Having owned both a Grand Design Imagine and now an Alliance Delta, I’ve had the opportunity to compare these trailers where it really counts: real-world use. However, when shopping for a travel trailer, most reviews focus on floorplans, features, and first impressions. In reality, what really matters after purchase is the punch list—the issues that show up during ownership. Therefore, how do I measure the Alliance Delta vs Grand Design Imagine? To answer this, let’s compare the punch list I had with Grand Design in 2017 to what I’ve experienced so far with Alliance.

To begin with, let’s break it down.

Punch List: Grand Design Imagine (Entire Warranty Period)

During the course of the warranty period, here’s a summary of the issues experienced:

• Leveling jack failure
• Decal issues
• Entrance door sticking (causing paint wear on upper left door jamb)
• Screen door alignment problems with the main entrance door
• Deadbolt not fully engaging
• Kitchen cabinet alignment needed
• Exterior storage door binding
• Slide foam gasket missing (visible gap to ground)
• Improperly installed/broken slide screw (This later became part of a major recall.)
• Slide wipe seal twisted/warped
• Cosmetic issue on front cap
• Misaligned drip rails
• AC gaskets not tightened
• Electrical short behind recliners
• Ceiling panel bubbling
• Defective front cap lights
• Ultimately a major roof issue (“roof fiasco”)

Takeaway

Overall, the Imagine had a long and varied punch list, including:

• Structural concerns (roof)
• Electrical issues
• Fit and finish problems
• Hardware failures

Therefore, these issues point to quality control inconsistencies during manufacturing.

Punch List: Alliance Delta (Early Ownership, Still under warranty)

Now, lets look at what has come up so far with the Delta:

• Slide cable fraying
• Dump handles hard to pull
• Interior slide trim damage from sticker removal.
• Loose backsplash
• Outdoor satellite connection not working
• Toilet gasket leak (antifreeze found)
• Roof quality (not exceptional, but typical for industry)
• Wrinkled/misaligned exterior decals

However, to be fair, the Imagine list reflects a full warranty period. In contrast, the Delta is still early in ownership—but even at this stage, the difference in severity and frequency is noticeable.

Takeaway – Alliance Delta vs Grand Design Imagine

The Delta’s issues are more limited in scope and severity, and so far, fall into:

• Minor fit and finish
• Component usability (dump handles)
• Isolated hardware issues
• Satellite coax line severed (factory installation issue)

Side-by-Side Comparison

1. Volume of Issues

• Imagine: Extensive list across multiple systems
• Delta: Shorter, more focused list

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

2. Severity of Problems

• Imagine:
  • Missing slide gasket
  • Electrical short that caused multiple outlets to lose power.
  • Roof failure and AC gasket
  • Recall-related slide issue
• Delta:
  • Mostly cosmetic. However, the exception being the slide cable fraying and the satellite coax cut in half.
  • A leak (toilet gasket), but easily explainable and fixable.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

3. Structural & Build Concerns

• Imagine: A major electrical short, Slide recall, ultimate roof issues, AC gaskets never tightened raise big manufacturing red flags.
• Delta: The roof is not great from a quality perspective.  The slide cable being improperly installed and the satellite coax being severed and then hidden in the bundle raises quality control concerns.

Therefore, slight advantage: Alliance Delta

4. Fit & Finish

• Imagine:
  • Door alignment issues
  • Cabinet adjustments
  • Ceiling panel bubbling
  • Exterior door alignment problems
• Delta:
  • Backsplash loose.
  • Wood facia damage caused by decal removal.
  • Wrinkled informational decals on exterior of trailer (black tank sticker etc.)

The number of fit and finish items of both units is pretty comparable. However, the Delta issues are more minor and isolated.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

5. Electrical & System Reliability

• Imagine: Electrical short behind recliners
• Delta: Satellite connection issue only – The Delta’s issue is isolated to a non-critical system, unlike the Imagine’s electrical failure that affected core functionality and is a huge safety related issue.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

6. Customer Support

In addition, customer support is another area where these two brands differ significantly.

• Alliance Delta: Support is handled primarily through email. In other words, you cannot immediately connect with a live representative. Responses are promised within 48 hours of receiving the email.
• Grand Design Imagine: Customers can speak directly with a live representative right away.

As a result, the difference in responsiveness is substantial. For example, being able to immediately talk through an issue can save time, reduce frustration, and help diagnose problems faster.

In contrast, waiting up to 48 hours for a response can slow down troubleshooting and extend downtime. This approach will not meet expectations for owners who need real-time support while on the road.

Therefore, clear advantage: Grand Design

Real-World Owner Perspective

Here’s the honest takeaway:

• The Imagine delivered a great ownership experience overall. However, it required significant warranty attention, including at least one major issue.
• The Alliance Delta, so far, feels more dialed in from the factory, with issues that are:
  • Easier to fix
  • Less intrusive
  • Less concerning long-term (with the exception of the roof, perhaps.)

