Gregarious
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2021
- Messages
- 18
After six years, hundreds of nights, and many miles in a Northwood Nash 23B travel trailer, we thought it time to get a motorhome. Hopefully, one with a much larger fresh tank since the vast majority of our camping is boondocking on fire roads, open areas, BLM land, rest stops, and various dispersed camping sites.
After stalking this and other forums for months, I decided on a Dynamax DX3 37 BH. The major reasons were the greater and cheaper serviceability as compared to a typical Class A chassis, its upscale interior, the above average reputation for quality, and their having a bunkhouse model plus a cab-over sleeper to accommodate kids and friends without infringing into our living spaces.
Buying
I thought of getting a two- to three-year-old model so someone else would have taken the brunt of the depreciation and would have dealt with the 20 things that go wrong with a new RV. Unfortunately, the market was hot for super Cs; not only were DX3’s hard to find but the sellers weren’t asking much less than the price of a new one! Although I live in Las Vegas, NV, I ended up flying to St. Louis, MO to find the closest available DX3 (new or used) and bought a new 2021 DX3.
I prepared a detailed PDI checklist based on forum discussions and had allowed three days there so the dealer would have two days to remedy issues before I had to hit the road. However, the weather gods failed to consider my plans when they started a three-day storm that resulted in my flight being diverted three times and spending two nights in Dallas. As a result, I was only able to camp at the dealer one night but was so sleep-deprived that i was unable to do my checklist.
The First Three Months
As expected, I noticed many issues during the first three months. I’ll separate them into “Defective When Leaving the Dealer” versus “Post-delivery Issues.” Note that I bought my RV at the end of March 2021 but let’s say “April” for all intents and purposes and have been traveling in it since May 2021. Any statuses are as of June 30, 2021.
Defective When Leaving the Dealer
False Alarm
I thought the fridge was defective since the coldest setting would only cool the fridge to about 46 degrees when the ambient temperature averaged 76 degrees. I contacted the manufacturer but GE apparently had no specs regarding how cold it should be given a any ambient temperature and control setting. I asked how they know if a fridge is defective if they don’t have performance specs and received a meaningless response.
At any rate, I since learned this was a user issue. Once I rearranged the freezer contents after grocery shopping, the fridge cooled well enough to set it back to the medium temperature setting. Apparently, I had one or more bags of frozen veggies placed such that they restricted circulation of air from the freezer to the fridge.
Design Issues
The issues above aren’t unique to Dynamax. Like any BMW you see, any RV you see has an open list of items for repair. There are, however, some issues that appear to be design oversights as follows.
My Mods
Loves and Pilot/Fyling J want us to use the consumer auto lanes or the RV lanes (where equipped). However, that is very inefficient when you have tanks on both sides plus DEF to refill. It can also be painful to maneuver a super C on the consumer side. I asked a few cashiers at Loves and in one at Pilot if there any way a consumer driving a personal RV could pay at the truck pumps, and they all said, “no.” Fortunately, they were all mistaken.
A 5th wheel driver heard my question and showed me his TSD Open Roads card which provides discounted fuel rates for consumers and allows us to pay at the pump. I ordered mine that night and have been a satisfied user for the almost 9,000 miles and 50 nights I’ve put on my DX3 since April 2021. I also ordered the co-branded Polit/Flying J & Good Sam card, which allows me to use the truck lanes at their shops and get discounted dumping fees. Between the two I’ve always enjoyed the efficiency of pumping at the truck lanes, especially in Oregon where consumers are deemed incompetent to pump their own fuel (No offense intended. If offended, please contact your state legislators who are the only people who think Oregonians should not pump their own fuel, bless their hearts.)
Driving Comfort
For long-distance traveling, the seats are quite comfortable but too much noise enters the cabin for comfort. To have the music overcome the ambient noise, I need to have it so loud that I am sure it is at a harmful level for my ears. To listen to podcasts or audiobooks where you don’t already know the words, you must have it even louder so I don’t bother. This is my experience when cruising at 72 MPH with the cab A/C unit running.
