Georgetown bunkhouse - 351DS vs 350TS

[emeraldlake]

OK, we've been shopping for a few months looking for a bunkhouse class A. We've narrowed down our choices to the following two coaches and are getting ready to make some offers:

• Georgetown 351DS
• Georgetown XL 350TS

The floorplans of the coaches are very similar. We have to travel to get either of these for a reasonable price. Key differences:

351DS:
pros: about $5K cheaper, huge French door residential fridge, huge basement storage compartment in rear, available dropdown bunk
cons: 20500 chassis w/208" wheelbase & 19.5" wheels, partial paint, 80" ceiling height, short queen bed, one less slide, no outdoor entertainment

350TS:
pros: 22000 chassis w/228" wheelbase & 22.5" wheels, 84" ceiling height, residential queen bed, extra slide in bedroom, fireplace, outdoor entertainment
cons: about $5K more expensive, no residential fridge, no inverter (?)
mixed: lots of basement storage, including more pass-through, but no huge compartment

This decision is kinda driving us batty. We would love input from folks:
1) how big a deal is the chassis size? the 351DS is <50% ratio of wheelbase to length, but from what I gathered is reasonably stable and a super popular model. plus the tires are cheaper to replace.
2) how big a deal is partial vs. full paint? does anybody know what they mean when they say partial paint? my understanding is that they infuse the fiberglass and paint the big stripe on the bottom, but the rest are decals. how do folks like this?
3) residential fridge - is this a deciding factor? we love size of residential fridge, but seems like it also comes w/some cons wrt being limited by batter capacity (we'll rarely be hooked up, since we'll mostly staying at National parks).
4) deal - seems like $5K is a smaller-than-expected price diff between the XL and non-XL model, so this is very tempting. I usually read a $10K+ price jump, in which case I'd probably be out of my budget. catch is that the 350TS XL is pretty rare, and the one I've found has been on the lot uncovered for 10 months - how much should I be worried about this?

Finally, I see tons of references to 351DS on this forum. Seems like it's a popular model - are owners generally happy with their purchase?




P.S. for reference, the top contenders we discarded were: Bounder Classic 34B (not enough windows), Hurricane/Windsport 34J (floorplan), Winnebago Vista 35B (availability + finish level)

[RudysWorld]

I vote for the TS which is what I have but without full body paint. I wouldn't buy partial paint without a substantial reduction in price. My feeling is full paint would be a lot easier to wash and care for and big plus at resale time. IMO

[mdimarti]

I have a 351 DS and have been very happy. The drive ability is just fine. Taken it from Denver Area over the mountains a few times with no issues. I actually test drove one after the Winnebago 35 B and preferred the ride, but that is just me. I believe the smaller chassis is a bit lighter which leads to a bit better engine performance, but again probably marginal.

I did look at the XL (wasn't available when I made the purchase) and liked the outdoor entertainment option. One thing to consider if you go the XL route, ask them to install the inverter and include it. My DS does not have the residential fridge and did not have an inverter. I asked them to install it as part of the deal and they did so, along with a tow bar and brake to tow my CRV.

[Andysabruin]

I own a 351 and so far we are pleased. However, the fridge was actually a huge turnoff for us due to the fact we dry camp most of the time. IMO if you are going to dry camp I'd stick with a propane fridge. We were told when we purchased that the inverter could run for 2 days straight without having to charge the batteries but it seems like most people are saying 8 hours without adding more batteries. I'm in the process of building a extension to add 2 more batteries to the system.

Another thing to check into is the tv's while driving. The 351 is not setup for TV use while driving without running the generator as the tv's are not 12 volt. I would think the 350 XL model might be set up the same but I'd look into it. If it is important to you I would make sure the dealer sets it up with an inverter before leaving the dealership, yes we asked and were told "they work while you drive" but wasn't told only by generator.

Last I would look into the side compartments and check if the 350 XL was better tubs in it then the 351. The compartment tubs in the 351 are pretty weak when loaded and tend to really flex and bulge towards the ground. They really lack any underside support for them.

Hope this helps.

[ChrisMSNT]

We did the 351 for the full fridge; however, with that being said, we glamp all the time. If you're not hooking up, I'd get a propane fridge rather than residential fridge. The shower is slightly bigger in the XL as well... ;-) We like ours though!

[miked11272]

I have the 350 with the 3 slides it gives you an extra 2 feet in the bedroom. The 22 inch over the 19.5 tires allows the motorhome to tach about 300 rpms lower at 65. I travel with someone who the smaller chassis and the 2 slides. We get slightly better gas mileage. Either way check out 5 star tuning, and the cheap handling fix they made the biggest improvements to handling and power they also adjusted shifting points. Good luck

[RELHUB]

We would have purchased the TS if they had one on the lot. I do not feel we lost out in any way as we are very happy with our 351 DS. While we are not full timers, we use our MH all the time. We love the ride of this MH and feel our GT is much more comfortable then the 2008 Winnebago we sold to purchase our 2013 GT.

