I made my first long distance pull since MorRyde installed my IS Suspension, Disc Brakes and Pin Box.
Went a little over 300 miles today from the Rally in Shipshewana IN to Springfield IL (my overnight stop on the way to Branson MO)
Very nice CG here, very clean with nice level, very long pull thru's
My Redwood pulled great, much smoother and great stopping power.
Still a little rough going on and off some of the bridges but much smoother and better control than before the updates.

Thanks Rob - we get Cetrepoint installed today, so I'll provide an update after tomorrow of our experience with the Centrepoint & Disks.

I made my first long distance pull since MorRyde installed my IS Suspension, Disc Brakes and Pin Box.
Went a little over 300 miles today from the Rally in Shipshewana IN to Springfield IL (my overnight stop on the way to Branson MO)
Very nice CG here, very clean with nice level, very long pull thru's
My Redwood pulled great, much smoother and great stopping power.
Still a little rough going on and off some of the bridges but much smoother and better control than before the updates.

Thanks Robert... I've been wondering how you felt after your upgrades. What are you thoughts on the MorRyde pinbox as compared to the tri-glide? It was great seeing you at the Rally. Wishing you and Bale safe travels!

The MorRyde Pin Box is different than the Tri Glide but I like the ride and performance of the total MorRyde package (MorRyde IS, Disc Brakes and Pin Box)

hello fellow Redwood owners, am new to the Group, i just did a long distance purchase from Lazy days RV in Florida, i purchased the 2017 REDWOOD 39MB and waiting delivery, so i sit here and try to understand the problems you folks are having and i see where this person changed the pin box and this person changed brakes, and i wonder did i make a mistake and select the wrong fifth wheel.

hello fellow Redwood owners, am new to the Group, i just did a long distance purchase from Lazy days RV in Florida, i purchased the 2017 REDWOOD 39MB and waiting delivery, so i sit here and try to understand the problems you folks are having and i see where this person changed the pin box and this person changed brakes, and i wonder did i make a mistake and select the wrong fifth wheel.

Welcome to the Group and to Redwood ownership. We full-time in our 36FL, and love our rig. Many folks have either ordered disc brakes as an option, or like us, upgraded to them for improved performance. The same holds true for suspension and pin-boxes. Some owners are completely satisfied with electric brakes, standard pin-boxes, and suspension components. I guess it depends on how you use your coach, and what is personally important to you. The same holds true for your tow vehicle, and how it's equiped.
Congrats on your purchase!

Bob

I would not agree that you purchased the wrong fifth wheel.... In fact , I would say that you got the perfect fifth wheel... We love our Redwood , but we also made some changes to fit OUR LIFESTYLE..
The one thing that I am most happy with that was changed was the Titan Disc Brakes...
Just last week I was coming home from vacation on a 2 lane back road in NC.. came to a short straight away with another fiver coming towards me.. at that , a small PU darted into my lane and proceeded to pass the other trailer in my lane.. IF I did not have discs , it would have been a different story , But I am here to type about it..
Enjoy your Redwood , ask questions.. and Happy Camping ! Joe

Gbowenva

I agree with Bob, the standard suspension, pin box, brakes and such are good for many owners, it all depends on your lifestyle and usage.

The suspension and brakes supplied standard on the Redwood are typical of many Towable RV industry manufacturers and brands, not just Redwood as they are made by Lippert which supplies components to a majority of the RV Towable industry.

Sometimes a lot of the changes, mods and upgrades you see / hear are simply owner preference.

I have had my Redwood 2 years now and put quite a few miles on it as I fulltime in my Redwood and move approximately every 2 weeks year round.
I have not had a suspension or tire failure in all my travels with my Redwood but due to the way I use my Redwood, I preferred a more heavy duty suspension, better brakes and higher load rated tires.

It is like buying a Car or Truck, many people do not like the factory supplied tires, brakes, shocks or engine performance so they make changes and mods to their vehicle to improve the ride, durability or performance.

hello fellow Redwood owners, am new to the Group, i just did a long distance purchase from Lazy days RV in Florida, i purchased the 2017 REDWOOD 39MB and waiting delivery, so i sit here and try to understand the problems you folks are having and i see where this person changed the pin box and this person changed brakes, and i wonder did i make a mistake and select the wrong fifth wheel.

