Well for something to do we went to the Houston RV Show, spent most of the day there Friday. Looked at a lot of the rigs there. The Super Class A that can also tow 30K was to say the least impressive at $650K.
So Tami and I looked at Solitude, Reflection, Influence, North Point, Pinnacle, Montana and Alliance. The first thing we noticed going into all of these rigs is that the "MORryde Step Above" exterior stairs are wider and the top step is deeper than ours - we liked that. There were no Brinkley's there to look at.
Played this game, if we had to replace our rig, knowing what we know now after 4 years of fulltiming, keeping with a 5th wheel 37-38 ft same kind of floor plan, what would we choose? We looked at the Grand Designs first.
This is our first closeup hands on look at the Influence 3503 that closely resembles our current rig. We have to say we were very disappointed.
Tami checked out the inside while I looked at the outside.
First they are not a drop frame like the S-Class was. The bedroom slide also contains the bathroom sink and cabinet and is a Schwintek. The slide is half again longer than our current bedroom slide. Uses flex hoses and a tiny drain hose just looped over the nautilus panel. I did like the new nautilus panel and holding tank pull handle configuration. The suspension spring hanger brackets are very short keeping the spring eyes very close to the frame.
The show guys wanted to tout the Dexter Sway Control / ABS Drum Brake system and how new and innovative it is, and how it keeps tract of towed miles with a phone app (so does my truck without an app). Also singing the praises of the On-Demand water heater and solar package. From what I could see still the same old hap-hazard water line runs and electrical nightmare. I let them ramble on but ignored them. The only time we agreed was the name Influence is Stupid!
Looking up inside the main cargo hold, they have a square aluminum cross brace running side to side supporting the upper floor aluminum tubes. The cross brace is tack welded to every other floor tube. Then the cross brace ends are tack welded only at the very top to a very thin 1/8 inch thick side plate that is then screwed to the side wall. Almost half of the square support tube sticks down below the cargo door opening with no other support or connection. Sloppy design, sloppy welds. My impression was, might as well not be there at all. Cargo capacity under 3000#. I was done looking at the exterior!
Joining Tami inside - We didn't like the interior colors all grey and white. Going up the stairs and the coat closet upper and lower doors - the top one opens to the left, the bottom opens to the right - What? It has a One Control panel inside the top closet door, we don't like One Control anything. The 12VDC and 120AC power distribution panel are now separated with the AC Panel inside a kitchen cabinet and then a separate DC fuse panel down close to the floor. The Furrior router lives inside the pantry.
Just some of the things we saw - Our Impression - Nope would not have one. Might as well buy a Reflection 337. Before leaving the Grand Design area, the show guys asked us if we were interested in trading in our S-Class. We politely said no!
Went over and looked at similar Jayco North Point and a Keystone Montana - Tami said she liked them better. I was so disappointed, I became disinterested. I hope we never have to replace our rig!
So Tami and I looked at Solitude, Reflection, Influence, North Point, Pinnacle, Montana and Alliance. The first thing we noticed going into all of these rigs is that the "MORryde Step Above" exterior stairs are wider and the top step is deeper than ours - we liked that. There were no Brinkley's there to look at.
Played this game, if we had to replace our rig, knowing what we know now after 4 years of fulltiming, keeping with a 5th wheel 37-38 ft same kind of floor plan, what would we choose? We looked at the Grand Designs first.
This is our first closeup hands on look at the Influence 3503 that closely resembles our current rig. We have to say we were very disappointed.
Tami checked out the inside while I looked at the outside.
First they are not a drop frame like the S-Class was. The bedroom slide also contains the bathroom sink and cabinet and is a Schwintek. The slide is half again longer than our current bedroom slide. Uses flex hoses and a tiny drain hose just looped over the nautilus panel. I did like the new nautilus panel and holding tank pull handle configuration. The suspension spring hanger brackets are very short keeping the spring eyes very close to the frame.
The show guys wanted to tout the Dexter Sway Control / ABS Drum Brake system and how new and innovative it is, and how it keeps tract of towed miles with a phone app (so does my truck without an app). Also singing the praises of the On-Demand water heater and solar package. From what I could see still the same old hap-hazard water line runs and electrical nightmare. I let them ramble on but ignored them. The only time we agreed was the name Influence is Stupid!
Looking up inside the main cargo hold, they have a square aluminum cross brace running side to side supporting the upper floor aluminum tubes. The cross brace is tack welded to every other floor tube. Then the cross brace ends are tack welded only at the very top to a very thin 1/8 inch thick side plate that is then screwed to the side wall. Almost half of the square support tube sticks down below the cargo door opening with no other support or connection. Sloppy design, sloppy welds. My impression was, might as well not be there at all. Cargo capacity under 3000#. I was done looking at the exterior!
Joining Tami inside - We didn't like the interior colors all grey and white. Going up the stairs and the coat closet upper and lower doors - the top one opens to the left, the bottom opens to the right - What? It has a One Control panel inside the top closet door, we don't like One Control anything. The 12VDC and 120AC power distribution panel are now separated with the AC Panel inside a kitchen cabinet and then a separate DC fuse panel down close to the floor. The Furrior router lives inside the pantry.
Just some of the things we saw - Our Impression - Nope would not have one. Might as well buy a Reflection 337. Before leaving the Grand Design area, the show guys asked us if we were interested in trading in our S-Class. We politely said no!
Went over and looked at similar Jayco North Point and a Keystone Montana - Tami said she liked them better. I was so disappointed, I became disinterested. I hope we never have to replace our rig!
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