Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Trying to figure out best 5th wheel? Advice appreciated

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Topic: Trying to figure out best 5th wheel? Advice appreciated

Posted By: Jim Irish on 10/04/20 05:16am

Wife and I are retiring next spring. Have looked at many brands of 5th wheels.
Our wish list on this is:
1. Easy to tow-aprox. 30-33 ft so we can get in state parks(have a ram2500 diesel-2020)-Next summer traveling out West for a couple months.
2. Has to be cold weather capable given we have boys in college playing D-1 sports in spring and fall in upper MW. We will be up and down many freeways...
3. Wife wants a newer model with the newer lighter interior.
4. Would like a model that we can access the bathroom and refrigerator while traveling.
5. Has to be sturdy/well built given the time we will be in it and I am not handy.
Somewhat narrowed down the list :
GD-reflection 150 -260rd 30ft
Pinecrest-looks to be well built and everything I read on it looks good.305rlp
Montana High Country - perhaps to long at 34 ft?295 rl-however meet a pastor yesterday that just bought 6 months ago and swears by it.
Artic fox and outdoors rv- tougher to get being in Atlanta and not cracked on interior

Ok- am I missing anything

Jayco -half ton
Wildcat......

Appreciate any feed back.
Regards,
Jim

Posted By: way2roll on 10/04/20 06:50am

Very happy with our Cedar Creek 29RW. Checks all your boxes.

2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

Posted By: JIMNLIN on 10/04/20 07:47am

There is no best 5th wheel trailer....nor a best brand.
Sounds like your going to need a real/full 4 season trailer. I would concentrate on the 4 season units such as higher R value in the floors/walls/roof in the floorplan you like. This type of input requires lots of leg work on your part digging out the mfg specs on their cold weather pack or "arctic pack"/etc.

With the 2500 Ram your limited to wet pin weight around 2600-2800 lbs plus other stuff in the bed and in the cab before exceeding a its 6000-6500 ? rawr numbers. Over loaded above rawr means wheels/tires/rear suspension will have to be upgraded.

You can get better/more input if you give us the trailer GVWR. WE can't tell anything about weights with a model number or a length.

edit; I did a quick search on the Montana high country 29 RL....it has a 14300 lb gvwr which puts it in a one ton srw truck territory.

"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides

Posted By: Lwiddis on 10/04/20 07:55am

After six months I’m not sure any RVer, including a swearing pastor, can attest to the long term reliability of an RV brand. When you do buy and before you do any cold weather use, study the basics.

Tell us more about your truck....GVWR, payload etc.

Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Posted By: joelc on 10/04/20 07:55am

Research, research. It will take time and a lot of reading. The "best" rV for you might not be what the other person finds important. When I purchased my Carriage Cameo in 2012 I researched 5ers for over 6 months. I love my unit and have had near zero problems. I wanted a 4 season unit, constructed well and had good capacity. It is too bad they are out of business. Be sure you can tow what you get, maintain it well, and don't abuse it. Check ratings.

Posted By: TXiceman on 10/04/20 08:46am

I would look at Arctic Fox for what you want. They are built in Oregon and seem a step above the other junk on the market now.

Or go back and find a nice used NuWa HitchHiker or a Carriage Cameo. From what we have seen, I would not consider anything from Forest River or Thor.

With a 3/4 ton truck, you will need to make sure you are not over the trucks rear axle GAWR or cargo capacity. They cargo capacity will include the total of the pin weight, plus cargo, plus hitch, plus passengers. The actual loaded pin weight of a 5er is typically between 20 to 22% of the trailers GVWR. Do not use the brochure weights on the trailer.

