Full Timer's Roll Call

[Ed and Cathy K]

Welcome to the GD family. Sorry to hear of your problem. The units are built and inspected by humans and sometimes, thing happen. The good news is you purchased a Grand Design. Grand Design will do everything within reason to correct your problems (Some people god can't even make happy). The axle upgrade is something I haven't heard the factory doing, may be an dealer upgrade. By if you call the service center at 574-825-9679. Have your serial number, date of purchase and dealer info ready. Let them know you are fulltime and traveling in the area of the factory, there is a good chance they will work you in. The service department has camp sites with water and power 50 and 30 amp. Also a dump station, if you ask, and they will even dump for you when they take the rig in the service bays. Little hint....be nice and friendly, the customer service person may have just gotten finished with the world's biggest idiot. I've even opened the conversation with "How's our Grand Design family doing at the factory today?" We've had service work done at GD's service center and have been very pleased. Remember GD's has and will approve other dealers and mobile service techs to work on rigs when not near your dealer. Plan on traveling to a rally and meet some of the Grand Design family, we're all adopted so you won't be out of place.

Hello! Ron and Lynn from New Hampshire here. We just went full time on November 1, 2018. Sold the house we built in 1978, and the family business we started in 1994, and headed south from in our little 2012 Open Range 345RL. We had Honed our search down to the 2019 Grand Design Solitude 375 after having researched dozens of manufacturers and RVs, and found the exact one we would have ordered; full body paint, upgraded axles, insulated windows, etc., on a lot in Alabama. Ordered for someone else who backed out of the deal. We anticipated the typical new rig bugs, but even our local Grand Design dealer (same large company, but dealer in different State) was astounded at the laundry list of problems we were having. Not the least of which was the fact that it did NOT have the upgraded axles that the salesperson and her manager assured us it did. We also don’t think it went through their much-touted quality control process, as there were literally dozens of fit and finish issues, some not so minor, that should have been caught in any QC program, as well as things that just plain don’t work. We are near the factory for a week or two and are hoping to take the tour and see if we can get a little help to remedy some of our issues.

Sorry about the rant, probably not the right thread for it! We do love the layout of the Solitude 375, and full timing! Will be super happy if we can get some help from Grand Design to fix our issues!

 

[LMHansen56]

Thank you for your response and helpful thoughts. We did a lot of research before purchasing GD. One of the major reasons we went with GD, aside from its quality reputation, is its amazing post-sale service reputation. We are looking forward to seeing it in action. I think our high expectation for out of the factory quality suffered when we found holes in several shades, a hole in a screen, a sizable leak under the shower door, a nail poking out of the side of our island, a cracked kitchen table, lights that don’t work, latches that don’t work, an awning installed crooked, TV cabling that doesn’t work — sadly I can go on. I really truly think it didn’t go through the QC process. How did they not catch some of these things? But again, I am anxious to see how they take care of us when we go for service. We are looking forward to a factory tour and being able to meet some of the staff there. I do very much appreciate your thoughts! I will post how I make out!

 

[jim1521]

It’s here. This Saturday (Memorial Day Weekend - UGH!) we begin our full-time lifestyle. Closing date on the sale of our home is 6/6, so we’re headed up to GA until November, then back to FL to Port St. Joe for the winter. Just doing the last minute tasks around the house (packing, etc.) and as The Great One used to say “...and away we go!”

 

[orbiker]

It’s here. This Saturday (Memorial Day Weekend - UGH!) we begin our full-time lifestyle. Closing date on the sale of our home is 6/6, so we’re headed up to GA until November, then back to FL to Port St. Joe for the winter. Just doing the last minute tasks around the house (packing, etc.) and as The Great One used to say “...and away we go!”

Congratulations.

We have a few more years. Maybe a year and a half. My wife likes her job and wants that extra money at 66 and 2 months.

How many garage sales did it take to get rid of all the "stuff"? KEN

 

[jim1521]

Congratulations.

We have a few more years. Maybe a year and a half. My wife likes her job and wants that extra money at 66 and 2 months.

