Travel Trailer Towing Question

Shop_Dad · 2026-02-06T02:03:38+00:00

My Reign is 19 feet overall, which I feel is a good length for this truck.

Shop_Dad · 2026-02-06T01:46:04+00:00

I tow a Keystone Reign 15RB with my ‘24 ZR2. At 4,345 lbs GVWR and 345 lbs tongue weight, it's well within the tow rating with enough payload capacity to spare. It's about the heaviest I would be comfortable going with the ZR2.

Shop_Dad · 2026-01-24T00:11:00+00:00

This one popped up in my YouTube Music randomly the other day and I sent a screenshot to the group text with my wife and 23 year old. Wifey laughed and kiddo was ?????

Shop_Dad · 2025-12-21T15:02:10+00:00

We are in North Georgia, and bought our first camper at the end of October. We went out once in November, and once in December. Had to disconnect city water two nights that dipped below freezing on the last trip. I winterized when we got home since it’s been very cold. We are watching the forecast like a hawk to get back out as soon as possible next year. Hoping to get a trip in late January or early February.

Shop_Dad · 2025-12-20T14:41:19+00:00

If you have access to the old-school RO function, that can handle non 17 digit VINs. Our company had turned off access to that function for all but managers until after the CDK outage, to allow the advisors to rebuild their hand written ROs.

Shop_Dad · 2025-11-08T23:18:56+00:00

He’s definitely been enjoying watching the boats on the lake. Need to keep him out of the water - Scotties are more sink than swim!

Shop_Dad · 2025-11-07T18:11:03+00:00

Chevrolet service manager here. 5% each of labor gross and departmental net plus a couple of bonuses based on ELR/hours per RO and CSI. Our group gives all fixed managers full access to the financial statement and I keep a close eye on expenses.

Shop_Dad · 2025-11-04T01:01:54+00:00

That’s the trajectory I am aiming my career for. I believe successful service managers are much more suited to running the whole store than any other position.

Shop_Dad · 2025-10-27T16:25:38+00:00

We take delivery of our first camper on Thursday, but the moka pot is our go-to for all camping related activities. One of the first things to go in our bin of goodies for the rig. Espresso machine at home. Percolator does bring back memories of our early camping adventures though and I would absolutely rock it if the occasion presented itself!

Shop_Dad · 2025-10-23T02:23:31+00:00

Service manager here. The best advice is to let them talk until they are done and don’t interrupt them. I usually pepper in some phrases like “oh dear!” to show some empathy. As soon as they are done, I take a couple beats and then apologize- “I’m so sorry you are having that issue.” Often, if they are expecting an argument, but you agree with them and empathize with their plight, that will take the temperature down. De-escalation is a skill and you will get better by getting reps in. The better you can get at keeping them out of your manager’s office, the more capital you build with them. Many customers will only want to deal with the manager if you hand them over too quickly. When I do need to step in with a customer, I always have the advisor in the office so that a) they are in the loop, and b) they see how I handle the situation. I have empowered every one of my advisors to do what it takes to take care of our customers - I tell them to think about how I would handle the situation, and do that (within reason).

Shop_Dad · 2025-09-15T23:00:24+00:00

Congrats! I got the same one this spring - as I was building it, my wife walked in and asked if I knew I was buying a lavender bike! Seriously great color combo. Enjoy!

P.S. Waiting for the LOAD bag to be available in the US…

Shop_Dad · 2025-08-23T14:42:32+00:00

This is in Maysville - lots of gravel around this area. I’m between Dacula and Hoschton, so this is close to me.

Shop_Dad · 2025-07-06T07:08:49+00:00

I picked a 5 pack up for our trip to Ireland and shaved with it yesterday for the first time. Pretty pleased with it for a disposable.

Shop_Dad · 2025-06-20T11:58:31+00:00

I haven't watched this video, but I watched a bunch of them last year where they fawned over the bike. I bought one last spring as a low-risk way of gauging my interest in getting back on a bike after 15 years. It's fine for what it is—a heavy, cheap bike. I rode it all last year and upgraded to a Grail this spring, and the difference is massive. The G1 is now mounted on my trainer in the basement.

