Do you have any floor squeaks? Our 2025 Z3100 floor squeaks horribly around the island.

Do you have and floor squeaks? Our 2025 floor around the island squeaks terribly.

Good points on safety. Class C is a maybe for us

Love my Class A Thor Hurricane, but I am with you do it again I would go Super C with a jeep.

Great video guys, thanks for the shoutout. We agree that the super c is expensive but that is the route we would take too.

Good video. We have not ruled out drivable. I like the idea of a super c, especially the ones built on the Ford F-550 or f600 chassis. Having four-wheel drive would be great to get into boondocking spots

Advice I give to people that I see are struggling to back into a site is to keep your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and move it in the direction you want the camper to go. After some practice it becomes instinct.

Thank you for sharing guys!

We had a Holiday Rambler DP with a Jeep Wrangler toad. We sold it and last summer purchased a Brinkley Z 3100 and a Chevy Silverado 2500HD to tow it. IF we got in the class A again, it would definitely be a DP; so quiet, so smooth.

What class of motorized rig would you go with?

What do you pull your 3100 with?

I will try it next trip , looks like common sense which exsplains why I haven’t used it.

What campground did you you stay at or did you boondock?

Weird, I've been doing it for 6 years with no issues at all. 33ft loaded weight 8,000.

Three of our grease seals were blown as well. Glad we checked before warranty ended. Lippert sent me four new brakes. Decided to use better seals (national)

Brinkley should hire you for reviews 🥰

You helped so many people with this video! Telling it like it is… just awesome ❤

Hi new subscriber here and new KZbinr as well… hubby and I began RV life in 2023 but just started sharing our journey…. I was a trucker and that’s what got us interested in RV life… we knew we could handle being together in small spaces for long periods of time because of being over the road trucking. You have some great tips and advice..

Thank you!

Great video, guys! Hubby and I can relate to the mental stress. We went rving a long time ago before cell phones with internet and GPS. We are getting our ducks in a row to do it again as we'll be retiring this year. Again, exciting, but stressful and a different kind of stress at this stage of our lives. Happy trails!

Loved the transparency of you two in this video. Yes, there is no retail therapy! So true. YES. Broadens your horizons. It is so important that you can live together in a small space. If you can't, this is not the life for you. - Jim & Michelle

Great points to ponder 🤔 We will be full time, part time when I retire. Meaning months on and months off. That’s the compromise that I think will best work for us? As with most things though, we’ll both need to be flexible

Same issue with the CarPlay in my '24 2500. In settings, it has a radio reset. I haven't had the issue since.

You made a lot of great points. Very honest without being negative! We are looking forward to the entire series! - M & S

Excellent video. My wife and I are planning on starting this adventure in about a year when she can retire. I am a retired teacher and I have been transporting RVs for the last two and a half years. I have gotten to see a lot of the country, and my wife has gotten to go with me a lot and we want to go places and take the time to experience them not just see them. I will be 61 she will be 55 when we start this and we want to do these things before we get too old. And we have spent 2 weeks at a time together delivering RV and then going and seeing family so that part of it is out of the way. We are now starting the process of starting to look at Riggs and determine what our best move going forward is

Going on year 2 of FTRV(full time RV).......The novelty has worn off and it's real now for us. For many, things are so expensive now (housing/rent) we could not go back to that lifestyle even if we wanted to. It seems the older you get the harder it is to find lucrative employment. Remote work is on the decrease right now, especially with many CEO's issuing "return to the office" mandates or be fired. The pool of workers seeking remote work seems greater than the supply right now (to us anyway). Even workamping jobs are getting more and more competitive we have seen in the past year. We also have been noticing more younger folks ditching the 9-5 corporate life for FTRV. These folks seek workcamping positions that offer more than just a free site, which BTW is fine for most boomers that have retirement and/or passive income sources. As the boomers age out, the demand for full hookups and WAGE is going up. The RV park management/ownership people will have to offer wages in the future in order to attract viable help as the boomers who are just happy with free site dwindle down. Health Insurance is a problem for workcampers as most RV parks do not offer healthcare benefits, most of us make too much to qualify for medicaid and we make too little to afford our own plan, even through ACA offerings..... and lastly we are too young for medicare. I don't expect any of these healthcare access problems to fix themselves for the next 4 years at the least, maybe even get worse as programs get cut in the interest of budgetary gain. These are all things one contemplating FTRV must think about. But you gain freedom, which is priceless. Great video Mike and Toni, you guys rock! Peace

Hi Guy's, PhillyTomcat here (WLS) ,,,I've been watching for awhile now and enjoy your insight and positivity on RV Life, I converted my Kia Sedona minivan to use as my traveling RV and for the past 2 years have really enjoyed getting away and sleeping in my own bed while saving money in the process.. I try to make videos but nothing like i use to,, I'm just enjoying life now and can really understand Memories... Stay well, I'll be watching.. I still have my PhillyTomcat page but now Van Life ..