Ken

Amateur Radio Operator.
2023 Cougar 22MLS, toted with a 2022, F150, 3.5L EcoBoost, Crewcab, Max Tow, FORMER Full Time RVer. Travel with a standard schnauzer and a Timneh African Gray parrot

Posted By: phillyg on 10/04/20 09:07am

The RV industry is plagued with poor quality builds. I've owned a pop-up, Class C and A, and three FWs (Cougar, Wildcat, Montana). The Wildcat's furnace failed on our first cold night, and the frame started showing signs of bending in the first year. I did a 3-hr PDI on the Montana and gave the dealer a punchlist for 15 items, several of which were serious, before I signed for the unit. It may be different in the so called luxury units like DRV and Luxe, etc. You said you weren't very handy, so be prepared to rely on a good dealer or RV tech to keep everything 100%.

--2005 Ford F350 Lariat Crewcab 6.0, 4x4, 3.73 rear
--2016 Montana 3711FL, 40'
--2014 Wildcat 327CK, 38' SOLD

Posted By: TenOC on 10/04/20 09:37am

joelc wrote:

I also think Carriage make the best built RV. Maybe that is why they are out of business.

ALL RV have a life expectance of about 10 years. That is 1/2 die before age 10. Some live to a "ripe" old age.

Purchase a floor plan you like and take care of it, maybe it will live to a ripe old age. The only thing that kill RV is water. It is the cancer of RV. What is to go wrong with a RV? Maybe a water pump, or a microwave. Easy to fix

Please give me enough troubles, uncertainty, problems, obstacles and STRESS so that I do not become arrogant, proud, and smug in my own abilities, and enough blessings and good times that I realize that someone else is in charge of my life.

Travel Photos

Posted By: NJRVer on 10/04/20 09:38am

If you are going to be traveling for extended periods make sure you get a model that has a full size shower. A lot of the shorter models still use the tiny corner showers.

Posted By: stickdog on 10/04/20 10:31am

I would look at Artic Fox as I did. Pasted my inspection but didn't meet DW's standards on interior storage and looks.
That was however on the largest AF 5er we did wind up with the DRV in my sig.
We are full timers and more often spend time in high temps than low. But we have found with night in upper twenties the fireplace heater will keep us warm for sleeping and kicking on the furnace for a short time in the morning will keep warm things up quickly.

9-11 WE WILL NEVER FORGET!
FULLTIME SINCE 2010
17 DRV MS 36rssb3
17 F350 King Ranch CC DRW 4x4 6.7 4:10 B&W hitch
John
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” Lao Tzu

Posted By: Cummins12V98 on 10/04/20 10:48am

Do your self a FAVOR!!! Get a 3500 RAM with Factory Rear Air Ride, AISIN and LongBed with a B&W Companion Puck Hitch.

You WILL want a larger RV in the future. The 3500's with rear air set lower for easier entry/exit and a good ride.

The AISIN like the Cummins are True Medium Duty.

2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

Posted By: Old-Biscuit on 10/04/20 11:03am

2020 RAM 2500 has same/higher ratings that my 2007 3500 SRW has

I tow a 14K 34' 5th wheel ----did so for 7 yrs FT and still tow it

Fully loaded (all our stuff, propane, fresh water tank FULL etc) it scaled at 13,873# with a wet pin of 3080#
That is with a RAWR of 6200#

Your RAWR is 6390#
So a 14K GVWR 5th wheel is within your specs for safe towing

Is it time for your medication or mine?

2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

Posted By: MarkTwain on 10/04/20 12:02pm

Jim Irish wrote:

One factor in culling through RV choices is to first determine the max number of your budget. This number will weed out RV's .

Posted By: TenOC on 10/04/20 12:49pm

MarkTwain wrote:

One factor in culling through RV choices is to first determine the max number of your budget. This number will weed out RV's .

As a first purchase, buy a used unit. Then trade in a year of so. A 5th wheel is not like a car -- think of it as a house. No engine etc. to need repair.

I know it is a hot sellers market with everyone wanted to RV in 2021 due the virus. Last month we purchased a "like new" 36' 3100RL Montana for $27K that original cost in the $60K range.

