Sabre Silhouette 290 REDS-need advice quick

1st time 5'er here. I've read lots of rail pro's and con's. I ended up getting rails. Has not been a concern at all. However if you use your truck for the occasional trip for bark dust or such then I could see it being a problem.
FWIW I'm in the middle of a bathroom remodel in my house. I've had to haul plywood and sheetrock. What I found was to just get two 2x4's and lay them on the outsides of the rails. Then all the flat items will just lay on the rails and 2x4's. To me the idea of a flat rail less bed isn't that big of a deal. My hitch stays in the truck from April till Oct-Nov, except for this year.

Lantley wrote:
I would not get overly concerned about the bed rails. I leave my hitch in year round so rails are never an issue. My camping season is basically 9 months a year.
For the 3 months a year I'm not camping the entire hitch can be considered in the way. But it is in the dead of winter. I see no need to go to the trouble of taking hitch in and out. A piece of plywood placed over the rails can give you a flat floor again if you really need it

X 2..I just through a rubber truck bed mat over mine. Or you can cut the plywood into pieces that fit between the rails..

B.O.

I would not get overly concerned about the bed rails. I leave my hitch in year round so rails are never an issue. My camping season is basically 9 months a year.
For the 3 months a year I'm not camping the entire hitch can be considered in the way. But it is in the dead of winter. I see no need to go to the trouble of taking hitch in and out. A piece of plywood placed over the rails can give you a flat floor again if you really need it

flyinjake wrote:
No, not all 5er hitches use the bed rails that stay in the bed. Check out B&W hitches, Demco, maybe even Curt or Reese makes an under bed mount.

Jake

B&W leaves me with a completely flat bed and it's a great hitch to boot. No hookup or unhooking issues. And you're either hitched or not hitched at all- no middle of the road guessing. I'm glad I paid the premium for mine.

newk wrote:
I think that's the upgrade line from the Puma, and as cheap as the Puma is, we've had no problems to speak of with ours, knock on wood. (Bought it new in 2006.) Of course, the more simple they are, the fewer problems one would experience. My biggest complaint is cheap carpet, and I'd guess the Sabre has upgraded carpet from the Puma.

Don't know how crappy your carpet is, but ours is pretty crappy.

Pullrite has a hitch system with removable rails. Check em out.

No, not all 5er hitches use the bed rails that stay in the bed. Check out B&W hitches, Demco, maybe even Curt or Reese makes an under bed mount.

Jake

thanks for the help.
Went ahead and called to buy the Sabre this morning.
Now I got to get a hitch for the 5th wheel.
Silly question but after looking, do all the hitches (or most)use the bed rails that stay in the bed of the truck? I didn't know if there was anything different now days that I should be looking about.

We are looking at a new 2013 Sabre 32-RCTS which is the upgrade to the Silhouette. I like it but the specific one we looked at last night has a concern in the shower. Its the two piece rectangular shower with sliding glass doors. It seems the walls are super thin and they already bulge away from the wall. Actually the top of the shower is pulled away from the wall and my concern is water splashing and getting behind the shower wall. Also they use screws with a plastic cover button around the shower. Do they expect these not to eventually allow water to leak past them. My opinion its a bad design and in this case the walls need to be replaced and remounted correctly.

I have always liked the Sabre and Silhouette line and my only suggestion would be is to pay special attention to the shower area.

I think that's the upgrade line from the Puma, and as cheap as the Puma is, we've had no problems to speak of with ours, knock on wood. (Bought it new in 2006.) Of course, the more simple they are, the fewer problems one would experience. My biggest complaint is cheap carpet, and I'd guess the Sabre has upgraded carpet from the Puma.