We are on our first trip with the Quantum JM31 and left home on Saturday. We planned this trip after ordering the JM31 in January and were hoping we would be in the new coach by August because some of our campground choices were based on having the smaller rig. As we write this we are at The Great Divide Campground in Western New Jersey. This is a 100 acre campground with narrow, winding, and hilly roads in rural New Jersey and walking in the campground this morning we saw six deer. We have not seen any diesel pushers in the campground and sure glad we don't have to maneuver one here. This is our first stop for more than one night and was chosen so we could claim we have camped in New Jersey. We had originally planned to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and camp on the shore of Delaware and then take the ferry over to New Jersey and camp on the coast there. After that we would need to move further West to continue out trip to Maine. We happened across this campground in West New Jersey and decided to stop here and camp in Delaware on a future trip. It may seem like a silly goal but we are trying to check off the remaining states that we have not camped in. Once we finish this trip we will have camped in 48 of the 50 states with Hawaii and Delaware not accomplished. Of course Hawaii may not happen but we do have a niece who lives there on a farm and could fly there and camp in her back yard with a tent.
Traveling is significantly more pleasant and less stressful with the JM31 compared to our previous 41 foot diesel pusher. The JM31 handles and rides nicely and there is very little if any affect from passing 18 wheelers. We know it may sound strange to hear the JM31 rides better than our diesel pusher but it does. The diesel pusher was a 2006 model with a straight front axle that banged harshly on rough roads and bridges. We worked for many years and spent significant funds trying to improve the ride with only marginal success. We do miss the Quiet Diesel generator and the torque of the ISL400 Cummins. There is also more wind noise in the Class C than in the Class A and of course getting in and out of the seats is more challenging in the Class C. But we knew that would be the case going in. What we don't miss is that large windshield that would pour heat into the coach and the lousy dash air conditioner with the 40 foot lines back to the compressor. On this new Ford the dash air will freeze you to death and we find ourselves turning it way back as we drive. On the Class A we had to always run the generator in the summer as we drove to keep the coach cool. The Class C cools down fast and we find ourselves driving more with the roof AC's off. Another thing we don't miss on the Class A are the electric steps that were always giving trouble. The Class C is low to the ground and only needs the two built in steps at the door.
We have already made some improvements to the JM31 but as we use it we discover more things we need to do. For one the water pressure is terrible no matter how good the campground feed is and the water pump has poor pressure. Also the kitchen sink drains very slow. We plan to delve into these when we get back home.
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