Maybe a New Rig Next Spring

[dblr....Rennie 224]

21 hours ago, Dogdiver said:

I didn't mean to hijack this thread from the OP, but surly there is the need for novice and experienced campers. I wish I had some of this info before I went with a swivel wheel that cost me my fifth wheel and F250.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A hijack here is very common, and expected, but if passing on information that can keep anyone here safe is not a hijack I would say more of a PSA!!!!! Thanks for the info

[PGHFiend 140]

I'm back to say I'm adding the Jayco 317rlok, the Grand Design Reflection 327rst, and the Heartland Elkridge 3 something or other thar has not actu been buit yet to my searches. 

[Dogdiver 3]

 

 

 

Well, we are finally back on the road again.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LONE-STAR 370]

Is that a window on the front of the 5er

[caveat lector 181]

Sweet ride. Congrats

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Nice looking truck.

 

Sent from my handheld doohickie

 

 

[Dogdiver 3]

Took it out on a test run today. Will need to adjust the "companion" down an inch. Yes front window in the front living room with 6 slide outs.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[caveat lector 181]

6 slides! Holy Snikeeeesssss!

[articfox676 11]

 Safe travels and good memories.  ?

[PGHFiend 140]

Sold the Sundance last week. Preparations have begun!

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

On 6/17/2017 at 9:16 AM, Dogdiver said:

 Then my B&W sheared like it was supposed to.

 

What does "sheared" mean?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

On 8/14/2017 at 10:23 PM, PGHFiend said:

Sold the Sundance last week. Preparations have begun!

Congrats!!

On 7/7/2017 at 10:04 PM, PGHFiend said:

I'm back to say I'm adding the Jayco 317rlok, the Grand Design Reflection 327rst, and the Heartland Elkridge 3 something or other thar has not actu been buit yet to my searches. 

So... we've had the Cougar a little over 3 months and have spent 48 nights in the rig.  So far, I prefer the quality of our Jayco bumper pull to this unit.  Now, as I understand it, Jayco was bought out so their quality may have change...but the Cougar just isn't as sound.  

Honestly, if I could have found an older unit that worked for us, I would have gone that way.  We really wanted a rear living unit (that still had sleeping areas for our two kiddos), and that just wasn't available before (I believe) 2014... so that was our hiccup.  

I just think that they're putting out crap anymore, especially with the increase in RV sales.  They are in a push to get them out...so they rush production.

[PGHFiend 140]

On 8/16/2017 at 8:53 AM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Congrats!!

So... we've had the Cougar a little over 3 months and have spent 48 nights in the rig.  So far, I prefer the quality of our Jayco bumper pull to this unit.  Now, as I understand it, Jayco was bought out so their quality may have change...but the Cougar just isn't as sound.  

Honestly, if I could have found an older unit that worked for us, I would have gone that way.  We really wanted a rear living unit (that still had sleeping areas for our two kiddos), and that just wasn't available before (I believe) 2014... so that was our hiccup.  

I just think that they're putting out crap anymore, especially with the increase in RV sales.  They are in a push to get them out...so they rush production.

Thanks for the insight Nacole. I am a still looking at the Cougar 327rlk, but have noticed it's the longest overall and only has the 6 lug wheels. I have also noticed it is missing some doors in the bathroom and has some wierd night stand thing going on in the bedroom.  I'm also looking at units now with the quiet cross ducted ac's. 

These units I'm looking at are all the same layout that hasn't been available except in the last 1.5 years and the used market is slim, but I'm still looking for one of them to pop up. 

Also adding the Crusader 338rsk and the Sundance 3250ckss to our search.  

[keith_h 420]

Or maybe this fall? We are heading to the fall RV show next weekend. I think I'll be able to resist but you never know. 

Yes I know it is still summer. Don't ask me why the RV association is calling this a fall show.

[K4DCF 1]

It can be tough to resist. I stopped to get new wiper blades for may Class A and This followed us home. Can't wait to bring it to the Fort this Fall.

