We love our grand design fifth wheel, but grand design, what the f*** were you thinking? You will not believe what fell apart in our new camper. Welcome to the channel, I'm Liz. And I'm Paul and these are exciting times to push past fear, build confidence and live amazing. And it's hard to live amazing when your expensive camper falls apart over nickel and dime issues, right? Yeah, they scrimped on attaching a pretty important part of the interior and it resulted in kind of a near disaster. It really did and we were shocked. So we are going to share with you what went wrong. So first of all, we have a 310 GK fifth wheel camper made by Grand Design. It's a solitude. And we love it. We love grand design. This is the second grand design that we've owned. But we're just a little not happy because of something that went wrong, which was major and it really could have been bad. So we had stopped in Montana to visit some new friends, Mark and Abby and hi. And we were going to show off our new fifth wheel because they are actually interested in a grand design fifth wheel. And we were a little embarrassed to open the door. Yeah, we didn't know. I mean, we had parked and set up but really hadn't gone inside yet and we had a nice dinner with them and then we brought them out to show them the camper. It was kind of brag on our camper. So I opened the door and I could see the problem and I was like, there's no getting by this. There's no way everybody's going to notice. We just get it. So I turned a poll and I told him I said, look, and what we were looking at is we have this beautiful kitchen island. It really is the centerpiece of the 310gk floor plan. It really is. It's just beautiful. Well, it looked like the Titanic. Yeah, it was, it had dropped about three inches on the end closest to the door. So yeah, so it's sitting on level. Oh my god, this is like a heartbreak. Oh my goodness. So it looks like the whole thing dropped. See that? What holds it up? Yeah, whatever you have, it's holds us up. Look, you're right. Yeah, that's what it, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It just come right through the, wow. That dropped so much. You see, here's the, we need more damage back here. So you know, all this right here. Yeah, of course. It's all the way back here. Yeah, it's going just, it's not on the platform. And so this drawer, I'm worried that it's not going to be on the platform. Right, so this drawer on the other end, Paul is popped open like because of the twist. Now in our island is this double sink. And you know, we have, you know, plumbing lines and, Oh yeah, it's leaking. Oh, is it? Yep. Oh, I can see it. You're, let me get this, you're put the light on there. And I just, there's a, oh, that's a heart, heart. Go ahead and cap. No, okay, they said no. And what had happened, and, and this is what I've met in the, in the beginning when I said, what were you thinking? They decided to attach this heavy island with two screws on each side. That's it. The island empty, it's got to be what? A hundred pounds. Oh, at least. Because it's got the solid surface countertop. You know, and of course, we, you know, we have stuff in it. All we did was drive down the road on the interstate all day. And we have had our camper since March. And so we've had it for seven months. And we put 2500 miles on it. So it's a little too early in the game for it to fall apart. Yeah, for stuff like this to be happening this soon is, it's a little unnerving to me. And, you know, and, you know, I feel kind of bad even making this video because I applied to be a grand design ambassador. I mean, it really do still believe in grand design. But stuff like this, you know, we need to maybe send this video to grand design to have them wake up because instead of putting two screws, now how much does a screw cost? Okay, one individual screw. Ten cents. Ten cents. So it needed instead of two on each end. It needed how many? Well, I had ended up putting six on each side. So yeah, so it wasn't an easy fix. We had to jack up the end of the island. Thank goodness for Mark being right there to help us. Because if we had stopped in a rest stop as planned, we wouldn't have anyone around. And then we had to shim it exactly right. But you want it level and, you know, I used some two before. And Mark had some shim, thanks Mark, you were a lifesaver. You know what? We, this could be a public service announcement. If you own a 310 GK, just go ahead and do this. Yeah, take these, these are trim panels right here. And just, they will come off pretty easily. You'll need an air, bread nailer to put them back on. And a pry bar to get them off. Yeah, a pry bar would come in handy to get them off. And just add some screws to the bottom edges. And you'll see where they're at when you pull the trim piece off. You'll see the two, two that they decided was enough from the factory. It's a good idea no matter what camper you have, to just kind of go through it. Because here we have a grand design, which is known for high quality. No matter what camper you have, if you're a full-time or a part-time, you might want to go through and reinforce everything, right? Well, where you