Thinking of getting a new 5er!

[Turlock_Bill]

We are thinking of upgrading to a new 5er, I would like to get some of your opinions on the different brands. I have a 3/4 ton Ram Cummins TV, and would like to keep the 5er less than 33 feet, and we will be on the road a bit more after retirement in the near future. I currently have a 1/2ton Cougar. I would appreciate all opinions.

[IdaD]

Racine96 wrote:
If your 2500 RAM has coil springs suspension on the rear end, you are very limited because of payload limitations.

6500 lb RAWR...

[Scott16]

garyp4951 wrote:
Cedar Creek customer service is A+ in my book. I had a window shipped to me to replace one that broke for unknown reasons, and the warranty had expired.

Agree, but the Cedar Creek Silver back is the shortest Fifth Wheel. For the 29IK & 29RE are 34 Ft each. Op would like to stay below 33" ft. But 34 Ft is not to long of a trailer. Its about the size I'm looking for 34 to 35 ft.

[mileshuff]

We've really been enjoying our Winnebago Lite Five 26FWRKS. Winnie's new floorplans I believe are all longer as ours is 29 foot. We looked at numerous models in our size and weight limits. The Winnie was far above Jayco, Heartland, Cougar and others in its class. Gel coat exterior, corian counter tops, higher quality cabinets. Top quality fixtures etc. We felt it had many features more common with the higher end 5'ers but without the high price and weight.

[csamayfield55x]

The wow factor of the 311 is what grabbed us! The way they left the open area between the front living room and the kitchen, the double doors into the bathroom from the rear bedroom and more usable counter space than any trailer we looked at! The one drawback was the lack of a good booth but we hardly EVER eat inside when we camp so not a big deal to us. The other amazing thing for us anyway is the fact that it was already set up for a factory gooseneck hitch so no giant hitch in the bed! It will be interesting to see if more mfg's start using the King Combo pin box in the future!!

Chris

[DallasSteve]

csamayfield55 wrote:
So we went through this this summer. WE looked at tons of units and narrowed it down to a few manufacturers. Floor plans are kinda up to you

4. Grand design. They are pretty nice but WAY TOO MANY ISSUE"S WITH SUPPORT

3. Keystone Cougar Light- I really liked it but it was too dark for my wife

2. Wildcat Maxx- This was what we were going to buy until we found our favorite

1. Open Range Light series- These are just a beautiful unit with tons of super cool floorplans and features and a factory 2 year warranty


Chris

Grand Design - "pretty nice"? What's your definition of very nice in a trailer? Seriously. I'll check it out, but I sat in a Grand Design at the RV show and I think my mouth dropped open. It's going to take a lot for someone else to wow me now.

Open Range - "super cool floorplans". OK, I had to check out their floorplans, because I've looked at 100 others and there are only so many ways you can re-arrange the facilities in 500 square feet. And most of the Open Range floorplans look like most of the other makers floorplans. But I must admit I've never seen one quite like your 311 FLR. I'd like to see that floorplan in a regular trailer. It looks like they took the entertainment area and turned it into a separate room which could also be a bedroom. Very interesting.

[racer4]

OP,

Check out the Cedar Creek Silverback 29RE.

It is rear entertainment, which is not my preference, but that is one way to make the trailer 2-3 feet shorter. It is 33'11". I would probably drag one chair out from the wall, to get a better TV viewing angle, for longer stays.

Brochure weights: 9790 UVW, 1615 Hitch weight. That is one of the lower pin weights I know of for a trailer of that size.

Hung wall construction, it won't delaminate.

Good reputation for customer service.

I have a 2500, I know well the dilemma.

[mtofell1]

Racine96 wrote:
If your 2500 RAM has coil springs suspension on the rear end, you are very limited because of payload limitations.

I completely disagree - do some searches and look up all the posts for IB516. He has numerous videos and pictures of loading up his 2500 coil springs with great success. I've put well over 2000# in mine and the rear barely squats.

The limitation of the OP's truck is the GVWR - NOT the rear axle.

[Racine96]

If your 2500 RAM has coil springs suspension on the rear end, you are very limited because of payload limitations.

[laknox]

Turlock Bill wrote:
We are thinking of upgrading to a new 5er, I would like to get some of your opinions on the different brands. I have a 3/4 ton Ram Cummins TV, and would like to keep the 5er less than 33 feet, and we will be on the road a bit more after retirement in the near future. I currently have a 1/2ton Cougar. I would appreciate all opinions.

Bill, I'm in the same boat. My #1 and 2 choices came down to the KZ Durango 1500 and Jayco Eagle HT lines. Since KZ only has 1 dealer in the entire state of AZ, and they don't stock Durango 1500s, I'm probably going to go with the Jayco. The Eagle HT's all have a 9,950 GVW and the Durango 1500s all have a 10,500 GVW.

Lyle

[csamayfield55x]

minnow wrote:

csamayfield55 wrote:
So we went through this this summer. WE looked at tons of units and narrowed it down to a few manufacturers. Floor plans are kinda up to you

4. Grand design. They are pretty nice but WAY TOO MANY ISSUE"S WITH SUPPORT... Chris

That may be your experience(and I don't know what that is based on-do you one one ?). Mine is just the opposite. Have had a few parts mailed directly to my home from the factory. No if, ands or buts. Didn't want the old parts back, no questions as why I needed them. And my experience is similar to many other Grand Design Owners.

There are many many reports about the poor customer service of GD. Enough that I made a pretty quick decision not to deal with them. The other deciding factor for me was the delaer for them in my area was a sleeze ball and I didn't want to have to go through them.

Don't take offense because of my observations, the OP was asking for opinions

Chris

[alexleblanc]

there are several good layouts in the 31-33ft range with a GVWR of 10-11K. Those would all be within the safe and comfortable range of your truck IMHO.

I look at my setup - 33ft 5er/ 10.4kGVWR and towing it with a 3/4 ton and I couldn't be happier with how well it tows and how well matched of a setup it is.

Don't get too caught up in any one brand, go look at all of them for yourself and try to look past the "high end finished" to tell if that unit is well put together.

best of luck.
Alex

[garyp4951]

Cedar Creek customer service is A+ in my book. I had a window shipped to me to replace one that broke for unknown reasons, and the warranty had expired.

[RollandB]

We recently went to an Arctic Fox 27-5L, it's just under 30' in length. For the two of us, 2 dogs and on occasion a couple of grandkids, it's a very good floor plan. To us, it seems like a larger trailer than the longer one we had before we made the change. Good Luck and enjoy your search!

[minnow]

csamayfield55 wrote:
So we went through this this summer. WE looked at tons of units and narrowed it down to a few manufacturers. Floor plans are kinda up to you

4. Grand design. They are pretty nice but WAY TOO MANY ISSUE"S WITH SUPPORT... Chris

That may be your experience(and I don't know what that is based on-do you one one ?). Mine is just the opposite. Have had a few parts mailed directly to my home from the factory. No if, ands or buts. Didn't want the old parts back, no questions as why I needed them. And my experience is similar to many other Grand Design Owners.