That is a very good question. The 399TH was certainly at the top of the list. It is a beautiful camper and the fold-down side patio is an awesome idea. However, there are some key issues with the 399TH that took it out of consideration for us.
One of the main challenges with the 399TH is the orientation of the master suite. The bed in the 399TH tucks into the nose of the camper. We wanted a RV King bed. When jumping up to the King in a 399TH, GDRV has to put one side of the bed next to the wall. You can somewhat visualize this by looking at the 399TH floor plan pictured below. The box area that says King bed optional is where the edge of the bed sits. The location against the walk makes the bed a pain to make and the person who sleeps on that side has to crawl in and out. The bed in the 397TH is oriented across the bedroom in the side slide. This is an excellent design. A RV King bed has room on both sides to walk around.
The second and arguably the more critical issue is that the refrigerator cannot be accessed in a 399TH when the slides are in. When we are traveling we want to be able to grab a cold drink, make a sandwich, etc. It is a hassle and in some cases not an option to open the slides when traveling. The right side of the refrigerator in the 397TH is fully accessible when the slides are in.
Another key factor for us was the washer and dryer location. In the 397TH the laundry is in a closet in the master bedroom. This is an excellent location. The washer and dryer prep is in the middle of the garage for the 399TH. It takes up precious cargo space that we need to park our motorcycles. The 399TH is designed for a combination unit that has a washer and dryer as one device. Combined units have a terrible reputation. A stackable washer and dryer is another factor that made the 397TH the best choice for us.
The final item that looks awesome on the surface, but we were not sure it really is. I'm talking about the side deck. On paper it looks like a great idea, but in practice the deck is small and overhangs the camping site. We often visit campgrounds. When the side deck is down it takes up room on the campsite making it a pain to walk around. It has hard edges as well that can snag you easily if you are close to the deck. Getting on and off of the deck requires a big heavy stair that is not easy to store. The deck door doesn't have windows either. The big windows on the 399TH is on the service side of the camper, not the door side where most others are located. It didn't make sense to us to have the big windows on the coach overlooking our neighbor's outdoor space.
Here's the floor plan for the 397TH. When looking close at the two, the 397TH was the best choice for us.
We are people that extensively research everything we do. I personally spent 2 years researching every Toy Hauler camper I could find. My research looked at everything including Class A's. At the end of the day, there were some key criteria that made Grand Design the best choice for us.
The first and foremost consideration is Grand Design's reputation. What speaks volumes to me is that there are thousands of people who have a Grand Design and that buy another Grand Design when they upgrade. People who are not happy with their camper or the service they received from the manufacturer are not likely going to buy another coach from the same company. There are hundreds of RV manufacturers. There are options, yet people keep coming back to GDRV. That speaks volumes to me.
The second criteria that somewhat ties to the first is the build quality. I go to every RV show I can get to. It is very noticeable when I walk into a GDRV vs most of their competitors. The fit and finish is excellent. Their coaches are designed to be lived in full-time. GDRV also has their factory segmented by line. Momentum are built in the same area by the same people. Many RV manufacturers build every coach they sell on the same assembly line. I believe this is why their quality isn't as good. GDRV staff has a lot more experience building the same model day in and day out than others I have seen.
The third and maybe the most important is how GDRV handles warranty repairs. Most manufacturers require that all maintenance is done at a dealership. RV's are not cars. It can easily take a week or more to get something repaired at a dealership. If your camper is your home that isn't a realistic option. Most dealers will not allow boondocking on their property. GDRV routinely sends parts to customers under warranty. Simple items like fixing lights or switches are easily performed by most. Accordingly, GDRV has a large network of remote RV Techs that can come to your campsite. They charge a visit fee, but they can do all warranty repair at your location. This is a huge deal for people who live full time in their campers.
