And I'm guessing you meant it differently than the salesman thought.
Jayco makes a quality trailer. The only problem I have is the dealers around me think they have gold. I can find a comparable trailer for 10-20% less than the Jayco.
You are right. Lots of good info.You're full of quality infoThe hubby will appreciate this for sure. He can interpret for me when he gets home
We have a F350 diesel, so we have to find a trailer that works for that since we won't be purchasing another truck.
TRUE! One guy we encountered literally beat on the walls of an Evergreen Element to demonstrate how strong they were compared to other campers saying "can't penetrate these babies! No sir!!" It was something stratight out of a John Candy movie. The only word that came to my mouth was "wow."
I will say this....out of the 5 salespeople we've spoken with, there was nothing negative about Jayco. All had positives to say. Makes one think, ya know.
WOW what a drive!! Canada to Florida! You must have been going to Ocala, FL for horses...tons of them there.
My hubby and kids would tent camp in a heartbeat, however I'm not that brave, yet. DH is taking the boys over Spring Break while my daughter and I take a short cruise on the Magic.
If it were only 2 of us - or even 3 - we could definitely go smaller. My parents have actually been looking for a camper, too, around 20 feet or so. The one they like is a Flagstaff Micro Lite (Forest River). And I think you're right about the different companies...kinda llike Chevy vs. Ford....a bit subjective.
We'll be heading to Tampa in January for the Florida Super Show. Several of you mentioned checking out one of these before making a purchase, so we're gonna take your advice. Hopefully it's one of the better shows.And I'm guessing you meant it differently than the salesman thought.
That's food for thought.You are right. Lots of good info.
Here is my 2 cents about the truck. All trucks come with a rating of what they can tow. Make sure you know what your truck is capable of before you shop for your camper. The closer you get to the rating, the more difficult it will be to tow. I don't suggest towing at a "Rated" capacity if you can at all help it. You will find issues like fuel economy and sway will play into it not to mention slower towing up hills (and potentially harder braking going down hill.)
When looking at the towing ratings remember there are a couple of different ratings. Tongue weight, Gross vehicle weight, Gross Axle weight, combined weight, etc... With the camper, the weights are often given as Dry and gross. Dry is (typically) as you get it from the dealer without any luggage, food, waste or water. I also don't think it includes things like the weight of the LP gas, so keep all that in mind. You should probably look at the max (gross) weights to determine worst case. (If max gross weight of the trailer is 10000# and you can only tow 9500#, you could have issues.) The dually may or may not be a factor. Certainly it will make towing, in many ways, easier, but the trade offs (as others have mentioned) might not be worth it.
We have a Coachman Capri 27TBS TT with one slide. It has worked well but we are ready to get a little larger. I want a 5er but finding one with a bunkhouse that we like (and can reasonably afford) is proving difficult. We pull our TT with an F250 (Gas not Diesel) and it pulls it fine. I used to use a F150 and it did well, but the F250 is much nicer. Is it needed? No, but it is nicer. Better MPG when towing and absolutely no struggle, however, Higher maintenance costs, registration costs, insurance, truck payment, etc... I could do without.
I suggest if you already have the F350, find it's limits and stay (ideally) 10 to 20% below the limits and you won't be disappointed, whether it's a TT or 5er.
Happy Camper Hunting.
I agree with all the good advice so far. I recently just moved up to a Fifth Wheel. The difference is awesome. I now love my camper. I procrastinated for 4 months over my truck being able to handle it. I own a Ford F150 with the Triton 5.4 V8. I purchased an Open Range 315BHS. The camper tows great with no sway. Do your research on the truck's capabilities then see if the camper you like fits into those parameters. I'm sure if you stay under 36 feet you will be fine with the single wheels. Below is mine just arrived at the Fort last month.
to the camping family!
We may need to start our own forum for "Truck Talk", but we can certainly go on and on about them.
What's wrong with the 6.7? I did a lot of mods to my old 7.3, but that just got it to the stock levels of this 6.7. Even towing 20,000+ lbs, I rarely felt like I really needed more.
The Dodges probably do have one of the better engines and I think they finally have the transmission issues settled, but you are stuck with a Dodge cab to sit on the thing. I don't think I could stand all the squeaking and rattling. (And I grew up racing Mopars)
This is the same dilemma I am having. I need a space for DS, but I want more living room/kitchen space. I've been looking at the mid-bunk models since last year. They have a bunk room between the front bedroom and the main living space. Most mid line (and some entry level) manufacturers are coming out with them. I have a spreadsheet started trying to see who has one and who doesn't. Some have lofts above the bunk room to add even more living space. They seem to be the best of both worlds, but they are big. 38-42 ft, depending on model. I'm trying to justify replacing my completely fine traditional bunk house that is nearly paid off for another 10 years of payments. Trying to do the math and rationalize it. The RV shows this January may help me decide.
The 07 was the last year of the 6.0 (pre DPF/emissions) Powerstrokes. The earlier years had injector issues that typically popped up by 75,000 miles. If it has over 75k on the odometer, it has either been fixed or won't have the issues. By the 07 models, most of that was resolved anyway. The rest of the drive train and truck is as reliable as any other F-series truck.
Just the fuel mileage over a gasser is worth it to me. Now, if the price of diesel would go back below gas, then the math would really work out.
