Newbie Apex 300BHS owner

[HVACGuy]

Hi everyone!
As the title says, I'm green when it comes to TT's. I've had many popups, and some experience with small hybrids, but nothing of this size and features.

My first questions has to do with my PDI (we take delivery next week), are there any specific things I should look out for with the 300? Any common issues people have?

Second, I'm interested in changing the living room TV and adding a BD player, anyone have any experience removing the existing TV?
I'm no expert, but it looked to me like I could remove the back panel and access the rear of the TV mount.

My plan is to repurpose that TV in the bunk house for kid/guest use. I purchased a fixed mount to do this. I'm hoping there is backing in there for the type of mount I purchased.

And lastly, are there any "must do" mods to this unit before we hit the road?

- Dwayne

[Wiscampsin]

Under the Library tab above there is a PDI Checklist you can download and take with you.
Use the areas that pertain to you.

[HVACGuy]

Originally Posted by Wiscampsin

Under the Library tab above there is a PDI Checklist you can download and take with you.
Use the areas that pertain to you.

Thank you very much for that information!

[Major Malfunction]

I've had a 300 BHS for 2+ years now. Love it but have made quite a few modifications.

The swivel TV in the front. I personally think the design and implementation sucks. If you are in the front bedroom and anyone is watching TV on the couch, especially with the AC on, it is probably louder in the bedroom than on the couch Plus there is a gap around it. I eventually framed it out, put sound deadening round it, and now you can only watch it from the couch side. It was a trade off, but now you can actually sleep in the bedroom if someone watches TV. Also added a bluetooth receiver into the AUX input of the DVD player/radio combo. This allows me to connect my phone from outside and play music to the outside speakers. As for changing it out to BluRay, you can do it but you are pretty limited due to the form factor of the hole to mount it in if you replace the existing DVD player. I have a TV in the bunk room and use the Xbox I have hooked up to it to watch BluRay, if needed.

Speaking of the AC. It's ducted, which is great. However, the bunk room becomes Arctic like if all the vents are open. I end up with one open back there. The AC will cool the entire trailer but if you get into temps near 100 or more, it will not keep up. Checked with Coachmen and according to my build, I cannot put another AC unit on my roof in the front bedroom.

And equally as cold as you can get the bunkroom, it also works that way when its cold out too. And by that I mean that the bunkroom has NO HEAT to it, only AC. There is no duct work furnace connection in my 2015. The recommendation from the factory was to run the furnace and run the AC blower at the same time to circulate the heat. Not possible if you are off the grid. I have no idea if this dumb design has been changed since then.

The skylight in the shower. Seems great, but again, if you are anywhere with hot temps, the bathroom becomes a sauna. Tinted my window and much better. The shower itself is nice, but I changed the "prison grade" shower nozzle over to a hard piped shower head. One other good thing to do is replace the single lone exhaust fan in the bathroom with an upgrade exhaust fan. That little fan to handle a 30' trailer just ain't going to cut it.

The exhaust vent over the stove is so far back with teh deep counters that it literally did not do anything. I had to take mine off and remounted it further out and it still only covers half the stove. I had to make some customer duct work to extend it out but you can't really tell I did it.

All of the mattresses in mine were also "prison grade". I couldn't sleep on the front queen for more than a night or two and end up sore. Replaced that with an RV queen memory foam and had no problems on a 3 week trip.

The trailer is looooooooong. It will flex and shake no matter how hard you try to stiffen it with the 4 provided jacks. It's simply too long for just 4 jacks. I bought 2 new ones through Amazon for about $60 and mounted one on each side just in front of the front axle. Night and day the difference in taking out the shimmy.

Had trouble mounting my Equalizer weight distribution hitch. The mounts for the bars could not be put on because the spare tire is under the A frame in the front of the receiver. Had to unbolt it and put the spare tire on the rear bumper. Been there for about 15,000 miles now and I haven't had any issues.

Good luck!!

[HVACGuy]

Thanks for the post MM! Lots of great info there.

I have read your thoughts and mods about the TV, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.

I don't plan on removing the radio/media player. I was just considering adding a BD player in the entertainment unit as we really don't own many DVD's anymore.

