Cougar 321 RES

[taken]

Just found out my dealer has two new 321's on his lot if anyone is in the market. Diamond RV Center | Recreational vehicle, motorhomes, travel trailers, RV sales, RV finance, West Hatfield, MA Ask for Charlie Bluemer. He was my salesman, happens to be a neighbor, and is a really good guy......

[Clayhammer]

Our 321 finally arrived at the dealer today! We went over to take a look and noticed a couple of things:

The shower fixtures are white, not bronze as in the brochure
They've deleted the wallpaper trim. I assume due to the blistering issue

On another note, the battery area looks too short for two batteries. I have two group 27 batteries on our previous (much smaller) TT. What are you using for batteries on your rigs?

Thanks,
Mike

[taken]

Originally Posted by Clayhammer

Our 321 finally arrived at the dealer today! We went over to take a look and noticed a couple of things:

The shower fixtures are white, not bronze as in the brochure
They've deleted the wallpaper trim. I assume due to the blistering issue

On another note, the battery area looks too short for two batteries. I have two group 27 batteries on our previous (much smaller) TT. What are you using for batteries on your rigs?

Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,

The battery space is only good for two type 24's. So, white fixtures? Would not be pleased about that...

[Clayhammer]

Yea, just the shower. The bathroom sink fixture is bronze. Mentioned it to the dealer and they're going to check with Keystone. Also saw that the dining table already had a rub mark from the trip from Indiana to Tucson.

Any ideas for increasing battery Ah capacity? We're planning on adding solar panels for some light boondocking.

[martyf]

Originally Posted by Clayhammer

:

The shower fixtures are white, not bronze as in the brochure
They've deleted the wallpaper trim. I assume due to the blistering issue


Mike

ya they did that to us too..............I bitched and told them I wasnt taking the trailer it wasnt what was in the brochure, they gave me some song and dance about reading the fine print of the brochure. I told them thats bulllshit and continued to bitch.

we finally came to a deal. Id pay for new fixtures (dealers cost) and Id get a shop manual for free................. I was happy

[martyf]

Originally Posted by Clayhammer

Any ideas for increasing battery Ah capacity? We're planning on adding solar panels for some light boondocking.

replace the stock battery with a higher Ah battery then add a second, pretty easy to do, just be sure when you add the second battery you hook the wires up correctly or you will have 24 volts, and you dont want that!

[dgrant09]

Congratulations on your new trailer..
We went with two 6v batteries - solar type, and they worked great last year. It does add a bit of weight on the tongue..

[taken]

Originally Posted by dgrant09

Congratulations on your new trailer..
We went with two 6v batteries - solar type, and they worked great last year. It does add a bit of weight on the tongue..

That would be my preference. What brand and model # did you go with? I was thinking of swapping out the ones in mine when they are gone for two 6v in series. Of course this won't be for a while, but never hurts to have a plan ready!

[JimEli]

Originally Posted by taken

That would be my preference. What brand and model # did you go with? I was thinking of swapping out the ones in mine when they are gone for two 6v in series. Of course this won't be for a while, but never hurts to have a plan ready!

I'm slightly confused because we've got two 12v batteries up front, and I thought that was the normal configuration.

In a few days I will be in Tucson with our trailer and due to a looming lifestyle change we are considering selling our 321RES.

[Clayhammer]

I went and measured the battery tray and its 8.5 x 22. Looks like a pair of T-105 6V will fit. That would be about 220 amp hours of capacity. The T-125 and T-145 sizes have the same footprint but are taller.

Has anyone modified the battery tray to fit larger batteries or put batteries in the pass-through storage area?

[dgrant09]

JimEli, sorry to hear you are selling!
We ordered our trailer with the 6 v batteries, which the dealer installed. Unfortunately the trailer is at the shop so I cannot measure the battery box they used, it is a nice white composite box. The batteries are Interstate type #GC2-HD-UTL, 216 ah, I said solar type earlier, they are golf cart batteries.
We had similar batteries in our last trailer with a 4 panel solar system on the roof - the AC was removed, I had 4 of these batteries and when I replaced them, Costco had the best pricing. That was a nice system.. With a little care we would not worry about plugging in. For charging the phone and watching TV, we had an AC inverter we could plug in.. Nice system, just took a lot of space..

[iluvcamping]

Has anyone determined if 'heatkit' was funning us about towing with his F-150? I haven't seen anymore of his posts on this thread.

[heatkits]

Here I am, still faithfully following along. Haven't had much to say because I'm not too interested in wall paper, solar or extra heavy duty batteries. My wall paper border is just fine, no bubbles, rips or tears. My batteries are just a pair of 12V deep cycle batteries and I haven't got around to installing a switch yet. I don't need anything more because there's not much boondocking up here in NH... The cops would roust you out in a hurry. I don't go to State or National parks because they are too primitive (size wise), just get down their roads are a challenge, let alone trying to back into a postage stamp size site. When you're 62' long and articulate nearly in the middle you become very selective where you park.

I have made a couple of modifications lately; 1) was to add a walnut cutting board on a folding shelf bracket at the end of the kitchen counter. This will give me extra space to use my electric fry pan for breakfast. Too much congestion in the galley way at that time in the morning. 2) was to add another 20/15 amp circuit to support the electrical activity in that area (toaster, coffee maker, fry pan and what not) and the front AC.

Another reason for my absents is I'm selling my 35' pontoon boat. I had to get it out of winter storage, replace a starting solenoid and prepare it for delivery. Yesterday I took it up to the lake for sea trials before the sale. Towing that beast behind my F150 is a real eye opener... Since the trailer has four wheel disk, serge breaks, there is no electrical feedback to the truck's on board logic systems and it doesn't know quite how to handle it. The boat weighs 8,000 pounds, but there's not much tongue weight since most all the weight is over the axels. Due the length, it tracks nice, however, since its 14' high it catches a lot of air. The truck keeps asking, "what in the world is back there?" Even in "tow/haul" mode the shifting patterns are way off and the torque is way down. There are a couple of sizeable hills on the way up to the lake and I had to tell it when to shift or it would get bogged down in the wrong gear. Hauling this beast for anytime, really make you appreciate the ease towing the 321RES.

I love my F150 HD it serves as my daily service truck, my mobile office, my plow truck and my personal transportation. I also haul a 5 ton dump trailer, a 12' utility trailer, the camper and soon to be gone the boat trailer. I need dependability, good commutations (sync), good mileage, comfort, and above all quietness to conduct conversations.

[taken]

My neighbor who bought mine is towing with a new Chevy 1500 with the 6.2. I went over when he was setting up the Equalizer and was surprised at how little effort he had to put in to get the truck to sit level. Looks like "half ton towable" is appropriate in this situation...