Long-Considering a 5th - a few questions - Northwood owners?

[jcluff]

Greetings all. I've been away from the forums for several years. I'm considering getting into a 5th wheel at some point in the future. Coming from a truck camper, I have very little experience towing any kind of a trailer. Looking for any suggestions.

Our use will be fairly frequent, quick family style camping trips for the most part (1 to 3 nights, under 200 miles). The camper is more for sleeping and eating and not really for "living". Third season and some winter camping is definately in the plan. My priorities from the begining have been short overall length, and quality. I would like to be able to sleep 4 adults or 2 adults and three kids (6,10,14) I am not a handyman and cannot fix a lot little things that might go wrong. While I don't really care as much about fancy looks and gadgets and all the things that can be found in high end rigs, I do care about getting something that is mechanicially well built and reliable (who doesn't right?). I'm willing to sacrifice fancy or flashy.

The trade off is budget. I'm a big believer in you get what you pay for and the "buy once-cry once" way of thinking. However, I can only cry so much. Initially I started looking at several of the lower priced offerings, which all seem to be made by Forest River. They have some great floor plans that seem to fit my needs. However, after further research I've decided I'd like to stay away from Forest River and even Thor. NO judgement upon any of you using their products. To me it just seemed like the risks of warranty issues were greater with them and there seem to be a lot of factory support horror stories. I realize that comparing big manufacturers to small ones can skew the results when you look for complaints. However, it is also my experience that small manufacturers (of any product) are almost always better quality and more responsive to consumers than those of large companies, but they usually cost more. So I'm playing the odds a bit I guess.

Anything can break or be defective, so there is no escape. I'm Just trying to get the best I can for the $. With all this in mind, I pushed my budget a bit and have zeroed in on Northwood's Fox Mountain 235RLS. It seems to be a fairly decent compromise in cost and quality and features and still meet my basic requirements.

Was wondering if there was a general consensus or some specific reviews on Fox Mountain quality and especially the attitude and quality of the factory warranty support? If anyone knows about this model specifically, is there a way to get a full hide a bed sofa in place of the jack knife sofa?

Other makes I'm looking at include KZ Durango 1500 and Hearland's Sundance and Elkridge Express Lines.

Tow Vehicle questions: Any chance Fox Mountain rigs have front caps compatible with short bed trucks? It's not a deal breaker as I haven't picked a truck yet, but I'm looking for shortest overall length that I can get (I need a crew cab). Would a 6.5 bed be sufficient without a slider hitch?

I was considering an F150 with the beefed up capacity packages and turbo engine as this seems to offer sufficient capacities but I think I'd only consider that on a rig with a GVWR under 10,000. I think the Fox would be better on an F250.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[goducks10]

I have a Fox Mountain 235RLS. I tow it with a 2012 Ram 2500 CTD. We've had it 1 year and 5 days. Gone over 5000+miles and close to 60 nights camping. 1st night out the kitchen faucet broke. I just replaced it with a better Home Depot one. 1st week had a slow water leak. Poor choice of fittings from Northwood. Called Northwood and since my buying dealer was 300 miles away they referred me to an RV Repair shop in town. Towed it over, waited for them to fix it and it's been perfect since. The guy that owns the shop used to work for Northwood. Plus in my book. 2 weeks ago the water pump acted up. Called Northwood, they sent me a new one to install my self. Those are the only problems we've had. You could say only one was Northwood's fault as they didn't make the faucet or the Shurflo water pump.

I can't say enough good about Northwood and the way they handle issues. I also like the fact that they build their own frames. Our Fox Mountain doesn't have all the amenities that the Arctic Fox line does, but I also didn't pay nearly $20,000 more either. It did come with lots of LED lighting, a nice subwoofer for the stereo. Fantastic Fan in the bedroom with remote. Fantastic fan in the bathroom. 8 cu fridge. Lots of storage, although it does lack storage for cloths. But that's the 235RLS design. Good size holding tanks. And a huge payload capacity for a smaller 5'er. 4315lbs. For us it works outs nice as there are just the two of us.

Even though it looks like a light weight unit on paper it really is suited for 3/4 tons or higher. Loaded up the pin is 1800lbs, and it weighs 9000lbs. My RAWR from the scales is 4900lbs. Not too many 1/2 tons can put 4900lbs on the rear axles. They are lighter back there though.

So far I would recommend a Fox to anyone. I'm hoping I can say the same thing in 5-7 years.

[Alley_Fox]

We had an AF 24-5N and really liked it, towed it cross country one time and many "halfway across the country" trips over some very rough roads. Northwood is one of the few mfgrs that build their own frames, no Lippert bendy, poorly welded sheet metal there. The frames are built from heavy "I" beams, very solid and sturdy but that's also why Northwood products are heavy. I think the FM line is a good value if you don't mind the less fancy trimmings. I think about the only NW fifth wheel you can tow with a 1/2 ton would be a 23 5A. We liked our 24 5N but outgrew it so we upsized to a 29 5T.

[Sonora108]

We have been very satisfied with our Arctic Fox 27-5L 5th wheel an know many are just as happy with Fox Mountain over at www.afnash.com check it out. I would also suggest nothing smaller than an F250 or 2500 diesel for 5th wheeling. Northwood's customer service has been fantastic to us. They have authorized local RV repair shops here to do warranty work on our 5th wheel as the nearest dealer is 70 miles from us.
Bill

[lhenry8113]

The primary reason I have purchased 2 Northwood products is they are well known for quality products as well as customer care. Our current 5'vr has about 30,000 miles on it--5 years old--and nothing to complain about. Generally if it is a minor item call Northwood and they will send it to you. Also, if you go to there annual Rally--near the Factory--take a list of any problems and they will fix it there--free. Have owned Northwood products for 10 years and no complaints.
We have always used a F250 diesel for towing. I wouldn't consider anything less--there are some mighty steep hills and Mtns. out there.

[n7bsn]

Fox Mountains tend to be "lighter" then Arctic Fox, about where the Nash 5ers where (although Nash fivers used the same floor plan as Arctic Fox)

I doubt any F150 would be really happy with any (current) 5er product from Northwoods. I owed the old 24-5N, which is about the same size as the Fox Mountain you are looking at and an F150 would have been, trouble.

[jcluff]

Thanks Shy,

Those do look great with some nice layouts. They are a bit too long for me and over the already stretched budget but if when I upgrade I'll be looking closely at those.

[jus2shy]

The newest Fox Mountain have a molded cap to increase turning radius with shorter beds. It seems like most of the newer models of 5ths that are in the lighter/shorter range have these molded front caps. I'd pull one with my truck with no slider. Also note, Outdoors RV is a subsidiary of the Northwood group really. Ron Nash owns that brand as well. In the Outdoors RV, have you looked at the new Glacier Peak 5th line? They had a few at the RV show here locally and I was very impressed. Very large water capacities. Seems to have some very nice floorplans that would suit my needs (looks like it can meet your needs with or without bunks). F26RKS seems perfect for my case. Depending on your taste for modular/convertible spaces or devoted spaces, they do have a bunk model that you may like. Since you're seriously considering the 235RLS, I was thinking the F26RKS or F26RDS would be right up your alley. They ahve all the Northwood features we know and love.