TOUR 2021 Alliance Paradigm 385FL Front Living Full Time 5th Wheel Camper Southern RV McDonough, GA

welcome back to southern rv tv i'm your host barry and today i've got jonathan mayfield our sales manager with us and we're inside the 2021 alliance paradigm 385 fl the fl stands for front living front living front lounge yeah i've heard it called a couple of different things but overall it's one of those where your living space is up front over where your kingpin is basically the very front of the fifth wheel closest to the truck uh it provides a lot of really cool aspects to this that we'll go through today that's right and that's where we're sitting right now that big front living room this has seen a little bit of a half year model change even though we're about to push into the 2022 season so there's some updates that we want to look at that's changed since we've had the last one of these in stock we'll get right into it so buckle up and enjoy the ride this is going to be a cool tour guys [Music] [Music] so what's different this is it the back bathroom it is changed ever so slightly but it's a massive massive improvement huge huge uh change in the functionality of it all barry i really like what they've done here um they they moved the lav from the off door side there to the back wall and and flip-flopped it with the toilet and i think you were telling me there's loads more counter space now as a result there is so before this entire this big countertop that we have sitting right here was sandwiched over in this corner we had the window that's on the back wall where this mirror is now and the toilet was just kind of haphazardly out in the center and it just didn't feel like it worked super well you had to kind of walk around the toilet to get to the sink and that was kind of weird but now with the toilet over in the corner and the sink on this back wall we get more storage more counter space and it just flows a lot better the shower same size as far as i can tell it looks the same that's a great shower because it's accommodating for really tall people yeah uh it's nice and large you got that fold down teak seat there that's it right super super cool little addition to the sports plenty of weight there and uh i believe this is a 48 inch shower enclosure so there's there's plenty of room i mean i can throw my elbows out and and have space in here i'm not worried about bumping things this is longer than my shower as a home so it's uh it's actually quite nice um and i love the the look of uh this shower enclosure the kind of the gray marbled tile just gives it a glamorous feel and i like that alliance thinks of the small things they've gone ahead and put in like a little shower caddy in the corner that lets you hang up your loofahs your soaps whatever it is that you bathe with at night and of course they put in this wonderful fantastic fan that's up here at the top that's going to cycle a lot of air out of here a lot of bad smells if it's the right time of day that is fantastic fantastic another cool thing about this bathroom is that it is set up for a washer dryer so you could use that as a giant hanging closet or we could put a stackable washer dryer in there i think that's pretty slick and alliance is big on storage there is no shortage of storage here in the form of drawers so many of them and a nice another hanging closet there so i can see carrying winter and summer clothes in the sky and notice how all those drawers are soft closed we just got to get them close that's right yeah and once there's a little bit of weight in there it works that much better but yeah you can you can actually slam these drawers and nothing slams it's still a nice soft close that's right and of course they're using a nice barn door sliding door style setup that goes into the bedroom speaking of the bedroom let's pop on in there and check that out sounds great all right barry so one of the things you pointed out in the bathroom is all the storage that's in there you've got some wardrobe they carry that right on in here into the master bedroom so you've got some nice hanging space on both sides left and right we've got plenty of big drawers there's actually a nice super deep drawer down below and then your traditional chest of drawers and don't forget hidden storage hidden storage all of our alliances come with this hidden storage panel it's just a great little place to for me i would empty my pockets there it's a junk drawer it is yeah it is yeah it's like your daily stuff um right beside it we've got this little bench again kind of a signature of a paradigm uh the bench has storage inside great place to drop your shoes but you can sit down there and go ahead and and you know tie your shoes that sort of thing in the morning yep that bench just lifts right up it's pretty easy to do it's on a little piano hinge back there so it gives you a spot to store some extra stuff hide some things away and they've thought about all kinds of great stuff in here for instance if you have a cpap machine they've given you a spot for that this little cubby has a plug in the back not to mention on both sides of our king bed yes this is a king bed in the slide we have usb charging as well as a standard power port down below i like some of the other cool little touches that they've given us here like the padded headboard that's pretty slick and then of course you know we have mcd roller shades throughout so that's that name brand easy to use roller shade this does have its own air conditioning back here as well right barry so having three air conditioners on board you're getting over forty thousand btus of air conditioning uh they do direct dump in living room and kitchen here this is a ducted system so that you can get cooling up into the bathroom as well um but yeah having three ac's on board you can run all three on 50 amp service you can run two acs on just 30 amp service so that's a huge benefit if you go to a park where maybe you're a little bit more limited that's right and they didn't skimp on entertainment in the bedroom either they've given us an lg smart tv back here it's in a really great location it's centered up with the king bed and directly across from it so laying there is going to be easy to see and control it of the evening and again that goes back to that whole comfort thing there's that padded headboard back