I've only had two RVs and both had 12V fridges. Both worked great. I adjusted the temperature and forgot. The water bottles we had in there were frozen by the time we got to our campsite. As far as the LEDs, I agree. I like a warmer color than what most RVs come with.
I just found your video, and agree with you. Switches! I want Switches! This touch screen feature is just an indication of marketing arrogance TELLING US what is an improvement. If the industry just listened to what customers are saying, instead of putting the latest electronic feature in because the marketing dept says so, the complaints might reduce. Besides, what do you do when the touch screen packs it in?
I’ll limit my detailed comments to the water heater. I’ve had both the old school tank type and my current tankless. I LOVE my Truma AquaGo Comfort Plus tankless! Yeah, it’s propane only, but it doesn’t use all that much, except when it’s actually firing. Otherwise, if I leave it on all the time, it only fires for a few seconds to keep its hybrid tank (about a pint, I think) warm until hot water is called for at any faucet. It does not react to low flow by shutting off-nor does it fail to provide hot water at high flows. That’s its major plus, that it works at any flow and any pressure. It’s truly excellent. But I’m aware that almost all other tankless water heaters have the major faults of requiring a certain flow before they’ll fire at all, but too much flow will overwhelm them so that the water doesn’t have a chance to get warm. As for other “upgrades”, I’m really old school with leveling-I use 2x8 boards. I have touch screens by Spyder, and I’d say they’ve worked perfectly 99% of the time. In the 6+ years I’ve had them, I’ve had to shut off the power to reboot them maybe 3 or 4 times. The advantage of touch screens is that the electrical system is multiplex-much fewer wires or involved cabling to operate the electrical items than individual switches. I’m on the fence about 12v fridges. My 3-way absorption fridge works pretty well, but not perfectly, especially in really hot weather. A 12v fridge would work better in hot weather and would cool more quickly. But a 12v fridge would take more battery power.
Agree that the Truma has worked like a champ in all conditions for us, whether boondocking or hookup camping. We also like the 12v fridge which gives us more room in the same footprint and has been keeping more steady temps than our previous absorption fringes.
As a person who likes to boondock, there are "improvements" that are everything but improvement. We boondocked/dry camped in Alaska for 3.5 months this summer. Auto level would have taken away from the carry capacity in our small trailer. A tankless water heater and 12v fridge would have made our lives miserable. We have a AC 200 Max Bluetti with a 2500w Champion duel fuel generator. I left the 2 solar panels at home. Too much rain, clouds and trees made that a good decision. From May 10th to the end of June, we needed to use the generator about 3 times. The rest of the time, our usage allowed us to just charge with the truck, while traveling. After a fishing trip, we ended up having to use the A/C side of the Bluetti, thereby draining it much faster. We had to start using the generator once a day. With two bricks, we charged up in under one hour usually, but would not want to have to do this all the time. The 65 lbs of fish in the portable freezer was worth it though!
You mean Winnebago. I have a true Grand Design and for 7 years we have had zero issues. Since Winnibago bought them, my friend has a 2022, their customer services stink and quality went down. Ask me how we know. He has had issuse after issue with months before customer service gets back to him. I always have recommended GD, between structural problems and poor interior quality lately i no longer recommend them. He traded for a Brinkly. This year we will do the same. Covid destroyed us in so many ways
We appreciate your channel, we have referred to it many times in our latest search for our newest TT. I believe the strongest message you have given in this video is SIMPLICITY! We all need to remember that we are camping...yes some live in theirs full time, so "fancy" features are important. We bought into the idea that a 5th wheel was the way we wanted to travel, and once we did a cross country trip in it, we realized we REALLY wanted SIMPLER! We went back to a TT and its 22'! We adore the simplicity of it, we intentionally chose less things in it which makes our camping experience more enjoyable! The # 1 on your list for is is auto leveling, we absolutely hated it in our 5th wheel! There was once we had all 4 wheels off the ground and I swear it was going to tip over! Keep up the fantastic work! We love your honesty and straight forward advice! (High fives from Michigan!)
Thanks. So glad someone is mentioning the steps as a potential negative. We had them on our last trailer and ended up hating them because of all the reasons you mentioned in the video. Additionally we did not like them because of how much space you need on the side of the rig to open the steps and the door which was an issue in storage and at truck stops. And I agree now that I have a tankless water heater I think I liked the old style better on our previous unit.
Regarding touchscreens....I saw a unit at the Tampa Supershow this week that had touchscreens throughout the rig. Right beside the nightstand was one, with all of the "important" functions on the home screen. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, still groggy, and instead of turning on the nightlight you start retracting the bedroom slide or start the generator. :( Yeah, I understand the desire for integration and touchscreens, but there needs to be some common sense applied to them.
Thanks... I'm with you on #5. Especially in vehicles. Switches and buttons evolved over time. They are intuitive and require less concentration by the user. I particularly dislike screen after screen to do the simplest function that a single flip or push would do. It is a conscious buying decision for me to avoid these.
We have a 12V fridge and it's a love hate relationship. It's a GE that we installed in our TT because our Norcold quit working after 1.5 years. It was out of warranty and I wasn't going to drop $2-300 to fix it if it even could be fixed. A 12V was cheaper so since we already had solar it was a no brainer. Main issue is battery drain in the trees or on cloudy days. We need to run the gen on those days for a few hours. If on elec then the 12V shines. More space and the temps on ours stay pretty consistent. Agee on the auto leveling and touchscreens. We don't need more things to go wrong, there's enough that can go wrong as it is.
I agree with the solid steps...Not only are they heavy, but you get all the dirt in the rv when you put them away. AND, you also have to adjust the legs if you’re in an uneven ground. I much prefer the outside steps.
Just watched the video. I agree with you on leveling, led color matching and brightness. We like our 12v fridge though. We keep it at 3 or lower. We have One Control, which I like so far. Motion sensors are good in the cabinets. We’re older so we like the solid steps.
I’ve watched a lot of your videos. Thank you! I enjoy your content. We have a 2023 Jayco 264BH. We’ve had a lot of issues with our tankless water heater. Usually we have to start the hot water in the tub/shower to get the heater running, then turn on the hot water in the kitchen to do dishes. We end up using a lot of extra water to get hot water and still have taken dishes to the camp kitchen before. I’ve seen someone run new pex plumbing in their rigs without as many couplings as the manufacturer used to make 90 bends. All the 90 couplers further reduce water pressure. Our 12v fridge gets very cold, but hasn’t really been a problem. We’ve done the step thing, to get my wife and kids in, then put the steps up so I can level the trailer. Where I park my trailer at my house, I don’t have enough room to put the steps down (unless it is in my driveway). So if I have to get in, I have a 3 foot step then I have to step over the steps. Agree old school steps would be better. We don’t have an auto leveling kit, but agree, it’s not hard to just do manually. We have the Andersen leveling blocks and they make side to side leveling a breeze. Thanks again and looking forward to more videos.
I disagree with the respect that they are not over complicating things. They just put absolute cheap garbage in all of these RVs. For example, having an iPad mini as a touch screen would be exceptionally reliable. If all the components that you spoke of for of residential, heft and quality, you wouldn’t have issues.
Thanks for the info. I was attracted to a couple of these “upgrades” and with your experience, I wouldn’t want the steps or the motion lights. Thanks again!👋👍
Ya i totally agree with keeping the old style flip out steps. When i get a new rig later this year i will absolutely not take delivery of it untill the old style steps are retro fitted to it.
Love your channel! You are such great & kind folks!! We are currently looking into purchasing a 5th wheel and starting into part time camping and travelling. I have learned so much information from you! We will be using this information in our purchase and after the purchase!! Thank you so much and hope you continue to have safe & fun travels!!
Our flipdown step legs issue was high uneven ground. The legs barely extended to reach the ground, which is needed to hold the weight of the steps. Plus it was a big drop off from the bottom step to the ground. Also had to find and extra "step" alternative that would give us more stability than the usual stepstool kind of option. We found step up exercise blocks with adjustable legs work great. Cheap from a thrift store, adjustable height and wide enough to rest the legs of the steps on one and then a second as an extra wide "bottom" step.
First time RV Purchase less than a month ago, decided on the Imagine XLS 25DBE, most of the upgrades you discuss are in this trailer..🤣🤣 oh well, we'll live and learn for ourselves what works and what doesn't. Thanks for the informative content.
We replaced our OEM fold out steps on our Montana 5R (2006 2955RL) for the more solid feeling of the fold-in unit. This ALSO removed the possibility of damaging the fold out steps on the rare deep pothole at the campground [happened twice even while carefully backing in]. Our practice is to manually level the rig, then open and adjust, if necessary, the fold out steps. Thanks for your vision on these topics! Rollo
I like the solid steps on my RV except when I need to use a dump station. After dumping the black tank, I want to go in and add water and treatment to the toilet. However, often times, there is no room to open the steps to get into the RV. Sometimes, if it's a double dump station I would have to open the steps almost directly onto the sewer drain of the adjacent station. Sometimes, the steps are landing on a curb or a drop off, making it near impossible to fold them down for access into the RV. We have the same issue when traveling and stopping at a truck stop for a meal. Often, there is no room between parked trailers to pull down the solid steps to get into the RV for something before leaving.
I love my auto leveling, but yes you need to be aware of it's limitations before using it. We've had 4(5 with tongue connected) legs levelers and 6 leg levelers, and both need to be reset every so often, usually after a power cycle. In our current spot here in Georgia we needed to dig a trench for the tires and use blocks under the front landing gear to get level and stable. The only reasons I can think of for a tankless water heater is if you have a dishwasher or washing machine, otherwise you can shower a whole family of 4 every day without issues.
