We now own a RV!

[The_Hammer]

We are now the owners of a 2015 Grand Design Solitude 369RL! We will be able to pick it up today or tomorrow depending on when our neighbor is free since he’s towing it for us. This is going to be our new home since our old one was damaged beyond repair during last summers flood. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case anyone is wondering why my neighbor is hauling it for us I don’t have a 5th wheel hitch or brake controller installed in my truck yet.

[IBMobile]

Good luck with your new home it looks nice with all the creature comforts.  When I bought my 5th wheel I didn't even own a truck.  I had the delivery put in the contract.

[dripley]

That is nice. Hope you enjoy it.

[The_Hammer]

This thing is really nice but more importantly it’s build VERY well with great insulation.

 

[015point9]

Congrats...Neighbor where we have rv lot has one, they have full timed in it maybe 5 years old now.   No major problems.  They are built good, I really like his "water bay" with fancy water manifold.  We exchange e-mail often.  He tells me Grand Design change axles this year. Now using Dexter.   Here's some stuff on it. https://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-12996.html  

 

He keeps a close eye on making sure roof and trip is sealed up with caulking.  My maint. check list that I do on mine, I used his stuff as example.   

 

 

 

 

[The_Hammer]

2 hours ago, 015point9 said:

Congrats...Neighbor where we have rv lot has one, they have full timed in it maybe 5 years old now.   No major problems.  They are built good, I really like his "water bay" with fancy water manifold.  We exchange e-mail often.  He tells me Grand Design change axles this year. Now using Dexter.   Here's some stuff on it. https://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-12996.html  

 

He keeps a close eye on making sure roof and trip is sealed up with caulking.  My maint. check list that I do on mine, I used his stuff as example.   

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

The first thing I’m doing is washing the roof with an appropriate TPO roof cleaner then after it’s dry wiping it down 303 protectant. A little later on we’re building a covered roof to keep it under. 

[015point9]

Sounds good…

Never heard of 303 on roof though. 

 

First thing I’d do is send in all those warranty cards, then get an old school 3 ring binder and some plastic protectors,  from staples or whatever.  Then write down everything in RV by manufacture and model number, then print out a their PDF file.  Some have yearly maint you should do or will have exploded view that might come in handy.  Like part numbers or wiring on thermostat.  (Newer t-stats have lots of wires)

If not in any books, and if dealer knows…see if you can get paint code and torque for lug nuts. Then write them down in your 3 ring binder. If axles has “never lube” pick up a spare set of bearings.  If Dexter they will have lots of info.  You’re axle spec’s sticker are probably right in the middle of axle tube.  Write them down now because they are hard to see once road grime and dirt does it thing.  If you have the bearing hubs that have to be pressed on and off, many people carry a  spare.  So you’re not captive to a RV dealer somewhere.   Water is biggest killer of RVs  IMO.  I don’t use “city water” anymore,  but if you do be sure to pressure test to the standards to your year model to make sure no water leaks are happening.   It is not the big ones that get you, it’s the little tiny drip you don’t know about and over time takes it toll.

[The_Hammer]

@015point9

 

Thanks for all of the advice, it’s greatly appreciated! 

 

Upon inspecting the roof I noticed a few small cracks in the calking around the vent fans. It’s not all the way through yet but I’m going to clean the area with denatured alcohol and apply some Dicor Ultra Sealant which is made for TPO roofing.

 

The first night went great. Waking up and seeing the river again was an awesome feeling, especially after being displaced for 5 months. 

Edited February 1, 2018 by The_Hammer

[015point9]

All I can say is think at least one step ahead before doing anything.  Many RV dealers might be good to buy at but their shop might be another story.  Don’t know if you paid for any warranty’s or if your RV dealers shop real job is to reject any claims. 

Being you bought it new, you might have some reading material from the roof manufacture of what prep work to do before repairs.  If you never used Dicor before bear in mind there are different types.  One for vertical surfaces and one for horizontal.  And then you still have to get right color.  They also have different colors of white (or used to).  White, bright white and Dove white.  Here is a link of “how to” stuff from Dicor.   https://dicorproducts.com/resourcesrudys/ 

When I replaced a skylight several years ago the manufacture of skylight said to use his caulking  http://www.icondirect.com/skylight-sealant/   or the same thing just private labeled http://www.surebond.com/tech_data_sheets/SB-140TDS.pdf   reason was because the compatibility of Dicor with the type of plastics skylights are made of.  Then several months later when going thru eastern Oregon we stopped at Arctic Fox, the OEM and asked them what caulking they use and their answer was "we use about 4 different types of caulking, we get it mostly in 55 gallons barrels from how ever gives us right price".   But I think the majority of places use Dicor including me. 

Only real advice I can give is...make sure your shoes don't have any little stones caught in the bottom of your souls that could puncture the roof.  And I use paper towels by the roll when working with the stuff and I use a cheap yoga mat when on roof to dissipate weight of knees or toes.  TPO roofs on RV's are only so many mil's thick. Lots thinner TPO than what is on commercial buildings.  Another hint...Darker color you have on nose cone...If it's a decal and not paint keep a good coat of something on it.  Darker colors decals tend to sun fade and crack faster then white, but do look better IMO.   

