Sanibel 38QB

Fatty1 · 05-30-2015, 07:51 AM

My wife loves the floor plan. We are considering full time living. Can you please give me the good and bad of this particular unit and brand. It just came on our radar. We had been looking at the other rear bunkhouse models.

rracer5 · 06-04-2015, 11:19 AM

The model you are looking at is a new line just out the past few months so, you probably won't get any specific responses. We have the first line of Sanibel's........and love it. Prime Time's customer service is second to none and they're a good solid unit.

The only difference I see between the Sanibel series and the Sanibel Traveler models is smaller grey and black tanks, no dresser in the front closet and lighter pin weights (possibly due to the lack of dresser?)

We will admit to a few minor problems, others have had some major issues but, overall, most here on this forum seem to be very happy with their choice & Prime Time.

clr · 06-04-2015, 12:00 PM

Like rracer5 said the model is very new, so not many on the road yet for feedback. I have a 2015 3601 Sanibel and love the unit. The livability of the unit is much greater than what I was expecting. I have had several issues with my unit but PT and my dealer have quickly corrected the problems. Prime Time is great to do business with as customer relations go they even answer their email and phones in a very timely manner. You should try and send an email to Keystone or Heartland, you will lucky if you ever get any response.

Fatty1 · 06-04-2015, 06:28 PM

I have to say I have emailed Prime Time 3-4 separate times this week and they have replied within 1-2 hours each time. I'm very impressed so far. Most everything I have read about the Sanibels the owners are very happy with them. I'm going to most likely pull the trigger tomorrow and order it. Just doing some homework on hitches since I have never owned a fifth wheel.

CWSWine · 06-04-2015, 07:38 PM

Saw one the other day in Camp Ground and looked it over. Unique floor plan and looks really nice. He only had about a month but hasn't had any problems with it. The person that bought it ended up trading his 2500 Chevy Diesel in for Chevy 3500 since the pin weight was over 3,200 lbs when he took it to the scales. Make sure you have enough truck to except the pin weights over 3,000 lbs.

Fatty1 · 06-04-2015, 08:54 PM

Did he have SRW or DRW? After all the research I have done the 2500 with diesel seems to be sufficient but I do not want to buy the wrong truck. I'm buying it before I buy the camper.

CWSWine · 06-04-2015, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatty1

Did he have SRW or DRW? After all the research I have done the 2500 with diesel seems to be sufficient but I do not want to buy the wrong truck. I'm buying it before I buy the camper.

He had single rear wheel. He said fully loaded it exceed the 6200 pound rear axle rating on his 2500. I have Ford F350 SRW diesel and the Website said my cargo limits was 4190 but when I got the truck the yellow sticker on the truck said 3844 max cargo. I bought 315res and the website said it had a dry pin weight 1950, i loaded the stuff I carry all time and the pin weight went to 2800 and ready to camp it hit 3090. The majority of the stuff you put in the forward storage adds to your pin weight.

Figure 20% to 25% of gross weight (not dry weight/shipping weight) will be your ping weight, probably around 22% or 23% is good figure.

The 2500 has about 16,000 pound trailer tow capacity but you run out cargo weight capacity long before you run out tow capacity.

Better off having to much truck then not enough!

CWSWine · 06-04-2015, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatty1

Did he have SRW or DRW? After all the research I have done the 2500 with diesel seems to be sufficient but I do not want to buy the wrong truck. I'm buying it before I buy the camper.

I see the GMC says 2600 lbs payload but remember that you have to take off 200 for the hitch so 2400 lbs plus full tank of fuel, passengers, and misc stuff you carry in the truck so doesn't leave much for a trailer that big. Just my thoughts. That 2600lbs is a stripped down truck so you have to subtract options you put on the truck above basic truck.

Fatty1 · 06-04-2015, 11:42 PM

The GMC site says the payload is 3560. Am I not accounting for something properly?

CWSWine · 06-05-2015, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatty1

The GMC site says the payload is 3560. Am I not accounting for something properly?

GMC 2500 4 wheel drive diesel on the GMC crew cab site shows me 2626 and Standard cab (no back seat) listed at 3174 and these are stripped trucks. Options can take away between 1 and 700 lbs of cargo.

This was my 2013 2500hd that the website said 2890 but here is the real deal weight of 2475 with LTZ and Z51 options. You need to hit the Chevy/GMC dealerships and look at the door stickers on the trucks you want to buy. When I order my F350 it was 4200 lbs on the website but the door tag said max cargo of 3844 lbs and I made the dealer put in the order sheet I could refuse the truck if below 3800 lbs cargo.

kozzy · 07-09-2015, 07:11 PM

So have you received your 38BQ? We stumbled upon a great deal on one and are considering purchasing. We currently have a Grand Designs Reflection, not even a year old, and we love it, but the Sanibel floor plan is great. Before or GD, we had a lacrosse 318, but had issues with the frame, it had to go back to the factory once for loosing camber, they fixed it and were great to deal with, but a year latter the frame was bent again, so we got rid of it instead of trying to deal with the issues. I will say prime time was great then to deal with, but I am still leery because of the previous issues.

Fatty1 · 07-09-2015, 07:54 PM

We did buy one. We have camped about two weeks in it so far. We have not had one issue knock on wood. We looked at a ton of different units and this had the best bunkhouse floor plan in our opinion on the market. We had a great experience with our dealer as well.

kozzy · 07-09-2015, 07:56 PM

great to hear, yes, we like the fact it is not like every other bunkhouse, and has them in the back. Also it allows us to get our living room back too..im supposed to be sleeping on the decision tonight, tomorrow I may pull the trigger. We got the dealer down to $46,800 on the unit, is that a good deal from when you were looking??

Fatty1 · 07-09-2015, 09:25 PM

Is it a 15 or 16?

kozzy · 07-09-2015, 09:27 PM

its a 2015. The cheapest I got a dealer down too on a 2016 is $54K
are there any differences? from what I am seeing, I don't see any at all.

julesinmich · 07-16-2015, 08:56 AM

Can anyone tell me what they used for bedding on the sleep & play sofa? Does a fitted sheet stay in place? We just upgraded from a Cougar and I'm trying to get everything I need for our first trip in this unit.

crooks07 · 11-12-2015, 08:09 PM

We just purchased a 38QB, we love the floor plan. Has anyone had any issues with theirs? Do you keep it in one place or tow it around? Thanks

roadglide2011 · 12-18-2015, 08:53 PM

my wife and I have a 2015 lacrosse 318 but we love the floor plan of the 38qb just wondering what the owners of this unit are using for a tow vehicle?

crooks07 · 12-18-2015, 10:21 PM

I have a Chevy 2500 HD. I haven't picked up the unit yet, I pick it up in the spring. I plan on adding airbags just to smooth out the ride.

Fatty1 · 12-19-2015, 08:36 AM

We are towing with GMC 2500 HD. It tows very well. We just towed home from North Carolina yesterday. We avg just under 11 mpg. I had the cruise control set at 74 once we got to the flat ground. I hsve a Hensley air ride hitch. Makes a ton of difference. I do not have air bags. I do not feel the need for them. Also we love the camper. We are a family of four and it works incredibly well for us. One of the best bunkhouse floor plans out there imo.

You may also like: