Trials, Tribulations and Joys of starting out in a Denali 287RE - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 04-26-2015, 01:36 AM   #1
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Trials, Tribulations and Joys of starting out in a Denali 287RE

Up until now we have done a couple of weeks camping at a time in a 10 ft Boler. With a view to becoming (immigrant) Canadian Snowbirds, we got our 2014 287RE late last year. Lovely trailer, we did one trip before the dealer recalled it (for reasons we still don't understand - something to do with "delamination") and replaced it with a 2015RE. Unfortunately the snow was already flying when we picked up the new one so we did not get to test it out till we moved into it full time. It had/has a few issues. The biggest one is the lack of insulation round the base of the bedroom pullout - this leads to condensation at the base of the mattress (and will eventually lead to mould). Dealer has no idea how to fix this - any other Denali owners out there with the same problems? Any ideas for solutions?

Initially all the slide out seals leaked like crazy but the dealer has that sorted. The shower door did not fit, couple of cupboard doors did not fit, tv co ax cable was just rotten and the valves round the hot water tank leaked too. But the dealer has all those issues sorted. Besides the condensation round the mattress, the only remaining issue is the electric room heater thermostat is a bit finicky (dealer has promised to sort that too). Generally we are very happy with our dealer and the unit. Would like to hear comments from other Denali/287 users.

Our plan now is to do a bit of travelling round the west coast of Canada and come October head down through the US south over east to end up in Newfoundland early in 2016. We would also like to talk to anyone who has attempted the great west/east crossing with a 35 ft trailer. We are newbies - any advice/warnings are always appreciated.

We are very crowded in our 287 - the two of us and a cat that takes up more room than can reasonably be justified. Anyone out there travelled for 5 years with a cat? Would like to hear from you too.
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Old 04-26-2015, 09:39 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by m.m.e.gonecamping View Post
Up until now we have done a couple of weeks camping at a time in a 10 ft Boler. With a view to becoming (immigrant) Canadian Snowbirds, we got our 2014 287RE late last year. Lovely trailer, we did one trip before the dealer recalled it (for reasons we still don't understand - something to do with "delamination") and replaced it with a 2015RE. Unfortunately the snow was already flying when we picked up the new one so we did not get to test it out till we moved into it full time. It had/has a few issues. The biggest one is the lack of insulation round the base of the bedroom pullout - this leads to condensation at the base of the mattress (and will eventually lead to mould). Dealer has no idea how to fix this - any other Denali owners out there with the same problems? Any ideas for solutions?

Initially all the slide out seals leaked like crazy but the dealer has that sorted. The shower door did not fit, couple of cupboard doors did not fit, tv co ax cable was just rotten and the valves round the hot water tank leaked too. But the dealer has all those issues sorted. Besides the condensation round the mattress, the only remaining issue is the electric room heater thermostat is a bit finicky (dealer has promised to sort that too). Generally we are very happy with our dealer and the unit. Would like to hear comments from other Denali/287 users.

Our plan now is to do a bit of travelling round the west coast of Canada and come October head down through the US south over east to end up in Newfoundland early in 2016. We would also like to talk to anyone who has attempted the great west/east crossing with a 35 ft trailer. We are newbies - any advice/warnings are always appreciated.

We are very crowded in our 287 - the two of us and a cat that takes up more room than can reasonably be justified. Anyone out there travelled for 5 years with a cat? Would like to hear from you too.
We are going for our orientation session tomorrow morning for our new 2014 Denali 289RK which we purchased at the end of Sept last year. Needless to say, it has been a loooong winter for us. We get the weight distribution and sway control hitch installed on May 8th and once it's on, we take off for a 10 day camping excursion to try everything out. We are hoping that we won't have anything major to fix....so far, all we have heard about that model was very positive. We will keep in mind the issues you have raised in your post and make sure that they are addressed should they pop up.
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Old 04-27-2015, 01:37 AM   #3
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Good luck with your first trip

If it does not rain, get the hose out and soak the pullouts. If they leak, the dealer knows how to fix them. Check out your co ax cables and make sure the tv works. I think Denali is an excellent brand but sometimes their QC needs a bit of a kick. We really hope you have a good trip - the 289 looks great on the web. We have lived in ours for 7 weeks so far - only another 4 years and 45 weeks to go!! Looking forward to it.
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