Ginger Fiver! Side note the Toy Box needs to have something heavy in the garage all the time. it is not balanced well to be empty. This is advice is from a coworker that keep their dirt bikes in it. Then ended up traiding for a regular 5th wheel. Thank you for sharing your wonderful family.
Interesting. I have not heard that and the dealer makes no reference to that. I've also heard that the putting 1k in the garage doesn't not change the pin weight. I'll look into it more.
My wife and I and our seven-year-old son started rving 6 years ago with a 14 foot long Coleman pop up camper. We upgraded to a 17 foot Jayco hybrid 3 years ago. We knew that we have grown and fell in love with the Adventurous lifestyle of camping and travelling around North America. We knew it was time to upgrade to something much bigger and to acquire a better tow vehicle. We watched many videos and read many articles and still could not make up our mind. Then one day we stumbled upon you guys and your Channel! A down-to-earth family who tells it the way it is and honest as well. We love the fact that you admit when you've made mistakes and you let other people know how to avoid making them themselves. We followed a lot of your recommendations about just buying what you need not what you want and being able to save a little bit of money that you can spend on more camping. Three weeks ago we purchased a Jayco 26 foot camper and a brand new F-150 3.5 L EcoBoost. After watching your video on safely Towing and figuring out what your tow vehicle vehicle can actually tow safely, we realized we now have the perfect truck and the perfect camper. We are 300 lb under our max payload capacity when fully loaded. We are 3,800 lbs Below on our Max towing capacity. The math works out perfect, I know our family is safe and secure and we made a good purchase. A big thank you to the KYD crew and keep up the amazing work, we watch every single video. We're currently watching all of your Canadian camping videos as we are leaving the east coast of Canada in June and driving clear across to Victoria British Columbia and then back again this summer. We plan on doing this trip in 9 weeks! Thank you again for the amazing job can't wait to see more videos.
We started our RV journey ten years ago with an 18' toy hauler pulled with a GMC Yukon. Two years later we upgraded to a 26' TH pulled with a Ford F350. Six years after that we upgraded once again to 40' fifth wheel travel trailer pulled with a Dodge Ram Cummins 3500. Even though we're not fulltime, the RV lifestyle is what dreams are made of! Do what you can with what you have now because you won't regret it 😀!
You guys are so authentic. LOVE your advice to "start small....start where you're at.....get going now." Thanks for sharing. We are getting closer! Keep up the great work! We all appreciate you guys.....
You're gonna love the 5th wheel experience. We recently upgraded from our travel trailer to a 5th wheel. We went from a 33ft travel trailer to a 41ft 5th wheel and it is easier to turn and maneuver, despite being 8ft longer. The hook up seems so much easier, less laborious. Try to get something with auto leveling. Toss out those manual levelers and watch your RV level itself! Hooking up is a snap with LCI's auto leveling and "return to hitch height" feature. With the RV up over the bed of the truck, your turns start sooner making it easier to follow through turns. We find ourselves open to move more often now, as the hook up is quicker despite having more slides.
Yoly and I have been retired and traveling for 13 years. We thought to start small, work our way up and eventually downsize and work our way back down. We've had lots of experiences with different rigs and in the end with 10 different rigs and 3 trucks the thing that we learned mostly was that every step you make costs you money. Do it often enough and you'll find that 13 years later all your savings set aside for travel will be gone :-)
Back when I was ready to try a different RV, it required a different truck, a 350/3500 series or bigger. This was 10 years ago. My brother gave me this advice, he said "buy a dually, because you won't be limited as much about your RV choice." He had bought a 2008 Chevy Dually, with the plan of getting a truck camper. I was in the process of truck camper shopping. August of 2009 I sold my small toy hauler, then traded in my truck on a Chevy 3500HD Dually. Three months later I bought the truck camper that is in my small profile picture on my channel. I still have both the truck and the camper. The truck has just over 57,000 miles on it. Sad that I haven't driven it more than that, but it's not my daily driver. The advice of "starting with what you have, or can afford" is VERY important. Like you have said so many times, don't have dreams so big that the dreams are unobtainable, because they will always be "dreams" instead of reality. I went down this exact road last year when I wanted a travel trailer to do other type of travels, where I could set up a base camp and then sight-see or go explore, etc. For me, a truck camper isn't ideal for that, because I don't unload my camper off the truck when I go places, but I don't want my RV with my all the time if I stay someplace for a week. I picked out the travel trailer I wanted, it was totally within my budget, the bank approved me for financing, then the bank changed their mind a few days later. At the end of that process, I decided "it's just as well that I don't have RV payments hangin over my head for however many years, because that takes away from the money I'd have to go camping as much as I want to." Yes, I'd still go out traveling, but not as much as I would if I had an RV payment. Mid-way through the shopping process I found a nice pre-owned smaller travel trailer on Craigslist about 3 hours from home. I went looking for the ad again (at this point it was about 3 weeks after I had initially seen it) and it was still for sale. I went and looked at it and bought it, and paid cash for it. WOOHOO! NO RV PAYMENTS!! In the last 6 weeks, I've been out 4 weekends, and I'm typing this comment while camping in that RV. LOVING EVERY minute of it! I have NEVER been out so many times in such a short time period, nor been out in Early May, let alone APRIL! Your channel has definitely inspired me to live within your means, and make dreams that are obtainable.
Well, we just ordered our first RV yesterday; it is a 397th in that black and blue paint! We are super excited! We have two daughters one will be in college, and our youngest is 21 but will always live with us. We are turning the garage into her bedroom. She can't sleep in a loft or a tall bed, so the space is going to be completely dedicated to her room. We are military and will be full timing in Cherry Point, NC.
Mine just arrived a few weeks ago and the transporter damaged the front cap and beautiful new blue FBP turning too sharply! Even after all of the PDIs, the ladder was also missing from the side (assume they put them on after they come back from paint). Cap repaired and ladder on order from GD. Sometimes, you just need to roll with it. You are going to love the FBP.
@@CartersTrail Wow, I hope everything gets sorted! And I hope you love your rig. My brother spent 9 years delivering rvs all over the US and Canada. He never wrecked anything, but he did have people run into him twice.
So true..start smallish. We started with two small kids and had a hybrid TT with fold out beds, it was great. Went to one fifth wheel then another and then a class C. Now the kids are out of the house and we have a 34" class A. It takes time to learn what works and what you feel comfortable pulling, and where you are going. Out west pulling steep grades we found out very quickly we needed a diesel with an engine brake...makes it safe and easy. Please understand the difference between out east and the colorado mountians....way different.
We started Full Time RVing in August 2018 with an Outdoors RV 24RDS bumper pull. Bought the truck 1st - Dodge Ram 3500 - in case we wanted to upgrade down the road. After 4 months, we knew we bought the wrong RV. UPGRADED to a Northwood Arctic Fox 5th wheel and LOVE it! Reasons we upgraded - wanted a 3rd sitting area, taller ceilings so my hubby doesn't hit his head and a bed we can walk around, bigger tanks for Boondocking. Luckily, Outdoors RV's have pretty good resale value. Owned it for about 1 year and only lost about 6K. Which we thought was pretty good considering the resale value of RV's.
We have a bumper pull toy hauler and love it. The garage belongs to the kids. They're still small enough to both sleep on the top bunk sideways. The 3rd a/c would be great because the garage area does tend to get warmer than the rest because it's not as well insulated...they can't fully enclose the floor because of the fuel tank. That being said, having an onboard generator hooked to a 30 gallon gas tank is awesome! Push a button and you've got full power to run everything! The kitchen layout does suffer, but there are some that have a slightly different floorplan with 2 90 degree couches or the Keystone Raptor 353 that has pull out chairs around the kitchen island to give you eating space. We don't use our back deck that often, but that's more of an issue with not really being in one place for very long, and most of the places are really hot and have mosquitos, so you don't want the back area open. Also, if you have the big metal stairs for the deck, you have to haul them around and set them up every time. It might be different with the fifth wheel, but ours is definitely not secure if you leave the rig with the back deck down, so you have to close it up anytime you leave. Just food for thought as you look.
YAY!!!! I am SOOOO excited for you!!! We are right in the middle of what you are going through! We bought our 5th wheel first because I KNEW what I wanted in a 5th wheel rig and I wasn't going to compromise. Then we went shopping for a truck to pull it. We took our time to find both. It has taken us about 2 months to find what rig and truck we were looking for. We finally found our truck and we are going to pick it up tomorrow and then we will finally done with this part of the journey!! Woooo Hooo! It has been SUPER stressful, fun, and crazy all wrapped into one experience. I am very excited to go camping in our new rig and truck and I know we will feel good about the whole process with no regrets. I am super happy for you all! I think you are going to LOVE having a 5th wheel and see that there are some real bonuses in having a 5th wheel verses a pull trailer! Enjoy your journey!!! I can't wait to watch your future videos in your new rig!
We started Camping in 2000, purchased a 2 years old pop up trailer. Enjoyed it with our two young kids a lot. On week end we would get on site and set up and watched these big F350 with huge Fifth Wheels come in and we use to say, that’s what we’re getting when we retire! Then came a health issue, pretty scary one. So in short, I came out of the Hospital and told my spouse “ you know that big truck and trailer we want to have at retirement, well we are getting it now!” Funny or maybe not, how life spins you off in different directions sometimes. We had since 2002 two Fifth Wheels one lasted us 10 years, and the second was more suited for our retirement and of course a few trucks... But after that leap, we never looked back. My F350s were diesel dual wheels with long box. Never did I felt uneasy on the road, once you get used to the size, you will want to be on the road. As for the F450, the only reason I could of gone with it was the better turn radius. Good luck, you are on your way to a good change 👍
We are on our third trailer now and it’s a 5th wheel Toy Hauler with Garage. We will never go back to a tow behind again. Mark you will love how stable and how much control you will have. Toy Haulers are perfect for boon docking!! Water capacity, Generator, Inverter, and already comes with off-road suspension. You will really like the garage for the boys as it keeps it so much quieter inside. I had to get used to backing a 5th wheel. It’s definitely different. It actually is easier now. Also hitching a 5th wheel is way easier than yours. The first few times you keep asking yourself if that’s it? Lol Good luck! You are going to love it! Can’t wait to see it!
