NEW Grand Design RV Fixes / Upgrades. Ready for 6 Months Travel in a WEEK!?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- You want believe on our Brand NEW Grand Design fifth wheel trailer the amount of fixes we had to do.
Plus, we transferred upgrades from our Solitude - that was just sold on auction. AND we have a WEEK left before we do 6 months of travel across the country
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:09 Our Totaled RV Auctioned story & price
02:40 Fixes & Upgrades on NEW RV
13:08 Prepare for 6 months trip - personal to do list
16:24 A week left to install solar, upgrades, prep for travel- Crunch Time
In this video, we show many product upgrades we bought ourselves. But only 2 were sent to us for free - and we have used earlier versions of those products in the past and have years of experience with them.
1. Haloview amzn.to/4a45912
@HaloviewTechnology
2. VIOFO Dash Cam , rear and in car camera amzn.to/4bw5GKt
@ViofoDashcamOfficial
Other products we have years of experience with them.
@GOVEE @GarretTowneAMS @VictronEnergyBV @battlebornbatteries @eezrvproducts6608
@TheKuatRacks @GrandDesignRVTV @Lippert. @RamTrucks
Thank you to everyone for supporting our channel and buying from these store links:
🛒Our Amazon Store
www.amazon.com/shop/downsizin...
🛒Our Etsy Store
www.etsy.com/shop/DownsizingM...
🛒Our eBay store
www.ebay.com/str/downsizingma...
Links to videos 🎥
RV Damage - Big Changes Playlist
• RV Damage Big Changes
Grand Design Reflection 303 RLS Playlist
• Grand Design Reflectio...
1. Please Leave a comment - we always love to hear from viewers about their experience camping, traveling or Full Time RV Living.
2. Please consider subscribing if you are interested in Downsizing, RV's, traveling in an RV, Full Time RVing, Travel, Working on the Road or just looking for something different in your life that will add adventure and creativity.
Link to Subscribe th-cam.com/users/downsizingmak...
Links to our other social media:
IG: / downsizingmakescents
Facebook: downsizingma...
Pinterest: / downsizingmakescents
Website: downsizingmakescents.com/ (still working on this)
Music by Epidemic Sound - get a free month by clicking this link. www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
We use Tube Buddy to help Grow our TH-cam Channel
www.tubebuddy.com/RVDMC
This is how we get some sold out campgrounds, CAMPNAB
campnab.com/r/rctqjz
My Thingiverse page- free 3D plans (See out Etsy & eBay Stores for printed items)
www.thingiverse.com/Leapnlarr...
Thank you Viofo for offering us the updated dashcam. We use VIOFO dashcam - front & rear cameras - with its updated extra save button mounted in our dually.
amzn.to/3IEW5UX
We bought our first VIOFO in 2017.
See link below for more info.
viofo.com/content/26-viofo-2c...
We are a married couple in our mid 50s who downsized & sold our house so we can see the sights & enjoy every day to live deliberately as full time RVers - traveling with our dog Scruffy, in our 35' Grand Design Solitude 310 GK fifth wheel - now a 33' Reflection 303 RLS.
Downsizing Makes Cents is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
We are not experts. We share our real experience in the hopes others will have an awesome experience traveling.
#rvliving #rvtravelers #fifthwheel
Lary has crazy skills for repairing.
Can only imaging the headaches without his expertise. 💯
Monica, it still amazes me after 40 years what he can accomplish.
And thanks 🤗
Alice
I love the way that Larry waits for a Alice's point to be made before pouncing in with a hilarious followup. You can see his humor wheels turning as she explains something about the RV and as soon as she completes her sentence, "Wham!"
Bill, wow. Perfect way of describing our relationship of 40 years 🤣
I usually have more zingers, but I was a bit “off my game” 😉
Alice
No matter what is going on, you two are having fun, and I love it!
I love the pace you keep in your videos. You did an hour video in 25 minutes !! I'd enjoy daily updates on your trip.. My brother is buying a house on 6 acres with 2 RV pads with hookups. He said it wouldn't be the same without me and my rig.. He easily talked me into it because it's less than an hour to Kings Canyon NP... Thanks DMC
James,
It takes a lot of editing - b roll covers much of the cuts 😁
Are you ready for a vlog tomorrow?