Summary
If you overlook the expected pains associated with being the original owner of a motorhome, my family is thrilled with what our DX3 has done to make our living more convenient and comfortable.
Since our itinerary is fluid, since RV repair facilities are short-staffed, and since RV demand has sky-rocketed, my biggest challenge has been getting any service done. This is the Achilles Heel of the industry. Most places I call are booked up 4-8 months in advance but I usually don’t know where work will have us living that far in advance.
Because of this, I’ve had to out-of-pocket a few repairs that were warranty eligible since I needed to get them done when I can. Issues like the grey tank leak will likely be costly to address so I’ll have to live with it until the stars line up.
The jury is still out on Dynamax’s performance regarding warranty work. Given the restricted access with authorized repair shops, I hope it will consider allowing us to use other qualified repair shops since it can otherwise take more than six months for an average person, or up to three years for someone who both lives in their RV and roams, to schedule a repair and get it done.
I will be a very happy camper once I’ve been able to resolve the open issues. That light at the end of the tunnel keeps me from being discouraged these days. Hopefully, I don't find that light is an oncoming train
Overall, I appreciate the design, the Freightliner chassis, the artful paint job and interior amenities. Now someone get me a service appointment, please!
After stalking this and other forums for months, I decided on a Dynamax DX3 37 BH. The major reasons were the greater and cheaper serviceability as compared to a typical Class A chassis, its upscale interior, the above average reputation for quality, and their having a bunkhouse model plus a cab-over sleeper to accommodate kids and friends without infringing into our living spaces.
Buying
I thought of getting a two- to three-year-old model so someone else would have taken the brunt of the depreciation and would have dealt with the 20 things that go wrong with a new RV. Unfortunately, the market was hot for super Cs; not only were DX3’s hard to find but the sellers weren’t asking much less than the price of a new one! Although I live in Las Vegas, NV, I ended up flying to St. Louis, MO to find the closest available DX3 (new or used) and bought a new 2021 DX3.
I prepared a detailed PDI checklist based on forum discussions and had allowed three days there so the dealer would have two days to remedy issues before I had to hit the road. However, the weather gods failed to consider my plans when they started a three-day storm that resulted in my flight being diverted three times and spending two nights in Dallas. As a result, I was only able to camp at the dealer one night but was so sleep-deprived that i was unable to do my checklist.
The First Three Months
As expected, I noticed many issues during the first three months. I’ll separate them into “Defective When Leaving the Dealer” versus “Post-delivery Issues.” Note that I bought my RV at the end of March 2021 but let’s say “April” for all intents and purposes and have been traveling in it since May 2021. Any statuses are as of June 30, 2021.
Defective When Leaving the Dealer
- Neither pocket door would lock in the open position so I drove from MO to NV with pillows on the floor to protect the coach from the slamming doors. An authorized service center in NV ordered new parts in April. They also partially repaired it such that the doors would work in the interim if handled very gingerly. The parts have not come in so this is an open item.
- The floor guide (not sure what it’s called) for the pocket door closest to the living area was not adhered to the floor and was cracked so I have to align the door with the guide to slide the door closed each time. An authorized repair shop order replacement parts in April. They have not yet come in.
- The upper-left quadrant of the camera monitor on the dash periodically shows no feed and says “No video,” or similar. Also, there is condensation in the other side camera lens rendering it useless when it rains. An authorized repair shop ordered a replacement camera in April. This part has not come in yet.
- The kitchen area Maxx Fan sometimes stops and won’t respond to any manual operation (other than turning the “open/close” knob). We weren’t able to replicate the issue at a repair shop so it’s an unresolved issue.
- The headlights appeared to be strobing and aimed upward. A Freightliner dealer said the lamps were not secured so what appeared as strobing was simply their bouncing around from the vibration of the engine. They secured and aimed them. Problem fixed.
