Redwood Questions

[IA Brown bear]

We are looking at upgrading to a Redwood 39m wine bar from an Keystone Alpine and have a few questions.

One of our main concerns is the reliability of the Redwood? We are 240 miles from the closest dealer, quite a trip for repair.

We have also noticed on the Redwood Sight that when you search one of the options is for "service centers", we cannot find anywhere what a "service center" is? We have a few service centers much closer to us which might be helpful.

Have not seen to much discussion of the tires that come on the Redwoods. We have had that trip from hell where all four tires have blown on our unit over the course of 2 days. Put on LT's now have no problems. Does Redwood put on safe high quality tires?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Rosey]

We bought a 2016 39mb and have had a few minor issues, a few I took care of myself & the others taken care of by our selling dealer who's about a 2 hour drive from home. Quality? it's a beautiful coach, but it's an RV built with similar components that other manufactures use. Rest assured there WILL be some issues but then again that's true of any RV. You can order your Redwood with optional Goodyear H rated tires on 17 1/2 " wheels which is what I did for peace of mind. If you were to have a warranty issue after purchase, a call to Redwoods warranty dept. for advice/ instructions would be necessary since you're quite a distance from your dealer. How about a call to the dealer now & see what they have to say?

[mhs4771]

Ordering the 17.5 wheels with the H tires is a wise move IMHO, because RWs are heavy, not as bad as DRV, but our MB left the Factory at 15.5K pounds before we even added a paper plate.
The reference to Service Centers, means any Crossroads Dealer or Authorized Service Center. In cases of being a long distance from any Service Center, you can generally work with RW to get repairs done by a Mobile Tech. You might be required to pay up front, but if you got approval from RW should be able to get your money back.

[RWJSIM2003]

Not sure if you are ordering the new RW or not. If I was to do it again I would order mine and get the 17.5 Tires, 8K axels, and Disk brakes. Better yet I would order and get the Moryde IS suspension installed if at all possible. Most of the other issues with ours have been small loose trim, Ice maker line leak, And Door Hinge. Heavy Trailer needs better suspension under it.

[Ford truck guy]

agreed....


IF I were to do over , from the factory it would be :

Disc Brakes
8k IS
Goodyear 17.5's

That would all but eliminate the main focus of attention for major issues..

[IA Brown bear]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Ordering the 17.5 wheels with the H tires is a wise move IMHO, because RWs are heavy, not as bad as DRV, but our MB left the Factory at 15.5K pounds before we even added a paper plate.
The reference to Service Centers, means any Crossroads Dealer or Authorized Service Center. In cases of being a long distance from any Service Center, you can generally work with RW to get repairs done by a Mobile Tech. You might be required to pay up front, but if you got approval from RW should be able to get your money back.

Thank you for your response. I see you tow with a Chevy 3500. Since I have to upgrade tow vehicle, currently have 2500HD Deisel, Duramax transmission, I was wondering how you like it?

[mhs4771]

Originally had an '05 3500 and upgraded when the '11s came out for the bigger frame and the exhaust brake. Presently 93K on it and most of that mileage has been towing. Tows great and keeping the speed around 60 gives mileage from 10 to 12 depending on winds, temps, and grades.

[RCAircraft]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Originally had an '05 3500 and upgraded when the '11s came out for the bigger frame and the exhaust brake. Presently 93K on it and most of that mileage has been towing. Tows great and keeping the speed around 60 gives mileage from 10 to 12 depending on winds, temps, and grades.

Your MILEAGE IS GREAT. Our 2016 Silverado 3500 HD High Country crew cab and long bed, with the 6.6L Duramax and 3.73 gearing gets right at 10 MPG at 60 MPH HOWEVER with our lighter 2013 36 RL.

We are weighing again this year as we have replaced the couch and two recliners with custom furniture made in Shipshewana including a new buffet at the dining table (install and coordination by Precision Painting and RV Interiors, Bremen, IN. Same folks that did our full body paint for Thor RW and the recent repair to our RW from the Marathon blowout).

