# Traded In The Outback.....



## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

....and I'm terribly sad to see her go. But on one hand we have a new camper that fits our needs better, and on the other hand, recent service issues on the Outback were a big problem. And we got a great deal on the new unit! I wanted to say thank you to everyone from Outbackers - especailly CamperAndy - who helped me with the OB over the last 5 years.

We only had one shakedown cruise this spring before we took off to Disney for two weeks when school let out. Sadly, I found some water leaking in, and needed to do some patching on the roof. I also had a couple struggles with the AC, found some screws working their way out around the fenders, and caulked all around the fenders. We also had a terrible amount of decals peeling, and I was shocked just how much the outside coating had dulled and faded since last fall. On top of that, the tires were wearing, and I had some ongoing weird issues with the converter that I couldn't fix myself. So the list of maintenance plans for this year was growing and getting longer.

But things were going well for our trip to Disney, arriving on Father's Day (yay for me!) Everything was working and tires could wait for a bit. We stayed the night before in GA (Macintosh Lake Campground - go there, they are so nice!) When we got there, I found another slight tear in the side of the roof, that had torn and flapped a bit on the way down, so I had another quick roof patch while hoping the rain held off. Then Father's Day morning, we got up and packed up the camper - and the rear bedroom slide wouldn't go in. To make a long unpleasant story short, after a couple hours of messing with electrical, taking the underbody cover off, trying to close the slide manually (as I was told we could years ago), I finally found the spot where the motor was for the slide, and confirmed how it could be closed. Of course, I didn't have a socket of the right size.....so I closed it by turning a wrench on that thing while my wife and friend pushed on the side of the slide. Nightmare scenario. In total, it was about 4 hours of struggle to get thru this, when we were supposed to be on the highway to Walt Disney World. Needless to say, my wife and daughters were not happy.

And then when we got to Ft. Wilderness, the slide wouldn't go back out either (I bought a matching socket on the way there.) So we spent the entire week with two teenagers with the rear slide closed, using the fold-out bed and the dinette bed each night. Needless to say, my wife and daughters were not happy.

At the same time, we had been struggling with the 300BH anyway. When we bought it, my daughters were little, and the design fit us. Now that they have grown into adult-sized people, it's much tighter inside than it used to be. And they need more of a dedicated space. We've been looking at an Open Range for about 18 months now, after loving the floorplans and sitting down with the President & Owner of the company at an RV show last year. As it turns out, our local OR dealer didn't have a model with the color scheme we liked...... but another dealer in FL did. We started talking with them by email and phone while in Disney that week, and basically made our decision: if we could work out the pricing, we were buying. It turns out the the dealer (General RV in Jacksonville) was willing to deal on the price and gave us a HUGE trade-in allowance on the OB....which we needed, since we were upside down by about $3k.

So we came back from Disney with a brand-new Open Range LT308BHS. Amazing unit that we love. My daughters have their own space they love, I now have the outdoor kitchen I wanted, my wife has her automatic push-button awning, and everything is brand-new, with a 2-year warranty. I was disappointed in how the OB's maintenance needs seemed to increase dramatically over the last year, although I was expecting it to go up. But I love that RV and will miss it....my kids spent a lot of time growing up with it, and it helped us make many family memories. And that makes me an SOB'er now, but I will continue to lurk here. Thanks again to everyone who gave me OB advice all this time!


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Congrats on your new camper! No hard feelings going with SOB, as long as got what fits your family needs. A bit of recent RV news, Open Range RV was purchased by Jayco earlier this year.


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

Sounds like your struggles were not fun. Glad to hear that the new SOB is going to be good for you.









Your story brings up an important issue. Each of us should know where our slide motor is and have the proper socket/tool to close/open the bugger. It is important to note that slide cranking by hand with a ratchet and socket will wear you out. Use a flexible extender and socket attached to a battery powered drill to do the job. Remember that when you crank it in that you are going to be under the slide if your motor is like mine in the 210RS. We Boy Scouts need to be prepared... so do it once to see it work then keep the tools handy. Thanks ZHB for a good lesson learned opportunity.


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## bowhunter2819 (Apr 27, 2011)

ZHB I just bought a 308 TODAY!!!!!!! Fabulous unit. 2 a/c's, 2 kitchens, a bed room with DOORS and a separate bedroom for the kids!!!! Fabulous choice my friend.


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