And when are you sending the address to your brother’s place 😉
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Always ready to hear from DMC.. He hasn't received the keys yet but you're surely welcome when we get it all together.
@@SevenBears1 thanks
And let us know when to pick up the extra keys made for us 😉
@@DownsizingMakesCents It will be under the welcome mat on the front porch ☺️
That was an amazing amount of progress that you have made. Larry is quite talented and great fun to watch. Fun video!
Doug, Larry can tackle pretty much anything 😃
And he’s getting funnier every year.
Glad you had fun watching,
Alice
My husband is an engineer and a member of the Tire and Rim Association. You might want to be careful with those externally mounted TPMS sensors especially when they are mounted on rubber valves. These aftermarket systems are minimally tested and lately there have been several cases of the centripetal forces ripping out the valves and causing blowouts in RV’s. Basically the external TPMS is causing the very thing it’s supposed to be preventing. 😢
This is likely why Grand Design equipped your rig with an internal TPMS system.
It happened to us in our Imagine TT. The sensors caused the rubber valve stems to break and lose the air two different times on the same trip. The fix was when I installed new steel valve stems.
Yes, you must use steel valve stems👍🇺🇲
Yeah, it sucks that grand design put rubber valve stems on these rims instead of the steel ones we had on the solitude. We had these on the solitude for four years no problem. I’m thinking of 3-D printing some stem supports so the centrifugal force what causes them to fail, stop the movement. the other problem is that obviously the temperature sensor won’t be accurate because it’s not connected to metal to metal. Lar
@@DownsizingMakesCents Adding home made plastic supports to your existing valves may introduce additional failure modes that may difficult to predict or account for. Steel (or more accurately brass) valve stems are pretty inexpensive to both purchase and install. Any tire shop can easily do this for you. I’m curious, what problems are you having with your Grand Design’s internal TPMS system? Internal TPMS is typically considered to be a pretty big upgrade over external systems. Your rig’s existing internal TPMS is going to be significantly safer in regard to valve wear and tear and it’s more accurate measuring tire temperatures because the sensor isn’t affected by the ambient air temp. Finally because they are internal and well protected from environmental factors, their overall accuracy is better retained.
You two make me laugh. Have a great trip this summer in your new RV, it looks lovely. Safe travels.
Cathy, glad we made you giggle.
And thanks. We hope to show more travel fun this year 🤗
Alice
Yes! The daily vlog would be fabulous 😊
Sandi, we are doing our best. We are filming every day, but can’t get it edited and put it out everyday 😉
See you next time 🤗
Alice
You do make an awesome, inspiring and lovable duo. Hope you meet all those deadline. Keep well and merry !
Thanks Daniel, I appreciate the encouragement, Im lucky to have such an awesome suppportive woman in my life for almost 40 years. larry
Larry is a hard worker👍🇺🇲
He is. I do what I can to help 🤗
Alice
Fantastic video. Hearing about all of the upgrades y’all think are worthwhile is very helpful. So glad y’all are getting back on the road!
Barb, thanks for letting us know. We are always trying to think of info we wish we knew.
And we can’t wait for new FUN adventures 🤗
Alice
Hi Alice and Larry!!!!! I'm so happy to see you guys in a video like this again - it's been a while. Alice, you're The Magnetizer; Larry, you're the Hookster. I loved this video, but I can't wait to see where WE are heading this season. Safe travels!👍🏾❤️
Raoul,
It’s a lot of work - you may have to wait a bit for another like this 😁
Love it. We have new nicknames!
We hope you guys enjoy your travels - we have amazing memories of ours (and lots of video and pics)
See you next time 🤗
Alice
Great to see the two of you two again, video was informative as well as fun. Be safe out there and we will be watching your trip.
Walter,
Thanks for that. This type of video is a lot of work - excuse for it being late 😉
We really do try to be entertaining even if we have important info to share.
We hope to show more of our travel fun this year,
Alice
You had me gut laughing at the Cabinet doors coming off. That’s ingenious 🤯as we are looking for a small summer trailer for the 3 of us which always has limited weight.
Daily vlog series would be fun to watch again, we might even catch you relaxing!
