Toy Haulers and Golf Carts

[Napria]

If you have a Toy Hauler and golf cart you bring to the Fort, tell me everything about it! We are getting ready to trade in our wonderful basic bunkhouse fifth wheel for a toy hauler (what should we get??) and get a golf cart for our family of four, which will pretty much only be used at Fort Wilderness.

Tell me about yours, get me excited, give me tips & help me avoid pitfalls

 

[2goofycampers]

We don't have one but our friends do. Be sure to measure height clearance of the toy hauler before you buy a GC ( especially a lifted one) or big tires. He has to put the old tires on to get it in the TH and take it out and change the tires.

 

[Teamubr]

We have a Heartland Cyclone we use for the race team. We put a Miata in the back (14 ft garage). It also has the loft bedroom above half the garage and some upper cabinets. The garage has 2 queen beds on tracks that go up to the ceiling.

As above, I'd measure height issues, but ours wouldn't have any trouble with a golf cart.

We bought this over the winter when we added a 3rd car to the team. We had to get a 2nd trailer and decided the living quarters would save $$ on hotel rooms. The only issue is trying to cool the garage. Ours has dual A/C units, but the second is in the front bedroom. That leaves the main unit to cool everything else. The garage only has 1 A/C vent in it and that isn't enough to cool a 14 ft aluminum box. If you don't plan on using the garage for living/sleeping space this shouldn't be an issue.

j

 

[Napria]

Thanks! I hadn't thought about height of the cart, although we are looking for a basic cart, in a pretty color (well, the girls would like a pretty color, lol.)

We will probably get a 10' garage, possibly 12' but not longer. But the kids will sleep in it, so AC is a consideration.

 

[Teamubr]

But the kids will sleep in it, so AC is a consideration.

I have seen some toy haulers with 3 A/C units on the roof. I'm not sure how the wiring works out on a 50 amp circuit, but we are considering doing that for ours. It would be worth asking if you are looking at buying new.

j

 

[Talascam]

Hi! We are new to the DIS Board but we have learned so much in 24 hours!

We fell in love with Toy Haulers when we were staying in Fort Wilderness in our 38 ft Seneca motorhome in 2010. We have had three motorhomes but started our RV career with a fifth wheel and have been camping in FW 5 times since 2006. The toy hauler was appealing because we could stow the golf cart and still have a truck to drive around in. We towed a 12 ft cargo trailer behind the MH and rented a car when we arrived but in 2010 one of our dogs needed emergency surgery and had we not had the rental car, we would have had to drive the MH back and forth to the emerg vet and the regular vet. That clinched the decision to return to fifth wheels.

There was a couple in our loop who had a toy hauler and they invited us in to look around. We loved it. The wife had set up the garage as a media room with surround sound, the dinette folded down into a day bed with lots of pillows. She had rolled out a carpet and had beautiful drapes on the windows. It was a Raptor and I could not believe how fabulous it looked dressed up. It made me change my mind about toy haulers being so utilitarian and "mannish". When we got home we began our research and fell in love with the 3800 Cyclone by Heartland like Teamubr did. We love it and it is so luxurious and comfortable. In 2012 we camped in Ontario. We were afraid to take a brand new unit to Florida for its first trip but we needn't have worried. Heartland took great care of us and fixed any issues we had, even sending a truck to us at a campsite. Great company!

Anyway, we can sleep 10 easily with one person on the dinette and one on the pullout futon so we sleep 12 total. What we love is having two bathrooms, a 2 piece in the garage and a full bathroom beside the master. So handy with the teenagers who love the 2 queen beds in the 12 ft garage. I do agree that it gets warm back there but we set up the tower fan in the living room and blow it into the garage which helps. We also have two air conditioners and should have asked for the MB air to be moved into the garage. Next time!!

This is a very long post but we love our unit and would share any info we can to help someone else purchase the right toy hauler. We researched all winter to make sure we spent our money on the right one for us. Our golf cart has 3 inch lifts on the wheels and we have about 6 inches clearance with the roof. Perfect!

The only downside with these fifth wheels that I can find is that when we stop somewhere, the fridge is blocked in with the 2 opposing slides pulled in so having lunch on the road means we have to pack the garage fridge and crawl around the golf cart to get to the food. Not very convenient but it's not worth giving up the toy hauler to make lunch on the road as we drive down the road. I am sure there are fifth wheels and toy haulers that don't have this issue but the 3800 HD we bought had more benefits for us.

But I sure do miss the easy potty breaks in the MH...lol.

 

[Napria]

Thank you so much for your story! We looked at Cyclones and had possibly considered them, but when I asked about quality issues on an RVing forum I got some pretty strong warnings from unhappy Cyclone owners. Sounds like you are happy with yours, though. I may have to look into it more.

 

[Teamubr]

We looked at Cyclones, but when I asked about quality issues on an RVing forum.

I used to be a regular on the RV forums. You have to remember that the forums give the complainers a really large voice. If things were as terrible as you read, the companies wouldn't stay in business.

We bought our Cyclone used. It's a 2010 model. We are based out of St Louis and have used it racing in IL, IA, NE, KS, OK and took it to Destin for Christmas since we bought it in the off season. The only problem we have had was one of the slides leaking while driving on the highway during terrible storms. The dealer realinged the slide, no charge. Everything else works perfectly, including the electric awning we tried to tear off in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago.

Fit and finish inside looks like a new trailer. There are 3 of us drivers and typically a crew of 2 more. If families go, we are up to 8 total staying in the trailer.

j

 

[Talascam]

Napria, you can go to the Heartland forums and click on the Cyclone section. You can read all about people and their issues etc. the one thing we liked about Heartland was that their company reps monitor the forums and chime in when asked to in response to questions or advice. We loved that! We suspected Heartland was the way to go after a friend of ours bought one and had very little issues with it. Even the guy who replaced our awning after a storm ripped it off said he gets few Heartland products back for warranty work.

