Community Forums

WyoFree · 11-24-2021, 12:50 PM

There’s another saying Dana, “Never put off what you can do today. Because if you like it today you can do it again tomorrow”.

For me it’s the fifth wheel first. Otherwise I could be limited in my fifth wheel selection. I’d not be the first to want a 9000 Lb Coach and then see one of 14000 Lbs and just have to have it! That’s two different trucks right there?

Dana Anderso · 11-24-2021, 10:30 PM

That’s why I bought a 1 ton so I could buy any trailer. If you buy the trailer first your on the clock to hurry and by a truck because they don’t want to store your trailer. Don’t put yourself in that position of course you Pay somebody to move it for you but why would you want to do that

macbob · 11-29-2021, 12:34 PM

Suggest to get the truck first--We were looking this past Spring--found a few 5th wheels but could not find a truck to pull it ( unless you ordered a new one and then you have to wait 4 to 6 months to get it. Good Luck
Bob

JFXG · 04-11-2022, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dana Anderso

And old saying, “ You don’t buy the cart before the horse”.

I believe the old saying you have in mind is “Don’t PUT the cart before the horse”

BuggsMcBuggs · 04-28-2022, 09:05 AM

From the number of opinions, and lack of consensus, I’d say it’s a personal thang.
All I can add is what I’ve done. Back in the nineties, I went to an rv dealer, found a swell used 38 foot Terry with a “slide out”. The dealer sold it as a package with a Chevy K3500 454 gas engine. A few years later, I traded the 5th wheel in for a Southwind Motorhome. I traded the truck in for a jeep to tow. A lot of years after that I traded the southwind for a Cyclone toy hauler, I already had a Ford F-350 srw diesel. I didn’t like the cyclone, because there was no heat duct in the bedroom, had to leave bathroom open to get heat. Plus it was too tall and too small. I traded it for a Stella. During the pandemic, I sold my Stella, and ordered a custom Escape 5th wheel. Still using that same F-350. So I guess my opinion is, do your research, and get what you want when you want it. Otherwise your not going to be happy when your doing what makes you happy.

TXiceman · 04-28-2022, 09:31 AM

All too often, people go out and get a truck, a SRW, because they think a DRW is too much trouble. Then Mama finds the perfect 5er, a 42', 20,000 lb GVWR beauty. Now that is too much for a SRW truck and you blissfully take off with an overloaded truck. In a year or so, you are looking to get a larger truck.

So, the best approach is to get the trailer sorted out first and make sure you get enough truck to tow within the truck's ratings. Life is much more comfortable with a property balance rig.

We have been RVing since 1984 and were marginal on the truck. Towing was not much fun, but we kept the trips short. Now we have been full-time for over 9 years, and we see way too many people coming through the parts with trucks that are too small for the trailer. But, what the heck, they got a 3/4-ton diesel truck and the dealer told them that they could pull anything on the lot with that beast.

Do your homework and understand all the truck and trailer tow ratings.

Ken

Memory mkr · 05-29-2022, 07:47 AM

It’s an old thread but a great one,
I bought the horse before the cart,

Purchased a low mile Ford F450 king ranch from a friend at the spur of the moment . I was thinking about getting a travel trailer actually then this truck came along and really opened my options.
, It really left your options open for a nice bumper pull or any excellent fifth wheel .
I really wanted piece of mind when towing and going down the road, with my family,you really can’t go wrong with an 8 foot bed and the Dually., also that’s the only configuration available with that truck.
Don’t get me wrong it’s a great truck but even the F450 has its pluses and minuses… Does have a better turning radius than the F350 and it has approx another 1000 lbs of beef compared to the f350 ,would be nice to hear a thread just comparing those two vehicles if there isn’t one already.

Be safe and have fun with all of this stuff, ,happy camping!

SGhost · 08-27-2022, 07:46 AM

Our experience went kinda like this "Honey? I just bought a new 5th wheel in Atlanta, I think we need a new truck"........ WHAT?

Luckily, we managed to find a lightly used truck in West Palm Beach that had barely 3K on the clock after the truck I put a down payment on got sold out from underneath us in Ft. Meyers. Would I do that again, No. Trucks (especially the right one) are almost impossible to find right now.

MooseRiver · 09-16-2022, 01:15 PM

Hi All, First time poster in this forum. We didn't do our research as is strongly suggested and probably did this ass-backwards.

