Opinions on Grand Design

[ib516]

*LONG POST WARNING*

Hey everyone, long time RVer here. When people ask questions, I find it helpful to know some background to better answer their question. So, here's some background.

I started out with a late 70's vintage tent trailer (pop-up), moved to a 25' TT (Fleetwood Terry), then a 33' TT (Keystone Cougar) which was a POS which I thought was a one off - more on that later. Then I last had a 37' 3 slide Keystone Cougar 322QBS 5er. That thing nearly caused a fatal collision as the pin box welds failed (Lippert frame) when only a few months old while going down the highway at 65 mph, and it had to be rebuilt in the front due to extremely poor quality construction and non-existent QC at Keystone.

Here's a link to that saga

Anyway, the point of all this is that I am much more aware of the quality of the bones of an RV now, rather than just the floorplan and the shiny features. None of that is any good if the frame breaks.

Between then and now there has been a divorce and a new, much happier marriage, and the kids are grown and gone. Retirement is coming in the next few years and my wife and I and 2 dogs are likely going to move into an RV and spend a few years work-camping, traveling, and living in the RV in a semi-permanent site for a few months at a time, likely near the Canadian West Coast.

Sooooo...all that said, 3 RVs have caught our attention.

- Grand Design Reflection 287RLTS
- Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS
- Grand Design Reflection 297RSTS

And also the Freedom Express Liberty Edition 279RLTS.

I would welcome any comments on the build quality, durability, overall quality, etc. etc. of Grand Design's Reflection series TTs.

As well, the tow vehicle hasn't been purchased yet, I will do that AFTER we pick an RV so I can match up the specs.

Thanks!

[Second_Chance]

We have been full-time in our Reflection 337 for a little over three years and are very happy with it. I would recommend joining the Grand Design Owners Forum:

GD Owners Forum

... and staying away from the GD Facebook groups - they tend to get nasty at times.

Rob

[love2rvcamp]

I would second to check out the owners page on Facebook. There is a Grand Design Reflection Owners page as well as a Grand Design Reflection 315 RLTS page. There might be specific pages for the other units but we are looking at the 315. We have been on the owners pages for about a year and one thing we have noticed is that Grand Design stands behind the products. I have seen where people say that they have approved mobile units to come out and work on an issue. But for the majority of the people on the pages love their units. Also a plus is employees of Grand Design monitor the Facebook groups for if anyone is having issues with their units.

[CaLBaR]

We have just had our 297RSTS for a couple of months. One trip to Florida and back. We love the trailer. So far quality is OK. There are a number of things that we need to get fixed after the first trip. Dealer has already order the parts but these are minor things with exception of the fridge not working on propane but then that is Dometic which most trailers have.

We really like the layout and it has washer/dryer prep too. That said if I would have had a bigger truck would have gone with the 315RLST for the king bed slide and huge closet. It also has the pantry that would be nice but with the hutch we have plenty of space.

Check out the Grand Design owners forum as they have a lot of very happy campers there. If any of them have had issue Grand Design seems to go the extra mile to keep the owners happy.

[Mike_E_]

Hey there,

Here's my 2 cents worth from a Reflection 5th wheel owner....short lived, but here are my observations.

Build quality: very nice. Nothing is perfect, and I only had a few warranty issues that were sorted quickly. Impressions of when we picked it up were very good. No piles of sawdust in cabinets etc, no stripped cabinet screws. Very nice. It's not your first rodeo, so I'm sure you realize that "experiences may vary" when it comes to RV's. 🙂

As for your floorplans and intended use I would only suggest the 315RLTS.
You want as much room as you can get. The front bedroom with slide will offer WAY more comfort in terms of space when shuffling around getting dressed etc. Plus, the washer and dryer preps are what you're going to want too.

My 5th was a 29RS which is similar to the 297RSTS. We got it because of the outside kitchen, which is very nice. Having said that though, that means that your "living slide" is now in full view of your neighbours, and you also lose any views into your own site. Might not seem like a big deal, but if you're going to be set up for lengths at a time, it might be nicer to have your neighbours 'blocked' by the inside entertainment slide like the 315 has. In hindsight, it would have been easy enough to create our own outside kitchen with the folding table we travel with by simply putting a TV on it and small fridge/electric cooler underneath. To be honest, the TV was used once, and that was when we were set up on our permanent site.

Now, the 315 is a gigantic travel trailer, so you will know it's behind you. I borrowed my BIL's 38 foot trailer a few summers ago and pulled it with our '14 Ram 3500 CTD. No issues with power, but it is definitely a long sail behind you. Nothing scary, but definitely noticeable. Go big truck 🙂

They are nice solid, heavy trailers. Well insulated, and make sure you get dual pane windows. We camped in freezing temps and woke up to very little condensation on the windows. For longer term living I'd suggest a small dehumidifier as well to keep the moisture down.

Sounds like you have a great plan.
If you have any pointed questions, or if I've left anything out in my ramblings here, just PM me 🙂

Mike