New 351ds

[Networx]

My family just stepped up to a 2013 Georgetown 351ds from a 24' bumper pull toy hauler! Just a small step LOL. We've put 1000 miles on it, with about 200miles of that on snowy roads, so it's been trial by fire for driving. Most of that was getting it home, but we did take a quick overnight trip with the family last weekend since we couldn't wait!

When we were driving through the cold weather, the cab heater didn't work very well at all. I would have thought that big engine would really warm things up, but the air coming out of the dash vents was warm at best, when turned all the way to hot. Is this normal for these things, or should I get that looked at?

I have been through the forums and wanted to mention a few things we've noticed that I haven't seen from others - let me know if I'm crazy or missing something! And THANKS in advance for the help!

We're working on getting it approved for an alignment, and I'm going to see what the dealer will charge to change the sway bar settings based on what I've read. I can probably change the sway bars myself if I have to, but I'm not the most mechanically inclined person.

The "day/night" shades don't help much at night! Our first two nights have been in Wal-mart parking lots and the light comes right in. I'm planning to put up some cheap white roller shades (in front of the day/night shades), I think they will hide behind the factory window dressings when they are up. Anyone else done something different?

I can't hear the radio very well driving, and it outputs to 4 ceiling speakers in the coach - I want to hear it and the kids don't. I'm thinking about adding some sort of small speaker in the cab and putting in a switch to go between that speaker and the coach speakers (when parked, they are the speakers for the main tv/dvd). Anyone done something like this?

We are going to add a DVD player for the bedroom - any suggestions? I was just going to get something cheap from amazon - will that work ok while we're driving, or do I need something special?

My dumbest, newbie question - should the cab fans be pointed at me or the windshield? Just not sure (they are pointed at the windshield currently)

Our model has a residential refrigerator. I didn't think much of it, but when I asked about winterizing it during our orientation, they said for something like this we should not try to winterize it ourselves. What does everyone think about that? I've always done our toy hauler myself, multiple times because we really push the seasons so spring and fall I usually de-winterize and winterize again a few times. That will be hard to do if I have to take it to the dealer, but I don't want to have issues with that refrigerator or this expensive coach!

Thanks for all of your advice. I plan to be a regular around here - though it's going to take a few trips before I have advice to give back LOL!

[statgeek]

I may have you beat on your upgrade. My family "upgraded" from a...tent...to a Class A. We skipped trailers altogether!

I'm not as seasoned as most on this Forum, in fact only been RV'ing for a few months, but I can help with some of your questions.. We've done 6 or so trips in ours and it's amazing how quickly you learn--especially if you read this blog and also others that you can find..like irv2

Anyway.. Ours is a 35' Gas Coachmen, so a different brand than yours, but I suspect the answers are still relevant.

Cab heat (and A/C) is inefficient and wastes gas. Better to heat your Class A from the house furnace, and better to cool using the house A/C (assuming you have a generator).

Totally agree about the radio volume! I put the "fader" on all the way forward and turn it up.. Kids watching DVD's in the back don't complain, but I do wish there were speakers closer to my head!

Cab fans should point towards the window to keep that monster-size windshield from fogging up. But there's no problem pointing them into the cabin once you're at camp to circulate air. Nevertheless, we bought a tower fan to do that--much quieter and easier to replace when it dies.

Can't help you with your residential refridge (jealous!) or DVD questions, but I'll monitor the DVD one in particular, as I may want to add another player to my coach too!

[cfsoistman]

First thing, congrats on the new Georgetown and to the Forums.
Cab heat is marginal at best. When it's real cold it will keep you from freezing but you're never really warm. Unless you use the heat back in the coach, the front feels like you're pulling the cold air forward.
Our AC is ok, we generally use it along with the Dash Fans.
I've read where some people have added a curtain across the coach to seperate the driver and passenger seat from the rest of the coach. This creates a smaller area to heat or cool.
Dash fans, we use ours in the oscillating mode so it blows across the window as well as back towards the center. This works well when the sun is directly in front. It keeps the area from feeling like an oven.
Can't say much about your situation with the radio since ours only plays up front and has no speakers attached other than the two just above the driver and passenger seats.
We use the coach AC if there is anyone traveling with us and it gets too hot, otherwise we just use the fans back there to vent the heat outside. We have 2 Fantastic Fans with Covers on the roof. They operate by a built-in t-stat.
We've recently started adding window film to the inside of the bedroom window. Roll up shades is not an option for us unless I remove the day/night shades all together. We bought black window film at HD and it really makes a difference. We already have the tinted windows and with the film we're still able to look out but the light coming in has really lessened. Prior to that we had a towel clipped up to the valance to keep the bedroom dark.
We added a Playstation 2 to our rear TV for games as well as DVD use. We still have an analog TV in the bedroom, [ they changed to digital TVs about 6 months later in the bedrooms]. We have a closet next to the TV. I just fed the cables into the same hole where the power cable comes out.