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    349M TV angle, sofa comfort, 2nd bath Qs

    We haven't been able to see a 349M in-person yet but are leaning toward it due to the extra garage space. We have seen a 351M and liked it a lot, so now it's coming down to floor plan.

    I'd love to hear from you on:

    1. We like to lay on our sofa head-to-toe for naptimes. How is the 4-seat sofa for laying like this? (we stupidly forgot to test this out when we saw the 351M)

    2. How is the TV angle if we were going to lay like this?

    3. Is the optional half-bath worth it? I can't find dimensions but it seems too tiny for any serious business.

    Would love any other input you care to share.

  2. #2
    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    We haven't been able to see a 349M in-person yet but are leaning toward it due to the extra garage space. We have seen a 351M and liked it a lot, so now it's coming down to floor plan.
    We went through the exact same decision process a month ago!
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    1. We like to lay on our sofa head-to-toe for naptimes. How is the 4-seat sofa for laying like this? (we stupidly forgot to test this out when we saw the 351M)
    How tall are you?
    I'm 5'7" and I can lay on it with room to spare. If you're 6'2" or taller, you probably should try it out, but I think the 349M and 351M have the same size sofas. I have no idea how laying head-to-toe would work, though.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    2. How is the TV angle if we were going to lay like this?
    My wife sat on the far end and I sat on the near end of our sofa and the viewing angle was just fine for both of us. The TV pivots out, lifts, and tilts a fair amount so you can angle it as you want. My wife says the TV is so friggin big that it doesn't matter.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    3. Is the optional half-bath worth it? I can't find dimensions but it seems too tiny for any serious business.
    The 1/2 bath was a must for us. It does take up some space in the garage - so if you have a SxS, you probably won't get it in with the optional bathroom. I have motorcycles & bicycles, so I'm pretty sure this garage will be perfect.
    I'm not sure how big your "serious business" is but the appliances in there seem workable for what they're designed for.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    Would love any other input you care to share.
    We probably researched for 2 months straight before buying our 349M - watching youtubes, reading websites, visiting dealers, etc. We considered the 351M, 320G, and 350G after narrowing it down to wanting to keep to 2 axles.

    Another major consideration is what I called "WalMart mode" which is the ability to get in and use the bedroom & bathroom with all of the slides in.

    I have 3 well defined use cases for our RV (races, work, camping) and most of the time it's going to be just my wife and I. The 350G was very tempting for me because of the huge garage, but my wife wasn't crazy about the peninsula in the kitchen and the living area was pretty small for such a large RV.

    I really wanted the 60 gallon fuel capacity along with the 157 gal water tanks, too. Those'll help quite a bit for boondocking (which is my work use case).

    So the 349M became our 1st choice. It was a little hard to find one with the 1/2 bath, but fortunately we did at a dealership in Denver. Honestly, I'm really jazzed to start using it, but it's wintertime here in Colorado and racing & work season won't start until March.

    Please let me/us know what you end up with!
    Last edited by jjbbrewer; 01-05-2021 at 11:02 PM.
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by jjbbrewer View Post
    How tall are you?
    I'm 5'7" and I can lay on it with room to spare. If you're 6'2" or taller, you probably should try it out, but I think the 349M and 351M have the same size sofas. I have no idea how laying head-to-toe would work, though.
    6'4". So I guess it might not be great for laying across on. But that's OK, I'll have the same problem with most of these trailers.

    Quote Originally Posted by jjbbrewer View Post
    The 1/2 bath was a must for us. It does take up some space in the garage - so if you have a SxS, you probably won't get it in with the optional bathroom. I have motorcycles & bicycles, so I'm pretty sure this garage will be perfect.
    I'm not sure how big your "serious business" is but the appliances in there seem workable for what they're designed for.
    "Serious business" just means me sitting down in there Given I'm 6'4" and no longer skinny, I'm not sure I'll fit.

    A 50" SxS is on my eventual toy list and I was wondering if I could squeeze the SxS between the bathroom and garage side door. I realize the weight will be off-center but I was thinking that the trailer seems heavy on the left side as it is (fridge, slides, tanks, plumbing, 1/2 bath), so maybe it sorta balances ? Plus I could provide some of my own ballast on the left side (computer desk, ebikes, toolbox, etc.) to further balance. I spent a lot of time googling for this but couldn't find anyone else that's tried this setup.

    Quote Originally Posted by jjbbrewer View Post
    We probably researched for 2 months straight before buying our 349M - watching youtubes, reading websites, visiting dealers, etc. We considered the 351M, 320G, and 350G after narrowing it down to wanting to keep to 2 axles.
    We're into our second month of serous research I really wish we could find a 349M locally to check out. I've called all the places within a few hundred miles and nobody has any on the lot - sounds like at least February until they do.

    How do you like your F-450 with the 349M? I was really resistant to DRW and was strongly leaning toward a 2020 F-350 SRW with the upgraded 4,500 CCC. My math showed that I'd be right at capacity with that truck+mostly loaded trailer. But after a ton of research and then test driving a F-450 this weekend I'm starting to lean toward the F-450. It's obnoxiously big, but I think I can make it work (biggest concern is tooling around unhitched at our destination, driving in tourist towns, light offroading on fire roads, that sort of thing).

    Did you get the upgraded 8K axels? And if so, did that bump your GVWR on the trailer? That's one of the things I'm stressing over now - our crap + SxS + batteries + full water/fuel put us over GVWR by probably 1K lbs. I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to travel near-empty with water and do a fill up near our destination (assuming dry camp) and just risk with being over for few dozen miles.

    Oh, and really nice collection of bikes! I used to have a project SV-650 that I built into a race bike. I used to do track days with several clubs but stopped just short of doing club racing.