Look at RV trader and Facebook marketplace as well as CraigList.

We did find a number with water damage.

Posted By: Jim Irish on 10/04/20 05:40pm

Great information-thank you
Trying to narrow down to : outdoors rv 27rks, Montana HC -295rl and maybe GD Refection 260rd
My gut tells me for our needs Outdoors is the best, but my wife does not like the interior colors.
So it might be Montana HC and 34 ft -
Have learned a lot on all the posts.
Jim

Posted By: MikeRP on 10/04/20 06:04pm

Jim

Don’t take Cedar Creek off your list. There construction method does not have the skin structural.

The other thing is they have a place called Amish Family RV which are the best at correcting any problems w the unit in record time.

I ruled out Montana HC because of the cable slides. But they are nice.

Posted By: Dick_B on 10/04/20 08:09pm

The title states `best fifth-wheel' and if that's the quest I would suggest New Horizons RV at https://horizonsrv.com/

Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2011 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two electric bikes (both Currie Tech Path+ models)

Posted By: ACZL on 10/05/20 02:06am

Jim Irish wrote:

First of all, "if Momma ain't happy, nobody will be happy"

Get what fits your needs the most/best. Not one that you say "Eh, we can ,make it work" You will NEVER be happy w/ that decision. Try to locate the ones you are interested in and go look at them. Both you and the Mrs each have your own notepads and jot down the make/model of each coach you go in. Then w/o looking at each others pad while going thru the coach, write down what you liked/disliked. Then when all done looking at coached, create a spread sheet and compare your notes then. Guarantee you'll come up w/a coach you'll both agree on.

As for tow vehicles, the newest of trucks all have high ratings compared to even those from 10 years ago. While a 3/4 ton sounds like a lot of truck, as others have said, you have to know what it's actual cargo capacity is. Some weigh in close to 8,000 w/o anyone/anything on it and it's GVW maybe only 10,000-11,000.....only leaves you 2-3k of cargo. If you can, get a 1 ton (any of the 3 will do) SRW for anything under a trailer max weight of 15,000. Some will argue w/ me on this one, but better to err on side of caution rather than what GM, Ford or Ram say. If sticking w/ a gas engine and new truck, consider the Ford and their new 7.3. If diesel, any will do and each have the pluses and minuses.Yes we do pick on each other a lot on here and and all have our own preferences, but bottom line is we all will give you solid advice.

2017 F350 DRW XLT, CC, 4x4, 6.7
2018 Big Country 3560 SS
"The best part of RVing and Snowmobiling is spending time with family and friends"
"Catin' in the Winter"

Posted By: JAC1982 on 10/05/20 10:42am

We have a 2020 Montana HC 294RL. Same as the 295, only with an RV fridge instead of the residential fridge (we did not want a residential fridge). We like it so far, and have used it in all kinds of weather including below freezing without any issues. We'll be taking it in for one visit to fix a few little things, but otherwise we have had no major issues with it. Most of our trips have been down bumpy dirt roads, and we've done both full hookup and boondock camping with it this year. It has the light grey interior.

We shopped for awhile as we were downsizing from a larger toyhauler. We had it narrowed down to this and a few Grand Design Reflection models. Non-HC Montanas and Solitudes were not in our price point. We picked this model because Montana HC's come with the gen prep option, and the GD Reflection doesn't even have it available as an option. We also like the floor plan because you can access nearly everything inside, including the fridge, bed, and bathroom, with all of the slides in. Coming from a dark toyhauler, I also love all the windows including the big front window in the bedroom. It also has a lot of storage for only being 34'. The pantry in the kitchen fits a ton of food, and the big closet in the bathroom fits a lot as well, assuming you don't install the washer/dryer combo there.

