2016/17 Journey 36M

[bkervaski]

I love the 36M size and features, my only reservation is the TV placement vs couches.

Any 36M owners care to commend on how comfortable watching movies is in this model?

Also, how is the audio performance?

Thanks

[rream]

The placement is the same today as is in our 2012 which was the first year of the 36M


We have traveled over 35,000 miles in ours and have camped 824 nights in it


We love the placement - at our evening meal we turn on both of the front TV's so we each of us can see one as we sit at the dining room table


Not sure about the audio as all TV now need sound bars and our speakers are built into the TV


I like the two couches as you can lay length ways on them to watch either on of them - really a positive not a negative

[Jupiter]

We liked a lot about our 2013 36M, but the TV locations were not on our list of things we liked. As rream pointed out we too occasionally would use both TV's when sitting at the table mostly in the mornings. But, for general evening TV viewing neither location worked well for us from the sofas unless lying down.

The mid-coach TV has the surround sound speaker connectivity and it was the TV of choice for viewing DVD's, and the audio sounded good on the mid-coach TV, too. We would sit in the cab chairs instead of the sofas because we didn't particularly like lying down to view.

The 36M is a great size coach and has many favorable floorpan features but in our opinion the TV locations were not convenient for us. Our floorpan had the bedroom vanity sink and the TV hinged on an angle from wall. This was "okay" but we would have much preferred a straight-on view instead of viewing to the sidewall.

Now, this may be viewed as nit-picking but there were two other TV related issues of concern.
1) The TV remotes were not dedicated and therefore different TV's would respond to the remote signal inadvertently which was really difficult to control at times.
2) I placed a piece of foam pipe insulation on the bottom of the front TV because it was too easy for us to hit our head on the TV.

Again, just sharing our opinion. Many others may find the TV locations are just fine. There's a lot to like about the 36M

cheers,
Joopy

[bkervaski]

Thanks guys and please keep the opinions coming!

Jupiter, you said "liked", what did you trade for and if you don't mind me asking why?

[austx]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our 2015 Meridan 36M‼️ We choose to have only the TV over the fireplace in the living area (+ bdrm & outside). We have NO trouble with the TV placement and adobo sound ar works well for us. If we want to watch TV from the dining table ... I sit on the end of the table & Richard faces the TV. We can watch TV from both the drivers and passenger's chairs when rotated inward!!! We love stretching out on both couches with a pillow behind our heads or sitting a little sideways watching TV!!! And we like watching TV outdoors too and from bed. Seriously, we don't watch much TV when traveling; mainly late at night or a movie. It is our PERFECT MH!!!

[Jupiter]

Originally Posted by bkervaski

Thanks guys and please keep the opinions coming!

Jupiter, you said "liked", what did you trade for and if you don't mind me asking why?

Okay, you asked so in fairness, here's the shortest version I can provide Understand that it's with great reluctance that I share "why" we traded because I truly don't care to step on the toes of the many folks that (rightfully so) love their 36M. I said before that there was much we liked (and miss) about our 36M, but there were problems and design issues that we didn't like.

First, we traded for a 2016 Journey 38P because we really liked many of it's features and the floorpan. Obviously, we're in somewhat of a minority in terms of liking this floorpan since the model has since been discontinued. I'll first touch on just a few of the 38P highlights that we liked.

- an incredible amount of basement storage - over 200 cu ft.
- 3 roof top A/C units (instead of two on 36M)
- over 30" longer wheelbase
- ISL8.9 with 44% more torque than the ISB6.7
- 5,000lb more towing capacity
- no full wall slides or slides with Lippert gear tracks (4 smaller slides)
- drivers side DEF tank
- straight TV viewing for both lounge and bedroom TV's (no over dash TV)
- bedroom privacy w/o closing doors
- large picture window in galley style kitchen
- 2 bedroom windows
- curbside dining
- tile throughout the coach including bedroom
- and many other features that lured us to this model.

Now, here's the list of items that helped us make the decision to trade. Keep in mind our 2013 36M was nearly a year old when we purchased it and therefore essentially out of warranty. Although WGO did make good for a full wall slide repair. We travel a good bit and drove nearly 20K miles on this in about 2 years.

- full wall slide mechanism (Lippert) failed in first month and was always a concern of future failure. Also, rain water would enter onto the bedroom carpet at the back corner of the full wall slide unless slightly tilting the passenger side of the coach. In short, we failed to resolve this leakage issue.
- heavy rain caused significant roof leakage dripping over the interior steps. Again, could not find the source, or be able to fix this leak.
- two rooftop A/C's were incredibly noisy in terms of vibration. So much so that it was difficult to sleep with the rear unit running. Many attempts to reduce the noise level failed. Even vibrated the shower door. New condenser fan blades, roof mount adjustments, sound insulation, etc.
- two rooftop units could not keep this coach cool enough in 90 degree weather. Even installed window awnings and a Magnashade which did help but still needed to nearly constantly run the two extremely noisy A/C's to stay below 80 degrees inside.
- As mentioned, the TV locations were not our cup of tea. The dining table is simply too close to the large mid-coach TV for our liking.
- unless you closed the stiff bi-fold door to the bedroom, people entering the coach had a clear sightline to the bed.
- engine had oil leakage so much so that I couldn't readily identify the source. Had we keep this unit I would have had it inspected and repaired which would have likely been costly.

