thing I do have is wearable headlamp.
Recently took a trip and had the dreaded blowout. Had to use the tow vehicle scissor jack to get access to the tire. Problem was that I could only get about an 1/8 of a turn on the drive nut jacking up and back down. That turned a 10 minute job to about an hour. Of course this was on the side of the busy interstate and it's late July in Florida. Not a good time. I now have a cordless impact wrench I bring with me, and a bottle jack. Will still finish the lugs by hand, but the impact wrench will make much shorter work of it.
So grateful for your content!! Well Done!!
We are currently on a two week road trip with our pop-up. Not sure if it’s the 100s of KMs and road bumps but we keep finding some new areas daily where the caulking has cracked... even fresh stuff! so thankful we had some caulking with us!
One extra piece of emergency equipment that I carry with me in my tow vehicle are magnetic emergency hazards/flashers. I know tow vehicles obviously have hazards, but if your electrical cable connection from tow vehicle to trailer becomes damaged, having a set of magnetic emergency flashers to mount on the back of the trailer is handy to have. Also just great to use so you don’t kill your tow vehicle battery with with the hazard lights of faced with a lengthy repair. Otherwise, great video!
I think the best tool kit you can get is $99 dewalt set at Costco. Comes in a hard case that isn't too big but has almost every tool you'd need. Great video I also love emergency preparedness stuff!
The pop-up lanterns are a great idea I hadn't thought of. Your videos have been invaluable to a 50-something (that's the new 30-something, right?) woman planning on some solo camping. I've been binge-watching you since I got a pop-up last week. 😂
Have you been camping?
@@brittanymcdonaldbarr1106 Yes! A friend and I visited a local campground for the maiden voyage. Had a great time. Looking forward to the next trip. Thanks for asking.
Great video..FYI, the tinyurl needs to be a complete URL to be clickable on the description. I see the URL on the pinned comment, but thought I'd let you know.
Nice video and I always carry a variety of tools with me. The bare minimum is any tool I needed during the maintenance and prior repairs of the camper at home. With changing tires, it is always best to do a practice run at home, using only tools one would bring with you. Also, I had contacted FR a while ago and they said not to jack up by the axle. Though, I believe that will depend on the style of axle. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
I believe those also have torsion axles and if so, you are correct. Hence, the bottle jack in your case.
I carry a spare set of wheel bearings and wheel seals in my popup emergency kit, you just never know!
I bring 10ft of pex and connectors. It has saved two trips already
Next level
Love your videos! Thanks for continuing to make them!
Probably missed a video talking about it but what is your tow car? Are you using weight distribution hitch? Are you using an anti sway too?
Thanks the vids 🤙
Love content. what led bulbs for 2008 fleetwood? watched at least 25 vids. TY.
For the interior? Most likely these - amzn.to/3q5KOnB.
Bungee cords, ratchet straps.
I like to bring a Portable Power Station Jump Starter with Air Compressor, AC and 12 volt and USB Ports, Battery Clamps
Nice!
And bear spray because it's more effective than a gun at stopping bears
Good video
Thank you!
Need a source for that shirt, just sayin'....
The information is always great but oh my GOSH it drives me crazy how many times you say “uh or Um” 🙄