Maiden Solo Voyage

I finally towed my camper! And all by myself at that. I had hooked up and practiced on a ~15 mile course I set up for myself with a friend who does a lot of towing just to learn the ropes but today I did the first leg of a 750 mile trip. Very happy to report that it was (mostly) uneventful!

I was really tense and stressed in th beginning but after about two hours in I was much more relaxed and let go of the death grip I had on the steering wheel. One thing that was difficult to adjust to was so many people passing me lol. I didn?t need to stop for fuel since I filled my aux tank with an additional 40 gallons but after stopping at a few loves for the bathroom and food I think I could definitely manage getting diesel with the trailer hooked up. I averaged 11.1 mpg over 450 miles which was much higher than I expected. 

I got started much later than I wanted this morning so ended up driving for about an hour in the dark which wasn?t the best but I was able to discover that the running lights on the camper aren?t working. Tomorrow I?ll check the fuses in the truck and the connections to make sure nothing is dirty or anything. I also suspect I have a battery issue, because despite being hooked up to the truck my fridge kept making the clicking noise where the 12v was needed. I?ll have to investigate when I get to my destination.

I?m staying the night an RV park by the interstate so I can get an early start tomorrow. It?s really strange for me to be one of those overnighters since I?ve been parked for the last three years and watched people come and go. All in all I actually enjoyed towing the camper and I?m super excited to be getting better at it. So many people here have answered questions for me about towing weights and carrying water etc. and that all contributed to the success today so thanks everyone for your support

Happy for you Isn't RV'ing great when the jitters go away? May you have many enjoyable miles in your endeavors. Just remember, sometimes the trip can be as enjoyable if not more, than the destination.

Your truck may not be charging the battery. You need to check the output of the truck receptacle and make sure you have power there when the truck is running.
A way to check your running lights on the trailer, is look at the trailer plug. With the big key at 12 o'clock, run a heavy gauge wire from the two female slots/posts on either side of the key. One goes to the RV battery and the other post is for the RV running lights. If the battery is charged, the lights should go on. 
You'll see some people, when camping and hooked up to shore power,  run their running lights like this while parked.

Rene gave some good stuff there. You can also buy an inexpensive 7 pin tester to check your truck's receptacle. Many hitch shops and U-haul dealers use them, and they will probably do a quick check for you. Many trucks also don't have the fuse for the charge line installed from the factory. That's easy to check.

kdbgoat said:

Happy for you Isn't RV'ing great when the jitters go away? May you have many enjoyable miles in your endeavors. Just remember, sometimes the trip can be as enjoyable if not more, than the destination.

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It really is! I had really anticipated the whole thing being much more difficult.


I ordered a pin tester, they had a range of prices from 8-70 but I went with a 15 dollar one so let?s see what happens. I?ll also check to see if the fuse is there...I know the previous owner of the truck hauled a small trailer but not an RV so maybe never needed that.

Thanks!