ELKRIDGE XTREME LIGHT

[ediemarie]

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

[shadows4]

I have seen this floor plan in several other manufactures fifth wheels. Coachmen for one and several other Forest River companies lineups. You need the GVWR more than the dry weights. Pin weight loaded will likely be 2000+ lbs. Also what are you planning to use for a tow vehicle?

[ediemarie]

I really do appreciate the replies. I'm really looking more for opinions on whether or not this "xtreme" light thing is a good decision. once that is figured out i'll have an idea as to what truck we need to look at. we're both pretty good at packing light and have learned quickly with a 28ft class C what we actually need versus what we think we need.

[goducks10]

If you're planning on taking extended stay vacations, you may want to look for a 5er that has more storage. The E289 has very little storage in the kitchen area.

Also whoever sleeps on the right side of the bed will have a heck of a time getting in and out with the narrow space between the bed, wall and the built up flooring for the frame rails.

Just a word of advice. When out looking at 5ers, try and go thru all the same movements you would do if you're stating in it.

[mdamerell]

Guess it depends upon what you call a "huge" truck. There are many 3500/F350 SRW trucks capable of pulling many options of 5th wheels. There are versions of 5th wheels that lend themselves to fulltime living. Since the light weights have to cut weight somewhere, I personally would not look at a light weight camper for fulltime.

Full timers tend to add about 2,000# of stuff so add that to the empty weight of the camper. The pin weight will be about 20% of that, so as an example a 10,000# loaded trailer will have approximately 2,000# pin weight. This will allow you to roughly guess how much truck you need to tow it. You'll need enough truck cargo capacity for passengers, gear and pin weight. Example you have a 3,000# cargo capacity - 2,000# pin weight - 200# hitch = 800# for passengers and gear in truck. Best way to get cargo weight is to weight the truck and subtract that from the GVWR found on a sticker inside the driver's door. That's the basics to get you started.

Physically a 3500/F350 and 2500/F250 are the same size. They tend to sit about 2-3" taller than a 1500/F150 but body is pretty much the same. As a basic rule of thumb you'll be in the 2,500/F250 to 3500/F350 range with a 5th wheel. But that's a whole different thread that you can search on.