there so sitting up and watching that tv is going to be easy as well going back to the whole storage thing again it's a standard feature we see in a lot of trailers but here we go to lift that up it's on struts and we've got this nice big box that alliance has down here for storing even more stuff stuff is the name of the game stuff is the name of game places to keep your stuff um and one thing that i want to point out is you have these uh main dimmer controls throughout the coach for the main body so uh you can in the evening time just turn this down a bit so that it's not quite so bright i'm one that likes to dim the lights at night but all throughout the coach living room kitchen and here in the bedroom we've got those dimmers excellent yeah it's a super cool bedroom you know the walk around king bed well shuffle around king bed it's just still walk around you can get around it with ease but all of this coming together makes for a really functional space and being attached to that giant bathroom is just awesome but this thing hides yet another bathroom downstairs in the kitchen so that your guests don't have to pass through the bedroom to get to the bathroom and i think that's a really cool feature let's pop down to the lower level and check that out so stepping out of the bedroom and down onto the lower deck we come into our kitchen one of the things i like about this is just how it it's compartmentalized but it doesn't feel small so we actually have separate rooms here we have a living room a kitchen and a bedroom and that's kind of a slick feature because in most fifth wheels it feels like the living room and the kitchen is just one big combined space which sometimes can feel a little overbearing closed in yeah having them on different levels gives you that separate room feeling but without closing it off with a wall that's right we've seen some floor plans 10 15 years ago where they they did like a rear den that was completely closed off and it just that's very compartmentalized but this gives you that separation but you still have complete ability to talk back and forth to where it's kind of like an open floor plan home but it still feels like a separate room that's right now coming in through the front entrance this is the front entrance of the camper right here immediately to my left i have access to the main air conditioner over the kitchen but more importantly i have the kitchen lights right here so as soon as i step up into the camper i can turn on the overhead lights that are directly in this room another super cool feature is the fact that we have a half bath right here and this is accessible with the slides closed so if you're on the road if you're moving around it's easy to jump up through that main entrance and get right to that half bath and as we stated earlier that's going to keep guests from tromping through your bedroom and up into the master bathroom so i think that's a slick feature there is a big fan up above that really exhausts that bathroom as well and then also of note is our control panel is hiding right here in the staircase now you think to yourself well why would they put it right there where the slide is well the slide actually doesn't impede you from getting to that control panel this is not a deep slide so it really only comes into about right here leaving a doorway's worth of space to access all of those individual switches that control each and every little item in the camper now they've done some other cool things they've swapped up the fridge on us this used to be from ge but now it's samsung right right they've gone to the samsung it's still a residential refrigerator uh so it's gonna be 110 you can use the inverter on board to power it as you're driving down the road with your batteries uh but we've got french door freezer down below we've even got a little uh pantry space above great place to put breads inside even more pantries yeah that's right yeah backing up this way we've got generator start this is generator prepped on this model it's wired for solar as well and your inverter control is right there again handy for next to all of your main control panel but great storage there and then as we move into the kitchen one of the key features again with alliance is they've been doing these residential uh four burner uh ranges with the deep oven uh i love the fact they put the the photo of the turkey on there because you can actually put a bird in there barry normally we're talking about cornish hens but in this case you can put a turkey in there now one of the things that i think is cool about this particular model and actually a lot of alliances for that matter with this big center island one thing that's notable about this big center island though it is already set up to have a dishwasher installed now we didn't option it in with one but everything's there for us to remove a couple of drawers and pop in a dishwasher it's not a huge dishwasher but it's going to wash everything from one meal for sure absolutely so for people that don't like to do them by hand there you go we can fix that up for you there is a big old single basin stainless steel sink here it's hidden by this nice little sink cover that extends our counter space and of course you know they've given us the sink faucet that's nice and high to get pots and pans under and it has that extension there so rinsing things out is pretty easy yep and barry we've got the same soft closed drawers and cabinet doors throughout the coach so this is all going to kind of do the work for you not going to have a lot of banging and clanging early morning hours fixing coffee the microwave is convection that's a residential 30 inch over the range microwave yup and then one of the things that i really love is they do these flush floors for the kitchen slide so you'll you'll notice that my heels are on the main body you can just barely see the line here where the kitchen linoleum from the slide comes over but you're not either kicking that as you're trying to cook nor are you tripping over anything it's it's truly a flush floor slide absolutely love it it makes kitchen cleanup easy as well because there's not carpet there as so many manufacturers have done through the years that's right you can walk right up and over and the same thing's happening over here at our dinette this is a super cool dinette it's got that live edge table to it and right now we've brought in a couple of folding chairs these two that are in front are actually folding chairs but the ones that are in the back right here these actually lift up and they have storage hiding up underneath them the folding chairs can fold down and be tucked away under the bed or in a closet if you just want to get them out of the way and only have two chairs at that dinette maybe there's a couple of led lights up above and those big bay windows all the way around it we have them closed right now just because it'll blow out our camera with so much sunlight but that's awesome for during the daytime when you're sitting there eating you can see 360 or 180 i should say 360. 