New to fifth wheel

Bought a used Solitude in March 2015, had a weld break on one of the slides. Talked to GD customer service, they told be to bring it in and they fixed it, no charge at all.

goducks10 wrote:
JMO but they're no better or worse than any others. They tout a better CS department and do get involved if necessary to expedite service.

I sat in one of their trailers at the RV show here in September and I was impressed with the look of the unit inside. However, if they are no better or worse than others, then I may re-think my plans because they seemed to be a few thousand dollars more for the same size trailer. If Grand Design is only in their 3rd year of business that may be a little risky to be my first trailer.

2010 Ram 3500 4X4 SRW. GAWR-front 5500 lbs., GAWR-rear 6200 lbs., GVWR 10,100 lbs. Truck weights from CAT- F 4840, R 3180, Gross 8020. That leaves me with 2080 lbs. for the GVWR. The 318 potential pin weight could add 2700 lb. to my total weight. Rear axle would have been OK, not the total.

greatwhitenorth69 wrote:

KeithAS wrote:
This year, the GD 317RST has been replaced with the 318RST. The 318 has auto leveling. We liked that one but after I did the math, I found that the potential pin weight would be about 700 lbs. over my 3500's GVWR. So, we are going with the 303RLS

How old is your 3500? I scaled my Big Country that had slightly more of a unloaded pin weight than the 318 on my 2015 chev 3500 srw and am still within my RAWR

KeithAS wrote:
This year, the GD 317RST has been replaced with the 318RST. The 318 has auto leveling. We liked that one but after I did the math, I found that the potential pin weight would be about 700 lbs. over my 3500's GVWR. So, we are going with the 303RLS

How old is your 3500? I scaled my Big Country that had slightly more of a unloaded pin weight than the 318 on my 2015 chev 3500 srw and am still within my RAWR

I agree with tucsonjim, we have a reflection by Grand Design That we purchased in the spring.
We've had two issues, the awning was pulling loose on one end. I contacted cs and requested the parts to repair it as I didn't want to go to dealer for a repair I could do, just a few days later they arrived in the mail. Just recently we discovered the furnace wasn't working properly. I again contacted cs and requested that a local repair service be allowed to do the repair, they were agreeable to that. (our dealer is a two hour drive) The repair was complete in three days.
We've had no problems or complaints with the part that Grand Design built.
Milt

Thanks for the reply's. The site say UVW 10,297. Hitch wt. 2194.
My sticker on the truck says GVWR 11,500. PW 3826.
We are going to look at the unit this weekend. The dealers first price seems reasonable.I'm not able to get him to through in slide toppers and vent covers. That may be a deal breaker for me.
I still have my current camper and may keep it awhile.
Thanks again
Jim

goducks10 wrote:
Grand Design is going through typical growing pains. They can't keep up with demand and are in the process of building a facility for wall lamination and PDI.
GD has the same issues as all other mfg in the RV industry. Same poorly constructed items like faucets, stereos, Lippert items, etc as well as a shortage of good help.
Spend a month on the GD forum and it's evident that they're not immune to the normal run of issues. You can PDI a unit to death but it's still going to have failures because of the cheap items installed.
JMO but they're no better or worse than any others. They tout a better CS department and do get involved if necessary to expedite service.
FWIW I had the same EXC treatment from Northwood MFG and I'm sure others from other brands have had good service as well. But that good CS only lasts for one year. How many issues the unit will have after the 1 year warranty's up is the question.

To answer the OP's question. You should have no problem with your truck and that 5th wheel.

This is where I have issues with most RV mfrs. Yeah, XYZ Co. may have great CS, but you, frankly, shouldn't =need= CS except in extremity. If they'd at least offer the =option= to buy upgraded fixtures, whether it's faucets, stereos, power converters, disk brakes, whatever, a goodly number of us, especially the more experienced RVers, would jump on it. Yeah, that $3 faucet is likely to go belly up in a couple years, but the $8 faucet will last the life of the RV. Why do they have to put Jensen cr@p in these rigs? The automotive world is filled with quality 12v powered audio gear; why not simply put an automotive stereo in, or at least offer it as an option? I could go on; we all know what I'm talking about. Hell, just offer the same quality aftermarket stuff that =we're= likely to use to replace the junk they install after it goes bad.

Lyle

Grand Design is going through typical growing pains. They can't keep up with demand and are in the process of building a facility for wall lamination and PDI.
GD has the same issues as all other mfg in the RV industry. Same poorly constructed items like faucets, stereos, Lippert items, etc as well as a shortage of good help.
Spend a month on the GD forum and it's evident that they're not immune to the normal run of issues. You can PDI a unit to death but it's still going to have failures because of the cheap items installed.
JMO but they're no better or worse than any others. They tout a better CS department and do get involved if necessary to expedite service.
FWIW I had the same EXC treatment from Northwood MFG and I'm sure others from other brands have had good service as well. But that good CS only lasts for one year. How many issues the unit will have after the 1 year warranty's up is the question.

To answer the OP's question. You should have no problem with your truck and that 5th wheel.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Why does GD only list UVW and dry hitch.............no CCC or GVWR?

The GVWR disappeared from their site a couple of weeks ago.

The only issues I've ever read about Grand Design problems have been with individual dealers. It seems like a call to GD gets better results with those cases.