Picked Up New Solitude 3740BH

[iflywhatevr]

Picked up our new 3740BH today. Happy with my airlift airbags and Demco Recon Hitch I installed myself from etrailer. Only found 4 issues during inspection:

1. Bunk House seal ripped (about 2 inches missing) they didn’t have one in stock so are shipping it to me.

2. Roof ladder was loose at the top noticed it when I climbed up to inspect roof they fixed it.

3. Rear door top left corner scraping door trim on the outside they adjusted it.

4. Front screen door latch was loose just tightened it up.

We drove it about 20 min away for two nights at a KOA to test out. Only put about 25 psi in my airbags and did pretty well truck was level at around 3000 pounds hitch weight. I think I will put a little more air in for the 6 hour ride home when we leave on Thursday. I can tell you this camper is BIG compared to our Reflection 308BHTS and the finish and feel if the rig is much better (not that Reflection was bad). The kids are jealous mom and dad get to camp without them for the first time in years!

[Chad1383]

Thats awesome, we are actually looking at trading our 312BHTS for this model. Im hoping my 2500 HD SRW will pull it okay, I have the 5000 series airlift bags on it.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Just a note on weights, my 3740 loaded for a trip with the onan generator had a pin weight of 3540#(CAT scale verified). This is not a small trailer. We are going to add an inverter/solar setup and washer dryer as well so that pin weight will be growing some in the near future as well. It is pretty solidly in 1-ton territory and easily makes sense for a DRW in my opinion.

That being said, we started out shopping for a 312BHTS originally. Wife wanted a 2nd bath so we looked at fifth wheels and the 311BHS and I said go big or go home and we got the 3740BH-R and it is pretty awesome all around

[Chad1383]

My dealer is trying to get rid of a 3740 and I’m gonna try and take advantage of that. Only reason I’m looking to switch really. We love our reflection.

The 312 is no light weight. 11k dry I think. I actually think this 3740 will tow better, more weight but obv weight over a better area than the bumper hitch.

[cookinwitdiesel]

The fifth wheel absolutely feels easier to tow to me, coming from a 28' bumper pull. I still tell my wife, we would have saved a lot of money getting the 312 as I would not have gotten a new truck as well then haha

It looks like they just announced a new 3950 floorplan that is an evolution on the 3740, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3740 gets moved to DSO pretty soon as a result. I like it more frankly, more counter space, better w/d setup if you want them, I prefer the 3740 bunk layout for our 2 year old, etc. We will see what GD decides to do.

[Chad1383]

Maybe you can let me know if I would have any issues towing it with my 18’ 2500 HD. Not worried about any squat as I have air bags but I know the payload I think is 3300 lbs on the truck.

[iflywhatevr]

I can say after towing it for 7 hours or so on the last couple of trips that my 3500 Long Bed SRW pulls it like nothing. Tows easier than my old 308BHTS bumper pull. I would NOT want to pull it without my airbags though to level the truck. Loaded I am above my cargo weight but not my rear axle or tire weight ratings. On another note I had to turn up my brake controller up to 10 and still wasn’t getting braking performance I was happy with compared to my old trailer that was great at about 6 on the controller.

Jacked it up to spin the wheels to see how the brakes were adjusted. And they weren’t lol. Absolutely zero drag when spinning all four tires. So I adjusted them to what I’ve always have been told is an appropriate amount of drag for drum brakes when spinning the wheels. Hopefully that will make a difference in braking performance I will give it a try this coming week.

[WhittleBurner]

The drag you feel when adjusting the brakes will be gone after just a few miles of travel. What that drag does when adjusting them up is so you can tell the shoes are the same distance from the drum. When they start turning they will wear some material off the shoes from having that contact. They will have the proper and equal adjustment though. The brakes being out of adjustment can be told by how much you have to turn the star wheel for the shoes to make contact. Not all trailers have self adjusting brakes on them. If they don't and they haven't been adjusted up manually they could be way out of adjustment. Our 303 didn't come with self adjusting brakes but we changed that right away. When on long trips I did not want to have to adjust them up on occasion when on the road.

[iflywhatevr]

The drag you feel when adjusting the brakes will be gone after just a few miles of travel. What that drag does when adjusting them up is so you can tell the shoes are the same distance from the drum. When they start turning they will wear some material off the shoes from having that contact. They will have the proper and equal adjustment though. The brakes being out of adjustment can be told by how much you have to turn the star wheel for the shoes to make contact. Not all trailers have self adjusting brakes on them. If they don't and they haven't been adjusted up manually they could be way out of adjustment. Our 303 didn't come with self adjusting brakes but we changed that right away. When on long trips I did not want to have to adjust them up on occasion when on the road.

They all took about 12-15 clicks on the star wheel in order to feel any sort of drag when turning the wheel.

[WhittleBurner]

That isn't horrible, I wouldn't think enough to give you the trouble it is. You probably do have self adjusting brakes. A call to GD with your vin # and they could tell you if they are self adjusting or not. Being a new trailer could be what is what is causing you to have these problems right now. The shoes when new do not have the same arc as the drums which means the shoes are only hitting at the top and bottom of the shoes so the stopping ability isn't what it should be yet. People have reported it taking up to 500 miles before they worked properly. Not being able to inspect the trailer means this is all speculative. A lot of people have complained about this same problem and many have found that after using the brakes for a little bit they did get better.