If it is only 5,000 difference and you have the coin I would for go for the extra slide and full paint unit.

If you do dry camp at all and we do then avoid the residential frig

I am 6' tall 194 lbs and sleep well in the smaller queen bed, if you are taller it could be an issue.

Let us know what you decide and wish you the best of luck.

[alparmer]

The full size fridge is what sold us. We've had way too many problems with those Dometic fridges and didn't want to have to deal with another one. Not sure what you mean by shorter queen. In our travel trailer we had a shorter queen, and my fee would stick out, but not in this one. Maybe there is a bigger one yet. I like the partial paint. That means that part of it is gelcoat, part paint, and part decal. Our travel trailer was the same way and once I put a big scratch on the side. The gelcoat didn't scratch, but the decal did. I repaired it by cutting out part of the decal and applying another one. If it would have been fully painted, it would have had to be repaired at a paint shop. As far as outside entertainment, there is a compartment that has 110 power and cable outlet. I installed a DVD LCD TV in there. There is room for an xbox, speakers, etc. One thing I didn't like is the "home theater" which is pretty bad. You get a crappy head unit, crappy speakers, and amp. The funny thing is that on top of the head unit there is a double din back up camera screen. They could have installed a double din head unit that did everything (DVD, GPS, Backup, etc.). The amp is a Chinese tiny crappy amp that barely runs the sub woofer.

We are really happy with the way it drives and so far everything else except the home theater.

[miked11272]

I wish I went with full body paint 5000. Is a cheap price to pay for less maintenance. The decals look nice but you cant get wax on them and if you want them to last you need to treat them with uv protection.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by miked11272

I wish I went with full body paint 5000. Is a cheap price to pay for less maintenance. The decals look nice but you cant get wax on them and if you want them to last you need to treat them with uv protection.

Why can't you get wax on them. I used Lucas quick detail with wax and they always looked great on our TT. Maybe the older type would fade, but this stuff they are using seems to be much better. I think it's that stuff they are using to wrap entire cars with.

[alparmer]

I just researched it and you are right miked. Something with the petroleum dissolved the adhesive. Never had a problem with my TT, but I wonder if that Lucas I use doesn't have a petroleum base. I'll have to look into it. I'm going to buy some 303 for the decal part.

[miked11272]

Better not to take a chance camping world has a uv protectant call aerospace 301 or 303 sorry can't remember the number but it works great on decals and tires.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by miked11272

Better not to take a chance camping world has a uv protectant call aerospace 301 or 303 sorry can't remember the number but it works great on decals and tires.

Yup, i'ts 303 Aerospace and everyone swears by it. What I have been using for years is Lucas slick mist speed wax. I use it on everything and it's a nice product. It does say that it will not harm leather, rubber, plastic or aluminum surfaces. Not sure if decals fall under the plastic category. I've never had an issue, but who knows in the long run. That 303 stuff was developed for expensive aircraft decals so I'm probably going to change to that stuff.

[emeraldlake]

Thanks for all the responses! Very enlightening. What I'm sorta reading is accept the RV fridge's size; all things being darn close, the 350TS is the better choice. Is that a fair paraphrase?

We *almost* were saying the reverse - residential fridge was the clincher, but needed to find a 351DS w/full paint (rare, but I've seen one). If we change our minds eventually, how hard is it to swap RV for residential fridge?

[emeraldlake]

So we managed to find a 351DS WITH full paint for the same price as the 350TS. Agh! It just got harder

So basically, same price. Either I get the residential fridge + inverter OR get the bigger chassis. I *think* I'm sold on the bigger chassis, since inverter I can add, and RV fridge may even work better for my planned scenario (despite the residential fridge being SO big).

Should I be worried that the 350TS has been on the lot for 10 months?

[concours14]

If you are worrying over fridge size don't. We have a 350TS and have a family of 5 (3 of them teenagers) and have always had plenty of room in the fridge for trips as long as 7 days. We just keep our drinks in a cooler and that leaves plenty of room in the fridge.

[miked11272]

You are correct there's plenty of room in the fridge and freezer in the 350 also we added a small fridge to one of the outside compartments for drinks.

[Ol Poopypants]

I have the DS and the grandkids would rather sleep on the pull down bed and on top of the table instead of the bunkbeds because "it's hot in the bunkbeds, Grandpa". I also liked the fridge but later learned it doesn't run on propane.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by Ol Poopypants

I have the DS and the grandkids would rather sleep on the pull down bed and on top of the table instead of the bunkbeds because "it's hot in the bunkbeds, Grandpa". I also liked the fridge but later learned it doesn't run on propane.

We didn't get the pull down bed option and wish we did. It does get hot in the bunk beds especially when they close the curtain. I'm going to install a small fan in there for them.

I think the full size fridge runs on batteries. Could someone please verify?

For long trips fire up the generator.

[emeraldlake]

OK, made the leap - we're ordering the 350TS from DeMartini in California. On a 2014, you can put the residential fridge in the XL + 2 extra batteries, so we decided to take the leap.

Thx for all the help here.