They are coming out with a 32' HC model for 2021. It's not on their website yet but the number is 281CK. That might be a better option for your tow vehicle as it is lighter. Here is a YouTube walkthrough video of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl6hu198Szw

* This post was edited 10/05/20 10:48am by JAC1982 *

2020 Keystone Montana High Country 294RL
2017 Ford F350 DRW King Ranch
2021 Ford F350 SRW Lariat Tremor

Posted By: fishhogg on 10/05/20 11:35pm

If your looking for a "True 4 Season" CK out Arctic Fox ! We have a 27-5L 5th wheel and it meets all your requirements. Coming home in April to Alaska I spent the last night out and it dropped down to -10 deg. Set the temp @ 60 deg went to bed and very comfortable all night. Very well made and a off road frame makes it he purfect unit for us.

Posted By: Jim Irish on 10/06/20 04:05am

We liked the new Montana High Country 281ck look and feel for our needs. Thanks for the you tube link.
3 questions :
1. Best way to get the new 281ck? Email a number of local dealers here in Atlanta?
2. Everything I have been told is a Ram 2500 4X4,diesel (max payload 2,170lbs and max towing 17170lbs) should not be an issue?
3. Can we go with a 6.4’ bed vs 8’?
Thanks for all the solid responses.

Jim

Posted By: phillyg on 10/06/20 06:13am

I suggest you get a 3500 vice 2500. I have a 350 with a short bed, and after a very sharp turn on an incline where a front corner kissed the back of the truck cab, I got an auto slider hitch. My dealer had told me he couldn't determine whether or not each FW/truck combo could get to 90 degrees, and he was right.

Posted By: StirCrazy on 10/06/20 06:40am

what a question. all your going to get is "mine is the best" with this one haha.

every company can make your perfect rv, and every company has issues. the major issue I find is they operate backwards of car dealers. when a car dealer gets a new car in they go through it and make sure evrything is perfect and the add the PDI to the bill, a rv dealer for some reason wont touch a darn thing on a new rv that comes in umtill after there is a sales contract and only if you pick up the issue. I have a cougar 5th wheel and I can tell you I had to do 3 rounds with them getting stuff fixed up but I am very happy with it now. it is a true winter package good to 0 f or somthing like that and I have camped in it close to that and was fine.

the best 5th is the one that you like, just make sure it hits you boxes with a true 4 season package, ask them to close it up if you are unsure if you can access what you want and so on.

Steve

2014 F350 6.7 Platinum
2016 Cougar 330RBK
1991 Slumberqueen WS100

Posted By: joelc on 10/06/20 06:53am

New Horizons is excellent, but you need a truck greater than a 350 or 3500 to tow it.

Posted By: Cummins12V98 on 10/06/20 09:42am

Jim Irish wrote:

Sure you can compromise with the short bed but WHY??? Nice to have room for a large toolbox. There is not a single slider on the market that does not have issues.

At 14,300# the pin at only 20% will be 2,860#, you tell me a 2500 will be just fine! MOST people that use their RV's have over 20% pin and 25% is very common.

You are spending a lot of money do it right the first time.

Posted By: way2roll on 10/06/20 10:50am

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Jim Irish wrote:

This is good advice. Even with our smaller FW we chose to go with a long bed F350. Glad we did. The F250 would have been really pushing the limit and left no room for anything extra or an upgrade to a larger FW in the future. We also went with the long bed. I simply did not want to have to mess with a slider. No offense to those that have sliders.

Posted By: JAC1982 on 10/06/20 01:25pm

Jim Irish wrote:

I would maybe start with calling Keystone direct to see when it will be available. Since it's not on their website yet, it may not be available at dealers yet either. I do know all manufacturers are having issues right now with sourcing parts, both due to high demand and because of border restrictions (ie a lot of parts come from China). So it's release date may be pushed out.

And yes, I was a little annoyed it came out after we already bought our 294 [emoticon]

I wanted to go as short as possible like you and I liked all the counterspace in the kitchen. We don't use the dinette in ours except to set stuff on it. Trying to get the husband to agree to take it out to put a dog crate there instead. We have 3 bigger dogs so I'm grateful for the extra couch space in the 294 though.