Final Verdict

If you judge strictly by punch list experience:

Alliance Delta comes out ahead. However, keep in mind I still have 8 months left on the Delta’s warranty. We will revisit this if anything changes.

The Alliance comes out ahead right now, not because it’s perfect, but because:

• Fewer issues
• Less severe problems
• No major system failures (so far)

That’s exactly what most RV owners are looking for—less time in the shop, more time camping.

Finally, as many of you know, I loved our Grand Design Imagine. After the initial punch list items (and Roof issue) were resolved, it really was trouble free. There will always be things that fail after the warranty period (like schwintek slide motors). Don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

We had almost nine wonderful years crisscrossing the country in out 2950RL. That says something about the overall build quality back in early 2017.

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Oh yeah it is!

Let’s start by talking about why it could be important for you.

If you camp somewhere that doesn’t have cellular or WIFI, that’s a really bad thing. Accidents happen and if you’re on your own, it could end up being a horrible thing.

These are our most recent experiences:

Marfa’s Tumble In RV Park had pretty sketchy cellular. The cellular signal worked inconsistently.  Big Bend National Park had zero cellular coverage. One thing to make note of here, is that Starlink mini is able to go with you in the car as long as you can power it up. That makes being in places like big bend, much safer.

Abilene State Park has zero cellular unless you have AT&T, that according to one of the park rangers. We didn’t get another T-Mobile signal until we were about 12 miles from the park.

Lake Whitney State Park has very poor cellular for T-Mobile users, I think Verizon may be better there.

These are the kinds of situations where you are going to want WIFI calling – just in case something unexpected or bad happens.

The other thing that WIFI would do for us is allow me to work on my laptop, and videos. I currently tether my laptop to my iPhone.  To upload a very short video takes an incredible amount of time.

I have to say, out of the above list, the most important thing to us is being safe.

One of the Park Hosts at Lake Whitney had Starlink mini.  I was on the bubble until I talked to her. She absolutely loves it. After that conversation, Tammy and I were sold on the idea.  The thing that pushed us over the top was that the mini was on sale for 229.00.  I was interested when they were 299.00.

We ordered ours, and it arrived the next day.

Setting starlink up couldn’t be easier, however if you are looking for your model and serial number, It’s on the very bottom of the box the unit came in. It starts with KIT.  That caused a little confusion as we looked for the number.

There are several different plans to choose from so let’s step through them:

Roam 50GB Plan, which includes 50 GB of data with the option to purchase additional data by the GB.  The Roam 50GB plan, according to starlink is roughly equivalent to 20 hours of high-definition video streaming or 50 hours of video calls. Keeping that in mind you can “Opt in” for additional gigs of service, which will cost $1.00 per gig.

This is exactly what the camp host that we talked to does. She said that she has never gotten close to spending 165.00 dollars in a given month. 165.00 is the cost of the roam unlimited plan.

However, here is an important thing to think about.  If you pay per gig and hit the 165.00 mark, it doesn’t automatically mean you are now on unlimited.  In fact, you will keep getting charged per gig over that amount.

Roam Unlimited, which has no data cap.

Once activated, you can change service plans anytime and as many times as you like via your Starlink account portal. Changes will take effect immediately or at the start of your next billing cycle, depending on the plan.

For example, I went to standby mode the first week after I began using Starlink. I received a message that my subscription would change to standby at the end of the current billing cycle.

You have the ability to pause and resume service with Standby Mode. Standby mode is $5.00/month and there is a minimal amount of data that is available in standby mode.

Now let’s get down to the meat of the matter.

How hard is it to set up?  It’s really easy.  There are just a few steps.

• Go to starlink.com/activate. This is where you will enter the starlink number from the label on the bottom of the box the unit came in.  Don’t bother looking on the unit – it isn’t there.  So, save that box.

• After entering the KIT number from step 1.  Fill out the rest of the account information and choose your plan.

• Next download the Starlink app to your phone.  It will guide you through the set-up process.

• You will want to make sure you set up your Starlink network with it’s own name and password so it’s a secure network.  You definitely don’t want an open network.

It took us all of 30 minutes from unboxing to satellite connection.

The internet connection is surprisingly fast.  Even uploading a video when I got a message that I was partially obstructed on my satellite view was quite fast.

So overall, here are the top reasons you should consider Starlink

1. Safety – you WILL, at some time, be in a campground with no cell coverage or WIFI.  Think about the worst-case scenario of not being able to call out for emergency help.  We have been at two campgrounds already this year where we had no cell or Wi-Fi.
2. Any camping plan should include having family or friends know where you are and that you are safe.  This requires at the very least checking in with them.  Without connectivity, you are on your own.
3. Weather can change in an instant, without any connectivity, you could be in a dangerous situation with the potential for strong winds, severe thunderstorms, tornados, or flash floods etc.

For me, the ability to do videos on the road is a big plus, but the above three issues are what drove us to get Starlink.