How many garage sales did it take to get rid of all the "stuff"? KEN

We are putting everything with a consignment shop to sell, so that takes that off of our hands. There are a few pieces that the buyer has purchased, and there are some personal items (artwork, family heirlooms, etc) that are in storage. I’m still working but will be retiring in about 2 years (66 years and 2 months for me too).

 

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Wife and I went full time almost exactly 12 months ago.

The only problem we’ve had with our Reflection was the water heater popped the cap on the circuit board and we had to replace it.

Incidentally this happened the day we were having our solar installed so I had them go ahead and wire the electric water heater through the inverter in case it happened again while we were dry camping in the boonies.

Reason being, when that board fails, the igniter for the LP water heater doesn’t work anymore but the electric water heater does. Problem is it runs on AC not DC. So now if we’re dry camping and run out of LP or the board blows again we’ll still be able to take a hot shower.

Funny thing is, we ordered our Reflection new from the factory because we wanted the theater seating and double-paned windows so we paid $30k for the trailer then spent another $15k on mods and upgrades!!!

The only thing I would change with the design (too late, GD quit making the 220RK) is shift the bulkhead that divides the head from the living area 2 feet forward. The trailer would still only be 28’ long, not much heavier and you could have full access to the head and cabin with the slide in. That, and make the fresh tank larger since we dry camp a lot.

: )


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stormin' Norm]

Just celebrated our 1-year anniversary of full time life. Our 303RLS has been just big enough for wife and I and our 10-year old, 80 pound furry Labrador-Doberman friend Bandit. In preparation, did a lot of homework, worried about a 101 details and "what ifs?", and took 2 years to empty house. Have a very small storage locker back in Pennsylvania, that I will be wondering why I kept by the end of year 2, I'm sure. Almost all the old worries were unfounded, happily. About to attend our third GD owner's rally and get a suspension upgrade to go with the disc brake upgrade. Truck has been great (except for the "Death Wobble" experience, yikes!), love the Andersen hitch (have known no other), and no major repairs needed on trailer. Life is good so far, no regrets.

 

[fearless]

We have been living full-time in our Reflection 367 for 6 months now. We have moved it 3 times. The first time I studied you tube videos to see how to "pack" to move. It was a relief to learn that all we really needed to do was pick up things that would slide around during movement. Most cabinets are designed to keep items on the shelves during movement. The other thing that was pretty nice to realize was that once we got to the new site, everything was the same! same bed, same kitchen, same 'stuff' just a different location! Since we had no where else to live, this just came easy. We stored most of our belongings at a storage unit. If we had to do it over again, we would have packed an "RV" set of things.... For instance, I packed all my dishes, all my kitchen utensils, all my sheets, towels, bathroom items. Then had to find them in the storage unit and sort through to find just the minimal things we needed for our rv! Totally backwards.

Definitely good advice to set aside an "RV set" of everything you need and leave it in the RV. I am an environmental protector, I am passionate about saving our environment from single-use plastic, etc. Using paper plates was really against my beliefs, but I have caved to the fact that it's just easier to use paper plates. I haven't gotten to plasticware yet, still using 'real' forks, spoons, etc. We have since bought a set of Melamine dishes, but still use the paper ones most of the time. (After all paper does decompose so not too much footprint) Definitely purchasing an electric skillet and also an electric smokeless grill (from Cosco, works awesome) is the way to go. We have an outside grill too, but sometimes weather doesn't permit being outside!! I find washing the dishes to be the hardest thing to deal with. It's just a given, if you care about what you eat, you have to cook yourself, then you spend a lot of time washing. There are tradeoffs...

Lots of blah blah here, hope this helps others!

 

[fearless]

how did you get all that text at the bottom of your thread? I tried to edit my signature, but it restricts me to 4 lines?

 

[Hobo Bill]

Retired three weeks ago and have been full timing since. Sold everything (downsizing was the most difficult part). My wife and I have been planning this for many years. Feels great. Currently in Florida for a few months in our Reflection 337RLS. We have, fortunately, had zero problems with our unit - so we have been lucky. The Ram 3500 6.7 Cummins turbo-diesel dually sure pulls nice, and I love the exhaust brake.

