What truck to fit 6 people and fifth wheel?
My wife wants me to consider a fifth wheel over a Class A for two reasons - the more luxurious interior, and we don't have to tow a vehicle, just detach the truck and go. The problem is that we hav...
Forum Discussion
Be sure that you get a truck with enough cargo rating for your load. THen if you upgrade to say a Montana or Cedar Creek fifth wheel, you probably will not need to upgrade the truck to make the change.
The 2004 and earlier F-250 had a really poor cargo rating - sometimes as little as 1,200 pounds for a crewcab diesel 4X4. In 2005, things improved a LOT to giving about 3,000 pound cargo rating for the F-250 and 4,000 (give or take) for hte F-350 SRW. Dually went up to around 5,000 pounds to anything type of truck.
Why not consider a E-350 van towing a conventional trailer? Seating for up to 15 inside, but I would recommend the shorter length E-350, with less rear overhang, it should handle the trailer better. You can find a lot of E-350's as lease returns that had been used to shuttle people back and forth to work, with reasonable mileage, and normally will have the V10 and rear A/C as well.
One thing you might also consider is a higher end but older DP. They have plenty of room inside, and you can use the RR while going down the road. Make lunch, ect. You can tow something like a Ford Flex, seating for 7 (I think) and you can tow them 4 wheels down with a auto transmission (at least some model years, check before buying).
I was looking at a new 2004 Fleetwood Excursion 38' DP. It was at a FMCA rally and all the local Fleetwood dealerships sent salesmen to that show, so you could talk to Mike Thompson RV, and one from Riverside, or Ventura CA. The MSRP was 167,000 and one dealer said they could sell it to me 'at this show only' price of $112,000. So dealer mark up of now units is pretty high. Another salesman from another dealership walked up to me, and said he saw me earlier in the day, and I had told him I was not interested at the time, but he said he could beat he $112,000 price, and handed me his card.
I did test drive the RV, but did not buy one. Something about a $1,000 payment for the next 15 years, seemed a little expensive to me. . .
In 2006 or 2007, I saw a used 38' Excursion for sale, asking price was $134,000. I could not help but think that the owner did not get as good of deal when they bought their 2004 Excursion as I was offered at the FMCA show. My guess is they might have paid $150,000 range for their RV, and then wanted $134,000 for the 2-3 year old RV. Probably as much as their load value at the time. . .
Fred.
The 2004 and earlier F-250 had a really poor cargo rating - sometimes as little as 1,200 pounds for a crewcab diesel 4X4. In 2005, things improved a LOT to giving about 3,000 pound cargo rating for the F-250 and 4,000 (give or take) for hte F-350 SRW. Dually went up to around 5,000 pounds to anything type of truck.
Why not consider a E-350 van towing a conventional trailer? Seating for up to 15 inside, but I would recommend the shorter length E-350, with less rear overhang, it should handle the trailer better. You can find a lot of E-350's as lease returns that had been used to shuttle people back and forth to work, with reasonable mileage, and normally will have the V10 and rear A/C as well.
One thing you might also consider is a higher end but older DP. They have plenty of room inside, and you can use the RR while going down the road. Make lunch, ect. You can tow something like a Ford Flex, seating for 7 (I think) and you can tow them 4 wheels down with a auto transmission (at least some model years, check before buying).
I was looking at a new 2004 Fleetwood Excursion 38' DP. It was at a FMCA rally and all the local Fleetwood dealerships sent salesmen to that show, so you could talk to Mike Thompson RV, and one from Riverside, or Ventura CA. The MSRP was 167,000 and one dealer said they could sell it to me 'at this show only' price of $112,000. So dealer mark up of now units is pretty high. Another salesman from another dealership walked up to me, and said he saw me earlier in the day, and I had told him I was not interested at the time, but he said he could beat he $112,000 price, and handed me his card.
I did test drive the RV, but did not buy one. Something about a $1,000 payment for the next 15 years, seemed a little expensive to me. . .
In 2006 or 2007, I saw a used 38' Excursion for sale, asking price was $134,000. I could not help but think that the owner did not get as good of deal when they bought their 2004 Excursion as I was offered at the FMCA show. My guess is they might have paid $150,000 range for their RV, and then wanted $134,000 for the 2-3 year old RV. Probably as much as their load value at the time. . .
Fred.
