Farewell

[Bama Hammer]

Howdy folks,

I wanted to give a quick thank you to all the folks on here that have given advice and guidance throughout my time on the forum. We have been very happy with our Passport but the family has grown and with that, the trailer is being traded in for a larger model.

We are moving to a Grand Design fifth wheel, not because we didn’t like Keystone, it’s just how the numbers worked out this time.

I wish all the best and smooth roads ahead! God bless

[sourdough]

Bama, no need for farewell. You are welcome to continue to hang out and contribute. Having looked at, and almost bought, a GD I can tell you they are almost a clone of Keystones. The guys that started the company migrated from Keystone. Good luck with the new trailer, have fun and stay in touch.

[chuckster57]

By all means stick around. BTW buying a Grand Designs means your buying a Winnebago product.

[flybouy]

No "brand snobs" around here and fact is, 99% of campers are made of the same "stuff".

[CedarCreekWoody]

Stick around. I migrated from Forest River and I'm still active on that forum. As Flybouy stated many of the components are the same.

[Sarge2]

Yeah my sediments as well... years of experience is nothing to sneeze at... Good luck with the new rig but please, stick around..

[meaz93*]

IMO.....Grand Design's quality is 1 notch up from Keystone, but that being said like everything else; you can NEVER seem to find that 1 unicorn TT that has exactly everything you want (NEED)-lol
I almost pulled the trigger on a Grand Design Reflection 315RLST....it was absolutely gorgeous! BUT....it did not have the auto level system?, and weighed another 700#'s more than my Keystone Outback . Very similar interior layout and style.
I couldn't be any happier with this trailer, as it does everything very well[emoji106]
Good luck with things.
PS....this is a leveling sticker on the side of my TT, but at the tongue leveling control box says 7.3 leveling system? Leftover coach sticker?-lol

[Bama Hammer]

Thanks! I will most certainly stick around.. just can’t beat the experience from old hats I’ve found on this forum.

[MN-Clark]

Originally Posted by Bama Hammer

Thanks! I will most certainly stick around.. just can’t beat the experience from old hats I’ve found on this forum.

Ha! I've been promoted to old hat from old fart (I assume). Thanks for that.


Seriously, congrats on the new RV and we look forward to you sticking around.

[ctbruce]

Whew leaving would have affected the moderators Christmas bonus. LOL

[Big1]

Yes, stay around the wife and I have been looking at the Solitude Grand Design fifth and we just bought our Jayco 321RSTS. The campground that we are at there are more Solitude than even Montana's.

[Bill-2020]

Originally Posted by meaz93*

PS....this is a leveling sticker on the side of my TT, but at the tongue leveling control box says 7.3 leveling system? Leftover coach sticker?-lolAttachment 28523

Don’t feel bad... my 30amp connection on the side wall has a 50amp warning decal straight from the factory. Guess they ran out of 30amp decals that day.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

Don’t feel bad... my 30amp connection on the side wall has a 50amp warning decal straight from the factory. Guess they ran out of 30amp decals that day.

That's like the Chevy Nova we looked at back around 1971 or 72 in Lancaster, CA. It had a NOVA emblem on the driver's front fender and a VENTURA emblem on the passenger's front fender. The dealership didn't think that was a "big deal"....

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Bama Hammer

Thanks! I will most certainly stick around.. just can’t beat the experience from old hats I’ve found on this forum.

Stick around but... we have a sister forum (RV Life) specifically for Grand Design Owners here: https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/index.php They are almost as helpful

[cliff]

Hey. Don't go. You have great experience with repairs, advice, etc. that you can share. I moved to a Jayco, regretfully, but may come back to a Keystone.

[mfifield01]

I might move the same way from a Keystone to Grand Design. If you get a chance, update us on any quality differences.

[Bama Hammer]

Update after close to 2 months/1500 miles in the GD Reflection 31MB.

Overall impression - good. We really have enjoyed the new 5th wheel. It’s night and day from pulling our bumper pull, even with it being close to double the weight. Much prefer the stability of a 5th wheel. The layout/floor plan is great for those with kids - they get a whole room to themselves. The living area is open and functional and the master bedroom is quite private.

However, In my opinion I haven’t seen any better “quality” from GD than we had in our Keystone Passport. I say that with one caveat tho, our new rig is not an ultralight thus it appears to have been made with heavier duty materials. We had literally 0 issues when we bought our passport and have had several issues with the GD. All minor:
- on PDI I found a screw had almost pushed thru front cap
- trim around bunks has fallen out
- an interior door is delaminating at a corner
- aluminum entry steps (the large one piece type) are binding on the door frame slightly

But at the end of the day warranty should fix these issues and if not I’m fully capable of fixing them as well. Would I make the same trade again? Probably yes..

There y’all go. An honest and unbiased review from a guy who really did like his Keystone allot. Hoping the fella who bought our Passport from the dealership has as many good memories in it as we did!

[wiredgeorge]

A friend who was a senior executive at one of the big motorcoach companies (several brands) told me they had a hard time finding workers as the workers migrated from one plant to another and when they needed folks they had to forgo drug tests and the like. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of these manufacturers are not using Amish craftsman and if you look at ANY brand of camper you will see similar complaints. With the volume being pushed out now, also suspect that QC even less a priority than in slower years for the industry.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Bama Hammer

Update after close to 2 months/1500 miles in the GD Reflection 31MB.

Overall impression - good. We really have enjoyed the new 5th wheel. It’s night and day from pulling our bumper pull, even with it being close to double the weight. Much prefer the stability of a 5th wheel. The layout/floor plan is great for those with kids - they get a whole room to themselves. The living area is open and functional and the master bedroom is quite private.

However, In my opinion I haven’t seen any better “quality” from GD than we had in our Keystone Passport. I say that with one caveat tho, our new rig is not an ultralight thus it appears to have been made with heavier duty materials. We had literally 0 issues when we bought our passport and have had several issues with the GD. All minor:
- on PDI I found a screw had almost pushed thru front cap
- trim around bunks has fallen out
- an interior door is delaminating at a corner
- aluminum entry steps (the large one piece type) are binding on the door frame slightly

But at the end of the day warranty should fix these issues and if not I’m fully capable of fixing them as well. Would I make the same trade again? Probably yes..

There y’all go. An honest and unbiased review from a guy who really did like his Keystone allot. Hoping the fella who bought our Passport from the dealership has as many good memories in it as we did!

Bama, thank your for the followup. I think your experience is like it is across the spectrum. I'm very happy that the Reflection is providing what you were looking for. If it had not been for the pricing, TX dealer and DWs decision to go with stackable w/d I would, I figure, been in a 337rls. Happy travels and stick around.

[xrated]

I bought a Grand Design about 1 1/2 years ago and I stuck around.....even though they've asked me to leave several times! The only issue I had with my Keystone was the cable operated slides, and it was an adjustment thing that I took care of myself. I liked the trailer a lot, but we were ready to move up from a tow behind to a 5ver......a big 5ver and I simply liked the layout of the Grand Design Momentum better than I did the comparable Keystone. I've gone back several times and looked at that Keystone and I'm not sorry that I chose the one I did. It's kind of like the old Real Estate saying......location, location, location, except with trailers its floor plan, floor plan, floor plan.