Additional things you may want to consider? A tripod for mounting the mini, and a carrying case so that it does not get damaged.

The post Is StarLink all it’s cracked up to be? appeared first on .

1. It has the kitchen of the 2008 Coachmen 288FKS. More storage than you could ever want or need.
2. The outdoor kitchen of the 2015 Jayco 27RBOK. I never thought I’d use it but ended up loving it.
3. The large living area of the 2017 2950RL Imagine
4. A rack and pinion slide of all our previous trailers for the large bump out vs. the schwintek slide system. There is an exact slide on the opposite side for the fireplace. It goes without saying that I was never a real fan of the schwintek system.

Also, this trailer has an outdoor TV. However, the hook ups are questionable. More about that in a later video.

Needless to say, we really love this trailer and traded in the Imagine. The Imagine has been a great trailer, and it sold after only one day on the dealer’s lot. That’s because after almost eight years it still looks brand new. It also includes many extras that likely helped close the sale.

So, let’s talk about the new Delta 294RK.

We brought it home and I had forgotten just how much work it is to move things from one trailer to the other. Not just the regular everyday items, but moving the satellite equipment, TPMS, and the LevelMate Pro, and the Marcell Unit with all the s-pucks. Well, moving them over is one thing, but it’s the mounting and hooking things up that becomes very time consuming. In addition, the level mate pro had to had to go through the entire set up procedure again.

One thing I didn’t expect the day before out shake-down trip to Lake Whitney State Park was the change in forecast. The night before the trip the temperature in north Texas was expected to drop to somewhere between 32 to 28 degrees. The Delta has a Contoure on-demand water heater. This heater has freeze protection when it has power. This applies whether the water is connected or not. It also applies if the unit has no water in the lines. Once the temperature gets below a certain point, the heater turns on for a few seconds to make sure the lines do not freeze. As a result, there was no worry about the water heater.

I did worry about the water lines. So, I turned on the furnace to run at 60 degrees. Unfortunately, that is the lowest temperature setting on the furnace. When I work up the next morning at about 4:00AM I looked at my Marcell unit, the temp in the trailer was 45 degrees. So I went outside and I just could not get it to restart. After some quick on-line searching, I found that I would need to shut the 12-volt power off for the furnace to reset. After I did that, the furnace worked great. I’m going to assume that there may have been some air in the line that caused the failure to ignite.

Alright, so now we have made it to Lake Whitney, and I’ll start by saying I am really very happy with how the trailer performed. There were a few things that cropped up, so let’s go through them one by one:

1. The toilet has a ring of antifreeze around the base. We wiped that up easily, and between us and the dealership made the “assumption” that it may have been slop from the winterization process that the trailer went through prior to our purchase. However, when we got home, we found more. Now, of course I could pull the toilet myself and check under it to see what’s going on, but it is under warranty, so I’ll let the dealership deal with it.
2. I went over the roof with a fine tooth comb at the dealership, however I did find a screw coming up in one spot on the roof when we were getting ready to leave the campground. That will need to be addressed somehow.
3. The backsplash has an area to the left of the cooktop, that is no longer attached to the wall. It’s not a big deal and I doubt anyone but me (I have issues) would notice it.
4. The number of stickers that are placed on the inside and outside of the trailer is ridiculous. Why alliance felt this was necessary is a mystery to me. Removing the sticker above the couch caused the woodgrain paper underneath to rip. Most of these stickers are poor quality and are peeling off anyway. So, Alliance if you read this, just put a feature sheet in each unit and tape it to the countertop. We don’t need a sticker that says, “Large Slide Out”, etc.
5. Alliance – don’t put two magnets on the trash drawer, it’s almost impossible to open.
6. The wiring at the outdoor TV is a mystery but more about all of that in another post.

So, how did it perform over all? Flawlessly. The Furrion fridge worked great, although it is a bit noisy. These are noises that are probably considered normal. The old propane/electric model in the Imagine made noise too. I’m not really worried about this at all.

The furrion AC Chill Cube in the “Dump” mode works well, but the using the air ducts for AC is substandard. The furnace was great, no complaints there. I will say that it is warmer in the bedroom than the living area but the furnace is located beneath the bedroom closet so that is to be expected.

The on-demand water heater will take some getting used to. I would highly recommend getting an oxygenic faucet for the shower. I had no problem using the stock faucet, but if you have a wife that has thick, long hair, there will be complaining.

Also, I understand that Alliance doesn’t want to print owner’s manuals as part of an environmental paper saving imitative. Guess what? No one is going to easily be able to go through the delta owner’s manual on an iPhone or tablet. I printed my owner’s manual via Amazon, and now I have a decent hard copy to take with me. I will say that the information in the manual is too generic to be helpful when it comes to the TV wiring. More about that in a later post.

