Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

[CTburns]

My wife and I are considering a Jayco Feather Sport camper. We have never owned a camper before, but we feel this is the right size and has all of the features that we would like. I'll be towing it with a Nissan Frontier V6 which should be acceptable for the task, but am a little nervous as I have never towed anything this big before. Any advice, thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Rich

[Bigdog57]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

CTburns, Welcome to the Camping Forum!
As to your questions, pay close attention to the tongue weight - too heavy will load your rear suspension too much, and too light can cause swaying of the trailer. You may want to look into helper springs for the truck.
Also, if used, check the roof carefully - this is where most leakage problems with trailers and RVs begins. It's ideal if you have covered storage for it, but I know this can be difficult.

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Thanks Bigdog, This is the type of advice I need!

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Tomorrow is the big day! I pick it up at 11:00a!

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

A few electrical problems holding us up!

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

I love camping so far!

[rxcamping]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Congratulations, Just take it slow get a good weight distribution hitch and keep it under 65 (most traler tires are not rated over 65). Dont run your truck in OD either run it in drive or 3rd and tow haul mode if you have it. (based on your manual) My silverado runs in 3rd. Get out and enjoy it. The towing takes time to get used to but at some point you will be an old pro.

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Thanks for the advice. I tried to post some pics, but they didn't come through. The driving forward wasn't too bad, but backing it down my driveway was an experience.
I left for Florida the day after I got it home, so I havn't had a chance to play with the thing. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions for the forum!

[rxcamping]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Ask away,

Best advice regarding backing up is to take it to a large parking lot and practice. Hold your hand at the bottom of the wheel and steer that way the trailer will go the way you want it. If you go slow and don't worry about what others are thinking of you you will do fine. I can guarantee you most people are not thinking anything besides should I offer him some help or not. That and I remember when that was me. After about 3 trips I was backing like an old pro.

[CTburns]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

This thread has gone stale and I'm sorry that I havn't updated the forum with my experiences with the first few trips.

Maiden voyage was back in June to a campsite in southern Mass for Jimmy Buffett concert. Camper was great. I was nervous about towing it and learning how to set it up and run it, but I learned a lot and everything was great.

The second trip I was much more confident. Backed it up into the site with a million people watching, like I was an old pro! I even took it to a second campground that weekend.

Now I am back in southern Massachusetts relaxing and visiting friends and family for the week.
My wife and I are so happy with our experience so far. We actually view our trailer as a hotel room on wheels.

Thanks everyone for your advice and encouragement; I'm sure that I'll have lots of questions for you in the future!

Best Regards,
Rich

[surmisez]

Re: Buying my first camper-Jayco Feather Sport

Ask away,

Best advice regarding backing up is to take it to a large parking lot and practice. Hold your hand at the bottom of the wheel and steer that way the trailer will go the way you want it. If you go slow and don't worry about what others are thinking of you you will do fine. I can guarantee you most people are not thinking anything besides should I offer him some help or not. That and I remember when that was me. After about 3 trips I was backing like an old pro.

We have a utility trailer and I really appreciate the advise on holding the steering wheel. I am going to try that the next time I drive it. I get nervous and flustered, and pretty much have to park it until my husband can move it.