Full time TH for family

[nitewolf]

I am currently looking into buying a TH to live in with a family size of 7, we currently live in ky but are looking at this as an option to make a move to the Pacific NW easier. I have looked for bunk houses and have found that TH offer the best option with 5 kids. I have already found a way to tow a large TH 5th wheel with an excursion, but am looking for the best options for a 4 season model. the Excel seems to be highly recommended but have gone out of business. I have really liked the Keystone Raptors I have looked at but have not read good reviews for 4 season living. We also like the cyclone But have not found many reviews of it. Any suggestions help. Thank you

[Scarab0088]

Can't comment on the brands, but Toy Haulers are perfect for families, with the garage being a multi-purpose room when any toys are unloaded.

Best luck

[rollondown]

Look at the DRV Fullhouse

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We have a Cyclone 4000 TH that we fulltime in. I would suggest looking at Heartlands owners forum for good information regarding their RVs including Cyclone. Even though we own a Cyclone I would seriously look at the DRV Fullhouse, our only problem was we could not find one at the time we ordered and purchased our Cyclone.

Cyclone Community

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

[Cane]

Originally Posted by nitewolf

I have already found a way to tow a large TH 5th wheel with an excursion, but am looking for the best options for a 4 season model.

I think you'll find most 5er Toy Haulers will exceed the weight capacity of the Excursion. I for one wouldn't trust a major financial investment to something like a "tow buddy" so I could tow with an excursion. But that's just my opinion, and the Internet is full of opinions...

[C130]

Originally Posted by nitewolf

I have already found a way to tow a large TH 5th wheel with an excursion, but am looking for the best options for a 4 season model.

As already stated, I think you might want to do a little more research before buying large toy hauler and even considering towing it with an Excursion. I wouldn't even think about it but that's just my opinion. I guess with a family of 7 a pickup is not an option either so not sure what is the best option.

[nitewolf]

I was looking at this to tow with. The Automated Safety Hitch | Trailer Hitch | Gooseneck Horse Trailers | 5th Wheel RVs | Flatbed Goosenecks | Fifth Wheel

[Cane]

Originally Posted by nitewolf

I was looking at this to tow with. The Automated Safety Hitch | Trailer Hitch | Gooseneck Horse Trailers | 5th Wheel RVs | Flatbed Goosenecks | Fifth Wheel

I am with C130 on this... It just seems like a bad idea. I understand the Automated Hitch site makes a lot of claims, but I've never seen one, nor heard of anyone that actually owns one. So that really worries me.

Not knowing what options you have in the Excursion, i.e., the year, which engine, transmission, towing package etc, it's hard to answer. However, it looks like the towing capacity ranges from 6,100 - 11,000 pounds. So to be safe, find the weight of your desired Toy Hauler, add weight for all the passengers, add the weight for gear (food, ice, plates, clothes, bikes, soap, shampoo, pillows....), then add the weight of the automated safety hitch device, and I think you'll probably be well over the 11,000lb capacity of the Excursion.

This is obviously just my opinion but I'd skip a 5er, and look for something you can bumper pull or look for a new tow vehicle. The Ram 3500 Megacab might be an option for a large family.

[Clay L]

In 12 years of full timing I saw a few people in TT but very few compared to motor homes and 5TH wheels. All the TT I have seen have very little storage space compared to the above.
I have seen people full time in things as small as vans and pick up slide in campers but none with 7 people. I can't see how you could do it with any sort of comfort.

[Camper_boy]

We full time with two teens and we fully recommend a toy hauler...Ours is set up to handle a family and have cabinets to store all your kids stuff. It has a custom loft in garage and desk area for homeschooling if needed. Let me know if we can answer any brand or type 5th wheels. We researched long and hard and ended up with a Newmar X-Aire...its been great for our travels, but we are switching to a motorhome shortly. If you would like to discuss, let us know. Check out our signature.

