Hi all! Have a few questions for GD owners

[C&H Conner]

Hi there. My name is Chris and my wife's name is Honey. We currently have a Forest River 34' Sterling we are selling and plan to buy something bigger with the intention of full timing next year. We have full timed in our 34 while we were building our house and taken several 2-3 month excursions so we pretty much know what we want in our next rig. We work from home so as long as we have internet (sadly via our friends at Verizon) we are in business. Very interested in a couple Grand Design models and would love some feedback from those that have them.

That brings me to question 1 - we need a certain amount of office space. More than the normal amount found in any trailer. So of course, I thought toy hauler! Until my wife saw the size of the kitchen.... However, a nice build out in the cargo area would haul my bike, 2 kayaks and leave enough room for office space when it is all parked neatly outside.

Momentum 388 - is there enough area in the central living area to be comfy long term? Is the kitchen large enough to be long term practical? This is the only toy hauler we have not been able to track down and view.

Solitude RD368 - removing the rear table and having some desks built in seems perfect but not nearly as much office space as the 388 would offer. This is my wife's favorite overall layout of the 100+ 5ers we have browsed in recent months. Kayaks on TV roof rack (already there due to current 5er) and bike on rear hitch rack (pray no one rear ends me....again!). Any feedback on this model from owners that have one?

General question - I love the GD philosophy after having owned various other brands of RV's. Is it just hype or is it really a company that does quality work, stands behind it and is committed to the customer?
I like the idea of a sea change in this industry....

Sorry for the novella but I hate short posts with big questions and no background. Also, my tow vehicle can haul either trailer so weight/length issues do not need addressed.

Thanks for your time!

 

[TucsonJim]

I can't answer for the office space usage because we have a Reflection. But I can give you some feedback regarding their philosophy.

GD is the real deal. They have the best customer focus in the industry. They have some key strengths, and a few weaknesses. Here are some of each based upon my observations:

Weaknesses:

1. GD builds a great unit, but they frequently experience defects in supplier provided parts Here are a few:
- Leaking axle grease/seals (Lippert) - This has been an ongoing issue and reported in many units. GD hasn't provided a resolution other than correcting the issue under warranty.
- Water distribution panel (Kantleak) - Many failures have been reported in these panels, and sometimes repeat failures in the same units. GD has been covering these failures under warranty. They have also moved to a new supplier to (Nautilus) in order to get past this issue.
- Entertainment system - GD has a history of installing questionable quality TVs, sound systems and DVD players (Furrion and others). When these units fail, GD will replace them if still under warranty. I'd suggest that you upgrade to high quality electronics if you purchase. There are quite a few threads on this forum where people have showed their modifications.
- Refrigerator (Atwood) - There has been a horrible history of Atwood refrigerators failing on the 120VAC electrical side. It's been difficult to get the units fixed, but GD has intervened and taken care of the customers when needed. They are now using Norcold refrigerators and should be past this issue.
2. Dealer Network. There are some really good dealers out there. They provide great sales, financing and service after the sale. There are also some stinkers (such as Lazy Days in Tucson who I used). This forum has some great threads on both the good and the not so good dealers.

Strengths
1. Customer Support - You can call the customer support line any time they are open and get guidance on a problem, warranty parts and great knowledge about the product. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, you can escalate to management, but this would be rare. Also, they monitor certain parts of this forum and will provide advice or contact information as needed (Janice is great).
2. Warranty Support - GD will get your parts to the dealer (if ordered on time) or you very quickly.
3. Factory Support - If needed and convenient, you can work with the GD factory to get your rig worked on.

I'm sure I'm missing some key aspects here, but suffice it to say, they follow their philosophy to the letter.

Jim

 

[C&H Conner]

Thanks for the realistic and positive feedback Jim. Seems no matter how much or little you spend on a new unit the shake down is severe. As long as the company stands behind their product you can at least feel there will be some resolution. Shame the vendor components are usually the issue and the manufacturer gets a bad rap for it. As it's a new company there just isn't much feedback anywhere around and few are seen around my area near Portland, Or. so no one to chat up about it.

Not a Furrion fan myself so I already knew the audio and video would need an upgrade. Along with tires, bearings and assorted other items. Sad they didn't use Dexter axles under these 5'ers as my luck with Lippert axles in no bueno...

 

[huntr70]

One thing that may influence your model choice is that the 368RD model is not going to be made anymore...

