corny
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 20 
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Post by corny on May 11, 2020 8:11:34 GMT -5
We live in Central Maine and are former owners of a 2010 18 ft Coyote Lite which got totally destroyed last October when a tree fell on it during a windstorm. It was the only tree in the field on our property where we kept the camper when we are not travelling. During the years we owned the Coyote it had travelled to Alaska, California, British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukkon, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah Nevada, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, Minnesota, New Brunsick, Nova Scotia, and of course, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. We have a son in Colorado and another in California and Arizona so we took an annual late summer voyage out west. It had so many miles on it that we had to replaced the complete suspension a couple of years back as the suspension was totally worn out with the shackles worn to the point of imminent failure. Since we had been quite happy with the performance of the KZ Coyote, we chose the Connect 241 RLK as its replacement.
In order to come close to the ample storage of the Coyote Lite we found it necessary to move up to the larger Connect. The reason we needed more storage for clothing is the wide range in climate during our trips out west from the cold temperatures in the Rocky Mountains when we camp over 9000 feet elevation to the deserts of Arizona where the daily highs can be over 100 degrees. The moderate size of the Coyote made it easy to find a suitable camp site and we were able to readily back it in most anywhere. Already I find the bulkier dimensions of the Connect to provide a challenge to my backing up skills and will be a limiting factor when trying to find a suitable campsite where many of the state and national parks have less than ideal sites for larger rvs.
I have a Chevy 1500 extended cab with the 5.3L engine which was already marginal when towing the lighter Coyote in the mountains of Colorado. While the Conncect is still within the towing capacity of the 1500, I am somewhat concerned what will happen when going up over the Divide at Loveland Pass or Wolf Creek Pass which we have done many times, sometimes having to stop due to engine overheating. We upgraded to a weight equalizer hitch which is adequate for the added tongue weight.
I find the King Bed in the Connect shrinks the size of the closet on either side of the bed. The Queen size was fine. I don't know why KZ had to go with the king. These small closets are the only storage deep enough to hang shirts, jackets, or pants, so we are going to have to get creative on clothing storage. Despite the larger size of the connect, clothing storage is going to be a challenge. Anyway, the Connect does seem very nice so far, despite these shortcomings. I guess when we travel months at a time then our needs our somewhat different than the typical weekender.
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Post by johnr on May 11, 2020 10:42:01 GMT -5
Hi, welcome to the group. You'll get used to backing up that extra length fairly quickly. For climate clothes change, have you considered a couple of totes that you can throw into the camper and move around as needed (even in the back seat of the truck)?
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Post by Chuck on May 11, 2020 15:47:58 GMT -5
corny Welcome to the Kz form  As johnr stated you will get use to backing your new connect in time, storage seems to be a problem in some of the smaller trailers an as you stated some were built for weekend campers an not owners who are on the road months at a time ...
Again Welcome an be Safe in your travels 
Chuck
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Post by hannahsdad on May 11, 2020 16:11:21 GMT -5
Ohhhhh...that's the model I have, although it's a 2017 so it has the queen bed. I had the GMC 1500 which was rated (on paper) for 11,000 pounds, but since I live in Colorado I end up upgrading to the Chevy Turbo-diesel
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corny
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 20
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Post by corny on May 11, 2020 17:38:28 GMT -5
Hannahsdad was that the 3 liter diesel used in the half ton GMC or was it the 6.2L in the 2500?
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Post by Edd505 on May 11, 2020 20:32:11 GMT -5
Hi, welcome to the group. You'll get used to backing up that extra length fairly quickly. For climate clothes change, have you considered a couple of totes that you can throw into the camper and move around as needed (even in the back seat of the truck)? Like they said you will get used to the size, we have a member thought he had bought too large also. He's now got 1000's of miles and no problems, he may chime in on the size issue.
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Post by nvguy on May 11, 2020 23:07:51 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, as you probably noticed, lots of good info here.