My apologies that we didn't get this one down to 10 minutes as promised. However we think you'll agree that the content is worth it. We would love for this to start a conversation on some of the mental aspects you have experienced as a full timer, or if you're not a full-timer, what mental aspects are you concerned with?

Great video! You two are so fun to watch. We have a 3100 and absolutely love it too. In the video, you mentioned a link for the video talking more about the bedroom slide and how that was repaired, but I couldn't find it. Would you mind letting me know the name of that one?

This is a great review. We have considered a Brinkley as a new rig (from our Grand Design 5th Wheel), seeing your pros and cons and honest reviews was great! Thanks!

I was planning to buy a second spare ( I have long bothered to carry two spares) and reached out to Brinkley while ours was being built and was told to work through the retailer for that and was told that spare was a service tire meant to get me to a repair shop not to necessarily travel on. So I waited until I took delivery and crawled under and saw it was a steel wheel ( not a matching mag wheel ) and a Westlake brand tire ( not the most reputable brand). So for my second spare I was going to buy another matching Cooper with another pain steel wheel BUT I may also put disc brakes on in a year or two so I am glad you shared your issue of needing a spacer with your disc brakes and the spare non-Brinkley mag steel wheel. Did you use DeeMaxx calipers? Can you grind off the brake assembly what may be rubbing the plain rim vs a spacer??? I put Disc brakes on a Montanna some years ago, Kodiak brand and they were fine with mag wheels and my plain painted steel wheel. I wonder if the Kodiak brake assembly is cast a little smaller. I would not want to remember to "use" a spacer during a highway flat nor would I feel good about it - they are not a good solution. Can you buy an extra regular Brinkley mag for your spare or spares??? Again - Thank you for your useful content and I love your sweet dog!

We bought a new 3100 11/1/24. General RV did great for our inspection, and this was one of several new and used units we have bought over the decades. When we left the next morning, I had to turn brake gain to 10 to feel I had some brakes.....I "thought" so new it will just take a while until they burnish in. Went 200 miles camped 2 nights and the next day 8 miles later brakes went completely out, and truck was sending dash signal - trailer disconnected etc....Stopped and did the usual things of unplugging and re-plugging, shutting off truck..... and made the 60-mile route to our storage no RV brakes. Verified my truck was good and had other trucks got same error code when they plugged up. Called Brinkley and was advised to take it to take it to a Brinkley dealer we decided not to buy from. I hesitantly did. Service manager super nice but three days later he hadn't evaluated it due to backlog and his main tech was out very sick. Made several calls back to my service rep at Brinkley (that I later found was out but still sent to their voice mail) and several emails. I had a paid for vacation and shows coming up I would lose my money on within days..... Finally after looking at some possible mobile techs (that told me brakes and axles were not their specialty) I went and picked the unit back up and pulled all the drums myself on my brand-new unit - both driver's side wheels had shoes cooked to ashes and the passenger side rear had a leaking grease seal that had grease all over the brakes. Next, I traced the wiring from the plug in the hitch to the axles. I found a very good heavy-duty wire UNTIL the drop wire to the axle that feeds power to the two wheels on the axle. It was a much smaller thinner gauge wire for that two-foot drop then feed the two brake drums. the wires were completely melted into each other and caused the short. So, I went and bought all four new brake plate assemblies and replaced the two - two-foot wire drops to the axles from the main power feed with a much heavier gauge wire. I replaced the one grease seal and repacked those bearings (NOW I WISH I had replaced all four sealsafter watching your video!). Two days of work myself and $450 in parts later my brakes were working great, and my gain was a balanced well-functioning brake at 6.5. I sent pictures and way more detail than this and was told I would be refunded but that by doing the work myself I have voided the remaining 11 and 1/2 months of my 12-month warranty on my brakes. Well at least I now KNEW i had good brakes and wiring. Then I was sent to get more pictures - I again drove 30 miles out to the storage lot and sent them. The next day I was told more pictures of the overall unit was needed before they would consider processing my refund......I made another trip and sent the pictures and finally a couple weeks later I got the check for the parts. I did ask that that I be sent a replacement sticker (B) for one of the wheel hubs that I had damaged in my repair process while pulling the wheel on the pavement. Never got it. However, another Brinkley person from Colorado called I weeks later to see how satisfied I was. I told him I had I would certainly buy a Brinkley again and like the unit but did have him look into my records and he saw my brake issue/claim. He said - what can I do to make it better - I said - I sure would like a new "B" sticker to replace the one I damaged during my two-day repair. A few days later I had two new "B" stickers in my mailbox. So, I may not have any more brake warranty, but I will be pulling the other 3 wheels soon to put new grease seals in before they ruin my new brakes. Thank you Lippert for the tiny wires to the axle from the frame and grease seals that leak when brand new.