 

[Sandi]

Again as Jim answered I can't speak to desk space but I can speak to quality and customer satisfaction. IMHO they ARE the best in the business. They care about customer satisfaction and service. I have seen more than one reply on this forum and the FB page where people have had issues with service from their dealers. I can promise you that once Grand Design gets involved it is a different story. They just don't allow bad service from the dealers that sell their products. They make pretty darn great units but their biggest focus is on customer service!! I have heard other people say that the service is so good it is forcing other manufacturers to step a little closer to the plate! WE have had ours for almost two years and would never own another maker!
We have the 369RL and have been extremely happy with it. It probably has one of the largest kitchen areas which we love. The bedroom is also very roomy. Both of these factors were important to us. Any possibility of taking out one of the seating areas and building in desks?? I also have heard of people taking out the table and chairs and building desks in there. You can then eat from folding tables at your couches.
Just my 2 cents worth but it might be worth a look see!
Good luck in your search and I hope the next time we hear from you-you will be another happy owner!!

 

[waterlover63]

I full time in a 305RE and work from home. I replaced the dining table and chairs with a desk and office chair. MUCH more comfortable and productive. I work on a large laptop, so if I want to sit down to eat- I just move the laptop off the desk. The area that I use for an office would be tight for two people but definitely do-able.

Kathy

 

[C&H Conner]

Thanks for the replies all! We like the layout of the 369RL as well Sandi and could make it work. Hate to admit we normally eat on folding trays most of the time anyway and ignore the table.... . In our current setup we remove the table and 2 of the chairs and replace it with a folding table for a 2 person desk. A bit cramped but does work fine overall. 2 things I dislike - the setup/takedown of all the computer stuff when we are prepping for a move and that it stays up right in the middle of our living area when we are parked. Maybe it reminds me I should be working too often when I am having an afternoon Mojito....

Sad to hear the 368RD is being dropped from the lineup. I do get it though as it sacrifices a lot of room for a kitchen table and would not appeal to many people. Would make a great dedicated office space though with plenty of room for 2 small desks.

I guess thats what we really are looking for is a "dedicated office space" where we can semi hard mount monitors and printers. And then move to a different area in the trailer to enjoy the rest of our day/night. That's the main appeal of the toy hauler is it can be out of sight out of mind when needed.

Keep the replies coming folks. Great info so far and all replies are appreciated. We are headed out today to see a 368RD - the only one I can find on the west coast.... I swore I wouldn't impulse purchase another RV but.... If they are getting scarce....

Thanks for that Hunter!!!

 

[el Rojo]

We FT in our Momentum 380 and love the separate areas....have you looked at one with the dinette and theater seat option? I have plenty of counter space in the kitchen, as I keep the larger portion of the sink covered unless I am washing dishes. As far as GD itself....this is our second unit from them, we started with a Solitude 369RL. We would not have stayed with the them if they did not provide a quality product and excellent customer service. We feel like we are part of the family!

Pam (El Rojo's DW)

 

[C&H Conner]

Thanks Pam! We looked at both the 380 and 385. I like them both but got vetoed by my wife. She thought the kitchen was a bit to tight as well as the bathroom. I have a sinking feeling a toyhauler, my first choice, isn't going to happen unless my wife finds one that doesn't sacrifice so much living space for the cargo area.

Glad to hear GV has taken good care of you! We went to look at the 368 yesterday and it had been moved a week prior to a different lot 4 hours away. A wee frustrating as I had called them on Friday and they indicated it was sitting right in the showroom. Gotta love a dealer that has no clue what he actually has in stock..... They did find several other units to show us and the 388 is off the list as far as the wife is concerned. Despised the salesman though so back to square one.

 

[Racerx]

Consider the 375re and removing one of the couches. Replace one of the two couches with a desk and you still have a couch and theater seating recliners. This model has a good sized living room and kitchen.

 

[PixieRage]

We have a 380TH and we are planning on full timing in it in about a year. I'm in the same situation, I'm a technology geek that can work anywhere as long as I have internet and an airport near by. I plan on using the garage as my office with little modification. The benches are pretty comfy and I can work off the table, but if you need to you could keep them raised or remove them to put in a chair and desk. I also like that I have the sliding doors between the kitchen/living area and my "office". It allows me a quiet space to have a conference call while my wife can still ramble around in the rest of the unit. We bought the unit recently so I'll refer to the others on their experiences with the warranty/customer service they have had, I will add that Jim is quite right on the Furrion, the 5100 entertainment unit in our garage didn't make it between the PDI to the first trip. It was fine at the PDI but when I arrived at the campground the display was fried on it already.