Great video- thanks! Here’s my chime-in: Auto-leveling - we did an RV Share before we purchased our camper. The owners did the setup - it was raining and a very unlevel site and the poor guy had to take half a lumberyard out of his truck to get the AL system to work. We’ve since set up our own camper in similar conditions (fully manual leveling) and we got set up in half the time, so I agree with you, not an upgrade. LED lights - my pet peeve. I’m a degreed mechanical engineer and even I struggled to understand the “temperature spectrum” at first for home LED lighting. Jayco did a good job of color matching in our Feather 25RB, but have seen at RV shows the LED mixed bag and knew it looked like a trouble spot. To be fair, we only have the puck lights on the ceiling and under the counters so not much chance of messing up, but definitely something to watch for. Tankless - we have one at home and love it but I don’t want one AT ALL on my camper. If we need fast hot water, I have run both electric and gas simultaneously to speed up recovery but all in all, I’m with you - NOT an upgrade. 12V fridge - our Furrion works great, but I have heard about a new brand showing up that is trouble and also some GE branded ones that are actually “new brand” with a GE badge that are trouble. We don’t do enough long-haul camping to need road access and gas absorption fridge so the 12V fits the bill for us. Solid Steps - we love them but agree with you that it slows down setup and leveling, and also is a pain especially when I forget to raise the steps before lowering the trailer for departure, then raise them and forget the threshold isn’t clear and try to close the exterior door with the steps’ hinge up in the way…. Oh, and definitely +1 on the digital screens. Give me an analog switch panel with a Bluetooth link to an app on my cellphone, or just skip the app. Between broken gas struts, loose door hinges, shaken-loose trim pieces from transit, and keeping up my side and rear camera rig, I have enough to do maintenance wise…. All in all, as my wife says, “it’s a camper, not a residence - keep it simple, stupid”…
We have a 2023 Grand Design Imagine 2670 MK. I agree with you on the tankless water heater. All of my previous campers were the electric/gas tanks that had the anode. Our tankless heater requires us to slowly turn the hot water on when we first heat it up to get it flowing correctly. It's a pain and water gets wasted. We also have the 12v fridge. We have to keep it at the lowest setting to prevent it from freezing things in the fridge. The one plus over the old gas/electric combos is that it only takes roughly an hour in a Georgia summer to get cold.
The fold out steps can be an issue at my storage lot. If the trailer next to me parks to close I cannot get the step down to access my trainer. This has happen twice in the last few months.
100% agree with this list. Keep it simple is the best way. We always carry two long boards for under the tires if needed. With the steps it a pain to pull them up and shut the door from the inside if your parked boonedocking for the night and you don't want your steps ran over. Again great work.
I've had great luck with the 12v fridge, just like the one in your video. It cools down fast and I never have temp issues. Given, I boondock often and have solar, it works no matter what. As for the touchscreen, they just plain stink.
We installed the Torklift steps to replace our steel steps on our Jayco travel trailer. We love them, they are never in the way when we are setting up. They are very solid feeling and are easy to operate.
Regarding the 12 v fridge, it’s got an advantage that your travel trailer doesn’t need to be perfectly level to work. We’ve only had our TT for about 18 months, and our biggest issues have been the seal of the Furrion 12 v unit on the doors. It took longer to cool in the Florida heat and often we’d have the back of the fridge frozen ice. We finally literally taped both doors shut with painters tape and boom- both the fridge and the freezer cooled much faster and the ice didn’t form in the fridge. So we realized we had a seal/door issue. We currently have the TT in the shop to either fix the seal and/or replace the doors. But when sealed, the unit works great.
I agree with you on auto leveling. Never had a problem with manual leveling. Was going to buy a socket for my cordless drill to "upgrade" from my manual crank. After thinking about it for a bit i changed my mind as i decided it was just more stuff to carry and keep track of.
Agree 100%. I have an older trailer so lots of these are not an issue. We boondock so power is always the big thing, having a 12 volt fridge would cut my time down. We like to camp in the trees so solar not an option I am willing to spend the money on. Plus live on the west coast of Canada so we don't get the temperatures where the gas fridge quits working, ours always cools, the freezer will freeze stuff rock hard in hours. I have converted my lighting over to LED. I wasn't really sure which ones I wanted so I tried a couple of different bulbs. I ran the warm light pretty much everywhere, put the colder lights in over the kitchen sink thinking it would be good for doing the dishes and such. Hated them, swapped the whole trailer over to a nice warm color, much more inviting. I thought about a tankless water heater but honestly, the 6 gallon tank we have works just fine, plus boon docking so having an unlimited supply of hot water not always a good thing. As for motion lights, we just keep some really low power flashlights beside the beds and use them in the middle of the night. When it is pitch black a motion light on the floor would have me wide awake, plus we have the dog who will wander around during the nigh finding the perfect spot to nap. I am looking at one of those leveling sensors that works on your phone, my wife has a disability so I pretty much do everything by myself. But auto-level no way.
I 100% agree about all the touch screen/panel nonsense. It's over complicating things for no reason other than trying to convince people it's more "luxury". And when they break they cost a fortune to replace. They started doing the same thing in bass boats. I sold my Ranger after the first touch panel and controller went out to the tune of $1200. Back in a Falcon with rotary switches that cost $15 to replace. Guess what, the rotary switches do everything the touch panels did. Imagine that! K.I.S.S. I'm also with you on the absorption fridges. Go on any RV forum and you'll find post after post of 12v fridge issues from every manufacturer. My absorption fridge is 9 years old and works perfectly still.
You opened my mind t o the 12V fridge, had heard nothing but good raves and not much from an experienced user side. In a comment below it is suggested you need (2) 100 AH with 600W solar to keep one going off grid. That adds a new negative. The rage was standard household fridge, till rolling earth quake and having to take a slide out to remove or replace one got exposed. Yet, our favorite unit we are considering now has a residential fridge. Would love to see you do a video of RV refrigerator units. The good the bad and the ugly of the 3 types for boon dockers or park camper. Our plans are to boondock (Harvest Host/Boon dockers welcome) 2 nights while traveling from lower Alabama to Maryland. While there we most likely will be in a park. But then to travel the North East for a week (boon dock or park) and return to Maryland. Then 2 nights back home boon docking. I hadn't planed on a lot of solar, just enough to keep the fridge going IF we are able to not run the AC. But the the AC is most important. Can buy a lot of gas for the generator vs. this initial investment of huge solar. So would love to hear comments on residential fridges (recent models if any improvements since 2019) and would love to see you do a video focused on refrigerators. Amen on the touch screens. Will not consider a unit that doesn't have manual switches as the backup. My wife fell in love with you guys back when you did the toilet paper dissolving video in your kitchen years ago. We thought it was so based on what I could see dumping. But you did it by testing in your wife's kitchen. CLASSIC!
I don't know about bigger ones, here's what my little Truckfridge in the van uses. 2 200AH batteries will easily run it for several days. Longest was 6 days on the Alaska ferry, and I had power left over. Volume (CU ft/Liters) 1.73/49 Dimensions HxWxD (inches) 20 1/2 x15 x 17 1/2 Power consumption (W/24h) 278 Weight (lbs) 37
I agree on the steps. Id like to see them as an option. One thing holding us back in getting a new unit - everything we like has the new steps and where we park the unit at our home, we dont have the space to swing them down. ( Next to our house), So I wont be able to get into the unit when its parked. Not practical .
I agree on all of these but one in particular is the touch screen electronics. If this fails your camping trip is severely disrupted. Old time regular switches are the way to go. When I first bought my GD Imagine and saw the Compass Connect panel the first thing I ordered for my back-up spare parts drawer was a replacement panel in case of a failure.
Good list! I currently have the 12v fridge and it's been working well however it is a power hog. We dry camp 99% of the time and if we're in a shady spot it makes it difficult to keep things charged up. I also agree with you and Chad about the tanked water heater.
Thanks for a very informative video. I agree with you on most, but I like the 12 volt fridge and the convenience of it. Looking forward to the next video.
Another spot on video. Everything you discussed has been an issue that I have encountered or wondered about. Having an older 2011 Keystone I consider the upgrades carefully before deciding if that is right for our situation. One point not listed is manual vs electric tongue jacks. Ours is the old manual jack and works fine. However almost every trip my wife states we need to get an electric jack. Again my concern is the long term reliability vs the proven manual crank system.
Awesome video. We have only had 2 TT and both had 12v fridges. Our current camper has solar so we can precool the fridge without turning on the gas while at storage. Also like the tank water heater. As you said, on our shakedown trip we use the gas side of our water heater to make sure it worked. Since then have only used electric. One thing I don't like is 5 out of 7 leds in the main area are on one switch and cannot be turned off individually. Neither of our TT have had touch screens.
A couple of comments: As to the auto levelers: I have had back surgery, and as anyone who also has, you're never quite the same. Autolevelers allow me to continue RV'ing as it limits the time I have to spend bending over to crank the scissor jacks. As to the 12V fridge: like any other product, there are differences in quality among the different vendors. That is where doing research prior to purchase comes in. Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work, and safe travels.
My age group needs the solid steps - I am a youngster at 70 - and we could probably need the extended grab bar; they are a pain sometimes. I agree that keeping is simple is smart - most of us do not use all the features we purchase. Have not used auto-level, or motion sensors, or had an issue with color differences of LEDs - but bright - sometimes they burn thru your eyelids. We like our 12V fridge. I wanted a tankless, but your comments have made me reconsider - and our gas/electric works great. Per norm - THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO YOU PROVIDE.
1. I love our Auto Level. We are on our 2nd RV with it. We don’t want the tires off the ground so we roughly level the trailer with 2x10 boards and use blocking under the jack feet if needed. It’s not just the auto leveling function, it’s also that the system eliminates almost all movement in the trailer when you’re walking around. 2. I agree with you on the tankless water heater. 3. We’ve never seen (or at least never noticed) the problem you described with inconsistent colour of LED lighting. We are on our 2nd Forest River Rockwood trailer with factory LEDs and don’t have that problem. 4. Our Magic Chef brand 12V fridge works great so far. It looks like your experience has been with Furrion fridges. I stay away from all Furrion products. 5. I agree with you on your preference for manual switch’s rather than touch screens. Our Rockwood has the same switch panel as the Imagine did in your video. 6. We only have a motion detector light in our pantry and it works fine. 7. I tend to agree on the “drawbridge” style steps. They can be replaced with Torklift’s GlowStep Revolution Uprising steps but they are pricey.
Great video! We're on our 5th RV and I agree with nearly all of these except the 12V fridge. Besides being a power hog, it has been good for us. I completely agree with you on the solid steps and the on demand water heater! I was excited about having the steps on our most recent camper, but they just aren't worth the mess they make. Also, we thought we were idiots when trying to use the on-demand water heater. We just couldn't get it to stay on. It's all about water pressure and from our experience water pressure causes issues with RV water lines. It makes for one adventurous shower though!
