Solitude vs. S Solitude

[roegs01]

@roegs01: Thank you for that first hand knowledge. A couple follow-up questions. Have the electric jacks been problematic just as far as being in good working order? I ask because from what I have read, electric jacks not working is one thing that people cite they do not like about them (compared to reliability of hydraulic jacks). I am referring to people saying they break down more than hydraulic levels.

And I do not know if you frequent State and/or National Parks, but from what I have read 35' is the crucial cutoff (even shorter is better, but 34-35' is the shortest we want to go with current floorplan availability). If you do frequent these areas, has the extra 6" on your 2930RL been a deal breaker on getting into places that if you would have had the 310GK at 34'11", you would have been fine?

We're in Florida for just under 2 months right now and enjoying our 2930RL as we speak!

Electric Jacks....while I've also seen posts about electric jack issues, I've seen many more about hydraulic jack problems. We were at the National Rally this year and I attended a Lippert Session discussing jacks etc. I was amazed at all the attendee questions about hydraulic issues. I spoke with one of the techs after the session and he said that's always the way his courses go. Hydraulic has the advantage of speed, and electric the advantage of simplicity and overall lower cost.

Most electric jack problems will be with the motor. When that does happen you can still use a socket wrench to extend and retract the jack. I'm not trying to start anything with hydraulic owners - given the choice, I just prefer the simplicity of electric.

State and National Parks - sorry, I can't really comment. I prefer larger private campgrounds. Paved interior roads, full hookups, and cement pads are where I'm at in this stage of life!

[Steven@147]

I have seen far more posts about hydraulic leveling system leaks caused by cylinder hose connections, reservoir and pump problems, pump electric relay
changed from 50 amp to 80 amp, and cylinder blown seals than I have problems with electric leveling systems like Ground Control 3.0.

Now if the electric leveling system was installed correctly to begin with and the level monitors in the rear frame and front frame are still secured and have not moved, the electric leveling systems just works. Ours has worked fine and not had any problems over the three years we have used it. Yes it is a little slower than the hydraulic system by a few seconds but who's in a race to level? Also our electric slide control and our electric leveling system are not tied to a common system like it is on a hydraulic system, they are totally separate systems. But yes our electric leveling and electric slide system are both tied to our 12VDC system.

The only multiple problems I have heard about with the electric leveling system like Ground Control 3.0 is the front landing gear jacks can strip out the worm gears internal to the jack shaft after several years of use. They are easily changed and are available through places like e-trailer. Also I have read a few posts that some owners have had to recalibrate the controller system to level. We have never had to do that in three years of use.

Length of RV and National, State and COE Parks. It seems the sweet spot is around 32-35 feet. Our RV is right at 37 feet, 54 feet overall, and 13.5 feet high, we don't usually camp at State, COE or National Parks. If we do, we are very choosey about the ones we visit. They tend to be older parks first created when RVs were much smaller. Funding for these parks has been problematic over the years because they keep getting their budgets slashed or diverted, let alone funds to upgrade the parks for the bigger modern rigs.
A lot of them have terrible electric post connections, abused/broken old, common to 3 or 4 sites and everybody hording electric connections. Also water can be a problem with very few connections and everybody hording the same water connections. And a lot of them tend to have very narrow and sharp turn roads, over crowded and they do not keep the trees trimmed overhead or by site entrances. Think Disney's Fort Wilderness, terrible park to get into and out of. State, National, COE parks tend to not have any or few sites with sewer connections, or they tend to have one or two dumping stations when leaving the park. Ever seen the long lines waiting to dump tanks when leaving these parks after a weekend? We leave these parks during the week to miss the crowd and use the common bathroom facilities as much as possible.
However State, National and COE parks are much more economical then private parks.

[roegs01]

Speaking of jack issues, check out the Mobile Suites across from me. Zoom in on the front jacks.

Thinking there could be a Darwin Award in this guy's future....

[Ynot4me2]

Speaking of jack issues, check out the Mobile Suites across from me. Zoom in on the front jacks.

Thinking there could be a Darwin Award in this guy's future....

Outch, at least he has his tripod setup. [emoji18]

[Hoopy Frood]

Yeah, I don't think that little tripod is going to do much to support that if that jack slips any further.

