Ordering a 36FL

[KR2011]

We are ordering a 36FL this week and was looking for suggestions on anything other Redwood owners have discovered with there rigs that they might have changed if they could.
We are deleting the rear entry door adding the dish washer and the extra fans to an other wise loaded rig.
We are fulltimers, we stay in Iowa for extended periods of time summers mostly, but we are to be there in the winter as well at times.
Thanks.

[Flyfisher]

Congratulations KR2011 on placing your 36fl order! We took delivery on our 36re this week but have yet to pull it from the lot. Too much snow at the moment.It sounds like you have made some great choices in placing your order. At this point, not having any experience yet in our rig, I can't say what we would change however based on everything we read on this forum and others we opted to order our unit pretty much loaded up sans the dishwasher ice maker and washer/dryer.We upgraded the tires to G rated, full body paint, generator , 2 AC/heat pump units etc. you might consider having lighting changed over to LED's. There has been a lot of chatter on various forums that the halogens are short lived (2-3 months in full time units). I plan to replace mine as they burn out with LED's. They are a bit pricey!Good luck with your new Redwood and keep us posted on your experience with it.

Safe travels
Brett and Jan

[TravelinAnderson]

Congrats on your new 36FL. We too have a 36FL and have been living in it full time for about 6 weeks. We find it to be much more home like than our previous travel trailer which wasn't designed for full time use.

Ours has the washer/dryer which is very handy. We opted for the convection/microwave to gain the extra storage. I'm not sure if the side by side fridge was an option but we have that as well and appreciate the added space.

Ours had a standard DVD player in it but we had the dealer replace it with a Blue-Ray unit and also had them install the Travler' 1000 satellite dish. If you intend to use a satellite, it's helpful if you provide them with the receivers. Then verify everything is working correctly before you leave the dealership. I've become somewhat of a Dish Network tech because I didn't have the receivers when we had the Travler 1000 installed.

I'm not sure why you deleted the rear door but we use ours to help with air circulation. As you know the windows on these units don't open very far so the extra screened opening helps a lot. The blank wall you'll gain by not having a door would be a great place to mount some much needed towel racks. We installed two hooks above the toilet hang towels from.

Speaking of windows, I'd check to see if they can install ones that open on either side of the couch. I'm not sure if you know but living room in a front living unit tends to get warm and the only window that opens in the 36FL is behind one of the chairs. The other is an egress window.

We discovered that if you put a foam mattress pad on the bed it will interfere with sides when you retract them. If you do use one, just flip it back when you pull the sides in. Otherwise the tops of the bedroom slide outs won't seal tightly. Since I mentioned beds, my mother came down for a visit so we gave her the bedroom and we used the inflatable mattress that fits over the couch. It pretty much sucked. The mattress is nearly as wide as the living room so you have to crawl in and out from the end. That causes your partner to be jostled about as you make your way on or off. We're going to look at single bed inflatables to use instead.

I also agree with Flyfisher on all his suggestions.

I hope this helps..
Steve

[lillyputz]

Anyone have the memory foam sleeper. if so, how do you like it. also is the dish washer worth getting.



Lillyputz

[KR2011]

Thanks Steve for your comments.
I deleted the rear door because it did not make sense where it was ( at least to us it did'nt ) and as you said the wall space you gain is helpful.
I am having a window put in on the chair slide towards the front to see out while sitting in the chairs as well as ventilation.
The dish washer is supposed to work very well acording to people who have this style, but we are up in the air on this one it uses 2 gallons of water per cycle and welive off of our fresh watertank becouse we do not have full hook ups.
Will a regular Queen matress fit in place of the one that comes with the house or does it have to be able to go under the closet whenthe slides come in?

[TravelinAnderson]

Our 36FL has a standard residential queen (60 x 80) and it will fit under the closet however I doubt anything thicker than a standard mattress would. As I mentioned earlier, we have to fold our two inch memory foam pad back before pulling in the slides.

I'm not clear what you mean when you say you're having a window installed on the chair side. Could you clarify? it may be something I'd like for our 5er too.
Thanks

[KR2011]

Steve for the window,
as you sit in your chair if you look to your side there is no windows at all in the chair slide out except for the big window behind the chairs. i am installing a window to your left ( towards the front of trailer) so that whenI am sitting in the chairs I can look out without having to turn around tothe window behind you.

[KR2011]

Well we ordered our 36FL yesterday we went with the side window in the chair slide and had them pre wire for fantastic fans because they will not install them, we deleted the rear door and decided against the dish washer my wife would rather have the storage.
The dealer (Webster city RV) tells us we could see the new rig in late march .
Now the wait begins .
My wife has already started sorting out all of the stuff that she does not want in the new house. I was also told we were redecorating with a new theme oh we'll if it makes her happy
Now the hard part selling the Montana, it would be nice if would sell about a week after we take delivery of the Redwood Edited by: KR2011

[lillyputz]

Fantastic fans are on the factory option sheet. I have them on my order form for a 36FL.



Lillyputz

[KR2011]

The order sheet says fantastic fan but they use Max fans at the factory. I have looked at several redwoods and they all had Max fans in them so I asked the factory rep if they would install the fantastic fans and they said no so I worked a deal with them to put the wiring in from the vent down to the wall were I'm putting the t-stat.

[TravelinAnderson]

Our 36FL has a thermostatically controlled fan in the kitchen however it's not labeled so I don't know who the manufacturer is. It looks like the fantastic fan we had in our Rockwood so assumed that it what it was.
We set the fan speed to low which does a nice job of pulling air through the trailer without being too loud.

[KR2011]

Look at your fan control at the top I believe it says Max fan.

[KR2011]

I don't know for sure but the Max fan only has 3 speeds and allows you to reverse the air flow I wanted the fantastic fan model 6504-414 it has a t-stat on the wall that you can set the temp where you want it and the fan has 14 speeds as well as a rain sensor it is a lot quieter and reliable with a better Warrantee

[lillyputz]

Factory order sheet and the web site state fantastic fans. false advertisment? we have fantastic fans in our current 5th wheel. the are great.



Lillyputz

[KR2011]

I said the same thing about the fans but the factory rep says they use Max Fan by Max Air.

[TravelinAnderson]

KR2011: Do you know the size of the window next to the chair? I see that all of the inventory of the now defunct Carriage factory is being auctioned this month. The auction list showed tinted, frameless windows. I may be able to pick one up cheap.

[KR2011]

I do not know for sure but it has to be framed in theslide out wall to have the window opening cut out. If you look at the36FB pics look at the slide out with the table and chairs toward the back of the trailer under the cabinets there is a small window there I would asume that is what they are putting in mine.

[lillyputz]

What model max fan was installed.



Lillyputz

[Flyfisher]

Hi all,
The Maxx fans (2) in our 2012 36RE have wall mounted controls with adjustable thermostat, rain sensor and variable reversable fan speeds. I think they are model 4000 K. I will pick up our new rig tomorrow from the dealer and intend to get some clarification as to why the fans were not the Fantastic Fans as stated on my original order. It may be the Maxxfans are a better deal. At any rate I'll let you know what I find out.

[KR2011]

That would be great. I would like to for sure why this is the way it is.