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Old 07-06-2013, 05:43 PM   #1
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new 31RKOK

Hello from Texas. I just put a deposit down on a 2013 31RKOK. We've recently sold our 2003 Arctic fox 34-5b which has served us faithfully for the last 8 years, an absolutely wonderful camper, which has given us very few problems (although heavy as a pregnant sow).



We live in West Texas, the Sabre we bought is over 900 miles away in American Fork, Utah. I must admit, I'm pretty nervous about the whole buying so far away thing. I guess if I wasn't so picky about what I wanted in a camper I would have bought much closer to home, but this camper came as close to what we could both agree on. Here's a picture as she sits on the lot.



I think we got a reasonable deal on the camper, not smoking hot or anything, but close enough that we are satisfied. I'm looking forward to the outside kitchen because that is what I do, cook and cook some more when we're out. I'm thinking the ole Big Green Egg with fit just perfect beside it.

We're leaving this Thursday, driving for 12 hours or so, then making it to the dealer Friday morning. I'll post more pictures when we get there, and the various camping spots we take on the way home including my most favorite, Cloudcroft New Mexico.

Mike T.
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Old 07-06-2013, 11:03 PM   #2
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Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new camper!

Dave
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Old 07-07-2013, 12:04 PM   #3
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Congrats on the new camper! In march, we bought and picked up our new Sabre 34TBOK some 900 miles away. So I know your feelings. It was and continues to be a great experience for us and a great learning trip on the way home. Just emailed our dealers warranty dept so will see if they are as good as they say. Have a great trip and, Happy Campin!
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Old 07-07-2013, 06:42 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtstromsburg View Post
Congrats on the new camper! In march, we bought and picked up our new Sabre 34TBOK some 900 miles away. So I know your feelings. It was and continues to be a great experience for us and a great learning trip on the way home. Just emailed our dealers warranty dept so will see if they are as good as they say. Have a great trip and, Happy Campin!
If you don't mind, what did they say they would do for you so far away?

We looked high and low for the "platinum color" like yours for a good while, seems like they are a rarity in the 31rkok, but when we saw the partial paint scheme, we fell in love with it.
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Old 07-07-2013, 07:37 PM   #5
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I like the platinum, but full color is great too! I bought from RV wholesalers in Ohio. They offer a nationwide warranty service thru independent Shops(I guess). I have a couple minor issues and one with the main slide dragging on its gutter. Just emailed them, and I expect a call this week about it. I'll report on them again, either way.

Again, congrats!

We are trying to wear ours out. Picked up march 7th, and been out about 40 nights. I'm 35 and head of maint for a small School district, dw us a teacher, and three dd's. Its so worth the time and money!
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Old 07-07-2013, 08:21 PM   #6
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Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Sabre!
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Old 07-22-2013, 09:02 AM   #7
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Trek is over

The 2000 mile trek is over. We drove 14 hours the first day and spent the night in Moab, Utah. We woke up early the next day and got to Stewarts Rv in American Fork, Utah by 9 in the morning. Every one there was very friendly and met our every need.



We spent the next two hours doing a PDI, every thing seemed to be in order, the camper was very clean, I couldn't find on bit of sawdust anywhere. I did find a brake wire unhooked, the deadbolt in the door would not latch, and the outside kitchen door was a little loose when it was latched. All those problems were fixed on the spot.

I had them take the decorative pinbox cover off before we even hitched up. Thanks to forum member Ependyday, we have the same retrax pro bed cover, and his has scratched his liner under certain turning circumstances. I didn't want that to happen. We're both thinking of triglides anyway

The first night of camping was at Green River State park, Utah.



Everything worked great, pulled wonderfully, no problems. We left the next morning for South fork, Colorado, Fun Valley to be exact. When we opened the pantry we were greeted with a broken bottom pantry shelf.



I didn't think any of the roads we took were too rough, but I guess the rear kitchen bounces a little more than I thought. There was only a gallon of water in the bottom shelf, but enough to break the shelf and supports and send it all down on the heater below. 1/8 inch shelf? really guys? I'll fix that and it wont do that again. We spent a full day at fun valley and left for Cloud croft, New Mexico the next morning.



It rain pretty much the whole way there and the next three days. Happy to say we found no leaks anywhere . The second day at Cloudcroft (dry camping) I noticed the battery indicator was working its way down. Even with the generator running (Honda eu3000), the panel was not showing the batteries charging. On the internet I go for trouble shooting on the converter. After running the test and checking the two fuses on the converter, it's completely dead. Down the mountain I go to buy a battery charger, I needed a nice one in the shop anyway.

The next five days were uneventful except a whole lot of relaxing. My daughter brought our dogs to use since we couldn't fit them with all the stuff we took. They seem to approve of the new camper.





After 6 great nights in Cloudcroft, it was time to go home. We stopped at rattlesnake park. a great little rest stop between Artisia, NM and Lovington, NM. I lowered the hitch one hole, the camper is now riding almost perfectly level.


The only other problem we had was I twice had to plunge the toilet. I'm not sure what's going on there, we never had any problems with that with our two previous 5ers. My son in law has a 4 foot crevis cam we're going to shove down the poop shoot and see what is amiss.

I talked to the manager at Stewarts RV and asked him about warranty work done to a rv bought in a different state. He just happened to know someone at the Forest River dealership here in my town, and gave them a call. He said I'm set up and will have no problem with warranty problems. I'll find out today when I call and see if I can swap the converter out.

All in all, I think we're going to love this camper. I used the outside kitchen everyday, it's not a novelty for me. The wife and I did comment after a couple of days, that we do need to take a few more precautions with the camper especially when the slides are closed. Wow, that living room slide floor is thin and unsupported. We both made the comment, this is no arctic fox, not in a negative way, but just that a little more tenderness may be in order. I did notice this, holy cargo carrying capacity batman!



My new Duramax 3500 performed flawlessly, got 19.5 going up to Utah, and averaged a little under 12 the way back. Good times, We're looking forward to the next 5 years with the Sabre, then it's time for the retirement camper

Mike T.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:48 PM   #8
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Thanks for the pics and narrative!
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Old 07-22-2013, 09:04 PM   #9
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I decided to bypass the dealer for the dead converter and called WFCO directly. The very nice lady on the other end showed me the online forms to fill out, and they are sending me a new unit with a prepaid box to send the defective one in.

I think I figured out what went wrong with the converter. It's located in the very back of the camper. It was only secured on one corner of the converter with one single screw. With the apparent bouncing going on back there, with every bump in the road, the converter was most likely bouncing up and slamming back down on the floor, too much trouble to use two screws? I'll be sure and secure the new one more than that.
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