Any issue leaving your truck hooked up at a campground?

[New England Weekender]

In a few weeks, we're going on our 3rd official RV trip, but the first one was a single night shake-down. We'll be staying at a campground location that is the destination, the focal point of the trip, so we don't plan to go anywhere or need to unhook the truck.

Is it an issue if we leave the truck fully connected for the complete 3 day/2 night stay? My Tundra has a W/D hitch so the bars would be under load the entire time but that's no difference than anytime we're driving. Also, would there be issues if the site is hitch low enough that we need to raise it a bit with the tongue jack?

Having never done this previously, I wanted to ask if others have and if its been fine or there are things I need to be aware of or look out for. For example, do I also chock the truck tires to help with front/rear sway? Or do I still put the stabilizers down or do they need to stay up?

Thanks for reading and any comments.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

What are you pulling? The only times I stay hooked up is just for an overnight. Personally I would think unhooking and getting level and stabilizers down would be easier with the truck unhooked. But that's just me. If you don't unhook and put the stabilizers down, the trailer will tend to move around a lot when you walk or move around in the trailer. But I have no idea what you're working with.

 

[New England Weekender]

What are you pulling? The only times I stay hooked up is just for an overnight. Personally I would think unhooking and getting level and stabilizers down would be easier with the truck unhooked. But that's just me. If you don't unhook and put the stabilizers down, the trailer will tend to move around a lot when you walk or move around in the trailer. But I have no idea what you're working with.

2023 Toyota Tundra Crewmax/Short Bed.
2024 GD Imagine XLS 25DBE

Could you please explain why staying tied in with chocks, stabilizers, stairs all down would be worse for walking sway? TY.

 

[Harvestmoon]

We do this all the time, if the site is long enough and level enough. As you noted, the range of tongue height adjustment is limited when connected. Putting the tongue jack down and lifting the back end of the truck a few inches works fine. Cuts down on the time and noise we have to make getting out of camp when we are trying to get an early start on the road.

 

[New England Weekender]

We do this all the time, if the site is long enough and level enough. As you noted, the range of tongue height adjustment is limited when connected. Putting the tongue jack down and lifting the back end of the truck a few inches works fine. Cuts down on the time and noise we have to make getting out of camp when we are trying to get an early start on the road.

When you stay hooked in, do you put stabilizers down or just rely on chocks and the tongue jack?

 

[Hoopy Frood]

2023 Toyota Tundra Crewmax/Short Bed.
2024 GD Imagine XLS 25DBE

Could you please explain why staying tied in with chocks, stabilizers, stairs all down would be worse for walking sway? TY.

One of the questions you asked was whether to put the stabilizers down. If you didn't because the truck was still hooked up, then there will be more movement. I guess I just don't understand why you wouldn't unhook for a stay of 2-3 days. That's all.

 

[New England Weekender]

One of the questions you asked was whether to put the stabilizers down. If you didn't because the truck was still hooked up, then there will be more movement. I guess I just don't understand why you wouldn't unhook for a stay of 2-3 days. That's all.

I gotcha. Probably poor wording on my part. The not so short answer is I have young kids and our last trip was chaotic trying to do the hookup and cleanup and 50 other things for prep and put away. We're new at this and don't want to make a costly mistake and I almost did. To release the W/D bars tension I have to jack the truck/tongue up to then unhook the bars prior to lowering to release the hitch ball. I started jacking the hitch up before stopping realizing my stabilizers were still down and if I lifted the tongue up 6+" I might be crushing the rear stabilizers. So while I avoided that problem it was close and a good reminder absolutely everything has a correct order it needs to be done in.

Add in that my hookup/packup time was every bit of 50 minutes while my kids were getting anxious in front of a long drive and it made me think, why bother unhooking at all when I don't need to go anywhere. Eliminate a portion of the trouble. That's what led me here to find out if staying hooked causes other issues I'm too new to realize.

 

[Second Chance]

Practice makes perfect on hitching and unhitching. In the long run, the only way you're going to master it is to do it repeatedly. Personally, I don't like to put slides out unless the trailer is level and stabilized - which usually means unhitching. For a stay that long, I would unhitch and level... but that's just my personal opinion.

Rob

 

[Harvestmoon]

When you stay hooked in, do you put stabilizers down or just rely on chocks and the tongue jack?