- Almost all window screens were improperly secured. They were all barely hanging on and most fell off entirely or partly during my drive home. Dynamax sent me a replacement for one that had a bent frame upon delivery. When I had an authorized service center try to help me properly install my screens, both the tech and I tried for 15 minutes and gave up with a few screens still not properly installed. I considered this hopeless and crossed it off my list.
- The cabinet latches for the washing machine and dryer were both supposed to have been secured from the factory with two screws for each latch and glue. One cupboard’s latch was only secured with glue and came off before I got it home; the other only had one screw installed (the other screw didn’t come out, it was never installed). I screwed them both to the cabinet as should have been done at the factory.
- The rocker switch for the AquaHot burner operates but its “on” indicator light doesn’t work. This resulted in hours of troubleshooting to conclude that the AquaHot unit itself was working, it’s just the switch that needs to be replaced. My local authorized service center ordered this two months ago and it hasn’t come in yet.
- The Zone 1 cozies don’t always blow when the Aquahot Burner is on and heat is turned on for that zone although it works 100% of the time while at a service center ; ) They fail to blow at all about one night in five when it was colder. This is still an open item that may outlast the warranty since I can’t replicate it when at a dealer.
- The driver’s seat would not turn around to face the living room. I asked the dealer to demonstrate its use in case it was my error. He was also unable to get it to turn around though we could both turn around the passenger seat. In the process, he managed to get the leather(ette) skirt caught between two moving parts, resulting in a 1-inch hole in my leather skirt. On April 9, Dynamax said it would mail me a new skirt. This is an open item.
- The passenger cab door lock would not lock or unlock using the key. My local Freightliner dealer verified the lock was defective but said there are no replacement parts available anywhere because of COVID. This has been open for about three months and I’ve checked back twice over the last three months.
- I didn’t receive a remote fob for the house door but my documentation said I had one. Dynamax verified I should have received one from the dealer and promised to mail me a fob (or fobs). This has been outstanding for about a month.
- The CB won’t transmit. It receives properly but any transmission just sounds like noise, not even a voice.
- Three of the windows have one or more shades than only raise about 2/3rds. I’ll report this during my next service trip as it wasn’t a priority item during previous service trips.
- Somewhere on the drive home from St. Louis, the hood strut became disconnected from the hood. After arriving home, I opened my hood to get oriented to the engine bay and the entire hood almost fell off. It took most of my strength to keep it from falling off one side plus the kindness of two passers-by who help my wrestle it back into place with one strut opposing everything we did. Freightliner ordered the parts and secured the hood. Problem resolved.
- When the living room slide was being extended, a molding piece caught the mirror and ripped the bottom of mirror away from the wall and the molding behind the couch was pried off. I’ll report this during my next service appointment.
- The wall separating the dinette from the bathroom is bulging out and must be pushed in before extending or retracting the living room slide to prevebnt he mirror from getting caught.
- There is a leak in the grey tank such that when it only about ½ to 2/3 full, water leaks through the bathroom/living room wall into the living room area. This isn’t a mismeasurement issue. I incorrectly thought I let the tank overfill the first time this occurred. The second time, I had completely drained the grey tank the night before. In the morning, I did two loads of laundry (about 19 gallons total) and took a shower with a total water run time of about 3-3.5 minutes. On the first driving segment that day the living room floor was flooded. I also know the tank wasn’t full because I installed a valve at the approximately 80% full mark on the grey tank. When I opened that valve, water did not come out. Also, that fitting was not leaking and, if it were to leak, it would leak into the wet bay where it is located, not upward to the floor. (The reason for that valve is beyond the scope of this email.)
- The living room slide excessively scrapes the living room flooring in one area, leaving deepish scratch marks.
- The 110v outlets used by the heavy appliances work but most of the ad-hoc ones I’d like to use don’t work (e.g. those for the power recliners, under the dinette seat, on the dinette wall, behind the sink, and at the bedside). The circuit breaker has tripped and won’t stay in the reset position, even with nothing plugged into any of those outlets. This occurred about two months after ownership and will be reported on my next service appointment.