Auto Leveler on my 2021 278BH - love it, only 1 reset during 45 trips. Tankless WH, also love it, never any problems except kids shower too long. Steps - we have old schools steps with lippert support legs underneath (don't know the name) LOVE THEM, best of both worlds, solid feeling when extended & none of the hassle of fold out solid steps.
It's been 1.5 years so far and my LCI Ground Control TT has never worked for more that 2 weeks at a time. It's in the dealership now to replace the main controller. Absolutely AWESOME when it works.. but really sucks when they don't. Luckily, one fix they made allows me to manually control all the jacks and watch my bubble levels when the auto feature fails. Also, mine once randomly extended the tongue jack when nobody was near the trailer. Good thing that didn't happen on the road!
I really like my auto levelers. Yes I do have to get it somewhat level so that I don't raise any wheels off of the ground as that is what you are not suppose to do. Haven't had any trouble (knock on wood) with them and hopefully I won't. We really like our Lippert Solid Step. We did put the handrail on the Solid Step which helps out. It doesn't bother us that I have to clean or wipe them off before we raise them to put away. As we have before with any camper that we have owned, we usually don't even go into the camper until it's level. We have a residential refrigerator and really like it. We don't do any boondocking soo we are good with it. I pretty much agree with most of the other upgrades that you mentioned. I still wish that we had the old manual awning on our camper. They were so much better built. They would take a pretty good storm and be just fine. The electric awnings we have now I just can't trust them at all to be out in any weather.
I agree with all of your opinions here Cory. In addition, I'm not a fan of the friction doors. When you're loading the camper or have things in your arms they are just to hard to open as well as for older owners. I also do not like where they put the thermostat. When we stop for lunch and want to warm up the Imagine a little I have to put out the slide to access it. By the way, thanks for the tip on the remote light switch. Me and the wife love them.
Our travel trailer had extra 'lights' that you couldn't turn off while you were sleeping. These lights were near the bathroom's light switch. There was also a light on the radio. I like to sleep in the dark and it was very annoying to have this extra light that you can't turn off.
reguarding the steps.... i also like the fold under steps for when i stop at a rest stop or walmart or whatever its really easy to get in and out and i dont need alot of room. the ones that fold into the door require alot more clearence.
I enjoy my hydraulic auto leveling system. Works great. I have seen electric leveling not working as well. I saw the changing lanes video on tankless water heaters and it was well done. Based on that video I wouldn’t get one. If you have a delay every time you turn off the water that wouldn’t be convenient. On led lights you have to decide if you want warm or white. Makes a difference and they all need to match. Fridge: I have 2 trailers, a 5th wheel with 12 volt and a bumper pull with gas/electric. Advantages/disadvantages to each depending on how you are RVing. On a long travel day the 12 volt can drain your batteries. Good video and I appreciate your opinions.
Totally agree, you nailed it! I want a camper with a gas/electric fridge, gas/electric hot water tank and switches not a touch screen. And yes I still level my trailer by hand.
I agree with most of your list. Auto level in our Solitude is great, but it's hydraulic. I don't think travel trailers need auto level. You are correct, it has generally an easy task to level manually. Touchscreens are just another gimic that will fail at some point. Tankless water heaters are horrible for RVs. We have a Norcold fridge that struggled to stay at temps set. It is located in a slideout, which creates kniwn issues with cooling and ventilation. We went to JC Refrigeration and had it converted to a 12v. It's a great option. We also love our Solid Step. The issues do exist as you mentioned but it's worth it to us. We have two sets of step mats cut to fit and we have a mat on the floor to catch dirt when folded in. Great video and some great points to consider.
I completely agree about the LED colors! We looked at some new Grand Designs and the strips were a different color than the dinette pucks which were a different color than the bunk lights. It was very noticeable to us, and the strip lights had a flicker that gave us headaches. We didn’t have any of those issues in our 2021 GD Transcend. Hopefully they get it worked out.
We replaced the bright white led puck lights in our Winnie 2108ds with warm light dimmable puck lights and it made a huge difference in our enjoyment of our evening lighting. They are pretty easy to replace, but we shouldn’t have to. Also they are inexpensive. No reason manufacturers should put them in, other than during the sales process it makes the unit look brighter and more desirable.
We've had several units and have pretty good luck with the furrion 12v fridge in our new camper. You are right in the freezing along the back but those issues were pretty common in the gas/electric also. We used to keep a fan in the door on the gas/electric and now also keep on in the 12v as there is no real air movement. Our Jayco has a touchscreen. It seems well built and very informative. Love the ability to dim almost every light but do worry about longevity. However where the brain box is located we could always switch back to a switch style if needed. As far as the steps I would have to say especially if you are going to boondock or even in storage to go with the Torklift glow steps. We have both the outside mounted replacement and now the revolution to replace the lippert that came on our Jayco. If you have never tried them they are really stable even though you wouldn't think so by design. They have the most adjustment for boondocking on even ground which eliminates the problem with the door closing on the lippert models. You can also get into the camper in close storage areas with ease. Just some thoughts here from Colorado.
I too have no use for a tankless water heater. I used to shut the hot water off at the source if my son was in the shower longer than 4 minutes. We do have the option to suplement the electric heater with propane by turning on both heating options at high demand times. I also prefer manual switches to any electronic option... that said, I do like auto level. There are times I need to roll up on 2x8's to get the trailer close to level before I hit the "auto level" button. Sometimes I need to put both sides of the trailer on 2x8's, to either allow the steps to rest on an adjacent concrete pad, or to level front to back without the front of the trailer hitting the ground. RV travel/living is all about being prepared to adjust to current conditions. Don't let them sell you what you don't need and keep enjoying the RV life.
Agree with most except the 12v frig ! 2022 2810bh love the 12 v ! Works great, adjustment works great, just gets really cold up against the back wall ! Great Vid's keep them coming !
We miss the gas/electric refrigerator. The electric seems to use too much electricity and we can go weeks on the propane (yes and a bit of electricity) . Great video, just stumbled across your page and have joined up. Also on the LED's I have already replaced ours with dimmable LED's. Don't know why they wouldn't install them at build.
I thoroughly agree with you on the Steps. I mostly hate my Lippert steps and would like to go back to the fold out aluminum steps. Also, I mostly love my 12 volt fridge. I have a Girard by Lippert and would not want a propane/electric. Mine is not frost free and I have to defrost the freezer before every trip, but I don't have to be perfectly level.
Agree with your comments. Hate motion lights, always going on and off. Like auto-level BUT, you MUST analyze your terrain BEFORE starting. You may frequently need to use extra leveling blocks or ore-adjust front jacks. If you don't, auto-level will default (a real pain). I'm not wild about the solid steps. Where I store my RV, the units are too close to drop the stairs. Lots of places are inconvenient, not to mention getting water and dirt inside.
3. Well, I jumped on the Stabil Steps bandwagon because of my bride's walking disability and my aging arthritic knees. The floorplan of our GD Transcend 240ML actually requires fixed steps since the door opening is over the camp side wheel well. However, for the reasons you cited, and constant dirt I would seriously consider going back to the lighter and more manageable folding steps.
I agree with you. Everything is on touchscreen in my RV. Takes me forever just to turn the bedroom light on. I’d rather not have the touchscreen at all or maybe a combination of touchscreen and switches. But I do love my auto level and absolutely hate my gas/electric fridge! It’s a pain to keep that thing cool in the summer.
I have the same 12V fridge that you showed and it works great. We did have a problem with the door latch not closing tight enough and the fridge didn't cool properly condensation was on everything, but this could happen on an absorption fridge as well. Only had to adjust the door latch. The real problem is that they will kill a lead acid battery quick when using without a hook-up. They kind of need Lithium batteries to work as they should. Solar helps but you frequently don't have sunshine. This is a good list and manufacturers should take heed.
We love our 12 volt size by side refrigerator. We dislike the steps that fold into the unit, if we stop for gas, not convenient and heavy, plus dirt and mud gets inside the rv when you fold them up. Our motion light has a switch to turn off that feature. I’m with you on touch screen anything, prefer knobs and switches.
We upgraded to a 5th wheel which has autolevel and you it the nail on the head. It's fantastic till it doesn't work which happened to me when we setup on Saturday. Now it's 2 weeks of less stability because the center jacks won't go down manually. I also agree on the steps. We're still rocking the factory steel steps on our Columbus which i wish were aluminum just for cosmetics. When we had our trailer in storage i could get my steps out. When you pull over by the road to let the kids use the bathroom even next to guard rail or something you can at least get them halfway out.
I have the auto level, and for me, it's awesome, I work that in combination with the levelmate pro when we arrive on site and never have problems with leveling. It does need to be adjusted a little on the return to the hitch, but it's not a big deal. I have thought about a tankless hot water heater, but we do a lot of boondocking, and it just wouldn't work for us either, too much propane or not enough electricity. I converted our propane/electric fridge to strictly 12v, and it has been the best thing ever with our setup and boondocking. Uses so little power compared to the old setup. I like touch screens, but you are right about switches being better. I hate a touch screen in a car stereo because if the road isn't smooth, who knows what button I'm am pushing. Lol I haven't paid too much attention to the different color lights unless I have them all turned on. I do like the bright lights for reading or working on something, but if I am just sitting around in them, I like a more yellow light.
I have been rv'ing since the early 70's (yes I was a kid when I started!). We had a '72 Winnebago Indian 24 foot then and it was BASIC compared to what we get as standard today. But that is what I grew up with and I had a ton of fun through the years with all my RV's without all those "new shiny penny, latest and greatest cutting tech toys" that everyone clamors to get. I now have a 2019 Radiance TT that has None of the options you mentioned and I have never given it a thought. Not true...I did get the solid step and that was because of my dogs who prefer the solid step :-) . Like you, all those "basic" fridges, water heaters and buttons all just work great and they do no inhibit my fun at all. I did upgrade to two batteries for those overnight harvest host moments and I did buy an inverter generator for the times I need it, but I have not gone the solar route. 10K for that convenience seems a bit steep to me. Anderson blocks, 2x6's and a level have served me well for the leveling chores. Here is the thing, we are all being told that all these new gadgets are better. 12V fridges work better...tank-less is better....RV touch screen control systems are better...convection microwaves are better...auto levelers are better.....better for the RV industry maybe because it creates more revenue in sales and service! Then you factor in the need for constant power so now you get sucked into buying a $10,000 solar system to run all your 12V systems or a generator. I can dry camp for a week with two batteries and propane....propane stove, oven, fridge, and water heater....if it gets cold and I have to run the furnace I can get by two nights if I need to. HVAC well no....but then if it is that hot I do not dry camp anyway and I do have that generator as a back up. BTW, I found my old family Winnebago and I am in negotiations to purchase it for a restoration project. Funny thing is, the propane fridge, stove/oven, furnace still work and the tank water heater fires up but it leaks.... the Dometic 13,000 BTU AC still works too and it has never been recharged (good thing since it is R12). The old Dodge chassis with the 413V8 not so much...the engine, brakes and other mechanicals need some love.
