Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1? – "FROM OLD FORUM"

Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby renoven » 09 Nov 2014 11:50

We are considering purchasing a 2009 with dual pane windows. We would love to hear as much in detail as possible about your experience with this rig. Also, what you are towing it with.

We are not full-timers and wonder if this unit is overkill for traveling around to see the country. We can also live in it while we remodel our house for about 6 months or so.

Thx in advance for any help you can give!
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Model Number of RV: 36max1
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby A&J’s Carrilite » 09 Nov 2014 12:52

We’re the same Alie & Jim from the RV-Dreams site…
We love ours!
2009 CarriLite 36MAX1
Volvo 610
2 cats 1 dog
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby renoven » 09 Nov 2014 13:50

A&J’s Carrilite wrote:
We’re the same Alie & Jim from the RV-Dreams site…
We love ours!

Thank you! Is there anyone else? We would love to hear from as many people as possible! :)
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby retiredfields » 09 Nov 2014 14:07

I’ve had my 2011, since new. Good rig. I will be upgrading to 17.5 wheels/tires this winter. No major problems. I have repaired anything that needed it. Tows very well with a 2011 Ford F350 and a TS3 air hitch.

I ordered mine with single pane glass, hence no fogging. I probably have 20,000+ miles on the trailer. The Carriage build quality is fair to good.

I run close to 17,500 lbs.

We have been full-time in the rig, since new. I had all motor homes before this and prefer the 5th wheel for full-time use.

Check the living room slide operation. I made some mods to mine. The factory design is not good.

Plenty of storage, both inside and out.
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby renoven » 09 Nov 2014 14:34

retiredfields wrote:
I’ve had my 2011, since new. Good rig. I will be upgrading to 17.5 wheels/tires this winter. No major problems. I have repaired anything that needed it. Tows very well with a 2011 Ford F350 and a TS3 air hitch.

I ordered mine with single pane glass, hence no fogging. I probably have 20,000+ miles on the trailer. The Carriage build quality is fair to good.

I run close to 17,500 lbs.

We have been full-time in the rig, since new. I had all motor homes before this and prefer the 5th wheel for full-time use.

Check the living room slide operation. I made some mods to mine. The factory design is not good.

Plenty of storage, both inside and out.

Thx! What do you mean about the factory design not being good on the LR slide? Is that the full wall slide? What kinds of mods did you do exactly?

Are the carri-lite dual pane windows prone to fogging? The one that we’re looking at, has fogged windows! I always heard that dual pane windows are better than the single. I also heard that Carriage was quality. So, how do the two mix, that Carriage has fogged windows already, and only 5 years old??? :cry:
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Model Number of RV: 36max1
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby retiredfields » 09 Nov 2014 19:00

The electric motor mount is poor and has been the topic of many folks on this forum. There are also mods posted to correct some of the issues. The living room slide rides up and over a plastic rim/tray when closing and drops into this rim when fully opened. This is how the flush floor is accomplished. Several folks have had screws back out of the plastic which tears up the underside of the slide. I have not had this problem, but another one. The plastic tray is 90 degrees vertical to the horizontal motion of the slide. My slide was hitting the tray head on and would not come in any further. I made some hardwood wedges and installed them. This gave the slide a sloped surface to ride up on and over the top of the tray.

My experience with dual pane windows, in the many rigs I’ve owned, is very poor. They all fog sooner or later. The single panes are clearer to look through and will never fog. In very humid climates though, the single panes may get condensation on the inside surface.

The Carriage designs and engineering are pretty good. The line workers that put them together, that’s another story.
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby Traveler » 09 Nov 2014 20:02

The dual pane insulated glass for Carriage was manufactured by Hehr Window company that makes windows for a number of different companies. Since we retired 16 years ago we’ve had 5 RV all of them with insulated glass. We’ve had only one go bad but at the same time in our motor homes we had to replace 2 windshields and 1 on our pick-up. For us we like dual pane because it cuts down on condensation, outside noise and keeps the RV cooler and warmer. Yes, the glass can get what they call internal condensation, or moisture between the glass, but most don’t have a problem.
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Re: Anyone own a Carri lite 36max1?
Postby r2rr » 06 May 2015 00:07

We bought the same year model in 2012. There are issues to deal with, many mentioned above. But its a great trailer. All RVs will keep you busy fixing things or making upgrades, just like a house.
I fix things myself, almost always, so I’m ok with that.
We found that the biggest problem is this:
We bought it to travel around, park, and thing go see the sites before “towing-on” to the next area. But we are so comfortable spending time in the trailer (mostly due to its layout), we don’t leave it to see the sites as much as we thought. It’s that comfy.
Buy it, but make sure you have enough machine to tow it (they are HEAVY), and more importantly, be able to stop it! They want to push you down any grade.
We DO love ours, and find ourselves mentioning it to each other every time we use it.

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