Those large trailers are really extension of home. With that said and considering your travels and the places you've been you will be eliminating "another" group of places where you can take the trailer. When you moved into your 2nd trailer you did likewise. Hopefully, moving about in the "monster truck" that is required to pull the 5th wheel, won't be a hassel when you "just want to run to a mall or a local neighborhood store. I'm excited to see what's next for you all. One other thing...the chassis of a class A motorhome shown in the video are a marvel of complexity. My son tried his best to enjoy all that with two different class A's. A "used one turned out to be an expensive nightmare" and the new one he traded for let us down "everytime" it was time to leave. Apparently, those are meant to be used "daily" because a "once monthly" created problem after problem. 14 months into ownership of a Newmar Ventana finally resulted in a new 28' Airstream International Signature. It's always ready to go!
I'm overwhelmed by the size and complexity of these RVs. I can't imagine you driving across the George Washington Bridge onto the Cross Bronx Expressway. Never has a road been mislabeled as an Expressway as this road. Drive safely is an understatement. Happy trials to you.
Funny story for you - In June of 2016 we went across the U.S. to pick up our first and new camping travel trailer. On the way back to Montana, we stopped at Mount Rushmore for a couple of days, then proceeded home. We went through Wall Drug to get gas. I had been carefully looking at other people’s tow vehicles that had travel trailers and taking note because we found that our Tahoe was/is very under-powered and was sucking down the gas at an alarming rate. We knew a truck would be in our future to properly tow our new rig. I don’t remember if it was that same isle or the one next to it, but you all pulled in either beside or behind us. I distinctly remember how the bikes were loaded on the bed of the pickup and that the family that unloaded was in similar age to us. It wasn’t until years later that I came across your channel and couldn’t figure out why your rig looked so familiar until I went back and checked your earlier videos and confirmed you were in the same area at the same timeframe. It’s funny how certain things stick in our minds. I have been watching your films for about a year now until I came to this revelation. Great channel - your advice and experience has been and continues to be helpful to us. Thank you! 😎
Love this episode. We are retired grandparents, figuring out ways to take grand kids RV’ng with us. F-350 SRW, GD 5er 307MKS (33 ft). It all works, yet dreaming of the bigger rigs is fun too. We did replace the GD mattress with a 10”, made a world of difference.. -Jersey Mike
Me and partner just bought our first rig today! You guys were a huge inspiration on us just picking the rig regardless of whether its perfect or not! Can't wait for our new adventure
Fun tour of the RV's. I loved it when Trish said the side patio would be a perfect place for a puppy :) Big commitment though and limits what you can do sometimes.
Nice stuff. Well after 19 years, 3 , 5th wheels (36’ HitchHiker (Alaska veteran #1) 39’ Teton Grand Sundance, (Alaska veteran #2) and our new 29-5T Arctic Fox, let me tell you that it’s all about the truck. F-450 or Ram 3500, at minimum. I have had 3 Dodge/RAM’s, 1 F-450 and a International 4700 Stalick Conversion Toter. I recommend a TrailAir air pin box (strongly) as the HD trucks can be very hard on the 5th wheel frame structure, and it will greatly improve the ride. Love the 5th wheel space and storage but the weight can creep up pretty fast. Love the 5th wheel space and storage. Good luck on your search. Love your channel.
We have the 397TH and it has the biggest tanks I know of. It is a great setup for boon-docking. Checkout the cargo carrying capacity too. Very good. Also, we got the full couch and you can remove sections yourself. We pulled out two sections and then brought our own table. One thing we didn't know was an option when we bought it is the heat pump in the middle A/C unit. Would have been nice for those times you don't want to use propane. The biggest issue we have with it is the lack of storage in the upstairs bathroom. Also, the refrigerator has some issues. Fridge is too cold when the freezer is cold enough to freeze stuff (stuff freezes in the fridge too) or fridge is just right and stuff doesn't stay frozen. We plan on building bunk beds in the back and removing the fold down couch seats as we've found them to be less than useful with our setup. That is one cool thing about the garage... you can build your own setup if you want. Also, we upgraded from a travel trailer and a 5th wheel is a dream to tow in comparison.
Yes, Redemption of the RV community ! Heartland Cyclone 4007 is our dream RV. It's never the price of the RV that bothers me, I can just never get over spending so much money on the truck I need to pull it...
Thank you for keeping it real, for your compassionate posture toward the RV community and future RV owners, and your emotional honesty about yourselves and your experiences.
We started with an Imagine 3150BH and have loved it! Due to our boys getting bigger and wanting to have more room, we purchased a Solitude 3740 BH. Excited to learn everything about fifth wheels. Good luck on making a decision on your next rig!
Very happy for all of you ! Before I retired from Law Enforcement in South Florida in 2017 my fiancé and I attended the 2016 Super RV show in Tampa. We decided on a super c and went to Lazy Days , sadly our experience with the sales representative turned us off from purchasing from them . Fast forward 2 yrs and we're in East Tennessee, we got a foood truck and are loving it . Still planning on getting a super c after our youngest leaves in 4yrs. Wishing you the best in you endeavors , stay safe and be good to each other
All our parents could afford was a crazy old camper trailer they bought for $1200 cash. We fixed it up and camped everywhere between Alaska & Arizona with a family of 6. Was it awesome? Not really, but we got to go RVing! Just buy something you can and GO! good video folks.
I would love to show our drv jx450. It is phenomenally well built and we'll be keeping ours forever. Not sure if it might be too big for you. It is 43 ft long and twenty-four thousand pounds and we absolutely love it. It is truly a home away from home. Washer dryer, and we use the toy hauler part for my office.
Just in case you haven't pulled the trigger yet, I would recommend getting the Reese Goose Box Pinbox for your new 5th wheel. The Goose Box hitch takes advantage of the Gooseneck ball that can be placed inside the bed of your truck and has the advantage of giving you your full truck bed without having to pull out a big, heavy, 5th wheel hitch. You also lighten up your truck by a couple hundred pounds that you don't have to haul around with you when you are sightseeing, saves gas in the long run. PS: I also recommend going with the Diesel engine. The new trucks are fantastic, you will absolutely love your new truck.
That's a good point, but the toy hauler weight is right up on the weight rating of the Reese Goose Box. The other things we learned is being Fulltime, we don't use the bed of the truck.
We started out in 2005 with a 20' hybrid trailer that we could tow with our Trailblazer, towed it for 5 seasons. In 2009 we purchased a GMC 2500 HD with the plan on getting a bigger trailer. We kept the first trailer for 18 seasons, we towed it over 21,000 miles. This spring we moved to a 27' fifth wheel, we have had it out 3 times so far, just got back from a week in Oregon visiting family. The 5th wheel is definitely a different towing experience, it tows much better, but backing can be more of a challenge because the trailer is slower to respond to steering inputs.
If you get a 5th wheel I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting a 450 dually because structurally there's no difference between the 350 and 450 and with towing full time you'll want that 450s wide axle and turning radius just my 2 cents from towing almost 10 years now(also prices are the same) love being an insider! Can't wait for what's next! 👍🙌
As a F350 dually owner, the turning radius requires a reservation to park it. F450 has the wider track and a much better turning radius. I agree with you 100% Although I have heard you can modify the stops on the F350 to give a better radius--supposedly limited so when the truck is lifted and bigger wheels are added, no fitment issues--can't confirm that but read it at one time
@@mmeyer8700 yes you can modify the stops but then you run into the risk of hitting the a arms or frame if you turn too much much easier to go with the manufacturer truck and keep all the warranties intact 👍
I love the start small and start now advice. That’s what my family did. We started with a lightweight hybrid because we didn’t have a truck. I now have a truck and we are shopping for a larger bunkhouse as our two kids are getting bigger. It’s the best way to get out and start. Now we know what we want and what we need.
You guys are quickly growing to be my favorite RV TH-camrs to watch. Always entertaining & informative, and just seem like the kind of people that would be good friends. Good luck on your search here in our Tampa area.
It is so exciting to change rigs. We are now In our 60s and started with a camper 11 ft. then a Fifth Wheel 33 ft. next a Class A 37 ft.and now a 31 ft Class C.. You can go thru a lot of rigs as family needs change. Our hardest swap was spending a week in a tent while waiting for a check to clear to buy our Class C. It's a great memory now but was a bit rough at the time. Cheryl and Mark
That’s what we did we started small 20 yrs ago and as we had more kids and as they grew we up graded in size. We now have a Jayco sisemic was 355w toyhauler. This is our 4th RV we bring a side x side with us to ride the trails all around the country.the extra bathroom is a lifesaver.
When we sold our house 3 years ago we bought a 43 foot fuzion chrome with a side porch. We love living in it and enjoy the garage with the second bathroom. The only regret is the side porch. When the weather is crappy and the porch is closed it makes it a dark hole on that side of the RV. I think we would have been better off with a slide with windows and just use the back porch. We have watched you guys from the beginning and enjoy your channel.