[LONE-STAR 370]

2 hours ago, K4DCF said:

It can be tough to resist. I stopped to get new wiper blades for may Class A and This followed us home. Can't wait to bring it to the Fort this Fall.

Congratulations, I see your slide has a A-frame design. That's a good idea and I haven't seen that on a slide before.

[K4DCF 1]

I am pretty sure that it is only on Silverback editions by Cedar Creek. Ours is a mid bunkhouse and 42' long. 

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

21 hours ago, K4DCF said:

It can be tough to resist. I stopped to get new wiper blades for may Class A and This followed us home. Can't wait to bring it to the Fort this Fall.

Hey, Whippets!   I'm a whippet person too.  Do you show / trial / course/ race any?   Also,  do you leave them loose in the camper when you go out, or do you have crates for them?

I love traveling with my dogs (but I am down to just one right now). 

[caveat lector 181]

On 8/20/2017 at 3:10 PM, K4DCF said:

I am pretty sure that it is only on Silverback editions by Cedar Creek. Ours is a mid bunkhouse and 42' long. 

Awesome! That mid bunk floor plan has me thinking about an upgrade sooner than I thought!

[K4DCF 1]

8 hours ago, ThemeParkCommando said:

Hey, Whippets!   I'm a whippet person too.  Do you show / trial / course/ race any?   Also,  do you leave them loose in the camper when you go out, or do you have crates for them?

I love traveling with my dogs (but I am down to just one right now). 

We show, course and do rally. One of the reasons we got the bunkhouse was for the pups crates. I took out the couch and put their crates in its place. When we go out they go in the crates.

[bhall 115]

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 9:02 AM, keith_h said:

Or maybe this fall? We are heading to the fall RV show next weekend. I think I'll be able to resist but you never know. 

Yes I know it is still summer. Don't ask me why the RV association is calling this a fall show.

I was hoping to be buying a new one next month as well, but I just had to replace my 3 year old truck on Saturday.  Few weeks out of warranty and transmission needed rebuilt.  My GMPP was cancelled on me because I replaced the factory 17" wheels with better looking after market 18" wheels and went with the tire size that was an option on my 2500 and was told to get by the service advisor at the purchasing dealer.  Went in to get the truck recalibrated and GM wouldn't supply the VCI codes to do it stating aftermarket wheels was the reason.  Service advisor was "shocked".  Called Chevy up a couple of weeks ago and got a rude Indian rep.  Hung up on her and called back 10 minutes later, got her again!  Asked for a supervisor and wouldn't patch me through.  She persisted to tell me that no 2500s ever came equipped with 18" wheels.  20 minutes later, she said the remaining power train warranty and my GMPP warranty is cancelled.  Last week was having trouble with the transmission and took it back to the dealer, said it needed rebuilt and It would have to be out of pocket as it's showing I have no warranty coverage.  They are blaming the fact that I went from 245/70/17 wheels & tires to 265/70/18 wheels & tires and in 2 1/2 months it caused all of this.  Nursed the truck to another dealer down in VA, and traded it in on another but newer 2015 3500HD with a little less mileage then my 2500HD.   The body is in rougher shape then mine but It was cheaper to trade it in, then to pay to fix it.   Now, I have to buy another hitch and get this wired up for the connection in the bed.  It at least has a B&W Turnover gooseneck hitch in it so I'm looking at buying an Andersen Ultimate Hitch for the 5er.

Sadly, got to live with the Springdale for another couple of years, unless we can find one heck of a deal.

