2014 Dutch Star 4018: Our New Home

[dpeterso]

Hi to All,
I'm finally following 007's wise advice and starting our own thread on our soon-to-be-born new home. I've given the details of what we ordered and the timing on another thread, '2014 Dutch Star' started by Deek, but, as 007 suggested, to keep it all in one place I'll repeat it here.

On April 26th we closed on the sale of our stix'n'brix home of 26 years and ordered a 2014 Dutch Star 4018. The details of the order are:
- Verona Maple woodwork
- Mousse interior
- Espresso exterior
- 2 15M A/C's in place of standard
- Stacked washer and dryer
- All electric
- Sirius radio
- Combination desk/dinette w/roll away table
- Fold & tumble sofa in place of L-shaped
- Queen bed
- Energy Management system
- LED lighting
- Power rewind electrical cord
- Recessed docking lights
- Large chrome mirrors
- Large storage tray in 3rd bay
- Floor tile extended into bedroom
- Fiberglass roof
- Power baggage doors
- One long awning over driver side windows
- Kitchen window

The specials we have on order so far are:
- One additional 120v outlet in the first bay door side
- One additional 12v outlet on the left side of the drivers area
- Ground satellite dish prep (not a normal option in 2014)
- Frosted glass shower doors like 2013 (2014 are clear)
- Delete the unique diamond pattern wallboard in bathrooms and use living room wallboard thru out
- Change the color of the carpeting to 2014 Toffee (2014 Mousse carpet is very dark brown)

We ordered the coach from Chad DeMaat of Midway RV in Grand Rapids, MI. He's a great, knowledgeable guy and we'd recommend him to anyone. Chad updated us today and let us know that our Dutch Star will enter building 7 some time on June 12th. We plan on being there for the whole trip through building 7, staying over the weekend if necessary. We'll stay at The Inn at Amish Acres. We stayed there in March and it was very clean, and you can't beat the Newmar room rate.

Although I've gotten most of my questions answered by reading this and other iRV2 forums I am in need of advice on a couple items. The first one is very minor, but specifically recent Dutch Star related. On the 'Our 2013 Dutch Star' thread there was a discussion regarding sewer hose elbows best suited to getting out through the hole in the bottom of the wet/service bay. I understand it's a tight turn. I've read through the discussion and I'm still unsure, is the Rhino 39852 or 39857 elbow the best one to use? Would just like to order the best one from Amazon on the first try.

My other question is not specifically Newmar related so I'll likely also post it on the Toad forum. However, I know that at least skmwalden and PDR John tow Jeep Wranglers. We've ordered a Wrangler Unlimited as our toad, but I'm struggling with the best baseplate setup. I plan to use a Blue Ox tow bar as we had 40,000 miles of good service with one on our old motorhome ten years ago. I've read that you risk grounding and damaging the standard BX1126 Blue Ox baseplate because it fits basically below the stock bumper. Some have mentioned using a Rockhard aftermarket bumper with Blue Ox adapters mounted to the front of it, thereby reducing ground contact issues in the event you go off road. I don't plan on any heavy duty off roading, just some occasional exploring on two tracks. I don't want to spend a fortune on aftermarket stuff, but a couple hundred extra over the standard Blue Ox baseplate would be OK if it solved a valid clearance problem.

Thanks for any advice as we prepare for our great adventure!

["007"]

Good job Dale and congratulation on your new to be Newmar many safe and happy miles.
You do know we need pictures to satisfy us and if your like the others there will be some good ones.
I'll leave the questions to more knowledgeable members.
Enjoy your coach.

[spinn]

Amen to what 007 said! Congratulations on the purchase, what a great coach you will have.

Many safe and happy miles

[vsheetz]

Towing from the bumper of a Jeep is the best way to go IMO. I have done it with multiple jeeps. BO makes conversion brackets that mate to the D ring of some bumpers. BO also makes bolt on brackets that are used with any flat faced bumper. Hanson and others make conversions for D rings as well. A welding shop can make modification to conversion brackets if needed. So as you can see there are a number of options to avoid using a baseplate.

[Deek]

Dale --

Super post -- thanks for your effort and, again, congratulations. You cannot believe how much fun it is for those of us who have followed so closely to hear all about your thoughts and decisions. I know I speak for several of our Forum members in saying how much we enjoy hearing all the specifics -- and, of course, as 007 says, seeing the pictures.

I have told you in my thread under a different post that you and your wife are going to be thrilled by the time you spend in Building 7 when your DS comes down the line and you get to talk to the very workers who are putting her together before your eyes. Be there for all of it and enjoy every minute. It will be loads of fun.