All that said, the primary dislikes were the full wall slide concern; the extremely noisy and inadequate A/C units; and the roof and slide water leaks. If these issues could have been readily resolved we likely would have kept the coach. But, both frustration, and frankly impulse , drove our decision to trade. And, we sincerely have no regrets about the change. We love our 38P and the 3 A/C units are so very much quite and provide excellent cooling. And I really feel comfortable with the slide mechanisms on the four smaller slides.

Now, believe it or not, the list of things we liked about the 36M would far exceed our dislikes. And the newer model 36M units have addressed some of the issues such as slide mechanisms. I'm sure some of our problems may have very well been exclusive to our coach like the water leaks and noisy A/C units.

In closing, I certainly don't want to offend any 36M owners . But you've asked about OUR particular story and I'm so I'm simply sharing our honest experience.

cheers,
Joopy

[bkervaski]

Wow! Thanks, Jupiter. That's considerably more comprehensive than I deserved.

It was a toss up between the 38P and 36M for us. I special ordered a 36M last week.

I liked both but the 36M checked more of my boxes and there was a concern over the 38P being discontinued.

The items I'm most worried about are TV placement and the power plant. Now you have me worried about AC performance and noise. One of the primary reasons for jumping from entry level to Journey was the ducted air (and that I wanted a diesel pusher).

I wanted the smaller footprint and am a bit embarrassed to admit a little intimidated by driving a bus.

This is our first Class A (coming from an Airstream travel trailer).

[Ohio43147]

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Okay, you asked so in fairness, here's the shortest version I can provide Understand that it's with great reluctance that I share "why" we traded because I truly don't care to step on the toes of the many folks that (rightfully so) love their 36M. I said before that there was much we liked (and miss) about our 36M, but there were problems and design issues that we didn't like.

First, we traded for a 2016 Journey 38P because we really liked many of it's features and the floorpan. Obviously, we're in somewhat of a minority in terms of liking this floorpan since the model has since been discontinued. I'll first touch on just a few of the 38P highlights that we liked.

- an incredible amount of basement storage - over 200 cu ft.
- 3 roof top A/C units (instead of two on 36M)
- over 30" longer wheelbase
- ISL8.9 with 44% more torque than the ISB6.7
- 5,000lb more towing capacity
- no full wall slides or slides with Lippert gear tracks (4 smaller slides)
- drivers side DEF tank
- straight TV viewing for both lounge and bedroom TV's (no over dash TV)
- bedroom privacy w/o closing doors
- large picture window in galley style kitchen
- 2 bedroom windows
- curbside dining
- tile throughout the coach including bedroom
- and many other features that lured us to this model.

Now, here's the list of items that helped us make the decision to trade. Keep in mind our 2013 36M was nearly a year old when we purchased it and therefore essentially out of warranty. Although WGO did make good for a full wall slide repair. We travel a good bit and drove nearly 20K miles on this in about 2 years.

- full wall slide mechanism (Lippert) failed in first month and was always a concern of future failure. Also, rain water would enter onto the bedroom carpet at the back corner of the full wall slide unless slightly tilting the passenger side of the coach. In short, we failed to resolve this leakage issue.
- heavy rain caused significant roof leakage dripping over the interior steps. Again, could not find the source, or be able to fix this leak.
- two rooftop A/C's were incredibly noisy in terms of vibration. So much so that it was difficult to sleep with the rear unit running. Many attempts to reduce the noise level failed. Even vibrated the shower door. New condenser fan blades, roof mount adjustments, sound insulation, etc.
- two rooftop units could not keep this coach cool enough in 90 degree weather. Even installed window awnings and a Magnashade which did help but still needed to nearly constantly run the two extremely noisy A/C's to stay below 80 degrees inside.
- As mentioned, the TV locations were not our cup of tea. The dining table is simply too close to the large mid-coach TV for our liking.
- unless you closed the stiff bi-fold door to the bedroom, people entering the coach had a clear sightline to the bed.
- engine had oil leakage so much so that I couldn't readily identify the source. Had we keep this unit I would have had it inspected and repaired which would have likely been costly.

All that said, the primary dislikes were the full wall slide concern; the extremely noisy and inadequate A/C units; and the roof and slide water leaks. If these issues could have been readily resolved we likely would have kept the coach. But, both frustration, and frankly impulse , drove our decision to trade. And, we sincerely have no regrets about the change. We love our 38P and the 3 A/C units are so very much quite and provide excellent cooling. And I really feel comfortable with the slide mechanisms on the four smaller slides.

Now, believe it or not, the list of things we liked about the 36M would far exceed our dislikes. And the newer model 36M units have addressed some of the issues such as slide mechanisms. I'm sure some of our problems may have very well been exclusive to our coach like the water leaks and noisy A/C units.

In closing, I certainly don't want to offend any 36M owners . But you've asked about OUR particular story and I'm so I'm simply sharing our honest experience.

cheers,
Joopy

My wife and I agree with you about the layout of the 38P and were really amazed (disappointed) when it was discontinued after only one year. We aren't ready to buy a rig yet but have this model on our radar as one to look for as a five year old used coach when the time comes.