# 301Bq Maiden Voyage



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

We just returned from our very first trip in the new 301BQ and it was a huge success! Thanks to everyone for bearing with me during our almost 3 month wait for the trailer, and a big thanks to those with great mod suggestions. The trailer towed very well behind my Tundra, and I was surprised to get the same, or slightly better gas mileage. We went to our usual campground, so I know the roads very well - the bumps, hills and traffic spots, so I was able to compare the trip to those in the past. Absolutely no issues while towing, but I definitely could tell I was pulling something that was 1,000 pounds heavier than our 28RSDS. The girls made some new friends, and one night we must have had 10 kids running in and out of the trailer while making s'mores. It didn't seem that crowded, and we definitely appreciated the extra space.

Some things we really liked:

1)The queen bedroom in the back is fantastic - enough room to change clothes in and a bit more privacy with a real door.
2)Two big slides gave plenty of room to walk around people and not feel claustrophobic.
3)More ground clearance means easier and better emptying of holding tanks.
4)The new front cap looks cool and the LED lights are BRIGHT!
5)The power awning is WAY handy, especially if you need to retract it at 1am because of the wind.
6)The Barker VIP 3500 tongue jack is fast and quiet.
7)Lots of outside storage space meant we could almost pack up entirely the night before leaving and still be comfortable inside.

Some things that were a little disappointing:

1)The gas struts on the queen bed kept falling off. Gilligan insists on using the tiniest screws he can find in an attempt to save a penny on each one. The day we returned I drilled out the stripped screw holes in the plywood and used nuts & bolts to fasten the brackets to the plywood deck. This was by far our biggest problem. If you need to make this fix, be aware that the struts have 80 pounds of force, so make the repair with the plywood deck fully raised and you won't have to compress the strut.
2)Along the same line, it seems many screws are too small or too short to do a good job. One of the cousins kicked a window blind string hold-down and it ripped right out of the luan.
3)The 13,500 BTU A/C struggled to keep up with high 80 degree temps even when the trailer was only partially in the sun. There could also be a couple more vents - one more in the queen bedroom and one in the living area.
4)The dinette stand is definitely poorly designed. Several banged knees later and I'm considering a change.
5)The handle for gray tank #1 is very short and is right up against the underbelly. An easy fix, but it lead to an accidental dumping of the black tank on the ground when I was trying to water the grass. Fortunately the tank wasn't full!!
6)30 gallon holding tanks don't go very far with 6 people and only partial hookups. The honey wagon had to visit us daily.
7)The scissor jacks that Keystone is now using are pretty crappy. Thin metal and very wobbly, held on with tiny nuts & bolts. A replacement with the BAL jacks I've used before and a re-install of the "Eliminator" stabilizer struts I saved from the last trailer should take care of most of the wiggle.

Overall, it was a great trip and we really like the new trailer. I'm sure we'll have more to say as time goes on, but for now we're pretty happy campers!


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Glad you had a great outing. Sounds like the good points out weighed the bad, and hopefully you can modify those, so it's all good.









Have fun!!


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## camper-dance (Mar 19, 2004)

I had some of your same concerns with my 301 BQ. The front gray tank pull was missing and very difficult to push all the way in. We had a few stripped screws on the interior and some loose molding. Our bigest issue was the wood panel on the fridge was was broken and falling off. Should be fixed under warranty but my local dealer has been slow to get parts and get it done. Otherwise this trailer is awesome. Towing has been a breeze with our Tundra. No difference compared to our previous 28 BHS.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Insomniak said:


> Some things that were a little disappointing:
> 
> 1)The gas struts on the queen bed kept falling off. Gilligan insists on using the tiniest screws he can find in an attempt to save a penny on each one. The day we returned I drilled out the stripped screw holes in the plywood and used nuts & bolts to fasten the brackets to the plywood deck. This was by far our biggest problem. If you need to make this fix, be aware that the struts have 80 pounds of force, so make the repair with the plywood deck fully raised and you won't have to compress the strut.
> 2)Along the same line, it seems many screws are too small or too short to do a good job. One of the cousins kicked a window blind string hold-down and it ripped right out of the luan.
> ...


#1 - LOL...they need to stop using screws...they never work. Replace with bolt/nut and they'd have happy campers.
#2 - Get some of those drywall inserts..leave them in the Outback..you will need them. Think I've used around 4-5 so far.
#3 - Not sure which AC unit I have (remember, bought mine in Michigan) but last summer we camped in 100+ degree weather for 2 days (with power) and our AC did a GREAT job...almost too cold. Did you open/close the vent at the unit? That pumps a LOT of cold air into the trailer.
#4 - No advice..I have the prior version with 2 poles
#5 - First thing...get longer handle and then when you install it...use Loctite...it will never come off again. 
#6 - What is a Honey Wagon?	I REALLY wish they had a way to pump the back grey tank to the front. I never fill the front tank..might have 10 gallons in it after a week of camping. 
#7 - They must have changed these since I bought my 301BQ, as we have BAL jacks on ours....they are VERY strong.

