First big road trip (towing and camping), things to know?

[TollKeeper]

You might think I am crazy, but ...

You might want to consider getting some seat covers, or those beaded seat covers, for at least the front seats. With the leather seats, something to either wick the sweat away from your butt (seat covers), or the beaded seat covers, something to provide a bit of air flow.

Download lots of movies, keep those kids entertained! I imagine you are planning to remove the third row seats, for more storage area.. I would not do this. Even with the seat completely surrounded with stuff. A place for each kid to stretch out, and have their own space, will give them, and YOU peace of mind!

Grab a spare fuse kit, and make sure to bring a spare mega fuse (or 2 or 3).

 

[NOSOK]

no towing advice but check out freecampsites.net if you want something that is off the grid, and well, free. the spots are generally in BLM or national forest land and many have reviews indicating what the road conditions are, max trailer size, site elevation, etc.

 

[swathdiver]

Our kids would sometimes fold/flip the second row seats forward and put their sleeping bags or blankets on the floor and lay out while watching movies. They could sit or lay down on the third row bench too. They said it was like having a sleepover! LOL

 

[Geotrash]

Our kids would sometimes fold/flip the second row seats forward and put their sleeping bags or blankets on the floor and lay out while watching movies. They could sit or lay down on the third row bench too. They said it was like having a sleepover! LOL

That's a good idea! We'll try that out. Ours like each having a row to themselves currently, which keeps the bickering down. I'm convinced that there is no better all-purpose family hauler on the planet than a Suburban/Yukon XL/ESV.

 

[avalonandl]

I like the Honda Generators. Very quiet. Make sure a generator is well clear of sleeping quarters and in clear air.

 

[bobsburban]

This will be a good test for your towing setup. I'm finding the need for some air bags in the rear suspension (I deleted the GM air-ride stuff which fails every 75k miles to the tune of $1200 in parts plus labor in favor of 1250 lb Moog rear coils and Bilstein 5100 shocks). I also have a Husky WDH with the 1200 lb bars. But. With 10 gallons of gas on the above mentioned Stomberg-Carlson trailer tray, two 30 lb propane tanks on the tongue, 10 gallons of water in the Suburban, a big Yeti Cooler full of ice/drinks, off-road recovery stuff and a complete tool kit plus fishing gear and other miscellaneous stuff in the Suburban plus a 17" Blackstone griddle, two nice camp chairs and all the trailer hook-up stuff in the forward storage area of our little Winnebago trailer, plus clothes and food, I'm finding I'm getting about an inch of sag in the rear. Front doesn't get impacted so much that steering is light or anything, but the positive camber when towing is wearing the hell out of my front tires. So I've got a set of Air-Lift 1000 bags on order to be installed when we get back from our trip to the UP of Michigan. I'd install them before but can't get them in time so I'll just put some serious wear on the newly-rotated tires from the rear axle, I guess.

And I'll second the Tru-Cool transmission fluid cooler. It makes a serious difference. Just watch where you install it if you keep the stock radiator. Mine is directly in front of the radiator and I can see it's impact on coolant temps. As you'll see in my sig, I have a 3" thick dual-core radiator installed so the fans keep everything at 210 degrees pretty much no matter what, but I may yet relocate the Tru-Cool to somewhere lower on the frame if I can get good air flow to it.

I'm also taking my old Goal Zero 400 battery/inverter with me for my CPAP in case we do end up without electrical service. Don't know if you have something like that for TV for the kids when in camp, but it could be handy. Battery chargers are good - both for the truck/trailer battery in an emergency plus chargers for your drill or impact wrench.

Finally, my rig has 3.42 gears in it as part of the HD towing package. 3.73s would be nicer. And yes, keep that tow mode switch on whenever the trailer is hooked to the truck; it saves wear and tear on 6th gear.

There's tons of other stuff, but between what you already know and what's been said, you should be just fine. Enjoy!

 

[Doubeleive]

11 YEARS OLD, spend a couple bucks and change the heater hoses and "T"'s, use oem
and like James said, flush all fluids including brake fluid and power steering. Enjoy!

 

[89Suburban]

11 YEARS OLD, spend a couple bucks and change the heater hoses and "T"'s, use oem

Damn beat me too it. Or at least carry a hose splice and some clamps to bypass the heater core and those damn Tee things worst case. And carry some extra coolant at least a gallon. When mine broke I needed at least 1 1/2 gallons to get it filled back up and limp it to a store for more. It pumps out fast once one of those let go and you finally realize it.

 

[Sobro]

I'm in the same boat as OP. I have done three trips so far with the new camper, two short and one long, so I appreciate all of the info. Got the radiator flushed and filled and will get the driveline fluids changed next week before our trip from Nashville to Denver.

A few other items: I packed some reflective triangles and a tow strap in the tire jack cubby and keep a 4-way in the tool bin with a battery charger, socket set, wrenches, etc. And a tub of grease. All of your towing hardware friction points will need lube before the trip is over.

And make sure your parking brake holds well.

And if you haven't done it yet, you should have a family campout in the driveway before you leave to make sure you haven't forgotten anything.

Get an extra 25' of fresh water hose if your dealer only gave you a 25 footer. At my last campsite the spigot was 24.5 ft from the camper's water inlet.

 

[89Suburban]

You might want to look into a tire pressure monitor for the trailer. With a tandem axle setup it is important, with a single, pretty critical.

They make these now? Now more money I need to spend on trinkets. What do you recommend? I have a single axle boat trailer.