New member, picking up a Reserve RTZ31SB next week

[AbbaZabba]

My wife and i decided the popup was too small for the 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 big dogs, so the old 12RT popup was sold last month and we found a Reserve RTZ31SB that I am driving to pick up next weekend. Hoping to get more weekends this summer with kids being a year older and less hassle to load up and go with a TT than we had with the popup.

We did get a new truck last fall with the expectation of towing bigger this year, so I am not worried about the hitch set up or the truck, 3500 Ram diesel has plenty of juice. It will be ou first big trailer, the camper was large for popups, but still small, relatively speaking.

Couple questions for people who know the Reserve models

1) Anything to look for specific to the model during the walk though? It is a new 2015 leftover.
2) Overall on the internet there are not a ton of reviews, so any warnings for this make model that I should run to something else? They do have other options that I could jump to since I haven't seen/touched this specific one yet. It meets or exceeds all the requirements we have.
3) Any should do purchases I should make while at the dealer? Hitch I am covered on, I am likely buying a small genie once we get home for remote camping. I already have a list of generic things I need to buy just in general for larger TT camping
4) Anything must do upgrades one I get home? I am already looking at solar options. And adding some functionality I have seen here for better use of storage spaces

Thanks ahead of time! Gonna be a long 6 days till I get to depart and fetch the RV.

[mark5w]

The is a PDI list in our Documents section. Good info to help you with your PDI. One important thing that is often forgotten is a surge protector.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

[DavisK]

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum!

[sleepyT]

Abba
Congrats on the new Reserve, and welcome to the forum... In your post you mentioned lack of information about the Reserve on the internet and I see this is your first post...So I have to ask have your looked at the Reserve thread on this forum.??? All our members there should be able to help with any questions you may have...

[TxCowboy]

Mark gave you the good PDI guidance. As for accessories, there are probably a few you might consider (and I'm looking at the CR website for the Rezerve series).

1. Upgrade to the 8 cu. ft fridge. You won't regret having a bit more room, even with the outdoor fridge.

2. 50 amp service and the second AC. You can always just run a single AC if you want but having the second AC is worth the extra money. Plus 50 amp just gives you more power for everything else you want.

3. Rear ladder. Sounds silly but this is an option. If you plan on doing the roof maintenance yourself, you'll want this. (Note: On a previous thread over the past couple of weeks, I believe we learned that this is a factory-installed option ONLY.)

4. Upgraded insulation. Again, this is a factory-only option. Hopefully, the dealer you are buying from ordered it with this option. You're in Colorado. 'Nuff said?

5. Four corner power leveling jacks and power tongue jack. Yes. Absolutely. Aww, heck yeah. Makes life much, much easier.

These options are all personal choice of course and will also depend on how and where you'll be camping. Wife and I tend to camp in established RV parks (so far) so we like the creature comforts. If you're doing more boondocking, you'll need to focus a lot more on water and power management options.

Enjoy your new camper and welcome to the Forum!

[KirkedOut]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! Lots of good info and helpful folks in here.

[AbbaZabba]

Originally Posted by sleepyT

Abba
In your post you mentioned lack of information about the Reserve on the internet and I see this is your first post...So I have to ask have your looked at the Reserve thread on this forum.???

Thanks, I did check the reserve sub-forum, but not a lot of information there. Reviewing the internet, model specific really only returned a page with 32 complaints and a ton of online sales. On rate my camper it gives CrossRoads a 56/75, but it doesn't give details on specific models.
So specific questions that have occurred since first post.
How are the thermostats? Generically speaking, popups are garbage and "should" be replaced. Same with these?
What is the difference between reserve, reZerve, and zinger?

Originally Posted by TxCowboy

Mark gave you the good PDI guidance. As for accessories, there are probably a few you might consider (and I'm looking at the CR website for the Rezerve series).

.................

These options are all personal choice of course and will also depend on how and where you'll be camping. Wife and I tend to camp in established RV parks (so far) so we like the creature comforts. If you're doing more boondocking, you'll need to focus a lot more on water and power management options.

Yes on PDI, def worth the review and guidance for Friday walkthrough.

I did ask on the fridge and insulation, since it is a 2015 leftover, not sure how many options can be added this late, but still waiting on dealer response.

Funny on the jack. as with everything = personal pref. My pops says "who needs em! I like mine by hand.", but I expect my wife would appreciate the power jack if she is in charge of that, I know my mom doesn't help in that area. Same with AC, even in summer, we have always needed heat. But that assumes we stay in the mtns

My goal is to do more boon docking, but it looks like this year will be more Fed and state forest campgrounds. Many do not have hooks ups, which was another appealing part of the larger water capacity. Already researching solar options, I foresee that and battery upgrades as being needed.

[COCamping]

Congrats on the new trailer. Your story sounds like us. We had a popup with 2 adults, 3 kids and a dog. Decided we needed something bigger and upgraded to a truck and picked up our Rezerve 5th wheel last fall, got 2 trips in before we winterized and looking forward to getting out a lot more this season with the easier packing and setup.

We are also in Colorado, specifically Colorado Springs. We try to do state/national parks as much as possible. It's our first large trailer, so we'll be learning about water management this season. We have smaller tanks, but plan to maximize our time between dumps/fill ups by utilizing park facilities as much as possible during the days.