Personally love my auto-level. The biggest thing that I have learned is that I need to be mostly level side to side first. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be close. This is pretty easy for me using my levelmate (which I had from a previous rig) when i'm parking. Takes me a about 2 mins to fix myself side to side. Then I can pull out all my hoses and cords. Hit my autolevel and get my cables and hoses laid out while it levels itself. As for the tankless, the solution I have found for the flow problems is to make sure I set my temperature to what I want without mixing hot/cold. That keeps all pressure going to the water heater which is generally good enough in my experience.
1st I love the auto level on our Reflection. Problem free so far so maybe that could change later. Also love our 12 volt fridge. Cools down so much faster and works better in hot weather. The LED lights being different color temperatures would drive me crazy too. I'm indifferent on the water heater...they both have pros and cons but our tankless has worked flawless. Lastly the steps. Yes they are a pain at times but I would not trade them for the old style because I hate the bounce. I would add one you didn't mention and that is sky lights. They can be nice for daytime light but let in heat, too much light comes in early in the morning and it's just additional holes in the roof where water can find it's way in. Thanks as always for your content!
This video was awesome and really opened my eyes to a lot of “conveniences” that my wife and I contemplated purchasing to improve our camping experience but never thought about the negatives such as you pointed out.
As an old timer (bought our first pop-up camper in 1988) , I agree with most of your comments. We bought our first motorhome in 2018 (Newmar Bay Star) and last summer, we downsized to a Sprinter chassis Winnebago Via and with both rigs, I really like the auto levelers. But, I agree that there are situations where they don't work well and you have to manually level. We owned three travel trailers over the years, and with a travel trailer I'm not so sure I'd want the expense and weight of a auto leveling system but I can understand older folks wanting them! I strongly agree about LED lighting and the necessity of matching the color range of the light. But converting older lighting to LED lighting can save a lot of juice if you are running off batteries. In the case of our Bay Star, getting rid of old halogen reading lights got rid of the tremendous amount of heat that halogen lights create. Propane/electric water heaters are fine for campers! I can't see the need for tankless heaters even though I like the tankless heater we had installed in our house about a year ago. In an RV, the standard 6 gallon propane/electric heater does the job and the recovery time isn't an issue even for several campers getting showers. Finally, I love technology but agree strongly about the trend towards too much of it for many of the features in an RV. There's certainly enough regular maintenance on an RV that we don't need to worry about problems created by an electronic screen/controls failing and agree that replacing a basic switch or light socket can be a lot easier than dealing with electronic failures!! And, if the manufacturers would spend more time improving RV quality rather than on unnecessary technological "improvements", we'd all be happier!!
I have a 2003 fiberglass camper and have replaced all the appliances except the AC. In each case I used the old technology except to add lithium batteries. Switches and propane get the job done and can generally be maintained by the owner. With the declining build quality and fussier technology, I'll stick with my basic unit.
Touchscreen! Yesssssss! I recently brought my Cougar 5th wheel home to get it ready for a December trip. The In Command touchscreen was dead. After troubleshooting with the In Command service folks (who were great, by the way) it turned out that I needed a new unit. These are not a quick turnaround, especially if your extended warranty is involved. There are workarounds for most functions and that’s what I had to use. Bottom line, I’m with you in my like for good old fashioned switches!
We like the 12 volt fridge but it is sensitive to get adjusted. Yup the steps that fold up into the camper suck. All the dirt, water, sand just ends up in your camper. We've had both and I much prefer the old style fold up steps.
1. Gotta agree with you w/regards to auto level. I've never had a travel trailer with this upgrade; however, my 2018 Springdale 252RL was equipped with LCI Electric Stab Jacks from the factory and I 'upgraded' my 2021 GD Transcend 240ML with similar units. I have experienced a motor failure, and more recently a 3-way switch failure over the years. Both failures occurred at inconvenient times, trying to depart, in inclement weather in rural settings and required dragging out the toolbox, crawling under the coaches, and removing the motors in order to manually retract the landing gear. The replacement motor if ordered from Camping World was $324, however, I found a direct replacement motor on Ebay for $120. The 3-way switch is an epoxy sealed, proprietary part and the replacement switch ordered from CW, including freight, was $131.00! In my world does my apparent 'need' to add power stabilizing or leveling help as opposed to 4 scissors jacks and a cordless drill driver outweigh the practicality of a simple, cheaper, more reliable system? Well, it used to, now not so much.
I agree about the tankless water heater. And my trailer has to have the solid steps, but the process is exactly as you say. Plus there's the dirt dumping feature every time you put the steps up. I also am on the fence regarding the 12 volt refrigerator. Mine doesn't seem very consistent either. I dry camp sometimes, and the old style would maybe be better for that. But I have not always had a reliable absorption refrigerator.
We are cold weather campers. The Furrion tankless water heater in our Reflection does not work well in cold weather. In fact, we have issues with it freezing. The folks at furrion tell us it is not guarenteed to work at lower than 40 degrees. Never had probelms with our previous gas/electric hot water heater.
I’ve just found your channel today an am now a subscriber. Thanks for a very helpful video and for actually finding unique subject material. And it came from yours and your wife’s perspective having experienced it which is really helpful. It certainly made me rethink things. I’ve been diving in to RVs trying to get myself educated before I buy my first one later this year. Thanks again.
Have 2 doors on my travel trailer, wish it had step as you showed on video. Would take up less room and as you said would be better getting in and out. They need a way to train out those steps you shown for the ones that fold inside. They do make a mess at times. I do have 12 v ref and like it. I keep adjusting because of how much I have in ref. Thanks for your tips.
1 - love auto level. @ we got a Truma tankless - love it. none of the problems you have with the other brands. touch screen - we have the older incommand - hate it. We were caught ion a situation where the screen failed and we cold not put our slides out. We love our residential fridge. We have the torque accordian steps. Love those too.
My first visit & thoroughly enjoyed your video. I would be curious what goes on @ the manufacture level when these decisions are made for the "up/downgrades". Many times a few extra minutes such as your LED lights would have a much better outcome with the end user. My factory installed Rockford Fosgate sounds so "bad" it is never used. Fridges, all the years & all the manufactures.....my current Nevercold 2118X with several issues will use 40lbs a week what a POS! When all of the electronic touch pad gadetery begins to fail & suppliers disappear or no longer support the product......then what? Then the factory solar systems....OMG 🙃I 100% agree regarding the steps, I think it is a good example of over complicating a single issue. Trouble times for the RV industry, your video is a indicator of the disfunction & disconnect @ the management level.
I have a travel trailer (2017) that has auto level and I absolutely love it. It has never given me a bit of trouble and has never failed to level out the rig. It is not a park queen and has been in plenty of sites that are "level challenged". I have never had a 12v fridge in any of my rigs and am curious, but love my absorption fridge because of the ability to run it off of propane. The way we like to camp there are just too many scenarios where a 12v power hog would not be ideal. LEDs, love them, I have swapped our pucks out to a warmer color. Would be nice if I could find pucks that were adjustable warmth wise. Steps, 1000% agree. I hate those stable steps. My trusty gas/electric water heater gives me plenty of hot water when in a park and I set it to use both sources. Even when the wife and I take back to back showers we have never run out of hot water. When boondocking, we rarely use it due to water conservation. This all being said, if I changed the way we camp or changed the type or size of rig we used, I am sure that my opinions on some of these would change.
Hello Cory, great list. I have had the fold out steps for the last 25 years and worked good as long as you kept them properly lubed. 2023 is the first year dealing with the fold out solid steps. When you are set-up, they are great. But setting up is a pain, and getting the detent pins out to adjust the legs.. man I got to come up with another method. I had them out for 2 weeks on the snow in Iowa and I don’t know if the salt got on the pins but I couldn’t get them out without a hammer. Ridiculous. Going to have to find thumb release detent pins. Why they wouldn’t put a release system for the legs is beyond me. As for a next video idea, how about 5 “options” you should get on your RV and work great.
8:17 100% agree with you on this. I personally hate cool white LEDs and so many manufacturers use cool white LEDs because more often than not, theyre cheaper. My 2023 Tab 320S has lovely, warm white accent lighting and reading lights and then the overhead light in the center of the camper and the one in the bathroom are this awful, 6500K color temp. One of my first mods was swapping out the units for an identical unit from the same manufacturer, simply the warm white model. This proves to me, they couldve used better matching and more pleasing to look at fixtures, but just either didnt do the research or didnt wanna spend the extra couple dollars per unit.
I totally agree with sticking to switches instead of touchscreens 👍🏻Way easier to fix if a problem occurs
Ideally they have switches with blue tooth connectivity to your phone.
I've only had two RVs and both had 12V fridges. Both worked great. I adjusted the temperature and forgot. The water bottles we had in there were frozen by the time we got to our campsite. As far as the LEDs, I agree. I like a warmer color than what most RVs come with.
I just found your video, and agree with you. Switches! I want Switches! This touch screen feature is just an indication of marketing arrogance TELLING US what is an improvement. If the industry just listened to what customers are saying, instead of putting the latest electronic feature in because the marketing dept says so, the complaints might reduce. Besides, what do you do when the touch screen packs it in?
Try a 12/24 volt compressor Frig. They work great. I will never go back to gas Frig.
I’ll limit my detailed comments to the water heater. I’ve had both the old school tank type and my current tankless. I LOVE my Truma AquaGo Comfort Plus tankless! Yeah, it’s propane only, but it doesn’t use all that much, except when it’s actually firing. Otherwise, if I leave it on all the time, it only fires for a few seconds to keep its hybrid tank (about a pint, I think) warm until hot water is called for at any faucet. It does not react to low flow by shutting off-nor does it fail to provide hot water at high flows. That’s its major plus, that it works at any flow and any pressure. It’s truly excellent.