Posted By: Jim Irish on 10/06/20 05:35pm

Ok- I am talking to a couple dealers. My understanding is 25-30% off list is a good buy pre-COVID.
We will see what happens.
Learning a lot in these posts.
Thank you everyone.

Posted By: Jim Irish on 10/09/20 11:59pm

Bought it yesterday. 10 week wait. We are very excited.
Now onto figuring out hitch and best way to learn how to drive it.

Posted By: cummins2014 on 10/10/20 09:28am

way2roll wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Jim Irish wrote:

No offense taken, but talking from experience ,been towing four different fifth wheels , with two different trucks ,both short bed 1 tons. The fifth wheels have been from 32' -38 ' long. Time period of nearly 15 years.

We are not full time ,nor ever plan to be. We use our fifth wheel 4-5 months a year. I have learned after 15 years ,you don't need large toolboxes in the bed, you don't need to haul everything ,but the kitchen sink [emoticon]

etc etc. Full timing may be another story, but finding being away from home for 2 months or more, I can't see where we would need anything more if we were full timing.

Short bed a compromise , not hardly, but having the proper truck as far as weight rating ,yes thats the important thing. I have never wanted ,nor needed a long bed truck.

Hitches , I have towed with two different manual sliding hitches ,and the rail mount Andersen. If within the weight rating the four point attached steel rail mount Andersen is the only way to go. Short bed or long bed. I have the fifth wheel puck system on my Ram 3500, with the frame adapter , and I use the Andersen on that, as well as an 18K Reese manual slider. The only thing better would be an Andersen with the four point system attached directly to the puck systems on these newer trucks , without using a frame adapter. Unfortunately Andersen does not make one "YET" .The simplicity of the andersen far outways any other hitch , hands down.

This sliding hitch issue has been beaten to death on the forums. I can speak from experience , I don't need a slider towing with a short bed, many others do not either. There are some it would not matter slider or not they will have problems, its just a fact. Towing a fifth wheel takes a lot of awareness , and paying attention .

Posted By: Cummins12V98 on 10/10/20 10:47am

Here we go. Five 5th wheels over a 25 year period. All longbed trucks, last three have the same HighWay Products bed height tool box that's 30" front to back. Been full timing since 11/11 and YES it's nice to have what you need with you to take care of anything that may go wrong along your travels. Paying someone to do what you can sucks as most are incompetent.

I have owned one RBW hitch I thought was AWESOME cuz I didn't know any better. It would make you cringe at every stop and take off with the horrible clunking. A friend suggest a B&W hitch as I was still working and hated the rails being in my way for work. Holy Cow, what an incredible difference. Simple to hitch and unhitch on uneven ground (RBW was not nor are many slider hitches) ZERO noise as the jaws wrap tightly around the kingpin unlike the slide bar of the RBW.

ANDERSEN owners with short beds have to place the pivot point behind the rear axles center unloading weight from the front axle.

Funny awareness and paying attention are good things to do but WHY add more things to think about when you are tired from a long days ride and simply want to setup camp.

Most people that want a short bed because it will "fit in the garage". Just another compromise. FACT a longer wheelbase will be more stable.

Like I said you are spending a LOT of $$$ so do it right.

[image]

* This post was edited 10/10/20 08:02pm by an administrator/moderator *

Posted By: GDS-3950BH on 10/10/20 11:06am

JIMNLIN wrote:

Good luck with that. 4 season, artic, etc are nothing more than marketing. One brand may be slightly better than another but thats it. The fact is you only get so much from 2 or even 3 inch thick walls, roofs, and floors. Folks can claim they have a 4 season rig but reality is elusive. Now if you can get a rig from Unicorn Mfg Inc, then that's different.

