New owners in Las Vegas

[Cptjam]

Hello! After much consideration, we purchased a new 376THS! Looking forward to learning more and enjoying more! Had to buy a new truck, too! Selected a Ford F450, crew cab, long bed, dually diesel. Now to buy all the stuff! It appears that the RV and truck are just the entry level! The amount and selection of pieces and parts is staggering! Lots to learn, and tons to buy.

[bertschb]

Welcome to the forum and Grand Design family!

When you get a moment, check out the welcome letter here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

[Country Campers]

Welcome , that is quite a set up. There are plenty here that can help you spend your money.

Enjoy.

Brian

[TheNescios]

I've learned the RV world isn't much different than the motorcycle world (used to ride) in that the cost of the bike was the cheap portion, then came all the things you needed & wanted and before you knew it the accessories cost more than the bike did!
Only real difference is with the RV I've joined this forum and am seeing way too many good ideas of ways to improve everything from the suspension to solar panels and if I'm not careful instead of retiring sometime soon I'll need a second job to pay for everything?
But it is fun.
Welcome to the forum - lots of good information here to help figure out upgrades & modifications you didn't even know you needed!
Chris

[ThePowells]

Cptjam Welcome to the family and the forum!! There is a great amount of this forum. The most senior members have put together a letter for new members to help them get the most from the forum. They have posted the letter at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

[Cptjam]

Installed a security system:

[Cate&Rob]

Installed a security system:

Great looking security system (similar to mine . . . see my avatar)

Welcome to our forum BTW . . .

Rob

[Cptjam]

Energy saving mode.....

[Cptjam]

Went dry camping. Batteries were low, which cascaded into no heat, no hot water, no stove, no fridge. Dropped into the 30’s. Miserable.
took it back, and the girl at service told me I can’t run the fridge and furnace all night! That can’t be right. Noticed the sewer line leaking. I told her it was leaking, and she told me it was 65 to drain it. A valve I have never touched is leaking, and it costs me extra for them to drain it! I’m not going to touch it; removing the cap is sure to result in a splash. I’m not too sure on this camping thing.

[Cate&Rob]

Went dry camping. Batteries were low, which cascaded into no heat, no hot water, no stove, no fridge. Dropped into the 30’s. Miserable.
took it back, and the girl at service told me I can’t run the fridge and furnace all night! That can’t be right. Noticed the sewer line leaking. I told her it was leaking, and she told me it was 65 to drain it. A valve I have never touched is leaking, and it costs me extra for them to drain it! I’m not going to touch it; removing the cap is sure to result in a splash. I’m not too sure on this camping thing.

Welcome to the "learning curve" ! To quote from your first post in this thread . . . "Now to buy all the stuff! It appears that the RV and truck are just the entry level!"

If dry camping will be a regular thing, you will need more batteries and either a solar panel setup or a generator to recharge them. A twist-on gate valve at the tank drain connection is a common (and inexpensive) improvement. This allows you to get the hose connected before dealing with anything that may have leaked past the gate valves at the tanks.

Hang in there . . . it will get better!

Rob

[Country Campers]

Went dry camping. Batteries were low, which cascaded into no heat, no hot water, no stove, no fridge. Dropped into the 30’s. Miserable.
took it back, and the girl at service told me I can’t run the fridge and furnace all night! That can’t be right. Noticed the sewer line leaking. I told her it was leaking, and she told me it was 65 to drain it. A valve I have never touched is leaking, and it costs me extra for them to drain it! I’m not going to touch it; removing the cap is sure to result in a splash. I’m not too sure on this camping thing.

With the valve leaking on a new unit the dealer should not charge you to drain , but they may not want to deal with the mess either. I have learned the hard way about the "surprise" when removing the drain cap when tanks have stuff in them. I believe all valves leak a little and upon the advice given, and Rob mentioned above , I purchased the twist on valve at the cap , problem solved.

