New to RVing... and 2500RL info request

[cplum72]

Hello all,

My wife and I (Chris and Jody) have been researching TT for 6 months or so and we are new to the RV scene. We have looked at many brands and configurations and have decided to go for it with the 2500RL (and have been lurking this forum since). We are w/o kids. Planning to buy in the next few weeks. We are going to start on some weekends and then build up to longer trips. We were just looking for any input (good or bad) on this model or RVing as a whole.

i.e. Known issues, pricing info (seems 25% to 30% under MSRP isn't unreasonable from what I've seen), things to be aware of in general that a couple of newbies might not be aware of.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris and Jody
Southwest PA

[TucsonJim]

Welcome to the forum Chris and Jody. I really like that floor plan and considered it too when we were purchasing our unit. I see you live in Pennsylvania. One thing to be aware of this time of year when purchasing a new RV is that it may be driven over salty roads. If your new rig is driven during winter weather, it's imperative that your dealer thoroughly clean the undercarriage to remove any residual salt. Otherwise, you'll be fighting rust issues for the life of the trailer.

Jim

[cplum72]

Welcome to the forum Chris and Jody. I really like that floor plan and considered it too when we were purchasing our unit. I see you live in Pennsylvania. One thing to be aware of this time of year when purchasing a new RV is that it may be driven over salty roads. If your new rig is driven during winter weather, it's imperative that your dealer thoroughly clean the undercarriage to remove any residual salt. Otherwise, you'll be fighting rust issues for the life of the trailer.

Jim

Thanks for the input Jim. See this is the kind of thing I am talking about. Wouldn't have thought about that on my own (though now it seems obvious I should have ). Just been so focused on picking out the right one for us, sometimes these small things fall by the wayside.

Chris

[wstcoaster07]

One more newbie lessons I am learning lately... When switching the fresh tank fill valve to city water you should turn off the water at the source and even loosen the connection to relieve the residual pressure still in the hose. I was turning off the source but I wasn't relieving the hose pressure and I can only guess it is very hard on weak O-rings.
I think this is necessary because there must still be a lot of pressure built up in the hose, which is evident by how it sprays out from the connection once the hose is loosened even with the water source turned off. I originally thought just turning off the source at the hose bib was enough.
Maybe this is obvious but it wasn't to me

[Jking46]

Welcome. We too looked at a 2500. Ended up buying a 2800bh because we bring grandkids with us frequently and didn't want the hassle of making up a bed every night.

Great unit , good build quality. Perfect weekend and vacation camper for us. Tons of storage, outside kitchen, and the 15000 btu a.c. and extra insulation kept it cool on our maiden voyage when it hit 95 in Sept.

A 2500 should be no different since they share most components.

[cplum72]

Chris & Jody,
Welcome. Jamie and I bought out 2500RL the first week of December and have loved it. To get the elephant out of the way, we paid 26,145 plus tax/title in UT so a decent distance from Indiana. I think we haggled well but I have heard of people getting in to the low 25k or even high 24 in a great deal (but most likely very close to the factory). Either way, we walked away happy and felt we got a fair deal. The dealer did offer another 700 off if I ordered one from the factory through them since it wouldn't take their inventory off the lot. Since we were somewhat on a time table we couldn't wait.

Some big "little" things we didn't think of:
-ours came with 2 12v batteries which I am not sure is standard or not because I only expected 1
-2 filled propane tanks at the PDI
-slooooooow down the PDI and do not feel bad about it. I didnt do this and didnt discover minor issues until I got home. (hole in one of the cusions, lose oven handle)

Also, be ready to spend spend spend haha. We estimated $2k worth of gear but hit $3k before it stopped. Although, we are still looking at another 1k when we decide on a generator setup.

As newbies ourselves, I'd recommend anderson levelers. We started with the blocks but being new to towing and maneuvering a 30' trailer we quickly realized the andersons would save us a LOT of work in arranging the blocks when you need to get 3-4" of lift.

Oh, and watch the movie Anger Management a few times before your first trip haha.

As for the TT, we LOVE it, even more than we thought we would. We think it is the best layout for someone who doesn't need bunk beds but still wants extra seating over the dinette without going above 30' of length. The extra large bathroom is fantastic as well (probably one of the biggest pulls to this model).

Thanks for the input. The best quote we have gotten so far is $26650 plus Tax/title and that is including an Equalizer WD/Sway hitch installed. Batteries... wasn't sure how many came standard (thought only one) but I am planning on a 2 battery setup regardless. As far as the levelers go, I have a friend that was talking about those because he is tired of carrying around his long homemade 2x10 boards that he uses. So we will probably look into that.

Now onto the spend, spend, spend part.... my wife and I both knew we were gonna be spending quite a chunk, so when any family asked about Christmas gift our agreed upon response was "Cash or Amazon gift cards". We have already started our lists, and boy are they getting long.

Enjoy the nice weather out that way. We just got through a week of below zero weather. Waiting for the spring to get here.

Chris

[cplum72]

Welcome. We too looked at a 2500. Ended up buying a 2800bh because we bring grandkids with us frequently and didn't want the hassle of making up a bed every night.

Great unit , good build quality. Perfect weekend and vacation camper for us. Tons of storage, outside kitchen, and the 15000 btu a.c. and extra insulation kept it cool on our maiden voyage when it hit 95 in Sept.

A 2500 should be no different since they share most components.

It took us a looooong while to decide, and we considered some of the BH travel trailers but decided we would rather the extra room, large bathroom, and extra seating because we will have nieces and nephews so seldom that it would just be wasted space 90% of the time.

Plus, We both LOVED all the windows in the 2500. It makes it seem even bigger inside. The only thing we really wanted that made us keep going back to look at some of the other models was that we really wanted an outside kitchen, but finally agreed we would just get a separate propane setup so we could have the one that we really connected with.