Good luck on your decision, so far we've enjoyed the heck out of our GD.

 

[RamGunner]

I've been asked by a few folks about using office tech in a 5th wheel. We found the 385TH - especially with the new TV mount in the living area - to be great for this.

I mounted our router, two 8-port network switches, ADSL2+ and cable modems, and a number of other components on the wall behind the TV. I'll have photos of that setup shortly. I also installed two Cat. 5e connections and 1 RG-6QS coax between the entertainment center and the convenience/hookup center for dedicated DSL, cable internet, or wired LAN connections. I carry a 50' network cable (with Siemen Co. 8-pos/8-cond ends that also fit 4-pos/4-cond jacks) and 50' RG-6QS cable for hooking up anywhere.

We will have an 8-input, 4 output HDMI matrix switch for sending video to any of the TV's in the unit, and can mount a server in the cabinets adjacent to the fireplace. Everything can be wired at that point, leaving our laptops and cell phones as the only things connecting via WiFi. I can run LAN cables temporarily to the laptops if we need to shut off the WiFi.

We use laptop tables from Ikea (less than $30 each) for work. It's enough workspace for us - I try to convert all the paper I can to digital. If you need hard space for documentation and things, then either additional storage or a desk becomes necessary. Another user on the site alerted us to "Trones" storage units from Ikea. We are putting 3 or 4 in the master bedroom and 2 in the garage. They could easily hold binders and paperwork. I'll get photos of them this weekend as well.

 

[PixieRage]

What matrix will you be using Ram? Are you running Cat5 or are you using HDMI cable?

 

[RamGunner]

We are looking at a couple of matrix units - they are a bit expensive at around $1000 but one in particular supports everything we are looking for including a web-based GUI to select which inputs go to which outputs.

We had the dealer run two HDMI cables (ent ctr to garage and ent ctr to bedroom) for us since GD doesn't currently offer that from the factory. I had to go in and finish the installation but they are working fine so far. I'm hopeful that GD will begin offering that as an option or standard.

We did have the dealer pull two Cat 5e lines with the 35' HDMI cable to the garage in case it failed. I terminated them at both ends so they are ready to use if we need them.

 

[PixieRage]

This is the unit we are looking at, it's from Brightlink. I like that is gives more length options through CAT5 or CAT6 over HDMI. It has a mobile app as well. I have some time before I pull the trigger on a unit so I'll be watching what you do

 

[RamGunner]

Keep in mind that any good matrix switcher will regenerate the output signal, so as long as you are using a quality HDMI cable (Blue rigger cables at Amazon are very good) then you can get a reliable signal to at least 35' with HDMI. That's as long as pretty much any single run will be in an RV unless going front to back. Being able to save $500 might be worth it. A mobile app might be handy, but the ones we have been investigating have both wireless IR remotes and a web-based GUI, so as long as I have a browser I can control it.

Some of the ethernet interface units don't support full 2-way communications, 4k, etc. That's another factor to consider.

I'll keep you posted on which one we go with.

 

[Jannnan]

The 366DEN could be used the same as 375RE, just remove one of the couches and add a desk.

 

[Bamaman]

I've got a 323BHS Reflection bunk house. If I was needing a dedicated office space, the leather J bed and the swing down bed above it could be removed/replaced.

It'd be the same with the Solitude 365DEN or 366DEN models.

You could shut the door and be completely separate--in your own little world back there.

 

[C&H Conner]

Some great ideas and thoughts on here folks. We went to check out one of the few remaining new 368RD's and found it would work fine. As would the 365/366 Den and the BH model... And if you wanted to pull couches any would really work fine.

LOL. After I sold my wife short in a prior post she came thru in the end and we got a 380TH. She swore we hadn't looked at any previously but I know of at least 2 trips we looked at both a 380 and 385. They are bringin the 380TH up from Cali in a week so I have lots of time to think about pimping the cargo space into the office. Best part to me - with flip up desks I can keep all the toys back there while travelling then a quick conversion and it's set for work.

I was thinking about removing the top bed of the Happijac completely and using the brackets on the lower bunk to build out flip up desks. Plenty of desktop room and the brackets are already there. Any thoughts?

@Ram - fine ideas on the Cat/HDMI runs. Was thinking about doing it myself once it's home as I will be going thru the trailer cleaning up wiring, connections and water lines anyway.

Thanks all - from a happy new 380TH owner!

 

[PixieRage]

Congrats on your new trailer!!