Thanks to All!! and More Questions??

If you ever watched sausage being made, you would never eat it. Same with RV's, most of the effort is in the pretty stuff and the ingredients are sub-par. Hubby is doing the right thing, you can usually replace or modify those things in the living area, but if you don't have a firm foundation the outcome will be bad. Bet he can come up with a sermon that fits.

I've seen numerous 384's on the internet over the past few months. I have only seen one that did not have the dishwasher. I believe that just about every 384 will have it unless you specifically order one without it.

So hear is what my thoughts are

We also looked at Grand Design Solitude or Heartland Landmark, saw the basic floor plan and looked
at the build quality of all ... When I looked at the Kz G384FLT I saw Kz construction was as good if not better
to me in our Durango Gold G384FLT, no press board draws, no plastic slide rails for the draws only metal...
The fittings were glued an fitted correctly under the sinks both in the kitchen an bathroom, real wood
were it needed to be an the cabinet an cabinet shelf's that were not junk ... Now this I will say that
maybe the dealer upgraded such because ours was a show model an lots of times they try to upgrade a little
show models at times to impress people to buy such ... Then in August when I walked into Jetzens G384FLT
I saw the same workmanship in his that ours had an his was built 4 months after ours ...

Ok now I believe there is more room by far in the 384 then the 366, I would walk into both an see for
yourself, that why they build different models because people have different tastes ... Please don't
get me wrong the 366 is built just as good I believe as the 384, but the door in the main slide gives
gives you way more room as you will see ...

One other major thing that is different with the 366 then the 384 is that you can not get into the
frig when the sides are closed do to the fact the doors are blocked by the island, as well there is far
more counter space in the 384 than the 366 which the DW likes..we put are coffee pot next to the frig,
the toaster on the other end next to the sound theater, so if you did that in the 366 you won't have
much counter left at all, but again it's all in what you want an a 366 is a still a great trailer but
as stated limited counter space around the stove (DW Piped in on this one lol)...

Now on the MorRyde Steps, we sweep off our steps before we store them, but even when we don't there is
little dirt... I will say there is as much dirt at the top of the steps when entering a trailer as you
would with the MorRyde steps folded up without sweeping them ... Also the MorRyde Steps are very solid
an almost as wide as the door ... We had a couple swap out the Torklift Steps at the rally last year
because the wife didn't think they were stable as the MorRyde steps ... As well since the you have the
steps in the slide I do not believe that Kz will change such out but I could be wrong ... Again I would
test drive the MorRyde steps an see, that why the make different ones ... Oh one more thought, the new
MorRyde steps are now spring loaded an can be lifted with one hand
Also remember you have a very great vacuum sweeper as standard within the Durango Golds, many owners have
stated that the sweeper in the Durango Gold is better than they have at home but can not hold as much as
a regular sweeper ...

You stated you liked the idea of the bath and a half, even thought we do not use the sink in the bedroom
much it is very handy ...

The big bathroom is as well a plus an another reason we bought ours ...

In not sure about the double sinks, with a dish washer, every 366 I say on the RV Trader didn't list
a dish washer but had double sinks, as well not any had build sheets so I couldn't tell ... I suppose
you could order a 366 with a dish washer I don't see why not, but again I was told that if you had
a dish washer you had the single large sink which we like ... I have not seen a 384 without a large
sink an have not seen a 384 with a double sink in the Kitchen.


Another reason the 384 is I believe a better fit for a full timers is that you don't have to climb across
the bed into a closet to do the laundry, the washer an dryer is in it's own closet off the main living area.

We also really liked the floor plan of the 384 for the same reasons you stated, with steps on the far side
of the unit and the entry between the table and living room area. Again as you stated the 384 also has lots
tons of more kitchen storage space than all the other Durango golds ... Last year when we saw the new not
out 385 we all made the comments as to there was not enough Kitchen cabinet's, but as we all commented
if you put more cabinets in you would block off the view to the living area or make the kitchen feel way
smaller than it already was...

We a year ago looked thought an under Jayco's Pinnacles an Coachmen Chapparrel, along with others as you did,
jetzen as well did the same thing, as you said they were really a sorry sight. We ourselves saw trim coming
off, doors out of alignment, lights out an most but not all had very dark insides ... As well where the side
wall meets the underside there were gaps between screws but not as bad as what your husband saw but pretty
bad ... Your thinking this would be a great place for water, bugs, rodents, etc. to find their way into the
unit is correct. Again at the RV show we bought our 384 I looked under it an saw none of this, people may have
thought I was some kind of nut crawling around under trailers but I feel strongly about what under the
trailer as well as what is on top, sides an within ... Was there were minor ripples on the underbelly,
yes but the underbelly was screwed in tightly an not hanging down like others were ... As well every
place there was a hole needed such as the sewer pipe coming thought they had tons of foam around such,
as well the low point drains which there are three of, each for the fresh water tanks an water heater ...

I did find that in the bathroom under the sink I could see some daylight to the underbelly around the
sink drain pipe which I filled myself but that was the only place I found such ... I'm sure that if I
had pointed it out to the Tech when doing our PDI it would have been dealt with, but it was so small
I didn't catch it at the time ...

