New Member & GD Owner: What to look for when taking delivery

[NCW_Wander]

Greetings All:

I like it when people post their questions first, so here goes. my introduction will follow:

Anyone mind sharing your lessons learned when taking delivery of their RV (GD in particular, but in general too)? This might not be the channel for this question, but it seemed like a good place to start. And, if there’s already a thread on this, I’d be grateful if you’d point me in that direction. I did several searches with no luck on the first 15 pages of each keyword I searched.

My wife and I live in Central, WA. We’re taking delivery of a 2022 Reflection 31MB on Wednesday (36’ FW w/mid-bunk). We have three kids (12, and twin 6 year olds) and a 6-month old bird dog with another (dog) on the way. Before Covid we bought an “inexpensive” bunkhouse w/no slides from one of the big manufacturers. We caught the bug and quickly outgrew that trailer. A lot of what we do is boondocking… fishing, hunting, picking berries & mushrooms, with two or three 7-14 day vacations in between. The littles just started skiing, and the new FW is gonna be our new ski-lodge-on-wheels for tired kids when mom and dad want to stay on the slopes. As the kids get better, we’ll start traveling to different resorts.

I’ve really enjoyed perusing the technical and mods threads. Thanks everyone for creating and contributing to this forum! It’s been a great resource so far and I’m excited see what we can do with this RV! I’m particularly interested in battery/inverter and potentially solar arrays. I’m also interested in hearing how other folks go about conserving their resources in order to extend the boondocking fun.

Thanks for reading this novel looking forward to getting to know some of you!

[howson]

NCW_Wander -- welcome and glad you're with us here on the forum. I suspect you'll have a lot to contribute.

What the DW and I did when we took delivery of our 315RLTS was make up checklists. She had the interior and I did the exterior. Our odyssey is documented here: https://gdrvowners.com/tools-parts-o...very-checklist (The keyword is "PDI", or "Pre-Delivery Checklist".)

Any questions--fire away.

Howard

[NCW_Wander]

This is great Howard! Thank you for the link! I’ve been reading over your checklist since last night. Im headed over now to pick up our new 31MB in an hour. Let you know how it turns out again, MUCH appreciated!

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Just reading the paper until they tell us about the new trailer...lol

[NCW_Wander]

LOL! I wish I could come back with all the excitement of a new GD owner. I am… officially a new owner. And I’m excited about the FW. But…

After taking possession, and a pleasant five hour drive home, my wife came out to fawn over our new trailer when I noticed that, the shop cut a big ugly gash into my wheel well liner. In the process, they tore up the metal backing. I’m livid. At them, obviously, and at myself for not thoroughly inspecting my truck (which is only a few months old, and which the mechanics at the Ford dealership drool over when I bring it in).

I’m waiting for the RV dealership to open up so I can get this sorted out. Not sure what to expect.

idk… am I overreacting? Did everyone get a big notch cutout of their wheel liner with their FW hitch install? Should I have known it was gonna happen? The wheel liner is removable, so it wasn’t necessary to cut it if they needed space for installation. Wouldn’t you call a guy before you cut into their truck anymore than is absolutely necessary? Here’s a couple of photos.

[familytruckster4]

The checklists are a great way to stay organized and focused on the inspection. The only thing I would have to add is to not sign anything or make payment on the unit until it passes your inspection. Unless and until it meets your standards the money is your only leverage to get the dealer to correct it, once they have your money your position is zero.
Its a very long story but we walked away from a 337RLS in April 2020. The trailer was supposedly "in transit" but we found out that it was actually brought up from another store. During the walk through we found several major cosmetic issues with the exterior, some from damage and some from poor assembly. We literally had the check from our credit union in our pocket. After much discussion with the management we agreed upon what needed to be fixed and our expectations were made crystal clear. We agreed on a 3 week timetable also. The day before we were set to go back for the re-inspect I received a call from another manager that wasnt involved in the previous discussions. He immediately had an attitude and I shut him down when he said the trailer wasnt done and asked if they could just deliver it and fix it later. I took the checks back to the credit union and we moved on. Unfortunately they are the only GD dealer in lower MI, otherwise I never would have dealt with them because of prior experiences.

[NCW_Wander]

Well, I left a voicemail with the General Manager of the RV dealership (they hadn’t technically opened yet when I called). I’ve got my local Ford dealership working up a quote for repairs (he wasn’t real sure what to do with the metal portion… replace or touch up).

I doubt that I can walk away from the trailer at this point, even if I wanted to (which I don’t). I’m really hoping that they do the right thing, and there’s no recourse to be taken.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Does that area need to be cut out so you can move the handle?

[Guest]

Greetings All:

I like it when people post their questions first, so here goes. my introduction will follow:

Anyone mind sharing your lessons learned when taking delivery of their RV (GD in particular, but in general too)? This might not be the channel for this question, but it seemed like a good place to start. And, if there’s already a thread on this, I’d be grateful if you’d point me in that direction. I did several searches with no luck on the first 15 pages of each keyword I searched.

