RandyLaura
Central Florida
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Joined: 06/17/2008
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Hello all!
Have we got a story for you.
(exit now if you don't like long posts  )
Over the past month, we've posted here a few times looking for basic info to educate ourselves on 5th wheels in general, trying to figure out which brand is which, etc. We sold our house here in Central Florida (a miracle in itself), and were asked if we could move in less than 30 days. Interestingly enough, the folks that bought our home were just coming OFF the road from full-timing for 12 years. We even sold them our furniture instead of having to store it... what a Godsend!) So instead of rushing to find a 5th wheel prior to closing, we moved into an extended stay for 30 days.
We were between Carriage and DRV, and Carriage won out due to two things. Lighter weight, and transferrable warranty (and FYI... only the 2 year warranty transfers to 2nd owners, NOT the 5 year structural warranty). We ended up buying a 34ft. 2008 Carriage Cameo 34CK3 with an Arizona room, from an individual seller in another state. He had used it for vacations, and had not been lived in. The plastic was still on the carpet for goodness sake! We are absolutely thrilled.
Before leaving to go get the unit, we had to get an existing gooseneck removed from our '01 Ford F350 SRW in order to get the 5th wheel hitch installed. This is where things got interesting. We found out that whomever installed the gooseneck hitch years ago didn't bolt it to the frame like they are supposed to, they welded it (and not very well). So a mobile welder was recommended and he came to us. I gave him the keys to the truck, and he said he'd back back in a couple hours (he was going to remove the hitch just out in the back parking lot where I worked), but he came back in 5 minutes shaking his head. They had not only welded the hitch to the frame, but had welded the nut and the ball to the bed of the truck. Also, the welder couldn't get to any of this without having the bed taken off. Terrific.
Found a small truck place that agreed to remove the bed for us, and allow our welder on their premisis. Truck place charged $100 bucks to remove the bed, and our welder was done in 2 hours. He said he wanted to 'dry weld' it instead of heating up the frame with conventional welding, and the truck place said in watching this guy they could tell he had done this a time or two, so that was good. The welder called us saying it was done, and we went and picked up the truck. Only snag? (you know there is always a snag!)
The welding job would have been $400+, but he called and said "no charge". He was absolutely beside himself explaining that he was 10 minutes into the job before he noticed that he didn't cover the back windows of the cab of the truck, and the metal slag from the welder was spraying on the windows. It looks like road spray dirt... very tiny. We felt so badly for this guy... he was apologizing right and left, and really beating himself up ("this was a rookie mistake, and I am so sorry...I was so intent on getting this done, etc..."). We later scraped the slag off with a razor, but the windows will remain pitted. You really can't tell, and at this point we're just trying to keep it all in perspective 
The next morning, we took the truck to a local frame company JUST to have the frame double checked for integrity before installing 5th wheel hitch. They were super people, and the lead mechanic took it right in and came back in less than 5 minutes... "you are 100% ok". He said "you must have had this gooseneck removed by someone that knew what they were doing as you can almost not even tell there was a hitch welded to the frame. And the frame looks just fine." GREAT! Now, off we go to Camping World to get the 5th wheel hitch.
Dropped the truck the night before at Camping World and they were to start on it the next morning. After reading posts on this forum and elsewhere, we decided to invest in an 18k Superglide hitch. We've heard this is the best for short-bed trucks, and it better be for $3,100! That price included the hitch, super rail kit, light plug installed in bed for trailer lights, new Tekonsha P3 electronic brake controller, and labor.
We picked up the truck that evening, and the service manager said "Folks, it all went well but I do need to tell you...." Oh come ON!! Is there always going to be a "but" after everything we do!  The service manager said the technician had to use shims on two of the 8 bolts (that bolt the rails to the truck frame). He said it's mostly common on Dodge trucks, but they sometimes have to use them. He said he used locking nuts, and installed two extra bolts just to be double sure. He instructed us to inspect the shimmed bolts often, just to keep an eye on them.
So FINALLY, we're off the next morning to pickup the fifth wheel. The gentleman we bought from was nice enough to set up the coach in a local campground so we could see all systems are go, etc. We arrived, and fell instantly in love! (With the coach not the seller  )
The seller stayed with us that afternoon to help Randy install the new Capture Plate that will fit our Superglide hitch. That went well but afterward, the guys were noticing the hitch on the trailer (the part mounted to the nose of the 5th wheel) would need to be raised up one set of bolts, to allow clearance of the top of the truck bed for turning.
So the guys had all 4 coach jacks in place, and then placed a small hand held jack under the hitch that's attached to the 5th wheel. And then proceeded to remove all the bolts, then jacked up the trailer to help lift it in the new bolt position. Of course the trailer shifted a bit when they removed the last bolt, giving the women heart failure And the icing on the cake was it started absolutely POURING rain during all of this. But, two drenched men and two shaky wives later, all went well!
