Outlaw - Pending purchase and thoughts?

[tr21r]

Just took a closer look at the Canyon Star. Lots of cool features and advantages.

- Newmar appears to do a better job on fit/finish. many small aspects seem to be better finished on them v. Thor which can a bit rough around the edges (storage doors with gas shocks on all, more finished black/grey tank access, ext shower). Newmar electronics control looks better finished? My OL electronics is pretty basic and the cables like to come loose sometimes.

- For fun I did a dealer Newmar search for CA. Actually more Thor dealers in CA than Newmar. I've been a tad frustrated that my closest dealer was 130 miles away. Then, six months ago, Le Mesa RV opened a new branch about 40 mi away and that's decent for convenience. A huge number of dealers, for all brands, were wiped out in the recession and they are just now starting to recover.

- I didn't look into the financial health / history of Newmar. But, hey, they are still here after the recession and that's one important test!

- CS is nice looking on the exterior and they've made the rear door almost unnoticable.

- I wonder, how much if any NET price difference is there? Seems most of these units go out the door at 25-40% discounts off list. The CS is listed a bit higher than OL, but maybe the net price difference isn't much? The OL comes packed with lots of extra features and very few options. The CS seems to have many optional features (some very cool). What does all that do to the net price?

- The CS garage looks pretty useful. Its 2 ft longer at 12 ft, but is somewhat obstructed by the nice cabinet in the corner? The tie down racks are better as the include the adjustable connections. I wonder how the headroom in the garage is with the bunk bed? I like the optional roll down bug screen on the CS. I've been planning to buy an aftermarket bug screen for my OL, but candidly, here in the West, after a year of use, I've not had much of an issue with bugs. We usually unload the bikes and then close the big door (haven't made the garage a patio like Don!).

- The CS has a side door on the garage like Thor from 2010 on ward, this is very useful. The double? bunk beds seem good. They seem to have a hook up for washer dryer and its more finished than the OL W/D hook up in ours.

- CS had a hook up for Dirt Devil vac - nice touch!

- In the CS, you will sacrifice a noticeable amount of living room space to get the full master bedroom. This could a key issue. In addition to using the living room hanging out (lots), we choose to use it for sleeping. We have three teenagers. If the garage is full of bikes and we don't want to unload, we throw down sleeping matts and 2-3 full size folks can sleep on the floor (in this situation we don't open the air sofa bed because the boys don't want to sleep in the same bed with one another LOL!). Pluse anyone under 5'8" or so can sleep on the dinette conversion bed. So, 3-4 people can reasonably comfortably sleep in the big living room - if the garage is packed.

- In CS you need to go through the master bedrm to get into the garage. This is important. If you have someone sleeping in the garage, they need to go through the master to get the bathroom! Oooh, that could be annoying. This might be a hassle from time t time.

- BUT, if you're OK with a smaller living room, you may appreciate a bedroom with a door and full ceilings. At 6'1", I feel a bit cramped occasionally in the OL master loft and would enjoy a full ceiling height. Now, would I trade the full ceiling height for the smaller living room and having folks going back / forth through the master to get to garage or bathroom? Hmmm? Your partner may have an opinion on that. Luckily I married to a flexible and adventurous gal who goes with the flow.

- Canyon Star seems to have a longer overhand on the rear - like you said its 2 ft longer. For many, that's not a big prob. For us, going into the woods frequently, we already drag the big mud flap occasionally, we'd really drag that overhang.

- CS has nicer looking cabinetry, appliances (ice maker!), and sink (stainless).

- OL may have a slightly roomier bathroom?

- Cockpits and chassis seem fairly similar.

- CS has the three way camera with side view. Nice.

- OL has more TVs ( 5 in ours ! ), but honestly, we've only used two of them on about 12 trips so far. While I've played with the exterior TV on my OL, I've never really watched anything. One day! But, I have the used exterior stereo.

- OL has an air sofa bed. While I read controverial complaints about the comfort of this, I've enjoyed it and have found it can adjusted to any reasonable soft/hard factor you like. My guests say it's comfy. I hate those old style framed sofa beds as the mattress gets weak and soon you are sleepin on the frame.

- Overall, a lot of the major specs (tank sizes, roof type, HVAC, etc.) are very similar as they are both based on the Ford V10 chassis, strengths and limits.

Well, it was fun to do a little hypothetical shopping and comparisons. If I were buying today, I'd definitely go look at / drive a CS and the OL. EVERY decision in the motorhome game is a trade off. At this moment, I remain satisfied with our OL and the various trade offs that it delivers.

Cheers!

Mike

[lapeake143]

Originally Posted by DGShaffer

Welcome to the board, and welcome to a new Outlaw owner as well.

I'll shoot you a PM with close up photos of the cable supports I made and how they're mounted. I'll make up 4 more of the mounting brackets and send them to you once I have your mailing address. You'll just need the 3/32" nylon coated cable and turn buckles. Making up the cables was the hardest part since you need to strip the nylon where ever you put a clamp, if you don't....

I changed my water pump with a sureflow 5.7 over the winter but have yet to use it. There's a great thread on how to set them properly. I changed mine because the one it comes with is noisy and low volume. It's located right under the large drawers under the stove top. I also have an Oxygenics shower head.

Another thing I did was to pull out the large flat screen TV to add a HDMI port in the A/V input on the wall. Works great for watching Netflix streaming movies off the laptop.

I also have the drop down bed in the garage. The fact that is covers the light and vents isn't as much an issue as the cabinets being inaccessible. I found that I only keep stuff in them I don't use often and that works out well.