can't, sure. This is the thing. So grand design thinks they're going to save money. They only give us a couple screws on each end of the island. So now we're thinking, what does the rest of the rig look like? Yeah, what else did they scrimp on? I'm actually worried about this thing now. I hope that this video actually serves as a wake-up call for them. Because we know they have been responsive. My very first grand design was a 260 RD. And one of the downsides on it was minor. But it was like, you know, the sink, the faucet was really short. Well, do you know? They watched that video. They obviously did. Because now the bathroom faucet on the 2021 260 RD is long enough. Is it? Yeah. I'll tell you, I'll go through all the problems we've had with this, just to give you an idea. The very first problem was they had left the electric water heater unplugged. There's a junction box on the side of the water heater. And they didn't get the spade terminal plugged in. That was a relatively simple fix. But if you're not Paul, you would have to go back to the dealer. You'd have to wait for an appointment. You would lose camping days. Yeah. Paul can do, you know, you're not typical. In a lot of ways. So, yeah, that was a fairly simple fix. What was the next one? The awning. The awning had started to come apart from the side of the rig. It was letting go outside of the little groove. There's a rod or a wire that runs through where it attaches to the side of the rig. They didn't push the rod all the way through. So, I got a number 10 screw and just a long screw. And I gooped it up with some silicone and shoved it in. It's been fine ever since. And that was not an easy repair. Because Paul actually turned to me and said, we may have to take it back to the dealer. Yeah, that I wasn't sure what I was going to find. You know, I come from the automotive field. I was a field engineer for Hyundai. I worked for them for 27 years. So, I am used to problems. I mean, that was my life at work. I would be sent into dealers when the dealer couldn't figure something out. And I had to figure it out and help them fix it. In fact, when we were fixing the island or actually when Paul was fixing the island, Mark and Am both said at different times, well, you know, there's an RV dealer down the street. There's an RV dealer that does grand design over here. And I'm thinking to myself, no, no, no, we're probably fixing it. Yeah, we don't have two months to wait. We're on the road. So, and that's the problem with the RV industry as a whole. If you need service on your rig, you're going to get in line and you're going to wait until they can get you in. So, if you're traveling through an area, you know, I suspect that some of the better dealers will make room for you and fix something. Right. If it's very, you know, if a slide is out and won't come in or something. Right, but most dealers will make a priority to the people that actually bought rigs from them, not from somebody passing through. That one of the other things that went wrong was a tile over my left shoulder here. I started coming off the wall. You know, grand design stepped up in that issue. The other two I was able to fix without even contacting them. They actually sent me a crate with all the tile. I could have done the entire backsplash over with the stuff they sent. So, my experience with grand design having the 260RD is at any time that I called for a repair. They would send the part directly to me as a full timer. And that's why we're such big grand design fans. And if you don't know it, Paul and I met on the road. So, I bought the 260RD and was a solo traveler. And I need it since I'm not a fix it person. I needed to have that support from the company. Yeah, truth be told, that's the only reason I'm here. And let me say this. It doesn't matter if you've got a grand design or a J-co or a or you name the manufacturer, you're going to have problems with them. My brother who was in the construction trade for many years used to refer to houses that he worked on as Lyckum and Stickums. That's certainly the way they're building these trailers now. I mean, they're literally staple together in many cases. That's true. And if you are thinking about buying an RV and joining the RV life, know that if you aren't already a fix it person, you will become a fix it person. No matter what you get, you really have to be handy. So, don't let this discourage you if you're shopping for a grand design a toe behind or a fifth wheel. Like I said, every manufacturer builds their rigs pretty much the same way the grand design does. The difference with grand design is they really stand behind their products. So, when you need something, they'll be there for you. And with all this in mind, this is kind of a not-so-perfect life out here. I mean, it's great, but you are going to have problems. And with that in mind, there is a couple and their children who are traveling and they have a channel called Our Not-So-Perfect Life. Yeah, we love that channel. It's a new channel. So, if you want to support a small channel and watch them grow, go to Our Not-So-Perfect Life. And we will see you in the next video, right? Yes, we'll be here.