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Old 03-04-2013, 09:31 PM   #1
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2011 Coachmen Freedom Express 295RLDS is mine!

Hi all,
Just an update.
The wife and I picked up the new to us 2011 Coachman Freedom Express 295RLDS 3/2/13 from General RV in Canton, Ohio. (Traded in the 2005 Outback 25RSS.)
We love the floor plan and this trailer will work much better for us now the kids are older.
Also picked up the Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution System w/ 4-Point Sway Control - 12,000 lbs GTW, 1,200 lbs TW. The trailer tows very well with the F-250 even in the wind and snow we got here Saturday. No trouble with the big rigs sucking us in either.
Only took six tries to get it in the driveway. This thing is long!
We are looking forward to the first trip out this year.
Let the MODS begin!
I have a couple dealer supplied pics from their ad, will post more when the truck is clean. lol
Happy camping!
crunchman
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Old 03-04-2013, 09:36 PM   #2
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Great-looking floorplan and really nice trailer!


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Old 03-04-2013, 09:41 PM   #3
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Great-looking floorplan and really nice trailer!


Thank you, Triguy
Big step up in quality and size for us. Going to be a great year!
crunchman
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Old 03-05-2013, 12:16 PM   #4
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Congrats on finally getting her home!! Be interested in seeing what mods you do; I've only done a couple in ours.
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Old 03-05-2013, 12:57 PM   #5
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Excellent and congratulations!!
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Old 03-05-2013, 01:40 PM   #6
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congrats, we had the 2011 REDS with the duel opp slides, used 1.5 years then upgraded to the current. it pulled and was a super nice coach, but the boss was sick of making beds in the living room for the kids, she said we are getting a larger with bunks. And I said .........
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Old 03-05-2013, 04:57 PM   #7
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Congrats on finally getting her home!! Be interested in seeing what mods you do; I've only done a couple in ours.
Thank you!
I will be getting into it more this weekend to see what I need to do to make it ours, then of course the DW will have her ideas. lol
Question: Does your 295 come with a remote for the awning, porch light and the electric stabilizers? Not sure if the previous owner did this MOD or it was a stock item? Is the only way to turn the porch light on is with the remote?

What MODS have you done to yours? Always looking for good MODS.
TIA,
crunchman
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Old 03-05-2013, 04:59 PM   #8
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congrats, we had the 2011 REDS with the duel opp slides, used 1.5 years then upgraded to the current. it pulled and was a super nice coach, but the boss was sick of making beds in the living room for the kids, she said we are getting a larger with bunks. And I said .........
LOL, NEVER argue with the boss when she says upgrade.
Thank you,
crunchman
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Old 03-05-2013, 05:59 PM   #9
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Thank you!
I will be getting into it more this weekend to see what I need to do to make it ours, then of course the DW will have her ideas. lol
Question: Does your 295 come with a remote for the awning, porch light and the electric stabilizers? Not sure if the previous owner did this MOD or it was a stock item? Is the only way to turn the porch light on is with the remote?

What MODS have you done to yours? Always looking for good MODS.
TIA,
crunchman
No, ours did not come with a remote for any of that stuff, I did not know that was even an option. If the previous owner did it, I admire his abilities. Have done some minor ones, like add a TP holder and a hand towel ring in the bathroom. I recently bought an Oxygenics hand held shower head, to replace the stock one; but have not installed it yet. Oh, also DW installed a foam topper over the mattress, that really works well.
The ones that were a little more work include taking the 19" TV from the entertainment center and moving it to the bedroom. I then installed a new 26" TV in it's place. Next, I modified/re-wired the TV/cable wall plate, in the entertainment center, to allow me to hook up a satellite receiver. The satellite receiver I then put in the cabinet above the TV. Everything works fine. Those are the only thing I can think of right now.
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Old 03-05-2013, 08:08 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by psaman View Post
No, ours did not come with a remote for any of that stuff, I did not know that was even an option. If the previous owner did it, I admire his abilities. Have done some minor ones, like add a TP holder and a hand towel ring in the bathroom. I recently bought an Oxygenics hand held shower head, to replace the stock one; but have not installed it yet. Oh, also DW installed a foam topper over the mattress, that really works well.
The ones that were a little more work include taking the 19" TV from the entertainment center and moving it to the bedroom. I then installed a new 26" TV in it's place. Next, I modified/re-wired the TV/cable wall plate, in the entertainment center, to allow me to hook up a satellite receiver. The satellite receiver I then put in the cabinet above the TV. Everything works fine. Those are the only thing I can think of right now.
psaman,
As far as that remote goes... During my PDI, I had the tech show me the location's of the water heater, furnace and water pump. By my water pump, there was a open faced junction box with a bunch of wires hooked to it. I inquired what is was and he said it was the remote control device that operates the awning, electric stabilizers, slide room and the awning. I thought that was pretty high on the cool factor scale. I had thought it might be a stock item due to the professional installation.
After you said your does not have it, I ran out to the camper to see what it was. After 30 minutes of searching on the web, I found it. It is a "LCI DIGITAL WIRELESS SYSTEM W/LCD REMOTE" here is a link to it. http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/LI...te-2nd-gen.pdf
I also found the next generation one looks like an Ipad. Cool stuff. Guess it is a factory upgrade?
I plan on the basic MODs like you did like the stove topper, towel hooks, lifts for the bed, Oxygenics shower head, step lighting, ect. Found some LED puck type lights that are motion sensor activated with batteries for the steps. Might go with the LED strips though if hooking to the battery is not to much of a pain.
I will need to make something to enclose the XBOX for the kids and add a TV to the bedroom. I love this part of a new camper!
Sounds like a great MOD with the satellite receiver, I can't swing that one yet though.
Chat soon,
crunchman
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Old 03-05-2013, 09:49 PM   #11
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Congrats on getting your 2011 Coachman Freedom Express 295RLDS safely home. That's a nice looking rig!
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Old 03-06-2013, 10:14 AM   #12
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the remote control system may have been part of a special order. A local dealer had a run of Grey Wolf trailers we looked at with the "power package" and it came with the remote. Others did not.