Another thing I don’t like is Alliance’s customer support model. You must submit any issue in writing with pictures, and they have two days to respond.If they don’t respond, then you, as the consumer must remind them. I’ve never encountered this model before. In contrast to Grand Design’s past approach, you could call a rep and resolve your issue in a single phone call. The problem with this Alliance Customer Service model is the iterative process that goes back and forth multiple times to get resolution – I am not a fan. That said, other manufacturers might handle it the same way.

Remember, there really is not a perfect travel trailer, or a perfect manufacturer. However, you can minimize issues by doing your research. Overall, I am very happy with the Delta travel trailer. Keep in mind we have a year left on the warranty, so a lot can happen in a year. You only need to search our forum for the story on the “Wedding Trip” of 2008 to see all the issues that shook out on the imagine during the warranty period. Fingers crossed that this year will go better.

Lastly for anyone that may be curious on how Eva took to the new trailer – she did great and it only took her a few minutes to feel completely at home in the new trailer. She loves camping probably as much as swimming in the pool. Yes, she loves her Lamby!

The post The Delta 294RK and the Shake Down Results. appeared first on .

I typically look for trends when we go to these shows. If you remember two years ago, I mentioned that the bathrooms had become larger and more residential at the expense of the living area. This was not the case this year. The bathrooms on all the models we looked at, had normalized to what you would expect. After all, RVers don’t live in the bathroom, and if they do, they probably shouldn’t be on the road.

One interesting trend this year was to get rid of cabinets above the bed or in the main living area and go with a shelf that had a net mesh material over the front. It may look interesting to some folks but remember, all that stowed stuff needs to be put somewhere before you sail down the highway or it will be bouncing all over.

The travel trailers at the event ran the gambit from entry level to much more expensive models. I did not see Brinkley at the show, but I may just have somehow missed them. If they were outside the main hall, that could have been the case. By the time we got through the inside of market hall, I really was ready to call it a day.

Almost immediately when we arrived, A Grand Design Rep tried to corner me into looking at what they offered. I told him point blank “I have a 2017 Imagine, but I would never buy a grand design now given what has taken place over the last few years”. His response “I understand”.

I think you all understand I am very happy with how our 2950RL has performed. However, I cannot support a company that is not standing behind its customers. I have seen too many folks online who have absolutely been crushed by the frame failures. While they may not be the only company that has had issues, they seem to be the torch bearer.

You may also remember that I have said in the past that nothing I’ve seen since 2017 has made me think twice about buying another travel trailer. That may have changed this time.

Why? Well, I have always told Tammy that if we were to get another travel trailer there would be five things I would want that don’t exist on the Imagine.

1. Azdel Construction
2. Solid Surface Counter Tops
3. Pex Plumbing in the majority of the trailer
4. No Schwintek slides
5. Outdoor Kitchen

Surprisingly the Alliance Delta 294RK seemed to hit every one of those boxes. It did have one major drawback, which we will discuss in a minute.

Alliance RV was founded in 2019, and in a short amount of time, they’ve built a reputation for making durable, well-designed, and luxury-focused RVs that cater to a variety of RV enthusiasts, including those who are full-time RVers.

So first let’s talk about the positives. A really nice layout with a rear kitchen and more storage than you could ever use.

A good size bathroom, and bedroom with cabinets that absolutely make sense along with a large wardrobe, reading lights, and the ability to deal with all the lighting from the bed.

The unit has two AC units that can be run on 30AMP service. However, I wouldn’t recommend that because you know what’s going to happen. Someone will use the microwave and blow a fuse. However, when the weather is nice, 30 amp will probably serve you just fine.

The main slide is rack and pinion, the most reliable you can get. The small fireplace slide is the Bal Exact Slide. This is a major improvement over the Accu-slide system. It has a better track record than the current schwintek slides that I have on the Imagine.

The construction is Azdel on walls and floors.

For 2026, they move from wrapped plastic counter tops to solid surface countertops throughout the trailer.

Now for the only drawback, and that is the cabinets. The bases and the doors appear to be wrapped vinyl over core lumber. This is absolutely the cheapest construction you can get. I have some of that in the Imagine but the doors are all hardwood. It’s rather surprising on a trailer that has so much to offer, that this is where they decided to cut the quality. I know how to do woodworking; and I am ok at it. Good enough that I can deal with that kind of stuff, but it’s not something I would want to do. Any sort of moisture will make those cabinets look like wrinkled paper. I would have been much happier if, at the very least the doors had been wood.

Back in 2007, Coachmen put the 277RKS together with real wood cabinets. They used a lighter type of lumber to do it, and it was spectacular. In my opinion, that’s where Delta needs to go.

Speaking of the Coachmen, this trailer gives us the perfect combination of the 2007 Coachmen (Which I loved) and the current Imagine 2950RL plus the outdoor kitchen of the 2015 Jayco. If you can ignore the cabinets, probably the perfect trailer. Also, the manufacturer designed this trailer for full-time living.