Glad to see all the positivity back in you. Cheers
Mary Lou, hope you weren’t eating or drinking when Larry weighed the doors 😆
Well, the first vlog should be out tomorrow. So now you have to watch 😉
I think we are feeling more positive because we have reservations.
Thanks for putting up with our ups and downs 🤗
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents see you tomorrow 😊😊
@@grabowskycountry 🤗
Don't count on the fact your RV is new to skip packing the wheel bearings. I checked the bearing seals on my 9 month old Alliance and found there was only a tablespoon of grease in each bearing. The cost for 4 new seals was cheap compared to having burned out bearings.
Boy ! You’re not kidding!! Same on my new rig 5 years ago ! Almost no grease!! Good call !! 👍
Michael, ok - adding it to Larry’s to do list 😁
But really, thanks for the advice. I can totally seeing RV manufacturers doing that.
Alice
@@ralphp3057Ralph, jeez. I wonder how often that happens?
Alice
Yeah, it's pretty common👍🇺🇲
@@DownsizingMakesCents
They get in a hurry to get it out the door! A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! lol 👍😁
Took the review on the dash cam. We needed a new one. Thanks!
Kim, their cameras just keep getting better. We can’t wait to share footage from the latest camera.
Just be careful, I got too excited and knocked the little button off 😁
Alice
Right now, we’re not in crunch time… but we are anxiously awaiting our new Keystone being delivered and ready for pickup.
Sandra, I can only imagine. We know someone that waited months 😳
Hope you get soon and get it out there 🤗
Alice
It’s so awesome that you were able to transfer your previous preferred products to your new rv and save that cash. I’m all about saving that money! Sometimes it makes my wife shake her head, but she’s learned over the past 30+ years that there is method to my madness and ever since covid, she has never questioned my methods since. And I vote yes for the daily vlog. Safe travels.👍🏼😎
Rick, since we are pretty much living on 401K, we are all about saving money.
We hope that TH-cam - and when we have a homebase Etsy and eBay - will help pay more bills.
Wives can be a pain, but we are also great support 🤗
We are doing our best with the vlogs - we shall see?
Alice
Nice update. Thank you Alice and Larry.
Brian, thanks 🤗
Alice
Really enjoyed your shares. Good luck safe travels.
Thanks. We are excited. I’m a bit nervous. It’s been awhile 😬
Alice
You two are hilarious. Thanks for the giggles.
Ben, Larry is getting funnier the older he gets. And I met him when we were 20 😆
Alice
Looking forward to your vlog marathon!
Aurora, are you sure? We should have the first one tomorrow- kind of covers two days 😁
And we really appreciate every single view 🤗
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents I don't know about everybody else, but I'll commit to watching them.🙂
@@auroramarie2463 Awww. Thanks 🤗
Alice
Amazing stuff, you guys are amazing, and somewhat roll models. The down turns in life don't seem to slow your roll.
Jeffrey,
We are glad we can help. But role models puts a bit a pressure 😆
We all have down days but we are trying to show that stuff WILL happen. And you can bounce back 🤗
Alice
Micro air soft starts are great. I installed mine with help from your video. Well done. Safe travels.
Yes. We didn’t do it often, but knowing we could run AC for a bit dry camping was awesome. Glad we could help.
Unfortunately, that video was so long ago, Larry forgot a lot 😁 AND the Furrion Lippert AC was very different from our old AC. It was like he had to relearn it. We will show some of the install he did today in our Crunch Time vlog series 😉
Alice
How does hubby know so much? You guys are great!
Jeff, Larry is one of those guys that can do anything 🤗
Alice
Wishing you guys all the best with your new trailer.
Just curious if you guys ever looked at Brinkley fifth wheels.
Wow ! You guys did plenty of well needed stuff to your new rig ! And your truck is very important on a long trip for sure ! Looking forward to some great Videos ! Thanks Larry & Alice .
Oh , any luck with land home base type thing ? 😁👍🇺🇸
Ralph, isn’t it crazy how much we have done - mostly Larry 😉
Yes. Truck stuff - Larry wishes it wasn’t so hot while he’s getting things done.
