Considering a Momentum 385TH - Questions

RamGunner

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
1,136
Location
Sandy, Utah
We have been looking at toy haulers and have narrowed the choices down to the 385TH and a unit from Tesla. The floor plan is - overall - the best we have seen, and we really like the pantry, storage, free-standing table, and lighting in the 385TH. There seem to be quite a few little things they put in that put it a step above - things like not constraining the bedroom TV by putting it in a cabinet, the pass-through storage cabinet between the living area and the garage, and the reasonable storage at the front in the closet. As we might someday full-time, the W/D prep isn't quite as nice as the Tesla but at least it's there. The garage could use just a few more inches (out to 12'6" would be great) as we may go to a 4 seat side-by-side this year. That's my main concern.

I have a few questions that we submitted to the factory about getting some additional 12V outlets, an additional 110V outlet, a remote-operated fan in the bathroom (same as in the galley and the garage), 3 HDMI cables installed during construction, and some two-way radio antenna cables run during construction.

One thing I don't really like is how the main TV is constrained by that pole, and that you can't get a little better angle between that and the main seating. I wanted to see what others have done - if anything - about that.

Are the installed LED pucks in the daylight color temp range? If not, do you know if they offer that as an option?

I'd also like to hear about issues that folks may have had with these, things to look out for PDI. I've read a few older threads, but I wanted to see if there are any updates?

Thanks for anything you can tell me.
 
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Tesla to me looks like a cheaper quality then the Grand Design. I too looked at the Tesla, but came back to the Grand Design. My Puck lights are on the 350M, but I can tell you they are a cool white and not a warm white. I don't see why your dealer couldn't hook up power to the unit so you can get a good feel of the lights and functions before you buy, my dealer did.

As far as the TV, I never did like that angle of the TV.

I think all and all you will be completely satisfied with the purchase of this unit. NO manufacture is without issues (We do pull these things down the roughest roads and expect them to hold up). But JD and Janice are great to work with, they will answer the questions to the best of the knowledge and the owners take the time out to listen to you if you wanted to speak to them.
 
There are things I'm not wild about in the Tesla - particularly some of the lighting features. It's more of a "party" environment (complete with flashing, multicolored lights in the garage). However, the one we are looking at in comparison is designed for full-size washer/dryer setups which was surprising. We would not mind having to use a combination unit as required in the Momentum - but would want to put a vent in (another thing I asked the factory about). The TV setup in the Tesla main area was much nicer, although they put the bedroom unit in a cabinet which limits the size upon replacement.

I'm glad to hear the lights aren't the warm white. I prefer to get as close as possible to white/daylight. I'm told there will be another RV show in the area next month, so we will be checking that out.

I noted that the 385TH they just got on the lot at our local dealer (General RV in Draper, UT) still has two axles. Did I hear they are now coming with three?
 
When we are out and about with our 385, we are outside all day playing with what we brought with us or outside activities. Not much time spent in TH. Family watches movies at nite with no issues. We use it as a TH and do not live in it full time, so I could see concern on TV setup. I think you could mod TV mounting to fix some of that to a degree, but never put any thought into it since the TV situation is not a big thing to us. On our PDI we checked everything, down to tire pressure and remotes and where the go. Only thing we had was a blown fuse on leveling system. Changed fuse worked flawlessly ever since. Everything else worked, doors square, all chaulking at required places. And since then no issues with anything having to take it in for repair. But Murphy's law seems to find me sooner or later. If I have issues down the road I have no issues with that, cause things break even in a well built RV and IMO, this is a well built RV.
 
Yes they have started putting 3 axles under the 385th if I am not mistaken, check out GD web site.
 
Thank you all for the info. If anyone else has anything they'd like to add, I'd love to hear it.
 
I was told that the three axles were added because two 8,000# axel gives you a total of 16,000# where the big units are GVWR right at 20,000# so putting three 7,000# axels gives you 21,000# load.

This is how someone explained it to me. But if this was true, then why didn't the lighter M-series come with the two 8,000# axel and only two 7,000# axel as our GVWR is 16,500#.

I understand some of the weight is on the hitch as well. Anyways, my $0.02
 
In Utah, you don't need any additional or special endorsements to tow a recreational trailer w/o regard to size, axles, etc. I know that in some states, going to a three-axle (overall length/weight aside) bumps you up to requiring additional endorsements. That may be problematic for some.
 
I read on here somewhere where they changed them to 3 axles due to fact that they were thinking they were losing sales with 2 axles. Buyers could not wrap their mind around the fact that a big 5er like that only has two axles, and all the other manufactures with this large of 5er had 3 axles. Personnal preference, granted 3 axles at 21000# is more than 2 at 16000#. But I like a 2 axle tow better than 3.
 
When we picked ours up we noticed the pocket door for the bathroom was warped, and one of the outside storage doors was warped. Also check the locks on all doors on the outside to make sure they actually secure the door...we had one that turned like it was locked but was not locking the door. We are also the ones that had one axle come loose (still waiting to be repaired), and we got one of the remaining 2 axle units - so maybe have them double check the U-bolts (they are supposed to be properly torqued at the axle manufacturing plant as they come as an assembly to GD). We also had an issue on the microwave display and they ended up replacing the entire microwave.
 
Thank you for that information. That gives us a few more things to pay special attention to if we do go with the 385TH. I sent an e-mail to the factory with some questions, and we haven't heard back yet. I need to get those answers to make a final decision.
 

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