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Old 10-27-2020, 04:30 AM   #1
Thegaudards
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377FL

First time RV-er here! I sold my 2014 Camaro ZL1 and 2020 Silverado Trail Boss for a 2020 Chevy 1-Ton diesel sra and the 377FL. My wife is Heather who is a NICU nurse here in Grand Rapids, MI and we have three left handed boys: Alex(10), Gabe(8) and Henry(4). I’ve been around RVs for 15 years-class A diesel pushers as I work for what was fka Spartan Chassis. Excited to start this new adventure. Our first planned trip is to Port Aransas, TX from Jan 8-Jan 23. I would love to hear your advice for a newbie! Towing advice, boondocking suggestions, winter living, etc. It’s great to be here!

Adam
 
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Old 10-27-2020, 07:17 AM   #2
1retired06
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Welcome to the MOC. You will find a wealth of info on any topic by using the search feature on this website.
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Old 10-27-2020, 09:11 AM   #3
jsb5717
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Welcome aboard! Well, go big or go home, right? You jumped in at the deep end of the pool so you'll need to learn to swim quickly. Don't hesitate to ask specific questions, you'll get answers here.

If this is your first rodeo then start by knowing how to tow, back, and park your rig. If you've got trailering experience all the better. Otherwise spend some time in a large parking lot learning the towing parameters of your setup. Get used to the turning radius, tail swing, and practice backing it into tight spaces. It is quite entertaining for experienced RVers to sit and watch the newbie back their rig into a parking spot . So don't be that guy...take time to practice.

Make sure you know how everything works and make sure that it does all work.

Be safe and enjoy your new adventure!
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Old 10-27-2020, 09:25 AM   #4
DQDick
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Welcome to the forum! May your new rig bring you many years of wonderful memories.
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Old 10-27-2020, 11:01 AM   #5
sourdough
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Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new rig! Lots of little things to get prepared for a cross country trip; I would get a TPMS for the trailer along with an EMS for power. Check the trailer tires to see what brand and load range they are.

From Grand Rapids to Port Aransas? Quite a change. I think you'll enjoy Port Aransas/Aransas Pass, we always do. And...you won't have to worry about winterizing (when there, I'm sure you will need to before you leave). Have a fun and safe trip.
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Old 10-27-2020, 12:14 PM   #6
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Welcome and congrats on your new purchase.

We have the 375FL model, which is almost the same as yours, except it does not have the loft. Basically, it's about the same floor plan with some minor differences. With that said, let me give you a BIG piece of advise...

Before you take your first journey, take the time to reinforce that rear closet. The shelf is lightly stapled into the Luna board, and behind that is nothing but Styrofoam. And the entire shelf is being supported by only about 4 staples (I am not kidding).....

On our maiden voyage, from central Indiana to Northern Kentucky, the closet shelf collapsed, and of course, the cloths bar rod is supported by the shelf. I ended up getting bathroom shower curtain spring loaded rods and inserted 4 of them under the shelf, on both sides, and used a few screws to hold it in place. It was enough to make it back home.

The shower curtain rods actually held the shelf up for a few months, until the cloths bar itself started bending. There's no support right in the middle. And about that same time, one of the shower curtain rods collapsed, and... the shelf fell again.

So, this time I used lumber and ran a support along both walls on each end of the shelf all the way to the bottom of the closet, so now the shelf actually rested on the wooden supports.

I also used a couple tubes of Liquid Nails, instead of using nails, which were worthless going into Styrofoam. And then I ran another support from the floor of the closet to the cloths rod, and then up to the shelf, supporting the cloths rod and the shelf directly in the middle. I sanded the wooden parts with 220 grit sand paper, then used Thompson Water Treatment for outside decks as a finish, instead of stain or varnish.

Well, the closet now has a divider in the middle, but it's not fallen since. It's now supported form the floor of the closet to the bottom of the shelf with 3 boards: 1x12 inch.

The back end of your camper will experience a tremendous amount of bounce and stress, bouncing up and down. Add the weight of cloths hanging from the cloths bar, also bouncing up and down. What doesn't jump off the cloths bar and end up on the floor, will be too much weight and the added stress WILL break that shelf, leaving you feeling helpless when you are 200 miles from home!

And oh.... if you take it back for warranty work, they'll just staple it back to the Styrofoam wall. (like they did mine),..... and it will fall again.

So, before you hit the road the very first time, re-inforce that closet any way you can. Get extra supports under it, against each wall. And a support directly in the middle.

The second problem we had was actually keeping clothes on the cloths bar. But that's another story.
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Old 10-27-2020, 05:28 PM   #7
PaChLewis
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Hi Adam,

Welcome to the Montana family. My husband and I are from Cedar Springs so we're not too far from you. Well be heading to Florida after Christmas.
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Old 10-27-2020, 07:01 PM   #8
Thegaudards
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Thanks for the advice; Ive read this a few times now and being able to get ahead of it will certainly prevent some frustration! We did walk through the 375, in fact it’s what brought us to the plan with a loft! Thanks for the welcome.
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