Seems odd to have all those vents in the bunk house and none of them be connected to the furnace. That is something I wanted to check out on our PDI as I came across similar posts.

A lot of what you had to say I noticed, the fan looking rather small, the spare looks like it'll be in the way of my WD hitch, etc. I was concerned I would have to relocate it when I first noticed that, looks like I may be correct. Knowing full well people are going to most likely be installing a WD hitch I'm surprised it's not an undermount somewhere else.

I'm excited to do some mods to this thing. I've completely gone into full geek mode over the TT. My wife laughs at me, but also understands the benefits of being educated as much as possible.

[Major Malfunction]

You will find vents in the bunkhouse. However, these are not for heat or AC. They are to vent the fridge from the outdoor kitchen. I saw them and mistakenly thought they were for the furnace. Then we did a trip in late October and I learned that they were not! Checked with Coachmen and they said it was by design. I doubt they changed it since the 2015 model.

Other modifications I've done is add a LOT more shelving in the cabinets in the kitchen and dinette area. The cabinets are huge, but there are no shelves which leads to a waste of space or piling stuff in there that becomes a mess going down the road, IMHO.

There is a huge cabinet opening under one of the dinette benches. You can literally crawl around in there. But with it being that big, stuff just gets lost and rolls around. I got 2 75 lb 36" slide hinges from Rockler and made a huge slide out drawer there now. I can't open it all the way unless the couchside slide out is all the way out but its way more useful now.

The water pump vibrated a LOT. This is a common problem in RVs, not just this model. You can reach it under the bottom drawer in the bunkroom. I put an inline expansion tank on it and layered in household insulation. You can't even hear it now.

Overall, I love my 300 BHS. I was pulling with a Ram 1500. It pulled it no problem, but I was getting about 8-9 mpg on the highway. Upgraded to a Ram 2500 diesel. Pulled it on a 3 week 7500 mile cross country trip last summer. Other than the AC not being able to keep up with the desert heat, it was a blast. Got about 14 mpg overall for the entire 7500 mile trip.

[Fireguy205]

I have a 2019 300BHS mine has the 2nd AC in the master. Also I do have heat in the rear bunk room I think there is only 1 vent though which is located on the back side of the outdoor kitchen wall. There are 2 vents there but only one blows heat the other must be the fridge vent. The vent in the bathroom may be small but when you turn it on you can deffinetly feel the air getting pulled from under the door. Agree 100% about the 4 stabilizer jacks not being enough, recently purchased to of the Valterra stabilizer bars I put one on the door side infront of the axle and one under the rear bumper, makes a huge difference. I have the Equalizer E4 hitch and my spare tire is still under the tougne. Probably forgetting something, but other than that we love our 300BHS.

Matress-We added a few (now 3) of the foam matress toppers from Walmart, and now the bed is actually comfortable.

[HVACGuy]

Originally Posted by Major Malfunction

I was pulling with a Ram 1500. It pulled it no problem, but I was getting about 8-9 mpg on the highway.

My current pull unit is a 2017 Ram 1500 with the Hemi. I was expecting around 8 MPG with the 300BHS. With my last truck ('08 Ram) I would average around 9-13 with my old trailer depending on conditions.

Did you have to do any modifications to your 1500 to pull comfortably?

I was considering the possibility of upgrading to a 2500 in the next few years, but I don't know if it's personally worth it to me. My truck is a DD that I use for my small business. I don't need that heavy of a truck all the time, only when pulling the camper.
I guess when it's time to move on I'll have to decide if the fuel penalty for DD is worth the extra capacity, and mileage well towing.

Also, do you have a build thread about some of your 300BHS mods?

Originally Posted by Fireguy205

I have a 2019 300BHS mine has the 2nd AC in the master. Also I do have heat in the rear bunk room I think there is only 1 vent though which is located on the back side of the outdoor kitchen wall. There are 2 vents there but only one blows heat the other must be the fridge vent. The vent in the bathroom may be small but when you turn it on you can deffinetly feel the air getting pulled from under the door. Agree 100% about the 4 stabilizer jacks not being enough, recently purchased to of the Valterra stabilizer bars I put one on the door side infront of the axle and one under the rear bumper, makes a huge difference. I have the Equalizer E4 hitch and my spare tire is still under the tougne. Probably forgetting something, but other than that we love our 300BHS.