But I’m aware that almost all other tankless water heaters have the major faults of requiring a certain flow before they’ll fire at all, but too much flow will overwhelm them so that the water doesn’t have a chance to get warm.
As for other “upgrades”, I’m really old school with leveling-I use 2x8 boards.
I have touch screens by Spyder, and I’d say they’ve worked perfectly 99% of the time. In the 6+ years I’ve had them, I’ve had to shut off the power to reboot them maybe 3 or 4 times. The advantage of touch screens is that the electrical system is multiplex-much fewer wires or involved cabling to operate the electrical items than individual switches.
I’m on the fence about 12v fridges. My 3-way absorption fridge works pretty well, but not perfectly, especially in really hot weather. A 12v fridge would work better in hot weather and would cool more quickly. But a 12v fridge would take more battery power.
Agree that the Truma has worked like a champ in all conditions for us, whether boondocking or hookup camping. We also like the 12v fridge which gives us more room in the same footprint and has been keeping more steady temps than our previous absorption fringes.
Absolutely right! How can I get RID of my Solid Steps and dumping dirt and rain into the coach? Every reason you gave is correct.
As a person who likes to boondock, there are "improvements" that are everything but improvement. We boondocked/dry camped in Alaska for 3.5 months this summer. Auto level would have taken away from the carry capacity in our small trailer. A tankless water heater and 12v fridge would have made our lives miserable. We have a AC 200 Max Bluetti with a 2500w Champion duel fuel generator. I left the 2 solar panels at home. Too much rain, clouds and trees made that a good decision. From May 10th to the end of June, we needed to use the generator about 3 times. The rest of the time, our usage allowed us to just charge with the truck, while traveling. After a fishing trip, we ended up having to use the A/C side of the Bluetti, thereby draining it much faster. We had to start using the generator once a day. With two bricks, we charged up in under one hour usually, but would not want to have to do this all the time. The 65 lbs of fish in the portable freezer was worth it though!
You mean Winnebago. I have a true Grand Design and for 7 years we have had zero issues. Since Winnibago bought them, my friend has a 2022, their customer services stink and quality went down. Ask me how we know. He has had issuse after issue with months before customer service gets back to him. I always have recommended GD, between structural problems and poor interior quality lately i no longer recommend them. He traded for a Brinkly. This year we will do the same. Covid destroyed us in so many ways
We appreciate your channel, we have referred to it many times in our latest search for our newest TT. I believe the strongest message you have given in this video is SIMPLICITY! We all need to remember that we are camping...yes some live in theirs full time, so "fancy" features are important. We bought into the idea that a 5th wheel was the way we wanted to travel, and once we did a cross country trip in it, we realized we REALLY wanted SIMPLER! We went back to a TT and its 22'! We adore the simplicity of it, we intentionally chose less things in it which makes our camping experience more enjoyable! The # 1 on your list for is is auto leveling, we absolutely hated it in our 5th wheel! There was once we had all 4 wheels off the ground and I swear it was going to tip over! Keep up the fantastic work! We love your honesty and straight forward advice! (High fives from Michigan!)
So grateful you are here!!!
Thanks. So glad someone is mentioning the steps as a potential negative. We had them on our last trailer and ended up hating them because of all the reasons you mentioned in the video. Additionally we did not like them because of how much space you need on the side of the rig to open the steps and the door which was an issue in storage and at truck stops. And I agree now that I have a tankless water heater I think I liked the old style better on our previous unit.
Regarding touchscreens....I saw a unit at the Tampa Supershow this week that had touchscreens throughout the rig. Right beside the nightstand was one, with all of the "important" functions on the home screen. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, still groggy, and instead of turning on the nightlight you start retracting the bedroom slide or start the generator. :( Yeah, I understand the desire for integration and touchscreens, but there needs to be some common sense applied to them.
Thanks... I'm with you on #5. Especially in vehicles. Switches and buttons evolved over time. They are intuitive and require less concentration by the user. I particularly dislike screen after screen to do the simplest function that a single flip or push would do. It is a conscious buying decision for me to avoid these.
We have a 12V fridge and it's a love hate relationship. It's a GE that we installed in our TT because our Norcold quit working after 1.5 years. It was out of warranty and I wasn't going to drop $2-300 to fix it if it even could be fixed. A 12V was cheaper so since we already had solar it was a no brainer. Main issue is battery drain in the trees or on cloudy days. We need to run the gen on those days for a few hours. If on elec then the 12V shines. More space and the temps on ours stay pretty consistent.
Agee on the auto leveling and touchscreens. We don't need more things to go wrong, there's enough that can go wrong as it is.
I agree with the solid steps...Not only are they heavy, but you get all the dirt in the rv when you put them away. AND, you also have to adjust the legs if you’re in an uneven ground. I much prefer the outside steps.
Just watched the video. I agree with you on leveling, led color matching and brightness. We like our 12v fridge though. We keep it at 3 or lower.
We have One Control, which I like so far.
Motion sensors are good in the cabinets. We’re older so we like the solid steps.
I’ve watched a lot of your videos. Thank you! I enjoy your content.
We have a 2023 Jayco 264BH. We’ve had a lot of issues with our tankless water heater. Usually we have to start the hot water in the tub/shower to get the heater running, then turn on the hot water in the kitchen to do dishes. We end up using a lot of extra water to get hot water and still have taken dishes to the camp kitchen before. I’ve seen someone run new pex plumbing in their rigs without as many couplings as the manufacturer used to make 90 bends. All the 90 couplers further reduce water pressure.
Our 12v fridge gets very cold, but hasn’t really been a problem.
We’ve done the step thing, to get my wife and kids in, then put the steps up so I can level the trailer. Where I park my trailer at my house, I don’t have enough room to put the steps down (unless it is in my driveway). So if I have to get in, I have a 3 foot step then I have to step over the steps. Agree old school steps would be better.
We don’t have an auto leveling kit, but agree, it’s not hard to just do manually. We have the Andersen leveling blocks and they make side to side leveling a breeze.
Thanks again and looking forward to more videos.
Totally agree that indoor motion lighting is a terrible idea and switches are better than touchscreen stuff. I don’t want either of those!
Glad you are here!
I disagree with the respect that they are not over complicating things. They just put absolute cheap garbage in all of these RVs. For example, having an iPad mini as a touch screen would be exceptionally reliable. If all the components that you spoke of for of residential, heft and quality, you wouldn’t have issues.
but they do not install quality options… so the point stands.
Thanks for the info. I was attracted to a couple of these “upgrades” and with your experience, I wouldn’t want the steps or the motion lights. Thanks again!👋👍
I agree 100% with all of these. I really like my 2020 Imagine, just enough tech to be helpful but not over the top where we could have issues.
Ya i totally agree with keeping the old style flip out steps. When i get a new rig later this year i will absolutely not take delivery of it untill the old style steps are retro fitted to it.
Love your channel! You are such great & kind folks!! We are currently looking into purchasing a 5th wheel and starting into part time camping and travelling. I have learned so much information from you! We will be using this information in our purchase and after the purchase!! Thank you so much and hope you continue to have safe & fun travels!!
Our flipdown step legs issue was high uneven ground. The legs barely extended to reach the ground, which is needed to hold the weight of the steps. Plus it was a big drop off from the bottom step to the ground. Also had to find and extra "step" alternative that would give us more stability than the usual stepstool kind of option. We found step up exercise blocks with adjustable legs work great. Cheap from a thrift store, adjustable height and wide enough to rest the legs of the steps on one and then a second as an extra wide "bottom" step.
First time RV Purchase less than a month ago, decided on the Imagine XLS 25DBE, most of the upgrades you discuss are in this trailer..🤣🤣 oh well, we'll live and learn for ourselves what works and what doesn't. Thanks for the informative content.
We replaced our OEM fold out steps on our Montana 5R (2006 2955RL) for the more solid feeling of the fold-in unit. This ALSO removed the possibility of damaging the fold out steps on the rare deep pothole at the campground [happened twice even while carefully backing in]. Our practice is to manually level the rig, then open and adjust, if necessary, the fold out steps. Thanks for your vision on these topics! Rollo
I like the solid steps on my RV except when I need to use a dump station. After dumping the black tank, I want to go in and add water and treatment to the toilet. However, often times, there is no room to open the steps to get into the RV. Sometimes, if it's a double dump station I would have to open the steps almost directly onto the sewer drain of the adjacent station. Sometimes, the steps are landing on a curb or a drop off, making it near impossible to fold them down for access into the RV. We have the same issue when traveling and stopping at a truck stop for a meal. Often, there is no room between parked trailers to pull down the solid steps to get into the RV for something before leaving.
I love my auto leveling, but yes you need to be aware of it's limitations before using it. We've had 4(5 with tongue connected) legs levelers and 6 leg levelers, and both need to be reset every so often, usually after a power cycle.
In our current spot here in Georgia we needed to dig a trench for the tires and use blocks under the front landing gear to get level and stable.
The only reasons I can think of for a tankless water heater is if you have a dishwasher or washing machine, otherwise you can shower a whole family of 4 every day without issues.
Great video- thanks! Here’s my chime-in:
Auto-leveling - we did an RV Share before we purchased our camper. The owners did the setup - it was raining and a very unlevel site and the poor guy had to take half a lumberyard out of his truck to get the AL system to work. We’ve since set up our own camper in similar conditions (fully manual leveling) and we got set up in half the time, so I agree with you, not an upgrade.
LED lights - my pet peeve. I’m a degreed mechanical engineer and even I struggled to understand the “temperature spectrum” at first for home LED lighting. Jayco did a good job of color matching in our Feather 25RB, but have seen at RV shows the LED mixed bag and knew it looked like a trouble spot. To be fair, we only have the puck lights on the ceiling and under the counters so not much chance of messing up, but definitely something to watch for.
Tankless - we have one at home and love it but I don’t want one AT ALL on my camper. If we need fast hot water, I have run both electric and gas simultaneously to speed up recovery but all in all, I’m with you - NOT an upgrade.