- The 4X4 matrix won’t distribute content to the bedroom TV. It properly transmits to the living room and to the outside TV. I double checked and secured all the accessible HDMI connections. Since I tried this for the first time on June 28 I couldn’t say if this was defective upon delivery or became defective afterward. I’ll report this during my next service appointment.
- The hanger rod on the bedroom came off during our first trip in May. I had it repaired at an RV center. Issue resolved as we’ll only use the rod for a few light shirts, no coats going forward.
False Alarm
I thought the fridge was defective since the coldest setting would only cool the fridge to about 46 degrees when the ambient temperature averaged 76 degrees. I contacted the manufacturer but GE apparently had no specs regarding how cold it should be given a any ambient temperature and control setting. I asked how they know if a fridge is defective if they don’t have performance specs and received a meaningless response.
At any rate, I since learned this was a user issue. Once I rearranged the freezer contents after grocery shopping, the fridge cooled well enough to set it back to the medium temperature setting. Apparently, I had one or more bags of frozen veggies placed such that they restricted circulation of air from the freezer to the fridge.
Design Issues
The issues above aren’t unique to Dynamax. Like any BMW you see, any RV you see has an open list of items for repair. There are, however, some issues that appear to be design oversights as follows.
- The control panel cupboard cannot be opened when the cab-over ladder is in place (at least that’s the case on my unit). The ladder is 2-3mm too high to allow the cupboard to open. See the “My Mods” section for my solution.
- There is no secure place or method to store the ladder. Twice, I had the ladder bounce its way to the edge of the cabover area and fall on my head while driving. Why not provide latches in the cab-over area or in the living room to secure the ladder while driving? What are we supposed to do with it?
- The fridge door swings open far too easily while driving. Please don’t suggest, “don’t store things in your fridge door while driving.” I practically live in my RV, work from the road, and my wife’s job is mobile so it’s not reasonable for us to throw out good food every ten days on average. An RV fridge should come with a door latch, period. I haven’t found a compatible door latch that looks OEM versus like a tacky aftermarket part. For now I have a special padded stick that my daughter uses to hold the door in place from the dinette when we’re on winding roads. She thinks it’s kind of fun but that won’t last.
- I’d like to see a heavy duty roller under the receiver since most gas stations, strip malls, or driveways cause the long overhang to scrape the road too much for comfort. I had one sourced and installed by Freightliner but it snapped like a twig the first time I gently put weight on it. I then ordered from Amazon the most heavy-duty roller Ultra-Fab makes (part 48-979021) and had it professionally welded on. Despite its claim, it is not designed for any RV. It stood up better than the first roller but, about its third use, it crumpled. One forum user posted a CAD design for a roller that appears to work but it’s too hard to source a fabricator. I’m still looking for an available option.
- There is no reasonable way to drain the fresh water tank. Plan on 60-90 minutes to drain it as Dynamax intended.
- The toilet plumbing in my floorplan is defectively designed. There are forum discussions on this without any practical solution and I need to snake it daily (sometimes more than once a day as we have 4-6 people living in our RV most of the time). There is an elbow (problem 1) with an internal edge that catches and retains matter (problem 2) that then drops the waste into a shallow area of the tank (problem 3) where it piles up and eventually blocks. The first two design problems I personally observed; the third—dropping the waste into a shallow area in the tank—I read on a forum so I can’t be certain it that applies.
- The water hose and power cord catch on the sharp edges of the floor board when being pulled out, requiring you to feed the hose both coming out and going back in. In fact, you often need three hands to reel in the hoses: two to feed it and one to guide it onto the lowest spot on the real so it won’t stop on a high spot too early.
- The bedroom air con unit is sufficient in hot weather but the best the living room unit can do is cool things to about 91 when it’s 103 outside and I’m in the shade. That’s insufficient. The living room unit is producing air that’s 21-23 degrees cooler than the inside air but it can’t keep up with the radiant heat.
