How long does it take you to set up and break down?

[WhittleBurner]

A time saver is starting the day before. Before dusk start picking up non essential Items and get them put away.

[ChrisLLynn]

I'm curious as to how long it takes others to level up, hook up, etc. at a campground. Also how long when you're leaving to break camp and get on the road?

I'm new to this and it seems like it's taking me a long time. Just leveling up and unhitching in my yard takes at least an hour. It's that pretty normal? Seems like I always have trouble getting the hitch off the ball.

I've got a 2500 RL which is a travel trailer not a 5th wheel.

I had a lot of trouble getting on/off the ball when I started. A couple of things I learned were to use lithium grease on the ball. If you are a little off center it will slide much easier into place. Get the grease in a can, not the tube. You can invert the can and grease the ball like a cue stick. Helps keep the goo off you. Notice that I said "helps."
There are times when that doesn't work or anything else especially when trying to get on the ball. Get the ball aligned as best you can and lower the hitch as far as it will go. Ever so gently, move your tow vehicle forward and/or reverse....very gently. It will drop in place
I don't have to do this often but there is only so long that I'm willing to torture myself before doing the "bump."

[Grand Design]

The answer here, is it takes as long as
it takes. Don't get in a hurry
and think you should be able
to be on the road in 30 minutes.
It's not a race and it's more important
to do it right than to do it fast. I have seen
RVs going down the road with steps out, handrails
not secured. It takes
a bit of time unhook the water line, to
drain the tanks and stow the sewer hose,
secure the electric power and put away
the cord. There are a lot of things to do.
We have a fifth wheel. I'd say from the
time we start getting ready till we're pulling
out of the campground it's an hour give or take.
Again, don't rush and forget something. I've
left the parking lot with a bin door open....because
I didn't take my time and do a walk around before
getting in the truck. The last thing we do is a walk
around and we do a trailer light check to make sure
we have brake, turn and running lights. Soon it will
come second nature.

[4CornersRVing]

Take your time and everything goes right. Get a routine.

[Muddman]

When I had a travel trailer it use to take us 30 - 60 min depending on how determined I was to get on the road. Now I just bought a Reflections 5th wheel so I will be interested to see.

[finz04]

Someone likely said this already, but it takes as long as it takes. Don’t be in a hurry because that’s when things will be missed. I once destroyed a tongue jack because I forgot to raise it (and double check thing) before i drove off. My wife has never let me forget that and now she is my permanent second set of eyes before the keys go in the ignition. Drives me crazy sometimes, but after 40 years together I’ve learned that I’m better off if I don’t fight it.

[Marauderer]

Wow, this is an interesting thread. Like others have said split up the stuff you need to do. My wife takes care of the inside and I do most of the outside. From the time we pull into the camp site until completely set up takes at least one hour and maybe more. Our current camper is a 5th wheel Reflection 337 RLS. To me set up means positioning the camper properly in the campsite, First thing for us is hooking up shore power so we can get the A/C going., then disconnecting the trailer from the truck and leveling the trailer. The auto level feature is really nice on our 337. When the wife is ready to extend the slides I stop what I am doing and watch and make sure I have clearance on all the slides, then she extends the awnings. After that I relevel the camper and that is done. Next I hookup the water supply and then the sewage and make sure than the hoses are neatly set and then hook up the cable for the TV. Next I get out the table that I put the toaster oven and ice maker on and run the separate 110V power of the power box to them. Get the carpet set out and then the chairs set out. Get the 2 burner propane grill out and the 20 lb cylinder I use for gas supply to the grill. If I bring my small smoker grill I get that set up. Somewhere along the way I get the ice maker going and put out the entry mat in front of the stairs. During this time the wife is setting up the inside of the caper and if she needs any assistance she hollers. The last thing is to get the internet router going and the TV channels programmed. Along the way I store my totes back in the trailer, get the flag pole up and the flag and make sure everything looks presentable. Now I am getting more senior and don't move as quickly as when I was younger it takes me about 1.5 hrs to get completely set up and to tear down about the same. If we want to leave early in the morning we store as much as possible the nigh before leaving so all we have to do is dump the tanks, disconnect shore water and power, put in the slides, hook up the truck and be gone. If it is a really early departure we will disconnect shore water, hook up the truck so all we have to do in the morning is put in the slides, store the entrance stairs, disconnect shore power, crank up and go. Like others have said develop a system and get in a rhythm both setting up and tearing down and as the other folks have said, "It takes as long as it takes". No two setups are exactly alike and enjoy the journey

[Venturer]

For us it is usually about 1 hr. either way. If we are on the road and just an overnight stop 25- 30 min. I did a boner move just this past friday. We had been all week at Lake with our granddaughter. Had taken up most of the outside stuff the night before(more junk with her along). We were awakened just after dawn by our daughter sending a text with a screenshot from her phone of a bad looking storm heading our way. We jumped up and looked on our weather apps and got busy! Had everything done and in truck pulling out in about 30 min. the storm caught up with us in about 40 min. We were both headed east. From Al. to Ga.Lots of driving rain and buffeting wind. We got to our daughters house and it was only sprinkling because the storm had already came thru. I started unhooking,pulled drivers side anti sway bar off and the passenger side anti sway bar was gone!!! I definitely remember going to that side and putting bar in but I had to go back to the other side to get the "helper bar". That's when my GD ask me to help her with something, 8yr.old with problem need help now,Papa helps! Stupid I know but I never went back and finished locking bar in,and with storm coming we wanted to be on our way. So now I have to get in touch with Equalizer to order new bar,ouch its gonna hurt! We normally use a check off list as some here already mentioned but got in a hurry and got distracted so my 68 yr.old mind didn't hold all the info good! I'll do better next time! ;-)

[robcard]

I'm curious as to how long it takes others to level up, hook up, etc. at a campground. Also how long when you're leaving to break camp and get on the road?

I'm new to this and it seems like it's taking me a long time. Just leveling up and unhitching in my yard takes at least an hour. It's that pretty normal? Seems like I always have trouble getting the hitch off the ball.

I've got a 2500 RL which is a travel trailer not a 5th wheel.

When I had a bumper tow we had a routine that allowed us to set up and take down in 20-25 minutes. Arrival, wife and kids went to the playground allowing me to set up in under 15 minutes. Wife needed 10 inside when I was done hookup. One of the biggest time savers was, due to lack of self level, I used a 3/4 rubber stall mat to get my side to side level. I bought a 4’x5’x 3/4” from the local co-op and ripped it with a skill saw into 4- 12” strips 5’ long. Won’t compress, easy to layer and back onto, and the best is it moulded to whatever was in the box of the truck allowing the tunnel cover to close. I did the same routine set up and take down every time till it was second nature. I did have a problem remembering the antenna if the kids put it up lol. We are now seasonal, so just to and from storage. I miss the transient travel but it works for now.

Rob

[2hams]

It depends if you count the 15 to 30 minutes of argument to get into the parking spot....

Typically setup with the 5th wheel takes about 15 (overnight stay hooked) to 30 minutes. We are minimalist and don't put out a lot of stuff. Break down is about 30 minutes, not counting time to dump tanks. If you ask us when we are leaving, the answer is usually about 2 hours after we get up. The longer you stay in one place, the longer to pack up.

Interestingly, our times were about the same with the popup.


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