12V fridge - our Furrion works great, but I have heard about a new brand showing up that is trouble and also some GE branded ones that are actually “new brand” with a GE badge that are trouble. We don’t do enough long-haul camping to need road access and gas absorption fridge so the 12V fits the bill for us.
Solid Steps - we love them but agree with you that it slows down setup and leveling, and also is a pain especially when I forget to raise the steps before lowering the trailer for departure, then raise them and forget the threshold isn’t clear and try to close the exterior door with the steps’ hinge up in the way….
Oh, and definitely +1 on the digital screens. Give me an analog switch panel with a Bluetooth link to an app on my cellphone, or just skip the app. Between broken gas struts, loose door hinges, shaken-loose trim pieces from transit, and keeping up my side and rear camera rig, I have enough to do maintenance wise….
All in all, as my wife says, “it’s a camper, not a residence - keep it simple, stupid”…
We have a 2023 Grand Design Imagine 2670 MK. I agree with you on the tankless water heater. All of my previous campers were the electric/gas tanks that had the anode. Our tankless heater requires us to slowly turn the hot water on when we first heat it up to get it flowing correctly. It's a pain and water gets wasted.
We also have the 12v fridge. We have to keep it at the lowest setting to prevent it from freezing things in the fridge. The one plus over the old gas/electric combos is that it only takes roughly an hour in a Georgia summer to get cold.
The fold out steps can be an issue at my storage lot. If the trailer next to me parks to close I cannot get the step down to access my trainer. This has happen twice in the last few months.
100% agree with this list. Keep it simple is the best way. We always carry two long boards for under the tires if needed. With the steps it a pain to pull them up and shut the door from the inside if your parked boonedocking for the night and you don't want your steps ran over. Again great work.
We have a Truma in our Sprinter, and we love it! Have never had a problem with it!
I’ve heard great things!
I've had great luck with the 12v fridge, just like the one in your video. It cools down fast and I never have temp issues. Given, I boondock often and have solar, it works no matter what. As for the touchscreen, they just plain stink.
We installed the Torklift steps to replace our steel steps on our Jayco travel trailer. We love them, they are never in the way when we are setting up. They are very solid feeling and are easy to operate.
Regarding the 12 v fridge, it’s got an advantage that your travel trailer doesn’t need to be perfectly level to work. We’ve only had our TT for about 18 months, and our biggest issues have been the seal of the Furrion 12 v unit on the doors. It took longer to cool in the Florida heat and often we’d have the back of the fridge frozen ice. We finally literally taped both doors shut with painters tape and boom- both the fridge and the freezer cooled much faster and the ice didn’t form in the fridge. So we realized we had a seal/door issue. We currently have the TT in the shop to either fix the seal and/or replace the doors. But when sealed, the unit works great.
I agree with you on auto leveling. Never had a problem with manual leveling. Was going to buy a socket for my cordless drill to "upgrade" from my manual crank. After thinking about it for a bit i changed my mind as i decided it was just more stuff to carry and keep track of.
Agree 100%.
I have an older trailer so lots of these are not an issue.
We boondock so power is always the big thing, having a 12 volt fridge would cut my time down. We like to camp in the trees so solar not an option I am willing to spend the money on. Plus live on the west coast of Canada so we don't get the temperatures where the gas fridge quits working, ours always cools, the freezer will freeze stuff rock hard in hours.
I have converted my lighting over to LED. I wasn't really sure which ones I wanted so I tried a couple of different bulbs. I ran the warm light pretty much everywhere, put the colder lights in over the kitchen sink thinking it would be good for doing the dishes and such. Hated them, swapped the whole trailer over to a nice warm color, much more inviting.
I thought about a tankless water heater but honestly, the 6 gallon tank we have works just fine, plus boon docking so having an unlimited supply of hot water not always a good thing.
As for motion lights, we just keep some really low power flashlights beside the beds and use them in the middle of the night. When it is pitch black a motion light on the floor would have me wide awake, plus we have the dog who will wander around during the nigh finding the perfect spot to nap.
I am looking at one of those leveling sensors that works on your phone, my wife has a disability so I pretty much do everything by myself. But auto-level no way.
I 100% agree about all the touch screen/panel nonsense. It's over complicating things for no reason other than trying to convince people it's more "luxury". And when they break they cost a fortune to replace. They started doing the same thing in bass boats. I sold my Ranger after the first touch panel and controller went out to the tune of $1200. Back in a Falcon with rotary switches that cost $15 to replace. Guess what, the rotary switches do everything the touch panels did. Imagine that! K.I.S.S. I'm also with you on the absorption fridges. Go on any RV forum and you'll find post after post of 12v fridge issues from every manufacturer. My absorption fridge is 9 years old and works perfectly still.
You opened my mind t o the 12V fridge, had heard nothing but good raves and not much from an experienced user side. In a comment below it is suggested you need (2) 100 AH with 600W solar to keep one going off grid. That adds a new negative. The rage was standard household fridge, till rolling earth quake and having to take a slide out to remove or replace one got exposed. Yet, our favorite unit we are considering now has a residential fridge. Would love to see you do a video of RV refrigerator units. The good the bad and the ugly of the 3 types for boon dockers or park camper. Our plans are to boondock (Harvest Host/Boon dockers welcome) 2 nights while traveling from lower Alabama to Maryland. While there we most likely will be in a park. But then to travel the North East for a week (boon dock or park) and return to Maryland. Then 2 nights back home boon docking. I hadn't planed on a lot of solar, just enough to keep the fridge going IF we are able to not run the AC. But the the AC is most important. Can buy a lot of gas for the generator vs. this initial investment of huge solar. So would love to hear comments on residential fridges (recent models if any improvements since 2019) and would love to see you do a video focused on refrigerators. Amen on the touch screens. Will not consider a unit that doesn't have manual switches as the backup. My wife fell in love with you guys back when you did the toilet paper dissolving video in your kitchen years ago. We thought it was so based on what I could see dumping. But you did it by testing in your wife's kitchen. CLASSIC!
I don't know about bigger ones, here's what my little Truckfridge in the van uses. 2 200AH batteries will easily run it for several days. Longest was 6 days on the Alaska ferry, and I had power left over.
Volume (CU ft/Liters) 1.73/49
Dimensions HxWxD (inches) 20 1/2 x15 x 17 1/2
Power consumption (W/24h) 278
Weight (lbs) 37
I watched Chad's water heater review. I'll stick with gas/elec. Just wish my 6 gal was more like 10-12.
I agree on the steps. Id like to see them as an option. One thing holding us back in getting a new unit - everything we like has the new steps and where we park the unit at our home, we dont have the space to swing them down. ( Next to our house), So I wont be able to get into the unit when its parked. Not practical
.
I agree on all of these but one in particular is the touch screen electronics. If this fails your camping trip is severely disrupted. Old time regular switches are the way to go. When I first bought my GD Imagine and saw the Compass Connect panel the first thing I ordered for my back-up spare parts drawer was a replacement panel in case of a failure.
So far, love our 12v fridge. Haven’t had any issues.
Good list! I currently have the 12v fridge and it's been working well however it is a power hog. We dry camp 99% of the time and if we're in a shady spot it makes it difficult to keep things charged up. I also agree with you and Chad about the tanked water heater.
Thanks for a very informative video. I agree with you on most, but I like the 12 volt fridge and the convenience of it. Looking forward to the next video.
Another spot on video. Everything you discussed has been an issue that I have encountered or wondered about. Having an older 2011 Keystone I consider the upgrades carefully before deciding if that is right for our situation. One point not listed is manual vs electric tongue jacks. Ours is the old manual jack and works fine. However almost every trip my wife states we need to get an electric jack. Again my concern is the long term reliability vs the proven manual crank system.
Awesome video. We have only had 2 TT and both had 12v fridges. Our current camper has solar so we can precool the fridge without turning on the gas while at storage. Also like the tank water heater. As you said, on our shakedown trip we use the gas side of our water heater to make sure it worked. Since then have only used electric. One thing I don't like is 5 out of 7 leds in the main area are on one switch and cannot be turned off individually. Neither of our TT have had touch screens.
A couple of comments:
As to the auto levelers: I have had back surgery, and as anyone who also has, you're never quite the same. Autolevelers allow me to continue RV'ing as it limits the time I have to spend bending over to crank the scissor jacks.
As to the 12V fridge: like any other product, there are differences in quality among the different vendors. That is where doing research prior to purchase comes in.
Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work, and safe travels.
My age group needs the solid steps - I am a youngster at 70 - and we could probably need the extended grab bar; they are a pain sometimes. I agree that keeping is simple is smart - most of us do not use all the features we purchase. Have not used auto-level, or motion sensors, or had an issue with color differences of LEDs - but bright - sometimes they burn thru your eyelids. We like our 12V fridge. I wanted a tankless, but your comments have made me reconsider - and our gas/electric works great. Per norm - THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO YOU PROVIDE.
1. I love our Auto Level. We are on our 2nd RV with it. We don’t want the tires off the ground so we roughly level the trailer with 2x10 boards and use blocking under the jack feet if needed. It’s not just the auto leveling function, it’s also that the system eliminates almost all movement in the trailer when you’re walking around.
2. I agree with you on the tankless water heater.
3. We’ve never seen (or at least never noticed) the problem you described with inconsistent colour of LED lighting. We are on our 2nd Forest River Rockwood trailer with factory LEDs and don’t have that problem.
4. Our Magic Chef brand 12V fridge works great so far. It looks like your experience has been with Furrion fridges. I stay away from all Furrion products.
5. I agree with you on your preference for manual switch’s rather than touch screens. Our Rockwood has the same switch panel as the Imagine did in your video.
6. We only have a motion detector light in our pantry and it works fine.
7. I tend to agree on the “drawbridge” style steps. They can be replaced with Torklift’s GlowStep Revolution Uprising steps but they are pricey.
Great video! We're on our 5th RV and I agree with nearly all of these except the 12V fridge. Besides being a power hog, it has been good for us. I completely agree with you on the solid steps and the on demand water heater! I was excited about having the steps on our most recent camper, but they just aren't worth the mess they make. Also, we thought we were idiots when trying to use the on-demand water heater. We just couldn't get it to stay on. It's all about water pressure and from our experience water pressure causes issues with RV water lines. It makes for one adventurous shower though!
Brother,
A Massive Amen on the nasty overbright 5000K light.