- Back-up alarm: A unit this large and heavy should have a back-up alarm for most back-up situations.
- Cupboard latches: the cupboards above the stove should have stronger latches. We had only five Corelle plates and four small Corelle bowls stacked on that shelf. However, the cupboard came open during a turn. The plates fell on the induction stovetop and shattered the glass into several pieces, rendering the stovetop unusable. The closest RV shop (200+ miles away) quoted two or more weeks to order a replacement stovetop. Instead, I ordered the exact model on HomeDepot.com using “ship to store” and picked it up in Elko, NV two days later when passing through.) The latches were working as designed—they just weren’t designed to hold eight plastic plates in place while driving on curves. I’m looking for a stronger latch for that cupboard.
- The driver’s headrest provides no support--you’d have to hyperextend your neck to use it. Please allow it to tilt or adjust, or design it forward enough to support anyone’s head.
- Daytime running lights: I was surprised to see such a large vehicle doesn’t have daytime running lights (auto or manual). To have the headlamps on, you must turn on all lights (headlights, and all clearance lights, side lights, and tail lights). I thought this was a user issue but my local Freightliner dealer confirmed that my chassis didn’t have that option. He suggested I take it to an auto A/V dealer to enable daytime running lights. This is extra important in a vehicle this large. Even in daytime, seeing trucks’ daytime lights on my monitor makes it much easier for me to know when not to change lanes at a glance. I’d hate for a lazy driver to not see me in his monitor and assume that meant I wasn’t there. As a work-around, I always drive with all lights on since it’s all or nothing.
- There is no ladder. RVs need a way to access the roof for inspection and repairs. This is more important when you have solar panels that need to be cleaned periodically.
My Mods
- To address item 1 in the “Design Issues” section, I lowered the ladder wall bracket by 1/4 of an inch so the hardware still hides the original screw holes while allowing the cupboard to open when the ladder is in place.
- To address item 7 in the “Design Issues” section, I bought this roller guide. My RV shop installed it two months ago and I am thrilled with it. This allows me to simply pull the hose without it getting caught on the floorboard. I’ll have the other one installed during my next visit (yes, I am than unhandy!)
- To address item 8 in the “Design Issues” section, I have been considering one of these products. From YouTube reviews, I’m pretty convinced it will help but I need to see it it’s compatible with the DX3.
- To address item 9 in the “Design Issues” section, I had a local chassis repair shop source a back-up alarm and I sourced this rocker switch so it would look like a factory install and to enable me to turn it off when backing into a camping space late at night.
- To address item 13, I ordered a ladder from an aluminum ladder fabricator in Henderson, NV who regularly does this for RV owners. He is making it with a folding, locking bottom portion to make it harder for people to climb up and steal solar panels or do other mischief.
- I bought these hooks for baseball caps and keys because they look like they part of the original design. They have performed well so far and look as nice of the factory trim.
- I bought this sleeve reducer and it works like a charm without the destructive friction of a traditional, metal sleeve reducer. I needed it to install a 2-inch tow bar connection in the most sound manner (I wanted to avoid a combination drop hitch/reducer to have the force aligned as much as possible.
- I had Freightliner raise the receiver by 2.5 inches to decrease scraping when transitioning from a driveway to a road. They had to trim some of the fiberglass but you couldn’t tell it wasn’t the factory design.
- Given all my interstate driving, I ordered this grill guard from Buckstop and have an install appointment in early August. It comes with grade 5 mounting hardware which is sufficient for its primary application of deflecting roaming animals. Since I also wanted recovery points added sufficient for my 29,000-pounds of laden weight, I have a commercial shop doing a custom install using grade 8 hardware.
