Need Advice on Used 5er Purchase

[77vetter]

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first rv. We have a 2000 Chevy ck2500 5.7L crewcab shortbox with towing package and 4:10 gears. It only has 70K miles and I am the original owner so I know its been well cared for.

We live in the midwest so dont really have to deal with mountains/hills. We plan on driving the rv to our season camp spot in the spring and then home again in the fall so not a lot of wear and tear on the truck. So I am hoping/assuming the truck will be able to handle the rv ok.

We are currently looking at three models: 2009 Heartland Sundance 2800RLS, 2009 Keystone Cougar 29iRLS and a 2008 Crossroads Cruiser 30SKFW. They all appear to be well maintained and are really clean. They are all in the 30-31 foot range and around 8200 lbs. Both the Sundance and Cougar have two slides and the Cruiser has three. The Cougar has awnings over the slides so that is a nice bonus.

Is there any one of them we should stay away from, any that are better than the other? We plan on mainly a couple weekends a month, maybe more but nothing full time.

We are kind of leaning towards the Sundance but that is mainly because of the layout and style so we need some good practical advice.

Thanks in advance!

[mdamerell]

NC Hauler wrote:

mdamerell wrote:
Prior to the tow wars of 2005 the ratings of trucks were nowhere near what they are today. Need to weigh your truck and check it's ratings. Example I have a 2004 F350. When you read the charts, once you get to 20,000# GVWR it just stops. Add the DRW's no change, add 4.10 rear no change, add the diesel no change. A post 2005 F350 dually is like 26,000# GVWR. All of a sudden you get credit. So while it looks like I have overkill, technically I'm at the 20,000# GVWR limit of my truck. Looking at 2000 tow guides you are pushing the limits. Every truck is different and you need to look up your specific truck ratings.

The 8,200# on a 2008 Sundance is a dry weight. After we loaded ours and did a couple of upgrades we added about 1,500# so that 8,200# trailer when loaded is probably closer to 9,000# plus ready to roll and a pin weight of 1,800 to 2,000#. My Sundance runs around 22%. The Sundance was the right trailer for us but you need to look at how you will use it and go from there.


Enjoy whichever unit you pick.

I think you meant GCWR, not GVWR....But I agree with you on the weights....OP will be close.


To the OP; IF YOU ARE using the empty or dry weight of the 5er, you aren't doing yourself any favors. You will need to use the 5er's GVW to decide if your truck can tow it....You may not load the 5er to it's GVW, but it's a much more realistic weight than an "empty" or "dry" weight.

You also need to take approx. 20% of the 5er's weight to "ball park" your possible pin weight and that'll be the amount of weight you'll put into the bed of your truck. You need to weigh your truck, loaded to go camping and see what the "drive axle", (rear axle weight is)...Then look on your door jamb to see what your trucks rear axle is rated at....and subtract the difference....that'll give you max payload amount left to load your truck to. Add 200# for a 5rh wheel hitch plus the "ball park" of how much pin weight you'll have.

I had a 1999 1/2 ton Chevy pick up for a very short time that I tried to tow a 27' 5er with, same engine you have, not sure of the gearing and the 1/2 ton, back then, didn't like this at all...I went to a 2001 2500 with 8.1 engine..

All this to say, make sure you're using the 5er's GVW to find out if this 5er will work for your truck, take approx. 20% of that to ball park how much pin weight you might be putting in the bed of your truck...and go from there.....I think GVWR on your truck is 9200#, unless it was less from 2000 to 2001....not sure on GCWR...

Yes, thank you I did mean Combined Gross.

[NC_Hauler]

MFL wrote:
Jim, I agree, it will be a load for the truck, and the old 5.7 didn't have much tow ability.

The OP says he is just going to move it to his site in the Spring, and home in the Fall.

My neighbor mentioned above is very much overloaded, but usually pulls out 3 miles to the city park, a couple times a month. I try to help him when I can, they are older than me.

Jerry

Jerry,
Thanks for the heads up on OP's situation..

[MFL]

Jim, I agree, it will be a load for the truck, and the old 5.7 didn't have much tow ability.

The OP says he is just going to move it to his site in the Spring, and home in the Fall.

My neighbor mentioned above is very much overloaded, but usually pulls out 3 miles to the city park, a couple times a month. I try to help him when I can, they are older than me.

Jerry

[NC_Hauler]

mdamerell wrote:
Prior to the tow wars of 2005 the ratings of trucks were nowhere near what they are today. Need to weigh your truck and check it's ratings. Example I have a 2004 F350. When you read the charts, once you get to 20,000# GVWR it just stops. Add the DRW's no change, add 4.10 rear no change, add the diesel no change. A post 2005 F350 dually is like 26,000# GVWR. All of a sudden you get credit. So while it looks like I have overkill, technically I'm at the 20,000# GVWR limit of my truck. Looking at 2000 tow guides you are pushing the limits. Every truck is different and you need to look up your specific truck ratings.