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Post by laknox on May 12, 2020 12:09:15 GMT -5
We live in Central Maine and are former owners of a 2010 18 ft Coyote Lite which got totally destroyed last October when a tree fell on it during a windstorm. It was the only tree in the field on our property where we kept the camper when we are not travelling. During the years we owned the Coyote it had travelled to Alaska, California, British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukkon, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah Nevada, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, Minnesota, New Brunsick, Nova Scotia, and of course, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. We have a son in Colorado and another in California and Arizona so we took an annual late summer voyage out west. It had so many miles on it that we had to replaced the complete suspension a couple of years back as the suspension was totally worn out with the shackles worn to the point of imminent failure. Since we had been quite happy with the performance of the KZ Coyote, we chose the Connect 241 RLK as its replacement. In order to come close to the ample storage of the Coyote Lite we found it necessary to move up to the larger Connect. The reason we needed more storage for clothing is the wide range in climate during our trips out west from the cold temperatures in the Rocky Mountains when we camp over 9000 feet elevation to the deserts of Arizona where the daily highs can be over 100 degrees. The moderate size of the Coyote made it easy to find a suitable camp site and we were able to readily back it in most anywhere. Already I find the bulkier dimensions of the Connect to provide a challenge to my backing up skills and will be a limiting factor when trying to find a suitable campsite where many of the state and national parks have less than ideal sites for larger rvs. I have a Chevy 1500 extended cab with the 5.3L engine which was already marginal when towing the lighter Coyote in the mountains of Colorado. While the Conncect is still within the towing capacity of the 1500, I am somewhat concerned what will happen when going up over the Divide at Loveland Pass or Wolf Creek Pass which we have done many times, sometimes having to stop due to engine overheating. We upgraded to a weight equalizer hitch which is adequate for the added tongue weight. I find the King Bed in the Connect shrinks the size of the closet on either side of the bed. The Queen size was fine. I don't know why KZ had to go with the king. These small closets are the only storage deep enough to hang shirts, jackets, or pants, so we are going to have to get creative on clothing storage. Despite the larger size of the connect, clothing storage is going to be a challenge. Anyway, the Connect does seem very nice so far, despite these shortcomings. I guess when we travel months at a time then our needs our somewhat different than the typical weekender. I don't know the specs on the trailers you had/have, but a gasser should handle things just fine. Shift down and don't be afraid the let the engine rev on the upgrades. Gassers make their horsepower at higher revs so running at 4k, steady, shouldn't give you any issues. Don't try to drive on speed, drive on RPM, and hold it steady. Let traffic go around you, unless you're on a 2-lane, then move over when you safely can. Now, where you =will= have some issues, is on the downhills, since you don't have the engine braking that a diesel has. Go slow, use the engine as much as you can, then stab your brakes, hard, to get down to well below your "target" speed, then let it build up as you engine brake. If you, at any time, feel that you're starting to lose braking, pull over and stop for 30 minutes to let things cool down, including YOU. :-) That being said, a diesel 3/4t will give you a =lot= more options in general towing, braking and payload. On storage, I'm not sure how it's laid out, but you might think about using totes for more bulky items, then swap them for lighter stuff when you need them. I will tell you that, even at 9k', you can get =hot= in the sun, but as soon as it goes behind some clouds, temps will drop 20-40 degrees. It's actually more =wind= that you need to protect yourself from as far as temps go. A good, light, Goretex jacket will break the wind and keep you warm, yet can be stuffed into a backpack without too much trouble if necessary. At those altitudes, the =sun= can be dangerous, so be liberal with the sunscreen if you're going to be out for any length of time. "Lowlanders" have little clue how brutal it can be when you lose a mile, or more, of atmospheric "filtering". Lyle |
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corny
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 20
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Post by corny on May 12, 2020 13:04:23 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips Lyle. No problem on the downgrades with my Silverado 1500 as I use the Manual mode on the transmission and use a lower gear, letting the engine rpms go up to 3500 or so. Very little need to use the brakes. The one time I overheated heading up the divide was unusually hot that day, in the 90s. Pulled over and left the engine running to circulate the coolant and the temp came down fairly quick. I watched the temperature gauge and tried to keep it below 230 and definitely pull over before it hits the red line.
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Post by hannahsdad on May 13, 2020 13:51:24 GMT -5
Hannahsdad was that the 3 liter diesel used in the half ton GMC or was it the 6.2L in the 2500? It's the 6.6L Turbo Diesel |
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Post by rvdude on May 16, 2020 22:21:21 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new trailer. I hope you get many more years of great fun and enjoyment like you did with the Coyote.
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