180 out those bay windows and look around now they've gone in and given us a few other things too there's more storage as jonathan was saying here but i like the fact that they've given us kind of a kitchen appliance counter great place for your coffee maker keurig anything like that and you've got the outlet there yep you got the outlet right there so that's the spot to set it out and make use of it and not have to worry about it being in the way on your main kitchen counters you guys that's kind of the kitchen in a nutshell let's jump up onto the main floor and take a look at this awesome front living room with opposing slides so up here in this main living room as you're seeing we have three acs on board you talked about that earlier one of the direct dumps goes right into this living room so it's going to make it nice and cool if you have guests this is awesome for entertaining those guests because we have three couches in here you could easily sit down six people maybe even eight if you get some kids in between adults on these sofas that are off to the side and at six foot three i've got plenty of space and i can even walk under that air conditioner without even coming in contact i don't even think my hair brushed no you had a solid engine yeah so i've got plenty of space in here i don't feel encroached upon and having these opposing slides so both these sides have slides that go out that host these couches really just kind of opens up this floor space in here dramatically and speaking of these couches they're both sleeper sofas they're both sleeper sofas they're going to fold out and give you accommodations for i mean i would say as many as four more people so the coach can sleep six for being a little more reasonable you know it's it's roughly a full-size bed so a child in an adult per maybe not two adults just depends on how cozy you want to get that's right but yeah we've got the the opposing sleeper sofas the movie theater seats that are facing the tv they're directly in front uh there's a couple of things that i love about them number one is these are power so just push button these just come right out and just give you a really nice seating surface and this goes all the way back keeps going there we go so really just a comfortable place to just sit back and chill and the one thing that i'm missing is a place for a cold beer but there it is there it is got the cup holders built in uh so uh watching the race or the game or heck even a movie at night that's right it's a great little spot and all of that is directly across from this giant entertainment center i'm really digging on this entertainment center again we've got lg smart tv big old tv that's in that entertainment center we've got a jensen head unit up above i think this is a little bit different model than we've seen in the previous uh incarnation of this coach and that may just be the supply chain due to supply chain issues thanks to covid but i'll take it this is a decent model it's bluetooth capable and it looks like it's got a dvd player built into it so that's pretty cool they've given us an extra plug and a shelf up here so we can store trinkets knickknacks and other things that go along with this big entertainment center not to mention there's a lot of storage around this thing there really is so you've got cabinets on both sides you've got the overhead cabinet above nice shelves on each side and the side cabinets and then down low once again shelving down there but one of the coolest things to this one barry we've got this pull out storage pull out storage so again a big key feature with alliance this to me is a great spot to keep those those linens and things for these two sleeper sofas you've got plenty of space in there for some extra pillows blankets some sheets of course even even like a bed roll if you wanted to to make this extra comfortable for grandma you can you can put an egg crate in there or a mattress topper make it nice and cozy that's right and one last thing i want to point out while we're up here is something that i just think is is just good looking so they've added this row of accent lights up above our crown molding and they run from this front of the room all the way to the back back there you could cut down the lights and leave those on and it's just going to give a nice little kind of shine to the room across the ceiling a little bit of a glow so that's a very very cool feature that just looks good it classes it up a little bit absolutely yeah that that reminds me almost like of a movie theater like i'm a big movie guy i like going to the movies so when i was talking about sitting here and watching a movie and just enjoying things i would leave those on everything else would be dark and that way i get the full experience it's super cool so let's pop outside and check out some of the features there because there's a lot more storage to take a look at on this let's check it out all right let's go so i want to start right here at the back of the camper because we were talking about storage and storage is definitely the name of the game because of that raised deck they've given us all kinds of crazy storage including this crazy drawer this drawer supports 800 pounds barry i mean great space to put all kinds of gear you can put your cooler you can put kayaks if you peek up in there the drawer is probably about seven and a half eight feet but that drawer goes or that space goes beyond the drawer kind of high up in there i'm thinking kayaks 11 maybe close to 12 feet long can go up in there it is a big big space you could carry all kinds of fun things with you on vacation not to mention