BTW...I am very jealous of your power awning....that is very nice.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

#1 - LOL...they need to stop using screws...they never work. Replace with bolt/nut and they'd have happy campers.
#2 - Get some of those drywall inserts..leave them in the Outback..you will need them. Think I've used around 4-5 so far.
#3 - Not sure which AC unit I have (remember, bought mine in Michigan) but last summer we camped in 100+ degree weather for 2 days (with power) and our AC did a GREAT job...almost too cold. Did you open/close the vent at the unit? That pumps a LOT of cold air into the trailer.
#4 - No advice..I have the prior version with 2 poles
#5 - First thing...get longer handle and then when you install it...use Loctite...it will never come off again. 
#6 - What is a Honey Wagon?	I REALLY wish they had a way to pump the back grey tank to the front. I never fill the front tank..might have 10 gallons in it after a week of camping. 
#7 - They must have changed these since I bought my 301BQ, as we have BAL jacks on ours....they are VERY strong.

BTW...I am very jealous of your power awning....that is very nice.








[/quote]

We did play a bit with the cold air dump at the ceiling, but left it closed for most of the trip. The rear of the trailer was facing east, so it got hit with direct sun starting at around 7am. Kids running in and out leaving doors open didn't help much with cooling either. The honey wagon is the truck that comes around and pumps out your tanks. And, I'm not sure why Keystone switched to smaller holding tanks, unless it's for space considerations under the trailer. I'd like to see a 20 gallon tank for the kitchen and a 60 gallon tank for the bathroom! As far as the jacks go, I was raising one the other day and I could actually see little flecks of metal flying off as the screw was grinding against the bearing or whatever. Not a good sign, and they're definitely not BAL or Ultra-Fab.


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## jcat67 (Aug 8, 2008)

camper-dance said:


> I had some of your same concerns with my 301 BQ. The front gray tank pull was missing and very difficult to push all the way in. We had a few stripped screws on the interior and some loose molding. Our bigest issue was the wood panel on the fridge was was broken and falling off. Should be fixed under warranty but my local dealer has been slow to get parts and get it done. Otherwise this trailer is awesome. Towing has been a breeze with our Tundra. No difference compared to our previous 28 BHS.


Same issue with our fridge front. Fortunately not broken yet,nor the toes under it. First night we were in it, the plastic "bracket" that holds it in place in the bottom fell off and the wood panel dropped straight down...fortunately missing my toes under it. As I slid the panel back on, I pushed it too far and knocked the top plastic holder off. With help from the DW I finally got both back on. Worked great the rest of the maiden voyage making it north from TN to the factory rally and all the way home, before it fell off again unloading the fridge at home. Will have to monitor while under warranty and if it continues to be a problem, get something done before it remains my problem.

I know the first day of the factory rally, the Indiana weather actually was much like our typical summer weather in Florida, 90's with high humidity. Even with the 15K upgrade I wasn't sure if it was up to it, by the next morning I was wrapped like a mummy in blankets. I have a feeling with all the extra "area" in this unit compared to my last, it will take much longer to initially cool down.


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## CdnOutback (Apr 16, 2010)

jcat67 said:


> I had some of your same concerns with my 301 BQ. The front gray tank pull was missing and very difficult to push all the way in. We had a few stripped screws on the interior and some loose molding. Our bigest issue was the wood panel on the fridge was was broken and falling off. Should be fixed under warranty but my local dealer has been slow to get parts and get it done. Otherwise this trailer is awesome. Towing has been a breeze with our Tundra. No difference compared to our previous 28 BHS.


Same issue with our fridge front. Fortunately not broken yet,nor the toes under it. First night we were in it, the plastic "bracket" that holds it in place in the bottom fell off and the wood panel dropped straight down...fortunately missing my toes under it. As I slid the panel back on, I pushed it too far and knocked the top plastic holder off. With help from the DW I finally got both back on. Worked great the rest of the maiden voyage making it north from TN to the factory rally and all the way home, before it fell off again unloading the fridge at home. Will have to monitor while under warranty and if it continues to be a problem, get something done before it remains my problem.

I know the first day of the factory rally, the Indiana weather actually was much like our typical summer weather in Florida, 90's with high humidity. Even with the 15K upgrade I wasn't sure if it was up to it, by the next morning I was wrapped like a mummy in blankets. I have a feeling with all the extra "area" in this unit compared to my last, it will take much longer to initially cool down.
[/quote]

Our fridge did that a number of times... We fixed it by putting silicon behind it when we put it back. You can use contact cement too but then you will never get it off when you need to (whenever that would be) It has never fallen off again since. They told us it is because those wood fronts are much heavier than what they normally use and the plastic bracket just can't hold that weight.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

Great to hear you are happy with your 301BQ!

