waste valves

[JFF&KRN]

in the process of, " out with the old and in with the new" we are trading our 2015 303 for a 2019 337.
have they, GD, resolved the waste water in the discharge pipes yet? or, should i just order a valve when we get our new mobile mansion home next week?

[boyscout]

in the process of, " out with the old and in with the new" we are trading our 2015 303 for a 2019 337.
have they, GD, resolved the waste water in the discharge pipes yet? or, should i just order a valve when we get our new mobile mansion home next week?

Our 2018 Reflection did not have the problem, but our 2018 Solitude (and many other trailers reported here by their owners) will retain pints/quarts of nasty stuff to await your next removal of the dump cap.

Buy the valve. Do a REALLY thorough PDI before accepting your new trailer - they're not makin' 'em the way they reportedly did a few years ago. Best of luck with it.

[JFF&KRN]

we will do a super thorough pdi as i will go in the morning and if needed will stay the whole day. been rving for over 20 years, made a few mistakes and bad choices or decisions over the years, and had a couple lemons but made it through the glitches. we are in hopes this one is a good one, and will do some things differently as well. thanks for the feedback. Happy and safe travels.

[huntr70]

they're not makin' 'em the way they reportedly did a few years ago.

I don't buy that at all.

As a dealer, there is nothing that has changed since the first year they were built. Same thing as always, they are man made.

No changes since the Winnebago buy in, nothing else has changed. They are actually doing a more intensive PDI at the factory than they did the first 2 years. Go do a plant tour and check it out.

I've seen both being done, the first year PDI, and more recently.

[JFF&KRN]

to add to my previous comment, I didn't mean my GD was a lemon, i just had a few issues with it that were in part dealer caused, GD stepped it up, took it back to the factory and repaired what was messed up. Also have had Thor Wanderer, which were fine, forest river surveyor, which was fine, Keystone Outback that had major usability issues. I chose to go back to GD in part their Step up and get r fixed attitude and i like the design of the unit, no floor vents in the living area and a few other things. Like any unit, they will all have issues but in hopes minor and can be resolved with minimal effort, frustration etc. Thanks for listening.

[boyscout]

I don't buy that at all. As a dealer, there is nothing that has changed since the first year they were built. Same thing as always, they are man made. No changes since the Winnebago buy in, nothing else has changed. They are actually doing a more intensive PDI at the factory than they did the first 2 years. Go do a plant tour and check it out. I've seen both being done, the first year PDI, and more recently.

Ours is 14 months old, and issue number 40 appeared last Thursday. A book weighing less than two pounds was left in the storage space under the seat one of the dining chairs as the trailer was moved over good paved roads from home to a site. Along the way the bottom busted out of the chair, spilling the book and a couple of pens and a scratch pad onto the floor. Upon examination, only three of the six staples across the front of the chair had any purchase in the "wood" used for the bottom of the chair, the other three were stapled at the edge of it and had no purchase on it. Just plain sloppy-ness by the "Amish craftsmen" who built the chair.

Issue number forty - some not so serious like that one, others more serious which, combined with bad dealer service, have robbed us of literally *months* of use and warranty period. Most issues related to poor care and attention in assembly, a few related to low-quality parts.

I didn't own or see Grand Design trailers in 2015, but I bought our first one in 2017 based on the glowing enthusiasm for them expressed by others online, including here in this forum. While the first one wasn't trouble-free it wasn't bad, but the second one - a top-line Solitude purchased in 2018 - has been a very frustrating mess of trouble.

I appreciate your perspective as a dealer with experience with older GD trailers, but doubt that people who have had as many quality issues as we have had would be so enthusiastic as some of the longer-term owners have been - that was the basis of my comment. I'm not the only one expressing frustration with quality here - heck, this forum thrives on it and would barely exist if these trailers weren't having so many troubles. "No worse than the others" isn't what I read online before buying a Grand Design, I read "better than the others". Having now met many owners of other trailers, and having the experience we've had, I don't think that's true now. Maybe it never was true?