My wife and I live in Central, WA. We’re taking delivery of a 2022 Reflection 31MB on Wednesday (36’ FW w/mid-bunk). We have three kids (12, and twin 6 year olds) and a 6-month old bird dog with another (dog) on the way. Before Covid we bought an “inexpensive” bunkhouse w/no slides from one of the big manufacturers. We caught the bug and quickly outgrew that trailer. A lot of what we do is boondocking… fishing, hunting, picking berries & mushrooms, with two or three 7-14 day vacations in between. The littles just started skiing, and the new FW is gonna be our new ski-lodge-on-wheels for tired kids when mom and dad want to stay on the slopes. As the kids get better, we’ll start traveling to different resorts.

I’ve really enjoyed perusing the technical and mods threads. Thanks everyone for creating and contributing to this forum! It’s been a great resource so far and I’m excited see what we can do with this RV! I’m particularly interested in battery/inverter and potentially solar arrays. I’m also interested in hearing how other folks go about conserving their resources in order to extend the boondocking fun.

Thanks for reading this novel looking forward to getting to know some of you!

Welcome!

When we took delivery the rig was perfect. Everything worked and it was in great condition. Once you travel down the backroads of the US and Canada, there will be some things that shake loose where typically issues will be almost immediate. Shortly afterward, things settle down significantly IMO.

If you are a serious boondocker, the first items to purchase would be a Lithium battery (or two), a converter dedicated to lithium, a DCDC charger that can handle lithium and a generator to charge those lithium batteries. Afterward, solar panels can be pursued to reduce generator usage but IMO the first items on this list will guarantee satisfaction in boondocking.

Jim

[Scott'n'Wendy]

What's a DCDC charger for?
If you have a generator and a converter for charging the battery. Why do you need something else?

[TedS]

What's a DCDC charger for?
If you have a generator and a converter for charging the battery. Why do you need something else?

As I understand, it is to get a higher charge rate from the tow vehicle to the trailer batteries while towing. More than the charge rate available with the 7-pin trailer connection.

[Guest]

Correct. The DCDC will allow a lithium charge profile to be use to charge from the TV while underway. It also isolates the lithium battery from the TV battery which is a different battery type. Its never good to mix battery types in parallel.

Jim

[ThePowells]

NCW_Wander Welcome to the family and the forum!

[Canyonlight]

LOL! I wish I could come back with all the excitement of a new GD owner. I am… officially a new owner. And I’m excited about the FW. But…

After taking possession, and a pleasant five hour drive home, my wife came out to fawn over our new trailer when I noticed that, the shop cut a big ugly gash into my wheel well liner. In the process, they tore up the metal backing. I’m livid. At them, obviously, and at myself for not thoroughly inspecting my truck (which is only a few months old, and which the mechanics at the Ford dealership drool over when I bring it in).

I’m waiting for the RV dealership to open up so I can get this sorted out. Not sure what to expect.

idk… am I overreacting? Did everyone get a big notch cutout of their wheel liner with their FW hitch install? Should I have known it was gonna happen? The wheel liner is removable, so it wasn’t necessary to cut it if they needed space for installation. Wouldn’t you call a guy before you cut into their truck anymore than is absolutely necessary? Here’s a couple of photos.

Phil - I too would be a little (more than a little) ticked off ! When our local RV dealer installed our truck mounting brackets years ago, they did remove our wheel liners which to me only makes sense. I hope your dealer sees it the same way and gets new wheel liners installed for you unless there is something with your truck and the B&W hardware of which I have not seen this before.

Dan

[NCW_Wander]

Does that area need to be cut out so you can move the handle?

That's what the Service Manager's explanation was. However, after doing some more research, for my particular truck, the cut was both unnecessary and sloppy. I'll move this discussion over to the Towing & Hitches (edit) channel though.

Welcome!

When we took delivery the rig was perfect. Everything worked and it was in great condition. Once you travel down the backroads of the US and Canada, there will be some things that shake loose where typically issues will be almost immediate. Shortly afterward, things settle down significantly IMO.

If you are a serious boondocker, the first items to purchase would be a Lithium battery (or two), a converter dedicated to lithium, a DCDC charger that can handle lithium and a generator to charge those lithium batteries. Afterward, solar panels can be pursued to reduce generator usage but IMO the first items on this list will guarantee satisfaction in boondocking.

Jim

Good to know Jim! Thank you! Hunting and Fly Fishing tend to lead me down some beat-up roads (figuratively and literally). I'll have to get that out of the way early. I hadn't considered the DCDC charger. Makes a lot of sense, considering that most of us tow our trailers with a big diesel generator under the hood!


Despite the issues with the hitch installation, the delivery went well. The checklist was GREAT!!! Thank you Howard! The only items that I came up with were that nobody knew how to manually retract the slides (which I still haven't had time to figure out yet) and there's a trick to closing the door. The door isn't impossible, and it seems to be working better the more I operate it. I didn't want to walk away from the trailer over the door, and I live five hours from the dealer, so I went ahead and took delivery. After a year and half with a second-rate trailer, we're over the moon with this new GD. I spent some time yesterday operating everything again, especially the plumbing, so that we can get it up on the ski-slopes in the coming weeks. My generator did just fine, no concerns on that front anymore. The more I tinkered with the electrical system, lithium batteries really make a lot of sense.

Wish I would've washed my truck before I picked up the trailer, but here are some photos anyway. I've gotta put in a bigger gate on the other side of the house. Until then, the new FW makes a great lawn ornament. And just for fun, my co-pilot was eager to get home after a couple of long days away from the family.