Went looking...getting a little closer

[COBOZ]

Well, this weekend we went and looked at/walk thru a bunch of campers. Taking in all the advice from this forum. Looked at some BFs, Wolf Creeks, Arctic Foxes, Northern Lite, Eagle Cap, and Adventurer. We have a 2016 Chevy 3500 SRW CCLB, D/A...we weighed the truck on the way to the camper places...figured with our tire capacity we could handle 4200 lbs...but that not factoring in my boat which has a 150 - 200 lb tongue weight...so figure 4000 wet ready to roll to be safe. Arctic Fox was nice, wife loved it...but I knew this was too heavy from reading here..even though the sales person showed us his on a 2007 Chevy SRW and said it handled it fine. Of all the others we looked at, we liked the Adventurers. Really liked the 910FBS, but crunching the numbers, I don't think I can get under 4K loaded...so next best was the 86FB. I think wet and rolling, this will be around 3200. Didn't get a chance to look at Lance yet..the only two that might work are the 975 (again, looks to be too heavy wet) and the 850. By the pix, not really sold on the dinette..plus we like the mid bath plan to make the cabover like a cave. AF dealer did say he was getting in a couple 865s at the end of the month that we will go look at. Anyone have real world numbers..wet..on the 865?? Will it be under 4K?? Any opinion on that vs the 86FB? I guess I didn't think of this till just now, but I'm sure some of these campers will put weight on the front axle also...Sorry for being so winded. Thanks for all your help and advice.

[lonegunman]

No on-board generator should work for a long bed truck and make the price of the 865 pretty darn close to the Wolf Creek for a lot more camper. Let us know how you do. Looking at the discount you can get an hour up the road at the next RV dealer should help with the negations.

My wife voted 865 over anything else we looked at.

[Vinsil]

Otterman wrote:
Yeah, you don't know my wife! 😄

:B

[Otterman]

Yeah, you don't know my wife! 😄

[Vinsil]

Otterman wrote:
Fridge is too small for us. If it had the same fridge the AF units have it would be an option.

Understood. We had a 6 cf in our last RV and thought our family of five would miss the extra foot. I think most of that was lost in the freezer as we really did not adapt at all. Only thing we keep in the freezer is a bag of ice....works great for that.

Just my experience....as I love the 865!

But my WC was almost 10k cheaper.....

[Otterman]

Fridge is too small for us. If it had the same fridge the AF units have it would be an option.

[Vinsil]

Have you looked at the Wolf Creek 840? Those interested on the 865 should check it out, similar plan for quite a bit less cash. The AF has a few nicer features, but worth a look for wanting that mid bath, non slide hardside setup.

[Otterman]

Sorry, I didn't see that PM. Great info, thanks. I talked with a guy at Thunder RV in La Grande, OR today.

[lonegunman]

quote=Otterman]

lonegunman wrote:
I have a co-worker with a TC that is longer and heavier than my 865 and he carries it on a 2006 F250 diesel, 4x4 crew cab, short box. He runs stock factory tires and wheels, Bilstein shocks and air bags and has driven from Washington state to the east coast twice and once to New Mexico with nary a problem. He has had zero issues and no problems at all.

I asked previously, but you must have missed it. Where did you get your 865? I am in almost the exact situation that the OP is, and looking at very similar campers. RVs Northwest is my local Arctic Fox dealer, but they told me Arctic Fox isn't building 865s anymore.

Do you have any pics of yours you could email me, and the optioned wet weight? 50shoebox at gmail dot com. Thanks!



I sent you a detailed PM four days ago. RVs Northwest is not exactly the most helpful dealer. Broadmoor RV in Pasco has a new 2016 Arctic Fox 865 listed on their web site. It is less than a month old according to the weight sticker. There is a dealer in Tacoma, Thunder RV (I think)that has had them in stock and Apache RV in the Tacoma area had one also when I was looking. Nelson RV in Boise also stocks them.

According to Northwood, I emailed and asked because I had not found any specs. They are all pre-sold before building and they do one run a year. They said they still have a lot of requests for something without a slide.

2016 model at Broadmoor RV, 25% off.[

[billyray50]

skipro3 wrote:
God bless you Buzzcut, for posting your photo and story back when that happened. Our rigs were near the same and I needed some experiential evidence that my money wasn't being foolishly wasted on buying 19.5's.

That air bag mount looks like it took a good hit too!

X2 19.5s for SRWs!!

[Otterman]

Thanks, I'll have them look into it.

[GeoBoy]

RVs Northwest is my local Arctic Fox dealer, but they told me Arctic Fox isn't building 865s anymore.
Your dealer is misinformed, Arctic Fox just finished building a run of 865's.

[FireGuard]

Buzzcut1 wrote:
perhaps because of things that happen at freeways speeds even with new 3750 rated tires and a heavy camper. the load was near the tires capacity at 80psi



damage was considerable to the truck, the repair estimate for bed, wheel well, and airbag lines was nearly $4000

That must have been one heck of an explosion, it not only shredded the tire it blew all the lug nuts off!! 🙂

[Bedlam]

Images: https://www.google.com/search?q=Arctic+fox+865&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X

Thunder RV and Apache RV sell them in the NW.

[Otterman]

lonegunman wrote:
I have a co-worker with a TC that is longer and heavier than my 865 and he carries it on a 2006 F250 diesel, 4x4 crew cab, short box. He runs stock factory tires and wheels, Bilstein shocks and air bags and has driven from Washington state to the east coast twice and once to New Mexico with nary a problem. He has had zero issues and no problems at all.

I asked previously, but you must have missed it. Where did you get your 865? I am in almost the exact situation that the OP is, and looking at very similar campers. RVs Northwest is my local Arctic Fox dealer, but they told me Arctic Fox isn't building 865s anymore.

Do you have any pics of yours you could email me, and the optioned wet weight? 50shoebox at gmail dot com. Thanks!