2+ weeks into Artic Fox 27-5L

[philh]

I love this 5th wheel more and more each day.

Outside of a little bobble on our third night traveling to key west, trip has been remarkably easy.

Stayed at Boyd's in Key West. The staff did a great job helping me get parked in a very tight spot. Set me up perfect to literally just back it into our "slot". Really happy for the eBikes, key west is not Superduty friendly, especially CCLB. I'm apparently older than I thought, party in KW doesn't get wound up until after I'm in bed 🙂

Left there and drove north to Lutz (Tampa) FL, where the campground we're in is kind of anarchy on parking. We reserved our site over a year ago, and a well placed call that morning to the manager "confirming" our site reserved a year ago got some of the anarchy cleaned up before we got there. It was still tough parking tho, not a lot of room to get our trailer properly placed.

The independent $u$pen$ion , has been worth every penny. Stuff stays on the counter instead of getting flung to the floor. Disc brakes, when you need them to stop the trailer, stops it right now.

Pretty deep into the mods, which isn't a surprise, I am a project manager, and this is becoming my pre retirement project 🙂 Trailer is over weight, and need to understand where the extra wt is coming from. I know IS and brakes added weight, but in my head can't figure out where the extra pin wt came from. I'll weigh it again on the way home.

We'll be here for several months when it warms back up at our "home" in MI. Still working from home, and have a perfect setup for being on the road. Still need to find my wireless headset dongle tho. Hoping I didn't leave it back in MI.

[Njmurvin]

timn wrote:
Phill are you pulling with a 3500 or a 2500. I have both and we are considering buying a 27-5 ...

Since you have the choice, I'd say 3500 all the way. Mine is lighter than the newer models. My 2004.5 Dodge Ram 3500 was marginal (3000lb payload). Newer 2500s with diesels are pretty comparable to that. My newer Duramax 3500 has 3900lbs payload and I appreciate the extra capacity.

[timn]

Yes straight on but more important reclining seats are will lean back just like you home chair reclines. Some even have heat and massage built in them.

[dieseltruckdriv]

I have to ask, what do people mean when they say "theater style"?
They do face the tv straight on, if thats what it means.

[timn]

Phill are you pulling with a 3500 or a 2500. I have both and we are considering buying a 27-5. Another question the seating facing the tv are they theater style and if not are they a option thanks tim.

[philh]

laknox wrote:
Philh, what weights =did= you see when you weighed the rig? Can we assume a before loading and after loading weight? Even that AF is =heavy= and the dry pin nearly exceeds my '02 D'max 2500HD's payload sticker, let alone having any load in it.

Lyle

I made a mistake and didn't weigh it empty. I'm going to weigh the truck in the next few weeks, it will be close to it's travel weight. And we'll weigh the rig again in April on the way home.

[philh]

We drove to Neimeyer in MN. I was not pleased with the cincinnati dealer. Neimeyer was worth the drive.

[Kentucky_Joe]

Philh, did you get your Artic Fox in Michigan?

[laknox]

Philh, what weights =did= you see when you weighed the rig? Can we assume a before loading and after loading weight? Even that AF is =heavy= and the dry pin nearly exceeds my '02 D'max 2500HD's payload sticker, let alone having any load in it.

Lyle

[philh]

laknox wrote:
Philh, remember that the suspension components you added, are =unsprung=, meaning that there's no affect on the =frame=. While they do affect your total weight, they should not be affecting pin weight. If you have weights pre-IS/disk brakes, subtract that from current weights to find out how much the mods added. Add that amount to your total GVW since you're NOT carrying that weight (only "towing" it). Also, and I've known people who freaked out when they didn't do this, make sure you're weighing with empty black and grey tanks and minimal fresh water. If you're still heavier than you'd like to be, pull everything out and see what's necessary vs what's "nice to have". See if there's anything you can transfer to the truck, especially the "nice-to-haves". Also, see if there's anything you can shift from front to rear.

Lyle

Your points are spot on. We're trying to figure out how much unsprung wt I added, and it appears it may be about 700 lbs. WRT pin wt, I'm struggling to figure out how I got so heavy on the pin. I'm actually leaning towards a bad cat scale wt. There's no way I've added that much wt to the trailer, but I may be surprised. We'll weigh it on the way home, and when I get a chance, I'll weigh MY truck too, as I am using a similar truck as a surrogate wt. It will be a little lighter than when I weighed the rig, but not by much. I'm barely into the helper springs and when I measured the ground to wheel well lip loaded vs unloaded, I went from rear 41.5" --> 39.5, front from 40.5 --> 39.75. This is not computing in my head with being near GAWR. I do have a lot of stuff in front compartment and under the bed, which is going to translate all to the pin, but there's now way I've added that much wt.

[philh]

timn wrote:
Keep reporting this is the same one we are wanting so all the info I can get is great. We want to upgrade from our artic fox 990 to this unit.

We had a wonderful fireplace installed in the useless cabinet below the TV. I also put in a larger 40" TV with an articulating arm. Converted the wasted space above water pump to storage space.

[laknox]

Philh, remember that the suspension components you added, are =unsprung=, meaning that there's no affect on the =frame=. While they do affect your total weight, they should not be affecting pin weight. If you have weights pre-IS/disk brakes, subtract that from current weights to find out how much the mods added. Add that amount to your total GVW since you're NOT carrying that weight (only "towing" it). Also, and I've known people who freaked out when they didn't do this, make sure you're weighing with empty black and grey tanks and minimal fresh water. If you're still heavier than you'd like to be, pull everything out and see what's necessary vs what's "nice to have". See if there's anything you can transfer to the truck, especially the "nice-to-haves". Also, see if there's anything you can shift from front to rear.

Lyle

[obie311]

The 27.5L is Arctic Fox's most popular model. Dear Wife wanted more counter space so we opted for the 29.5K. They are (in general) well built and a cut above most other brands. They seem to be mostly unknown here in the Southeast since they are Oregon built rather than in Indiana.

[spoon059]

Had a Northwoods Nash for my first trailer. Great camper, well built. Hoping they are still around (and independent) when the kids are grown.

[timn]

Keep reporting this is the same one we are wanting so all the info I can get is great. We want to upgrade from our artic fox 990 to this unit.