New 284BHSL Owner

[knesdad]

Bought new in September of '11 and used it 3 times. Quite a step up from our previous trailer. Towing 8 more feet is not as bad as I thought it would be.

Love all the interior room and the front "cave" is great! I found some matching linoleum at a store in town and cut it to fit the cave floor so the original flooring will not get damaged. Turned out sweet... ;-hap

We did have to take the trailer in for some warranty work at the end of last season: replaced the carpeting under the sofa in the slideout, replace the wall board next to the sofa and replaced one of the sofa feet. Dutchmen must have been in a hurry to get the sofa installed that day... Also had to have the dinette window blind replaced as there was brown caulk on it. Looks like someone got sloppy when covering nailheads in the trailer.

Had to have the water pump replaced before we even used the trailer. Worked fine at the dealer, but failed just hours before leaving for our first outing. Dealer made a house call and installed a new one for us. Now that's service!

The LCI electric tongue jack did crap out when putting the trailer into hibernation. From what I've read on the web, these electric jacks do have some issues. Looks like I may be going back to the Barker 3500. The previous one went 7 years without any issues.

Here's to an early Spring!

Dave.

[eRVm]

Thanks for the report.
Sounds like you have a good dealer to work with.


Hope spring come early for you guys.

[KC9SVJ]

My wife and I just bought one of these also. I am supposed to pick it up today since it is going to be 60 today. Not bad for early March in northern IL! We love the floor plan and all the "nice" features this trailer has. Now its time to start thinking of all the mods to do and make this camper ours!

[knesdad]

If I had the trailer here I would show you a couple of things I did. Most of my "mods" have been in the front storage area.

A local store here, Menards, sells the same wood floor looking linoleum that's in the front storage are. I picked some up and cut it to fit the cave floor. This way I'm not trashing the factory floor and, if need be, I can just take it out to clean it. I also added a couple of storage hooks (the kind you would hang an extension ladder on) that I use for hanging the hoses and power cords (I carry 3 with me). Also added a broom holder horizontally.

Next up will be having a receiver welded on the rear bumper and frame for a bike rack.

I just took the LCI power tongue jack back to the dealer. They will be getting me a new one as the old had a pin shear and doesn't move up or down. Also had to have the water pump replaced. It went out before the first trip last fall and I had the dealer put in a different brand. Something a little beefier....

Other than that, loving it!

[KC9SVJ]

Does your weather band come in clear on the radio? FM seems to work fine but I can barely hear the local NOAA weather channel that is in my neighboring town. I can receive it fine on all my other radios but not the one in the kodiak. Something I noticed yesterday while checking out the new rig in the drive. I looked on the roof and there is no antenna up there so I'm wondering what they use for the radio's antenna? I'll probably open the radio mount and take a look in the back one day.

Also noticed today that the one window in the bedroom doesn't open for air since it is an emergency exit which I didn't notice before. This kind of stinks only one window for the bedroom and roof vent. I'll look at the exit window a little more when it gets warmer and maybe I can still open it for a breeze. :mrgreen:

/\/\att
Woodstock, IL

[knesdad]

We had the same issue with the radio antenna. I had the dealer install a roof antenna and the reception increased greatly.

And yeah, I noticed the emergency window in the bedroom too. But with the other windows open there's stilla fair amount of breeze coming thru.

[KC9SVJ]

Ok thanks for confirming the antenna issue. I also dont like how the window by the kitchen sink has aluminum mini blinds and the rest of the coach has the nice pleated shades that pull down. Is yours this way also? I almost wonder if somehow that window got overlooked on mine at the factory. I dont see any reason that just the one window would be this way.

[lmsteck]

KC9SVJ, we don't have the same rig as you but we do have the aluminum blinds by the kitchen sink. I may be wrong, but it might be because of grease and water splatter. I wouldn't want to be trying to clean grease out of the pleated shades. Much easier to wipe down the aluminum blinds.

[rgolding]

Our Dutchmen Lite 25C-GS, also did not have the antenna for the AM side of the radio. The FM side is hooked into the TV Antenna and booster. I pulled the radio out to see if the antenna wire was not hooked up and the antenna was maybe buried in the cabinetry somewhere (they do that on boats, sometime). Remember some cars/trucks have the antenna in the windshield, so anything could have been the solution.

Nothing found except the empty plug, amongst all the other wires and speaker wires, where the regular antenna would plug in. Not really wanting to drill a hole in the roof, I mounted a universal antenna from NAPA high on the passenger side in front of the forward electric awning arm. Antenna wire came into the cabin in the forward room and drilled a hole through the wall/bulkhead into the cabinet above the radio, where the satellite receiver goes and then another hole in the cabinet wall to get where the booster is and the wires for the TV antenna wires go to the booster. Found "grommets" at Lowe's that finished off the holes nicely just like the OEM equipment, through the cabinetry and then a blank switch plate with a hole in it where the antenna goes through the wall in the forward cabin.