- Since most of my camping if off-road, after my first unrepairable tire puncture, I swapped my drive tires to the Falken BI-850. I was concerned about the stiffness from going from a “G” to an “H” load rating. However, after having about 7,000 miles of the OEM tires behind me and 2,000 miles with the Falkens, I can say the Falkens feel slightly less stiff despite their higher load rating. It may because they only require about 92 PSI for my weight whereas the OEM tires required 100 or 110 PSI (I think 100 but I can’t recall which). Their higher ply should also allow them to withstand sharper stones without getting bruised than the excellent but more general-purpose EOM tire.
- I have an appointment with an auto A/V installer to install cab sound insulation so my wife and I can talk without having to almost shout when cruising at about 70 MPH with the A/C on. I’ll report the before & after sound levels when cruising at 70 MPH when done.
- I have an appointment for a cabinet maker to install a power strip and some vertical slots in the media cabinet to securely charge our laptops, iPads, and misc electronics when not in use.
- I had 1,200 watts of solar and 1,000 AH of batteries added. This has been very liberating as it makes boondocking much easier. It also makes the all-electric option pure benefit versus a trade-off as compared to an RV that needs propane when you can’t otherwise plug into power. I love being able to nuke four frozen, Amy’s meals, toast some bread, and fry some eggs on the electric stovetop without having to turn on the generator or worry about running down our batteries. Since solar shops are booked up 4-18 months ahead, I made my appointment five months before I bought my RV! In fact, this appointment determined my purchase timeline.
Loves and Pilot/Fyling J want us to use the consumer auto lanes or the RV lanes (where equipped). However, that is very inefficient when you have tanks on both sides plus DEF to refill. It can also be painful to maneuver a super C on the consumer side. I asked a few cashiers at Loves and in one at Pilot if there any way a consumer driving a personal RV could pay at the truck pumps, and they all said, “no.” Fortunately, they were all mistaken.
A 5th wheel driver heard my question and showed me his TSD Open Roads card which provides discounted fuel rates for consumers and allows us to pay at the pump. I ordered mine that night and have been a satisfied user for the almost 9,000 miles and 50 nights I’ve put on my DX3 since April 2021. I also ordered the co-branded Polit/Flying J & Good Sam card, which allows me to use the truck lanes at their shops and get discounted dumping fees. Between the two I’ve always enjoyed the efficiency of pumping at the truck lanes, especially in Oregon where consumers are deemed incompetent to pump their own fuel (No offense intended. If offended, please contact your state legislators who are the only people who think Oregonians should not pump their own fuel, bless their hearts.)
Driving Comfort
For long-distance traveling, the seats are quite comfortable but too much noise enters the cabin for comfort. To have the music overcome the ambient noise, I need to have it so loud that I am sure it is at a harmful level for my ears. To listen to podcasts or audiobooks where you don’t already know the words, you must have it even louder so I don’t bother. This is my experience when cruising at 72 MPH with the cab A/C unit running.
Summary
If you overlook the expected pains associated with being the original owner of a motorhome, my family is thrilled with what our DX3 has done to make our living more convenient and comfortable.
Since our itinerary is fluid, since RV repair facilities are short-staffed, and since RV demand has sky-rocketed, my biggest challenge has been getting any service done. This is the Achilles Heel of the industry. Most places I call are booked up 4-8 months in advance but I usually don’t know where work will have us living that far in advance.
Because of this, I’ve had to out-of-pocket a few repairs that were warranty eligible since I needed to get them done when I can. Issues like the grey tank leak will likely be costly to address so I’ll have to live with it until the stars line up.
The jury is still out on Dynamax’s performance regarding warranty work. Given the restricted access with authorized repair shops, I hope it will consider allowing us to use other qualified repair shops since it can otherwise take more than six months for an average person, or up to three years for someone who both lives in their RV and roams, to schedule a repair and get it done.
I will be a very happy camper once I’ve been able to resolve the open issues. That light at the end of the tunnel keeps me from being discouraged these days. Hopefully, I don't find that light is an oncoming train
Overall, I appreciate the design, the Freightliner chassis, the artful paint job and interior amenities. Now someone get me a service appointment, please!