We picked ours up a few weeks ago and spent two weeks in it on vacation right off the bat. So far, only a few minor issues.

1. Our radio is possessed. It turns on at all hours of the day and night at random. We checked whether a timer or alarm setting was making this happen, but could find nothing. I have seen it turn on by itself while sitting on the couch watching TV.

2. The blind stops are a bit too high on some of the windows and you cant pull down the blinds all the way, maybe a 1" crack left at the bottom.

3. Doors are binding and are hard to latch. I have played with them a bit, but they still seem a bit stiff.

We upgraded our AC to the 15k BTU unit and it seems to be OK, but it does not get as hot up here. I have noticed that the vents on the main unit can make a big difference. Closing some of them makes cooling the master suite easier and quicker.

Ditto on the jacks. I noticed that they bend and bind when down because they are so flimsy. Trailer is also very bouncy, even with the jacks down.

I agree, the dinette is a bit unstable because the legs overhang the carpet on the slideout unless the table is pushed att the way in. Bit of pain.

Overall we are very pleased with the trailer so far. The wife and kids love the extra room. Dogs seem much happier as well.

DAN


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## Jewellfamily (Sep 25, 2010)

Agreed. Lots of little screws that are 1-2 sizes too small. There is a mod in the modification forum to rotate the table base 90 degrees and eliminate the knee cap destroyer...


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

I forgot about the blinds - you have to wiggle them to pull them down all the way. The lambrequins (the vertical valance) has a ridge of fabric that stops the blind 1-2 inches from the bottom of the window. Not that anyone will come walking by at the campground and peek through that little opening, but you never know. I tried rotating the entire dinette to get an idea of where the legs would end up, and one of my kids promptly whacked her knee on the rotated stand. I think the dual aluminum tube mod may be in our future. I'll add wood glue, silicone and hollow wall anchors to the traveling tool kit - thanks for the suggestions!

Oh yeah, our MaxxFan worked very well, but I do kinda miss the ceiling vents, especially in the bunk room. One in the queen bedroom would be nice too, but I wonder if the A/C ducting would make them impossible to install??


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

Insomniak said:


> Oh yeah, our MaxxFan worked very well, but I do kinda miss the ceiling vents, especially in the bunk room. One in the queen bedroom would be nice too, but I wonder if the A/C ducting would make them impossible to install??


You got to wonder why they only put in one vent in such a large trailer? We complained to the sales guy at Keystone during the factory tour. He seemed to note what we said, so maybe they will fix it in coming models.

I dont think it would be a hard install as long as there was a place to put it without interference. Maybe over the bed?? Would probably take some time to get up the nerve to make that first cut in the ceiling and the roof, however!









DAN


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## Michael1 (Apr 2, 2010)

TwoElkhounds said:


> Oh yeah, our MaxxFan worked very well, but I do kinda miss the ceiling vents, especially in the bunk room. One in the queen bedroom would be nice too, but I wonder if the A/C ducting would make them impossible to install??


You got to wonder why they only put in one vent in such a large trailer? We complained to the sales guy at Keystone during the factory tour. He seemed to note what we said, so maybe they will fix it in coming models.

I dont think it would be a hard install as long as there was a place to put it without interference. Maybe over the bed?? Would probably take some time to get up the nerve to make that first cut in the ceiling and the roof, however!









DAN
[/quote]

Aren't there two vents? One in the kitchen and one in the bathroom? Mine has these two. Another in the master bedroom would be nice but I guess that is what the side windows on the slide out are for.

Michael


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Something else I forgot to mention is that the mattress in the queen bedroom is actually very comfortable! I remember folks complaining about how lousy the mattress was, so maybe they're including a better one in the 10th Anniversary models. Ours is about 8" thick, it's definitely innerspring, and when we put the 3" memory foam on top, it's more comfortable than what I sleep on at home!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Insomniak said:


> Something else I forgot to mention is that the mattress in the queen bedroom is actually very comfortable! I remember folks complaining about how lousy the mattress was, so maybe they're including a better one in the 10th Anniversary models. Ours is about 8" thick, it's definitely innerspring, and when we put the 3" memory foam on top, it's more comfortable than what I sleep on at home!


Trade ya...


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## jcat67 (Aug 8, 2008)

Insomniak said:


> Something else I forgot to mention is that the mattress in the queen bedroom is actually very comfortable! I remember folks complaining about how lousy the mattress was, so maybe they're including a better one in the 10th Anniversary models. Ours is about 8" thick, it's definitely innerspring, and when we put the 3" memory foam on top, it's more comfortable than what I sleep on at home!


This is one of the first things I noticed as well. We kept our memory foam top from our last TT, but we haven't cut it down from the king size, but without it this mattress sleeps very well.


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## kbrazielTx (Apr 29, 2004)

We had to upgrade our AC to the 15K since here in Texas is was over 100 degrees on our first outing last year. Now it freezes us out at night and does a pretty good job when it hits 110.


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