[knesdad]

Originally Posted by KC9SVJ

Ok thanks for confirming the antenna issue. I also dont like how the window by the kitchen sink has aluminum mini blinds and the rest of the coach has the nice pleated shades that pull down. Is yours this way also?

Yep, we have the aluminum mini blinds by the kitchen sink too. As mentioned above, it is for ease of cleaning debris off of it....

[knesdad]

Brought the trailer home Saturday from the dealer after getting all the warranty work done. My hats off to the dealership!!! :mrgreen:

Fired up the furnace to get it toasty in the trailer for packing and couldn't feel the hot air coming out of the vent by the cabinets under the galley sink. Then I remembered how warm the big drawer below and left of the fridge always got last fall, so I took out the drawer and followed the duct tube. There it laid, disconnected from the blower box behind the converter. And was it hot back there! Reconnected the duct tube to the blower box, but it doesn't seem to fit nice and tight. Seems like any little movement can cause it to come off again. So now back to the dealership to have them check it out. Good thing they are only 20 minutes away....

[KC9SVJ]

First trip out to a campground last night. Went very well it was a nice overnight stay. I need to make a check list of the pre departure things that I need to do on this camper. There are a few more things than my old one!

One thing I've noticed pullng it is that the rear axle is far back on the trailer vs my old one. I had a 27' before and granted this is 4 ft longer but it really is a lot harder to back into places with this one. We stayed at a state park with a pretty typical size space and I was able to get it right in just harder than my old camper and I have to use more of the road and actually over hang the road with the front of my truck to get it in. This may prove to be a problem in tight places.

[knesdad]

I had the trailer set up in the driveway this past weekend for some Spring prep. After leveling the trailer and lowering the stabilizer jacks I opened the slideout. After a couple hours of work I noticed that the jacks on the opposite side of the slideout were no longer snug on the blocks. Is there that much weight with the slideout open that it causes the trailer to lean enough to take weight off the opposite side? It took about a single revolution of the jack handle to get the jacks back down and snug on the blocks again...

[Wakeisland53]

knesdad,
I noticed the same thing with mine when I put out the slide at home not long after we brought it home, you wouldn't think it would shift the weight that much, but it does. Since then I have been extending the slide first, then the jacks cause I was afraid of putting to much pressure on them, I'm new to campers so I don't know if it even matters, but just in case, I wanna be on the safe side ;-hap .

[Wakeisland53]

I hate to add a bad note to this thread, but want all the 284BHSL owners to know about the problem ours is having. We only had ours little less then a month, had operated the slide at home once in awhile until our first camping trip, not long before our first trip, we started hearing bang sounds sometimes when operating the slide, but figured it might be just breaking in noises. We went camping just down the road at Point Lookout for two days, sliding out there it made the noises I believe, sliding in to pack up it was quiet as far as I could tell. It had been raining all morning cause that Noreaster was passing through, we got home, still raining, decided to put the slide out to make sure no water dripped on the floor, and retrieve our bathroom stuff. My wife starts to slide out and the right side of the side is going out while the left side is not, going out sideways. Couldn't get it to slide completely closed, the right side was close, but about quarter inch to half inch gap. A little water was on the floor, don't know if it was from that brief slide out time, or from leaking. I wiped up all the water I could see, kept towels out there in case, put a tarp over part of the slide, it seemed to slow the drip I was seeing at the outer edge of the slide. It's back at the dealer now, haven't heard their verdict yet, but the service guy didn't think it was a problem to fix anything. I always level it up as best I can before slide out, so I don't feel it is anything we did wrong. We love this camper don't get me wrong, I hope ours is a fluke problem, and none of you have this happen, but wanted to put it out there in case you notice the banging noises as well. Will give an update when we hear something.

[mayer5]

Hi,
I just purchased a 2013 Kodiak 284BhSl and am having it shipped from Ohio (Holman RV/GMC ) to North Florida within next few weeks. Is their any advice on what to make sure is inspected on walk thru at the dealership as I cannot be there physically until I receive it at a campground in North Florida. This is my first Travel Trailer and have no experience with this and would greatly appreciate any guidance.
Also does any one carry external generators for remote sites ?
Thanks ,
Craig
Newbie TT Hauler
13 Dutchman Kodiak 284BHSL
2011 Dodge 1500 Lamarie Longhorn

[Wakeisland53]

I am in the same boat as you, new to the camper world. I would say check the slide operation, but ours didn't mess up till a month later. The end of one of my gutters broke off, so check for that, I'm sure I didn't hit branches that woulda broke it off, been extra careful with everything cause I am new at it.

[knesdad]

I just got ours back from the dealer last week. Awning leaked where the ends of the 2-piece track met, had the DVD/Stereo center replaced, some dinette trim was repaired and the fresh water tank didn't drain. This is the 2nd trip to the dealership to get things touched up or repaired, so hopefully we're about done...

[mayer5]

Thanks. What extended warranty did you go with . They sell N compass is it as good as Honest Sam

[knesdad]

No extended warranty. The regular warranty is good until September.