[cb1000rider]

Originally Posted by nitewolf

I am currently looking into buying a TH to live in with a family size of 7, we currently live in ky but are looking at this as an option to make a move to the Pacific NW easier. I have looked for bunk houses and have found that TH offer the best option with 5 kids. I have already found a way to tow a large TH 5th wheel with an excursion, but am looking for the best options for a 4 season model. the Excel seems to be highly recommended but have gone out of business. I have really liked the Keystone Raptors I have looked at but have not read good reviews for 4 season living. We also like the cyclone But have not found many reviews of it. Any suggestions help. Thank you

DRV makes amazing RVs. Expect them to cost 2x what a Raptor does.
I'll echo above. At more than 35' pretty much any toy hauler 5th wheel will easily dwarf your Excusion.. Even if you've got the mighty 7.3L. It's not so much the "go", but it is the "stop". You're looking at a truck that can tow that weight and haul 7 people, so I'm not sure that such a vehicle exists outside of some commercial options...

A toterhome might fit the bill...

Very few RVs are true 4-season capable in the NW USA. DRV might be one of them. However, you can make most of them make it through the winter with some skirting and liberal available propane... So say if you're building a house, you could probably get by with the right setup and some planning.

[mark42h]

Hey Nitewolf, our family just purchased our TH to live in full time for the next two years. We spent over 4 months researching all the manufactures then once we picked two manufacture's then pick a model that best fit our family of 4. Companies like DVR and New Horizons have great products but our budget did not allow us to go into six figures so we looked at the Forest River XLR and Keystones Fuzion. We ended up picking the Fuzion due to the product availability and upgrade that the Fuzion brand offers. We ended up picking the Fuzion 420 from RV Outlet in Danville/Ringgold VA.

I also agree with the veteran campers above, the Ford Exclusion is not a good option for pulling the TH. Toy Haulers are very heavy, it is not just the tongue weight but the entire unit weights almost 20K once you add water, clothes and personal stuff. That is a great deal of weight to pull with a 250 let alone with an extra towing hardware like the TT your talking about. We are using our Ford 350 with an extra HP chip added and you can still struggle up some mountains in the east cost. I am sure the West Coast mountains would make for a hard pull?

Good Luck with your future TH!!!

[cb1000rider]

IF you don't buy DRV (or similar) be aware that *most* of these units have some issues ranging from minor (frequent) to major (infrequent) when driving them off the lot. It's absolutely the nature of the industry, unfortunately.

The best defense for this is to plan to spend several hours going through a checklist that you can download and testing EVERYTHING before finalizing the deal.

Second, before you buy, take some time and research the reputation of your dealer's service department. Lots of times the ratings intermingle sales and service and they're often very separate operations. Unlike buying a car, getting one in for warranty service by another dealer can sometimes take months.....

Personally, I think the best deal you can get is to find one 1-3 years old, well taken care of, that's been used enough to have those initial bugs sorted out.

[Cane]

Originally Posted by mark42h

Hey Nitewolf, our family just purchased our TH to live in full time for the next two years. We spent over 4 months researching all the manufactures then once we picked two manufacture's then pick a model that best fit our family of 4. Companies like DVR and New Horizons have great products but our budget did not allow us to go into six figures so we looked at the Forest River XLR and Keystones Fuzion. We ended up picking the Fuzion due to the product availability and upgrade that the Fuzion brand offers. We ended up picking the Fuzion 420 from RV Outlet in Danville/Ringgold VA.

I also agree with the veteran campers above, the Ford Exclusion is not a good option for pulling the TH. Toy Haulers are very heavy, it is not just the tongue weight but the entire unit weights almost 20K once you add water, clothes and personal stuff. That is a great deal of weight to pull with a 250 let alone with an extra towing hardware like the TT your talking about. We are using our Ford 350 with an extra HP chip added and you can still struggle up some mountains in the east cost. I am sure the West Coast mountains would make for a hard pull?

Good Luck with your future TH!!!

That is one very sharp looking rig! Congrats!