Under no circumstance should RVs have LED lights without a Dimmer and 2700K.
Cheers, Eric
Agree!!
Auto Leveler on my 2021 278BH - love it, only 1 reset during 45 trips. Tankless WH, also love it, never any problems except kids shower too long. Steps - we have old schools steps with lippert support legs underneath (don't know the name) LOVE THEM, best of both worlds, solid feeling when extended & none of the hassle of fold out solid steps.
It's been 1.5 years so far and my LCI Ground Control TT has never worked for more that 2 weeks at a time. It's in the dealership now to replace the main controller. Absolutely AWESOME when it works.. but really sucks when they don't. Luckily, one fix they made allows me to manually control all the jacks and watch my bubble levels when the auto feature fails. Also, mine once randomly extended the tongue jack when nobody was near the trailer. Good thing that didn't happen on the road!
100% concur with you about the tankless water heater. I despise them for all the reasons you mention.
I really like my auto levelers. Yes I do have to get it somewhat level so that I don't raise any wheels off of the ground as that is what you are not suppose to do. Haven't had any trouble (knock on wood) with them and hopefully I won't. We really like our Lippert Solid Step. We did put the handrail on the Solid Step which helps out. It doesn't bother us that I have to clean or wipe them off before we raise them to put away. As we have before with any camper that we have owned, we usually don't even go into the camper until it's level. We have a residential refrigerator and really like it. We don't do any boondocking soo we are good with it. I pretty much agree with most of the other upgrades that you mentioned. I still wish that we had the old manual awning on our camper. They were so much better built. They would take a pretty good storm and be just fine. The electric awnings we have now I just can't trust them at all to be out in any weather.
I agree with all of your opinions here Cory. In addition, I'm not a fan of the friction doors. When you're loading the camper or have things in your arms they are just to hard to open as well as for older owners. I also do not like where they put the thermostat. When we stop for lunch and want to warm up the Imagine a little I have to put out the slide to access it. By the way, thanks for the tip on the remote light switch. Me and the wife love them.
Our travel trailer had extra 'lights' that you couldn't turn off while you were sleeping. These lights were near the bathroom's light switch. There was also a light on the radio. I like to sleep in the dark and it was very annoying to have this extra light that you can't turn off.
reguarding the steps.... i also like the fold under steps for when i stop at a rest stop or walmart or whatever its really easy to get in and out and i dont need alot of room. the ones that fold into the door require alot more clearence.
I enjoy my hydraulic auto leveling system. Works great. I have seen electric leveling not working as well. I saw the changing lanes video on tankless water heaters and it was well done. Based on that video I wouldn’t get one. If you have a delay every time you turn off the water that wouldn’t be convenient. On led lights you have to decide if you want warm or white. Makes a difference and they all need to match. Fridge: I have 2 trailers, a 5th wheel with 12 volt and a bumper pull with gas/electric. Advantages/disadvantages to each depending on how you are RVing. On a long travel day the 12 volt can drain your batteries. Good video and I appreciate your opinions.
Totally agree, you nailed it! I want a camper with a gas/electric fridge, gas/electric hot water tank and switches not a touch screen.
And yes I still level my trailer by hand.
We have a 12volt fridge in our Rockwood and so far it's working great.
I agree with most of your list.
Auto level in our Solitude is great, but it's hydraulic. I don't think travel trailers need auto level. You are correct, it has generally an easy task to level manually.
Touchscreens are just another gimic that will fail at some point. Tankless water heaters are horrible for RVs.
We have a Norcold fridge that struggled to stay at temps set. It is located in a slideout, which creates kniwn issues with cooling and ventilation. We went to JC Refrigeration and had it converted to a 12v. It's a great option.
We also love our Solid Step. The issues do exist as you mentioned but it's worth it to us. We have two sets of step mats cut to fit and we have a mat on the floor to catch dirt when folded in.
Great video and some great points to consider.
I completely agree about the LED colors! We looked at some new Grand Designs and the strips were a different color than the dinette pucks which were a different color than the bunk lights. It was very noticeable to us, and the strip lights had a flicker that gave us headaches. We didn’t have any of those issues in our 2021 GD Transcend. Hopefully they get it worked out.
We replaced the bright white led puck lights in our Winnie 2108ds with warm light dimmable puck lights and it made a huge difference in our enjoyment of our evening lighting. They are pretty easy to replace, but we shouldn’t have to. Also they are inexpensive. No reason manufacturers should put them in, other than during the sales process it makes the unit look brighter and more desirable.
We've had several units and have pretty good luck with the furrion 12v fridge in our new camper. You are right in the freezing along the back but those issues were pretty common in the gas/electric also. We used to keep a fan in the door on the gas/electric and now also keep on in the 12v as there is no real air movement. Our Jayco has a touchscreen. It seems well built and very informative. Love the ability to dim almost every light but do worry about longevity. However where the brain box is located we could always switch back to a switch style if needed. As far as the steps I would have to say especially if you are going to boondock or even in storage to go with the Torklift glow steps. We have both the outside mounted replacement and now the revolution to replace the lippert that came on our Jayco. If you have never tried them they are really stable even though you wouldn't think so by design. They have the most adjustment for boondocking on even ground which eliminates the problem with the door closing on the lippert models. You can also get into the camper in close storage areas with ease. Just some thoughts here from Colorado.
I too have no use for a tankless water heater. I used to shut the hot water off at the source if my son was in the shower longer than 4 minutes. We do have the option to suplement the electric heater with propane by turning on both heating options at high demand times.
I also prefer manual switches to any electronic option... that said, I do like auto level. There are times I need to roll up on 2x8's to get the trailer close to level before I hit the "auto level" button. Sometimes I need to put both sides of the trailer on 2x8's, to either allow the steps to rest on an adjacent concrete pad, or to level front to back without the front of the trailer hitting the ground.
RV travel/living is all about being prepared to adjust to current conditions. Don't let them sell you what you don't need and keep enjoying the RV life.
Agree with most except the 12v frig ! 2022 2810bh love the 12 v ! Works great, adjustment works great, just gets really cold up against the back wall ! Great Vid's keep them coming !
We miss the gas/electric refrigerator. The electric seems to use too much electricity and we can go weeks on the propane (yes and a bit of electricity) . Great video, just stumbled across your page and have joined up. Also on the LED's I have already replaced ours with dimmable LED's. Don't know why they wouldn't install them at build.
We agree with the list 100% ! We have a 2015 Reflection 303RLS 5th wheel and have had no problems. We love it.
I thoroughly agree with you on the Steps. I mostly hate my Lippert steps and would like to go back to the fold out aluminum steps. Also, I mostly love my 12 volt fridge. I have a Girard by Lippert and would not want a propane/electric. Mine is not frost free and I have to defrost the freezer before every trip, but I don't have to be perfectly level.
Agree with your comments. Hate motion lights, always going on and off. Like auto-level BUT, you MUST analyze your terrain BEFORE starting. You may frequently need to use extra leveling blocks or ore-adjust front jacks. If you don't, auto-level will default (a real pain). I'm not wild about the solid steps. Where I store my RV, the units are too close to drop the stairs. Lots of places are inconvenient, not to mention getting water and dirt inside.
3. Well, I jumped on the Stabil Steps bandwagon because of my bride's walking disability and my aging arthritic knees. The floorplan of our GD Transcend 240ML actually requires fixed steps since the door opening is over the camp side wheel well. However, for the reasons you cited, and constant dirt I would seriously consider going back to the lighter and more manageable folding steps.
I agree with you. Everything is on touchscreen in my RV. Takes me forever just to turn the bedroom light on. I’d rather not have the touchscreen at all or maybe a combination of touchscreen and switches. But I do love my auto level and absolutely hate my gas/electric fridge! It’s a pain to keep that thing cool in the summer.
I have the same 12V fridge that you showed and it works great. We did have a problem with the door latch not closing tight enough and the fridge didn't cool properly condensation was on everything, but this could happen on an absorption fridge as well. Only had to adjust the door latch. The real problem is that they will kill a lead acid battery quick when using without a hook-up. They kind of need Lithium batteries to work as they should. Solar helps but you frequently don't have sunshine. This is a good list and manufacturers should take heed.
We love our 12 volt size by side refrigerator. We dislike the steps that fold into the unit, if we stop for gas, not convenient and heavy, plus dirt and mud gets inside the rv when you fold them up. Our motion light has a switch to turn off that feature. I’m with you on touch screen anything, prefer knobs and switches.
Totally agree! Solid steps, the hot water heater and 12v fridges are all something I wish we could option out of.
We upgraded to a 5th wheel which has autolevel and you it the nail on the head. It's fantastic till it doesn't work which happened to me when we setup on Saturday. Now it's 2 weeks of less stability because the center jacks won't go down manually.
I also agree on the steps. We're still rocking the factory steel steps on our Columbus which i wish were aluminum just for cosmetics. When we had our trailer in storage i could get my steps out. When you pull over by the road to let the kids use the bathroom even next to guard rail or something you can at least get them halfway out.
I have the auto level, and for me, it's awesome, I work that in combination with the levelmate pro when we arrive on site and never have problems with leveling. It does need to be adjusted a little on the return to the hitch, but it's not a big deal.
I have thought about a tankless hot water heater, but we do a lot of boondocking, and it just wouldn't work for us either, too much propane or not enough electricity.
I converted our propane/electric fridge to strictly 12v, and it has been the best thing ever with our setup and boondocking. Uses so little power compared to the old setup.
I like touch screens, but you are right about switches being better. I hate a touch screen in a car stereo because if the road isn't smooth, who knows what button I'm am pushing. Lol
I haven't paid too much attention to the different color lights unless I have them all turned on. I do like the bright lights for reading or working on something, but if I am just sitting around in them, I like a more yellow light.
We had our last RV for 7 years. The electric autolevel worked well. We did need to replace one motor, but that wasn't difficult. Thanks for the video
I have been rv'ing since the early 70's (yes I was a kid when I started!). We had a '72 Winnebago Indian 24 foot then and it was BASIC compared to what we get as standard today. But that is what I grew up with and I had a ton of fun through the years with all my RV's without all those "new shiny penny, latest and greatest cutting tech toys" that everyone clamors to get. I now have a 2019 Radiance TT that has None of the options you mentioned and I have never given it a thought. Not true...I did get the solid step and that was because of my dogs who prefer the solid step :-) . Like you, all those "basic" fridges, water heaters and buttons all just work great and they do no inhibit my fun at all. I did upgrade to two batteries for those overnight harvest host moments and I did buy an inverter generator for the times I need it, but I have not gone the solar route. 10K for that convenience seems a bit steep to me. Anderson blocks, 2x6's and a level have served me well for the leveling chores.