Posted By: cummins2014 on 10/10/20 05:06pm

Not true on the Andersen , I’ve turned the pin adapter around on mine putting the kingpin just slightly forward of axle center. There is no unloading of the front axle . I’m towing with shortest of the three short beds with my Ram 3500 .There is no reason with these newer fifth wheels to have that adapter in the rear position , with the rounded front corners of these fifth wheels . Having that adapter the way I do puts the fifth wheel at the same measurement from the back of my cab as my Reese slider in the tow position.

Tools , I carry every tool that I need , just short of enough to be able to overhaul the motor [emoticon]

I believe that’s adequate . Hydraulic jacks , small air compressor etc. I put three items in the bed of my truck besides the hitch , a propane tank in a milk crate, a Honda 2000 generator and the 6 gallon extended run tank that goes with it if I even take the generator , most trips I don’t . Then it’s only the propane tank for the small BBQ. Everything else in the basement of the fifth wheel , that includes a one man inflatable pontoon boat taken apart for a Montana trip.

You seem to insist that a short bed is a compromise, not even close in my case . I could of bought any truck I wanted , I don’t want or need a long bed . My third car garage when we built this house in 2000, I wanted it big , it’s 51 feet deep , I can get a long bed Crew cab truck in there if wanted , don’t want one .

15 or 25 years , if you want to go years towing then it’s just over 53 years. I am afraid that beats whatever years you been at it . Unless you started when you were what about 10 [emoticon]

So I think I know what I want , and what I’m doing .

Posted By: cummins2014 on 10/10/20 06:20pm

Cummins12V98 wrote:

To add further to the post above. Now that you have brought up the subject " Paying someone to do what you can sucks as most are incompetent ". Maybe you can enlighten the ones that don't know, what is it in the equipment, tools etc ,maybe give them an idea what it takes to have haul around a huge tool box to do repairs. I know what I have ,and what I have fixed on my travels, and sort of explained in the post above.

Granted I have had the luxury on a couple repairs that waited until I was home ,but it would not of been a problem in an RV park. One was replacing all the cheap hydraulic hoses for the four slide outs on my previous fifth wheel that had some leaks , pretty major undertaking considering almost all of the underbelly had to come off, that was fun in itself. The tools to do that were in the fifth wheel if I had to do it away from home .

There is other things . I'm prepared on the road to do wheel bearing repair or replace if needed. The list can go on ,but I'm pretty well prepared for most things thats within my power to repair ,and the tools to do so, without a huge in the bed toolbox.

* This post was edited 10/10/20 08:05pm by an administrator/moderator *

Posted By: cummins2014 on 10/10/20 08:19pm

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ANDERSEN Kingpin ahead of axle turn truck at 90 RV does not hit cab?

Started towing Professionally at 18 so that’s 45 years. Big deal.

Things loose in a bed are dangerous and tend to disappear.

.

Who in the world in there right mind wants to back a fifth wheel 90 degrees . I wouldn’t if I could , or have I put myself in a situation where I had to, just isn’t going to happen.
As said aware of what’s going on .

You know Ron , things in the back of a pickup are what the truck was made for . There is such a thing as securing things . I’m sorry , I just don’t have the same phobia of things getting stolen or having to have four or five padlocks on a hitch .

It would of been nice what that huge tool box is needed for tools and what repairs you are prepared for , I’m thinking the answer would be interesting [emoticon]

plus if I wanted a tool box back there , there would be one . Don’t want one . I do just fine without, as many do .

Posted By: cummins2014 on 10/10/20 08:40pm

As far as I know any hitch mounted on center of axle or slightly toward on a short bed , cannot back 90 degrees that I’m aware of . Ford has the best chance at it being the longest . But with that said , how far the pin box sticks out , and the profile of the front cap may permit some . No concern to me , I’ve cranked my fifth wheel into some pretty tight spots without a problem , but no not 90 . But there is that BIG compromise, a sliding hitch [emoticon]

Posted By: JIMNLIN on 10/10/20 08:59pm

Jim Irish wrote:

Bought it yesterday. 10 week wait. We are very excited.
Now onto figuring out hitch and best way to learn how to drive it.