Hey guys. Another great vid. … Just a few suggestions for consideration. First, we have a 42' (12,500 #s dry) 5th wheel that we pull with our 2016 Ford F-350 DRW 6.7 PS Diesel. Could not be more pleased … just a great pull. Second, take a look at the Reese Goosebox 20k instead of a 5th wheel hitch. We have a B&W turnover ball in the bed of the truck that easily flips down yielding a full 8' bed... no massive, heavy hitch in the bed. And btw, the Reese goosebox has an airbag that helps to provide a velvet smooth ride... don't even know it's there - came back from the lake just today - great drive on cruddy roads. Last suggestion is to consider installing a Progressive Industries HW50C hardwired surge and electrical protector....would not connect to shore power without it. Safe travels! bg
The 2nd bathroom is GREAT!!! We purchased a 2019 Keystone Passport 3350BH that has a bath and a half. I've got three boys and it's so nice that they have their own. When we have company it's nice as well. Leaves ours only for us by our bedroom. Can't imagine having a single bathroom again when we move into our next trailer some day.
Just finished the same process; ordered and received a new 2019 dark blue F350 Platinum over the Winter, ordered and received a new 2020 Momentum 349M with FBP (Blue) a couple of weeks ago. Installing solar and everything else now and hope to be on the road next month. Great advice on starting where you are and moving up later. Thanks for the weekly RV fix! P.S. Wanted to add that I highly recommend the B&W Companion 25K puck-mounted hitch! Extremely well built and much nicer than the Reese Elite I had before.
I'm not sure if you had made a decision about a hitch, but I would like to strongly recommend you look at the Anderson hitch. It weighs 35 lb it's all aluminum, and Trish could remove it from your truck in 5 minutes. It is wonderful to be able to get your truck bed back so quickly when you need it. Take a look at some of the videos on it and read some of the reviews
The weight rating doesn't work for the toy hauler, but the advantages of it, which I agree with, are not taken advantage of being fulltime. We only use truck for towing and don't have weight considerations anymore.
You two are the neatest couple. I bet you never disagree on anything. We have a small 21 ft camper. Occassional use. I am so glad we will never have to make the desicions you do. We live two hrs South of Amarillo and I know you were there at one time. I wish you the best of luck with your shopping. It is a tough decision. I will keep watching, I think you two are awesome.
When I was a young boy while living in Mahopac , N.Y. My parents went shopping @ White's Dept Store on RT - 202 in near by Yorktown Heights , N. Y for new metal garbage cans while shopping they bought a big n beautiful Magnavox color TV , radio & phonograph entertainment center instead . For along time it was a joke when ever we had company "how do you like our new garbage cans" LOL !!
@@dzymslizzy3641 When I was a young boy while living in Mahopac , N.Y. My parents went shopping @ White's Dept Store on RT - 202 in near by Yorktown Heights , N. Y for new metal garbage cans while shopping they bought a big n beautiful Magnavox color TV , radio & phonograph entertainment center instead . For along time it was a joke when ever we had company "how do you like our new garbage cans" LOL !!
We just upgraded from a popup to a 26 foot hybrid bunk house. Boy what a difference! We can't wait to be able to travel further and make tom great memories.
Hello Marc and Trish; We just moved up to a 5er ourselves and went from 30’ to a 42’ with a rear kitchen. Add to that 5 slides and you have a great deal of room for line dancing! We also went with an Anderson Hitch which is lighter and still gives us room in the bed of our truck. Just a thought though, unless you are not totally sold on Grand Design, check out Heartland RV. Good luck on finding your perfect rig and I’m sure your boys will be happy also.
The perfect shopping experience! Gotta hand it to the guys at Lazy Day RV - they have the inventory so you can actually compare the pros and cons. It's a win win in my book. Great educational/buyers video to reference by Marc!
Curious as to why you don't use the outside kitchen? Our old popup we could connect the stove top inside or out. Unless it was raining I always would cook outside. So when we upgraded to our new camper that was a must. Unless it's crazy hot or cold or raining I love cooking outside! I so agree and you inspired me to just buy what we could to start and get out there! I have been tent camping usually by myself or just with my oldest(family didn't like it) for years. Bought the popup to get the family out and they loved it. The wife wanted more comfort, so a year later we have a 28ft with double bunks, areal bathroom and a slide living room/kitchen. LOVING IT!!!!!
I love our fifth wheel and wish we went toyhauler. However, I feel our truck is too small for the extra weight of a TH. My opinion a TH is a one ton dually set up and we couldn’t justify losing on the 17 Ram with the price of the new Rams Good luck with the choice! For us, based on the cost of a new 1 ton dually, I’m thinking a class A would be our next move.
I’m so glad that your stove wasn’t stolen. My first reaction was oh no. That’s so rude that someone would steal it. So happy you made it clear what happened. Good point not to go to the bad thoughts first. People are usually so sweet and helpful
Been following you all for almost two years now. I knew you’d come to this point. We have four kids and a 5th wheel was a huge relief because of the bigger floor plan/ garage. Voltage 4005 and we pull it with a srw long bed F-250. The only thing and biggest upgrade we haven’t made yet is putting airbags on the truck. Overall, the long bed F-250 handles towing no problem. We’ve made some fairly long trips and had no issues. I will mention, towing a 44’ 5th wheel with a long bed truck does take some getting use to. Now I’m pretty good at it. With a 12’ garage... that ass is fat but you’ll get use to it. Just watch out for sites with lots of trees. If you have any curious questions I’d be happy to share our experience.
I agree with Marc.... a table is essential as a workspace. I have my laptop and USB accessories strewn out all over the place on my RV table right now. Side patio is nice, but for full timing I thinking it would really not be all that useful.... it eats up wall space you there could be a dinette, sofas, or other livable space and more usable features. The only place I can see the point in the side patio is camping out in the desert, not so much usefulness in an RV park or campground.
Actually, having owned this exact model and full timed in it, the side patio is incredibly useful. I used it as an office quite frequently and more importantly it becomes the front door of the trailer. It’s really quite nice to be able to come up the steps, take shoes off or set something and open the door to walk in vs the stair shuffle you always end up doing in a normal 5th wheel entry. Plus bringing int the groceries is super nice with the side deck. Really the downside of the side deck is that it’s always attached to a 44ft rig and as Mark touched on the available campsites start rapidly falling once you cross 40 ft.
I am not a Ford guy but, I think you would be happy with the F-450. The turning radius is way better than anything else out there. It also gives you awesome cargo capacity. I would also recommend a B & W 5th wheel hitch. One thing, make sure you get the factory installed 5th wheel/gooseneck package. Just saying. Good luck on your hunt for truck and trailer. Thanks for sharing your new adventure.
My folks bought a camper from Lazy Days in Tampa and they were awful. It was suppose to be ready one day and they traveled there with there RV for trade and were told it wasn’t ready. So another week and a half went by and they were told it was ready so again they traveled with there rv for trade and they got there and it wasn’t finished! They hadn’t even taken it into the shop yet! Only after I demanded to speak with supervisors etc was it pulled into the shop and finally after another day and a half, was it fixed. After this experience I did some research and there is a growing problem with RV dealers and poor poor service. I hope you all have better luck! My parents are older and I feel like that is a factor since it wasn’t until I stepped in that things were fixed. It’s very sad.
Didn’t know you guys were switching out rigs.. Good news / bad news about what happened to the grill. No one wants to be a victim. Glad you clarified for us.
Loved this episode! Can't wait to see your new Momentum behind your new F-350 DRW truck. Can't stand the suspense! You guys really do need your own TV show.
High springs is just south of my hometown(fort white)! Gotta tube down the itchetucknee. My wife and I are full timing with 4 kids(2,4,8,10) and a dog. Loving every minute! Sold our house in Naples Fl and decided, time to do something as we have never taken a family vacation. Love y’alls channel!
You are going to be so happy with a fifth wheel. You will be disappointed you waited for so long. Don’t let the truck salesman talk you out of the Dually. It is the only way to go.
ABSOLUTELY NEED a dually!! And, consider the 450 or equivalent. I have pulled with 350 SRW and Dually, love the smaller footprint of the SRW, but the best pull experience is with a dually. PERIOD.
Love your shopping experience. We shopped for 4 years and fell in love with your channel. We purchased a Vanleigh Beacon 5th wheel and Dodge Ram Doolie and have been full timing for almost a year. We would have never considered traveling full time without you. Thanks for the real dream
Please remember take the MSRP and times it by 43% and minus that number from the MSRP and THAT is what the dealer pays for that rig. I hauled RV's from the manufacturer to the dealers for years and believe me that number is very accurate. Good buying
Our first is still working even after the remodel we just uploaded on our channel. But it’s been just a year for us 😂🤣 we might go bigger after 2 years. And our mistake was getting our truck first and camper after, but hey you live, and learn. Happy camping
We just upgraded to a Newmar 3910 from a 38 fifth wheel Montana... We both cried when it pulled out of are yard, we still don't know if we made the right decision...good luck with your dream...in my book the fifth wheel is the best RV we have ever owned, you will never go back to a tow behind...💕
We tow a 5th wheel with a dully; discovered that too much road bumps were transmitted into the rig; installed a Reese 20K Goosebox hitch with airbag and two shocks built into the hitch. Great difference in ride and comfort!! When you unhitch you have a full back of your truck with no 5th wheel hitch taking up room and adding weight to truck all the time. Safe travels!
Great video! Our kids get us "off track" while looking at RV's too, but their opinions are also very important. Love the way you handle things as a family. With four kids, we'd love the second bathroom as well!
The problem for most of us is purchasing the new truck that comes along with the 5th Wheel. It is a pretty big investment for most retirees. You guys are young and still working, producing content which you are very good at.
My decision process started out at the kitchen table... "How much can I afford"...then it moved to, "Can my tow vehicle tow what I can afford" of "do I factor that into my afford price?". Then I moved into must have and don't want lists. This made it easy to go to the dealer an lay it out. This way you are not tempted to go into a rig that it outside your budget and start thinking, "Well maybe we can afford that".......