Still love that Brinkley! Though I think we may be going drivable. So my question on your how to fulltime is- What would you have done differently?

That’s cool!

My main dislike in most kitchen island lights is the hanging down. Road vibration in both 5th wheels allowed them to unscrew flopping & both falling down. Our roll up screens & blackout shades keep falling down. Not braced enough & not mounted securely. Need to glue & add a strip of wood to ceiling. Then get more brackets & rehang. This is a Cedar Creek & we love it. Going to move our spare tire to the front full storage compartment. To old to crawl under to crank it down.

For the bedroom closet, go to home depot get a piece of trim, wood etc. Take a strip of Alien tape and fasten it across, very easy. No nails no fuss, takes minutes. For the hidden sockets, purchase a small power bar with a flat cord and use alien tape to stick where you want. The new Zs have the TCS Suspension and ABS breaks.

Great update and we too love our Z2900. Coming from only travel trailers to our first 5th with the Gen-Y gooseneck has been a little frustrating. Hoping to master it this coming Summer as we're not full time and have short period of time to camp in it. May to September if we're lucky. We won't ever have anything but a Brinkley

We have had our 3100 for almost a year now, 1830! Going to fort wilderness in April. Poor girl is in storage right now for the winter. Love almost everything about it. We did a Reese goosebox with our. Love it. Dislikes so far would be the bedroom AC and had a slim rack motor go out.

New to channel, enjoyed this video, will be retiring soon and looking for rig choices. Short list definitely includes brinkley

I think your unit has the more traditional dining table. What are your thoughts about the new Frankenstein desk/ table setup in current Brinkley’s?

Regarding the issue of the wheel bearing seals. Irene Iron ch. just had wheel bearing issue on their 5th wheel. I believe it is an Alliance rig.They lost their entire wheel.

Love hearing all is well with you all. I loved getting a spontaneous tour while you were in Missouri. I keep making lists of things to look for, learn about, etc. someday I’ll be full time. I always love watching your videos!!

Great episode! We just looked at this model or close to it at an RV Show. Your perspective is helpful. We are now considering a Brinkley. Is there room for our bicycles in your set up? I'm doing a super thanks for all of your great advice. Have a few beers on us! @ournexttrail

surprised you've had no issues with condensation, floor ripping from the slides moving in and out, or the AC in the bedroom being extremely loud and turning on and off when the temp in the room isn't correctly met.

In the research I've done for us planning to go full time I see too many people buying rigs that are not suitable to be lived in full time and then complaining that they're all junk because they bought the wrong tool for the job. I'm really looking to y'all's perspective in this upcoming series

Loved seeing your rig in person. Beautiful. Safe travels guys..

Title says I am doing it wrong. How do you know I am doing it wrong? were you there?

3/4 Ton are way more expensive and have horrible ride, so there is a huge price to pay. Wyoming afternoon wind is a problem regardless of truck size, avoid that stretch of I-80 in the afternoon. Ford offers a GVW max Load capacity in the 150 crew 6.5 ft bed, from 2,800 to 3,600 lb pay load (changes on the model year) with max tow of 12-14,000 lb. This allows you to stay well under GVW even with 1,000 hitch wt. So don't ever push any numbers, but there is a 1/2 ton option for trailers up to 10K. As always speed is the biggest problem when pushing max load.

Great advice. Thank you!

Except most campgrounds I go to have very narrow roads that are one way, so there is no room to do this maneuver.