[LONE-STAR 370]

1 hour ago, bhall said:

I was hoping to be buying a new one next month as well, but I just had to replace my 3 year old truck on Saturday.  Few weeks out of warranty and transmission needed rebuilt.  My GMPP was cancelled on me because I replaced the factory 17" wheels with better looking after market 18" wheels and went with the tire size that was an option on my 2500 and was told to get by the service advisor at the purchasing dealer.  Went in to get the truck recalibrated and GM wouldn't supply the VCI codes to do it stating aftermarket wheels was the reason.  Service advisor was "shocked".  Called Chevy up a couple of weeks ago and got a rude Indian rep.  Hung up on her and called back 10 minutes later, got her again!  Asked for a supervisor and wouldn't patch me through.  She persisted to tell me that no 2500s ever came equipped with 18" wheels.  20 minutes later, she said the remaining power train warranty and my GMPP warranty is cancelled.  Last week was having trouble with the transmission and took it back to the dealer, said it needed rebuilt and It would have to be out of pocket as it's showing I have no warranty coverage.  They are blaming the fact that I went from 245/70/17 wheels & tires to 265/70/18 wheels & tires and in 2 1/2 months it caused all of this.  Nursed the truck to another dealer down in VA, and traded it in on another but newer 2015 3500HD with a little less mileage then my 2500HD.   The body is in rougher shape then mine but It was cheaper to trade it in, then to pay to fix it.   Now, I have to buy another hitch and get this wired up for the connection in the bed.  It at least has a B&W Turnover gooseneck hitch in it so I'm looking at buying an Andersen Ultimate Hitch for the 5er.

Sadly, got to live with the Springdale for another couple of years, unless we can find one heck of a deal.

I am very shocked you bought another GM product after being treated like that. I have been hearing a lot of bad when it come to GM and warranty. But no personal experience with them, I have always bought Ford or dodge.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

K4DCF , congrats on the new unit, take a look over at the Forest River Forums boards for plenty of Cedar Creek info and make sure you join FROG. It's free and there are some great rallies all over the country

[bhall 115]

On 8/21/2017 at 9:20 PM, LONE-STAR said:

I am very shocked you bought another GM product after being treated like that. I have been hearing a lot of bad when it come to GM and warranty. But no personal experience with them, I have always bought Ford or dodge.

For the sake of brevity I didn't go into the whole story.  Part of the treatment I received was a result of my own actions.  Simply put, I went into Ahole mode on the Service advisor since he technically steered me wrong by telling me it was ok to go to that size wheel and tire and he fully knew well I was buying the wheels and tires from a shop that specializes in all of that.  When I inquired about buying 18" Chevy wheels, he wasn't interested in ordering them and stated that I can buy wheels aftermarket much cheaper.  As for the call to Chevy, "Monica" who I had the displeasure of speaking to twice didn't appreciate me raising my voice to her.  The dumber the words were that came out of her mouth, the louder I got.  Especially when she refused to escalate the call to a supervisor.  The reason I have her name in quotes is because I'm 100% positive that wasn't her real name as she was obviously sitting in India.  What apparently sunk my ship is when I demanded to speak to someone whose primary language was English.  Yes, I said that.  Most of you all have thought the same thing in similar situations.  Later, speaking to my salesman at the local dealer (who got fired a week after this) he told me that I have a file as "Belligerent, troublesome and xenophobic".  I've had some issues with this dealership in the past but it's the closest and unfortunately most convenient.  The day before my transmission issues started, the truck was in there for a problem it had before (battery dying which they replaced last year and before it died, the speakers would buzz when I opened the door.  It started buzzing again recently) and when I dropped it off, I asked, "How much will this goose chase cost since I have no warranty now" loaded with snark.   Two hours and $65 later, they found nothing.  Next morning, I conveniently have tranny problems.   The truck sat for several days and when I attempted to take it to Virginia to the GMC dealer I find out I have a dead batter.  So, I hook up my booster pack and get it running to take down to the dealer who said they would try get my truck fixed under warranty.  I explained to them the story over tho phone.  I get down there and they look at it and figure out what is wrong with it.  They try to run it through as warranty and it's denied and the Service Manager says to me that I must have really pissed in someone's cheerios as there are notations about me attached to the vehicle file.    Needless to say, I just basically surrendered there and just walk out onto the lot deciding it's now time to finance another truck instead of putting money into this one.  The whole purpose of going to the 18" wheels/tires was for the added weight capacity similar to the 3500s as my 2500 already had the same rear leaf springs since we were planning on buying a larger 5er. 