 

[4JS Coast to Coast]

We just had our "big" yard sale everything is almost gone! The date on the calendar is September 13th we are heading back to Washington (State), this time as full timers. Fear, excitement, and nervous anticipation are the dominate emotions. The planned trip is going to be 19 days. Our first trip from Washington to Florida was in a 39ft DP, this time we're towing the Reflection I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[arhayes]

We just had our "big" yard sale everything is almost gone! The date on the calendar is September 13th we are heading back to Washington (State), this time as full timers. Fear, excitement, and nervous anticipation are the dominate emotions. The planned trip is going to be 19 days. Our first trip from Washington to Florida was in a 39ft DP, this time we're towing the Reflection I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Congrats on entering the Full Timer ranks. We’ve been at it 6 years next month and enjoyed each day. Assume you’re retired, so take your time to see the sights along the way. Most of all, HAVE FUN!

 

[4JS Coast to Coast]

Congrats on entering the Full Timer ranks. We’ve been at it 6 years next month and enjoyed each day. Assume you’re retired, so take your time to see the sights along the way. Most of all, HAVE FUN!

Thank You! No not retired yet, but telecommuting and flying occasionally. We will take 19 days to get there so we have some stops planned.

 

[Hobo Bill]

We just had our "big" yard sale everything is almost gone! The date on the calendar is September 13th we are heading back to Washington (State), this time as full timers. Fear, excitement, and nervous anticipation are the dominate emotions. The planned trip is going to be 19 days. Our first trip from Washington to Florida was in a 39ft DP, this time we're towing the Reflection I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Congrats !!! Are you going to take a different route this time so you can color is some additional states on your map ? From FLorida to Washington in May we took the midwest route up through Missouri and Iowa and Wyoming and Montana. It was a great trip. Have been full timing only since December, but having fun. You will too.

 

[Sparkydh]

Sold our house and bought a 379fl. Been in it full time since December of 2014. The bad part is this camper hasn’t moved since it was delivered to us in November of 2014. I do know the tires will have to be replaced.

 

[SNs2011]

Retired from the service and wife went from Reservist back to Active Duty. Sold our house and down sized to a 10x20 storage unit. Full timing while stationed in Maryland. Started out with our 2016 Imagine Bunk House and upgraded to a 2021 Solitude 3740-BH.

 

[Steven@147]

Retired from the service and wife went from Reservist back to Active Duty. Sold our house and down sized to a 10x20 storage unit. Full timing while stationed in Maryland. Started out with our 2016 Imagine Bunk House and upgraded to a 2021 Solitude 3740-BH.

Welcome to the fulltime ranks. Wife and I are both retired and we went fulltime July this year and loving every minute. The 3740 is a great floorplan.

 

[SNs2011]

We really like the 3740 and enjoying the the extra space to move around. We are doing some remodeling though. Will post pictures when we are done with some projects.

 

[jonmpierce2000]

Jon here, I have been working construction on the road for a little over 6 months and the hotels were getting old and the per diem money I could save was substantial so back in November I bought an Imagine XLS 22RBE it might be small but I am glad I made the change! I believe RV life has changed me, now I want to rent out my house get a bigger truck and a fifth wheel (my two year plan)

 

[Mjmnklm]

Hi Steven,
I was just reading your post and about your rig. The Southfork Edition was one of two finalists for our ‘forever hauler’ when we were shopping in very early 2019. In the end we went with a 2019 Longhorn and that 1000 lb/ft Cummins. That Southfork was one sweet setup, though and there were a few still available in Mar 2019 when we were looking.

I say all that to say this, I had done a ton of research and yes, the 2019 offered a higher torque engine, but not by much, and I have the 3.73 rear end in mine, as well so I was pretty sure your Max tow was considerably low at 20,000 lbs. I have attached a screen shot of the RAM publish literature for your review.

At an average trailer weight of 15,500 you’re only running about 60% of your max tow, vice 75%. Bottom line, those 2018’s were bad ******, too.

Happy trails, my friend, and brother in arms. (Retired Navy, here)