My first experience with a fifth wheel

[NAKemp]

we used to live down the street from shady days and yes they have a nice facility but just the bs they wanted you to go through just to get a price was enough to turn me off from ever going there. i buddy of mine went to ocala to buy his imagine and he lives down the road a few miles from shady days. maybe ten, max.

[RichInFla]

This has always been like this
I had a large packet with my last Jayco as well
Unsure how this is a red flag

Quite frankly the only issue I see is the tire damage which could be entirely your fault. Not saying it is but it could be
I have many thousands of KMs on mine and they are perfect as the very large majority do as well

Are you not all up and running now and good to go?


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

The tire damage is what caused the major damage of the GD RV. The Westlake tires are junk and who put them on the RV in the first place? My fault? Are the poor roads in the States I drove on my fault? The tires on my tow vehicle suffered no damage. I replaced the junk tires with 14 ply steel belted trailer tires and the RV was good to go and I continued my trip back home over the same bad roads with no problems. The fact that GD included a bundle of warranty forms is a RED FLAG because it implies that any warranty claims I might have with the GD will be moot.

[RichInFla]

Sorry to hear about your problems, I have a 2018 230RL I had westlake tires for 3 years, only on flat that the TOMS caught (TST model) almost 20000miles, I replaced them with Goodyear Endurance. the other issue was the gas side on the water heat went bad, took 2 weeks to get replaced under warranty. No battery drain issue fortunately. The only other issue was a broken shelf inside the right pedestal by the theater seats, had to completely rebuild the frame work, did that repair myself.

You hit the nail on the head. You have done repairs. I repaired the damage to my GD Reflection 150 Series 230RL. Before anyone considers a purchase of an RV, it would be wise to inform that person that he/she should be able to make repairs on it. I know someone who took his RV to Lazydays for repair and LazyDays repaired it with non-OEM parts. I also know someone who took his RV to Lazydays for repair and after several months, it was still there. You were lucky to get the Westlake tires to last three years with 20,000 miles. Mine blew out after 10 days with 1,400 miles.

A Chinese Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company manufactures WestLake tires. They produce one of the cheapest tires that only perform well at the normal speed of 50 mph on a dry road.
The cheap WestLake tires get easily damaged by road bumps and potholes. They lose the traction between the tire and road if you go above 60 mph. The lifespan is also short, which is around 10,000 miles. I thought I read someplace that I could go up to 70 MPH on my GD which is bad advice on Westlake tires. Why in hell would anyone put Westlake tires on anything?

The tires that I replaced the Westlake tires with are good up to 90 miles per hour.

[MachWun]

You can take your RV to ANY repair shop for warranty work. The difference is, non-GD dealer shops have to call GD with their estimate for approval. When approved, you pay the shop instead of GD. GD then sends you a check.

Bit more logistics but local non-GD shop gets me in within a week, looks at it that day or next. I have my reimbursement about equal to or much quicker than getting it into dealer.

[RichInFla]

If you think Lazydays are bad...don't go to General!

I am not going to any RV dealership for repair work unless I am unable to fix something I need, then I will leave it there for them to sell on consignment. The RV is worse than owning a boat and I have owned three power boats and a sailboat.

[MachWun]

I am not going to any RV dealership for repair work unless I am unable to fix something I need, then I will leave it there for them to sell on consignment. The RV is worse than owning a boat and I have owned three power boats and a sailboat.

Has appliances, more electronics, ... stuff in an RV than a boat. And the RV is a rolling Earthquake. That wouldn't be fun in a boat and wouldn't likely hold up to it over time either.

[GaryS1964]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have never taken my trailer to the dealer. I was going to use the dealer to replace the propane regulator that was recalled because they said if I emailed them a picture of my regulator they would order the part and when it came in they would make an appointment and replace it while I waited. Sounded simple. After sending the email in which I requested a reply telling me they had received it and what steps to follow I waited and to date (three weeks) have not received a reply. I contacted my local RV repair service and they scheduled an appointment for Sept 27th and they will replace it while I wait. Since my next trip won't be until October I don't mind the wait. I know they are very busy and they did offer to sell me the regulator as they have them in stock but I decided to wait. I like giving them the business. They have done warranty work for me in the past. I don't like to say never but it is unlikely I will ever use the dealer for warranty work or any repairs. They have a 3 star Yelp rating and most of the complaints are about the service department.

I recommend finding a good independent RV repair service center.

[GaryS1964]

You can take your RV to ANY repair shop for warranty work. The difference is, non-GD dealer shops have to call GD with their estimate for approval. When approved, you pay the shop instead of GD. GD then sends you a check.

When I had warranty work done by my local independent RV repair service facility they worked with GD and were paid directly by GD. No money out of my pocket. I guess it depends on how willing the independent RV repair service is to work with GD.

[RichInFla]

Has appliances, more electronics, ... stuff in an RV than a boat. And the RV is a rolling Earthquake. That wouldn't be fun in a boat and wouldn't likely hold up to it over time either.

Do not know if I understand what you say completely. Boats can have all of the stuff that comes with an RV except for the hardware which allows it to roll down the road. In addition, boats can have search radar, Loran, depth finders, long range radio, auto pilot, ADF, and so forth. In all the years, I have had one problem with a power boat. It was minor and did not ruin my day. The problem with the GD forced me to stay over night in a campground which was full. The manager allowed us to dry camp in front of the office provided we would be on our way before she arrived for work in the morning.

[wannabervin]

Yep. And I knew about the Westlakes but I talked myself out of replacing them because they were new with no miles on them, and I believed the propaganda of GD being the best of the rest. I also replaced the battery because the power disconnect switch of the GD did not disconnect everything from the battery (solved). The internal resistance of the battery had increased to unacceptable limits and was discarded. I replaced it with a LiFePO4 battery which has internal circuits to protect it from the tow vehicle's charging profile which is not in compliance with a Lithium battery charging profile. After our one and only trip, we decided to dump the RV. Now, it has been several months since that first trip (a cooling off period) and we decided to make another attempt. Still, I think the GD days are over. Yes, I am good to go.

After 3 years towing, one the Westlakes that came on our Solitude, blew at highway speed. Good Sam roadside assistance took care of mounting the spare, and a warranty that I purchased at delivery paid for the tire replacement. Insurance covered the cost of body damage, after $500 deductible. I decided to replace the remaining 3 Westlakes for peace of mind. Never once did I think of taking any of this back to Grand Design.


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