Forum Discussion

mrkoje's avatar
mrkoje
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013

Desert Fox 29SB

My wife and I are thinking about getting rid of the bunkhouse that we currently have because the layout isn't really working and the shower is extremely small. We *cough* I am really interested in a toy hauler pull behind.

I haven't seen a lot of discussion on Desert Fox TH on this forum - does anyone have one or have any experience with them? I am concerned with a few things:

1.Dry hitch weight is listed at 1635lbs:

desert fox specs

My pickup has a class V receiver hitch that is rated at 1800lbs. Say I load that trailer up to the gills - I would imagine I would put at least a couple hundred more pounds on the hitch. Problem is I am not sure there are any other more capable hitches out there. Any thoughts on this? I was looking at the GVWR for the TH and it is at 13400lbs. I would normally say 10-13% should be riding on the hitch. That would be roughly 1742lbs if the TH was fully loaded at 13% tongue weight. The Northwood website's listed dry hitch weight of 1635lbs is roughly 20% of the dry TH weight.

This is the first time I'm been really looking at toy haulers so maybe more weight is required to ride on the hitch.

For the weight police: I will be more then inline with payload and GCWR if this TH is maxed out. (less maybe the class V hitch - seems odd with 20% weight on the hitch)

2. Desert Fox: NO SLIDE OUT

The Desert Fox 29SB seems like the perfect rig as far as features, quality and durability is concerned but it does not have a single slide. My TT right now has a super slide and even though the layout of the floorplan is horrible it is nice to have the added width that the slide offers. I realize the TH is a "wide body" measuring 102" across instead of 96" and that will help a little bit. Would that be a deal breaker for anyone else?

3. Is Desert Fox not a very popular model?

Last question is why aren't there a lot of other people with the Desert Fox toy haulers? It seems like a general consensus in the RV community is that Northwood is one of the top (if not the top) rated RV manufacturer out there right now for quality and durability. I tried doing a search on RV.net for "Desert Fox" and it returns 0 topics. Furthermore it seems that availability on these units is somewhat low. I've only seen a few postings from a handful of dealers on google.


Sorry for the really long post - I've got a quote from the dealer that is 78% of their "MSRP" with my trade in. I would ideally like to be closer to 70% but they are not being as negotiable as I would like :(

Let me know what your thoughts on these Desert Fox deals are.
Toy Haulers
  • nvreloader's avatar
    nvreloader
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2013
    You might want to drop in at the home base for Northwood Rv's, see info here:
    afnash.com.

    Lots of DF owners there.

    Tia,
    Don
  • mrkoje's avatar
    mrkoje
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2013
    I'm going to call Northwood tomorrow to see if that dry hitch weight is a mistake. My current WD setup is good for 1500lbs and I would really like to not buy a new WD hitch BUT I will if it's even close. What I don't want to (or have to) do is buy a new receiver setup that is more capable then the factory receiver. For crying out loud - the factory hitch is a class V 1800lbs setup. I would hate to think that Desert Fox runs 20% at full 13000lbs on the ball. That's an awful lot of weight riding up front. :(
  • souraider's avatar
    souraider
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2013
    That is a really heavy tongue weight considering stated dry weight is usually never a reality. You may want to load it and see where you are in reality. I see that Curt makes a hitch that is rated for #2700 hitch/#20,000 trailer weight. It claims to be a bolt-on...I couldn't imagine ever towing 20,000 on a ball:E It is on the E-trailer website.

    hitch

    I upgraded my factory hitch when I had our WW fsc3200 to a Curt XD 1600/16,000 and added Timbrens. Even that trailer as heavy as it was always had a tongue weight between 1400 and 1600, the third axle probably helped.
  • mrkoje's avatar
    mrkoje
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    I think you are spot on souraider. The Fuzion I was looking at had a leather recliner sofa with cup holders built in. Looked like something right out of a home theater room. I really don't care so much for that any more as much as the utility aspect I guess. I like the double electric bunks in the garage and the bottom one even turns into a dinette. Or maybe it's a dinette that turns into an electric raising bunk :/.

