1st time RV Owner with Imagine 2800BH

[Schiefswret]

FIRST, WELCOME!

Personally, 1) I would immediately request a refund of the extended warranty. If financed, the funds go directly to the lender and are applied 100% to the principle.
2) Drop the "clear coat protection" like a HOT POTATO! You answered your own question, yes a good RV/Marine wax once or twice a year is the deal.
3) My opinion is that the factory "china-bomb" tires would be fine for "short local area weekend trips" as you said would be "ok" for 6 months or so, then I would replace
them with Goodyear Endurance 8Ply (research) which are very popular in the Imagine line.

This is my input only, others may have different experiences and/or opinions.

[cicatriz]

Just bought the same trailer last night (signing Saturday). What will you be pulling with? Worried that my Chevy 1500 won't be enough, despite salesman's assurances.

[SGT ROC]

Just bought the same trailer last night (signing Saturday). What will you be pulling with? Worried that my Chevy 1500 won't be enough, despite salesman's assurances.

Welcome to the forum. You should be OK. What year is your truck? I know that the 2015 was rated at around 9500 or 9900 # with 373 gears. Your 2800 has a GVWR of 7995, so you should be fine. I doubt you'll be putting 1800# of stuff in it, but if you do your still good to go.

[cicatriz]

Thanks, it is new (2019) and has the 8-speed. My inexperience just has me being really cautious. It has 3.23 gearing, but I guess the 8-speed offsets it.

[Unlimitedmatt]

On the 1500, be sure to watch your payload capacity (on the truck). With the 2800 and my 1500, I am very close to my trucks capacity.

[mdetwiler]

Hello!

We just purchased our first RV at an RV show this past weekend and have a few questions for the experienced campers in the crowd.

1) Is the dealer extended warranty recommended? (Purchased from General RV in Richmond, VA and they offer Cornerstone United)
2) Is the Platinum Ultimate Plus clear coat protection worth the $2950? Seems like a good DIY project with a good RV/Marine wax
3) Are the factory tires good enough to get by for awhile? (Short local area weekend trips)

Any other "getting started" suggestions from the crowd would be very appreciated! We've enjoyed reading the great posts on this forum and look forward to learning from others' vast RV camping experience.

Gucciglampers
Two former Air Force pilots, 3 young kids
Can fly jets for food, still learning RV basics

No most Suck
No way way over priced
Yes Westlakes are not China Bombs. We have 15,000 miles on ours no problems.

[cicatriz]

On the 1500, be sure to watch your payload capacity (on the truck). With the 2800 and my 1500, I am very close to my trucks capacity.

How does your pull? Right now I am leaning to running east cost with this combo for a few years, then moving to a 3/4 ton when I get closer to retirement to go out west for snowbirding after I retire. If the 1500 handles it OK, maybe I will be more adventurous in the short term (Florida? The Smokies?)

[Unlimitedmatt]

How does your pull? Right now I am leaning to running east cost with this combo for a few years, then moving to a 3/4 ton when I get closer to retirement to go out west for snowbirding after I retire. If the 1500 handles it OK, maybe I will be more adventurous in the short term (Florida? The Smokies?)

First let me start off with the obvious, a 2500 or 3500 would be a better choice for my situation. But I bought my 2018 Silverado and convinced my DW that it can tow our 2019 2800bh, on paper. So I have taken a few steps to improve my towing experience, read on...

On my first long camping trip my truck was unmodified. I was completely satisfied on how the truck could pull and stop the camper (using tow/haul mode). The fuel mileage was not good, 6.5 to 11.5 mpg. Keep in mind that I keep my speed under 62 mph, as I believe the speed rating on my Westlakes are 65 mph. I did notice that my truck was being pushed side to side when I was getting passed by semi trucks and other large vehicles. I also encountered some very high side winds on the interstate between Cheyenne and Denver that caused some severe white knuckling.

So I have replaced the passenger rated tires on my truck with some Michelin LT tires, this helped significantly with the side to side movement of the truck. I also installed some airbags on the rear of the truck, these helped minimize the bucking and it keeps the truck closer to level. Lastly I installed some factory tow mirrors, these made a huge impact on being able to see all around the camper.

I have used CAT scales to get my truck and camper weighed. Before I adjusted my weight distributing hitch the last time, I was overloaded on my trucks rear axle by 270 lbs. Keep in mind this was with the camper fully loaded, and full water tanks.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have more questions.

[skier8674]

Hi and Welcome,

I tend to agree with the response above by most members.

Though we did buy the extended warranty on our Reflection 31MB (5th). I am a first time buyer and my father-in-law is a 3rd time buyer. The cost was split so it was less of a financial hit (cash deal). After 3 months of me modifying our entire electrical system and various other mods I quickly realized the warranty was probably a bad deal (as is with many extended warranty offers). If I was to purchase another camper right now I would not purchase the warranty. The only benefit I see is if we have major issues with our slides. Though I am extremely handy and feel 100% comfortable dismantling our 31MB the thought of dealing with that mechanism is enough for me to justify the expense that is already sunk in our case.

Tires - Same thoughts as most. I will be upgrading ours to Goodyear Endurance this year since we put close to 4K on the originals AND we have many 2+ week trips planned across the country this coming season. Just a little bit more peace of mind. Though we didn’t have any issues with the original tires (tons of posts on tires where you can help decide what is best for your situation).

Happy Camping and welcome to the GD community!

[cforman61]

Welcome Aboard

I completely agree with the others on most of the items. We have a 2670MK that we tow with a 1/2 ton Tundra. As long as you watch your weights you should be great. We have Westlake tires on ours and haven't had any issues. Of course we will see what happens when I pull it out of storage this year. Last year was our first year out with it so we didn't get to make as many trips as usual. I am pretty handy so no the dealer does not get any extras from me. Also, if it is something extremely difficult I can watch videos, buy tools and probably complete the repair faster then our dealerships service people.

Good luck and enjoy your rig.