Questions on Cougar 303rls

[fvstringpicker]

Wife and I are looking at a Keystone Cougar 303rls, 34ft length with pin weight advertised at just north of 1700 lbs. Tow vehicle is a 2500hd duramax with stated cargo limit of ~2400 lbs. Considering passengers, dogs, tools, hitch, misc junk estimated at 700lbs, I'm right at the limit.

Question- how close to the purported pin weight of 1700 lbs is the real pin weight?

Question- is this too much camper for the truck?

Question- Is the Cougar 303rls a reliable unit?

[jimcumminsw]

Originally Posted by fvstringpicker

Wife and I are looking at a Keystone Cougar 303rls, 34ft length with pin weight advertised at just north of 1700 lbs. Tow vehicle is a 2500hd duramax with stated cargo limit of ~2400 lbs. Considering passengers, dogs, tools, hitch, misc junk estimated at 700lbs, I'm right at the limit.

Question- how close to the purported pin weight of 1700 lbs is the real pin weight?

Question- is this too much camper for the truck?

Question- Is the Cougar 303rls a reliable unit?

What is your idea of reliable? Will you have issue with this model? I believe you will have small issues with anything that is manmade. I have a Cougar 318SAB and there were small issues when we bought the unit but the dealer fixed them all; since then I have had to replace couple of items but to me this is expectable to others it might not be. My biggest complaint is the peeling decals after 4 years of ownership. These should not peel in my opinion.

Now as far as your tow vehicle only you can answer that.

I am towing a 318SAB that has a GCVW rating 11,600 LBS according to the manufacture with a pin weight of 1525 LBS. The pin weight is incorrect since it is based on a dry weight and not the entire GCVW rating. So at 20% of the GCVW the pin weight should be around 2300 LBS.

Now my-set up is a 2008 Ram Mega Cab with the 68RFE auto, 6.7L Cummins engine and is a 4X4. I have scaled my rig and truck across a scale with the truck and trailer fully loaded for a two week trip with my wife and myself in the truck. My weights are as follow: Steering axle 4940LBS, Drive Axle 5160 LBS, trailer axles 8140 LBS and a total GCW of 18,240 LBS which I am happy with and have no towing issues at all. These are all under the maximum weights for the axles and truck.

Jim W.

[fvstringpicker]

Thanks Jim:

Like I said, based on my swag weight numbers for people, tools, etc., I'll be + or - a 100 lbs within the trucks stated cargo limit only if the hitch weight of 1700 is reasonable. Like you say, its probably closer to 2000 based on the weight of the trailer. I don't know if I have a "fudge factor" on the 2400 cargo limit the trucks door is telling me.
I wish these truck manufactures would say something simple like, "hey, you can put a max of x,xxx pounds of fifth wheel hitch in the bed of this truck as its equipped including a full tank of gas. For every pound you add or plan to add, to the cab, the bed, or any part of the truck, subtract it from this number.