Another new member

I like the exterior on the camper. Which interior did you go with? That looks like a nice floorplan, similar to mine. Mine is a 2013 Durango 325RL. I wanted to go with a slightly longer model, but my barn is only 40 feet long, and this one fits in with just enough room to get around the camper entirely.

First piece of advice would be: Don't take any real tight corners until you get the feel for where the camper will go. That's a long piece of equipment you've got there. When I had my unit in the shop last month, the service manager was telling me about an older couple who never had an RV before, and they bought a Stoneridge and a brand new truck. Not 20 minutes after leaving the dealership, they took off the entire side of the unit on a telephone pole. Unfortunately, the couple had sold their home and everything and were going to be full time RVers, and they didn't have anywhere to go..

I'm not sure if you have any towing experience, but stories like that always remind me not to try "threading the needle" while towing.

Other than that, those Rubbermaid totes come in handy for the trunk. I have one for all of my fresh water needs (hoses, filter, pressure reducer (I have had a water hose explode at a campground because of the pressure), extra hot water tank plug, extra filters, etc.), one for my electric needs (50 amp cord, 30 amp cord, 15 amp cords, all the ends like 50a to 30a; 30a to 15a; 15a to 30a when you need to plug an extension cord into a box that only has a 30amp receptacle, also a 50a to 15a to plug into my barn service. Also a bin for my sewer needs (extra hoses, ends, couplers, rubber gasket (which is required at some campgrounds), extra sewer caps, etc. Also a bin for tools and other odds and ends such as a hatchet, paper for fire starting, lighters, table cloths, toolbox, coax cable for campgrounds that have cable tv, assortment of nails and screws, duct tape, liquid soap with bowl and brush for testing propane connections, nice ratchet set (including a socket the size needed to remove the plug on the hot water tank), extra light bulbs for inside and outside of the unit, extra fuses, electrical tools with wire and ends, miscellaneous parts that I've picked up over the years for fixing hot water tanks.

Now that I'm looking at this, I've picked up a lot over the years! Whew!

Also, you'll need leveling boards or blocks. I have 2 pieces of 2"x8"x6' and 2 pieces of 1"x8"x6' for putting under the tires (treated lumber). I also have an assortment of 2"x8"x1' pieces that I used to put under the landing gear and back jacks when needed. I will also use these piece to make sure the sewer hose goes downhill from the camper.

One thing that I've got that normally works very well are two pieces of plastic rain gutter, one is about 6 feet and the other is around 4 feet. I use these under the sewer hose. The hose fits very nicely inside the gutter and makes it so much simpler to get it going all downhill. You don't need to worry about level ground or those snake things causing low points in the hose.

Make sure your tailgate is down when hooking up or disconnecting the truck from the camper... this includes when you need to just move it over a little bit. Lots of tailgates, mine included, have been dented by the king pin or pin box when moving the truck. I used to have a magnetic sign on the cab side of my hitch that said "Got Tailgate?" so when I looked back I saw it.

I think I've probably put everyone to sleep by now. Sorry about that!

I wouldn't bet my life on the auto leveling system. I've found on mine that if I'm too far off side to side, I'll get "Out of stroke" error messages on the system. I'll level mine up so that the bubble is almost entirely in the lines before trying to use the system. You can go into manual mode with the leveler, but I'd advise against it.

My unit came with the locking arms on the front landing gear. I find that if I tighten those down, I don't need the tripod. I actually removed the tripod from my trunk last season and haven't thought about putting it back in. Just remember to loosen the arms before trying to do anything! Yeah... I was out there beating the handles with a hammer to get them loose once.

On my old Jayco, I couldn't live without the tripod. We rocked all over the place. I even put extra scissor jacks in front of the tires to try to help that thing. If you have a tripod, take it with you and see what you think. If you don't have one, I'd suggest camping in it a few times to see if you need the expense of buying one. There are places that you won't be able to use a tripod, such as if the front end is too low or too high.

I've got a 325RL also and it's really stable ... I never use a tripod. Not only that, but once I forgot to tighten the JT strong arms and discovered that it is so stable that I hardly ever tighten them again. The only time I use them anymore is if I'm going to be some place for a long time ... like a month or so.

You had a great list of things that are really handy, my list would include just about all that you suggested and a few more. And your advice about towing would have come in handy when I started out ... all good points.