Better late than never!

[RipVan]

Well, last year, I retrieved my (ancient) '07 FF x210 from Winter storage just before the Memorial Day weekend. My wife hates when I park it in the driveway so I put it in the yard behind a clump of pines. Technically, city ordinances prohibit doing that unless it's parked on a prepared pad (gravel, concrete, etc.) but that's rarely enforced. Sadly, everyday life was in charge of our free time and the camper sat the entire season without moving a single inch . I put it back into storage in early November. I told myself that was NOT going to be the case when the next camping season rolled around!
So, how did I prevent a repeat performance? I didn't build a permanent "parking pad" where the grass had died last year. (I prolly will since the grass has yet to recover). This year I just left the camper in storage. Everyday life was still driving the train. My work, wife's meetings, frequent weekend guests, in-laws in local nursing home just has left little, if any time for "fun" with our FunFinder.
Now things are about to change! School is back in session, our pool is too cold for guest to swim, work has slowed and the in-laws are comfortable in their assisted living situation. Yesterday I retrieved the FF and started prepping her for some Autumn adventures. I figure with some luck we'll have a decent 2 months as snow rarely flies until November! The heater works great (A/C not so great) so we should be good there.
I'm definitely hoping that this will be a "better late than never" albeit short camping season for us.
RipVan

 

[profdant139]

Rip, that sounds exactly like the story of my life this year! We've had three deaths in the family (all very elderly), and the medical issues and the estate issues have kept us in town for several months (very unusual for us). But we are hopefully heading off to the Sierras for a quick trip fairly soon.

Hang in there, and enjoy your belated adventure!!

 

[RipVan]

We did take our FF X210 out this past weekend. My wife had a meeting in a town about 60 miles distant. There was a quiet municipal campground about 8 miles away that we had stayed at before so we said "what the heck".
It was a bit of a "shake down cruise" since we hadn't had it out for a while and I only had a day to prep and we were leaving after work on Friday. I had noticed some water slowly dripping from the left rear corner the last time we used it but wasn't able to determine if it was a leak or rain water from the roof. With that in mind, I thought about not using either the City Water hookup or the internal 25 gal tank. Once at the campground though, I figured that if there was a leak, I should find it and repair it, so I caved and hooked up to the City Water line. I didn't notice the leaking in the corner BUT I did find that the valve coming off the hot water heater was cracked and was spraying water inside the water heater compartment. Fortunately, I was able to put it in the bypass mode for the rest of the evening. I did a makeshift repair the next morning with some epoxy putty but the valve has other issues too, so I'll be replacing it before the next trip out. No other serious issues cropped up but we only stayed 2 nights. I will say that the drainage hose for the waste holding tanks that came with the camper is woefully short. I did buy a longer one but have yet to add an external storage tube for it (and refuse to store a "soiled" drain tube inside the camper or in the under bed pass thru storage area)!
I have to say that I really like the way my rig tows. I have a 10,000 lb capacity WDH and tow with my '04 RAM with the 5.9 Cummins diesel. Other than a drop in MPG and the occasional downshift on steeper hills, it's like the trailer isn't there! I can't imagine that the older FFs are ever referred to as "lightweights or featherweights" as that seem to have been built with strength as a primary concern. With a GVWR of 7360 lbs and a max cargo capacity of 3635 lbs it carries just a bit less than it weighs "dry"! That to me is impressive.
Anyway, I'm glad that my FF is out of storage. We're planning another outing in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that the weather cooperates.
RipVan

 

[LJAZ]

Is the pressure relief valve that was cracked & leaking? I just had to replace mine and it's a standard Cash Acme 150 psi water heater relief valve. Suburban will sell it to you for about $40 but you can get the identical valve at your local big box store for about $10.

 

[RipVan]

Is the pressure relief valve that was cracked & leaking? I just had to replace mine and it's a standard Cash Acme 150 psi water heater relief valve. Suburban will sell it to you for about $40 but you can get the identical valve at your local big box store for about $10.

Nope. It's the hot water shut off valve that along with two other valves allow for bypassing the hot water heater. I've sourced a valve locally for about $7 USD. I've ordered a PEX crimping tool and will be able to buy the 1/2" PEX tubing as well as the clamps locally too. I'd like to be able to scrounge some 1/2" PEX from a local plumber (I need less than 6") but may end up buying a 10' section ;-(. Lucky the stuff is pretty inexpensive. I'll need to buy more clamps than I need too. That's OK tho, as I'm sure to come up with more plumbing issues.
RipVan

 

[NorthPuffin]

The orange box sells a bag of 25 PEX crimp rings for about $7-8 or three PEX clamps for $3.

My FF is a toy hauler so there is no rear bumper for sewer hose storage. I have an unvented plastic tub; I fold up the slinky, put on the lid, and it rides fine in the front storage.

FWIW, 2007 isn't old. It's from the period that campers were built lighter, lower, and with better use of space.

 

[APD]

Our '05 is slowly gettin' old enough to be considered "cute" ......


Alan

 

[RipVan]

The orange box sells a bag of 25 PEX crimp rings for about $7-8 or three PEX clamps for $3.

My FF is a toy hauler so there is no rear bumper for sewer hose storage. I have an unvented plastic tub; I fold up the slinky, put on the lid, and it rides fine in the front storage.

FWIW, 2007 isn't old. It's from the period that campers were built lighter, lower, and with better use of space.

The closest "big box" building store is about 20 miles away so I'll buy locally if I need something right away. I try to combine shopping stops with whatever my wife needs to justify the fuel offset for the 40+ mile round trip. On many things, the local prices are comparable anyway .

I've considered storing the "waste drain slinky" aka the "stinky slinky" as you suggest but will have to be convinced that the container will seal tightly.

RE: an '07 camper being old or not, I guess it's a matter of perspective. I do like the way it rides "lower" than many of the new models. My wife isn't too happy with the intrusion of the wheel well into the space beneath the dinette but I can live with it. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be too happy with the extra steps on the stairway into the newer campers. It's a trade off. I too, agree with the efficient layout to maximize space utilization. As I mentioned before, I'm pretty impressed with the 3,000+ lb cargo capacity of my x210!
RipVan

 

[APD]

I solved our hose haulin' problem with a box bumper (the ol' 5" vinyl tube mod). On our rig storage space is golden.

Alan