ELKRIDGE XTREME LIGHT

ediemarie wrote:
hi - I've done some searching and haven't come up with anything other than dealer info.

we've had a 28ft C for apprx 2years now and with retirement coming up(!)and our plan of doing quite a bit of traveling, we've decided that the C doesn't really lend itself to a long stay. agree or disagree we've decided its going to get small quickly on a 1-2 week stay somewhere.

made the decision of purchasing a 5th wheel. as stated above I can't really find much on this new(?) xtreme light elkridge by heartland. not having any experience with 5th wheels I'm not sure as to the cons of a lighter rig. I can see the pros, not needing a "huge" truck to pull it and I would assume better mileage with the tow vehicle.

following are some specifics on the rig we are looking at:

Eldridge Xtreme Light E289
Length: 31.4
Hitch Weight: 1725lbs
Dry Weight: 8287lbs

as I'm sure you can tell by my wording, we have very little experience with RV'ing in the first place and zero experience with pulling a 5th wheel.

amy thoughts that can offered is greatly appreciated.

EM

First, how do you see yourself "full-timing"? Do you think you will take lots of trips and stay for short periods of time at each location? If so, this means a =lot= more road miles, so you might want a more robustly built FW. If you think you will travel less and stay longer, a "light" FW might work for you. As others have said, you're likely to have thinner walls, so temperature is almost certainly going to affect you more. Also, even this particular FW might be pushing the limits on a 250/2500 series truck, even the newer ones. Were it me, I'd pay a grand (or less) more for a single rear wheel 350/3500 truck. IF the pin weight ratio of right at 20% stays the same when loaded, you're looking at > 2,300 lbs on the pin at Gross Weight. If that ratio shifts 2%, you're at almost 2,500 lbs on the pin. Just stuff to think about as you do your research.

Lyle