No homebase, yet. Have some for us 😉
Alice
Thank you so much for this video. I remember the video on your steps on the outside of the Solitude. Wow! Nice you doing upgrades on this Rv and outing the old stuff on the new. Hope goes go ok for you to leave in a few days. I have friend here in Vegas that’s from Arkansas she just went back there a year ago with her son because she’s got relatives there. Hope you have fun. I have never been to there. Hopefully you won’t have issues finding places to stay along your routes. Are you enjoying your new home? How is your puppy liking it? Love you guys! Safe travels! Have a great week! Love you!
Sherri,
Its awesome to see someone stick around 🤗
It’s been tough getting all the upgrades and mods. And then fix stuff on a brand new RV 😩
But we are on the road. Looking forward to getting north.
See you soon 🤗
Alice
Hey! Just to let you know, I'm on the level, 'cause my "bubble" is in the middle! 😉
🤣😂
Alice
Man! Y'all covered a lot in this video! Good work! Pat yourselves on the back!
I'm laughing about the cabinet doors but you bring up a valid point about the weights - just think of all those things people add just for organizing! Those containers, shelves, sliding drawers will add weight too!
And the power sources ...at least lithium weighs less than lead acid.
I got some nice carpet pieces at Dollar Tree that I cut in half and added to my inside steps. Perfect blend and much safer!!
We really tried to keep it short, but 😁
Can you imagine if we showed everything 😮
Thanks for the recognizing the work it took.
Good point about adding shelves and such.
RV manufacturers really should think about weight instead of aesthetics- the heavy wood doors are to give that wow fracture as soon as you walk in.
I like your idea about the steps.
And thanks for all the support- you are one of our top commenters 🤗
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents hey, we love your content! We can relate!
(Even with the kids moving 😏 but we do still have a house with a pool ...though it gets neglected over the RV improvements😂😔)
I have mentioned it before but I really dislike the fake wood they use - it's same or heavier than solid wood cabinets and falls apart with any moisture. They could do better on weight by using certain wood to begin with. Just one of the things that could be better in a GD specifically. Our Rockwood had beautiful solid wood cabinets and actual Corian counters that stood up better for a fraction of the cost. Well, we fix and replace as we can!
I know you're excited for your trip!! We love Arkansas (COE and state Parks are beautiful there!!) and anything West, of course!! Good luck getting that list finished before Friday!! 😄❤️👍 -Julie
@@mischiefroadtripadventures Julie,
I agree with all of that. Use lighter real wood. They don’t have to be as thick.
The whole industry needs an overhaul.
And we can’t wait for new adventures, some new states.
And thanks 🤗
Alice
You guys are so funny, You crack me up
John, he’s getting funnier with age 😂
Alice
Wow you have been very busy.
Marc, I’m glad we have a new RV, but it created a lot of work for Larry 😁
Alice
4:20 lol Larry 🤣💕👏👍 And wow yall been sooo busy. Lotta work getting all the modifications done on a new rig and all the homey touches 👍
PS- ditch the money pit Xterra or keep it til next major $$ problem and sell it As is
Hey Johnny, I should sell it now while it’s still workin , I have a bunch of xterra diy videos on my personal channel, it was my kitesurfing fun machine traveling from the keys to OBX since 2007 , lots of good memories. It’s got 200 k miles now, hoping to get one more year out of it for my daughter. Lar
@@DownsizingMakesCents Nice! Yeah theyre great lil cars they can just get pretty expensive when things start breaking, but I guess you can say that about any older car. Good luck with all the fluid changes on the truck Lar! 👍
@@JonnyDIY Thanks
LOVE IT, Girl you are just a Cutie, Larry, you the MAN. You guys have a lot of potential. LOL
Tim,
Awww. You are sweet 🤗
Larry has mad skills 😉
We just need more people watching TH-cam to agree with you 😁
Alice
Larr my friend we have a reflection and we two are thinking about losing some weight. Can you show me some pictures of what you did and replace of your doors and what doors you did that would be so amazing for us to get some ideas. Thank you very much and you guys are awesome.
Thank You
Dennis Hall
Knoxville Tn
Dennis, email or message on social media.
