Freedom Express Blast 301blds feedback

[jerite]

hi all,
well I am looking at a new coachmen freedom express blast 301blds toyhauler. I was wondering if anyone here has some feedback on it before i pull the trigger. It looks well built, and fairly lightweight and well equipped. It appears to be a good choice for under $30k toyhauler. Any/all feedback would be helpful.
thanks in adavnce...Jer

[clayh]

Just picked up my 2017 301 Blast. They caught a few minor issues on the PDI(broken cupboard latch and broken tailight screw).

While waiting for the weather to improve I switched out the single Grp26 battery to a pair of Grp31 from my old trailer. Also added a power disconnect switch as the trailer would drain the single battery in a few days with nothing on.

Seems like a pretty high draw to me for what I assume would be just the CO/Smoke/Propane alarm. Fridge, lights and furnace were definitely off.

Once our old trailer sells we'll be looking at a solar panel/inverter system as we camp exclusively off grid and hate the sound of a genset.

Does anyone know where the tanks are located in relation to the axles? I have not installed the W/D hitch yet. Towed home great empty but then I put our Ranger in the back and went for a short drive and it was all over the place. I'm guessing all that weight behind the axle screwed up the hitch weight. I'm hoping that the extra batteries and filling the pass thru storage will help with that. However I wonder where that 90gal fresh tank is at....

[Garygonefyshin]

I purchased a 301BLDS Liberty Edition from General RV in 2012 and it has been very problematic. Tons of little issues due to laziness at the factory such as radio and antenna being wired incorrectly, water connections not being tight causing leaks, water pump coming loose, drawer tracks falling apart. A major issue that took several visits to correct was a major water leak while towing in the rain. Turns out they were missing a seal under the slide out. I had a tire blow out when the unit was out of warranty that caused a lot of damage. Upon inspection, it turns out the rear Lippert axle is either underrated or faulty. Of course they blame it on me and say it was overloaded which is NOT the case. Mel Williams of Coachmen refused to help even though it is well known that Forest River puts sub par axles on their units. Lippert did not offer any assistance either. This is not something I would have noticed within the 1 year warranty especially because it was in the shop for so long being repaired! Now I am stuck with a toy hauler that wears tires out prematurely. I would not buy another one of their products and will not recommend them. If Mel Williams or Lippert come through and correct this problem I may change my mind.

[Rocks58]

Thanks, jerite. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences with this camper. We really liked it's layout with sliding doors that don't isolate the garage portion and that its not an extremely long camper.

[jerite]

Well so far good for me. Pulled home nice. Seems like you'll hear more good then bad about anything these days. There seems to be a trade off with any model I looked so I went with the one that had the fewest I guess. I had to remind myself it is a camper...I researched them all this one was the best bang for my buck. Threw an extended warranty for 5 years for pennies on the dollar figured if can be their problem if there's an issue. Bought this one relatively local all the other ones were a state away in any direction. I will post as I use more. -. Jer

[Rocks58]

I'm also looking at the 301BLDS toy hauler and am curious to hear others' experience with theirs. Seemed like a decent built camper, but replies so far seem to indicate otherwise.

[sato4000]

I had a 2012 freedom express toy hauler. It had a lot of little issues that seem to be related to the build quality. The water pump broke multiple times within the first year. Nothing major wrong i just remember there was always something broken which was annoying. We sold it less than a year after buying it. Now i have a forest river forester and it has been trouble free. No issues at all which has been great.

[stallsmi]

I have a Freedom Express Travel Trailer (322 RLDS). In all honesty, I cannot recommend Forest River/Coachmen or any of its products. We have had many problems due to shoddy manufacturing, most of which was hidden and not readily apparent during PDI. Wires were misrouted, heater ducts were crushed during production, trim fell off, etc. Even our black tank just fell out of the bottom, crashing through the undercarriage cover. It was caused by lazy workers bending the rails holding the tank, so as to more easily insert it during production. Our slide-outs had major leakage that we didn't discover until we camped in the rain (we later found that FR knows of the design flaw, but lets dealers handle the repair). The repair consisted of eternabond fixes, we added slide covers as additional protection. We will never own another FR product, and I know other manufacturers have problems too, but we'll not let FR have another chance.