I'll give our two cents worth on the dinette....we have a standing table dinette in our 5ver and are planning on pulling it out. We're going to put in a bar style shelf against the wall allowing us to use it as an eating place and work station combo. That will allow us to use rolling chairs facing the wall. The dinette is really cramped and a clutter collector in our coach. Good luck in your shopping!
Don’t skimp on a tow vehicle. Verify the actual payload and towing weights between a 350 and a 450. Don’t rule out a 550 with a RV hauler body. I went from a SRW 350 to a 550. The 550 had the rear leaf springs removed and a 5 link air suspension installed, a factory aft of axle 40 gallon and a Transfer Flow 32 gallon tank. You are familiar with the bigger fuel tank benefits. The rear air suspension made it very nice to drive around unloaded or loaded. Unloaded was just as comfortable as loaded (neither was bone jarring) and auto height control worked well. Look back in time to a Fontaine Classic Traveler body on a 550. We had a 36 foot Teton which was heavy. The 550 kept our confidence up. We left Palm Springs going across the mountain to Temecula and must have found the road the Ricky and Lucy travel trailer show was filmed on. Also, the downgrades were horrendous, but the 550 was up,to the task.
I would go higher than a 550. A Class 6-8 truck is where you should be. As Jeff Warren eluded, it is not the towing, it is the stopping. As they say in motorcycle riding, don't dress for the ride, dress for the crash. It is the emergency stopping that a heavier truck provides will be the difference.
I have a side patio so that my yorkies can enjoy outside. We rigged it up with a pet door and they love. We absolutely love it too. You might try to find a 5er with the patio that is not a toy hauler if you can. We started with a toy hauler and so much of the camper was taken up by the garage that we just weren't happy. Just an idea to consider. I think you will like the hookup process better on a 5er too. Much easier to me.
I have a 2014 F350 SRW 4wd SWB and have 2015 38 ft Keystone Laredo 5th wheel and have no clearance issues at all. Also have a 50 Gal Titan Travel Treker fuel tank in the front of the bed with no clearance issues.
This is exciting. My dad recently upgraded to a 5th wheel 43' with a Dodge 350. Trailer weighs 23k loaded and he wishes he went for the 450 even though the 350 does well. He added air bags to the truck and swears by them. Good luck and happy shopping! Another satisfying video.
I wondered if the Blackstone could have fallen out but I kinda thought no its to heavy. It was not pretty when our cargo bay came open and some of our things went rolling down the side of the FL Turnpike. We did stop and clean up but it was kinda wild. We now have cargo netting to cover the opening to our bays just in case. Lazydays is nice looks like you had a good experience. Safe and happy travels.
Welcome to the 5th wheel side. We love ours and will be extra happy when we can afford to finish it's repairs. A 39' Teton, 2005, 3 slides and a 2009 Volvo 780 needs a lot of TLC. But we have the truck to pull and STOP anything.
We live in Tampa and have been to Lazy Days several times, we first rented a C class for vacation and now we are looking to buy, very friendly staff. Wish we knew you were here, we would have loved meeting you guys!!
We've thought about a 5th wheel but we don't want to give up the back of our trucks but hubby DOES want a toy hauler !! Oh - would love to have you as a guest on our Monday night live stream
LOL posted on instagram but love this! So my hubby favorite is the 397th (bedroom biggest reason) mine is the 399th (side patio- you can 99% of the time use that when the back not as much) brother has the 351m. We just sold our 44 Foot toy hauler (and we have many toys LOL) but going back down to the 310GK. Too many beautiful places we cannot get in to because of the darn length. (side note this will be our 5th unit we have had BAHAAAAAA)
That is something to think about. Places to get into. I was having a hard time finding an open spot in Flordia State park with trailer 33'5 but that was also looking for a spot to park the truck.
5th Wheel toy hauler with a 1 ton. Welcome to our world!! This is exciting!!! 2 years FT in our 376 and still loving it. Still learning but loving it. Would gladly share any info you want/need.
We were looking at the solitude 377, and looking at a dually truck for it. For the truck we were actually impressed with the 2020 GMC. Unfortunately it wont be available until Aug or sometime in the fall. But it has some cool camera features that help with towing your Rig. **Also, the 5th wheels are taller so you'll need to pay a little more attention to the bridge height. I know on a recent video you had to stop and see if your rig could go under the bridge. The bridge if I remember correctly was 12'8". Well the 5th wheel I think is 13'5". So you wouldn't be able to go under that bridge with it. You'll have to take a different route. Start looking at truck GPS routes **
If Grand Ginger is 37', you'll LOVE maneuvering a fifth wheel. Our 5er is 40' and it tows about the same as my 25' gooseneck. I love it on the road, and barely know it's back there. No suction from semi's, and what is sway? You do have to watch when you're passing travel trailers because you will suck them over like a semi. They don't seem to expect it.
Love the 397TH, that’s the one I’m thinking most seriously about myself. No kids, plan to use garage for office, small golf cart, occasional guest room. Plan to get this & RAM 3500 diesel dually next year when I retire.
@@KeepYourDaydream be sure to check insurance on both. My insurance company quoted me something ridiculous for the 450 over the 350 dualy... hundreds of dollars more per month. Also the 450 doesn't support TPMS and has expensive tires with less options, though the 19.5s look nice as does the wide track front.
F450 even higher off the ground than the F350. Both will need an upgraded PIN box to raise the 5th wheel higher off the bed for clearance. F450 is commercial grade and more expensive to service and maintain. F450 may haul nose high and require adjustments to either the truck or the RV. The F350 Dually will handle about the same load. Make sure the hitch is lower than the sides of the flatbed so you can get a cover and slide it shut over the hitch when not hauling.
So glad your grill wasn't stolen! My best advice is always to go used. So many nice units out there. Good luck - 5th wheels are amazing guys. XO, Kelly
I agree, but that takes time, which we don't have and being Fulltime makes it even harder. We'd have to be in one spot for at least a month or two. I think we'll do used next time and do this between seasons. That was a lesson we learned.
We just bought a new toyhauler, I absolutely LOVE it over the bunkhouse design. I love how much more roomy it is than our prior trailer when the "toys" are unloaded.
I have learned so much from watching your videos. Thank you. My best-friend and I bought a Class C a few months ago and did some local camping (TRISH: in/around RI) to work out the bugs and learn about it. I am retiring on 5/31/19 and we hit the road a short time later. Although I am not an "Insider," I would still like to meet up with you guys somewhere on the road! I still can't believe Trish went to Barr HS! Safe travels out there and kudos to Caleb for his interest in the USAF. My friend and I are retired Army!
The one thing I would consider would be an "all seasons" tt as you are looking in Florida where it is "warm and humid" all of the time....BUT gorgeous tt's you are looking at! We haven't contemplated yet the idea of a 5th wheel, as I am the "driver/hauler" and I'm used to bumper pulls. Auto leveling looks to be something we will look for in the next tt we get. So with that said will will anxiously look forward to your comments when you do purchase and camp with a 5th wheel tt!
I compared a F350 to a F450 and bought a 2019 F450 because: Turning diameter is less than my short bed F250. Brake shoes are the same for a F250 and F350 - much bigger for a F450 (man this thing can STOP!). 48 gallon tank on a F450. Truck tires are regroovable and last much longer than LT tires. Long bed means cheaper hitch & more room. My F450 has 4777 lb capacity for people and pin weight. I'm very happy with my choice.
We love our 5th wheel! #ForestRiver, WildCat Maxx. Only down fall is there a lot of state parks we can't get into as ours in 30ft and there is a limit. We love that we have 2 doors into the bathroom, as we have guests that stay with us when we camp each month and so it offers access to both. Love that one with the side deck that you walked through, wish ours had that! That would be awesome! Good Luck! You guys are awesome!
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. I guess we will find out in future video what you picked. Make sense to upgrade with kids still living at home. Good luck with your decision.
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Ginger Fiver! Side note the Toy Box needs to have something heavy in the garage all the time. it is not balanced well to be empty. This is advice is from a coworker that keep their dirt bikes in it. Then ended up traiding for a regular 5th wheel. Thank you for sharing your wonderful family.
Interesting. I have not heard that and the dealer makes no reference to that. I've also heard that the putting 1k in the garage doesn't not change the pin weight. I'll look into it more.
My wife and I and our seven-year-old son started rving 6 years ago with a 14 foot long Coleman pop up camper. We upgraded to a 17 foot Jayco hybrid 3 years ago. We knew that we have grown and fell in love with the Adventurous lifestyle of camping and travelling around North America. We knew it was time to upgrade to something much bigger and to acquire a better tow vehicle. We watched many videos and read many articles and still could not make up our mind. Then one day we stumbled upon you guys and your Channel! A down-to-earth family who tells it the way it is and honest as well. We love the fact that you admit when you've made mistakes and you let other people know how to avoid making them themselves. We followed a lot of your recommendations about just buying what you need not what you want and being able to save a little bit of money that you can spend on more camping. Three weeks ago we purchased a Jayco 26 foot camper and a brand new F-150 3.5 L EcoBoost. After watching your video on safely Towing and figuring out what your tow vehicle vehicle can actually tow safely, we realized we now have the perfect truck and the perfect camper. We are 300 lb under our max payload capacity when fully loaded. We are 3,800 lbs Below on our Max towing capacity. The math works out perfect, I know our family is safe and secure and we made a good purchase. A big thank you to the KYD crew and keep up the amazing work, we watch every single video. We're currently watching all of your Canadian camping videos as we are leaving the east coast of Canada in June and driving clear across to Victoria British Columbia and then back again this summer. We plan on doing this trip in 9 weeks! Thank you again for the amazing job can't wait to see more videos.
