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Old 06-21-2020, 02:53 PM   #5
daltontr
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Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 5
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We've had our 199DD for about a year and a half now and we love it!

Yes, the bed is short, but we never noticed as I'm only 5'8" and my wife is 5'4". The plywood is cut short to prevent you from pinching a finger, hand or arm between the plywood and the back of the dinette. It's more about safety than being cheap.

Speaking of the bed. The very first mod I made was to add two 67 lbs gas struts underneath the bed. It was a very simple project and has been working great for the past 18 months. It makes it much easier to lift the bed and it supports it in the open position. Much easier and safer than using a prop. It was really cheap too, so much so that it makes me wonder why it isn't like that from the factory.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Concerning the bumper caps. We've been lucky, we've never lost one. However, I purchased a new 15' Rhino sewage hose and it won't fit in the bumper. So, I bought a Valterra expandable hose carrier.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Rhino fits perfectly in the carrier, but I had some difficulty finding a good mounting point due to the gas line being run below the frame rails. I ended up mounting it just in front of the forward front stabilizer jacks. This allowed me to use two of the pre-drilled holes that secure the jack in place. All I needed to do was drill two additional holes to complete the install. Easy access and unobtrusive, but I would have preferred having it mounted behind the rear wheel.

FYI, we like to start the fridge the morning before we leave, then load it that same night. Also, the fridge tends to stay colder longer when it's full. We usually just added water bottles, drinks, etc. to fill in the unused space.

Our biggest con is the tank read outs. I think we made maybe one or two trips before they started to become a little unreliable. The fresh water tank is always correct and the grey water tank is usually pretty accurate, but the black tank is hit or miss. Not uncommon really, but it can be a little annoying.

Lastly, I would be interested to hear your experiences with the Solar connection. I know virtually nothing about Solar and have never used it on our camper, but I'm curious enough to want to buy a portable panel to try it out. I assume you just plug it in and it charges the battery?
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