Now, I've said before, I like diesels, but I will not own one as a daily driver.  And since I have a 5er, if I was to have a diesel it will only be a Dual Rear Wheel Diesel truck because of the amount of payload the diesel engine eats up.  No way am I going to use a DRW Diesel for a daily driver.  The main reason is I make several small trips of under 2 miles every day.  That will not bode well for a diesel.

I did not choose a Ford for lots of reasons, the 2 main reasons are the small size of the crew cab and the crappy rear suspension.  I cannot put our dog kennels in the back of the 2016 and older Ford Super Duty Crew Cabs unless I remove the back seats.  They do fit in the new 2017+ Super Duty Crew Cabs though.  The kennels fit in the GM twins and Ram Crew Cabs with no issue.  I've gone over several times about how my 2500 is used for the heavy tongue weight loads at work vs the Fords because of how well it can handle the weight.  For the standard loads, they get loaded onto the Super Dutys and then my boss brags about how I got out towed as he has the 6.7 Diesel and I'm just the Gasser.  Don't kid yourself about Ford customer service and warranties Lone Star.  We're having issues with getting the Gasser F-250 fixed and fixed correctly and free.  It's on it's 3rd ECM.  Also, I don't like the ride in the Fords, my 2500 was a smoother ride then what we have at work.  I also don't care for the dash of the Super Dutys either, but that is just me.   Another reason is Fords were a main factor in why I decided not to be a mechanic anymore, that and Snow slush dripping down the back of my head/neck in the winter time.  *shiver*

As for the Ram/Dodge, I've had 4 of them.  All four had tranny failures and none of them were conveniently covered under warranty.  I couldn't get Dodge to cover anything under warranty at all!   I seriously thought about a Ram but in the end, none of them I found had the Aisin in it.  That's the only way I would buy one.  Hell, when we bought the 2017 Challenger less then 4 months ago, I wouldn't sign the paperwork until I confirmed that the 8spd transmission in it was not a Dodge built piece.  When I found out it was the ZF 8HP built by ZF Friedrichshafen (Supplier to BMW and Rolls Royce) i was finally at ease and signed the financing papers.

So, after searching on my phone for Rams and GMs, I walked around the lot and I found the 3500 I ultimately bought  there at this dealership in Virginia.  Since this new to me 3500 has an intact warranty, plus the extended one I purchased, I've learned my lesson about the wheel and tire size.  I'm going to leave good enough alone.  This truck now has a 3905lb payload capacity vs the 2831lbs I traded in.  It's also an 8' bed so I won't be clinching any butt cheeks as I'm backing in the driveway with the 5er and wondering if I'm going to break my back window.  What sucks the most is I just paid the 2500 off back in April.  ugh.

 

[LONE-STAR 370]

19 minutes ago, bhall said:

For the sake of brevity I didn't go into the whole story.  Part of the treatment I received was a result of my own actions.  Simply put, I went into Ahole mode on the Service advisor since he technically steered me wrong by telling me it was ok to go to that size wheel and tire and he fully knew well I was buying the wheels and tires from a shop that specializes in all of that.  When I inquired about buying 18" Chevy wheels, he wasn't interested in ordering them and stated that I can buy wheels aftermarket much cheaper.  As for the call to Chevy, "Monica" who I had the displeasure of speaking to twice didn't appreciate me raising my voice to her.  The dumber the words were that came out of her mouth, the louder I got.  Especially when she refused to escalate the call to a supervisor.  The reason I have her name in quotes is because I'm 100% positive that wasn't her real name as she was obviously sitting in India.  What apparently sunk my ship is when I demanded to speak to someone whose primary language was English.  Yes, I said that.  Most of you all have thought the same thing in similar situations.  Later, speaking to my salesman at the local dealer (who got fired a week after this) he told me that I have a file as "Belligerent, troublesome and xenophobic".  I've had some issues with this dealership in the past but it's the closest and unfortunately most convenient.  The day before my transmission issues started, the truck was in there for a problem it had before (battery dying which they replaced last year and before it died, the speakers would buzz when I opened the door.  It started buzzing again recently) and when I dropped it off, I asked, "How much will this goose chase cost since I have no warranty now" loaded with snark.   Two hours and $65 later, they found nothing.  Next morning, I conveniently have tranny problems.   The truck sat for several days and when I attempted to take it to Virginia to the GMC dealer I find out I have a dead batter.  So, I hook up my booster pack and get it running to take down to the dealer who said they would try get my truck fixed under warranty.  I explained to them the story over tho phone.  I get down there and they look at it and figure out what is wrong with it.  They try to run it through as warranty and it's denied and the Service Manager says to me that I must have really pissed in someone's cheerios as there are notations about me attached to the vehicle file.    Needless to say, I just basically surrendered there and just walk out onto the lot deciding it's now time to finance another truck instead of putting money into this one.  The whole purpose of going to the 18" wheels/tires was for the added weight capacity similar to the 3500s as my 2500 already had the same rear leaf springs since we were planning on buying a larger 5er. 