As for that "more intensive PDI at the factory" that you write about, wow. I foolishly trusted that the factory and the dealer would have BOTH done a proper PDI on our top-line Solitude and didn't do much of one myself; a 15-minute walk-through and we towed it away. Within two to three *days* of parking the new trailer on our driveway we had over a dozen issues and had to return it to the dealer, who kept it for weeks and didn't fix all the problems. Really?

[huntr70]

Ours is 14 months old, and issue number 40 appeared last Thursday. A book weighing less than two pounds was left in the storage space under the seat one of the dining chairs as the trailer was moved over good paved roads from home to a site. Along the way the bottom busted out of the chair, spilling the book and a couple of pens and a scratch pad onto the floor. Upon examination, only three of the six staples across the front of the chair had any purchase in the "wood" used for the bottom of the chair, the other three were stapled at the edge of it and had no purchase on it. Just plain sloppy-ness by the "Amish craftsmen" who built the chair.

Issue number forty - some not so serious like that one, others more serious which, combined with bad dealer service, have robbed us of literally *months* of use and warranty period. Most issues related to poor care and attention in assembly, a few related to low-quality parts.

I didn't own or see Grand Design trailers in 2015, but I bought our first one in 2017 based on the glowing enthusiasm for them expressed by others online, including here in this forum. While the first one wasn't trouble-free it wasn't bad, but the second one - a top-line Solitude purchased in 2018 - has been a very frustrating mess of trouble.

I appreciate your perspective as a dealer with experience with older GD trailers, but doubt that people who have had as many quality issues as we have had would be so enthusiastic as some of the longer-term owners have been - that was the basis of my comment. I'm not the only one expressing frustration with quality here - heck, this forum thrives on it and would barely exist if these trailers weren't having so many troubles. "No worse than the others" isn't what I read online before buying a Grand Design, I read "better than the others". Having now met many owners of other trailers, and having the experience we've had, I don't think that's true now. Maybe it never was true?

As for that "more intensive PDI at the factory" that you write about, wow. I foolishly trusted that the factory and the dealer would have BOTH done a proper PDI on our top-line Solitude and didn't do much of one myself; a 15-minute walk-through and we towed it away. Within two to three *days* of parking the new trailer on our driveway we had over a dozen issues and had to return it to the dealer, who kept it for weeks and didn't fix all the problems. Really?

Couple of things that you are forgetting....

The furniture is not made by Grand Design. It is bought, like 99% of any of the other manufacturers.

I can agree that 40 issues is a lot, but there had to be some that should have been taken care of during a dealer PDI.

The initial GD pdi is performed in a building a couple hundred yards from the building it was built in. Easy enough, like most things, it really hasn't seen any "usage" at that point.

We are roughly 700 miles from the GD factory, and those are the first miles the trailers have really seen. All miles that are after the GD PDI. This is why an intensive dealer PDI is important. Things happen in initial travel miles.

Also, there is a very small portion of GD owners on this forum. I was just looking over some of our numbers from this year. We have sold over 90 Reflection units alone since January. Figure we are one dealer, and multiple that by several hundred dealers, then add in all the other models that they build. Small portion of owners here, and a lot that join to complain as they are "Googling" GD problems on the internet.

I will never claim they are perfect, far from it....but they try. And harder than most other manufacturers. I've personally owned Keystone, Forest River, and GD brands. 2 FR models that went back to factory to get walls replaced, and the Keystone was actually pretty problem free. So far, my 2020 Reflection has not been problem free, but way easier to get warrantied than the others were.

Sounds like you have more dealer issues than needed.

[Keebler]

in the process of, " out with the old and in with the new" we are trading our 2015 303 for a 2019 337.
have they, GD, resolved the waste water in the discharge pipes yet? or, should i just order a valve when we get our new mobile mansion home next week?

I have a 2017 and would not be with out the "extra" Valterra valve. I have read here of folks that have taken steps (such as a set screw) to more securely attach it, but I have mine installed with the handle on the right side (so that the weight of it would work to tighten the valve) and have never (been on for 3 seasons now) had an issue.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Congratulations on the new purchase!

[Txfivver]

I just ordered the Valterra valve myself. Mine always has a little dribble when I take the dump cap off as well. It's not a lot but embarrassing when you're on a nice site with a pristine slab lol. I would bet that Amazon loves this forum!