The 8,200# on a 2008 Sundance is a dry weight. After we loaded ours and did a couple of upgrades we added about 1,500# so that 8,200# trailer when loaded is probably closer to 9,000# plus ready to roll and a pin weight of 1,800 to 2,000#. My Sundance runs around 22%. The Sundance was the right trailer for us but you need to look at how you will use it and go from there.


Enjoy whichever unit you pick.

I think you meant GCWR, not GVWR....But I agree with you on the weights....OP will be close.


To the OP; IF YOU ARE using the empty or dry weight of the 5er, you aren't doing yourself any favors. You will need to use the 5er's GVW to decide if your truck can tow it....You may not load the 5er to it's GVW, but it's a much more realistic weight than an "empty" or "dry" weight.

You also need to take approx. 20% of the 5er's weight to "ball park" your possible pin weight and that'll be the amount of weight you'll put into the bed of your truck. You need to weigh your truck, loaded to go camping and see what the "drive axle", (rear axle weight is)...Then look on your door jamb to see what your trucks rear axle is rated at....and subtract the difference....that'll give you max payload amount left to load your truck to. Add 200# for a 5rh wheel hitch plus the "ball park" of how much pin weight you'll have.

I had a 1999 1/2 ton Chevy pick up for a very short time that I tried to tow a 27' 5er with, same engine you have, not sure of the gearing and the 1/2 ton, back then, didn't like this at all...I went to a 2001 2500 with 8.1 engine..

All this to say, make sure you're using the 5er's GVW to find out if this 5er will work for your truck, take approx. 20% of that to ball park how much pin weight you might be putting in the bed of your truck...and go from there.....I think GVWR on your truck is 9200#, unless it was less from 2000 to 2001....not sure on GCWR...

[mdamerell]

Prior to the tow wars of 2005 the ratings of trucks were nowhere near what they are today. Need to weigh your truck and check it's ratings. Example I have a 2004 F350. When you read the charts, once you get to 20,000# GVWR it just stops. Add the DRW's no change, add 4.10 rear no change, add the diesel no change. A post 2005 F350 dually is like 26,000# GVWR. All of a sudden you get credit. So while it looks like I have overkill, technically I'm at the 20,000# GVWR limit of my truck. Looking at 2000 tow guides you are pushing the limits. Every truck is different and you need to look up your specific truck ratings.

The 8,200# on a 2008 Sundance is a dry weight. After we loaded ours and did a couple of upgrades we added about 1,500# so that 8,200# trailer when loaded is probably closer to 9,000# plus ready to roll and a pin weight of 1,800 to 2,000#. My Sundance runs around 22%. The Sundance was the right trailer for us but you need to look at how you will use it and go from there.

Enjoy whichever unit you pick.

[NMDriver]

It is the cargo carrying capacity of the truck that will matter. I think you should be ok but I am not sure about your cargo capacity. You must be able to CARRY not tow the weight of the passengers, gear, fuel, HITCH, and the hitch weight of the trailer within the trucks cargo capacity weight limit. That said you should have about 2000-2500lb of capacity which SHOULD handle the 1200-1600lbs of hitch weight and leave you 400 to 1000 lbs for passengers, etc. These are just ball park figures so you need to know the actual hitch weight of the rigs and the capacity of your truck, before you start laying down any money.

BTW if you are going by the dry weight of the rigs being around 8200 then you are light by about a ton. Ask for the scaled weight as they are now and then add in for any water, cargo, food, tools, and other "stuff" that everyone winds up carrying along on a trip.

[iawoody2]

Our Sundance is a 2013 model 3310 CL Platinum and pulled with a 2013 F250 crewcab 4x4 powerstroke. I added a extra full leaf to the rear spring pack and air bags. All sits level and tows and rides great.

[MFL]

Welcome to the forum!

I have a fellow across the street from me, with the same truck, his is a 99, that he bought new. He pulls a 32' Hitchhiker LS with his. The 5.7 was dependable, just down on HP and torque. He takes his time, doesn't travel too far, so it works well for him.

I am sure his HH is over 10,000#s, so the FWs you are looking at should be no problem for your truck in flat country.

Good luck, whichever you choose,
Jerry

[77vetter]

Yep, I am on the Heartland forum but I thought i would post here to get some unbiased advice:) What model Sundance do you have and what do you pull it with?

[iawoody2]

I don't know about the others, but we love our Sundance. There is a Heartland Owners Forum that has a lot of good info and helpful people.