Have you always been besties? I love how you both are in this together. 😍😍😍
We started our RV journey ten years ago with an 18' toy hauler pulled with a GMC Yukon. Two years later we upgraded to a 26' TH pulled with a Ford F350.
Six years after that we upgraded once again to 40' fifth wheel travel trailer pulled with a Dodge Ram Cummins 3500.
Even though we're not fulltime, the RV lifestyle is what dreams are made of! Do what you can with what you have now because you won't regret it 😀!
You guys are so authentic. LOVE your advice to "start small....start where you're at.....get going now." Thanks for sharing. We are getting closer! Keep up the great work! We all appreciate you guys.....
You're gonna love the 5th wheel experience. We recently upgraded from our travel trailer to a 5th wheel. We went from a 33ft travel trailer to a 41ft 5th wheel and it is easier to turn and maneuver, despite being 8ft longer. The hook up seems so much easier, less laborious. Try to get something with auto leveling. Toss out those manual levelers and watch your RV level itself! Hooking up is a snap with LCI's auto leveling and "return to hitch height" feature. With the RV up over the bed of the truck, your turns start sooner making it easier to follow through turns. We find ourselves open to move more often now, as the hook up is quicker despite having more slides.
Yoly and I have been retired and traveling for 13 years. We thought to start small, work our way up and eventually downsize and work our way back down. We've had lots of experiences with different rigs and in the end with 10 different rigs and 3 trucks the thing that we learned mostly was that every step you make costs you money. Do it often enough and you'll find that 13 years later all your savings set aside for travel will be gone :-)
Yes, I agree. Good points.
Back when I was ready to try a different RV, it required a different truck, a 350/3500 series or bigger. This was 10 years ago. My brother gave me this advice, he said "buy a dually, because you won't be limited as much about your RV choice." He had bought a 2008 Chevy Dually, with the plan of getting a truck camper. I was in the process of truck camper shopping.
August of 2009 I sold my small toy hauler, then traded in my truck on a Chevy 3500HD Dually. Three months later I bought the truck camper that is in my small profile picture on my channel. I still have both the truck and the camper. The truck has just over 57,000 miles on it. Sad that I haven't driven it more than that, but it's not my daily driver.
The advice of "starting with what you have, or can afford" is VERY important. Like you have said so many times, don't have dreams so big that the dreams are unobtainable, because they will always be "dreams" instead of reality. I went down this exact road last year when I wanted a travel trailer to do other type of travels, where I could set up a base camp and then sight-see or go explore, etc. For me, a truck camper isn't ideal for that, because I don't unload my camper off the truck when I go places, but I don't want my RV with my all the time if I stay someplace for a week.
I picked out the travel trailer I wanted, it was totally within my budget, the bank approved me for financing, then the bank changed their mind a few days later. At the end of that process, I decided "it's just as well that I don't have RV payments hangin over my head for however many years, because that takes away from the money I'd have to go camping as much as I want to." Yes, I'd still go out traveling, but not as much as I would if I had an RV payment.
Mid-way through the shopping process I found a nice pre-owned smaller travel trailer on Craigslist about 3 hours from home. I went looking for the ad again (at this point it was about 3 weeks after I had initially seen it) and it was still for sale. I went and looked at it and bought it, and paid cash for it. WOOHOO! NO RV PAYMENTS!!
In the last 6 weeks, I've been out 4 weekends, and I'm typing this comment while camping in that RV. LOVING EVERY minute of it!
I have NEVER been out so many times in such a short time period, nor been out in Early May, let alone APRIL!
Your channel has definitely inspired me to live within your means, and make dreams that are obtainable.
Well, we just ordered our first RV yesterday; it is a 397th in that black and blue paint! We are super excited! We have two daughters one will be in college, and our youngest is 21 but will always live with us. We are turning the garage into her bedroom. She can't sleep in a loft or a tall bed, so the space is going to be completely dedicated to her room. We are military and will be full timing in Cherry Point, NC.
Great choice! Congrats :)
Mine just arrived a few weeks ago and the transporter damaged the front cap and beautiful new blue FBP turning too sharply! Even after all of the PDIs, the ladder was also missing from the side (assume they put them on after they come back from paint). Cap repaired and ladder on order from GD. Sometimes, you just need to roll with it. You are going to love the FBP.
@@CartersTrail Wow, I hope everything gets sorted! And I hope you love your rig. My brother spent 9 years delivering rvs all over the US and Canada. He never wrecked anything, but he did have people run into him twice.
So true..start smallish. We started with two small kids and had a hybrid TT with fold out beds, it was great. Went to one fifth wheel then another and then a class C. Now the kids are out of the house and we have a 34" class A. It takes time to learn what works and what you feel comfortable pulling, and where you are going. Out west pulling steep grades we found out very quickly we needed a diesel with an engine brake...makes it safe and easy. Please understand the difference between out east and the colorado mountians....way different.
We started Full Time RVing in August 2018 with an Outdoors RV 24RDS bumper pull. Bought the truck 1st - Dodge Ram 3500 - in case we wanted to upgrade down the road. After 4 months, we knew we bought the wrong RV. UPGRADED to a Northwood Arctic Fox 5th wheel and LOVE it! Reasons we upgraded - wanted a 3rd sitting area, taller ceilings so my hubby doesn't hit his head and a bed we can walk around, bigger tanks for Boondocking. Luckily, Outdoors RV's have pretty good resale value. Owned it for about 1 year and only lost about 6K. Which we thought was pretty good considering the resale value of RV's.
We have a bumper pull toy hauler and love it. The garage belongs to the kids. They're still small enough to both sleep on the top bunk sideways. The 3rd a/c would be great because the garage area does tend to get warmer than the rest because it's not as well insulated...they can't fully enclose the floor because of the fuel tank. That being said, having an onboard generator hooked to a 30 gallon gas tank is awesome! Push a button and you've got full power to run everything! The kitchen layout does suffer, but there are some that have a slightly different floorplan with 2 90 degree couches or the Keystone Raptor 353 that has pull out chairs around the kitchen island to give you eating space. We don't use our back deck that often, but that's more of an issue with not really being in one place for very long, and most of the places are really hot and have mosquitos, so you don't want the back area open. Also, if you have the big metal stairs for the deck, you have to haul them around and set them up every time. It might be different with the fifth wheel, but ours is definitely not secure if you leave the rig with the back deck down, so you have to close it up anytime you leave. Just food for thought as you look.
We are now living in 5th wheel open range 3x at rv park and have 2016 ford 350 DRW 4x4. We are living our dream!😀😍
YAY!!!! I am SOOOO excited for you!!! We are right in the middle of what you are going through! We bought our 5th wheel first because I KNEW what I wanted in a 5th wheel rig and I wasn't going to compromise. Then we went shopping for a truck to pull it. We took our time to find both. It has taken us about 2 months to find what rig and truck we were looking for. We finally found our truck and we are going to pick it up tomorrow and then we will finally done with this part of the journey!! Woooo Hooo! It has been SUPER stressful, fun, and crazy all wrapped into one experience. I am very excited to go camping in our new rig and truck and I know we will feel good about the whole process with no regrets. I am super happy for you all! I think you are going to LOVE having a 5th wheel and see that there are some real bonuses in having a 5th wheel verses a pull trailer! Enjoy your journey!!! I can't wait to watch your future videos in your new rig!
Congratulations ! Enjoy your new rig & truck. What did you decide on buying ?
We started Camping in 2000, purchased a 2 years old pop up trailer. Enjoyed it with our two young kids a lot. On week end we would get on site and set up and watched these big F350 with huge Fifth Wheels come in and we use to say, that’s what we’re getting when we retire! Then came a health issue, pretty scary one. So in short, I came out of the Hospital and told my spouse “ you know that big truck and trailer we want to have at retirement, well we are getting it now!” Funny or maybe not, how life spins you off in different directions sometimes. We had since 2002 two Fifth Wheels one lasted us 10 years, and the second was more suited for our retirement and of course a few trucks... But after that leap, we never looked back. My F350s were diesel dual wheels with long box. Never did I felt uneasy on the road, once you get used to the size, you will want to be on the road. As for the F450, the only reason I could of gone with it was the better turn radius. Good luck, you are on your way to a good change 👍
We are on our third trailer now and it’s a 5th wheel Toy Hauler with Garage. We will never go back to a tow behind again.
Mark you will love how stable and how much control you will have.
Toy Haulers are perfect for boon docking!! Water capacity, Generator, Inverter, and already comes with off-road suspension.
You will really like the garage for the boys as it keeps it so much quieter inside.
I had to get used to backing a 5th wheel. It’s definitely different.
It actually is easier now.
Also hitching a 5th wheel is way easier than yours.
The first few times you keep asking yourself if that’s it? Lol
Good luck! You are going to love it! Can’t wait to see it!
Those large trailers are really extension of home. With that said and considering your travels and the places you've been you will be eliminating "another" group of places where you can take the trailer. When you moved into your 2nd trailer you did likewise. Hopefully, moving about in the "monster truck" that is required to pull the 5th wheel, won't be a hassel when you "just want to run to a mall or a local neighborhood store. I'm excited to see what's next for you all. One other thing...the chassis of a class A motorhome shown in the video are a marvel of complexity. My son tried his best to enjoy all that with two different class A's. A "used one turned out to be an expensive nightmare" and the new one he traded for let us down "everytime" it was time to leave. Apparently, those are meant to be used "daily" because a "once monthly" created problem after problem. 14 months into ownership of a Newmar Ventana finally resulted in a new 28' Airstream International Signature. It's always ready to go!