There is one other small drawback if you are a dish satellite subscriber and want to watch two TV’s. the satellite hook up is just a single connection. It is basically a jumper wire behind that that you can connect to TV1, TV2, or TV3. They recommend that you get a SWM switch (1 input, 3 output) if you want to connect more than 1 tv to satellite. However, that is not an option with the G2+ by Winegard (I confirmed this with them directly).

The options you have available if you are a dish subscriber is to either 1) Switch you connection in the underpass each time you want to switch TVs, or 2) buy a multi-coax wall plate. My recommendation would be to get a 4-coax plate. One connection would go to regular Cable, and the other three would connect individually to each TV. Not rocket science at all, but it should have been something they just did at the factory.

So, what exactly is the price tag of the 294RK? Well on the 2025 models you can probably get one at the show price of 43,000 dollars, maybe even less. However, the 2026 models have an MSRP of 62,000 dollars so you need to really go in there and deal. I would look to get 25 to 30% down on that price. In our case it looks like we will wait until next spring’s super sale to see what kind of show prices will be available. I’m in no hurry because I am very happy with the Imagine, and it looks brand new, so it would need to be an awfully good deal for me to leave it.

I do want to say that we spent a very long time at the show and visited many travel trailer manufacturers and floorplans. There was also a very nice Sprinter there. However, it didn’t offer quite as much as the Delta in terms of quality. In fact, I had to tell the salesperson that their fireplace was about to fall out onto the floor of the trailer. Tammy actually spotted that.

The other advantage of these shows is you get to meet some nice folks that are working in dealerships near you. I was pretty impressed with the knowledge of a few sales reps’ vs previous years at the show. It’s also nice talking with these guys about the industry in general.

I would encourage first time buyers to go to a show like this with a list of your “Must Haves” in a trailer so that you get an idea of what is available. Is there really a perfect travel trailer? Nope. Some come close though but beware any trailer must meet your family’s needs and more importantly have a quality track record. So do your research before you purchase anything. I would recommend going through everything from YouTube videos about the manufacturer and owners’ issues, BBB ratings, Facebook owners’ groups, and research the brands of appliances (Furnace, AC, etc.) that they are putting in the trailer as well.

So that’s my take on this year’s southwest show. Let’s see what next March brings at the regular super-sale event.

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When we are at home, the Travel Trailer is on shore power, parked under the overhang on my shop. The MarCELL unit continues to monitor conditions inside the trailer. Occasionally, during thunderstorms, the power will go out and I will get a notification. Such was the case on June 15th and 16th when numerous thunderstorms rolled through north Texas. The emails below were just one type of alert that I received. I also had the text and phone call alerts. While you might find that quite annoying since we were at home, it shows just how reliable MarCELL is as a product.

I’ve mentioned before that the travel trailer gets its shore power from the shop. So, when I get that alert I know that the shop power is out. In the winter this is important because my pool equipment runs from shop power. So, if it is below freezing, the alert serves as a reminder to start the generator so my pool equipment won’t be damaged. So, as you can see, it is a multi-purpose solution for us.

As you can see, the MarCELL becomes a multi-purpose solution to not only my trailer but my stick and brick house as well.

Since the MarCELL unit works off a cellular plan, I don’t need to worry if the internet goes down. That also means that I don’t need to install an expensive internet solution in my travel trailer.

We have had this unit now for over five years and it has been flawless both on the road and at home. I can’t imagine traveling without it. If the MarCELL unit seems like something you would like to research, then check out www.meetmarcell.com. If you decide to purchase a unit use the code TTN20 to receive $20.00 off at checkout.

Now, on a side note, Tammy is currently visiting family up north. So Eva and I are holding down the fort and doing some maintenance on the trailer. The MarCELL unit is also programmed to send alerts to Tammy. So when we have been having issues down here with power, I will get a text asking “What’s going on with the power down there?”.

Stay tuned for some updates on a few maintenance items.

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So there has been a slight delay in receiving my shipment of Thomas Payne Furniture.Next, remove the lower rails because they bolt directly to the seats. After you remove the four foot-pad bolts from each chair, cut any zip ties securing the wiring and lift the chairs out. Right now it looks like the delay is only two days longer than the anticipated delivery date.

So, what Tammy and I did in the meantime is remove the existing Thomas Payne furniture. Let me tell you that it sounds a lot easier than it really is. The bright side is that you can do this yourself. It will be even easier if you have someone like Tammy help, because it is a two person job when it comes to removing the trifold sofa. I would also recommend getting a heavy moving blanket to protect your flooring. You will want to slide the furniture towards the door without destroying the flooring.

Start by removing the back cushions; only Velcro holds them in place, so simply pull them off .Next open up the trifold sofa (as a sleeper) and unscrew the hinges. They are located on the Stationary Back Assembly and then remove it. The next step involves removing a couple clips from some hinge pins that hold the part of the sofa that has the folding legs. I believe Lippert refers to this as the “Couch Seat Assembly”. You will need to push the hinge pins in with a screwdriver to remove this section. Once you remove that section you can remove the rest of the trifold by angling it out the entrance door. You will need a helper or Tammy for this step as it is quite awkward and still quite heavy.

