New Member

[fdmckee]

Hello Everyone!



We are new to the forum and are excited about learning more about the Redwood from all of the owners. We live in Vancouver, WA and will be picking up our new Redwood 36RL on Nov. 28th from Dennis Dillon RV in Boise, ID.

We first saw the Redwood in April on a trip to Arizona and my wife fell in love with it! But since there were no dealers here in Washington or Oregon, we decided not to go with it and ordered a Cameo instead. Then as most of you know, 2 weeks ago they closed their doors and we were horrified. We spent almost 2 weeks deciding whether or not to cancel our order and finally madeour decisionover the weekend. Thankgoodness we were able to get our deposit back and so we called Dennis Dillon RV and made arrangements to get the Redwood. They had the floorplan there that we wanted, so we got all the paperworkdone and financing arranged. We are very excited about our new purchase and can't wait to go get it. We have a '04 Everest that we bought new and have been living in for4 years now,but wanted a better unit for full-timing. We will be retiring next year and plan on travelling and maybe even wintering in Arizona.

We look forward to hearing all of your experiences and advice.



Safe Travels Everyone!

Fred & Danette

[redwood5er]

Congratulations on your purchase. Looking forward to feedback on your 36RL

Tony

[hoosierguy]

Congratulations on your purchase of the RW36RL.

We also purchashed a 36RL in September. We were able to have one short outing with it before we had to put it it in for the winter. Looking forward to next spring.

When you pick up you coach, be sure to have the dealer explain the hydraulic system in detail. The same system runs the two rear slideouts as well as the automatic Level-Up system.Make sure the dealer explains how to operate the system manually in case you ever have to do so. The Level-Up system works really great so long as you don't have the hidden DC fuse blow.

My system worked flawlessly the first seven times. On the 8th time, when I went to operate it to hook up to my truck to put the trailer away for the winter, I could not get the Level-Up control to power up. After talking to my dealer's service manager and a couple of evenings tracking cables inside the equipment bay, I managed to find a 10 Amp DC fuse hidden on the back side of one of the cables. I found it by feel as it was not initially visible until I pulled it around from behind the cable. The fuse was blown and once replace everything has worked well since then. I plan to contact Redwood to see if the fuse was sized correctly for the application.

Enjoy your Redwood.

We love our Redwood and havereceived many compliments on it.

[fdmckee]

Thanks Hoosierguy for the advice. We leave Vancouver, WA on Saturday morning for Boise, ID to pick up our unit and hope the weathercooperates! We will make sure the dealer goes over the hydraulic system and locates the hidden fuse so we know where to look in case we have any trouble.

So glad to hear that you love your Redwood. We first saw it in March when we were on our way down to Arizona. DW just fell in love with it, but then we decided not to get one because the dealer was so far away and there are no dealers in Washington or Oregon.We ended upordering a Carriage Cameo in August for delivery in October. Then around the middle of October they closed their doors due to financial troubles, so we cancelled our order. DW called the dealer in Idaho and they had the 36RL on the lot and made us the same offer that the Cameo dealer did, so we grabbed it.



We're a little nervous about it having read some of the issues that the ownershave had, so we were so glad to hear that you love yours. We will live in ours and hope we don't have too many problems. We will have to find a dealer or rv service shop that will be able to work on the Redwood.



BTW, I see you're from Indiana. I'm fromaround the South Bend/LaPorte area and moved to Vancouver, WA about 21 years ago. Not too sure how far that is from you. Good luck with your 36RL and hope you have many happy years travelling in it.



Fred & Danette

[hoosierguy]

Fred & Danette

We had looked at Carriage Cameo's also. In fact, when we originally went to the dealer to see the Cameo models is when we discovered that the dealer also was handling the Redwood product. The Cameo models we looked atseemed to be well made coaches but nothing struck us as being what we would want.