I'm overwhelmed by the size and complexity of these RVs. I can't imagine you driving across the George Washington Bridge onto the Cross Bronx Expressway. Never has a road been mislabeled as an Expressway as this road. Drive safely is an understatement. Happy trials to you.
Funny story for you -
In June of 2016 we went across the U.S. to pick up our first and new camping travel trailer. On the way back to Montana, we stopped at Mount Rushmore for a couple of days, then proceeded home. We went through Wall Drug to get gas. I had been carefully looking at other people’s tow vehicles that had travel trailers and taking note because we found that our Tahoe was/is very under-powered and was sucking down the gas at an alarming rate. We knew a truck would be in our future to properly tow our new rig. I don’t remember if it was that same isle or the one next to it, but you all pulled in either beside or behind us. I distinctly remember how the bikes were loaded on the bed of the pickup and that the family that unloaded was in similar age to us. It wasn’t until years later that I came across your channel and couldn’t figure out why your rig looked so familiar until I went back and checked your earlier videos and confirmed you were in the same area at the same timeframe. It’s funny how certain things stick in our minds. I have been watching your films for about a year now until I came to this revelation. Great channel - your advice and experience has been and continues to be helpful to us. Thank you! 😎
Love this episode. We are retired grandparents, figuring out ways to take grand kids RV’ng with us. F-350 SRW, GD 5er 307MKS (33 ft). It all works, yet dreaming of the bigger rigs is fun too. We did replace the GD mattress with a 10”, made a world of difference.. -Jersey Mike
Me and partner just bought our first rig today! You guys were a huge inspiration on us just picking the rig regardless of whether its perfect or not! Can't wait for our new adventure
Congrats. We're glad we could be a small part. Any rig is a perfect rig, really. In the end, they all accomplish the same thing.
Fun tour of the RV's. I loved it when Trish said the side patio would be a perfect place for a puppy :) Big commitment though and limits what you can do sometimes.
Agreed I love my dogs however it limits hikes and bikes.
Nice stuff. Well after 19 years, 3 , 5th wheels (36’ HitchHiker (Alaska veteran #1) 39’ Teton Grand Sundance, (Alaska veteran #2) and our new 29-5T Arctic Fox, let me tell you that it’s all about the truck. F-450 or Ram 3500, at minimum. I have had 3 Dodge/RAM’s, 1 F-450 and a International 4700 Stalick Conversion Toter. I recommend a TrailAir air pin box (strongly) as the HD trucks can be very hard on the 5th wheel frame structure, and it will greatly improve the ride. Love the 5th wheel space and storage but the weight can creep up pretty fast. Love the 5th wheel space and storage. Good luck on your search. Love your channel.
We have the 397TH and it has the biggest tanks I know of. It is a great setup for boon-docking. Checkout the cargo carrying capacity too. Very good. Also, we got the full couch and you can remove sections yourself. We pulled out two sections and then brought our own table. One thing we didn't know was an option when we bought it is the heat pump in the middle A/C unit. Would have been nice for those times you don't want to use propane. The biggest issue we have with it is the lack of storage in the upstairs bathroom. Also, the refrigerator has some issues. Fridge is too cold when the freezer is cold enough to freeze stuff (stuff freezes in the fridge too) or fridge is just right and stuff doesn't stay frozen. We plan on building bunk beds in the back and removing the fold down couch seats as we've found them to be less than useful with our setup. That is one cool thing about the garage... you can build your own setup if you want.
Also, we upgraded from a travel trailer and a 5th wheel is a dream to tow in comparison.
Yes, Redemption of the RV community ! Heartland Cyclone 4007 is our dream RV. It's never the price of the RV that bothers me, I can just never get over spending so much money on the truck I need to pull it...
Thank you for keeping it real, for your compassionate posture toward the RV community and future RV owners, and your emotional honesty about yourselves and your experiences.
We started with an Imagine 3150BH and have loved it! Due to our boys getting bigger and wanting to have more room, we purchased a Solitude 3740 BH. Excited to learn everything about fifth wheels. Good luck on making a decision on your next rig!
Very happy for all of you ! Before I retired from Law Enforcement in South Florida in 2017 my fiancé and I attended the 2016 Super RV show in Tampa. We decided on a super c and went to Lazy Days , sadly our experience with the sales representative turned us off from purchasing from them . Fast forward 2 yrs and we're in East Tennessee, we got a foood truck and are loving it . Still planning on getting a super c after our youngest leaves in 4yrs. Wishing you the best in you endeavors , stay safe and be good to each other
All our parents could afford was a crazy old camper trailer they bought for $1200 cash. We fixed it up and camped everywhere between Alaska & Arizona with a family of 6. Was it awesome? Not really, but we got to go RVing! Just buy something you can and GO! good video folks.
I would love to show our drv jx450. It is phenomenally well built and we'll be keeping ours forever. Not sure if it might be too big for you. It is 43 ft long and twenty-four thousand pounds and we absolutely love it. It is truly a home away from home. Washer dryer, and we use the toy hauler part for my office.
We considered drv full house, but didn't get a chance to look at them.
Just in case you haven't pulled the trigger yet, I would recommend getting the Reese Goose Box Pinbox for your new 5th wheel. The Goose Box hitch takes advantage of the Gooseneck ball that can be placed inside the bed of your truck and has the advantage of giving you your full truck bed without having to pull out a big, heavy, 5th wheel hitch. You also lighten up your truck by a couple hundred pounds that you don't have to haul around with you when you are sightseeing, saves gas in the long run. PS: I also recommend going with the Diesel engine. The new trucks are fantastic, you will absolutely love your new truck.
That's a good point, but the toy hauler weight is right up on the weight rating of the Reese Goose Box. The other things we learned is being Fulltime, we don't use the bed of the truck.
We started out in 2005 with a 20' hybrid trailer that we could tow with our Trailblazer, towed it for 5 seasons. In 2009 we purchased a GMC 2500 HD with the plan on getting a bigger trailer. We kept the first trailer for 18 seasons, we towed it over 21,000 miles.
This spring we moved to a 27' fifth wheel, we have had it out 3 times so far, just got back from a week in Oregon visiting family. The 5th wheel is definitely a different towing experience, it tows much better, but backing can be more of a challenge because the trailer is slower to respond to steering inputs.
If you get a 5th wheel I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting a 450 dually because structurally there's no difference between the 350 and 450 and with towing full time you'll want that 450s wide axle and turning radius just my 2 cents from towing almost 10 years now(also prices are the same) love being an insider! Can't wait for what's next! 👍🙌
As a F350 dually owner, the turning radius requires a reservation to park it. F450 has the wider track and a much better turning radius. I agree with you 100% Although I have heard you can modify the stops on the F350 to give a better radius--supposedly limited so when the truck is lifted and bigger wheels are added, no fitment issues--can't confirm that but read it at one time
@@mmeyer8700 yes you can modify the stops but then you run into the risk of hitting the a arms or frame if you turn too much much easier to go with the manufacturer truck and keep all the warranties intact 👍
Yes, truck shopping next week.
I love the start small and start now advice. That’s what my family did. We started with a lightweight hybrid because we didn’t have a truck. I now have a truck and we are shopping for a larger bunkhouse as our two kids are getting bigger. It’s the best way to get out and start. Now we know what we want and what we need.
You guys are quickly growing to be my favorite RV TH-camrs to watch. Always entertaining & informative, and just seem like the kind of people that would be good friends. Good luck on your search here in our Tampa area.
"Growing to be?" ;) Okay, we'll keep working on it!
It is so exciting to change rigs. We are now In our 60s and started with a camper 11 ft. then a Fifth Wheel 33 ft. next a Class A 37 ft.and now a 31 ft Class C.. You can go thru a lot of rigs as family needs change. Our hardest swap was spending a week in a tent while waiting for a check to clear to buy our Class C. It's a great memory now but was a bit rough at the time. Cheryl and Mark
I'm a parent of 3 daughters. The lesson you gave at the beginning was enlightening. Looks like they'll be going to grandmas when we buy. 🤣
That’s what we did we started small 20 yrs ago and as we had more kids and as they grew we up graded in size. We now have a Jayco sisemic was 355w toyhauler. This is our 4th RV we bring a side x side with us to ride the trails all around the country.the extra bathroom is a lifesaver.
When we sold our house 3 years ago we bought a 43 foot fuzion chrome with a side porch. We love living in it and enjoy the garage with the second bathroom. The only regret is the side porch. When the weather is crappy and the porch is closed it makes it a dark hole on that side of the RV. I think we would have been better off with a slide with windows and just use the back porch. We have watched you guys from the beginning and enjoy your channel.
Hey guys. Another great vid. … Just a few suggestions for consideration. First, we have a 42' (12,500 #s dry) 5th wheel that we pull with our 2016 Ford F-350 DRW 6.7 PS Diesel. Could not be more pleased … just a great pull. Second, take a look at the Reese Goosebox 20k instead of a 5th wheel hitch. We have a B&W turnover ball in the bed of the truck that easily flips down yielding a full 8' bed... no massive, heavy hitch in the bed. And btw, the Reese goosebox has an airbag that helps to provide a velvet smooth ride... don't even know it's there - came back from the lake just today - great drive on cruddy roads. Last suggestion is to consider installing a Progressive Industries HW50C hardwired surge and electrical protector....would not connect to shore power without it. Safe travels! bg
The 2nd bathroom is GREAT!!! We purchased a 2019 Keystone Passport 3350BH that has a bath and a half. I've got three boys and it's so nice that they have their own. When we have company it's nice as well. Leaves ours only for us by our bedroom. Can't imagine having a single bathroom again when we move into our next trailer some day.