The chairs were a little harder to disassemble.ou need to move the seats forward to access the clips that hold the backrest in place. If the lower rails are screwed into the floor, remove those screws so you can slide the chairs away from the wall. Quite frankly, I do not think these rails need to be screwed down at all. In some cases, these seats arrive from the factory unattached. Once the clips are pressed (outward) you lift the backrest off. Figuring out how to move these clips took me about fifteen minutes, as there were no directions on-line about how to release them.

Next, remove the lower rails because they bolt directly to the seats. After you remove the four foot-pad bolts from each chair, cut any zip ties securing the wiring and lift the chairs out. Be careful removing the chairs because they are still very heavy.

As with moving chairs or sofas in or out of a stick and brick house, you will have the same issues with the travel trailer. You must approach the door carefully so you can angle the furniture out without damage. If not, you will damage a wall. This is definitely a two-person job with perhaps the exception of the individual seats.

After you remove the seats, make sure you find any screws that may have fallen into the carpeting. My theater seats had only one screw holding them down; the other three lay loose in the carpet. Keep in mind that any loose screws will damage your flooring when you move your slide room. Also if you decide you want to screw your seats into the floor, use caution. Make sure the screws you use will not go through the floor and proceed to rip your vinyl flooring when the slide room moves.

So, now lets fast forward to the arrival of the new furniture.

As it turns out it was five days late, so it kind of made a mess of our week. It was supposed to be delivered on Monday; then that was changed to Wednesday. then Thursday which then turned into Friday. It’s always nice to stay at home waiting for something that never comes – said no one ever!I planned to install the furniture on Friday, but it arrived at 5:00 P.M., which made that impossible.

The furniture came on a really horrible looking extra-long pallet. My worst fears came true when I saw a pallet board piercing the side of the tri-fold sleeper box. We split the sides of the box and got lucky as we couldn’t find any damage. The next step was to move the tri-fold and chairs into my shop for the night.

The next day we started by moving the tri-fold sofa sleeper out of the box. The back wasn’t attached, but everything else was assembled, which caused a problem. They now attach the “Couch Seat Assembly” with a more complicated clevis pin clip instead of the simpler clips used on the previous model. It made taking the sections apart very difficult and even harder to reassemble. I would recommend that Lippert go back to their previous clip. I would also recommend assembling only the arms to the rails so you can easily transfer the rest of the couch to the trailer for final assembly. Putting it back together is much easier than taking it apart. Including directions would have helped, but the Lippert provided no instructions for the chairs or the tri-fold sofa.

Tammy and I moved everything piece meal into the Travel Trailer and began the reassembly process of the tri-fold sofa. It went relatively easily with the exception of the clevis pin clips. Once that was completed we moved onto assembly of the theater seats.

We assembled the seat quickly because the backs simply slide onto their rails, and the wiring connects easily. All the wiring is color-coded, so it’s hard to make a mistake. After that, we slid one seat into the brackets on the second seat. That step was a bit tricky, but we completed it without taking too much time. Lastly we tried all the electrical features and everything worked fine. We did not anchor the chairs to the floor. Given that there was only one screw holding the last set down, it just doesn’t seem like these will go anywhere.

I have to say the end product has a nice look to it.

If you compare this picture to the one with our old furniture you can see how the lighter fabric really brightens the trailer.

The next step was to anchor the tri-fold sofa into the floor. This is a little difficult in an Imagine as the flooring is a thin piece of subflooring over a thick Styrofoam material. So there really isn’t a lot for the screws to lock into. I will be curious to see how well the screws hold. If they fail I will come up with a different plan.

All in all I’m very happy with the results of the project.

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This year, much to my surprise, our Thomas Payne furniture began to peel.  I cleaned the furniture only with a damp cloth, so the peeling shocked me. We have never used any protectant because the manufacturer did not recommend one. Knowing that poly leather (which many RVers call “pleather”) can peel—and that the process cannot be stopped once it begins—we took great care to protect it from anything that might shorten its lifespan. We always store our travel trailer under the roof of my shop. In addition, the trailer’s windows have a 95% UV coating, and we usually keep the blinds closed.

I don’t want to say that all Thomas Payne Furniture manufactured in 2017 is going to peel. My guess is that it is probably hit or miss based on the batch of fabric being manufactured by their vendor at the time. We were probably just unlucky.

When I first noticed the peeling starting it began with three fine lines on the back rest of my theater chair. I immediately thought this was going to get worse fast but hoped it would not progress.  Unfortunately within three weeks it was considerably worse. Even the seat cushion was beginning to separate.