My bike fell over once while in motion so I added a wireless backup camera above the entry door so I can keep an eye on things back there while I drive. Needless to say, nothing bad has happened since.

If you plan on getting a BBQ grill, the Coleman Road Trip is about the only one that will fit below in the basement storage. It works well enough and slides right in the top of the first compartment behind the entry door. Webbers Baby Q won't fit in any of the exterior compartments!

I have the three E tracks as you described and they work great. These are the chocks I installed less the mounting plate, for $50 they're a cost effective alternative to the Condor chocks. I screwed them right to the floor using these Part Number: 90192A132 so I can remove them in a hurry without having a nut and washer under the floor. The inserts accept a 3/8-16 bolt and work perfect. The chocks can be removed in minutes. Put a 3/8-16 set screw in the hole and you have a seal to the outside.

My Ford V-10 has been running great with plenty of pulling power so if this is what you have in yours you'll be happy. Hauling 4 adults, two touring bikes and all our gear we averaged 7.3 MPG over 1800 miles

Hi Don and Cindy,

I just bought a 2008 Outlaw. I was wondering why they didn't already have the cables set up for the back to make it a deck. Would you consider making 1 more set of brackets? I would really appreciate it.

Also, where did you get the screen made?

I love the coach. It's like having your cake and being able to eat it. I get to take the dogs, cats, and Harley's everywhere I go.

Thanks for your help

Lisa

[heritage2006]

Hey Lisa, So glad to hear you're loving the Outlaw !! Already planning mods huh ! LOL As you know, I ended up buying the Canyon Star but sure did love the Outlaw !

[DGShaffer]

Originally Posted by lapeake143

Hi Don and Cindy,

I just bought a 2008 Outlaw. I was wondering why they didn't already have the cables set up for the back to make it a deck. Would you consider making 1 more set of brackets? I would really appreciate it.

Also, where did you get the screen made?

I love the coach. It's like having your cake and being able to eat it. I get to take the dogs, cats, and Harley's everywhere I go.

Thanks for your help

Lisa

Welcome to the Outlaw owners Club

Let me know when you plan on working on the deck and I'll run off another set of brackets for you. PM me a street address for UPS

[cardshark]

Congrats on your purchase we bought ours 11/2010 and love it. And Don is such a sweetheart, the way he helped us look at all the different ideas to improve our rig. We went to Hill country and meet up with Dan and Dave and they have really tricked out their rigs.
Have fun and we hope sometime we can all get together somewhere.

Jim and Shanett Rhow
Pineville, MO

[lapeake143]

Hi again Don and Cindy,

Can you give me some additional specs on the porch/ramp?

How what is the length of your cables?
Do you have an personal email where I can send my address for the hardware you graciously said you can make...How kool is that!, and what else do I need to know?

Thanks

[DGShaffer]

There are a bunch of photos in this slide show that detail the brackets and hardware. The length can not be determined until the brackets are placed and the turnbuckles and hooks are attached. Looking at the photos you can see all the attachments which were all purchased at home depot

outlaw_additions

Send me a PM and I'll give you my email and further detail off line.

[BpK9Miami]

Originally Posted by DGShaffer

There are a bunch of photos in this slide show that detail the brackets and hardware. The length can not be determined until the brackets are placed and the turnbuckles and hooks are attached. Looking at the photos you can see all the attachments which were all purchased at home depot

outlaw_additions

Send me a PM and I'll give you my email and further detail off line.

Hey Don, good to see you on here, I haven't seen anything for awhile! Any new projects in the photo album? I finally moved the, now extra, TV that was replaced from over the doorway a few months ago to an outside flex mount. Comes in handy on race days and game days! Still hot in Central Texas too, but ahhhhhh fall is not that far away.

Lisa & hubby came to visit a while back and got some hands on pictures and stuff from Dave and I down here for them to stew over. We tried our best to give you credit for ideas we stole, ah, modified, from your work. . .they seemed to have a growing list as the day progressed.

Take care. Dan

[DGShaffer]

Nothing new up here but every time I see a commercial for a retractable awning I think of you guys. Having one over the deck sounds pretty cool.

We just spent a few day's on the outer banks of North Carolina and having the deck to overlook the sunrise and listen to the surf each morning was the best. It was really windy so the side awning had to be retracted but not our deck in the shade

We're spending the week after Christmas on Dauphin Island off the coast of Alabama but I reserved my site on the ocean at Boyds on Key West. I haven't given up the reservations in the hope that someone here might want to take advantage of the reservation, know anyone?

[lapeake143]

How do I do a PM (personal message I assume), but I do not see a obvious way to do that.

[DGShaffer]

Click my name above my avatar and a list of options pops up. The second option lets you send me a message

[BpK9Miami]

Originally Posted by DGShaffer

We're spending the week after Christmas on Dauphin Island off the coast of Alabama but I reserved my site on the ocean at Boyds on Key West. I haven't given up the reservations in the hope that someone here might want to take advantage of the reservation, know anyone?

Hmmmm

I may be interested myself, but I also have some friends headed that way about the same time frame. Let me get back to you. The Army is finally processing my discharge (between late September - early October) and I'm planning to head home to Hollywood, Fl long enough to clean out the storeroom and catch up for a while (6-8weeks). If that happens along that time line I'd be willing to work something out with you. Gawd knows I'd rather be in KW than Miami during the Holiday.

Sounds like that ramp is the cat's meow for the beach. I know mine works well here on the River - heck I had it down yesterday.