As far as see where your RV is built, when we toured the Kz Kz 2500 5th wheel line, the floor were
clean, there was some minor stuff laying around but nothing you could trip over ... There was no
wiring peaces laying on the floors, any tools were either put away or laying on or in the units ...
Windows, TV's, radio's microwaves, etc were all stored on shelves along the back side of work area ...
All the trailers on the build line which there was I believe were a dozen looked to neat an clean
an no saw dust laying around the floor an very little within the trailers themselves. I noted to
look for saw dust do to the some people had complained about large amounts of saw dust in their
units when looking behind the storage walls. I even crawled into a couple that didn't have walls
installed to see if there was anything left, I really didn't find such in the four before the last
three that were in the finishing stages an had the storage walls installed ...

Now they could have told the workers to clean the lines do to the fact that owners were going to
be touring the plan but I don't think so ... Reason I say this is the excess wire that had been cut
off were stored in large barrels along with Saw dust an dirt in other barrels an signs all over the
place stating to keep the place clean an tools off the ground ...

I have to say that I have in many ways drank the Kz coolaid an am a believer, their are others on
this site that have done such as I have ... Is there trailers that Kz makes that have mistakes in
them, heck yes, is there trailer that may need to go back to the factory at times, I'm sure they
are not perfect ... But per mine an other talking to the managers, Kz RV Techs, Kz Sales Reps they
all state that they are trying to make the best possible trailer they can with as few mistakes
as possible ... As I have stated before they consistently made the comments that they would support
their customer base 150 percent an I saw such when attending the rally, they were true to their word
by actions no words...

Also lots of people may say Kz turns out trailers every few minutes, think of this, last year Kz
turned out only 600 Durango Gold series 5th wheel trailers across the board, some other manufacturers
of high end trailers turned out three an some four times that amount in the same amount of time ...

Have fun an again welcome an we hope you join the Kz family an if you do before early June check
an see if there is any spots open at the Kz Rally But even if the spots for the rally are all
gone there may still be camping spots at the Shipshewana South Campground just not close to the
rally group an may not be for the entire week the rally is going, but who know unless you try
that's all I can say

I almost forgot, we love our 2005 F350 1 ton 4X4 DWD, friend has a 2015 F450 1 ton DWD an an
loves theirs ... But if I bought anything else besides a Ford I would buy a Dodge with a Cumming Diesel
in it of course with Duel wheels not single ... of course if I did buy anything other than Ford my father
would roll over in his grave, so to prevent such I have stuck with Ford products most all my life

Safe Travels

Chuck

Thank you everyone for all of the info and recommendations. My hubby was glad to hear that the underbelly doesn't look like the Jayco! So we are planning on visiting C Neer RV at the end of April and in the meantime will see if Family Camping Center near us has any Durango Golds for us to look at. I am leaning toward the 384 for the kitchen space and overall open look to the floorplan, but still want to see a 366 for comparison. They both look like great models - the 366 has more carry capacity also. I like the single sink also, so will probably get the dishwasher since it is used all the time now - why wouldn't we use it on the road?

We are planning on full body paint - anybody have an idea of how much weight that adds to the unit? Carry capacity is important to those of us fulltiming with hobbies like sewing machines and books and fishing gear, etc - actually to all fulltimers. We looked at a GD Solitude at the Hershey RV Show which had the most wonderful storage at the back - our 12 foot canoe could actually fit in there on the slide out tray with lots of room to spare for everything else. But the carry capacity on the unit wasn't even 2000 lbs, so you could use up that weight pretty quickly and never be able to utilize all the storage space.

Thanks again everyone! I will be reading the forum and gaining info. I told the hubby about the leveling system and he will do some reading on the forum about all of that. I can't begin to understand it! Have a great weekend!

In addition I would also have them show you how to manually retract slides & leveling gear in an emergency.  Beats having to did out manuals when something fails.

Kudos to Chuck on his observations on Durango versus other brands. I keep hearing that Durango is a well kept secret, not just here, and I am starting to believe it. If we are able to get another fiver in 2-3 years, Durango will be at the top of a very short list. As a matter of fact, the list is Durango 2500 and Durango Gold.

I'm looking forward to seeing a 384rlt soon.  I think it just might be the one for us to fulltime in.  We've sure looked at a lot of units!!  Thanks for the info on the water filter system or lack thereof.  My hubby says he will just add one (I have not one clue how to do that, but obviously he does!) but it would be great if that was an option for the Durango Gold line.  We are also planning on full body paint, but I would love it if KZ offered that in the blue exterior paint design.  One of the things which made me look again at KZ Durango Gold was the blue paint design.  I'm so very tired of seeing brown fifth wheels in varying shades. That blue streak really sets it apart from the pack and I would love to have it in full body paint.  So if that happens to come up with the reps at the rally this summer, I would love for someone to pass along my thoughts.  We will probably not be at a rally until summer 2019.  

I'm reading everything on the forum and learning alot.  Thanks so much for all of the information.

If you so chose, Bill at Family Camping sold us our Durango Gold. We have nothing but good things to say about the dealership so far.