they've extended the ability to carry even more stuff by giving us this two inch receiver hitch with four pin wiring you've got the four pin wiring and it's got the tabs for the safety chains so even if you wanted to tandem toe check your local laws uh you've got the ability to do that that's right ladder heads up to a fully blockable roof and we're wired for a backup camera up there as well if we push around to the door side of the camper we notice that we have even more access to that storage our baggage doors have slam latches magnetic catches or struts to keep them open so that's super convenient that goes all the way through to the other side of that big storage where there's exact opposite doors just like these on the other side that's right and barry of course these are laminated insulated baggage doors so they're going to keep this area a little more climate controlled than just the the little thin doors and you'll notice up here we've actually got coax so you can actually do an outdoor tv here and you've got 110 here on the bulkhead and again that additional storage space that tucks around there we've got outdoor speakers yup so that's going to add to the outdoor entertainment value up above we've got two huge patio awnings both of which have led lights underneath the bottom of them and they are tilt adjustable so again just loads of patio space that's right i love these big awnings and how long they are they really cover up almost the length of the trailer here now this is running on a pretty cool setup here in terms of heavy heavy heavy duty tires and a heavy duty shackle and suspension system this down there as well not to mention we talk about heavy duty you know everything here is built with comfort and ease in mind we have this solid step staircase that goes up and down and this is on that strut assist so it makes it easy to lower and raise without having to deal with the weight of those stairs and the legs are adjustable as well for uneven terrain down below they've even given us a really large grab handle for getting up and down inside of the trailer all great features barry you've got that safety light up above so your porch light is going to give you some nice light around here at nighttime so that you're not tripping over any of the items that are out here under your patio um and make it safety again the safety i think is kind of the key we're focusing on whether we're talking about the overbuilt axles and tires or the stairs i think we're talking about safety and something we can't see because this daytime out alliance puts ground effect lighting that's right as well so the underbody of the coach kind of lights up in all the primary areas i think that's really it's it's it's both a safety feature but it looks really cool in the camp it does it does i mean who doesn't want a nice little glow around the bottom that's right and right here off of the kitchen slide we've got a gfci outlet so i can think of all kinds of uses for that we're right here under these big awnings so you could be sitting out here having a picnic whatever it is you might want to plug something in a little stereo maybe just charge your phone who knows that's right there for you yeah and speaking of places to plug things in we've got a water port right here this is going to plumb into your main freshwater plumbing system so that you can have a little sprayer out here to rinse anything off and then down below this little blue plug that plums into your main propane system so again hook up a little grill or something out here just loads of space out here to be able to picnic and have a good time and of course that leads to the pass-through storage compartment barry that's right and something that's cool about this something we don't see that often in a front living floor plan is this actually does pass through a lot of times this gets cut off and it becomes a small storage box due to limitations in the way that the platform was built but here this goes clear to the other side and on the other side we'll get to it in a little bit but that's going to have our main hookup panel as well yep and of course they're running the 30 pound propane tanks one per side you've got space to be able to upgrade these to 40 pound tanks if you want again saddlebag storage is what i call it you've got one on each side of the coach balances things out makes things symmetrical now something i noticed earlier when we were looking at this is that we brought this in generator prepped right barry so it's generator prep you've got that steel box in there that's a big safety feature to enclose the generator uh your propane line is already here and plugged your wiring harness for the remote start switch that's inside the coach at the main control panel is right here as well we just punch out a few holes set it in place and connect the wiring to the transfer switch and once again the transfer switch is already here so all the hard work has been done that's right and on the other side of that box we've got a position to host our battery as well as all of our hydraulic pump and motors and right here at this front cap we've got this awesome rotoflex pin box this has an escutcheon plate built into it and that's going to help limit some of the chucking that you experience when towing this actually does provide a more comfortable ride i've experienced it myself this compared to a standard pin box and it does make a difference absolutely just just the fact that it flexes it's almost like a rocking chair but just a little bit of flex can go a long way so that it's not bumping you as you're going down the road that's right and they've given us load lights and conveniently located a switch right there on the side of the camper that's right it's right here so it's easy to flip on and off from the driver's side of the camper when you're hitching and unhitching and again for convenient we've got can't pop it open this is where our control panel is for the six point leveling system uh it's the level up system from lci um it's the same thing that we've been running for years it's a tried and true method gives us really strong hydraulic pistons to level the coach and you know really make it a solid platform when you're camping that's right the other side of that pass-through storage that's pretty cool this is our main docking station we showed you