550 / 560 Placing Order Soon - A Few Detailed Questions...

M

mdgrier

Newbie
Hi All - will be ordering 560 Ultra very soon and thought instead of bothering Cary directly - perhaps I can get some help from the group? We will be towing with our 5th Gen 4Runner - where we already have a roof top tent, 270 awning, kitchen drawers, fridge, stove in the rear. We travel with a Jackery 2000 for power. We will vary between the 4Runner solo and the 4Runner / Camp Inn combination.

We did a visit to a 560 Ultra in south central PA - thank you Michael for the time on the look-see! - but have a few questions that I did not check when we did the peer review.
  1. What is the shore power setup? Standard RV 30AMP? I have watched some older videos which look like the connection may just be a 110v extension cord
  2. Has anyone had Camp Inn make a screen (like the zip in for the doors or maybe a magnetic attached one) to help keep the dog encouraged to stay under the bunk bed?
  3. What are the exterior dimensions of the organizer trays that sit in the galley - and what are the two different depths? And dimensions of a sorting bin in the middle of the galley instead of a fridge? We will want to move these trays of organized utensils between the 4Runner drawers and our 560.
  4. Are extra propane connections an option (we use a TemboTusk skottle often, we sometimes use a small ammo can fire pit, and sometimes a Joolca hot water shower… so having a few connections would be wonderful vs swapping gas lines around all week (or maybe there is a manifold type option aftermarket)
  5. Has anyone considered a passthrough from the main cabin to the galley? Just thinking on those mornings of heavy rain… might be nice to reach through and make a quick cup of Keurig without having to face the elements.
  6. What fan is preferred the Fantastic Fan (is this the standard) or the MaxxAir?
  7. What is the location of the power outlets (rear galley single gang w/ GFCI + 12v outlet, single gang + 12v outlet on the drivers side of the main cabin storage… single gang w/ USB + 12v outlet by the couch - any others?
 
Welcome! CI is a great teardrop, and y’all are obviously highly intelligent people to realize this! Where are you located?

I think all your answers will be the same for the 550 and 560, except the bunk beds. We had a 550, but the first time we sat in a 560 we realized how much bigger the cubic volume is than the 550 - much more of a feeling of spaciousness than the 2’ would suggest. Yes, we went to a 560!

1. Shore power is a standard 110v inlet. I often use a 30a adapter at the shore power pole, as 110-20a can be a bit wonky in many campgrounds.
7. It distributes to the battery charger, the kitchen/hatch outlets, the cabin foot AC outlets, and the headboard storage cabinet outlet. I think that last is now standard. 12v goes to the same locations.

3. Organizer trays are super handy. One of the bins is shallower, due to a separator in the rt-sd bin to keep a skillet vertical, so the short tray goes in the right side. A metal lip left and right of the tray hangs it in the bin.

Each tray is 17.25” wide by 11.5” deep. Tall is 5”, short is 3.25”. Add another half-inch on the left and the right for the metal lip.

I don’t have the storage bin - we put a Yeti 35 there. The dimensions of the space are 24”w x 16”d. The height is 15.5” at the front, 21.5” at the rear.

4. An external quick disconnect propane outlet fitting is on the driver’s side near the sink, along with pressurized water out, city/shore water in, and the filler for the trailer water tank. These are all behind a locked door. You’ll need CI’s accessory “whip” hose for the quick disconnect on one end, and a 1 Lb. Cylinder thread on the other for external propane to your heater/firepit/whatever.

6. Our CI has the Fantastic Fan, but reading the recent posts on Maxxair sound really good! Benefits slow speed available, and somehow better rain protection (?). I have to say the auto-close on the FF is a pain sometimes…

There are some differences with model years, especially 110/12/usb elec distribution, so do check in with Cary and he is always happy to answer questions!

Even with your kitchen in the 4-runner my personal feeling is that I’d buy the full standard CI galley. If nothing else it’s good for resale. It also frees you up for your future choices of tow vehicle!
 
In addition to the answers above

2) never heard of it but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist

5) my guess is this isn’t feasible - the pass through would also be through the cabinetry built into the foot-end of the bed. It’s either too cramped to get to the wall beneath the cabinets or too cumbersome to reach through the cabinets to the wall. I just can’t imagine crawling around in there to get to a trap door and reach through and have my shoulders pinched by the cabinets … I’d rather get rained on making coffee. I know Vistabule has a pass through but they build the cabinets very differently.

7) ours is a 2018 ish build. It has 3x identical power locations. Each is a 2x 110 outlet that is only alive when plugged into shore power (bc there is no power inverter onboard), 1x 12v outlet, and a USB (double plug) outlet. Those 3x locations are in the galley on the passenger side, in the main cabin (passenger side just under the cabinets at the foot-end of the bed), and inside the tongue box storage area of the passenger side headboard space. You’ll note all power is routed on the passenger side. I imagine this is much easier to wire down one side of the trailer than running wiring to both sides. We have a long USB extension cable that we plug into the cabin (foot-end) outlet and route through the cabinets. This gives the driver side sleeper (me) some USB juice to charge a device at night.

My only future-proof concern with power at this point is the arrival of USB-C as a new charging standard. As more devices and cables shift to that standard, it may be worthwhile to swap out the USB outlets for outlets that offer C-cable ports.
 
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