So I was facing four options:  

One: I could buy a leather type patch on Amazon. This would cover the peeling but wouldn’t quite match the existing color of my seats; and would probably be an eyesore.

Two: I could take the furniture to a shop and have it reupholstered. I think this would be outrageously expensive and matching the fabric might be an issue.

Three: I could buy residential furniture and install that. What concerned me the most about this option is finding the correct fit and not adding a great deal of weight to the trailer (and bump out).

Four: Contact Lippert Components Inc. (LCI), the manufacturer of Thomas Payne Furniture and discuss the issue.

So, as a starting point I contacted Lippert’s Interior Support division; first via email and then by phone. My first thought was maybe I could purchase the back rest. However it became apparent quickly that the problem was spreading to the point where it would be a losing battle to piece-meal repairs.

I have had conversations with the LCI folks in the past about different products they manufacture; and have always been impressed with their willingness to take care of their customers. I have purchased several of their aftermarket items, and they have never disappointed me. Plus it has been one of the few companies where you can easily reach someone in customer support. That is actually quite refreshing given what typical customer service is like now.

What I did learn in talking with LCI is that they now have a new supplier of their PolyHyde material. Now it comes with a five year warranty. This doesn’t mean the furniture is going to peel after five years. It just means that the supplier feels so good about the construction of the material that they are putting a five year warranty on it. So if your seats were to peel in four years, you contact Lippert and new furniture is on the way. I’m pretty sure that is better than any warranty on the market. Also, just to be clear that does not apply to the cloth fabric which as a one year warranty.

The folks at LCI were nice enough to offer me a 50% discount on new furniture, which is really hard to pass up. The other benefit of getting the new furniture is that we would now have a choice of what color to put in the trailer. since we put UV Coating on the windows it has been considerably darker (but cooler) in the trailer. So perhaps it was time to lighten up the interior. These are the four available color option but please note that Norlina is the cloth alternative.

Our current color is the Millbrae, however, we are thinking Grummond would be a good option to lighten up the inside. If we didn’t have Eva we would probably opt for the cloth fabric. Those of you that have dogs understand how hard it is to keep dog hair off furniture. This is true (even when pets like Eva) are not allowed to be on the furniture. The cloth fabric is like a magnet for pet hair. Therefore it really comes down to having the PolyHyde in our Imagine Trailer.

The only downside to the new furniture is that we can’t get the same theater seat configuration that we had originally. This is because our set of furniture was made exclusively for Grand Design. That means our current furniture dimensions are not available with what LCI produces as stock furniture. What I did find out is that i could get the exact furniture from Lippert that came in my unit, but it would have no warranty on it. Although I would prefer the same furniture in my Imagine, I want the warranty.

Our original set has a center console that is about five inches wide. The center consoles that are manufactured now are ten inches wide with two cup holders. This would increase the length of our theater seats by five inches. That would essentially prevent us from getting Eva’s Kennel between the seats and dinette. We can’t have that! So this will mean no center console. So the seats will really look more like a love seat but each chair will recline. I would rather have more room than less room so this will be acceptable but I am disappointed the there will be no console.

All that being said the folks at Lippert could not have been easier to deal with. The shipping charges were going to be $350.00 USD for everything; but they gave me the option of picking everything up in Indiana. Had this been a year ago that actually would have been advantageous. Given the Diesel fuel prices right now a quick calculation based on average price per gallon told me my 2000 mile round trip would cost me 330.00, only a savings of twenty dollars. Certainly twenty dollars and the 34 hours of driving is not worth twenty dollars (Unless you’re Scrooge McDuck). A year ago I could have made the trip for 237.00; perhaps that would have been worth it.

So needless to say that it’s going to be just as cost effective to have the furniture shipped to me here in Texas. I am hoping that everything arrives in good undamaged. Sometimes we don’t have very good luck with the care given to our deliveries.

Fortunately, I am familiar with the disassembly of the current theater seats and sofa sleeper. So, removing them will not be an issue. I believe the trickiest part of the install will be getting the new chairs lines up correctly and fastened to the slide-out floor.

The Sofa Sleeper will just fasten down into the existing brackets that are already in place.

So stay tuned for the before and after pictures of what will be happening very soon to the Travel Trailer.

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Lately Tammy and I have had two major power outages. One lasted for almost twelve hours.  Can you imagine what that would mean for your pet in a travel trailer if you weren’t there?

An RV doesn’t have the type of insulation that a stick and brick house has. That means that your RV is going to start rising in temperature quickly.

There are many stories on line that didn’t end well for pets in an RV due to power outages.

The reality of the situation is that RV parks don’t always have the best infrastructure. Power goes out OR perhaps your AC just happens to fail and your pet is alone as temperatures rise.  This can be tragic for your floor child.

With a MarCELL unit you will immediately get notified if your power goes out OR your temperature rises above the set point that you created in the MarCELL app.  This way you’re covered, not only for power outages, but also if your RV temperature unexpectedly rises.  You can choose between texts, emails, or phone call alerts.  We chose email and text alerts.  It has worked flawlessly.