guys the spray port on the other side now this little hose right here it can be used on this side or that side it plugs in the same way you just pop it into that quick disconnect there and then we have instant water now that's going to be awesome for hosing off dirty bikes dirty dogs all sorts of different things at the end of an adventurous day absolutely barry so you've got that that spray port there they've given you 110 volt outlet duplex outlet you switch to your water pump all of your key in terms of winterizing and such all these handles are color coded along with the the key up here so that you know exactly what you're doing when it's time to winterize yep and notice that we have a nice big rubber latch right here we can pop that off and access the back side of that and it's going to give your tech just a service tech just an easier way to diagnose an issue as well as the owner for that matter yeah it's i view that as no different than popping the hood you want an easy way to access your engine on your automobile you want to pop the hood check things out same thing they've given you that latch that was one of the the things that they changed on the fly by a customer recommendation uh instead of screwing that panel on they give that little t-handle latch you pop it open you can get back there quick and easy now something that didn't mention inside looking at all these 90 degree shut off valves for the water in and out that's something alliance does this pretty slick at every single terminus for water inside whether it's your kitchen sink your bathroom sink your toilet your shower they give you a 90 degree valve to shut off water right there at that terminus so if you are having a problem pop it off and then deal with it later that's right exactly you don't have to worry about uh leaky pipes and that sort of thing you're not cutting off the entire water supply to the coach due to one leaky faucet you can just turn it off continue using the coach as necessary and get to it you know as soon thereafter as possible yep and then pushing down i want you to notice at the top of this slide we have these solera slide topper little plates that are up there right barry so what they're doing is they're prepping from the factory for us to be able to install slide awnings here it's going to make it that much quicker and easier but more than anything we're not even going to penetrate the body we don't have to worry about sealant or anything the brackets those those face plates are going to slide off the brackets will slide on the slide topper goes on they wind it for spring tension and then you're set to go it's all super seamless and you know i know some people are black and white about slide toppers you know they either love them or they hate them so that just gives you an easy way to option it in after the fact that's right exactly they put the main shore power right here above the axles now this this is a 50 amp service camper so it's a nice big 50 amp service line that they've put on there and then behind the axles right here we have our gray tank and black tank poles as well as some sewer hose storage which i think is really cool right exactly i was going to point that out barry you've got your sewer hose storage down below your hookup for your sewage dump they're convenient right there beside each other uh and again back to the opposite side of these big storage compartments that we have about lost it that we have back here um so you've got that that storage even on the off door side here to be able to put whatever extra gear i mean heck put your power cord right here don't haul it all the way up to the front that's right you don't have to you've got all the storage right here in the back well i tell you what let's pop back around to the front and wrap this up with some final thoughts sounds great barry all right so this coach as we can see it's big it's awesome i mean big is the key word there it is a little bit heavy coming in at like 16 yeah gross is 16 i believe it's going to weigh a little under 15. so roughly 2 000 pounds of cargo capacity there what are your bigger fifth wheels i mean this is over 42 feet that said when we're talking about a full-time fifth wheel i feel like it's right in the wheelhouse for most of what we sell in the way of the big full-time coaches and i think this is really where it shines in my opinion is that this would be an awesome house to live in i mean it's a house on wheels you get to go wherever you want but it's got everything you need it's well insulated it's got awesome ac as well as heat not to mention we have full washer dryer hookups i mean it's loaded with residential amenities you're right about that brad i'm not going to disagree with that however i will say that this would make an awesome weekender as well whether you're a family and you need to sleep you know even two larger kids along with two adults or even just as a couple this would make a great long week long week or weekend coach you've got all the luxuries to make setup and tear down quick and easy with the leveling system everything being convenient you've got plenty of storage so you don't even have to unpack the coach you just leave it all in there that's true i didn't really think about the family aspect because you do have those two couches up front that can fold out and make beds you could sleep six in there pretty easily not to mention it's prepped for a generator so if we were to pop a generator into the front of it and you've got one of those families just like at the ballpark all the time tailgating running around from place to place i can see how this would be awesome as a fully self-contained coach just to plop down into the parking lot and hang out at the park all weekend long yeah go wherever i mean it's it could absolutely be just a spur of the moment take it wherever you need to go and and use it and it's 100 self-contained so there it is guys this still alliance 385 fl we've got it right now at southern rv in mcdonough georgia you can check us out online at southernrv.com and guys until next time happy camping you

Channel: Southern RV

Views: 1,483

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Alliance RV, Paradigm, paradime, 385fl, frontliving, front living

Id: 0hVxZNFrXl4

Length: 30min 43sec (1843 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 18 2021