Help Choosing 5th Wheel Please

[gcakia]

Wife and I will be going full time and are narrowing our choices of 5th wheels. Unless other suggestions come in, we're down to Cedar Creek (36CKTS or 38FL), Redwood (36FB) or a Coachman, Brookstone Diamond.

Anyone have any wisdom to share?

[redalertsc]

Redwood or Dutchman infinity

[TXiceman]

My advice is avoid Thor products. Why not look at DRV and Lifestyle Luxury RVs. All of the ones listed above are shipped with marginal rated tires and wheels.

Ken

[KAYAKSUW]

We are sitting in Ft Wilderness in our new purchased 9/11/2012 Cedar Creek 38FL
Our second Forest River product.
YOu can get a thousand opinions on which trailer to buy, look at what makes you comfortable.
We absolutely love our new rig but we loved our Silverback 29RE when we had it.

Our 38fl has space and more space and is a far cry from our 18 ft Nomad which was a big jump from our TENT, our automatic levelers are fantastic and our 18ft residential fridge has worked into our RVing remarkably.

Look hard send the salesman out for coffee and explore, open every door crawl in the basement storage make "it" fit you and yours

Happy RVING

[FiverBob]

Another advice to avoid Thor anything. Lifestyle is new but building a beautiful rig. Look close. Full time needs to be good quality. Look also at a recent Carriage.

Bob

[TXiceman]

Pretty much any full-time trailer will have a GVWR of 15,000# as a minimum. Once you hit the 15,000# range the trailer should have a G rated tire and preferably and H rate tire. Our Carriage cameo came with 16" E rated tires. We upped them to a 17.5" H rated tire to make sure we would lessen any tire worries.

On these larger coaches, the E rated tires are running right at the load rating and on the road in the summer, they are prone to blow outs.

Next is tow vehicles. You need to be thinking 1 ton diesel dually as a minimum. You will see some folks pulling the big 5er with SRW (single rear wheel) trucks, but they probably do not have a clue about weights. One thing you cannot do is believe any car or truck dealer. They do not have a clue about towing a large 5er.

Next issue is the drivers license. Some states will require an upgrade above the standard auto license,,,some do not. For our F35o Ford Dually and 16,050# 36' trailer we are required to have a class A Texas (non-commercial) license (not all that hard to get once you get the duffus at the DPS office to understand you are not a commercial vehicle).

Have fun shopping.

Ken

[gcakia]

We like the Cedar Creek, but found out today the warranty doesn't cover full timers. Not happy with reliance on the extended warranty through a third party and not comfortable lying to the service folks.

We've heard mixed feedback regarding the Redwood. Some people seem to be on both sides of the fence. It is warranted for full timers though, and has a two yr warranty standard. Love the look and feel of the 36FB and it has a great price for a 2012 (new).

Regarding a truck, heard from too many good folks to make sure you had enough truck to pull the RV, vs being pulled by the 5'er. We're waiting till we decide on the 5'er but the size units we're looking at all appear will need a 1 ton dually.

Can't tell you how much we appreciate everyone's feedback, and please keep the suggestions coming!

Excited Newbies

[TXiceman]

The Thor Redwood is advertised as a ful-time unit. We looked at a couple and were not impressed. Lots of glitz but not good bones. The frame is a Lippert and not very heavy for a full-time unit..

A lot of the higher dollar full-time units have gone under it does not leave very many true full-time units. It pretty much leaves for new units, DRV, Lifestyle or Excel. The market has a few "wanta' -bees" that want you to believe they are full-time units.

There are a lot of 3 to 5 year old high-end 5ers on the market that would be a better deal than Redwood or like trailer.

Ken

[IWillRVToo]

My parents got a new fiver and the storage bays on the sides at the front are tall and not very deep. Who cares? They do. Now. Big mistake.
They do not have a walk around bed - they have to crawl into bed because the storage bays raise the bedroom floor on the sides of the bed.

[gcakia]

Thanks for the specifics TXiceman

[puttin]

As Ken says- DRV is great, If you want to save a lttle, Keystone Montana is a sound choice...lots of dealers and customer support also.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by puttin

As Ken says- DRV is great, If you want to save a lttle, Keystone Montana is a sound choice...lots of dealers and customer support also.

Lighweight 10" frame and 16" tires. Wouldn't make my list for FT.
I would start with 12" frame, 8k axles and 17 1/2" rims. You might want to consider used high end unit just to get the feel for full timing.

[450Donn]

Originally Posted by gcakia

We like the Cedar Creek, but found out today the warranty doesn't cover full timers. Not happy with reliance on the extended warranty through a third party and not comfortable lying to the service folks.


Excited Newbies

Remember, warranty is only for the first year of ownership. With any good quality RV your warranty service will generally fall within the first 3-6 months of ownership. So after the first year repairs will be on your dime anyhow, so why not simply pick what YOU feel is the best RV for your lifestyle and go camping.

[BEAR0834]

Australia does not have the beaut roads like the States so we are looking for a solid built smaller lightweight 5th that could take some punishment. We have a 2012 GMC Denali2500 and looking at the Excel 34 Winslow to import to AU. The missus wants a front living room but they are too big and heavy. Do any of you guys know of a lightweight alternative? Anything over 35 ft is too big for us although trying to understand the model designation for size is difficult. Does the measurement include the hitch to the ladder or just the body length? Its a bit hard for us some 15 hrs away by plane to go to a dealer and explore, so thats the reason that my enquiry may seem a little vague
Greg Bate