We set up exactly the same as we would when unhitched, including leveling side to side and front to back, putting stabilizers down, and extending the slide. IF the site is level enough to allow that. Some are, some aren't. If we can't get level while hitched, then we unhitch. If we are level at hitch height, and have no need to drive the truck around locally, then unhitching and hitching back up is just busy work.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

I gotcha. Probably poor wording on my part. The not so short answer is I have young kids and our last trip was chaotic trying to do the hookup and cleanup and 50 other things for prep and put away. We're new at this and don't want to make a costly mistake and I almost did. To release the W/D bars tension I have to jack the truck/tongue up to then unhook the bars prior to lowering to release the hitch ball. I started jacking the hitch up before stopping realizing my stabilizers were still down and if I lifted the tongue up 6+" I might be crushing the rear stabilizers. So while I avoided that problem it was close and a good reminder absolutely everything has a correct order it needs to be done in.

Add in that my hookup/packup time was every bit of 50 minutes while my kids were getting anxious in front of a long drive and it made me think, why bother unhooking at all when I don't need to go anywhere. Eliminate a portion of the trouble. That's what led me here to find out if staying hooked causes other issues I'm too new to realize.

Ah, all becomes clear. Thank you for clearing out my clouds.

 

[redfernclan]

Only thing you might want to unhook is you pigtail to the truck. For a couple night stay where we are not going anywhere, we do it all the time.

 

[finz04]

Of all the things that need to be done when departing, seems like the actual hitch up process takes the least amount of time. Probably because that should be the one thing that should become a matter of routine. As someone else mentioned, practice, practice, practice. With repetition you’ll become more proficient and you’ll find you will pick up the pace. Particularly if you developed a checklist so as not to miss anything. The other thing is that if the leveling process includes lifting the back end of the truck to achieve trailer level, I would not want to leave the tongue jack under that much of a load for a few days. If I’m staying hitch up for an overnight stop, I don’t worry about exact level too much. If it’s way out I disconnect. Can’t speak to the family’s anxiety about the drive.

 

[Toy4Rick]

I'm in the camp of... If we are leaving very early the next morning and it's pretty level, leave it hooked up, otherwise, un-hook it

If you already have ~50 other things to do, what is a few more to ensure you get it right and everyone is safe and so is the truck/trailer

Enjoy

 

[lorend]

If we are going to just do an overnight stop I try to stay hooked up if possible. Any longer than an overnighter and I will always unhook. It just seems easier to level the rv when not hooked up to the truck. Learning the best ways, for you, to unhook and rehook, is by repetition. As mentioned by redfernclan, I always unhook the plug-in to the truck, even on a one night stop.

 

[kb0zke]

Here's my take, and it is worth every penny you spent. <grin>

IF the site is long enough and IF it is level enough, leaving the trailer attached to the truck is fine. I'd unplug the trailer from the truck, though, just in case the trailer tries to run down the truck's battery.

Level side-to-side as you would normally, then raise the tongue a bit if needed. Remember that you can't lower the tongue when hitched. Install your wheel chocks and tire covers (if you use them - we do), put out the stabilizers and extend the slides.

 

[Captain Delta]

Just a cautionary tale. Many years ago, with first trailer making a quick overnight stop. Put down rear stabilizers. Woke in the morning with my brain saying "we're ready to go". Pulled forward and bent the crap out of stabilizers. Since then a double 360 degree and check of roof vents before any movement.

 

[dryfly]

As others have mentioned, no problem for over night stay. You will never feel 100% confident in owning and pulling a trailer until you practice the hooking/unhooking process. No way to get around it and it's not that difficult.

My biggest concern when staying hooked up, even for one short overnight stay, is what if a medical emergency should occur. Just like at home, you may need to jump into the vehicle for a quick trip for medical help. In that case you don't want the trailer behind you.

Last month we had tornado warning sirens go off at 4 in the morning. I had to drive 1/2 mile in hard rain to get to brick restrooms for protection. Glad I didn't have to pull the 5th wheel or unhook.

 

[calvinlew]

I have left my tundra hooked up to my outback trailer. The hitch on the tundra was low enough to keep the trailer level front to back. I still used the trailer jack and stablizers to keep the trailer from not rocking. I did however unplug from the truck and hook up to an accessory plug for power.

 

[BoredWeasel]

Unless, we are at a single overnight stop we always disconnect. for a single night remove the truck to trailer 7 pin cord, dead tow vehicle batterys are a drag.

you are putting needless wear on the tow vehicle, sway bars and such, leaving it hooked up.

give the kids jobs, I did it with mine, that way they don't get bored or complain.......they cleaned and folded the carpet when young and later on loaded pitched in to the various jobs.

50 things, maybe scale back your camp setup till you figure out the basics

If it is such a big stress point to hook and unhook the trailer maybe a class c would be a better fit?

 

[WhittleBurner]

We too stay hooked up for just an overnight stop. As others have mentioned we do un-plug from the truck. We also will put the front landing gear down to take the weight off the truck.