I too have lots of miles on my '13 RW with the only suspension upgrade is MorRyde heavy shackles with wet bolts due to plastic spring bushings, which I don't think they do anymore. Yours being a '17 should have standard the Flex Air hitch, G rated tires, aluminum steps & some of the other upgrades folks have done. If you didn't order them I'd get the disc brakes for sure.
I also agree, you didn't make a mistake ordering the RW, we have fulltime in ours for 3 1/2 years with only minor problems, which you will have on any RV regardless of the price. So enjoy your new adventure.

hello fellow Redwood owners, am new to the Group, i just did a long distance purchase from Lazy days RV in Florida, i purchased the 2017 REDWOOD 39MB and waiting delivery, so i sit here and try to understand the problems you folks are having and i see where this person changed the pin box and this person changed brakes, and i wonder did i make a mistake and select the wrong fifth wheel.

Welcome to the Forum! Here, you can read a lot about personal preference, dislikes and suggestions for improvement. We're all good about that...

As for the lifestyle, will you be full timing or weekending? That can make a difference in your particular results. So think about how you'll be using it.

In this price point, there are a very select few brands and models to choose from. In fact, the industry has dwindled down to just 2 major players anymore. So if you are looking for "quality", there really is no more competition. And in fact, to compound that matter, there are fewer regulations on the RV industry as a whole.

With this in mind, you should be expecting (emphasis on expecting) issues in the current environment. Understand that the RV industry is generally "piece-meal" work (as a whole). That means that employees get paid by the components that they install. More installs mean more money. Who cares how they get there? Yes, there are many that still take pride in their work. I appreciate those folks. They work hard to make an honest living for their family and they are dedicated to the brand. Some, sadly, fail to understand and cause the entire team to fail.

Now that we've talked about the industry, let's talk about Redwood. You will be pleased to know that Redwood has in the past been there to stand behind their product for many issues. Particularly at the Rally. True, it's also great PR. Some dealerships, you will have issues with. I can name a few here locally.

If you're reading "my" particular posts, you'll find "me" particularly concerned with engineering issues.

When you're pulling 16,000 lbs down the road, 2.5" electric brakes are not acceptable. IMHO, this is a safety issue and the last thing we all want to see is a life extinguished because of a simple shortcut in cost. DISC's should have been mandatory and electric should have never been installed. Study the braking distance and you will understand. I've already experienced a near collision because of the braking power of 2.5" electric brakes set at a 10 gain.

The A/C issue could have totally been avoided had they been "foamed from the outside perimeters between the Supply and Return instead of the inside. This is just carelessness. Obviously the person that thought of this does not own an RV. Personally, if the workers had to "live" in one for a year in hot conditions in the South and cold conditions in the North, they would better understand quality and how to put these things together right the first time. The same with installing vent collars that nearly seal off the vents purpose. Why would you do that? The duct is only 2" deep to begin with. I had to cut off 1 7/8" of the collar just to get airflow. Again, why would you do that? Couldn't the manufacturer have just bought shorter collars to begin with? it probably would have saved a few pennies as well.

Axles...It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that if you put 6,800-6,900 lbs. on a 7,000 lb. axle, this is too close in margin. If one miscalculation is made by the owner, there will be problems with bearings and axle stress in short order. Sure, there is always a safety factor (or should be) in the design. Nonetheless, I am still very concerned about how close this is. We haven't even moved anything in yet...

Roofs...In this modern age, we're still relying on TPO? Really? How many of us have complained about the life of the material or the limited glue used to hold it down. Hurry, hurry, hurry and get it out the door. It needs more than a teaspoon of glue to hold the fabric to the roof. From a quality standpoint, the Armor roofs are proving to be a better choice.

Wheels...The Goodyear "G" rated tires are so far holding up. But if you want insurance, consider the "H" rated tires. You'll certainly get a better piece of mind. You'll see many changing them out to avoid an $8,000 repair of the side wall when they separate. Not to mention cutting into the propane line. Again, another huge safety factor from fire. Lesson learned...Be SURE you drive with the propane OFF.

The Pin Box...While some are having issues with the Trail-Air (which is no longer made), we have not had issues. It would be interesting to perform an engineering study to see if this is an acute issue. Many have opted to replace the Pin Box with what they consider an upgrade. One would have to evaluate if that is an upgrade or a future problem waiting to happen. I can't answer that one. The other system is also new.