This is why we always have a MarCELL unit. In addition to the temperature and humidity sensor of the main unit, you can also buy water (spuck)sensors so you’ll know if you have a water leak.  We have an spuck sensor under each sink, the shower, water pump, and water heater.

The folks at MarCELL will give you $20.00 off if you use the code TTN20 during checkout at www.meetMarCELL.com.

To read our complete review of The MarCELL Monitor click here.

We spend so much more on upgrades and other items for our RV that don’t give us the same peace of mind that MarCELL does.  Please consider MarCELL for the safety of your pets.  It is money well spent!

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For Years Thetfords Aqua Kem was what everyone seemed to use in their black tanks. Most folks know it as the blue colored black tank treatment. Aqua Kem smelled great and did a fairly decent job taking care of any waste problems in the black tank.

Then the market changed. People switched to the Geo Method or treated tanks with probiotic enzymes to break down the waste. Trust me, we tried several, none impressed me with their odor control.

We ran out of Aqua Kem on our recent journey to the great North. So I ordered Aqua Max which also relies on probiotic enzymes to break down waste. The product has a nice scent to it but its not nearly as strong a scent as Aqua Kem.

We found that this might be the best product we’ve ever tried for digesting waste, but it controls odors poorly. After three days, I noticed that odor control was an issue. Reading online reviews, I see that many others report the same problem.

I had a conversation with a Thetford representative on whether they were considering tweaking the odor control. The Rep told me that are currently revising the formula. He explained that the company discontinued Aqua Kem due to its formaldehyde content.

If Thetford finds a way to improve odor control I would always buy Aqua Max. It works really great at digesting solids. For better odor control in the meantime they suggest adding another bottle to the black tank….but thats expensive!

So, for now, we will rely on our back up supply of Aqua Kem. We will see what improvements are made to Aqua Max.

To read more about Thetfords Aqua Max click here.

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I will start by saying the concept of RV friendly navigation is a good one.  There are more navigation systems entering that space now, like Garmin.  The RV life App also provides some nice additional functionality such as campgrounds nearby, fuel stops, rest stops nearby, campground research, RV articles, etc. The RV Life App gives the user many features that would otherwise take multiple apps to achieve. All of these are great additions to a navigation app but accurate and user-friendly navigation is why you buy the app.

However, our experience with the RV Life App has been less than satisfactory:

First and foremost, the App is not what I would consider an integrated solution to travel.  Since Maps are created on the website and then flow to the App it’s really a two-step process.  The development team for RV Life told me that they are working on improvements to this. Also “tentative” trips, those without an active date, do not flow to the App.  I have no idea why they made that decision, that was a mistake in my opinion.

Once the app has the trip details, it defaults the starting location based on your physical location not the specified starting point.  So, if you are looking at your trips and you want to see the miles and hours on different legs of the trip, you can’t do that from the app; you can only do that from their website.  For example, let’s say that you’re sitting at your first campsite and wonder how many miles and hours the third leg of the trip will take. When you open that trip it will use your current location for the starting point; not the starting point you used when you created your trip. That’s very inconvenient.

In addition, we had multiple login issues during the trip. The App did not recognize my account as being active and wanted me to create a new account.  The only way I seemed to remedy this was by going back into the website and logging on there.  Obviously when you are trying to bring up a trip and you can’t login, that’s a big problem.

On the website, creating a trip is not intuitive at all.  The ending location should be on the same screen as the starting location when you create a trip. This is just not a user friendly trip set up process. Again, they (the RV Life Support Team) said they are working to improve this process.

Now for the most disappointing part; some of the RV friendly routes were not RV friendly. We would be taken off a major highway to narrow back roads in terrible shape when the highway would have been faster and safer.  In a few cases we could not figure out where the RV Life directions were trying to take us so we had to ignore them, and default to iPhone MapQuest.

It’s CarPlay ability is sketchy; at least in the 2020 Ram 2500.  I always had to select the trip before I plugged into my USB port on the truck.  I was unable to make the App work otherwise.  If I plugged the iphone in with the App running already, then it would be CarPlay friendly. Trying to get the App to work from CarPlay alone was unsuccessful.

The App needs more user acceptance testing to become a better alternative to Garmin and other Trip apps.  The cost is $50.00 usd per year to access all the features. While that may not be a lot of money, it’s too much for having these kind of issues.  If you pay for a navigation app but need to use mapquest as a backup (as we did many times), that’s a serious issue.

I sent my feedback to the RV Life App support group.  However, their responses to me were less than satisfying and a bit condescending. Hopefully the folks at RV Life look at these issues and try to remedy them. This app has a great deal of potential, and I would like to keep it; but it needs work.

Perhaps your experience has been different, and if it has that is great. There is a lot of positive features to this App if it works the way it should. For now I will probably be back to using mapquest or waze.

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