Mar 312011
I was able to get to the dealer today and pick up my new baby.... a Crossroads Cruiser CF285RL Patriot. I got a smokin' deal on it and am excited to go out and give it a shakedown trip.
The CF285RL is a 31' long rear living room 5th wheel with 2 slideouts. One large slide in the living/dining room and one in the bedroom. The Patriot option includes all the goodies like electric awning, 32" TV, larger aluminum wheels & tires, ceiling fan, Corian counter tops, two euro chairs, larger frig & water heater, extra insulation, AM/FM/CD/DVD surround sound, outside speakers and more. It's sweet!
When I got to the dealer they were installing the TV. They said that Crossroads did not send the TV so they took one out of stock. It's a nice 32" Toshiba LCD and I would guess is better then what would have been included from the factory.
Also when I was making the deal I wanted vent covers installed. Vent covers allow you to open the vents when it's raining. Later after thinking about it I decided I didn't want them. The specs says the trailer is 12' 6" high. I was afraid that with the vent covers that would put me over 13' and I didn't want to be that high because it's fairly common to see bridges with only 13' clearance. When I signed the papers for the trailer I cancelled the vent cover install. First inspection of the trailer I noticed the vent covers were installed. I asked the salesman about it and found out they were installed by mistake. We went out and measured and with the covers the trailer is 12' 9" high, good enough for me and they didn't charge me for them since I had cancelled them.
I got to the dealer about 9am and started to go through my pre delivery inspection checklist. The PDI checklist is a good reminder on things to checkout to make sure everything is installed and working correctly. It took me about 4 hours to go through the checklist. The only thing I found wrong was the screen door was a little tweaked and there was a gap when it was closed. They took care of that.... sort of.... more on that later. After I hooked it up to my truck, the front of the trailer was 5" lower in the front then the back. The tech came out and adjusted the trailer pin box to raise the front of the trailer. It is now only 1" low in the front. Everything was all set and I hit the road.
The trailer towed nice and smooth. No issues and it is as good or better then my old trailer. On the way home I stopped by the scales to get a base on the weight so I can see the effects on loading it with equipment and supplies. The total weight of the trailer empty is 8820 lbs. Weight on the wheels is 6820 lbs. with 2000 lbs. in the pin. Load capacity of my truck is 3010 lbs. so I am well within the range that the truck can tow safely. So far so good!
Once I got home I parked it next to the house and did a bit of cleaning and planning on loading some items into it. I then noticed a couple of things I need to address. First is the screen door is still not right. It does not close just right but it looks like I can do a bit of adjustment to the latch and fix that. Second is one of the basement doors is dragging on the opening frame just a bit. Not much, maybe hitting 1/64". Again I think I can fix that with a small adjustment. Last is one of the cabinet doors is out of aliment, another easy fix.
Overall I'm really happy. The fit and finish on everything I have looked at is excellent. There are just a few very minor issues to clean up and I'll be ready to roll. I can't wait!