Suspension...This is also an owner preference. Some state that they are getting better performance with the MorRyde IS systems. I can see that there may be an improvement from an engineering standpoint and some kind of performance seems to be achieved. Some state that the current spring system has defects and they have been left stranded by broken springs and suspension. Ours has not failed yet, but if accurate, this once again is an engineering failure.

As you can see by the above, engineering and quality go hand in hand. The engineering aspect is the main driver. Some of these people on the post can afford to regularly change widgets out and never think less of it. Some can't look at it like that. And since most that buy new are paying $100,000, we SHOULD NOT have to worry about safety and engineering. That's WHAT we're paying for! Otherwise, I'll go back to a Montana or some other lessor brand. At least there, I can PAY affordably to rebuild the coach.

So, since there are only 2 manufacturers and no regulations and limited quality control, you just have to make your choice whether this is right for you. Read more about the RV industry downward spiral as I think they do a much better job than I reporting on the industry as a whole. It's in another one of the posts somewhere.

As for our 2014 Redwood, we choose Redwood because is seemed to us that this was the best RV between the 2 brands available. Do we regret it? I'll tell you right now that we don't regret it, but we did not expect to have to shell out so much after the sale for sure. It should have been right the first time. THAT's what we expected.

Now, as consumers, we need to protect OURSELVES from engineering problems the best we can since there is no regulation. How do we do that since there are no RV newbie "classes" we can take from reputable resources that can show or guide US in what we need to look for. It's live and learn and the RV industry loves it. We buy based on beauty because we don't understand what it takes to make one right. Over the last 2 years, I have personally learned a lot about RV's from THIS website. I won't make the same mistakes twice and IF I can help others avoid the same mistakes, I'll share anything I know. As you can tell, I'm not too bashful. If you don't want to hear it, don't ask. I try to be tackful and respectful. But tack and respect is a two way street. I don't like to be taken advantage of and my bet is that many of you feel the same. These engineering issues rub me wrong. Especially if there is no attempt to resolve them by the manufacture. In this case, you will be pleased with most of what Redwood WILL do for you. And you will be VERY pleased from the members on this site. They are what makes this site great! We each support each other very well.

Sorry to be so long winded. We do LOVE our Redwood. We just wish it were safer and better quality for this amount of money. You probably won't find it any better on the other brand. Just read through their forum. So it's about whether you are committed to do this to begin with or not. If you are, you'll find a way to make it better and safer yourself. Otherwise, stay stick-and-brick. I still would not trade for the other brand at this point and we have very near plans to be full-time (IN THIS REDWOOD).

Best Wishes and Many Happy Trails!

hello fellow Redwood owners, am new to the Group, i just did a long distance purchase from Lazy days RV in Florida, i purchased the 2017 REDWOOD 39MB and waiting delivery, so i sit here and try to understand the problems you folks are having and i see where this person changed the pin box and this person changed brakes, and i wonder did i make a mistake and select the wrong fifth wheel.

Congratulations on purchasing a Redwood, you made an excellent choice, as these are great coaches and as owners, we get exceptional customer service from the manufacturer. Just ask the almost 100 owners who just departed the Rally.

We have owned our 2013 36FL for just over 3 1/2 years and although we don't full time, we do extended trips of up to 5 - 6 months and have completed about 25,000 miles. Our coach was delivered with "E" rated Marathon tires, which were switched to Goodyear "G" rated tires before we even moved the coach. The "E" rated tires were loaded above their rated load. We are happy with the "G" tires, which are well within the load limits, but some owners with heavier coaches want the higher rated "H" tires.

We have completed all miles to date with the standard electric brakes, which includes multiple trips through the long, steep grades of the Rocky Mountains. Never had a problem with the standard brakes. Disk brakes are proven to stop faster, so based on a risk analysis we decided to upgrade. Hope we never need to use them, but they are there, if needed.

For suspension, again we had the standard 7K axles and equaflex, which performed flawlessly and is well within the load limits. For a smoother ride we elected to upgrade to Centrepoint.

The pin box is the Tri-glide and it has taken this long to determine an appropriate greasing schedule and bag air pressure. Our pin box now works flawlessly and I see no need to change.

Once you pick up the coach, get out and enjoy it. Experience will guide you in modifications and upgrades that you will make in the future.

Welcome to the ROG, you will find lots of knowledgeable owners happy to share their experiences and an ever expanding technical library.