Opinions Please

[mountainkowboy]

We are seriously considering going back to a 5er and have been looking for a used mid to high end unit. Does anyone have an opinion on King of the Road 5er's? They appear to be on the higher end of the spectrum, from what we can tell.

[mountainkowboy]

We are seriously considering going back to a 5er and have been looking for a used mid to high end unit. Does anyone have an opinion on King of the Road 5er's? They appear to be on the higher end of the spectrum, from what we can tell.

[jperry29]

Don't know if it makes any difference to you or not, but King of the Road is out of business. Just as long as you don't mind not having a factory making parts then you can probably pick up a well respected rig at a good price.

[jojolima]

They were a very heavy unit. Check your tow vehicle that it is large enough to handle the fifth wheel.

[TXiceman]

You do need to check the weights. KOR's are HEAVY and it is probably over the limits for your 97 Dodge.

Ken

[mountainkowboy]

Its a Royalite and nada has its weight at 11K, and the Dodge will do 13K when loaded for travel. 32' with 2 slides, I havent been able to find any more info on the unit.

[Ray,IN]

I'll bet that 11K is dry weight as published in advertising literature. What you need is GVW for the unit. Neither can you go by advertised towing capacity for your truck, actual loaded ready to go camping weight is required. Subtract that actual weight from GCWR, then you have actual towing capacity.

[mountainkowboy]

That weight is a "real world" weight on the Dodge. It has a GCWR of 20K and she runs just under 7K with fuel, wife, dogs, and me ready to tow. I know because I scaled it when we had our HR 5er, and that coach grossed at 11,900. I think that that is a dry weight, but I thought that it would come in under 13K loaded, but maybe not.

[TXiceman]

Our old 95 Avion 5er (36.5' and 2 slides) had a GVWr of 14,400# and loaded we were normally around 13,500#, but fo a long trip we pushed it up to 14,000#. I would suspect you will be over 13,000# on the KOR. On my Ford DRW, we we were 1500 to 2000# over the trucks rated GCWR of 20,000#, but about 600# under on the trucks GVWR.

The Dodge will pull it, just be sure you know where your weight will be once loaded.

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mountainkowboy:
Its a Royalite and nada has its weight at 11K </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Dollars to donuts that's not the rig's *real life* weight. Dry weight doesn't include any options, propane, water, or (usually) stuff like batteries...and it certainly won't include any dealer-added or owner-added items. If you're really interested in this 5er, I'd highly recommend getting it weighed before signing on the dotted line.

Assuming that it's dry weight leaves you with enough CCC to load it up for a trip without going over your truck's ratings, then I wouldn't worry about the manufacturer not being in business any more. A used rig won't have a factory warranty, anyway, and all appliances are made by other companies and are common to other brands. The only thing to worry about is stuff made specifically by KoR...and any competent service center should be able to handle any repairs needed.

[mountainkowboy]

Your probably right, I'm not concerned about if the Dodge will tow it. With the mods that are done, it can easily tow a gross of 26K. But I will never get its GC re-classified, so I'll stay within the factory limits.

[Steve Rankin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mountainkowboy:
Your probably right, I'm not concerned about if the Dodge will tow it. With the mods that are done, it can easily tow a gross of 26K. But I will never get its GC re-classified, so I'll stay within the factory limits. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Reminds me of what we were dealing with recently when we decided to downsize from our Beaver Patriot to the TT. We found a great Dodge, last year of the B5.9. The engine could pull any trailer on the market, but the transmission couldn't, it needed the 3.55 diffs swapped for 3.73 or a splitter and a PacBrake. I so much wanted the older mechanical engine, but the rest of the truck wasn't set up for the rating we needed and upgrading the truck wouldn't upgrade the ratings.

[mountainkowboy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Rankin:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mountainkowboy:
Your probably right, I'm not concerned about if the Dodge will tow it. With the mods that are done, it can easily tow a gross of 26K. But I will never get its GC re-classified, so I'll stay within the factory limits. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Reminds me of what we were dealing with recently when we decided to downsize from our Beaver Patriot to the TT. We found a great Dodge, last year of the B5.9. The engine could pull any trailer on the market, but the transmission couldn't, it needed the 3.55 diffs swapped for 3.73 or a splitter and a PacBrake. I so much wanted the older mechanical engine, but the rest of the truck wasn't set up for the rating we needed and upgrading the truck wouldn't upgrade the ratings. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mine origanally had an auto, that continually exploded. When Dodge put the 6th one in (under warranty) they said that it was the last one. I converted it over to a 5sp manual rated for 26K GVRW and a clutch rated for 1200#'s of torque and a Dana 80 rear axle. end of problem!

[JIMNLIN]

quote;
"Your probably right, I'm not concerned about if the Dodge will tow it. With the mods that are done, it can easily tow a gross of 26K. But I will never get its GC re-classified, so I'll stay within the factory limits."

as long as you stay within your GAWR and particular your RAWR you will be under your trucks factory limits. I had a '96 3500 Dodge/Cummins with the NV4500 and ran legal gross axle weights for over 125k miles with over 26000 combined plates. Your drivers side door post has a placard that gives you the trucks RAWR. Use it