Class A campers are very nice. They are certainly easier to drive and park than a truck with a long trailer. The challenge for us was that we wanted to take our motorcycles on the road with us. When two large Harley's were brought into the mix, the options dropped quickly. The first key criteria was weight. No matter what type of rig we purchased, we had to have a diesel engine. Adding a Diesel vehicle further reduced our options and took out the most common Class A Toy Hauler the Thor. Thor RV's are popular, but they are gasoline only. They do not have the room or the payload to carry two Harley's in the back.
A second consideration for us was maintenance. A vehicle with more moving parts is going to require more maintenance. When I need an oil change in my Dully, I can take it to a dealer or quick oil change shop. I don't need to find a special facility that can accept a large vehicle. If my truck breaks down we can get our fifth wheel camper towed somewhere where we can wait out repairs in the comfort of our home on the road. Living at a truck repair shop isn't an option in most cases. That means that every time a Class A coach is in the shop the people need to find somewhere else to live.
The third reason is space. The 397TH is larger than our first apartment. It has two full bathrooms with showers, 4 televisions, and the garage can be turned into a guest suite or an office at a push of a button. A fifth wheel camper has more room than anything else.
We use the Ring Alarm system and cameras in our rig. We went with Ring because their service can be self monitored. Campers that move frequently cannot be professionally monitored. They would not know where to dispatch police or fire, which could lead to big fines.
I did a full overview video of the Ring Alarm system install. This video walks through everything we are using and how it works.
This is a great topic to discuss. Modern campers have a ton of sensitive electronics on board. I cannot even imagine the cost we could incur if we had a power surge through our rig. The answer is yes, most certainly we have surge suppression. We actually have several levels of surge and power protection on our coach.
If one were to walk by our rig at a campground it would look like we are directly plugged into power with no surge suppression whatsoever. We installed everything inside of the storage compartment behind the Nautilus Water bay. Keeping gear inside is a good idea. Expensive parts hanging outside on a power pole are open targets for theft. Even cable locks can be cut.
Our first line of defense is a 50 Amp Hughes Autoformer. The Autoformer is classified as a voltage booster with surge suppression. The device doesn't just monitor power like most systems, it actually interacts with the inbound power feed to bump up the voltage to a safe level that is around 120 VAC. The system has step up transformers inside of the unit that are designed to get the voltage to a safe level. If for any reason it cannot safely do so, the Autoformer will disconnect power. It is fully automatic and can bump either leg of the AC power source up by 10%. For example, one leg of power can be coming in as low as 108 VDC that would kill air conditioning compressors, computer power supplies, etc. and it will transparently step the voltage up to 119 VAC that is safe to use. The Autoformer also has a field replaceable surge protector that can safely dissipate 4800 Joules of power.
The second level of protection we use is also made by Hughes. It is called the Watchdog with Bluetooth, surge protection and Emergency Auto Shutoff (EPO). One of the items that really sets the Watchdog ahead of their competitors is the Bluetooth app. From the comfort of the couch I can see exactly what is going on with the power coming into our rig. It also has a cool watt counter that will track exactly how much power we have used. This is very helpful when trying to calculate how much power we need for solar and off-grid living. It is also useful when staying in parks that charge for power. It is nice being able to audit the bill. The watchdog also has a 4800 Joule field replaceable surge device like the Autoformer. Most of these types of devices are sealed and cannot be serviced in the field. Having a spare surge part can keep the rig running and protected.
The sharp eye reader may notice that I posted the picture of a standard unit that is not hard-wired in and recall that I said above that everything is wired inside of our coach. We chose to use plug-in devices so it would be easy to remove a device out of the system if we are experiencing problems. It is a major pain to crawl deep inside of the rig and un-wire heavy AC lines because a surge suppressor popped. The plugs make it easy to remove a device and fix it in the morning vs going all night without power.
To accomplish the feat of having plug in units effectively hard-wired in we used one more part from Hughes called the hardware kit. It has a heavy duty 50 amp cable that wires into the transfer switch. And a 50 amp plug that is wired into the line coming in from the outside. When the two are plugged together is is exactly the same as OEM. Power follows the same path. However, when the two are joined by putting parts like the Autofomer in the middle that is where the magic happens. This is the link to the install kit.