  4. #4
    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    6'4". So I guess it might not be great for laying across on. But that's OK, I'll have the same problem with most of these trailers.
    I'll bet. It's probably no fun flying on airplanes either, I'd guess.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    "Serious business" just means me sitting down in there Given I'm 6'4" and no longer skinny, I'm not sure I'll fit.
    True. Our 1/2 bath is certainly pretty small. I think the 351M 1/2 bath isn't much bigger so I'm guessing you'd probably need to check them both out.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    A 50" SxS is on my eventual toy list and I was wondering if I could squeeze the SxS between the bathroom and garage side door.
    I need to measure the garage in my 349M to figure out bike mounting hardware so, if you want, I'll measure the entire floor with the bathroom area and let you know.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    I realize the weight will be off-center but I was thinking that the trailer seems heavy on the left side as it is (fridge, slides, tanks, plumbing, 1/2 bath), so maybe it sorta balances ? Plus I could provide some of my own ballast on the left side (computer desk, ebikes, toolbox, etc.) to further balance. I spent a lot of time googling for this but couldn't find anyone else that's tried this setup.
    With a SxS, I would think the weight wouldn't be that far off that you would notice. Based on my previous experience (aka problems) I'd be more concerned about getting the weight far enough forward for stability.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    How do you like your F-450 with the 349M? ... It's obnoxiously big, but I think I can make it work (biggest concern is tooling around unhitched at our destination, driving in tourist towns, light offroading on fire roads, that sort of thing).
    So, I really like my F-450. I also have a 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 short bed/crew cab SRW that I pulled my somewhat smaller previous toy hauler with. The Dodge is certainly better for the uses you mention, but I haven't really found the F-450 all that unwieldy around town or even doing dirt roads while empty. But the F-450 pulls the 349M like a dream. Super, super stable compared to any SRW I've used.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    Did you get the upgraded 8K axels?
    No, it has the 7K axles. We bought it straight off the lot, so I got it as it sat. If I was ordering one, I'd get the 8K ones and the disc brakes.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    That's one of the things I'm stressing over now - our crap + SxS + batteries + full water/fuel put us over GVWR by probably 1K lbs. I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to travel near-empty with water and do a fill up near our destination (assuming dry camp) and just risk with being over for few dozen miles.
    I've done almost exactly what you're describing with my previous toy hauler .. travel empty, then fill up before heading out to the boonies. I haven't had any problems going a few (double digit) miles to get to camp. Nobody will ever suggest travelling over GVW, though.
    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    Oh, and really nice collection of bikes! I used to have a project SV-650 that I built into a race bike. I used to do track days with several clubs but stopped just short of doing club racing.
    Thanks! I'm still pretty actively racing - at least as active as one can be during a pandemic. I'll get some garage measurements which might help ..
    Last edited by jjbbrewer; 01-06-2021 at 11:45 AM.
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by jjbbrewer View Post
    I'll get some garage measurements which might help ..
    Thanks dude, that would be MOST helpful! I'm mainly interested in the width between the exterior bathroom wall (where the bath door is) to the exterior wall that has the garage door. But I'll take any other measurements you have time for too, like inside 1/2 bathroom width/length. I'm sure I'm not the only one that will be grateful for any measurements you feel like making because I've not found any for the 349M, and I've looked hard.

    And thanks also for all the other tidbits you provided, really, they're all super helpful.

    Cheers!

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    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    Thanks dude, that would be MOST helpful!
    Here's what I measured - sorry for my crappy drawing, but the photos should help.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Text wise, here are the measurements
    • Front wall to ramp door 13' 1"
    • Dovetail edge to ramp door 2' 6"
    • Front wall to patio door 12' 4"
    • Side wall to side wall 8' 0.5"
    • Bathroom door to side wall 6' 1"
    • Bathroom outside width 2', depth 3' 9.5"
    • Bathroom Inside width 21" depth 3' 6"
    • Happijack rail width (from wall) 1 1/2"
    • Window valence (from wall) 2 1/2"
    • Happijack bracket bottom to floor (vertical) 6'8"
    • Ramp door to 1st tie down row 14"
    • Ramp door to 2nd tie down row 33"
    • Ramp door to 3rd tie down row 8' 11"
    • Ramp door to 3rd tie down near bathroom 8' 6"
    • Ramp door to front tie downs 12' 7"

    The good news is that I think a SxS would fit between the bathroom and the sidewall!!
    The biggest Polaris Ranger is 62.5" overall width.
    I surely would want to try it out first, though.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by jjbbrewer; 01-08-2021 at 01:37 PM.
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  7. #7
    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    I didn't quite know what to measure for "serious business", so I just measured what might be knee clearance. Hopefully this helps some ...

    Last edited by jjbbrewer; 01-07-2021 at 05:18 PM.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by jjbbrewer View Post
    Hopefully this helps some ...

    Holy cow, talk about going above and beyond! Thank you SO much for this, it's exactly what I needed! The floorplan drawing is perfect - I'm sure others will find it super helpful too.

    The side by side will definitely fit as I'm only looking at the 50" "trail" models (50" will fit in the back of the pickup to go from campground to trailhead). Your measurements show that I'll have plenty of room to spare, and I won't need to be as off-center as I thought I might be.

    Hope I meet you on the road so I can buy you some beers!

    Thanks again, this is really great.
    Last edited by petesv650; 01-09-2021 at 07:10 AM.

  9. #9
    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by petesv650 View Post
    Thanks again, this is really great.
    No problem & I'll hold you to those beers! Click image for larger version. 

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    I needed to do those measurements for myself as well as I needed to figure out how I'm going to load all the bikes in there for various activities. The big plus is figuring out that a 50" SxS would definitely fit in there .. I was afraid it wouldn't because of the bathroom.

    Maybe Grand Design thought of that when they designed the optional bathroom?
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