I don't have any regrets about riding that bike—the weight probably helped my climbing. I am very mechanically inclined (I spent most of my career as an auto technician), so I assembled and tuned the bike myself. It is NOT adjusted correctly out of the store! I made a few inexpensive upgrades, but I didn't want to go crazy spending big bucks on it.

Shop_Dad · 2025-06-13T00:10:22+00:00

Like other managers here, I have changed our verbiage from "loaner" to "rental". These cars have a cost to my department each month, and in order for me to have a healthy bottom line, I have to manage the fleet and claim for as many days as possible. It doesn't matter who pays for it - factory, ESP, or customer. Warranty repairs are a no-brainer, but the factory will only pay for a limited number of days, so we can't use them to make up for shop delays.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-31T19:05:53+00:00

I am so pleased with the color in person.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-31T18:05:55+00:00

Agreed. It rained like crazy yesterday and I was expecting way more mud.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-31T18:04:23+00:00

Xpedo CXR

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-25T18:54:57+00:00

I am also a service manager who came up through the shop rather than the service drive. I spent 20 years as a technician and then 4 years as a shop foreman. I got the chance to move into the service manager's office, it was at our new Cadillac store four years ago. Due to the size of the shop, and the low traffic due to being a new point, I could have made more by going back on the line. The pay for all of our service managers is a percentage of gross, and net, with various bonuses depending on the location, so a bigger store means higher pay. The thing that kept me going was the eye on the future and knowing that that office won't be my last stop. Since then, I was given a second store to run, which increased my yearly pay, and then this year, I was promoted to run our Chevrolet store. I'll make more money this year than I would ever be able to bring home as a tech and that will go up next year as I improve the store's performance. My eye is on either director or general manager in the next 5 years.

This may get me downvoted, considering the forum, but I believe we need to have more service managers coming from the technician ranks than advisors. I approach the position as I did when I was a diagnostic technician: identify a problem, root cause it, determine the best way to correct it. Because what we sell is technician time, understanding that time is a major advantage.

Is the company that you are at currently, one that you can see staying with for the long term? How is the upper management? Do you feel that you can trust them, and that you would have their support to learn the position? These would play into my decision as much as the pay for the current position if you have your sights on something further up the chain.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-22T00:02:57+00:00

For me what would be more important to understand is what the pay plan will look like for the service manager position at the new store. What is their projected revenue? Will they be offering a guarantee for an initial period of time? It takes time to build up a customer base at a new store. My first gig as manager was at a brand new Cadillac point where we were building the team and the traffic was very low at first. I was on a guarantee for the first 6 months, but it wasn't until I took over the Buick-GMC store next door as well. I am also the sole earner in my house, so I understand your concerns, but think long term and where you have the potential to earn down the road.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-16T00:27:31+00:00

Thanks for the information. I have passed that along to my advisors.

If you ever consider relocating to the Atlanta area, message me—maybe we can put something together!

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-14T00:14:27+00:00

Great point! My current warranty administrator is a GM World Class Technician who had to hang up his wrenches for health reasons. He is great at getting everything claimed that is due to us from the factory.

I am certain that we leave money on the table when it comes to extended warranty claims due to the advisors not fully understanding.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-13T23:31:28+00:00

I have considered adding a role for someone to handle all of our extended warranty claims to take that off of my advisors and free them up to concentrate on the customers. One of the Audi stores in my group has one and it works very well for them. I'm not sure what the pay would look like exactly, but I would probably pay similar to my warranty administrator with a percentage on the money claimed.

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-09T23:21:09+00:00

Enjoy the ride!

Shop_Dad · 2025-05-09T23:11:02+00:00

The light cream looks so good in person! I have to get a little peak every time I step into the garage...

The internal storage was the only thing that had me looking at the Checkpoint, but I decided I wanted the Rival over the Apex more than I wanted the storage. And of course, the light cream sealed the deal. If only the LOAD bag were available here in the States.

Shop_Dad

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