While at the Shipshewana rally this August, MOR/ryde will be installing their beefy shackle links (1/2" thick) and bushings on our RW. That should take care of our tire/suspension issues for now including adding the Titan disc brakes at last year's rally. If I was on the road far more, as some RW owners are, I would go straight to the IS system and 8K axles. Sitting in covered storage 70% of the year and averaging 1,500 miles per year it is hard to justify the cost. Not sure how the gas mileage would be impacted with the IS minus the weight of axles.

We love our RW including the floor plan and look forward to many years of seeing America with our RW when DW retires in a few years.

[piper guy]

The IS adds about 250-300 lbs over the weight of the axles.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by piper guy

The IS adds about 250-300 lbs over the weight of the axles.

AND WORTH EVERY POUND

[RCAircraft]

Originally Posted by piper guy

The IS adds about 250-300 lbs over the weight of the axles.

The IS is much more in weight than I would have guessed and as noted worth every pound (and$$).

Question - can the Lippert frame, with the IS modification, take the twisting from the tires when making hard backing in turns. Just wondering if MOR/Ryde beefs up the frame to compensate for the lS assembly hanging on the frame.

[piper guy]

If you look at Joe's photos, there is a LARGE crossmember that goes from one side to the other and supports and strengthens the IS "pods". I can tell you that backing mine into my driveway takes many back and forth movements to get it turned 90 degrees from the street. The IS doesn't scrub the tires half as much as the old axles did.


One of the things I did when I started researching towing a car was call Gary at MORyde to ask about towing behind the suspension. His comment was he tows a pickup behind their demo trailer that has the Show stuff in it. I figured a Mini Cooper should be fine !!

[Jim & Mary]

The only worry I would have would be whether the overall length would attract the "smokies" attention. Boy a mini would sure be a lot easier to drive when we're stopped than our DRW.

[RCAircraft]

Originally Posted by piper guy

If you look at Joe's photos, there is a LARGE crossmember that goes from one side to the other and supports and strengthens the IS "pods". I can tell you that backing mine into my driveway takes many back and forth movements to get it turned 90 degrees from the street. The IS doesn't scrub the tires half as much as the old axles did.


One of the things I did when I started researching towing a car was call Gary at MORyde to ask about towing behind the suspension. His comment was he tows a pickup behind their demo trailer that has the Show stuff in it. I figured a Mini Cooper should be fine !!

I didn't see the cross member however that's great to know. As an very old engineer the cross member is what I would have done. Boxing the frame in the area of the IS would be something else as I tend to overkill. Assuming we keep our RW into DW 's retirement (lately she had been poking around with thoughts about having a Class A) I will opt for an IS system on out RW. I am the conservative money person in the family and shudder at the thought of depreciation we have seen on RW (no different than our other RV's) then more depreciation on a Class A. She won on the RW purchase and most likely would win on a Class A purchase. I just keep the stuff clean and ready to go when she says Go!.

[spindrift]

A cross member is a component of the SRE Equalizer kits as well.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by RCAircraft

The IS is much more in weight than I would have guessed and as noted worth every pound (and$$).

Question - can the Lippert frame, with the IS modification, take the twisting from the tires when making hard backing in turns. Just wondering if MOR/Ryde beefs up the frame to compensate for the lS assembly hanging on the frame.

Here is another picture of the braces that were created for the IS..they basically BOXED the HD sub-frame. That's 1/4" wall tube welded across from frame to frame... And it is also tied into the subframe also created... That ain't going anywhere !!!

[UKDenboy]

I am looking at a 2016 39MB on Wednesday I don't know if it has 8K axles or disc what would be the cost to change these out after the purchase?

[mhs4771]

Approx $5500 to $6000 is a ball park figure
And really needed on the MB as it's heavy, ours left the factory at just under 16000 Lbs, but that did include the 8K IS, Disc Brakes, and 17.5 tires & wheels.

[Shane Wood]

I would definitely get what Michelle said on the MB. If it does not have it, negotiate it into the deal. The MSRP is about 35% above selling price

[UKDenboy]

Thanks ladies. I just found out that the MB has only 2'' drum brakes,not sure what to do.
Den.