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Old 01-12-2014, 12:41 PM   #1
FLGatorgirl
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Location: Central Florida
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Prospective New Owner Questions

Hello forum members,

We currently own a high quality Monaco diesel pusher and are considering changing to a 5th wheel. We love the coach, but some life changes have made us consider that a 5th wheel would be more practical as well as economical at this point. We plan on purchasing used (2009-11 should be in our price range) and from my research so far, Mobile Suites and Newmar Torrey Pine look to be the only two in our price range that I think we would be satisfied with in quality in comparison to our current coach. I also like some of the Cameo units, but the DRVs still seem to win out on overall construction.

A few (maybe more than a few) questions: Do the Mobile Suites (2009-2011) have real wood (not foil) on the cabinet face frames, wood panels, interior doors, etc? I know this is going to be floorplan specific, but do most floorplans allow access to bathroom/kitchen with the slides in? Do many DRVs come either with a generator or at least gen prepped? Does anyone run the generator to cool or warm the 5th wheel going down the road prior to hitting the campground? How hard is it to change out the living room furniture? If we stop just overnight at a Flying J, assuming the lot is mostly level, can we sleep as is or do we need to put down jacks or anything?

Lastly, anything you can think of in terms of significant changes to design/features etc between 2009-2011 models? Any comments, suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!
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Old 01-12-2014, 01:12 PM   #2
Gemstone
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"How hard is it to change out the living room furniture? If we stop just overnight at a Flying J, assuming the lot is mostly level, can we sleep as is or do we need to put down jacks or anything?"....I can't answer the other questions, but....

We have changed out the furniture (by myself), not too difficult, just a challenge. As for parking, it's easy...just push 2 buttons and the front and rear feet are extended/retracted, so I always put 'em down for an overnight stay. On our '06, hardwoods are used for any dimension wood, paper covered cheap Lauan is used for plywood surfaces.

Good Luck
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Old 01-12-2014, 02:08 PM   #3
terry and jo
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Welcome, FLGatorGirl.

"Do the Mobile Suites (2009-2011) have real wood (not foil) on the cabinet face frames, wood panels, interior doors, etc?"

Our 2010 38TKSB3 is pretty much all wood (that I can tell) on the cabinets and such. As for wood panels, since ours is only 3 years old and has not had the "wear" of some others, I can't say the paneling is all wood or not. I think they are wood.


"I know this is going to be floorplan specific, but do most floorplans allow access to bathroom/kitchen with the slides in?"

You are right in that it will be specific to the floorplan. However, most anything that has a side bathroom (letters "SB" in the model number) will require the slides in the bedroom and the kitchen to be out. There are a few exceptions.


"Do many DRVs come either with a generator or at least gen prepped? Does anyone run the generator to cool or warm the 5th wheel going down the road prior to hitting the campground?"

Question one is hit or miss. Most of the DRV dealerships that we looked at (back in 2008-2010) did not order anything with generator or generator prep unless the customer ordered theirs that way. Question two is also hit or miss. While the generator would likely power the air conditioners while traveling, I would be concerned that the air flow around the trailer might cause generator exhaust to enter the trailer somehow. With heaters, since they are 12V powered anyway, those could run off of the batteries to keep the trailer warm, so long as one didn't spend lots of hours towing without recharging.



"How hard is it to change out the living room furniture?"

We removed the couch from the back of our coach and also got rid of the stock recliners (fabric) and replaced with other furniture. In our case, we bought a La-Z-Boy Reclinaway love seat to replace the two recliners. With them (and some other recliners as well), the backs are easily removable and by watching dimensions, can easily go through the entry door. Our couch has been replaced with a small recliner and a sewing center.


"If we stop just overnight at a Flying J, assuming the lot is mostly level, can we sleep as is or do we need to put down jacks or anything?"

I think most folks would prefer to at least put down the front jacks. I really can't say a lot as we are "static" full-timers that haven't yet retired to start traveling. Our travels so far have only been for a few hours one way, making it easy to get to our destination and set up properly.


Now, if you are considering used trailers, check our the website of Rolling Retreats in Elk City, Oklahoma. They are a mom and pop dealership that deals primarily with DRV products. Well, except for the trade-ins that they get. They have an excellent reputation among many of the owners of DRV's that I know. Look under their "Inventory" tab and go down towards the bottom of the "page" to see the used units.

http://rollingretreats.com/

Now, since they are in an area of the country were most RV's are likely towables, I don't know how much you could get for your motorhome if you are trading it in for a used DRV. You might want to try to sell your motorhome outright to get the best pricing.

EDIT: OK. I missed one for research purposes. One of the guys over at SOITC started a website that has a lot of information on it, including the DRV brochures in pdf files for a number of the model years. It is DRV Owners Manual.

http://drv-owners-manual.com/

Terry
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Old 01-12-2014, 08:00 PM   #4
wingnut60
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Generators--pretty much most of the units come prepped, not all, but most I have seen. Usually, if the used unit has a gen, the ad will certainly mention it. I have used the furnace many times to have the trailer warm when stopped overnight--have used the gen also for the AC--but ours cools down quickly after stopping using both ACs.
As mentioned before, if it says SB on the model, it will have to have the slides out to use the bathroom. There is a later model that is a PS3 that has the access with slides in.
Somewhere in those years you mention, the vanity slide in the bedroom was made available--that is the slide at the foot end of the bed--provides about 18" of extra space to move around the bed.
As far as overnights at WM or FJ--ours is stable enough for us to sleep without putting any jacks down. Your comfort may be more picky? You can easily put the front jacks down and the rear stabilizers down if needed. Level is another item--not a problem with the LevelUp system, but you would need a block under a wheel if left/right is too far off.
And I do think all the woodwork is still wood.
Joe
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Old 01-13-2014, 12:11 PM   #5
hitchup
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We seriously looked at Newmar, but couldn't go on a factory tour because we had a young GD with us. The Torrey Pine was the mid-range if I'm not mistaken. Didn't like the elect plug on the outside of the coach. DRV puts their's into a rear compartment.

We have been on the Carriage factory tour and the DRV factory tour twice. After going through Carriage in 2008, we decided to stick with DRV. Carriage shell was limited with insulation.

We just traded our custom 2009 MS (after 5 years of ownership) for the 2014 MS Estates.

We had a 5500w Onan generator, but never used it while traveling. The R-16 insulation in the walls and 2 AC's and 2 furnaces, it wouldn't take long to cool or heat up depending on the season.

All cabinets are solid maple wood, but the slide surrounds on the MS wasn't. I believe Elites were all wood including the slide-out surrounds.

The SB side bath plans didn't have bathroom access with slides in, but we could pull into a Rest Area and use our own BR with just a few buttons pushed.

As for stopping at night, we have pulled into a space and not unhooked when we were in a rush. DH would put the front down legs to get a little more level so we could sleep without rolling out of bed. But in the last couple of years, we usually got into the habit of unhooking, fueling up without the RV and then hooking up first thing in the morning to go on the next leg of our trip. Makes for a more restful trip.

Furniture is easy to switch. We've had different residential loveseats, recliners and end tables. We moved all of those into our new unit because we were more comfortable with our own furniture layout than with the new Lane furniture.
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