Have fun shopping!

 

[Napria]

Napria, you can go to the Heartland forums and click on the Cyclone section. You can read all about people and their issues etc. the one thing we liked about Heartland was that their company reps monitor the forums and chime in when asked to in response to questions or advice. We loved that! We suspected Heartland was the way to go after a friend of ours bought one and had very little issues with it. Even the guy who replaced our awning after a storm ripped it off said he gets few Heartland products back for warranty work.

Have fun shopping!

Well, my current favorite, the Cyclone 4000, is probably not going to happen, and not due to quality issues. I absolutely LOVE this floor plan, and after reading what the previous posters said I was getting into full campaign mode to convince my husband to consider it. But then he asked me how long it is. It's nearly 44 feet! He made a very good point that having a Fifthwheel that long would mean no more trips to our favorite state parks. They don't have sites that can accommodate that size RV

 

[Barney Fife]

First let me admit I'm one of those on the RV forums who really rants against his Cyclone. We've had ours just over two years. The first year, it seemed like something would break every single trip.

We'd only had it two months when the brakes failed. Our dealer tried everything but to no avail. We tried to get help from Heartland but they wanted nothing to do with us. It was "Dexter made the axles, deal with Dexter." I paid $55,000 for a camper and after two months the brakes fail. The manufacturer of the camper doesn't care? Wow. Finally we did contact Dexter and after much research, Dexter upgraded (for free) the brakes to a heavier unit and they were great. Excellent customer service from Dexter.

In addition to the first year with the brakes: Three failed water pumps, two AC repairs, wallpaper peeling, door trim popping off in numerous places, doors not lined up with their jambs, black tank flush flooded the storage compartment the first time we used it, winterization hose installed incorrectly and couldn't be pulled out, right side plastic fender flew off on the interstate because the screws backed out and the plastic cracked, and the motor for the rear stabilizer locked up.

After one year, the dreaded TowMax tires did their usual thing. "Boom" on the right front tire. Tire dealer said "tread separation". $1400 to replace 15 month old tires. $700 in fender damage from the tread beating the side. When I called Heartland, the tech tried his absolute best to convince me the TowMax tires were "the best tire they've ever used". I reminded him of the numerous tire failures on the Heartland forum but he claimed he wasn't aware of them. Hmmm?

Some of these things are not made by Heartland. I understand that. But as many problems as we had (especially after the brakes issue), customer service from Heartland was pitiful whenever we needed assistance.
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Now back to your original post. The roof height concern for the vast majority of toy haulers and golf carts is only for ones with a loft. That's what hangs down so low, it gets really close to the roof.

Raptor, Fuzion, Voltage, XLR, Inferno, and Seismic are nice models to consider.

As for the three ACs. I believe they are all only to run two at a time. Not enough power to run three. The Cyclones with three ACs have a transfer switch to allow power to flow to the bedroom or the garage AC.

Golf Carts: Look craigslist as well as dealers in your area, EZ-GO and Club Car are the norm. Club Car has an aluminum frame which means no rust. Yamahas are not quite as popular at the campgrounds. They are in general more difficult to work on and upgrade.

Is it worth it? For us, we couldn't imagine going to the Fort, Ocean Lakes, or Willow Tree without our cart. Its a whole other experience.

Browse through this thread. I started it under my old screen name years ago. That's our first cart back in 2008.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1714694

 

[Talascam]

Wow! You've had some serious issues. We've had so many issues with Jayco products and a short lived Voltage toy hauler that there weren't many others we felt confident in. I can only hope that we get better service than you have. We will certainly find out...we leave for Florida on Thursday and check into the Fort on July 14. The longest trip to date. Will keep you posted!

As for the golf cart, I totally agree with you Barney Fife...we don't go anywhere without our golf cart. The dogs wouldn't hear of it!

 

[Napria]

Barney Fife I loved seeing that Golf Cart thread! Why hasn't it been active in over a year? The pics were great!

 

[Barney Fife]

Barney Fife I loved seeing that Golf Cart thread! Why hasn't it been active in over a year? The pics were great!

Not sure why it slowed down. I do know a lot of folks who used to hang out here have moved on.

Maybe now that its back up, people will chime in. When we go in November, I'll take some more pics. Its amazing how many different custom carts you see down there.

 

[lufty]

We bought a Jayco Recon last year (was a couple years old when we got it). We love it! Our golf cart fits in the back just great. We have always had good luck with Jayco's. Tried a Forest River Wildcat and it was a nightmare. Bought it brand new and got rid of it in less than a year. Major piece of junk. I think no matter what brand you get you will always get the chance of getting a lemon. Though here at the campground we are staying at for the summer, there are 4 of the Raptors. 3 of them have reported quality issues. All three are with in the same 2 year range, so maybe just a bad few years? When you look at the rv, just use best judgement and look it over really well. I noticed some things with the Wildcat when looking to buy but didn't go with my gut and regretted it later!! Now I am trying to convince hubby we need to go to the Fort this winter!

 

[Napria]

Thanks lufty. I hope what we end up with is as good to us as our current one was.

We've currently got it narrowed down to a Raptor 342 or Voltage 3600. Of course, we may end up getting something totally different! Our current fifth wheel was totally cleaned out and scrubbed from top to bottom in preparation for selling it. For all of you out there camping in an RV, do you realize how much STUFF is in there?! We thought we had emptied it each season, but goodness, there was a TON of STUFF still in there! Lol.