I had been aware of the Redwood company from their formation in 2009, but, I had forgotten about them since I knew they were a new start up company. But, from what I have seen, I think they are going about things in the right way.

You mentioned that you were originally from the South Bend/LaPorte Indiana area. We live south of Fort Wayne near Markle, Indiana. We are about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from South Bend.

Good luck in your check out of your new Redwood. Don't hesitate to ask alot of questions. One of you should ask the questions and one of you should take notes. I realized after the fact that we went through our check out much, much too fast.

[Cyberdave]

I've been to Dillon RV they seem to be good folks.</span>When we we're there in September,I took an in law to see the 36RL they had in stock Think I got a convert that day....</span>

[fdmckee]

Gary &amp; Phyllis:

We leave tomorrow for Boise and will pick up our Redwood on Monday. We will make sure to ask a lot of questions and we are planning on taking notes. Just hope we can keep up with everything. We are getting excited, but also feel exhausted from all the packing and things to get ready. I'm (Fred) from Indiana and when we get a chance to go back and see the kids and grandkids, maybe we could get together.



Dave:

I'm so glad to hear that the folks at Dennis Dillon are good people. When we went there in April they were very accommodating and even told us the best way to get down to Arizona. They were all very nice and we are looking forward to seeing them again.



Will let you know how we like the unit after we've been in it for a few days. I hope everything goes well and not too many problems. Will let you know how it goes.



Fred &amp; Danette

[hoosierguy]

Fred &amp; Danette
Keep us posted as to how everything goes with your new purchase. Are you headed out to warmer weather ( )as soon as youfinish your check out of the new Redwood? The National Weather Service is forcasting our first snow here this week although not much fortunately.



When you are back in the Indiana area visiting family, let us know. There is a nice campground (Twin Mills) on St. Rd. 120 just west of Howe, IN. We stayed there this fall for a week end after picking up our Redwood, then went up into Michigan near Cadillac to see the fall colors.



What part of Washington do you call home now? I am hoping after we retire to do lots of traveling. One of the areas that I would like to visit is Oregon and Washington coastal areas. My wife has never been to the West coast.



Our Redwood is winterized and tucked away for the winter. We are looking forward to next spring and summer. We are tentatively planning a trip to Gunnison, Colorado area next summer.

[lillyputz]

Hi hoosierguy,



How do you like the disk brake system.



lillyputz

[hoosierguy]

The Kodiak disk brakes seem to work well for me. I did have to buy a Prodigy P3 brake controller and add to my 2011 Dodge. The integrated brake controller that comes with the 2011 Dodge is not compatible with electric over hydraulic disk brakes systems. Dodge has changed that on the 2012 trucks........the new integrated brake controllers are now programmable and you can select a mode that is compatible with electric/hydraulic brake systems.



I have only made one outing with our Redwood shortly after we made our purchase..........a 765 mile trip to Cadallac, Michigan.........all flat land towing. It took some adjustment of the P3 controller, but, it did seem to work well after I made the adjustments.

[fdmckee]

So sorry I haven't gotten back to the forum, but we've been so busy unpacking and trying to find a place for everything. Since we live in our rv, it's a bit more complicated. But we're getting it done little by little. Just wanted to let you know that we absolutely LOVE our Redwood!! It pulled real nice andhaven't had any trouble with it so far.

Hoosierguy: We aren't retired yet, so had to come back home to the wet cold! We're hoping to retire at the end of August 2012. We're talking about going out to Indiana and maybe to Michigan or Vermont to see the fall leaves, then head south to Tennessee and Kentucky and out to Arizona for the winter. We will be sure to touch base with you when we have definite plans and hopefully we can get together. When are you planning on retiring?



Just wanted to let you know that we do love our Redwood and it is everything we wanted and more!! We hope to be in it for many years to come.



Fred &amp; Danette

[hoosierguy]

Fred &amp; Danette



It sounds like everything went well with your check out at the dealer and your return trip home. Glad to hear that.