Just finished the same process; ordered and received a new 2019 dark blue F350 Platinum over the Winter, ordered and received a new 2020 Momentum 349M with FBP (Blue) a couple of weeks ago. Installing solar and everything else now and hope to be on the road next month. Great advice on starting where you are and moving up later. Thanks for the weekly RV fix!
P.S. Wanted to add that I highly recommend the B&W Companion 25K puck-mounted hitch! Extremely well built and much nicer than the Reese Elite I had before.
I'm not sure if you had made a decision about a hitch, but I would like to strongly recommend you look at the Anderson hitch. It weighs 35 lb it's all aluminum, and Trish could remove it from your truck in 5 minutes. It is wonderful to be able to get your truck bed back so quickly when you need it. Take a look at some of the videos on it and read some of the reviews
The weight rating doesn't work for the toy hauler, but the advantages of it, which I agree with, are not taken advantage of being fulltime. We only use truck for towing and don't have weight considerations anymore.
You two are the neatest couple. I bet you never disagree on anything. We have a small 21 ft camper. Occassional use. I am so glad we will never have to make the desicions you do.
We live two hrs South of Amarillo and I know you were there at one time.
I wish you the best of luck with your shopping. It is a tough decision. I will keep watching, I think you two are awesome.
I’ve heard AND said that phrase “just looking “ numerous times in my life and in my experience it usually turns out to be more than “just looking” 😂😂
LOL--reminds me of a friend of my mother's--"just looking," went out to buy a dozen eggs; came home with a new car! :D
If you are looking you are buying. I am a victim of that as well.
When I was a young boy while living in Mahopac , N.Y. My parents went shopping @ White's Dept Store on RT - 202 in near by Yorktown Heights , N. Y for new metal garbage cans while shopping they bought a big n beautiful Magnavox color TV , radio & phonograph entertainment center instead . For along time it was a joke when ever we had company "how do you like our new garbage cans" LOL !!
@@dzymslizzy3641 When I was a young boy while living in Mahopac , N.Y. My parents went shopping @ White's Dept Store on RT - 202 in near by Yorktown Heights , N. Y for new metal garbage cans while shopping they bought a big n beautiful Magnavox color TV , radio & phonograph entertainment center instead . For along time it was a joke when ever we had company "how do you like our new garbage cans" LOL !!
My husband’s most recent “just to look” ended with us getting a 2008 GMC Yukon
We just upgraded from a popup to a 26 foot hybrid bunk house. Boy what a difference! We can't wait to be able to travel further and make tom great memories.
Hello Marc and Trish;
We just moved up to a 5er ourselves and went from 30’ to a 42’ with a rear kitchen. Add to that 5 slides and you have a great deal of room for line dancing! We also went with an Anderson Hitch which is lighter and still gives us room in the bed of our truck. Just a thought though, unless you are not totally sold on Grand Design, check out Heartland RV. Good luck on finding your perfect rig and I’m sure your boys will be happy also.
The perfect shopping experience! Gotta hand it to the guys at Lazy Day RV - they have the inventory so you can actually compare the pros and cons. It's a win win in my book. Great educational/buyers video to reference by Marc!
I agree. That's why it felt like an RV show, but no people. It was nice.
Curious as to why you don't use the outside kitchen? Our old popup we could connect the stove top inside or out. Unless it was raining I always would cook outside. So when we upgraded to our new camper that was a must. Unless it's crazy hot or cold or raining I love cooking outside! I so agree and you inspired me to just buy what we could to start and get out there! I have been tent camping usually by myself or just with my oldest(family didn't like it) for years. Bought the popup to get the family out and they loved it. The wife wanted more comfort, so a year later we have a 28ft with double bunks, areal bathroom and a slide living room/kitchen. LOVING IT!!!!!
I love our fifth wheel and wish we went toyhauler. However, I feel our truck is too small for the extra weight of a TH. My opinion a TH is a one ton dually set up and we couldn’t justify losing on the 17 Ram with the price of the new Rams
Good luck with the choice! For us, based on the cost of a new 1 ton dually, I’m thinking a class A would be our next move.
I’m so glad that your stove wasn’t stolen. My first reaction was oh no. That’s so rude that someone would steal it. So happy you made it clear what happened. Good point not to go to the bad thoughts first. People are usually so sweet and helpful
YES...5TH WHEEL!!! Soooooo many good choices out there! Very hard to choose
Been following you all for almost two years now. I knew you’d come to this point.
We have four kids and a 5th wheel was a huge relief because of the bigger floor plan/ garage.
Voltage 4005 and we pull it with a srw long bed F-250. The only thing and biggest upgrade we haven’t made yet is putting airbags on the truck.
Overall, the long bed F-250 handles towing no problem. We’ve made some fairly long trips and had no issues. I will mention, towing a 44’ 5th wheel with a long bed truck does take some getting use to. Now I’m pretty good at it.
With a 12’ garage... that ass is fat but you’ll get use to it. Just watch out for sites with lots of trees.
If you have any curious questions I’d be happy to share our experience.
👍 Truck video tonight. New RV video next Sunday.
@@KeepYourDaydreamWhy did I have to find this comment, now I can't wait to see what you've decided to go for. ugh!!! Can't wait!
I agree with Marc.... a table is essential as a workspace. I have my laptop and USB accessories strewn out all over the place on my RV table right now.
Side patio is nice, but for full timing I thinking it would really not
be all that useful.... it eats up wall space you there could be a
dinette, sofas, or other livable space and more usable features.
The only place I can see the point in the side patio is camping out in the
desert, not so much usefulness in an RV park or campground.
Actually, having owned this exact model and full timed in it, the side patio is incredibly useful. I used it as an office quite frequently and more importantly it becomes the front door of the trailer. It’s really quite nice to be able to come up the steps, take shoes off or set something and open the door to walk in vs the stair shuffle you always end up doing in a normal 5th wheel entry. Plus bringing int the groceries is super nice with the side deck. Really the downside of the side deck is that it’s always attached to a 44ft rig and as Mark touched on the available campsites start rapidly falling once you cross 40 ft.
I am not a Ford guy but, I think you would be happy with the F-450. The turning radius is way better than anything else out there. It also gives you awesome cargo capacity. I would also recommend a B & W 5th wheel hitch. One thing, make sure you get the factory installed 5th wheel/gooseneck package. Just saying. Good luck on your hunt for truck and trailer. Thanks for sharing your new adventure.
My folks bought a camper from Lazy Days in Tampa and they were awful. It was suppose to be ready one day and they traveled there with there RV for trade and were told it wasn’t ready. So another week and a half went by and they were told it was ready so again they traveled with there rv for trade and they got there and it wasn’t finished! They hadn’t even taken it into the shop yet! Only after I demanded to speak with supervisors etc was it pulled into the shop and finally after another day and a half, was it fixed. After this experience I did some research and there is a growing problem with RV dealers and poor poor service. I hope you all have better luck! My parents are older and I feel like that is a factor since it wasn’t until I stepped in that things were fixed. It’s very sad.
We bought a 29BH TT then we upgrade to a 29ft fifth wheel. We kept the TT. We use the fifth wheel more because we found it to be more comfortable.
Your family is so fun to watch as you look at a new 5th wheel and (Ford F450 Dually) for full time living. So much fun your family provides me!
Didn’t know you guys were switching out rigs.. Good news / bad news about what happened to the grill. No one wants to be a victim. Glad you clarified for us.
Loved this episode! Can't wait to see your new Momentum behind your new F-350 DRW truck. Can't stand the suspense! You guys really do need your own TV show.
High springs is just south of my hometown(fort white)! Gotta tube down the itchetucknee. My wife and I are full timing with 4 kids(2,4,8,10) and a dog. Loving every minute! Sold our house in Naples Fl and decided, time to do something as we have never taken a family vacation. Love y’alls channel!
Best part is watching this while camping
Nice. Same here :)
You are going to be so happy with a fifth wheel. You will be disappointed you waited for so long.
Don’t let the truck salesman talk you out of the Dually.
It is the only way to go.
ABSOLUTELY NEED a dually!! And, consider the 450 or equivalent. I have pulled with 350 SRW and Dually, love the smaller footprint of the SRW, but the best pull experience is with a dually. PERIOD.
Love your shopping experience. We shopped for 4 years and fell in love with your channel. We purchased a Vanleigh Beacon 5th wheel and Dodge Ram Doolie and have been full timing for almost a year. We would have never considered traveling full time without you. Thanks for the real dream
Beautiful setup! 👍
Please remember take the MSRP and times it by 43% and minus that number from the MSRP and THAT is what the dealer pays for that rig. I hauled RV's from the manufacturer to the dealers for years and believe me that number is very accurate. Good buying
Our first is still working even after the remodel we just uploaded on our channel. But it’s been just a year for us 😂🤣 we might go bigger after 2 years. And our mistake was getting our truck first and camper after, but hey you live, and learn. Happy camping
We just upgraded to a Newmar 3910 from a 38 fifth wheel Montana...
We both cried when it pulled out of are yard, we still don't know if we made the right decision...good luck with your dream...in my book the fifth wheel is the best RV we have ever owned, you will never go back to a tow behind...💕
We tow a 5th wheel with a dully; discovered that too much road bumps were transmitted into the rig; installed a Reese 20K Goosebox hitch with airbag and two shocks built into the hitch. Great difference in ride and comfort!! When you unhitch you have a full back of your truck with no 5th wheel hitch taking up room and adding weight to truck all the time. Safe travels!
Nice to hear Lazy Days did well. Seems like many folks don’t feel the same way and it’s nice to hear a positive experience!
Great video! Our kids get us "off track" while looking at RV's too, but their opinions are also very important. Love the way you handle things as a family. With four kids, we'd love the second bathroom as well!
