Haha...yeah its crazy. I can tell you this...I bought this truck to experience the manual trans. After one month of ownership and 2,000 miles on the clock, I think the Ford is the better truck and my next heavy duty will be another Ford. But, I'm already pretty set this truck will stay with me as a work truck for my side landscaping business. I like it. I'd like to hold out and see what the 7.3L gas Super Duty is like.

 

With TPMS, this likely isn't an issue for DRW trucks, but it is for the SRW. FCA set the threshold too high (I think it was 85psf) in the rear. Making the truck ride rough. Run below it and constant TPMS warnings. I lowered my threshold to 50psf all around and the truck rides better than most cars.

 

What is the roof pitch you decided on? 8-12? Good call on windows, some natural light inside is a wonderful thing to have.

 

Tyler is the voice of reason amongst some overzealous fanboys of all flavors of trucks. Very refreshing. Fiat might get me soon too.

 

Back to shopping, is this the sort of thing I need to get my house wifi to my shop?
My building is wood/stick built so no metal except the ceiling. I do have lot's of trees between the house and shop, does it require direct line of sight?

 

That should work, but you will likely need an access point in your shop to broadcast WiFi. This will get it there, but won't rebroadcast it once it is at the shop. The alternative though is to just use one of them set up as an access point. It may be strong enough to get WiFi to your shop by itself. At least that's the way I'm reading it.

You may be able to get by with a simple repeater if you can get signal from the house in say, a window. Much easier to set up, but you will lose a little speed, and it's definitely not as cool as something like this.

 

Yes, the garage roof is 8/12. For kicks I just had the local Morton rep do up their version of the exact same barn along with pricing. The wife likes the stone veneer on the front but I'm not convinced it's worth 3k. Andre, how is their pricing? It includes everything but the pad, garage doors, and openers. If stick works out to the same money, I'll go that route as having a full foundation has some strong benefits...

 

Morton is a premium barn and is generally speaking 5-10% more for an apples to apples barn around here. I think the workmanship is top notch and the components are really good. To me they are worth 5% more, but beyond that, it's debatable. They just have a reputation over hear to be the dealer that just takes care of it and you have a stress free experience. If you are hearing the construction process isn't awesome, then forget it. I'd look around for a Cleary or comparable brand and save a few bucks. As far as $/sqft...I can't really comment. I'm the steel guy. I'd be more per sqft. So that price looks GREAT!

 

Just for comparison's sake, and I know I'm in the Midwest so pricing will be different, but our shop was about $17/sqft. That's a concrete floor, full foundation, with 8" high concrete wall all the way around. 4 windows, 1 man door, 2-10x10 and 1-12x14 insulated garage door. 15'-6" side wall, 5/12 pitch, 2x6 studs on 2' center. Trusses built to withstand the extra load of solar panels. All metal exterior, but the walls and ceiling are not finished inside. No water, and I did the electrical myself. The contractor that built our house built the shop as well.

This is fun stuff Rodney! I always heard what a pain building a house was, but we really enjoyed it. We had an excellent contractor (actually our neighbor, his son, and his brother, and I've known them for years). I kinda wish we could do it again, but we're here forever!

 

Rodney, barn looks good. 3k for that little bit of stone veneer seems a bit salty to me. But happy wife, happy life, lol. Get the door height that makes you happy. 14' doors do make for an imposing building.

Tom, I have seen that one. There is also a Crusader in the same floorplan. But, I promised Momma the east west bed and full nose cap closet this time. We have the north-south bed currently, and while the cabinets above look inviting, they are a safety hazard when putting the workbench to use! Though I'd prefer 38 foot to 41. I'm sort of hoping the dealer has one to wander through in 2 weeks, just for the hell of it. They always have the 367 in stock.

 

Ya'll will come around....lol.
I get my fill of Fiat via Jeep. I enjoy and like my Jeeps, the Grands and Wranglers have no close competitors. But I can say I spend enough time fixing them I'm not inspired to go shop Ram.

 

I wanted the east west bed and closet too, but it's just not in the cards this go-round. The next one likely will, as we will be able to get one in a shorter overall length. It's funny we're already picking out our next one for after the kids move out and we don't need the bunkhouse any more, and ours isn't even here yet. LOL!

 

Eric, the dealer is often the biggest difference in the truck world right now. A few problems that require lots of repeat visits can be worse than a lot of problems fixed right. I'd do some research on your local dealers and see if anything trends (you will always find someone complaining), talk to people you know that have experienced local dealer in question. Especially if your getting an extended warranty and will be stuck with them for a while.

 

I have an east/west setup in the past and wouldn't do it again. Most are very narrow being just as wide as the bed so no night stand. Also, the height of the slide is not much taller than the cabinets Scott is concerned about. To us, it felt like sleeping in a box. Plus, if the slide is in the sun, it's not nearly as well insulated as the rest of the RV so it can get hotter in that section as opposed to the rest of the room. Colder too in off season camping. I guess I won't have to worry about that the next go around if we stay with our slideless or nothing Airstream plan...

Chad, I agree on the Jeep/Fiat fix. Maryann's GC is treating us well so far this first year of ownership. She hasn't been back to the dealership yet. However, one little bug has shown with up recently about 7k miles on the clock. Making the EPA happy, the Jeep's 8 sp trans loves to stay in as high a gear as possible. (My truck does the same.) However, sometimes when it does and the rpm's drop, I get a drone that causes a high pitch vibrating resonance from somewhere in the upper body in the front. Very strange. It usually goes away in about 2 seconds. It's happening more and more often so I'll wait for it to be super common before I bring it to the dealer and have them tell me they can't replicate the concern....

 

Looks like both floorplans we are most seriously looking at both get a small shelf with a queen. If you go to a king then it's gone. I don't feel that a nightstand would make or break it for us. I'd be hard pressed to believe we'd not gain any headroom over what we have now with the east west bed. Right now if you sit up from the normal sleeping position on the mattress you'll crack your head. My front cap is not full height, so maybe one that is full height with th he north south bed would eliminate that issue. We generally don't camp too far into the off season, and nobody's sleeping when the sun shines so I'm not overly concerned about insulation issues. Though I do hope a bit higher end unit would have a slide less drafty than ours is now! No leaks, but damn is it drafty!

I do have a few musts for this one, mid bunk is the biggest. Needs a big rear window, entertainment center and kitchen on left, recliners and dinette on right. Aka windows that overlook our site not the neighbors like we have now with the LS dinette.