Community Forums

Swing · 07-09-2012, 12:58 AM

My research here & elsewhere had convinced me a pre-owned quality brand would be in our best interest as we will be semi-fulltiming. The Teton appeals to us.

We needed to take my wife's car in for maintenance so we took a road trip to the city. While it was at the shop we visited a few RV lots. My wife & I were drawn to the Jayco Pinnacle series. We liked the layout & quality seemed to be good to our amateur eyes. I mentioned that I was inclined towards the Teton which set the sales man into a spiel about how the Pinnacle's vacuum bonded construction was superior while being lighter. Inviting me to pound the sides of the RV along it's length while stating I could tow this 35 footer with a 3/4 ton single wheel, yeah my BS radar went off big time. I must admit pounding on the side impressed me. I'm not a small man and I hit it decently enough. It felt & sounded solid.

How does the Pinnacle stack up against the high quality builds? One more question. I've heard some negatives on rubber roofs & that is what the Pinnacle has. Can't recall any specifics though, just that some with a rubber roof were replacing them.

jimcumminsw · 07-09-2012, 07:56 AM

JayCo Pinnacle is a decent trailer and has been well received by the owners of them.
Now most RV's around 90 % are manufactured with rubber roofs and will last at least 10 to 12 years with proper maintenance.
As to the length of a trailer you pull to me does not mean squat. What you need to consider is the trailer weight and the king pin weight that the truck will see and not to go over the gross vehicle weight or axle weights. These are posted on placard on the driver’s door post.
I am pulling a 318SAB Cougar which has a gross vehicle weight of 11,500Lbs and my total combined weight is 18,400 LBS with the axle weights under the allowable gross weight. BTW the 318SAB is 35 ft long.
Jim W.

TXiceman · 07-09-2012, 11:13 AM

Pinnacals are not light weight trailers and need a 1 ton dually to tow them within spec. The salesman is full of BS.

Ken

Z714X4 · 07-09-2012, 11:27 AM

In general I agree, if their lips are moving.....however:

I just looked at the Jayco website and it looks like the 35 footer can be pulled with a 3/4 ton, depending on your model of 3/4 ton pick up.

Dry hitch weight is 2,275 and GVWR is 14,950, which fits into the range of several 3/4 ton trucks depending on which one you own.

Do your own research and see if it fits your truck or comfort level.

Swing · 07-09-2012, 12:35 PM

Thank you for the replies on the TV. Regardless of what is possible, I would be moving up from my current F250HD CC single wheel to a 3500 or 4500 dually. The salesman's comment only redflagged me to any and all of his other comments as suspect.

My real question was regarding the quality of the Pinnacle as a semi-fulltimer compared to a top tier build such as the Teton. My wife & I, in our 50's, don't necessarily need an end-game RV as we'll most likely be in the market again in 5-10yrs. We do however require value and the mid-tier, such as the Pinnacle, appears to give just that but I have no experience.

wa8yxm · 07-09-2012, 01:41 PM

I can not help you with the question of which trailer is better.

But when I see a header like "Sales Pitch" the word "Defenestration" Comes to mind.

RustyJC · 07-09-2012, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swing

My real question was regarding the quality of the Pinnacle as a semi-fulltimer compared to a top tier build such as the Teton. My wife & I, in our 50's, don't necessarily need an end-game RV as we'll most likely be in the market again in 5-10yrs. We do however require value and the mid-tier, such as the Pinnacle, appears to give just that but I have no experience.

We owned two Jayco Designer 5th wheels, a 1996 Designer 3030RKSS and a 2000 Designer XL 3610RLTS - there was no such thing as a Pinnacle back then. Both were good, reliable 5th wheels at their price point, and Jayco's warranty and customer support are, as far as I'm concerned, second to none. No, it's not a Teton (which, of course, isn't built any more), but as a mid-tier 5th wheel, I'd say the Pinnacle is certainly worth shopping.

Just a suggestion - for the same or less money, you could buy a well-maintained top of the line full-timer 5th wheel that is several years old. The first owner has taken the depreciation hit and (hopefully) worked out most or all of the inevitable new unit bugs. You might want to shop those along with new mid-tier 5ers.

Rusty

TXiceman · 07-09-2012, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z714X4

In general I agree, if their lips are moving.....however:

I just looked at the Jayco website and it looks like the 35 footer can be pulled with a 3/4 ton, depending on your model of 3/4 ton pick up.

Dry hitch weight is 2,275 and GVWR is 14,950, which fits into the range of several 3/4 ton trucks depending on which one you own.

Do your own research and see if it fits your truck or comfort level.

Dry hitch is pretty much meaningless. Once loaded, a typical 5er will be close to or over 20% of the trailer GVWR. So in reality, he can expect a 3000# pin weight.

Ken

Scotty14 · 07-10-2012, 12:45 AM

I was on the 5th wheel classifieds today there are a lot of 2011- 2012 new Jayco's out there depends the area you live, on sale well below the MSRP. Saw a lot of 2010's also. I am researching also.
Best of luck

JDT · 07-10-2012, 06:27 AM

If you are looking at what used to be Teton level also look at NuWa, New Horizons, Mobile Suites and Excel as they have some higher end and quality products. There may be others that fit this category but these are the ones that get mentioned regularly. We looked at the Pinnacle and liked it but none of their models fit what we wanted. We liked the willingness of the Excel folks to work with us on customizing our rig to suit us.

Kountryguy · 07-10-2012, 07:47 AM

Also be aware that all Tetons are not created equal! While being a well built trailer, they also have different price point units.

greyt-parent · 07-13-2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swing

My real question was regarding the quality of the Pinnacle as a semi-fulltimer compared to a top tier build such as the Teton. My wife & I, in our 50's, don't necessarily need an end-game RV as we'll most likely be in the market again in 5-10yrs. We do however require value and the mid-tier, such as the Pinnacle, appears to give just that but I have no experience.

For whatever you buy, just make sure to check the warranty, if it still applies, to any exclusions for full time use. Many manufacturers specifically say that the warranty is voided is used for full time or residential living.