Boondocking on a standard deep cycle battery will probably net you one day , maybe 2 if you do not run the furnace. There are also some items you can turn off or disconnect that will save you some battery power but as Rob has said if you primarily boondock you will want to make some improvements.

Brian

[mereleagle]

Went dry camping. Batteries were low, which cascaded into no heat, no hot water, no stove, no fridge. Dropped into the 30’s. Miserable.
took it back, and the girl at service told me I can’t run the fridge and furnace all night! That can’t be right. Noticed the sewer line leaking. I told her it was leaking, and she told me it was 65 to drain it. A valve I have never touched is leaking, and it costs me extra for them to drain it! I’m not going to touch it; removing the cap is sure to result in a splash. I’m not too sure on this camping thing.

Having spent my life in the mechanical trades, I know a bit about valves. An RV is often referred to as a rolling earthquake. This can move valve gates around creating tiny leaks. I recommend that before you start collecting waste water, you exercise and reseat the valves. Just gently open and close them several times once you have the RV parked. Make sure the valves are fully closed before you start using your waste tanks. The idea of adding a redundant “hold back” valve at the main discharge also makes a lot of sense.

I have been camping since I was 10 years old and many of those years in tents. Not all trips are great. But, I learn something new every time. Sometimes, the learning is how NOT to do something. But the good times outweigh the bad so find the positive and have fun.

[Ready2Retire]

Hello! After much consideration, we purchased a new 376THS! Looking forward to learning more and enjoying more! Had to buy a new truck, too! Selected a Ford F450, crew cab, long bed, dually diesel. Now to buy all the stuff! It appears that the RV and truck are just the entry level! The amount and selection of pieces and parts is staggering! Lots to learn, and tons to buy.

Hi Cptjam from another Las Vegan (well Henderson actually). If you bought your RV from Blue Dog, may I give you a nickels worth of free advice? I found their service department to be very underwhelming. They took care of some initial warranty issues for me even though we bought from another dealer (Affinity RV in Prescott AZ, long story!) so kudo's to them for doing that. Having said that, my first piece of advice is don't leave your RV with them for repairs. I dropped ours off and let them inspect and order parts, then picked up the RV with the understanding that when the parts came in, I would schedule an appointment for the install. This way, we could use the RV in the mean time. This worked to our advantage as a simple cosmetic repair (couch accent LED lights) took over 6 months for them to get right. The other repairs did take less time, but I felt the workmanship was mediocre at best. Also, not once but twice, they damaged my RV while it was in their care. After I explained this to GD CS, they authorized me to use a mobile tech for the last couple of warranty issues that came up. I used TNT RV Mobile Service and was pleased. In full disclosure, I have known the owner for a number of years. If interested, I can PM you his contact information.

Happy Camping!
John

[Cptjam]

Thank you, I have his number. Another MSGT passed it along. I got it at Nielsen, in St.George. All the problems were traced to the weak batteries. The batteries they did not charge. They did charge me 300 bucks to diagnose that the problem was the batteries. Which are fine when charged. I bought a redundant gate valve. We are heading out Monday for AZ. A month of full timing should shake out the bugs. Not dry camping! It was too cold and miserable to form an opinion on the bed. Many on this forum have replaced the mattress. Maybe if I’m not freezing I can sleep on it. Any suggestions?

[Ready2Retire]

Thank you, I have his number. Another MSGT passed it along. I got it at Nielsen, in St.George. All the problems were traced to the weak batteries. The batteries they did not charge. They did charge me 300 bucks to diagnose that the problem was the batteries. Which are fine when charged. I bought a redundant gate valve. We are heading out Monday for AZ. A month of full timing should shake out the bugs. Not dry camping! It was too cold and miserable to form an opinion on the bed. Many on this forum have replaced the mattress. Maybe if I’m not freezing I can sleep on it. Any suggestions?

Off topic: Are you the same captjam over on the Spyder Lovers forum? I still need to get mine lazer aligned and figured you could square me away...

John