The Count Down Has Begun

[mmrxboss]

Howdy. My wife Kristi and I have begun what we hope will be the count down to retirement - actually the count down will be about 6 years long - but they say the longest trip starts with the 1st step.

We took delivery of a new 3650RK in April. We have managed a couple of trips with it and like the layout very much. This is a new 4 slide unit and the extra room is really nice as we plan on being on the road 6-8 months a year once the retirement plug is finally pulled. The entire rear end is kitchen - the sink counter top runs across the back end from left to right and both the dining room and the stove/fridge walls are slides. This REALLY opens up the area! The living room and the bed also slide. It has the mock fire place/heater in the entertainment cabinet. As delivered the drro on the entertainment center for the dvd/cd/radio player opened up - what a pain as you had to hold the door open with one hand and try to operate the electronics with the other. So I flipped that door over and put the hinges at the bottom. I still have to get something to hold the door at 90 degrees.

Our tow rig is my '03 Chevy Duramax, 3/4 ton, crew, long bed 2 wheel drive. I have added the Edge power chip which I am realy pleased with, The install time was about 5 minutes to be operational - a couple of hours additional when I installled the exhaust gas temp sensor. I have what is called the 'Attitude' which is basically a control head that resides in the cab and allows me to select any of 5 factory defined boost/shift/?? levels. I have been advised not to exceep level 2 when towing. Our long trip from Spokane to Southern Minnesota and back showed that level 1 worked great. We were able to run the freeway (90 East to Minnesota and 94 West from Minneapolis) on cruse control at 65. This speed gave us 10+ miles/gallon and we were able to run approximately 95 percent of the hills without dropping out of cruse.

I have added the AMSOIL dual by-pass filter system and run AMSOIL oil in both engine and transmission. The dual system has a full flow filter along side a very fine (1 micron) by-pass filter. My oil at 7,000 miles is now a dark gold instead of a light gold.

I have plans to add a new exhaust system by next Summer.

I am also working with a local company to put together a water filtration system that will have both filtration for solids and a ultraviolet light for bacteria. The unit will be full time in-line on the trailers water system - all water in will get processed.


John & Kristi Elam
'03 Chevy 2500HD Duramax Crew LB with The Edge power chip!
'04 Montana 3650RK
** 6 yr to retire and counting **

[DHenry]

Congradulations on knowing that you will be retiring in 6 years. I am interested in knowing more about the exhaust system that you plan to add to your Duramax. Can you tell me the benifits for doing this? Also I am very interested in the water filtration system. If you would please post what it is and where to get one. Thanks for the post it is most interesting.

[sreigle]

Congratulations on starting your countdown to retirement and for the purchase of the 3650RK. That model was new last year and is gorgeous. We've seen a couple of them close up. It's one of the most popular models right now, as I understand, and you already know why. Hope you have many years of enjoyment with it.

[Northstar]

Thanks for the great post. Nice info to know. Happyrving....

[Just148]

Congratulations on your new rig. It's nice to be able to think of retirement even tho I just retired in August of this year. Time will fly by. Happing rving.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Welcome to the MOC and Congrats on you new 3650RK. 6 years may seem like a long way down the road but it will be here before you know it.

I would like to hear more about your upgrades to your 03 2500HD. In particular the Edge power chip. Just how much of a difference did the chip make? Most importantly did it increase the mpg?

[Broome101]

Good luck with the new rig,as Glenn said 6 years will come and go by quick. Enjoy

[Parrothead]

And I thought maybe I was a bit anxious looking 2 years ahead!

[thundercat]

Congrats on your countdown and your new unit. We have the same Montana and had to have the center Island moved about three inches towards the table. I checked out a 2005 model and it has the same problem. When the slides are in the door handles on the doors beside the refer and stove hit the doors on the island. It bent the door handles and dented the cabinet doors on the island. also the raised carpeted section of the slide comes in under the overhang for the island, and when the slide comes in all the way it lifts the island up and tends to break off the screwws that hold it down. Hopefully all islands are not placed to close but ibears checking. the tell tale sign if the slide is open is the dent from the door handle in the cabinet doors in the island. another test is to shake the island to see if there is any movement. It wasn't a big deal to fix it other than the new cabinet parts to replace the damaged ones but needs to be checked to make sure it doesn't put undo strain on the flooring where the island is attached. Good luck with it and happy trails.

[Montana_2122]

We also have the same model, but when we received it in early June we received a 2005 model and have had no problems with the island.
We truly enjoy this model as we have lots of space in every room. We will however modify the hinges on the DVD door - that was a great idea. So far we have had no problems to report,