Voltage, Cyclone, XLR

The airglide hitch works very well.

If you need it, it's optional on a Cyclone purchase as well. I'd be more oncline to lean towards floorplan, but the outside kitchen is huge on my list for the next one.

also the voltage comes with the "air ride". is there a noticeable difference between having or not having the air ride attachment for the hitch?

Well me and the ole lady walked through the voltage and cyclone today. Both really nice units and could probably toss a coin for either. Think were leaning toward the cyclone right now for a few reasons. I like how the outside ladder and loft ladder stow away easy, as compared to stowing three ladders somewhere on trips. Cyclone seems to have more room in the living area. I like the awning, TV and outside fridge setup for the voltage better though. small items but both seem to be good units. hope if we go cyclone though we can find one with a third ac unit for the garage. seems like the voltages are coming standard with those now

lawnspecialties wrote:
Good post by tgreening. That should definitely help the OP.

As for the F450, you're right. My newer truck is not as much "truck" as yours. Its quite obvious Ford went for the "cushy" ride to appeal to the folks who like to drive big dually trucks just to be seen in big dually trucks. Amazes me but oh well.

Stick my drivetrain and interior into a 2010 F450 and it would be the perfect truck. My '09 F350 is still the prettiest truck I ever had.

I hear you. If I could have that new engine/tranny combo in my chassis I'd be on that like white on rice. I've already given thought to the notion of doing a swap-in if my motor goes to an early grave. Oh, ride quality and '08 F-450 will never be heard in the same sentence. But with 4,000+ lbs in the back it smooths out a bit. :)

mwebber78 wrote:
IMHO - go with the XLR or the Voltage. I have too have never heard of Heartland calling people who own their units. Perhaps you were part of a grand experiment :D

As much as Lawnspecialties is anti-Heartlant, I'm pro-Heartland obviously. However, Heartland has been great to work with in my case. I've had little to no issues to date (non Heartlands fault really), the owners forum is an increadible resource specific to your brand, and they've been in constant comunication on everything I've gone to them with including ordering add on upgrades lately. I'm not sure what more you could ask for really, but I can tell you that Keystone couldn't have given a rats patooty about my last purchase, and it's made me leary of straying too far.

XLR's seem to be getting good reviews so far, although they're relatively new to the market. That would make me a touch nearvous, but not enough to stop me from looking at one.

Voltage gets mixed reviews and have rack and pinion slide issues in general. The one I went through was extremely well thought out, but I think the build suffers in comparison to Cyclones. I've read of dealers dropping the line because of the troubles they've had with warranty work, payments, and customer support. IDK...that's hearsay obviously.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

We shopped for about 8 mos. for our new hauler. We walked through every trailer that we could open the door to.(literally) We looked at pictures and compared specs. and did as much research as we could. In march we bought a 2013 Voltage 3905. Our requirements drove us to the bigger units, as we wanted the double fridge, electric bunks in the back, room to seat 10+ campers, the loft bed above the garage, and as much cabinet storage space as we could get. We liked the floorplan of the Voltage, and we have been very happy with it. The down side was the fact that my original F350 SRW was not comfortable pulling that 16K pound trailer, and we recently purchased a 2010 F450 that is more than capable.

We have had a few issues with the Voltage, but nothing that the dealer wasn't able to quickly resolve. I did a 3 hour PDI, and left the trailer with them to fix my list. Needless to say, they addressed everything on the list that day, as they wanted the paycheck. The dealer has a good reputation in this area, and has been great to work with, and that was a factor in buying it locally. I would not hesitate to buy another Voltage.

Good post by tgreening. That should definitely help the OP.

As for the F450, you're right. My newer truck is not as much "truck" as yours. Its quite obvious Ford went for the "cushy" ride to appeal to the folks who like to drive big dually trucks just to be seen in big dually trucks. Amazes me but oh well.

Stick my drivetrain and interior into a 2010 F450 and it would be the perfect truck. My '09 F350 is still the prettiest truck I ever had.

rayford118 wrote:
im typically more on the fringe too about the weight policy but decided it would probably be a lot better to just go dually. going to suck when im in town but i also see other people doing it all the time so it can be done i guess

i like the XLRs too but main negative for them is the nearest dealer is 3.5 hrs away. if issues happen thats a long way compare to 1.5 hrs of the cyclone voltage dealer.

I'll try to cover a number of things with you, hopefully without sounding too much like "weight police". :)

I currently have a Heartland 3950. Verified pin weight is 4,300 lbs.
Running weight, without any toys, is a verified 16.5K. Add my golf cart and it goes up about 800 lbs.

I'm guessing just about any of the units you mention is going to be a comparable road weight.


Wife and I are kicking around replacing our unit and have looked at the King, the XLR 415AMP, and a Voltage model # I don't remember.

King: I liked it well enough, though don't really care about a bathtub. Rather just have a nice shower and extra space. Lack of storage space in the kitchen was a biggee for the wife. King size bed is a big plus. I LIKE hydraulic slides/landing gear, though I do wish the slides could be handled individually.

XLR: Front runner for us at the moment. Double fridge, way more (apparently) storage space in the kitchen, King size bed. That's a requirement so we can be semi-comfortable when our dogs allow us to join them in "their" bed. I know at least one slide, and the landing gear, is hydraulic. Not sure about the remaining slides, and not sure why they would NOT be hydraulic, but factory info raises some doubt on their actual status.

Voltage: Seemed like a nice enough unit, but I thought the price was just a tad on the stiff side for what amounted to not much more than surface bling. Don't ask me to quantify the validity of that statement because I can't really. I just remember it being my opinion at the time. I remember there being a bunch of complaints about slide issues with the Voltage line. This may or may not have been rectified by now. Slide issues, such as leaking, worry me way more than faulty landing gear or other failures of the widget variety. Leaks can cause major messes.


Dually: I drive an '08 F450 as my daily driver and so far there has been nowhere I have not been able to take it. No drive through, no ATM, No Where. I will admit to shying away from parking garages but that has less to do with it being a dually, and a whole lot to do with it being a truck, which tend to be on the tall-ish side.

The F450 allows me plenty of cushion weight wise on the factory recommended capacities. I am perfectly happy to stick to factory recommendations and relieve myself of the necessity of playing arm chair engineer.

With THAT said, you might want to check into cost, registration and insurance issues concerning said F-450. If there is not a significant cost difference, and if there are no registration and insurance complications, it might bear looking into, for a couple of reasons.

One is it allows you that capacity cushion, and two it comes with a wide track front axle that offers an unbelievable turning radius in a full size truck. Mine turned circles around my Excursion, and would have turned circles around my F-250 CC short box.

The turning radius was an unexpected but extremely welcome surprise after I bought the truck.

All the truck info is based on an '08-'10 F-450 Superduty. The new ones are not the same animal, in spite of their ratings, so I can't speak to them. I'm not even sure about the wide track axle on the new models. As an example the rear axle in my truck (Dana S110) is rated by Ford at 9,500 lbs. The rear axle in the new 450s (Dana 80) is rated by Ford at 9,500 lbs ( I believe). My axle is rated by its manufacturer (Dana) at over 14,000 lbs, and was designed for medium duty commercial trucks.


Anyway, the point is that if there is no significant monetary difference between the 350 and 450, why not bump it up a notch?

When it's our turn to buy the Cyclone 4100 and Road Warrior 415 will be at the top of our list.