This has been my first experience towing a big rig like a 5th wheel. We were pop-up campers for 35 years. I researched the idea of a 5th wheel for about 4 years before deciding that we had better do it now or never. We haven't been disappointed. We think our 36RL will be very comfortable to do some traveling in the summers and some extended stays maybe in Arizona or the panhandle of Florida in thecolder months of Jan, Feb &amp; March.We have family east of Tucson near Willcox, AZ which has a little milder weather than Indiana in the winter.



I have not set a definite date yet for retirement, but, it will be sometime in 2012 between June 1 and December 1.I wil be 70 next year and I think it's time. My wife also still works full time but I think she is ready also as she has said she didn't want to work through another winter.



I had to look up Vancouver, WA..........I thought it was in the northwest part of Washington but it is in the southwest part near Portland, OR. So you have cold and wet weather there during the winter also?



Sounds like you are full timing in your Redwood. Let us know how it goes. Good Luck.

[j1251b]

We purchased our RedWood in March of 2011 in Dallas TX. We are both retired and are fulltime work campers and wanted something we could live in. The Quality inspection at the factory and dealership needs to be improved. When we went to pick it up we foundthe black water valve was stuck half open. there was a direct short in a plug that was wired backwards, also the water line for the icemaker was not hooked up. In the front compartment where the batteries are kepthalf the screws were missing from the two storage doors. When you select heat, the fuse will blow out. We put over 3500 miles on it from Texasto San Francisco and back. Here are a few of the things we found during the last past 9 months. Our converter went out after coming back to Texas so I call our RedWood Rep he called the factory they overnighted a new one andit took me 20 minutes to install it. If you live in it full time you will find the interior light bulbs will burn out inabout 2 months. The fender skirts have no support, the few stiffners that are there will break. The auto leveling system works good but ifyou have jacks down for more than 30 days you will need to spray the jacks with silcone and recycle the jacks. The shower leaked and wefound that thebottom of the glass had not been sealed. There is constant water standing at the bottom of the refrigerator and so far we have not been able to find the cause.
Overall we really like our REDWood its like a small apartment on wheels it is really made to live in. Its beautiful and comfortable.

John and Sherry

[hoosierguy]

John and Sherry,



Wow.......sure sorry to hear about all those issues that you have had with your Redwood. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend that you provide a detailed list to the Redwood factory direct. They need to have feedback on those kind of issues to take corrective actions, although, I don't think these types of things should be happening even for a new start-up company. Be sure to do your annual checkup and make sure the dealer knows what is going on.



We went on a factory tour last June before we ordered our Redwood and I was very impressed with their manufacturing process, but, it is always difficult to know all the fine details of what is being done or not done on a day to day basis.



The only problem that we have had with our Redwood 36RL was with the Auto Level system when a hidden, in line, 10 Amp DC fuse was blown on about 8th attemp to lift the trailer to hitch to my truck. I detailed that mishap earlier on this forum.



I am glad to hear that otherwise you do like your Redwood. Hope things get better with no more issues.

[Redwood2011]

My wife and I had looked at several Redwoods in the DFW area before we ordered ours. A couple issue I noticed in our walk through of the units were the drop down of the ceiling on the slide where the diner table is located. The other issue was the louvers on some of the doors were coming loose. It looked like the staples were not holding the lovers in place. This is probable a quick fix if the factory would use some glue before brad nailing the louvers. If they are already using glue, I would use either more glue or a strong holding one. I talked to the Redwood representative by phone to let him know about the ceiling dropping, and he said the factory was working on resolving that problem. I forgot to mention the louver problem while had him on the phone.

[IPull]

Hello well this is my first post, but have been looking at
the site a lot. I don’t have my Redwood now but have one on the way 36RE! Should
be here by mid Feb<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

[hoosierguy]

IPULL,



Congratulations on your Redwood order and welcom to the forum. Keep us posted on how things go for you.