How to drive it ?? You mean learn how to pull it. [emoticon]

. We all had to do this at one time.
Have you ever pulled any size/type of trailer previous.
First off forget about keeping up with those that speed or the flow in heavy traffic until you have more experience. Swing wide on turns and watch both outside mirrors for other vehicle close to you. You'll do fine.
A hitch.
Just like a trailer there is no best 5th wheel hitch. We have about 5 good brands that will do the job. Most RV dealers can have several brands they sell. You can't go wrong with the Reese/PullRite/Curt/B-W/ Andersen.
The PullRite has three designs. One is the most popular auto slider (Superglide).....the the std 5th wheel PullRite....and the Superlite series design like the Andersen. The Andersen and PullRite Superlite weigh in the 40-60 lbs range depending on steel vs aluminum frame. Both are a GN ball type hitch. Check out PullRite and Andersen websites.
See what your dealer has to sell and work with him to throw in a hitch as part of the deal...some will....some won't.
Your short bed Ram may not need a slider with the new 281 CK Montana High Country. The trailer is new and no weight specs on Montana web that I could find but it should have the rounded/notched front corners made for short bed trucks....no slider needed. This is where your dealer should be able to help with which truck brand and bed length you have.
Short or long beds is a preference just like truck or trailer brands or vehicle colors.
I've made a living using long and short beds pulling GN/5th wheel/bumper pull trailers and couldn't tell one from the other with the same size trailers up to 38' and 24k lbs.

Posted By: Cummins12V98 on 10/11/20 10:25am

Point is you need to keep an eye on the RV VS back window area when making a tight move. Like I said CHITZ happens at the end of a long day.

No compromises.

Posted By: Cummins12V98 on 10/11/20 10:36am

Just to show one thing I was completely prepared for. Had to cut a pc of 1-1/8" plywood to fit between the brake pads. Also had to secure it and the caliper as the sealed bearing had shifted on the spindle. It was popping hot when I pulled over. Dust boot was melted away on caliper piston. Secured everything and drove another 150 miles to my days destination and ordered parts from Kodiak the next day and did the repairs right there at my Campsite.

So yea I kinda like to have what I need to do whatever I need.

Happy now???

BTW that's over 7k setting on the TrailerAid Plus.

[image]

Posted By: JAC1982 on 10/12/20 01:54pm

Jim Irish wrote:

Bought it yesterday. 10 week wait. We are very excited.
Now onto figuring out hitch and best way to learn how to drive it.

Woot, congratulations! If you're on Facebook, there's a few Keystone Montana and Montana High Country owners groups that are really helpful.

We have a BW Companion hitch. Works great for us.

I think the best way to learn to pull it is to take it to a big empty parking lot at first, and just drive it around to get the feeling of it, practice backing it up where there isn't anything to hit behind you, etc. Use the parking spot lines to help. Then drive it on some less busier roads to get used to that... just work your way up to the interstate, just like when you were learning how to drive in general.

Posted By: richardcoxid on 10/12/20 02:11pm

Outdoor RV makers of Timber ridge (27RKS) etc and Northwoods maker of Artic Fox are sister CO’s located about 2-3 miles apart in La Grande, OR. They were both started by Ron Nash (now deceased) and have the same manufacturing philosophy.

You said that you were going “west” next spring why not order from Dennis Dillon RV in Boise, Idaho or Thompson RV in Pendleton, Oregon and pick it up there.

Outdoors manuf. have a manufactures site on “irv2.com” and a Outdoors owners section on Facebook.

2017 GMC Denali 3500 4x4 Duramax
2019 Outdoor RV (ORV) Timber Ridge 24RKS

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