[Longshhm]

We have a 2930 and absolutely love it. Its my first Grand Design product (and first 5th wheel) but I'd have no second thoughts getting another S-Class. We've traveled quite a bit with ours and met a number of 2930RL owners. Each have liked theirs as much as us. Great floorplan with a huge bathroom. Couple thoughts...

1. We initially were hoping for a 310, but I was not comfortable with pin weights that owners were reporting. Its a personal preference but I was not willing to exceed my (new at the time) trucks weight capacities. The 2930RL weights fit the bill perfectly for our truck (see sig).

2. S-Class products at the time did not come with a Morryde pin box. We did add one to ours to help with some chucking. Easy addition to do.

3. Electric Jacks - I actually prefer them. Easy to work on and no leaks. I use mine for wheel bearing maintenance etc. and prefer that they mechanically lock in place vs. using hydraulic pressure. While I still use jack stands in addition to the leveling jacks, I'm a fan of simplicity and ease of maintenance with electric systems.

4. As others mentioned, The standard Solitudes have a different gel coat that has more of a shine to it. I'd love to have that but am more than happy with what we have.

Ditto all those things for us, especially the bathroom; that’s what caught my wife’s attention. We moved up from the Reflection 295RL for the extra space and clothes storage. We also wanted a floor without the curb on the kitchen slide and no carpet. I liked the appliance package in the 310GK, but the size and weight didn’t work for us because we couldn’t go to a larger tow vehicle right away. We full-time, and we love our 2930RL-R.

[Jay_Bird]

We have a 2020 2930rl R. Other than cost we liked the floor plan. We live in ours about 50 % of the time. Liked the coat closet and shoe storage area. Liked the bedroom layout with queen bed and closet in slide-out as well as the front window. We bought off lot. Would have liked to have had hyd. disc brakes and higher r windows.

[Grandstander]

Ditto all those things for us, especially the bathroom; that’s what caught my wife’s attention. We moved up from the Reflection 295RL for the extra space and clothes storage. We also wanted a floor without the curb on the kitchen slide and no carpet. I liked the appliance package in the 310GK, but the size and weight didn’t work for us because we couldn’t go to a larger tow vehicle right away. We full-time, and we love our 2930RL-R.

I was checking out this floor plan in the 2930RL, and noticed the W/D prep is in the kitchen. Where are these hook ups and how would you fit a W/D in that space?

[roegs01]

I was checking out this floor plan in the 2930RL, and noticed the W/D prep is in the kitchen. Where are these hook ups and how would you fit a W/D in that space?

Hookups for a washer and dryer are in the lower cabinet (some may call it the coffee nook) right as you walk in the front door. A combination washer / dryer would fit in that area. If you have separate washer / dryer the dryer would go in the bottom of the pantry. The dryer vent cutout is in that area. While some might thing this is an odd location, I liked it for two reasons. First the weight of these appliances is put (primarily) on the trailer axles vs pin. Second, the laundry is now in a location that's more convenient for us since most of our time is spent in this part of the trailer.

Some reading my posts may think I come across as a 2930 fanboy. I realize that there are advantages to many of the Grand Design RV's. What I like about this particular trailer is that it allows those of us with standard box SRW trucks to take advantage of the Solitude line and still stay within truck GVWR ratings.

[Grandstander]

Hookups for a washer and dryer are in the lower cabinet (some may call it the coffee nook) right as you walk in the front door. A combination washer / dryer would fit in that area. If you have separate washer / dryer the dryer would go in the bottom of the pantry. The dryer vent cutout is in that area. While some might thing this is an odd location, I liked it for two reasons. First the weight of these appliances is put (primarily) on the trailer axles vs pin. Second, the laundry is now in a location that's more convenient for us since most of our time is spent in this part of the trailer.

Some reading my posts may think I come across as a 2930 fanboy. I realize that there are advantages to many of the Grand Design RV's. What I like about this particular trailer is that it allows those of us with standard box SRW trucks to take advantage of the Solitude line and still stay within truck GVWR ratings.

Thank you for explaining. I am surprised you not exceeding your payload with a SRW, but encouraged hearing it works for you.