The problem for most of us is purchasing the new truck that comes along with the 5th Wheel. It is a pretty big investment for most retirees. You guys are young and still working, producing content which you are very good at.
Another awesome video. You guys are truly a gift that just keeps on giving. A lot of great info that is useful. Thank you so much. Paul
My decision process started out at the kitchen table... "How much can I afford"...then it moved to, "Can my tow vehicle tow what I can afford" of "do I factor that into my afford price?". Then I moved into must have and don't want lists. This made it easy to go to the dealer an lay it out. This way you are not tempted to go into a rig that it outside your budget and start thinking, "Well maybe we can afford that".......
I'll give our two cents worth on the dinette....we have a standing table dinette in our 5ver and are planning on pulling it out. We're going to put in a bar style shelf against the wall allowing us to use it as an eating place and work station combo. That will allow us to use rolling chairs facing the wall. The dinette is really cramped and a clutter collector in our coach. Good luck in your shopping!
That's a great idea. We wanted to do that in Grand Ginger.
Our experience with Lazy Days was not positive...glad yours was
Nor was mine...I guess if you have a large TH-cam following they may cater to your needs a tad quicker!!! Just saying😎
Don’t skimp on a tow vehicle. Verify the actual payload and towing weights between a 350 and a 450. Don’t rule out a 550 with a RV hauler body. I went from a SRW 350 to a 550. The 550 had the rear leaf springs removed and a 5 link air suspension installed, a factory aft of axle 40 gallon and a Transfer Flow 32 gallon tank. You are familiar with the bigger fuel tank benefits. The rear air suspension made it very nice to drive around unloaded or loaded. Unloaded was just as comfortable as loaded (neither was bone jarring) and auto height control worked well. Look back in time to a Fontaine Classic Traveler body on a 550. We had a 36 foot Teton which was heavy. The 550 kept our confidence up. We left Palm Springs going across the mountain to Temecula and must have found the road the Ricky and Lucy travel trailer show was filmed on. Also, the downgrades were horrendous, but the 550 was up,to the task.
I would go higher than a 550. A Class 6-8 truck is where you should be. As Jeff Warren eluded, it is not the towing, it is the stopping. As they say in motorcycle riding, don't dress for the ride, dress for the crash. It is the emergency stopping that a heavier truck provides will be the difference.
@Yar Nunya exactly. Honestly don't need anything bigger than an F350. And the longbeds come with 48 gallon fuel tanks.
We live in Temecula! We've done that grade too with our trailer, not the best but doable. Did you camp near Temecula?
We camped in the SKP p
I have a side patio so that my yorkies can enjoy outside. We rigged it up with a pet door and they love. We absolutely love it too. You might try to find a 5er with the patio that is not a toy hauler if you can. We started with a toy hauler and so much of the camper was taken up by the garage that we just weren't happy. Just an idea to consider. I think you will like the hookup process better on a 5er too. Much easier to me.
F450 dually has a better turning radius than the F350 dually. Also a Reese Goose Box is the way to go on the hitch. Frees up the bed when not towing.
I have a 2014 F350 SRW 4wd SWB and have 2015 38 ft Keystone Laredo 5th wheel and have no clearance issues at all. Also have a 50 Gal Titan Travel Treker fuel tank in the front of the bed with no clearance issues.
This is exciting. My dad recently upgraded to a 5th wheel 43' with a Dodge 350. Trailer weighs 23k loaded and he wishes he went for the 450 even though the 350 does well. He added air bags to the truck and swears by them. Good luck and happy shopping! Another satisfying video.
With all of the TH-cam hits you will get, the ads should pay for a new toy hauler really quickly 👌😎
I wondered if the Blackstone could have fallen out but I kinda thought no its to heavy. It was not pretty when our cargo bay came open and some of our things went rolling down the side of the FL Turnpike. We did stop and clean up but it was kinda wild. We now have cargo netting to cover the opening to our bays just in case. Lazydays is nice looks like you had a good experience. Safe and happy travels.
Welcome to the 5th wheel side. We love ours and will be extra happy when we can afford to finish it's repairs. A 39' Teton, 2005, 3 slides and a 2009 Volvo 780 needs a lot of TLC. But we have the truck to pull and STOP anything.
We live in Tampa and have been to Lazy Days several times, we first rented a C class for vacation and now we are looking to buy, very friendly staff. Wish we knew you were here, we would have loved meeting you guys!!
we are currently living in a 2019 Grand Design 3740BH. LOVE IT!!!
We've thought about a 5th wheel but we don't want to give up the back of our trucks but hubby DOES want a toy hauler !! Oh - would love to have you as a guest on our Monday night live stream
LOL posted on instagram but love this! So my hubby favorite is the 397th (bedroom biggest reason) mine is the 399th (side patio- you can 99% of the time use that when the back not as much) brother has the 351m. We just sold our 44 Foot toy hauler (and we have many toys LOL) but going back down to the 310GK. Too many beautiful places we cannot get in to because of the darn length. (side note this will be our 5th unit we have had BAHAAAAAA)
That is something to think about. Places to get into. I was having a hard time finding an open spot in Flordia State park with trailer 33'5 but that was also looking for a spot to park the truck.
5th Wheel toy hauler with a 1 ton. Welcome to our world!! This is exciting!!! 2 years FT in our 376 and still loving it. Still learning but loving it. Would gladly share any info you want/need.
We were looking at the solitude 377, and looking at a dually truck for it. For the truck we were actually impressed with the 2020 GMC. Unfortunately it wont be available until Aug or sometime in the fall. But it has some cool camera features that help with towing your Rig.
**Also, the 5th wheels are taller so you'll need to pay a little more attention to the bridge height. I know on a recent video you had to stop and see if your rig could go under the bridge. The bridge if I remember correctly was 12'8". Well the 5th wheel I think is 13'5". So you wouldn't be able to go under that bridge with it. You'll have to take a different route. Start looking at truck GPS routes **
If Grand Ginger is 37', you'll LOVE maneuvering a fifth wheel. Our 5er is 40' and it tows about the same as my 25' gooseneck. I love it on the road, and barely know it's back there. No suction from semi's, and what is sway? You do have to watch when you're passing travel trailers because you will suck them over like a semi. They don't seem to expect it.
Love the 397TH, that’s the one I’m thinking most seriously about myself. No kids, plan to use garage for office, small golf cart, occasional guest room. Plan to get this & RAM 3500 diesel dually next year when I retire.
Your should get the F-450 it turns shaper than a F350 and very handy for fifth wheel trailers
Interesting....
Truck shopping next week...
Keep Your Daydream completely agree, take the 350 and 450 (if u can find one) and turn in the same radius and watch the difference.
@@KeepYourDaydream be sure to check insurance on both. My insurance company quoted me something ridiculous for the 450 over the 350 dualy... hundreds of dollars more per month. Also the 450 doesn't support TPMS and has expensive tires with less options, though the 19.5s look nice as does the wide track front.
F450 even higher off the ground than the F350. Both will need an upgraded PIN box to raise the 5th wheel higher off the bed for clearance. F450 is commercial grade and more expensive to service and maintain. F450 may haul nose high and require adjustments to either the truck or the RV. The F350 Dually will handle about the same load. Make sure the hitch is lower than the sides of the flatbed so you can get a cover and slide it shut over the hitch when not hauling.
The puppy and a patio! Best combination ever
So glad your grill wasn't stolen! My best advice is always to go used. So many nice units out there. Good luck - 5th wheels are amazing guys. XO, Kelly
I agree, but that takes time, which we don't have and being Fulltime makes it even harder. We'd have to be in one spot for at least a month or two. I think we'll do used next time and do this between seasons. That was a lesson we learned.
We just bought a new toyhauler, I absolutely LOVE it over the bunkhouse design. I love how much more roomy it is than our prior trailer when the "toys" are unloaded.
Good luck with your choice Marc & Trish. You will be very happy with either 5th wheel you choose. We absolutely love ours.
I have learned so much from watching your videos. Thank you. My best-friend and I bought a Class C a few months ago and did some local camping (TRISH: in/around RI) to work out the bugs and learn about it. I am retiring on 5/31/19 and we hit the road a short time later. Although I am not an "Insider," I would still like to meet up with you guys somewhere on the road! I still can't believe Trish went to Barr HS! Safe travels out there and kudos to Caleb for his interest in the USAF. My friend and I are retired Army!
The one thing I would consider would be an "all seasons" tt as you are looking in Florida where it is "warm and humid" all of the time....BUT gorgeous tt's you are looking at! We haven't contemplated yet the idea of a 5th wheel, as I am the "driver/hauler" and I'm used to bumper pulls. Auto leveling looks to be something we will look for in the next tt we get. So with that said will will anxiously look forward to your comments when you do purchase and camp with a 5th wheel tt!
I compared a F350 to a F450 and bought a 2019 F450 because: Turning diameter is less than my short bed F250. Brake shoes are the same for a F250 and F350 - much bigger for a F450 (man this thing can STOP!). 48 gallon tank on a F450. Truck tires are regroovable and last much longer than LT tires. Long bed means cheaper hitch & more room. My F450 has 4777 lb capacity for people and pin weight. I'm very happy with my choice.
We love our 5th wheel! #ForestRiver, WildCat Maxx. Only down fall is there a lot of state parks we can't get into as ours in 30ft and there is a limit. We love that we have 2 doors into the bathroom, as we have guests that stay with us when we camp each month and so it offers access to both. Love that one with the side deck that you walked through, wish ours had that! That would be awesome! Good Luck! You guys are awesome!
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. I guess we will find out in future video what you picked. Make sense to upgrade with kids still living at home. Good luck with your decision.