Buying our first Travel Trailer

BAL X chocks

Drinking water hose

Sewer hose

Leveling system (im using anderson levelers, but lynx blocks work, cut 4x4, etc)

Generator cord (if applicable)
 
Also, i upgraded to a dual battery setup. Worth it to me since i mostly camp at sites with no power, your situation may be different.
 
If purchasing second hand, bring a ladder and inspect the roof for signs of leaks or soft spots.
Made that mistake. Also feel along the top of all the interior walls for soft spots.
 
Most travel trailers have cheap tires on them. If you look closely at the specs, they are speed rated at 50 mph. Do yourself a favor and look up the ratings and reputation on the tires. You can usually use this as a negotiating item.

Although typical trailer tires are ST tires, some of the higher end trailer companies will install light truck (LT) tires on the trailer. I have found LT tires to be a much higher quality option than "most but not all" of the ST tires.

There is a big difference in quality amongst travel trailers. Many of the inexpensive ones develop problems after a few years. The higher quality ones don't.

Look closely at the sizes of fresh water, grey water and black water tanks. Bigger is better if you intend remote camping. Also look at how easy it is to do routine maintenance, such as ease of access to the water pump, etc. Check the water system to see if it has a drain installed at the lowest point for winter draining.
 
Most travel trailers have cheap tires on them. If you look closely at the specs, they are speed rated at 50 mph. Do yourself a favor and look up the ratings and reputation on the tires. You can usually use this as a negotiating item.

Although typical trailer tires are ST tires, some of the higher end trailer companies will install light truck (LT) tires on the trailer. I have found LT tires to be a much higher quality option than "most but not all" of the ST tires.

There is a big difference in quality amongst travel trailers. Many of the inexpensive ones develop problems after a few years. The higher quality ones don't.

Look closely at the sizes of fresh water, grey water and black water tanks. Bigger is better if you intend remote camping. Also look at how easy it is to do routine maintenance, such as ease of access to the water pump, etc. Check the water system to see if it has a drain installed at the lowest point for winter draining.

Goodyear st tires, ditch the china bombs
 
We've had very good success with both Michelin LTX and Maxiss Commercial LT tires on the farm trailers (we have 9 trailers).
 
We bought an EL310 a few years ago. It has been generally problem free beyond the normal RV issues. The previous suggestions have all been good. We put slide toppers on, dual batteries, and I agree with the recommendations for x chocks, lynx levelers, extra water/sewer hose, and cordless drill for jacks.

Maxair vent covers are nice to leave the vents open when there may be inclement weather.

I added extra smoke & CO detectors because I’m paranoid like that and the factory ones are el cheapo.

Not sure if the el250 is a 30 or 50 amp service, but I’d recommend picking up the adapter so you can use either. Also a water pressure reducer for campgrounds with high pressure.

The tires it came with seem to be decent, but I plan to upgrade when they hit five years old.

I carry a telescoping ladder to let me get up on the roof if needed, since cruiser cheaps out and doesn’t put one on the back.

A curved shower curtain rod will make the shower feel bigger, at minimal cost.
 
cooking

We keep cooking inside our camper to the absolute minimum (i dont like bears), so i've always cooked on a camp chef stove that runs off the low pressure lp line from the trailer. great camp stoves, and i just bought a griddle top for mine, very versatile. we also do a lot of dutch oven cooking, so lodge gets the nod.

a cheap lifetime brand folding table works great rather than the specific camp kitchen crap you'll see, and we use ours for cooking prep/dishes (much more room for dishes vs the tiny sinks in the trailer). we use collapsible sinks for the dishes.

we try to conserve grey water tank space by dumping dish grey water in the campground (most of the NP's we've been to have dish washing stations) vs filling the trailer tank, a 30gal tank fills quick! but you can dump it down the toilet into your black water if you need the room.
 
We've had very good success with both Michelin LTX and Maxiss Commercial LT tires on the farm trailers (we have 9 trailers).

After a blow out, I switched to Contender tires. I got them from eBay. They were made for U-haul.
 
A week's stay at this place.....trust me. We sold our camper but still go and stay in the cabins they have there from time to time.

I don't know if they still do as we haven't camped in awhile but they used to have hot tubs on all camp sites......yep.

https://willowtreervr.com/
 
As is importance to your brand of tires, is your air pressure's. Keep a very close eye on those. I check the night before we roll out, when its cool. Also wheel bearing's. A good friend has a 31 ft. Mallard, that his wife felt that she had to add about 4000 pounds of CRAP in, you know, to make it like home, and he couldn't figure out why he was eating wheel bearings..........Anyway. If it has a Dometic toilet, 300, 301, 310, 320, or 321, buy an extra valve. Damn thing's are about impossible to get all the water out when you winterize it. I've been out in ours, arriving late, sweaty, wanting to take a shower, and turn the water on, and water spraying out the little valve on the floor. No stores open. The saying "not a happy camper" went well with me that night, lol. https://www.campingworld.com/water-...VVtyGCh1AEQztEAQYAiABEgKPY_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Thanks for all the input guys! A local guy had a few items for sale on a Facebook group so I picked up a brand new set of X Chocks, a 20' Camco sewer hose holder and a 10 pack of Tri-Lynx leveling blocks all for $80. Ill look through the replies and do some Amazon shopping this evening.
 
As is importance to your brand of tires, is your air pressure's. Keep a very close eye on those. I check the night before we roll out, when its cool.
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That’s an excellent point about tire pressure. Tires run coolest when they are inflated to the maximum recommend air pressure that is listed on the side of the tire.
 
A by-pass kit for the water heater is a big plus(you use a lot less anti-freeze when winterizing) and I found that the heavy duty sewer hose is worth the price difference. I only buy the twenty foot sewer hose. Some campgrounds require the sewer hose doughnut ring and will not allow you to use a rock or brick to keep the hose in the sewer drop. An electrical circuit tester with the two amber and one red light to test the electrical is handy, went to a cg one time that every time I touched the awning rail I got a little bite, pedestal was wired wrong. Please don't learn the hard way like I did, after you park in the site, before you start setting up, check that there is working water and electricity on the site. Have had it happen a couple times, and it is not fun when it is 90 degrees and you have to disconnect everything , hook backup to the tow vehicle and move to another site. When you connect your hose to the spigot, leave the camper end loose and fill the hose up, or "burp" it to reduce the amount of air coming out the faucets inside.
 
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