Community Forums

Collector55 · 01-02-2022, 12:05 PM

Greetings to all!

Just posted yesterday my New Member check-in so I won't repeat too much here. But I wanted to say hello and introduce myself to the group and tell you how exciting to know there is an ORV Owner's Group somewhere other than Facebook. (No offense meant to FB users, it's just not for me).

I have never owned a TT before but was fortunate enough to obtain a new 2020 Blackstone 270RLS last January. Unfortunately due to the very short supply of 2500HD diesels right now, the trailer has not been out for its first trip yet. But the delay has provided the opportunity to start outfitting and making a few upgrades.

There will most likely be many questions but looks like the answers are here.

Dave Pelletier · 01-02-2022, 12:38 PM

Welcome and i hope you enjoy your new trailer

tpaul · 01-02-2022, 02:31 PM

Welcome. Be sure to check out the OutdoorsRV Mods sticky. Very extensive. Lots of great ideas. And lots of wisdom on this forum.

litzdog911 · 01-02-2022, 11:23 PM

Welcome!

Randy the sly old fox · 01-03-2022, 02:23 PM

Welcome to both ORV and IRV2. You will love both the TT and the diesel 2500 - both are worth the wait.

Blazing zipp · 01-06-2022, 08:55 PM

Welcome to the hood! We love our ORV and have met some wonderful owners. Lots of knowledge here also.

TB673 · 01-06-2022, 09:13 PM

Collector 55, Welcome to the forum.

Why not widen your selection to a 3500 SRW?

All trucks are in high demand now, but a 3500 may be an easier find.

Tim

lanztek · 01-07-2022, 11:23 AM

Collector 55, Welcome to the group and I know you'll enjoy your new rig. Good luck finding a TV, and my only advise to you on this would be...don't settle for a gasser...Diesel will work the best for that heavy of a rig.

egwilly · 01-08-2022, 07:34 AM

Welcome and congrats for your purchase.

Having said that, your one year full warranty has expired where ORV will take care of repairs/parts bumper to bumper. After that you are on your own unless you purchased an extened warranty. You have no travel time to shake down the trailer, is that correct? Do you live in it?

Most of the stuff that failed in our fifth wheel did so in the first year. ORV stood by us during that time. Now its "take it to your dealer, you will have to pay for that".

Collector55 · 01-09-2022, 11:33 AM

TB673 and egwilly, thank you both for your comments. As far as considering a 3500, I have. Obviously a 3500 diesel is going to get the job done very well. However purchasing one in CA gets really expensive and I believe it could put me into another driver's license class. Minimizing any contact with the state is preferable.

The biggest issue with obtaining the truck has obviously been the lack of supply. I never in a million years ever thought I would be considering a truck purchase as expensive as this and frankly, they are way too expensive. It took a while to figure out the options and packages but I came up with an ideal truck purpose built for my application. The problem is that dealers order popular, expensive and not necessarily useful options that end up driving the cost up. My build usually ends up costing a similar amount and eliminates costly and unnecessary options such as power retractable steps, sunroofs and 20 inch wheels.

4 orders, 3 dealers, 2 states over 20 months, still no truck. GM is not allocating very many AT4 diesels right now. So I wait.

Collector55 · 01-09-2022, 11:59 AM

Now to egwilly's comments...Fortunately I did purchase an extended warranty. Originally I seriously considered buying a used ORV but there were not many for sale. Then it finally occurred to me that never having owned a travel trailer before, I had NO idea of what little things could really cause a lot of grief buying used.

The Blackstone was larger and more expensive than what I was originally considering. But after having the opportunity to see quite a few different ORV trailers over a 2 month period, I kept coming back to that particular trailer. This one was manufactured in March 2020 and had been on the dealer lot for quite a while. It had 'sold' once but financing fell through, then I saw it in November 2020. It 'sold' again in January 2021 and the buyers changed their mind. By now I had a good understanding of how backed up the travel trailer industry was, ORV in particular.

If I had waited to purchase, I would not own a trailer yet. The 270 was already on sale, the dealer offered an even better sale price and I just went for it. I do not regret the purchase at all. That model has been discontinued.
I would most likely be looking at a 260 which would end up costing a lot more now.

Back to the warranty, knowing that it will be when things break/fail and that they will, I opted for the warranty cushion. So, we shall see. I do not live in the trailer, it is currently in storage. However, I check on it periodically and have been doing my best to keep up with maintenance. A friend will most likely help get it out for a couple of shakedown trips soon.

Curious, what were the issues you had the first year with your trailer?

egwilly · 01-09-2022, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collector55

Curious, what were the issues you had the first year with your trailer?

Mostly small things....the televsion failed at 7 months. Todd sent me a new one to install. The awning retraction failed right after that. Then the black waste valve broke. The Jensen radio failed as well. I did all the repairs myself. Not gonna leave it on the dealer lots for weeks waiting for parts/repairs. Another issue was the fake fireplace. I had to repair it 3 times and it still acts up. The fireplace company sent me some internal electronic parts to install. Worked for a while.

All of this was was back in the days you could actually talk and work with ORV to get info and parts..... Now you have to work with a dealer. Nope. Not unless I have to.

Tires failed at 13 months. China bombs. ORV did not help with this. I installed Goodyear Endurance tires.....great tires.

Looks like you are in Fair Oaks....by bro in law lives off of Hazel and Madison in the old airport development.

Collector55 · 01-09-2022, 06:10 PM

It is a small world! I am about a mile from your bro in law and know his development well. But, I truly miss the airport that used to be there...

Too soon to tell about some of the things on my trailer. The radio is Furrion, not too thrilled about it and may replace sometime down the road. The Jensen speakers will be replaced, too 'tinny' sounding. No fireplace, no need to worry about that. The unit came with Goodyear Endurance tires, one of the attractive selling points.

There were a bunch of odds and ends I tagged during the sale and the dealer fixed everything before the final walk through. Everything else will have to wait for the shakedown trip.

NevadaNick · 01-13-2022, 05:32 AM

If you have the rv at home, start staying in it. This will give you an idea of what you need when its time to go. Lots of friends in that area, grew up near there and went to Ponderosa HS.