Here is the thing, we are all being told that all these new gadgets are better. 12V fridges work better...tank-less is better....RV touch screen control systems are better...convection microwaves are better...auto levelers are better.....better for the RV industry maybe because it creates more revenue in sales and service! Then you factor in the need for constant power so now you get sucked into buying a $10,000 solar system to run all your 12V systems or a generator. I can dry camp for a week with two batteries and propane....propane stove, oven, fridge, and water heater....if it gets cold and I have to run the furnace I can get by two nights if I need to. HVAC well no....but then if it is that hot I do not dry camp anyway and I do have that generator as a back up.
BTW, I found my old family Winnebago and I am in negotiations to purchase it for a restoration project. Funny thing is, the propane fridge, stove/oven, furnace still work and the tank water heater fires up but it leaks.... the Dometic 13,000 BTU AC still works too and it has never been recharged (good thing since it is R12). The old Dodge chassis with the 413V8 not so much...the engine, brakes and other mechanicals need some love.
Keep us updated on the restoration!!
Personally love my auto-level. The biggest thing that I have learned is that I need to be mostly level side to side first. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be close. This is pretty easy for me using my levelmate (which I had from a previous rig) when i'm parking. Takes me a about 2 mins to fix myself side to side. Then I can pull out all my hoses and cords. Hit my autolevel and get my cables and hoses laid out while it levels itself.
As for the tankless, the solution I have found for the flow problems is to make sure I set my temperature to what I want without mixing hot/cold. That keeps all pressure going to the water heater which is generally good enough in my experience.
A LevelMate Pro and a couple of Andersons and I can level the camper in less than 5 minutes.
1st I love the auto level on our Reflection. Problem free so far so maybe that could change later. Also love our 12 volt fridge. Cools down so much faster and works better in hot weather. The LED lights being different color temperatures would drive me crazy too. I'm indifferent on the water heater...they both have pros and cons but our tankless has worked flawless. Lastly the steps. Yes they are a pain at times but I would not trade them for the old style because I hate the bounce. I would add one you didn't mention and that is sky lights. They can be nice for daytime light but let in heat, too much light comes in early in the morning and it's just additional holes in the roof where water can find it's way in. Thanks as always for your content!
This video was awesome and really opened my eyes to a lot of “conveniences” that my wife and I contemplated purchasing to improve our camping experience but never thought about the negatives such as you pointed out.
As an old timer (bought our first pop-up camper in 1988) , I agree with most of your comments. We bought our first motorhome in 2018 (Newmar Bay Star) and last summer, we downsized to a Sprinter chassis Winnebago Via and with both rigs, I really like the auto levelers. But, I agree that there are situations where they don't work well and you have to manually level. We owned three travel trailers over the years, and with a travel trailer I'm not so sure I'd want the expense and weight of a auto leveling system but I can understand older folks wanting them!
I strongly agree about LED lighting and the necessity of matching the color range of the light. But converting older lighting to LED lighting can save a lot of juice if you are running off batteries. In the case of our Bay Star, getting rid of old halogen reading lights got rid of the tremendous amount of heat that halogen lights create.
Propane/electric water heaters are fine for campers! I can't see the need for tankless heaters even though I like the tankless heater we had installed in our house about a year ago. In an RV, the standard 6 gallon propane/electric heater does the job and the recovery time isn't an issue even for several campers getting showers.
Finally, I love technology but agree strongly about the trend towards too much of it for many of the features in an RV. There's certainly enough regular maintenance on an RV that we don't need to worry about problems created by an electronic screen/controls failing and agree that replacing a basic switch or light socket can be a lot easier than dealing with electronic failures!! And, if the manufacturers would spend more time improving RV quality rather than on unnecessary technological "improvements", we'd all be happier!!
I have a 2003 fiberglass camper and have replaced all the appliances except the AC. In each case I used the old technology except to add lithium batteries. Switches and propane get the job done and can generally be maintained by the owner. With the declining build quality and fussier technology, I'll stick with my basic unit.
Touchscreen! Yesssssss! I recently brought my Cougar 5th wheel home to get it ready for a December trip. The In Command touchscreen was dead. After troubleshooting with the In Command service folks (who were great, by the way) it turned out that I needed a new unit. These are not a quick turnaround, especially if your extended warranty is involved. There are workarounds for most functions and that’s what I had to use. Bottom line, I’m with you in my like for good old fashioned switches!
We're currently looking to buy a new 5th wheel. This is great info to have and will definitely use this in our buying decision
We like the 12 volt fridge but it is sensitive to get adjusted. Yup the steps that fold up into the camper suck. All the dirt, water, sand just ends up in your camper. We've had both and I much prefer the old style fold up steps.
1. Gotta agree with you w/regards to auto level. I've never had a travel trailer with this upgrade; however, my 2018 Springdale 252RL was equipped with LCI Electric Stab Jacks from the factory and I 'upgraded' my 2021 GD Transcend 240ML with similar units. I have experienced a motor failure, and more recently a 3-way switch failure over the years. Both failures occurred at inconvenient times, trying to depart, in inclement weather in rural settings and required dragging out the toolbox, crawling under the coaches, and removing the motors in order to manually retract the landing gear. The replacement motor if ordered from Camping World was $324, however, I found a direct replacement motor on Ebay for $120. The 3-way switch is an epoxy sealed, proprietary part and the replacement switch ordered from CW, including freight, was $131.00! In my world does my apparent 'need' to add power stabilizing or leveling help as opposed to 4 scissors jacks and a cordless drill driver outweigh the practicality of a simple, cheaper, more reliable system? Well, it used to, now not so much.
I agree about the tankless water heater. And my trailer has to have the solid steps, but the process is exactly as you say. Plus there's the dirt dumping feature every time you put the steps up. I also am on the fence regarding the 12 volt refrigerator. Mine doesn't seem very consistent either. I dry camp sometimes, and the old style would maybe be better for that. But I have not always had a reliable absorption refrigerator.
We are cold weather campers. The Furrion tankless water heater in our Reflection does not work well in cold weather. In fact, we have issues with it freezing. The folks at furrion tell us it is not guarenteed to work at lower than 40 degrees. Never had probelms with our previous gas/electric hot water heater.
Totally agree on the water heater and touch screens, but I love my 12v fridge... Love your videos!
I’ve just found your channel today an am now a subscriber. Thanks for a very helpful video and for actually finding unique subject material. And it came from yours and your wife’s perspective having experienced it which is really helpful. It certainly made me rethink things. I’ve been diving in to RVs trying to get myself educated before I buy my first one later this year. Thanks again.
Have 2 doors on my travel trailer, wish it had step as you showed on video. Would
take up less room and as you said would be better getting in and out. They need a way to train out those steps you shown for the ones that fold inside. They do make a mess at times. I do have 12 v ref and like it. I keep adjusting because of how much I have in ref. Thanks for your tips.
Definitely agree about steps, but I do like 12 fridge and on demand water heater works great for me but it is not necessary
1 - love auto level. @ we got a Truma tankless - love it. none of the problems you have with the other brands. touch screen - we have the older incommand - hate it. We were caught ion a situation where the screen failed and we cold not put our slides out. We love our residential fridge. We have the torque accordian steps. Love those too.
My first visit & thoroughly enjoyed your video. I would be curious what goes on @ the manufacture level when these decisions are made for the "up/downgrades". Many times a few extra minutes such as your LED lights would have a much better outcome with the end user. My factory installed Rockford Fosgate sounds so "bad" it is never used. Fridges, all the years & all the manufactures.....my current Nevercold 2118X with several issues will use 40lbs a week what a POS! When all of the electronic touch pad gadetery begins to fail & suppliers disappear or no longer support the product......then what? Then the factory solar systems....OMG 🙃I 100% agree regarding the steps, I think it is a good example of over complicating a single issue. Trouble times for the RV industry, your video is a indicator of the disfunction & disconnect @ the management level.
I have a travel trailer (2017) that has auto level and I absolutely love it. It has never given me a bit of trouble and has never failed to level out the rig. It is not a park queen and has been in plenty of sites that are "level challenged".
I have never had a 12v fridge in any of my rigs and am curious, but love my absorption fridge because of the ability to run it off of propane. The way we like to camp there are just too many scenarios where a 12v power hog would not be ideal.
LEDs, love them, I have swapped our pucks out to a warmer color. Would be nice if I could find pucks that were adjustable warmth wise.
Steps, 1000% agree. I hate those stable steps.
My trusty gas/electric water heater gives me plenty of hot water when in a park and I set it to use both sources. Even when the wife and I take back to back showers we have never run out of hot water. When boondocking, we rarely use it due to water conservation.
This all being said, if I changed the way we camp or changed the type or size of rig we used, I am sure that my opinions on some of these would change.
Hello Cory, great list. I have had the fold out steps for the last 25 years and worked good as long as you kept them properly lubed. 2023 is the first year dealing with the fold out solid steps. When you are set-up, they are great. But setting up is a pain, and getting the detent pins out to adjust the legs.. man I got to come up with another method. I had them out for 2 weeks on the snow in Iowa and I don’t know if the salt got on the pins but I couldn’t get them out without a hammer. Ridiculous. Going to have to find thumb release detent pins. Why they wouldn’t put a release system for the legs is beyond me.
As for a next video idea, how about 5 “options” you should get on your RV and work great.
8:17
100% agree with you on this. I personally hate cool white LEDs and so many manufacturers use cool white LEDs because more often than not, theyre cheaper.
My 2023 Tab 320S has lovely, warm white accent lighting and reading lights and then the overhead light in the center of the camper and the one in the bathroom are this awful, 6500K color temp.
One of my first mods was swapping out the units for an identical unit from the same manufacturer, simply the warm white model. This proves to me, they couldve used better matching and more pleasing to look at fixtures, but just either didnt do the research or didnt wanna spend the extra couple dollars per unit.