Matress-We added a few (now 3) of the foam matress toppers from Walmart, and now the bed is actually comfortable.

Thanks for the information!

I hope ours also has heat in the bunk, we plan on doing some late season camping this year, and it would be nice to not have to run an auxiliary heater.

We're going to do something similar with the mattress. I think I could handle it, but my wife likes a softer bed. I could sleep on plywood lol.

I'm really glad to hear overall people have had good experiences with the products.
We have a family friend who does warranties for a local distributor, he constantly talks trash about all the different brands. The reality is they're all hand assembled, and each one is uniquely different with their issues.

[Major Malfunction]

I had a 2012 Ram and then a 2015 Ram 1500. In both cases, the first thing I did for towing is get a set of Air Lift 1000s. The reason a Ram 1500 rides so nice for a pickup is because its coil springs, not leaf springs, in the back. However, they REALLY squat when you put a lot of weight on them. The air bags about the size of a can of Pringles and go inside the springs. You inflate to 30 psi and once you hook up the 700+ lbs tongue weight of the 300 BHS, you should be relatively level still. They are only $85 and take about an hour to install. I stubbed out the valves right next to my rear license plate. Deflate to 5 psi when not carrying anything. Great reviews and well worth it for the Ram 1500.

And no I don't have any pics or threads on the things I've done. I'm getting ready for a trip this week, so I'll try to post some pics of the little things I've noticed/done.

One other big thing I did was replace the equalizer and bushings on the rear axles of the tralier. I put on a Lippert Equaflex suspension kit. Amazon for $149. What that does is pick up the shock between the axles and really smooths out the "chucking" as the trailer wants to push/pull against the tow vehicle.

[Major Malfunction]

Originally Posted by Fireguy205

I have a 2019 300BHS mine has the 2nd AC in the master. Also I do have heat in the rear bunk room I think there is only 1 vent though which is located on the back side of the outdoor kitchen wall. There are 2 vents there but only one blows heat the other must be the fridge vent. The vent in the bathroom may be small but when you turn it on you can deffinetly feel the air getting pulled from under the door. Agree 100% about the 4 stabilizer jacks not being enough, recently purchased to of the Valterra stabilizer bars I put one on the door side infront of the axle and one under the rear bumper, makes a huge difference. I have the Equalizer E4 hitch and my spare tire is still under the tougne. Probably forgetting something, but other than that we love our 300BHS.

Matress-We added a few (now 3) of the foam matress toppers from Walmart, and now the bed is actually comfortable.

That's interesting on the 2nd AC unit and the heat being piped in finally. They were without a doubt my 2 big peeves about the the trailer. I looked at their website and I don't see where they offer a 2nd AC unit, but I'm glad they changed it.

And looking at the recent floor plan for the 2018, I see they put a pocket door on both sides now. With mine, I have a pocket door on the right side and a continuous entertainment center on the other that has a LOT of storage. Personally, I think that is a lot of storage to give up versus having to shimmy around the tight squeeze in the front bedroom.

I see they also added a vent over the front bedroom, which the 2015 does not have. I talked to the factory last year about putting an AC unit up there and they told me my roof would not support it, but I could put a vent there there myself but would have to offset it to get around a crossmember. I replaced the fan in the bathroom with a Fantastivent or whatever it is called. That moves so much air that I never got around to doing the bedroom vent.

[HVACGuy]

Originally Posted by Major Malfunction

I had a 2012 Ram and then a 2015 Ram 1500. In both cases, the first thing I did for towing is get a set of Air Lift 1000s. The reason a Ram 1500 rides so nice for a pickup is because its coil springs, not leaf springs, in the back. However, they REALLY squat when you put a lot of weight on them. The air bags about the size of a can of Pringles and go inside the springs. You inflate to 30 psi and once you hook up the 700+ lbs tongue weight of the 300 BHS, you should be relatively level still. They are only $85 and take about an hour to install. I stubbed out the valves right next to my rear license plate. Deflate to 5 psi when not carrying anything. Great reviews and well worth it for the Ram 1500.