One thought for you to consider -- something we learned when finalizing our order -- and that is the fresh water hose auto reel. This is something that you would definitely want to have ordered before the coach goes into production. The area in question is tight and if you have them do it, the job is perfect -- afterwards not so easy. Plus, they put a different face plate in the water area to accommodate where they install the reel. Newmar does a fabulous job on this, it is hooked internally right to your fresh water tank and once you use it (and retract the hose electrically), you will never want to go back to the way we used to do it.

It's an option that costs, I believe, just under $500.00. If you order it now, Chad may be willing to give you the same discount percentage on it that he gave you on the coach. I'd highly recommend this option -- it is really worth it.

You are correct about Midway. Great dealership. We have a sister in law in Grand Rapids that we're close with and we travel to GR frequently (actually thinking of retiring there and spending winters in Florida at River Bend where we just bought a lot). When we placed our order, we sent our spreadsheet with our options list and retail price codes to several dealers we were serious about and one of them was Midway (and Chad in particular). Unfortunately, we did not get our best deal from Midway and the deal we ended up getting (from Dave Raggette at Sky River RV in San Francisco) was so much better that we would have been nuts (which we still are anyhow) not to go with it. I still think very highly of Midway and always stop in to see what they have when we're in Grand Rapids. They also have a very good Freightliner dealer (competent and RV friendly) in GR.

That's a long winded way to say get the fresh water hose reel! But then don't forget you're dealing with a lawyer. Why say something in 25 words when we can use 250?!!!

Cheers --

Deek

["007"]

I should have said congratulations to Lisa also its the little lady that's going to add the finishing touch's to your home on wheels, we men always are so involved we tend to forget they play a big part also.
So congratulations Lisa try to stay on the ground so you will be able to ride in your new coach.

[Deek]

Originally Posted by "007"

I should have said congratulations to Lisa also
So congratulations Lisa try to stay on the ground so you will be able to ride in your new coach.

X2!!!!

[PDR John]

This will be a great thread to follow, congrats again.

I wish I'd known about the water hose reel. I would have done it for sure.

Window behind sink, if your getting the pop up TV (behind the couch). Without it you don't have any other windows down that side.

If your putting an aftermarket bumper on your Jeep, make sure of it's D ring mount size. Blue Ox has D ring adapter, will make things simple.

[dpeterso]

Thanks to all who have replied so far. We get more excited by the day.

We'll give the water hose reel some more thought. We had spoken to Chad about it before placing our order and passed on it with his concurrence that it wasn't necessary. Unfortunately had to draw the line somewhere.

PDR John, do you have an aftermarket bumper? If so, what kind? If not, do you have a baseplate that mounts under the stock bumper and do you have any issues with it scraping the ground? I realize yours is a different generation Wrangler so it may not exhibit the same concern. Thanks.

[JohnT]

Congrat's Dale and Lisa.

We'll be riding along, reading your updates and looking forward to the scenery.

[smlranger]

Congrats on the new coach. I was not aware that Newmar allowed customers to watch their coach built at the factory. That does sound exciting.

While we were finalizing the deal on the CC we just purchased, the dealer had three new DS's and two MA's on their lot (Tom Johnson RV in Concord, NC) and they are fine looking coaches. If we had been willing to sell the stick house, we could have purchased new but we are not willing to let the stick house go just yet. Maybe later .

Wishing you many, many happy and safe miles.

[PDR John]

The Wrangler is all stock and I don't like the mounts. On our Grand Cherokee the pins remove so nothing sticks in front of the Jeep. The Wrangler base sticks out all the time, I hit my knee every time I'm working on it.

I've run it into rocks quite a bit, enough I had to cut the plug holders off. Bent them almost straight up. We're debating trading it for a newer 4 door or adding modifications to this one. One of the mods will be an aftermarket bumper.

Here is the Blue Ox part: Blue Ox - Off Road Adapters

Call the bumper manufacture and get the specs for there D-ring mount. Then you can compare the price of buying a base plate and installation vs aftermarket bumper and installation.


If we trade, I'm doing the aftermarket for sure.

[mbisson]

Your coach sounds great. A couple of quick points. I have the RockHard bumper and it works great. Just remember it will hook up a little higher and requires a lift to hook up to the Jeep correctly. The towbar should be level or no more than a two inch drop at the Jeep.
I would not like the hose reel. I like to be able rinse out the hose before I hook it up. But I don't fulltime, if you fulltime it might work great.

[ldulude]

Congrats Dale and Lisa!

The DS 4018 is a great choice , we hope to be ordering ours sometime this summer. Hope you have many great trips and adventures with it.

Can't wait to see the pics