I have thought about trying to add the remote, need to do some more research.
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Old 03-06-2013, 10:49 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by crunchman12001 View Post
psaman,
As far as that remote goes... During my PDI, I had the tech show me the location's of the water heater, furnace and water pump. By my water pump, there was a open faced junction box with a bunch of wires hooked to it. I inquired what is was and he said it was the remote control device that operates the awning, electric stabilizers, slide room and the awning. I thought that was pretty high on the cool factor scale. I had thought it might be a stock item due to the professional installation.
After you said your does not have it, I ran out to the camper to see what it was. After 30 minutes of searching on the web, I found it. It is a "LCI DIGITAL WIRELESS SYSTEM W/LCD REMOTE" here is a link to it. http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/LI...te-2nd-gen.pdf
I also found the next generation one looks like an Ipad. Cool stuff. Guess it is a factory upgrade?
I plan on the basic MODs like you did like the stove topper, towel hooks, lifts for the bed, Oxygenics shower head, step lighting, ect. Found some LED puck type lights that are motion sensor activated with batteries for the steps. Might go with the LED strips though if hooking to the battery is not to much of a pain.
I will need to make something to enclose the XBOX for the kids and add a TV to the bedroom. I love this part of a new camper!
Sounds like a great MOD with the satellite receiver, I can't swing that one yet though.
Chat soon,
crunchman
Thanks for the info on the remote hookup, salesman never mentioned it; I guess some have it and some don't. Either way, I'm happy. Never thought of step lights, that's a possible future project. One thing I did forget to mention was the replacement of most of the interior bulbs with LEDS. I took them back out of our old trailer, before trade in, to reuse them.
psaman
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Old 03-06-2013, 05:21 PM   #14
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Thanks for the info on the remote hookup, salesman never mentioned it; I guess some have it and some don't. Either way, I'm happy. Never thought of step lights, that's a possible future project. One thing I did forget to mention was the replacement of most of the interior bulbs with LEDS. I took them back out of our old trailer, before trade in, to reuse them.
psaman
Dumb question for you and others...
What is the advantage of the LED upgrade other than power consumption while dry camping?
Is it brighter in the trailer? Different look of light? Cooler in summer? Better? Dang things are much more expensive than the standard bulbs, has to be a reason everyone does it but other than dry camping, not sure?
TIA,
crunchman
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Old 03-06-2013, 05:33 PM   #15
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Great Trailer...my wife and I almost bought it. We wound up with a different unit but this was definitely on our short list. We also bought form General in Canton and they were great!

We wound up with Lacrosse
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Old 03-06-2013, 05:45 PM   #16
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Great Trailer...my wife and I almost bought it. We wound up with a different unit but this was definitely on our short list. We also bought form General in Canton and they were great!

We wound up with Lacrosse
LOL, You looked at the unit that I bought? I am glad you did not buy it, I think?.. I hope you did not notice something I did not? Appeared to be in great shape with very little use.
This is my second purchase from General RV in Canton. They are a pleasure to business with.
Congrats on your new TT.
crunchman
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Old 03-06-2013, 09:09 PM   #17
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Dumb question for you and others...
What is the advantage of the LED upgrade other than power consumption while dry camping?
Is it brighter in the trailer? Different look of light? Cooler in summer? Better? Dang things are much more expensive than the standard bulbs, has to be a reason everyone does it but other than dry camping, not sure?
TIA,
crunchman
Pretty much all of the above! There is definitely less power drain and the oem bulbs generate a lot of heat. The ones I use are a softer white with less harsh shadows and I do believe they come in different shades of white. I got them on ebay; this is a link to similar lights, although when I bought them almost 2 years ago, they were only .99 cents a piece!
12V Car 48 SMD White LED Light Panel T10 Festoon BA9S Dome USA SHIP | eBay.
Mine were made in China; I would be surprised if they all aren't. There has been a lot of talk on other boards about their durability, but I have not had any problems yet.
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Old 03-06-2013, 11:14 PM   #18
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Unit was perfect...no problems. Than unit was immaculate when we went through it 2X. You will enjoy it. We can't wait to go out in ours...we camp all over but West Brach and Salt Fork will be our first trips
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Old 03-07-2013, 05:31 AM   #19
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Unit was perfect...no problems. Than unit was immaculate when we went through it 2X. You will enjoy it. We can't wait to go out in ours...we camp all over but West Brach and Salt Fork will be our first trips
gtschmidt58,
I am glad to hear that you saw the same things that I did on the Coachman. You had me scared there for a minute. lol Thank you for not buying it.
The weather is changing for the better here quickly. We will be out soon. We can't wait for our first trip either.
We go to Indian Creek a lot for the winery tours.
Can you get long trailers in West branch, we have never camped there.
Happy camping,
crunchman
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Old 03-07-2013, 05:33 AM   #20
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Pretty much all of the above! There is definitely less power drain and the oem bulbs generate a lot of heat. The ones I use are a softer white with less harsh shadows and I do believe they come in different shades of white. I got them on ebay; this is a link to similar lights, although when I bought them almost 2 years ago, they were only .99 cents a piece!
12V Car 48 SMD White LED Light Panel T10 Festoon BA9S Dome USA SHIP | eBay.
Mine were made in China; I would be surprised if they all aren't. There has been a lot of talk on other boards about their durability, but I have not had any problems yet.
psaman,
Thank you for your reply regarding the LED upgrades. I will have to try a couple out.
crunchman
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