Now, I've said before, I like diesels, but I will not own one as a daily driver.  And since I have a 5er, if I was to have a diesel it will only be a Dual Rear Wheel Diesel truck because of the amount of payload the diesel engine eats up.  No way am I going to use a DRW Diesel for a daily driver.  The main reason is I make several small trips of under 2 miles every day.  That will not bode well for a diesel.

I did not choose a Ford for lots of reasons, the 2 main reasons are the small size of the crew cab and the crappy rear suspension.  I cannot put our dog kennels in the back of the 2016 and older Ford Super Duty Crew Cabs unless I remove the back seats.  They do fit in the new 2017+ Super Duty Crew Cabs though.  The kennels fit in the GM twins and Ram Crew Cabs with no issue.  I've gone over several times about how my 2500 is used for the heavy tongue weight loads at work vs the Fords because of how well it can handle the weight.  For the standard loads, they get loaded onto the Super Dutys and then my boss brags about how I got out towed as he has the 6.7 Diesel and I'm just the Gasser.  Don't kid yourself about Ford customer service and warranties Lone Star.  We're having issues with getting the Gasser F-250 fixed and fixed correctly and free.  It's on it's 3rd ECM.  Also, I don't like the ride in the Fords, my 2500 was a smoother ride then what we have at work.  I also don't care for the dash of the Super Dutys either, but that is just me.   Another reason is Fords were a main factor in why I decided not to be a mechanic anymore, that and Snow slush dripping down the back of my head/neck in the winter time.  *shiver*

As for the Ram/Dodge, I've had 4 of them.  All four had tranny failures and none of them were conveniently covered under warranty.  I couldn't get Dodge to cover anything under warranty at all!   I seriously thought about a Ram but in the end, none of them I found had the Aisin in it.  That's the only way I would buy one.  Hell, when we bought the 2017 Challenger less then 4 months ago, I wouldn't sign the paperwork until I confirmed that the 8spd transmission in it was not a Dodge built piece.  When I found out it was the ZF 8HP built by ZF Friedrichshafen (Supplier to BMW and Rolls Royce) i was finally at ease and signed the financing papers.

So, after searching on my phone for Rams and GMs, I walked around the lot and I found the 3500 I ultimately bought  there at this dealership in Virginia.  Since this new to me 3500 has an intact warranty, plus the extended one I purchased, I've learned my lesson about the wheel and tire size.  I'm going to leave good enough alone.  This truck now has a 3905lb payload capacity vs the 2831lbs I traded in.  It's also an 8' bed so I won't be clinching any butt cheeks as I'm backing in the driveway with the 5er and wondering if I'm going to break my back window.  What sucks the most is I just paid the 2500 off back in April.  ugh.

 

One reason I went to ram over ford (and this changed in 2017 now ford has more) is how much higher the payload capacity is on my srw 3500 ram it's either 4100 or 4400 lbs. Which my 2012 1 ton Ford single rear wheel only had 3100 lb payload capacity.