Long story short, we bought a new GD Reflection 303RLS last week (1,885 hitch weight, 11,995 GVWR). It's being delivered to our seasonal campsite in two weeks. Then we went out and found a 2017 Ram 2500 Diesel 6.4' bed on the lot. The RV dealer's tech confirmed that the Ram was good for the 303RLS, but we know a phone conversation isn't worth much. The Ram is fine with the GVWR/GCWR, but we are pretty close on the Payload. At first I was thinking B&W or Curt slider, but I'm now looking at either Andersen or Pullrite Superlite to help with the Payload. Either way, we will probably be right at or a few pounds over Payload and will have to be very conscious of what we are carrying in the FW when traveling (little to no water, etc.).

Any thoughts or advice on the hitches and whether we are paired OK? I now know a 3500 would have been better, but we're already too far down the road with this setup. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

HingedThink · 10-21-2022, 06:21 PM

We have owned enough RVs and experienced enough pain to learn doing our research and creating a plan was the best path. We knew exactly which brand and model (Heartland Cyclone 4006) RV and truck we needed before we purchased either. We purchased the truck first because it’s hard to tow an RV without one. I was able to buy a 2022 Ford F350 right off the delivery truck at msrp. That was painful. Also paid list for the RV. What a wonderful world…

HingedThink · 10-22-2022, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooseRiver

Hi All, First time poster in this forum. We didn't do our research as is strongly suggested and probably did this ass-backwards.

Long story short, we bought a new GD Reflection 303RLS last week (1,885 hitch weight, 11,995 GVWR). It's being delivered to our seasonal campsite in two weeks. Then we went out and found a 2017 Ram 2500 Diesel 6.4' bed on the lot. The RV dealer's tech confirmed that the Ram was good for the 303RLS, but we know a phone conversation isn't worth much. The Ram is fine with the GVWR/GCWR, but we are pretty close on the Payload. At first I was thinking B&W or Curt slider, but I'm now looking at either Andersen or Pullrite Superlite to help with the Payload. Either way, we will probably be right at or a few pounds over Payload and will have to be very conscious of what we are carrying in the FW when traveling (little to no water, etc.).

Any thoughts or advice on the hitches and whether we are paired OK? I now know a 3500 would have been better, but we're already too far down the road with this setup. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Our RV GVWR is 20k and I chose a 25k Curt hitch. I would get some type of slider with the short bed or you will risk your rear window every time like my mentally challenged father…he broke his four times. Or was it six dad?

millsrv · 11-13-2022, 11:39 PM

I thought I had done all my research and made good decisions on purchasing our truck and RV.

Turns out based on experience thus far I did with one huge exception.

After almost two years of towing I recently discovered that my Class C drivers license was not correct and legal to tow our rig with. The dealer which is in the same state we live and are licensed in said nothing, and they actually made a photo copy of my Drivers License. Even after recently learning all this the DMV did not know the law, I had to show them in the manual they provide before they believed me!

I now have the proper license with it clearly stating on the back that I may tow a fifth wheel trailer with a GVWR between 10,000 and 15,000 pounds.
Had I been stoped by law enforcement or had an accident and not having the proper license, well imagine the potential for trouble there.

All US States honor each others drivers licenses so as long as you are legal in your home state you are legal in all the states you pass through.
There are at least 17 States in our country that require special drivers licenses for RV's be them class A towing a car, fifth wheels with the afore mentioned GVWR's and Fifth Wheels over 15,000 pound GVWR. Don't shoot the messenger but do your own research and be safe and legal.
Pictured is what is printed on the back of my new DL. Im my state only a written test was required to obtain the proper license, it cost me nothing but time.

Squantobon · 12-09-2022, 07:25 PM

For me it was the truck. Received a 2022 F-350 6.7L PS 6 weeks ago.

FrontTowards · 12-27-2022, 03:03 AM

Years and years ago, I bought too large a TT for my SUV and ended up buying a 1 ton truck after the fact.

I've bought trucks and trailers back and forth since then and still find myself today, with a decision that will probably lead me to sell my truck to upgrade to a F450 from a SRW 350 due to the size of toy hauler that I am going to buy.

Moral of the story: Buy the most truck you can buy to open your options on trailers down the line. NEVER buy a short bed anything. Thats too much compromise. All these people with short bed 3/4 tons with slider 5th wheel hitches is just needless. And NEVER buy a 3/4 ton truck. The 1 tons cost nearly the same and will have a better rear axle and a added spring generally. The forums that are littered for miles with "can I pull this" threads would be empty if people would just buy too much truck right from the start. If I would have bought a dually from the get go, I would have saved myself several trucks.