We pulled it back to Florida uneventfully, and arrived at our campsite. Because we arrived after the registration office closed, they told us to just park on any of the available sites they had marked, and we could change to the site of our choice for longer term. So we set up that night, and relaxed on Sunday looking the park over... found a site on the pond and went to move the coach. Well guess what, we couldn't move the coach. The Arizona room slide wouldn't move in. At that point out came the 5th we had stashed, and I don't mean 5th wheel!! 
Monday morning we called Carriage and they said it would be covered 100% under warranty, just take it to a local dealer. Fortunately we are only 20 minutes from Lazy Days. To make matters just a bit more complicated (for fun of course), the site we happened to setup on, there was a permanent RVer that was arriving that day! So he set up on the site behind us, and after seeing our dilemma in not being able to move off his site for the time being, was very nice about it. 2 days later, Lazy Days sent a mobile RV tech out to our site, and after a bit of work manually got that room back in. We moved off that fella's site, and onto another one.
So that brings us current. We are taking the coach to Lazy Days this Saturday to have the slide repair assessed, and we'll go from there.
One thing that really disappointed us is once the the mobile RV tech was under the slide out room, he said "ah I see you've had trouble with this room before". Hubby and I looked at each other and said "why do you say that?" (the mobile tech didn't know we had only owned this coach a few days), and he said "well, I am placing my pipe wrench in the same spot someone else has already been to crank this room in manually".
We went back to the emails that we exchanged with the seller, and kept the one that said "the only things done to this coach were replacing a couple of gaskets and a light". So he basically lied to us. We wondered why the seller kept reminding us "remember, you only have 30 days to transfer the warranty". Disappointing for sure, but we'll deal with it. 
So that's our story and we're sticking to it! We are getting broken in fast and furious for sure. And hey... after all of this, we will be able to take on the world!
Laura 
P.S. Wonder if this qualifies us to receive the "Most interesting experience converting to full-timing Award"???
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skylos
Cameron, MO
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Joined: 06/10/2009
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So far you haven't run into anything you can't afford or can't fix, so I'd say that is pretty smooth. (I'm still dealing with my tug truck engine failure on a Las Vegas->Minnesota trip June 17th.)
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brirene
midwest
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Joined: 01/27/2007
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Wow! I'm exhausted just reading it! Here's hoping all the problems are behind you (or will be after Saturday). Keeping the positive attitude helps greatly. Best of luck!
'04 Jayco Designer 30 RKS Medallion package, Trail Air pin
'05 F350 V10 Crew Cab, Lariat, 4x4, Duallies, LB, B&W Companion Hitch
"The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark." - John Muir
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restlesswind
Fulltime
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After such a "not so smooth" start,lets look forward to smooth sailing from here on.Welcome to "the road" with your positive attitude I'm sure you will love your new lifestyle
Hichhiker DA
04.5 Dodge TD SRW
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TowHaul
Ontario
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Joined: 06/23/2010
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restlesswind wrote:After such a "not so smooth" start,lets look forward to smooth sailing from here on.Welcome to "the road" with your positive attitude I'm sure you will love your new lifestyle
Great report - just keep pushing through there's blue skies ahead
2009 Cikira Classic Cruiser 21R
2007 Jeep Commander Hemi
Trailing Away... our travel blog
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TomG2
Central Illinois
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Joined: 03/07/2004
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You ain't seen nothing yet! Just kidding, and welcome to the wonderful world of full timing. Nice report.
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azandy70
Green Bay WI
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Joined: 01/02/2010
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Very nice story. It can only get better now. I too have trusted sellers more than I should have. My DW and I, at this point anyway, plan to fulltime when we retire. We have 10+ years yet. Depends on how much money I can lose by that time. Hopefull your "hazing" is done now and you can enjoy the many years to come.
2011 F350 SRW 4x4 Crew cab short box
6.7
2011 Open Range RF392BHS
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RGordon
Atoka, TN/North Ft Myers, FL
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Congrats on you new to you fiver!!!! I think you still should have paid the welder some whether he charged or not. Sounds like he worked his tail off and just made an honest mistake. Good luck fulltiming! Since we half time in DRV during the winter, we cannot wait to get back to our brick & stick house in Tennessee the rest of the time.
Ron & Libby Gordon
07 Ford F350 Dually Tow Boss Diesel
07 Mobile Suites 38RL3 #3698
02 Winnebago Adventurer 35U V10 (Former RV)
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow
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bazdad
Pensacola Florida
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Joined: 05/14/2008
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Make sure you invest in a pipe wrench for the next time the room does not slide in. Some times it takes more than one trip to the repair place before they find the fix.
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Earl E
Where the RV is parked (formerly OR)
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Hopefully things will now sail smoothly for awhile. I've learned that in full-timing that the RV is your house...and it will continually develop issues just like your S & B house. The big problems are fixed but others will develop. I was resentful but now I realize that I'm spending way less on RV repairs than I did by S&B, so I'm happy.
Enjoy the life style. It's great!!!
2007 Northwoods Arctic Fox 32 5S Fifth Wheel
2007 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Diesel
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