P.S. wife was looking over my shoulder when I was posting and saw your pic's.  She has always wanted an "Island kitchen" 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2018 by 015point9

[IBMobile]

I get RV products, like the Dicor sealant, from Amazon.  They have good prices on those products and free shipping, without being a member of Prime, if the total amount of the purchase is over $50.

The other RV needs are bought are from my local mom n' pop store in town.

[The_Hammer]

21 hours ago, 015point9 said:

All I can say is think at least one step ahead before doing anything.  Many RV dealers might be good to buy at but their shop might be another story.  Don’t know if you paid for any warranty’s or if your RV dealers shop real job is to reject any claims. 

Being you bought it new, you might have some reading material from the roof manufacture of what prep work to do before repairs.  If you never used Dicor before bear in mind there are different types.  One for vertical surfaces and one for horizontal.  And then you still have to get right color.  They also have different colors of white (or used to).  White, bright white and Dove white.  Here is a link of “how to” stuff from Dicor.   https://dicorproducts.com/resourcesrudys/ 

 

We purchased the unit used and “as is” from a consignment dealer named PPL. I believe the only thing that is still covered is the roof, which has a 12 year warranty that is transferable. I haven’t heard of a single RV repair shop anywhere around here that does work in a reasonable amount of time so I will be doing any repairs myself. 

 

I confirmed that the roof is actually EPDM and not TPO like I first thought. Dicor is the brand of self leveling lap sealant the OEM used around all of the roof vents. The roof is a little dirty so I’m not sure which tone of white was used but it didn’t matter as the only color I could find locally was bright white lol. We have a lot of rain coming this weekend so I wanted to hurry up and make sure everything was sealed up nice and tight.

23 hours ago, 015point9 said:

Only real advice I can give is...make sure your shoes don't have any little stones caught in the bottom of your souls that could puncture the roof.  And I use paper towels by the roll when working with the stuff and I use a cheap yoga mat when on roof to dissipate weight of knees or toes.  TPO roofs on RV's are only so many mil's thick. Lots thinner TPO than what is on commercial buildings.  Another hint...Darker color you have on nose cone...If it's a decal and not paint keep a good coat of something on it.  Darker colors decals tend to sun fade and crack faster then white, but do look better IMO.   

P.S. wife was looking over my shoulder when I was posting and saw your pic's.  She has always wanted an "Island kitchen" 

 

 

 

 

I made sure my shoes were clean before I got up there. The last thing I need to do is poke a bunch of little holes in the roof lol. I didn’t think about using something like a yoga mat, it’s a great idea!

 

The front cap is completely painted so it will be receiving a nice wax job in the near future. 

 

The layout of this thing is phenomenal! At first we didn’t want an island in the kitchen but we ended up really liking it in here. 

 

I’m going to build a carport to park the unit under before summer which will really help to protect it. We aren’t going to be towing it around much, at least not for right now. It’s our full-time home since our stick house was severely damaged by all of last years flooding so we’re actually just happy to finally be back home. 

 

 

[dripley]

Well I don't think much of anyone is going to know whether you used the right color of caulk or not. Keep it from leaking is the most important as I am sure you know. If all I had was black I would use it. Keep her dry.

[The_Hammer]

13 hours ago, dripley said:

Well I don't think much of anyone is going to know whether you used the right color of caulk or not. Keep it from leaking is the most important as I am sure you know. If all I had was black I would use it. Keep her dry.

 

That was my thought as well. 

 

 

On 2/1/2018 at 1:11 PM, IBMobile said:

I get RV products, like the Dicor sealant, from Amazon.  They have good prices on those products and free shipping, without being a member of Prime, if the total amount of the purchase is over $50.

The other RV needs are bought are from my local mom n' pop store in town.

 

Amazon is going to be my go to for sure. There are only a couple of places that carry RV supplies and they’re damn proud of them too. 

[JAG1]

Best advice I can give is to check everything thoroughly after every rainstorm to find any leaks before rot sets in. This way you will get to know everything about your new unit. It would be rare to not ever find a leak on an rv sometime, so you need to be vigilant on practicing that. Any changes to the outside however minute should looked into.

 

Also watch the window drain weep holes at the bottom of ea. window. When those clog with moss or dirt they cause water to run down (sometimes inside the wall making it difficult to detect). Often it will pool enough undetected water in the lower reaches of the unit until you find  damage. Any changes in flooring or even how a cabinet door has shifted should be studied as to why.

 

Dealers do not divulge everything and sometimes keep information proprietary as to how to repair or get specialty parts, so it's real good to be friends with an independent repair shop who you can tip you off to his sources and how toos in the business. My guy has helped me save around 900 plus so far and I always tip him just a little. His advice and help has been fantastic and set me straight on several things where the dealer made it confusing hoping to make me resort to their repair facility.

 

BTW, the best idea is to get bug screen covers over every appliance exhaust vent. This so important since bugs can ruin a burner inside and they make those factory made ss screens for just about any brand.

Edited February 3, 2018 by JAG1