But our vlogs we are putting out (third one goes out today - if storm permits) they show the doors we removed
Alice
Greg Carson has a brand new Reflection and he is finding lots of things wrong with it. So I bet you will have some problems like he’s having. He is having an outside inspection tomorrow and it will tell a list of problems on paper. So maybe look at yours to see if you have any the same problem.
I have seen a couple of his videos, so I am trying to keep up with the latest, but he puts out so many videos about the same problem. It’s hard to keep up. Lar
We love the closet rod idea! What rod did you use? We didn’t see it in your Amazon store. Is there more support at the top of the closet instead of the sides?
I used a cheap towel rod from walmart, instead of hanging from a wall, i screwed it to the roof of the closet, i had to make sure i screwed into something strong and make sure the screws didnt come out the top of the slides. So far its working great but im worried about the strength of the bracket that holds the ends of the rods. Larry
Time for a mini split A/C 😊
When are rvs going to come with a mini split option?? Lar
Where did you get your closet bar rods? Unable to find them on your amazon site.
Thanks🇨🇦
They are actually towel bars we got from Walmart 😁
Alice
While doing the services don't forget the transfer case
You are right, I should’ve said Dif and transfer case. If the fluid looks good in the transfer case, I may leave it for now. Lar
Love y’all and the channel, but don’t think I would have bought a GD with all the Frame Failures. And have to make all the repairs on a 55K new Rig. Then the cannibalization of it to keep weight down, for stuff. Thought it was down sizing make cents.
Steve, our new rig is shorter, not as wide, not as tall, not as heavy.
We are constantly downsizing our stuff.
Every rig needs tweaking - new and old.
I was hesitant to get another GD - whole video why we bought another one
Alice
16:27 Good job Larry. Gotta stick with Mopar filters. Aftermarket china Amazon knockoffs don't cut it!
Yeah, I don’t take chances to save a few pennies on stuff like that. I also figure that if I do have a problem, the drivetrain warranty will still be good since I used Mopar parts. . Lar
@@DownsizingMakesCents same here. I'm covered til 2026. No sense giving them an excuse not to warranty it.
What year is your truck, Larry? I have a 2014 Ram 2500 diesel. I need to do my differential also. I do all the maintenance myself also👍🇺🇲
Ram recommends the Dif change at 60-90k if doing a lot of towing. Mainly I want to just take a look at the fluid to make sure it’s clean. I figured I might as well change it while I’m down there, but you have to takeoff the Dif cover, which is a pain. Lar
@@DownsizingMakesCents thanks
We are are about to leave on a 2 month trip across the country 😬
Gian, awesome. Is this your first long trip? Just make sure you are prepped 👍
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents first big trip. Been RVing for 5 year, longest trip so far is 10 days. But with the help of some great YT channels we know to keep calm and take as it comes. Thanks for the great videos!!
@@TheGianm3 For a second there, I thought you were going to name other channels 😁
Thanks. Feel free to message or email if there’s A question we didn’t address in a video
😂
Hey how is it that progressive totaled your rv when it was user error lol
Melody, sort of like car insurance 😁
Alice
What router does Larry use?
I have a pep wave max transit, I used it for years before I got Starlink, now it’s just a back up to Starlink, Lar
Sinecerly hope you don’t have the problems Greg Carson has with his new Reflection…..GD is not your friend
Tom, we know there is a lot about GD on TH-cam. But it’s usually the bigger, heavier rigs. And comments have shown us it’s not just GD.
We learned a long time ago that they aren’t our “friend.” 😁
But we appreciate your concern,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Greg Carson’s Reflection is going back to GD tomorrow it as a month or two Good Luck in your Travels
👍🇺🇲
🌴 🙏
Kinda weird.. but insurance companies have stopped paying for grand design totals unless there’s evidence of a wreck..
Imagine that
Bryan, we would not have received the money if it wasn’t an “accident” - if you are referring to frame failure, insurance companies see that as a manufacturer defect.
Alice
@@042452See my answer to the comment above,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents I am not referring to frame failure in this case although his Momentum the was bought back did suffer from Frame failure his reflection has multple problems
First...
Ramon, you get a big thank you 🙏 and a gold ⭐️ And you got the first comment back 🤗,
Alice