    Any ideas on the hitch? 1600lbs dry hitch weight is right at 20% of the dry weight riding on the hitch. I'm not too concerned yet because I have a class V 1800 receiver but that doesn't leave a lot of room. I don't even know if they make a "beefier" class V receiver.
  • souraider's avatar
    souraider
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    No...I agree. I think that the Desert Fox has all of the things that you want, and not so much of the things you can live without. What I was referring to in lack of "lush" was things like granite counters or suede leather interior, and other over-the-top "comfort" features.

    In the past that was my biggest knock on the Desert Fox. It was a very utilitarian style toy hauler thats interior and general eye appeal was not up to the level of the competition. They still don't offer a slide on any of their tow behinds, but that may not matter to a lot of people. As you mentioned the price they charge for them I expect everything:B In the past when you would compare a 45,000 dollar Fuzion and a 45,000 dollar Desert Fox, the Fuzion was hands down a more appealing and comfortable unit. Not making any claims as to the quality of either because I have never owned either product.

    It looks as though they are changing the interior, and increasing the level of available options, which may help them gain some market share. I just think that formerly Desert Fox lacked a lot of the "wow" factor that appeals to the toy hauler audience. Don't get me wrong; I would certainly consider them if I was ever in the market for something different. That was just my opinion as to why you don't see more of a popularity in the Desert Fox brand.
  • mrkoje's avatar
    mrkoje
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    souraider wrote:
    Is Desert Fox not a very popular model?


    Desert Fox definitely has much more of a Northwest appeal or "popularity" than in other regions. They are made in La Grande Oregon and I simply think their business model is to cater to the "four season" market. Their reputation as a solid, well put together unit appeals to the consumer that is looking for an RV that can withstand everything from the sub-zero temps of an elk camp, to an RV park on the beach.

    They are typically not as "lush" as many of the other toy haulers out there, but again that is part of their appeal. The same could be said for their line of truck-campers. I would suspect the reason you don't find a lot of internet feedback on them is because most people are happy with them, and have minimal issues with them.

    Depending on how far you are willing to travel to purchase. I know that Guaranty RV in Junction City (near Eugene, OR) as well as Thompson RV in Pendleton, OR sell them.


    Shoot for the money they are asking for these damn Desert Fox toy haulers I would hope it would have all the "lush" features. I'm not sure what it doesn't have - it has a built in air compressor, pressure washer, 15k a/c, rain sensing fan vents (I've never even heard of that but seems cool) solar panels. I'm not sure what it doesn't have. It's one of those things where you don't know what you don't know. If it's not there and is on other trailers then I guess I would never miss it. Are there any features that would be a must for you?
  • souraider's avatar
    souraider
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    Is Desert Fox not a very popular model?


    Desert Fox definitely has much more of a Northwest appeal or "popularity" than in other regions. They are made in La Grande Oregon and I simply think their business model is to cater to the "four season" market. Their reputation as a solid, well put together unit appeals to the consumer that is looking for an RV that can withstand everything from the sub-zero temps of an elk camp, to an RV park on the beach.

    They are typically not as "lush" as many of the other toy haulers out there, but again that is part of their appeal. The same could be said for their line of truck-campers. I would suspect the reason you don't find a lot of internet feedback on them is because most people are happy with them, and have minimal issues with them.

    Depending on how far you are willing to travel to purchase. I know that Guaranty RV in Junction City (near Eugene, OR) as well as Thompson RV in Pendleton, OR sell them.
  • sportsman_500's avatar
    sportsman_500
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    A good friend of mine used to have a Desert Fox. He had a the 28' front bath model. It was a very well built trailer and from what I remember he had almost zero trouble. Desert Fox are known as 4 season trailers as they come very well insulated. His was also heavy from what I remember. He hauled 2 utility quads and everything else for camping and I believe his tongue weight was up around 1,400lb. The trailer loaded came in around the 12k range. My opinion is it will depend how you load it to reach a comfortable tongue weight. Invest in a good tongue scale as we did (shared purchase)and even take it with you when you go to look at trailers to get a "true" weight.

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