One other big thing I did was replace the equalizer and bushings on the rear axles of the tralier. I put on a Lippert Equaflex suspension kit. Amazon for $149. What that does is pick up the shock between the axles and really smooths out the "chucking" as the trailer wants to push/pull against the tow vehicle.

I looked at those air sleeves, and I was considering them. I'm concerned about them cracking or splitting as I live in a cold climate. I would hate to put them in, just to have them fail in the winter.
I was thinking of changing the coils, but am concerned about changing the ride quality. However, I will do it if I have to. Whatever I do I would like it to be as trouble free as possible.

I went and weighed my truck yesterday, as it sits setup for service it weighs 6504 LBS. 396 LBS of payload left, ouch.
I will have to weight all my tool bags and equipment as it comes off to find out what my roughly unloaded weight is.
I've added full length steps, a tool box, and hard folding tonneau cover as well. So I may need to ditch the tonneau well towing. Ideally I would like to remove 500 LBS or more from the truck, we'll see how that goes.

Originally Posted by Major Malfunction

That's interesting on the 2nd AC unit and the heat being piped in finally. They were without a doubt my 2 big peeves about the the trailer. I looked at their website and I don't see where they offer a 2nd AC unit, but I'm glad they changed it.

And looking at the recent floor plan for the 2018, I see they put a pocket door on both sides now. With mine, I have a pocket door on the right side and a continuous entertainment center on the other that has a LOT of storage. Personally, I think that is a lot of storage to give up versus having to shimmy around the tight squeeze in the front bedroom.

I see they also added a vent over the front bedroom, which the 2015 does not have. I talked to the factory last year about putting an AC unit up there and they told me my roof would not support it, but I could put a vent there there myself but would have to offset it to get around a crossmember. I replaced the fan in the bathroom with a Fantastivent or whatever it is called. That moves so much air that I never got around to doing the bedroom vent.

Ours has the roof vent, and I was considering putting a second AC in right from the start. However, I believe I read in the manual the roof is not designed to support it. Same with a ladder, I was going to have the dealer install a ladder, until I read that. If they aren't factory installed, then it isn't designed for it.
I found that to be a bit of a bummer. So what, now I have to carry around a light weight extension ladder in case I want to get on the roof?
It also said the roof isn't designed to support major weight, so plywood is recommended to distribute the weight.

Good thing I went through the manual lol.

[Major Malfunction]

Forgot about the "no ladder" situation, too. I found that out after contacting the factory. I ended up buying a light folding aluminum ladder on Amazon for about $70 that I take with me. I live in the NorthEast and there always seem to be a lot of acorns or pine needles wanting to get caught in the slide outs. That and sometimes the seals dont lay flat when opening them up. Ladder is useful for getting up there to check out the slides.

And being in the NorthEast, I never had a problem with the air bags. I believe they come with a lifetime warranty, too. They were never a problem for me and really helped with keeping it level and stop it from bottoming out. Won't give you any more payload capacity, but certainly lets it handle it in a more civil fashion.

[HVACGuy]

Well, this evening was kind of a bummer. Decided to weigh all my day to day gear in the truck. Tools, supplies, etc. Removed a disappointing 220 LBS. I was really hoping for more.
I can still remove my hard tonneau, and tool box.
The other thing I was thinking is I put heavy duty nerf steps on my truck, wheel to wheel with bed access. Those probably weigh (going off of pipe weight charts) 60-75 LBS a piece. I listed them locally to see if I can get any interest in them, they're only 6 months old, and still look good.

Those off alone would probably put me very close to okay.
It would have to be pretty lean to make all the numbers work with some room for error and safety.

Originally Posted by Major Malfunction

Forgot about the "no ladder" situation, too. I found that out after contacting the factory. I ended up buying a light folding aluminum ladder on Amazon for about $70 that I take with me. I live in the NorthEast and there always seem to be a lot of acorns or pine needles wanting to get caught in the slide outs. That and sometimes the seals dont lay flat when opening them up. Ladder is useful for getting up there to check out the slides.

