Have you considered placing your 5th wheel here in the classified section?

 

Justin,


Have you walked through the Shasta Phoenix 35BH or 35BL? I haven't been looking but one campground we were at in October had the 35BH on display. I really liked the flow of the unit, and the 1/2 bath accessible from the outside. Build quality seemed good from what I saw. The 35BL looks very similar in floorplan to the one you posted. The 35BH we walked through was on sale for under 43K. Maybe worth a look.


My landing gear is molasses slow. I can't blame anyone for wanting hydraulic!


Another point, while my trailer was not perfect, Palomino/ Puma have stepped up to the plate and made it right with NO arguing or headaches on my end. Other than a couple extra trips back to the dealer since parts ship via turtle.

 

Suggestion: If you are upgrading, go to a toy hauler, they seem to be better built, you get a ton more storage space for anything you want(replace the space taken up in your truck bed) and then you dont have to upgrade again when you decide to get into ATV's

 

I couldn't agree more. Not just quads, but road bikes, PWC's, a golf cart to tour the campground, etc. Plus they are plumbed for a genset, most come with one, and have onboard fuel.

 

Not all Toy Haulers are heated / cooled in the garage. Mine's not.
The weight bias on a toy hauler is further forward on a TH vs. Non-TH. They require a pretty good load in the rear to bring the pin weight to spec.
I know mine has a problem running the landing gear without my SxS in the garage. The Lg Motor overheats when lifting the front of the rig after just a minute of running. I have to let it cool for 5-10 minutes before I proceed. I have rebuilt the LG and everything is lubed well. The brushes and the motor check out fine - just too much weight up there..

 

What is your pin weight with the SxS Randy? I'd have to agree you're probably just at the limit of what the electric landing gear will do.


Ours is not heated in the garage. I'm sure I could run a duct back there if I wanted to, but rolling the carpet out would cover it unless I found a way to sneak it through a wall. We have a separate 15k A/C just for the garage, and it does have the option to install the electric heater element, plus I carry an electric heater from the popup.


Depending on the unit, not all toyhaulers have crazy pin weights with the garage empty. Ours is stated to be 1500 dry. I have not ran it across a scale to verify. Rodney's is higher, but still not crazy for the size of the trailer........depends where they put the axles, but Justin already has a 450 so pin weight isn't that big of an issue...............


I also like the versatility of the TH. Our floorplan lacks a basement, so lots of extras wind up in the garage.

 

We may go with a Columbus and not the Compass. Couch has several Fivers with almost an identical floorplan, but after walking through and seeing the build quality enhancements of this one, it would be hard to go with a lower end unit, even if the price is lower. The Wisper AC units are great, so are the night shades, and several of the details. The dealer is outstanding and really does a heck of a PDI on them. Still looking, but wife's loves this one so far....and you know what that means.

Some more pics

 

I'll check them out. Wish there was a dealer close by though.

Here is one at Couch that is $35k and has almost the same floor plan but lacks most of the upgrades and insulation.
https://www.couchsrvnation.com/fores...here/368rlbhk1

 

Night shades are great, glad ours has them. It appears that FR changed their entire product line over to the Coleman A/C's for 2016. I can believe it as my buddy has a 38' with one Coleman and I have a 37' with 2 15K Dometic "brisk air 2" units. I am really not that impressed with the noise, cooling, or thermostats on the Dometics.

 

Justin, The Columbus sounds like a nice unit. I don't know anything about 5th wheels other then what I read on here. Someday I may even shop for one. One of the problem that I have is I don't have anywhere to park one. I would have to rent a place to keep it when I wasn't using it.

 

My pin weight with the SXS and tools in the back (roughly 1500#) comes in at about 4900#.
My AC ducts are in the ceiling. Heat ducts stop in the entertainment center / stairs area..
Admittedly - this is a very heavy rig. Rather than the superstructure being made of aluminum tubing like on most fivers, this one is steel.

I think an added benefit of a TH over a standard camper is that they are generally made strong enough to be towed into areas where road conditions are somewhat rough (Think dirt bikes, ATVs, etc.).. I know the suspension in mine was pretty well hammered...

 

Holy hell. No wonder it gives the electric landing gear a workout. Are the slides electric or hydraulic? I know you've got it parked for a while now, but I think if you decide to drag it around more, converting it to hydraulic might be worth looking into. If you have hydro slides it may only take a valve or two, some hydraulic legs and a bit of wiring. My buddy borrowed a dump trailer a few weeks back that you threw a valve and the dump pump would run the jack up and down.........slick!

 

You went RV looking.......

Naughty Boy............You Look.....You Buy.....

Now that that is over........

Have fun........Ya got the Truck for it.....
Auto level for another $1K is a steal..!!!

I just got word.....The Montana 3790RD by Keystone that we ordered is built. Next week it heads for the dealership..... We will sell our current RV, the Raptor ourselves.........

 

mine has two coleman a/c's they have been fine. First time I have had the Coleman's and they work well.

 

Randy, Scott's right on two accounts. Electric landing gear is done on most higher end haulers except Jayco for some reason. Hydraulic would never stall with your pin. That said, not all trailers are balanced equally. Mine is around 2900# on the pin with the garage empty and 2650# with 2k back there. That's on a trailer pushing 20k loaded. It's all about axle placement.

Justin, if I were you, I'd find one you can order at Couch's with the same floorplan and all or more options. Remember, they are just as cheap as the other guys even on special order trailers. Mine was about 37% off on a special order. And, you can usually have the factory do off list options (if they aren't too crazy) on a special order too. Take your time with this brother and get exactly what you want as opposed to a fast deal. You do not want to do it again.