Buyer's remorse??

Herimpression wrote:
We're feeling like a couple dumbasses right now for just listening to the dealer...but we're grateful for all this much needed information.

The dumbass would (and plenty have...) come here AFTER the fact and try to justify bad decisions. You appear to want information to make an educated decision.

I think that is to much trailer for your truck. On a half ton truck your biggest issue is PAYLOAD, as others have mentioned. Your LOADED tongue weight, weight distribution hitch, the kids, dogs and any gear you pack in the truck all eat into payload. My experience with 2 kids and 3 dogs is to try to keep your loaded tongue weight at about half of your total payload. That leaves the other half for passengers and gear in the truck.

The 34 foot long trailer is a LOT of trailer behind a half ton too. I would encourage you to keep it smaller than 28 feet if possible.

The argument about slides is all about your personal opinion. We cannot access our bathroom with the slide closed. It takes 10 seconds to extend the slide if we need to use it in an emergency. Our dinette and couch are on the slide. When we stop at a rest area for lunch, we just extend the slide to sit and eat and use the bathroom. If it is too busy/crowded to find a spot to extend the slide then we either eat on the road or we find a picnic table. Not a deal breaker to me at all.

Good luck and THANK YOU for your service.