And being in the NorthEast, I never had a problem with the air bags. I believe they come with a lifetime warranty, too. They were never a problem for me and really helped with keeping it level and stop it from bottoming out. Won't give you any more payload capacity, but certainly lets it handle it in a more civil fashion.

I'll probably give those air bags a shot, they're the most cost affective solution. I don't have any experience with that brand, but the Firestone ones I had in my 08 were really good! Helped it out a lot when I had a full load.
I was just concerned with some of the images around showing the Air Lifts split open.

I will most likely end up doing the same thing you are, carrying a small fold up ladder a long, if I have the left over payload. Lol!

I received an estimate today for slide covers from the RV shop, I'm going to go a head and get those right away. They won't have them in for a few weeks, but they should be on for our September trip we're planning.

[Major Malfunction]

Here's a link to pics of some of the mods I have done:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gMX6UU8erKG3rb5C7

1. Added shelves to outdoor kitchen cabinet
2. Added rain channel around outdoor kitchen door. Helps keep water from running in when open if raining.
3. More shelving over dinette
4. Added large pull out drawer underneath dinette. Holds up to 75 lbs
5. Pulled stove vent out to where it should be. Added stove cover
6. Added shelving to cabinet
7. Added shelving to cabinet over sink. Added spice rack over sink
8. Closed off TV swivel and added sound proofing. Backside view from bedroom. You can also see I don't have the other pocket door.
9. Moved medicine cabinet over toilet. Added new cabinet over sink. Replaced toilet with a houselike toilet. Replaced vent with a high velocity vent. Replaced hot water heater with tankless!
10. Hard-piped shower. We only glamp, so no need for "navy showers"
11. Added bed rail for top bunk. Used maple and mixed stain to match.
12. LED motion light under bathroom cabinet. Added toiletries holder. There si a total lack of usable cabinet space in the bathroom.
13. Shoe rack made from pallet wood at front door. Also upgraded fire extinguisher.

[HVACGuy]

Originally Posted by Major Malfunction

Here's a link to pics of some of the mods I have done

Looks great! Thanks for sharing!

Your TV mod and bunk rail look really good, great job!
I was thinking about having to add a rail to that top bunk. My nephew will be with us our first trip out, I guess we'll find out if he stays up there without a rail

One more day till we take delivery!

[Fireguy205]

Kind of wierd they are saying the roof can't support a 2nd AC unit. That is how mine came from the factory and is on the build sheet. The 2nd AC unit is the only reason mine is 50amp instead of 30.

Love the MODs nice work.

[Major Malfunction]

Originally Posted by Fireguy205

Kind of wierd they are saying the roof can't support a 2nd AC unit. That is how mine came from the factory and is on the build sheet. The 2nd AC unit is the only reason mine is 50amp instead of 30.

My thoughts exactly. I figured I would just cut in and install myself. But apparently this option was not considered in the 2015 model and putting a 100lb AC unit up there is a no-go. They did specifically want my VIN to figure out my floorplan.

I don't even have a vent in the front bedroom. They suggested I put one in to "help". Uh, it's 100+ degrees out. I don't want to bring that air inside in any way! I guess they realized that the size of the trailer is just too big to handle with one unit, ducted or not, and offered it with the newer models.

[HVACGuy]

Picked up Tttimmy the Trailer this afternoon.

https://imgur.com/a/FuAZNGj

Truck did really well! I emptied the bed, and tool box, plus removed the bed cover.

Came across a few other small cosmetic issues well doing our PDI that we missed when we first looked at it. Our technician was really good, everything that was minor we pointed out was repaired before we left. He also gave use a few tips and pointers when I discussed future plans for the unit.

Another surprise was he setup my new WD hitch for me. Initially the sales people said that was an extra charge. My assumption is they would have probably done it anyway, they just want to bait you into saying yes to the charge. I came prepared for installing it, so that was a welcome surprise!

I have to say, so far we're really happy, and excited to get it out in a few weeks!

Edit: tried embedding the image, nothing comes up. Is there a trick to it? I copied the link, inserted it use the image icon, and nothing.

[Major Malfunction]

Looks great! Best of luck.

[Fireguy205]

Congratulations hope you enjoy it.