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RE: Alliance 5th Wheels
It sounds like you have buyers paying for the privilege of being the short and long term testing departments.
Just think Grand Design was a small start up just a few years ago. Grew big, cashed out and now they have a cult like following.
Dan
Yep, and the first one we had rolled out the the factory door the end of the 2nd month the factory was open for business. I feel we were extremely lucky knowing what I know about issues others had roundabout the same time. Never joined the cult.
Yep, I never bought into the GD cult either. The reality is they are just another Indiana manufacturer that follows the same culture of the slapped together mentality with Lippert everything.
My guess is Alliance has seen the success of Grand Design and are trying to follow the same path of success until they can sell out for big $$. The bigger a company gets generally the worse the service is going to be. I do hope for all the best for them though.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/22/20 09:25am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Alliance 5th Wheels
It sounds like you have buyers paying for the privilege of being the short and long term testing departments.
Just think Grand Design was a small start up just a few years ago. Grew big, cashed out and now they have a cult like following.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/22/20 08:07am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Morryde Step Above
I should have known Torklift would have a work around by now. But it's not a cheap work around....
Not cheap, but dare I say BETTER? :B
You can say it, they are better.:)
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/21/20 04:00pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: No! I’m not top heavy.
Why not just get a bigger trailer? Seems like less work too.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/20/20 10:07am |
Towing
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RE: Morryde Step Above
I would look at these steps if you haven't alreadyTorklift Yiu get the best of both worlds, no mess and very solid.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/19/20 06:48pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Auto slider or manual
In general traffic I doubt you would ever need a slider with todays cut corner cap fifth wheels. Maybe when backing in a tight site but I try my best not to cut super sharp anyway because of the twisting and scrubbing it does to the fifth wheel tires. But every fifth/truck combo is different, as for me I have plenty of room.
I do however have a manual B&W slider and the only reason I have one is because I have a steep hill I have to back down to get to the barn and this provides a steeper angle without hitting the tailgate when backing down. Hope that made sense.
Had a Pullrite auto slider for about 5 years on a previous fifth wheel years ago and to be honest I didn't really care for it. I had too many times where I had to separate the head from the rest of the unit just to unhitch plus I was always cleaning and greasing the slide bars. Plus in my situation it wouldn't work for my needs.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/18/20 02:40pm |
Towing
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RE: Full Hookup Sites on Lake Michigan
If there's a full hookup campground actually on Lake Michigan, I've never heard of it and I live here.
There is at least two that I am aware of and there maybe more. One is Wilderness state park, they have full hookup loop they added a few years ago and about 8 lots are on Lake Michigan. They may or may not have the best views of the lake with the vegetation in between but they are directly on the lake. Another is Manistique Lakeshore Campground. We are staying here this upcoming summer in fact. This one is also new within the last few years. Google pic
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/15/20 05:24am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: A redneck Automated Safety Hitch?
Doing whatever it takes.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/14/20 05:17pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Full Hookup Sites on Lake Michigan
I liked Indiana Dunes.
Holland state park is out due to no alcohol policy.How can they possibly enforce that?
We camp there, it's not like they do a inspection of your rig when you check in. Keep it discreet and don't get drunk and they won't give you any problems.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/14/20 09:44am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Low cargo carrying capacity rant
^^^ Exactly, I know I am repeating myself here but if you look at units like these you need to ask who the target consumer is here. This is a ideal unit for someone who full times or spends a lot of time on the road and the Solitudes are full time rated. This unit I was referring to has only #2200 capacity and that is BEFORE batteries/propane/ and any other accessories you may add after the factory such as a washer and dryer (why else put hook ups on them otherwise?) etc. I know from reading these forums that a lot of you love to boondock now imagine adding a battery bank (better go lithium here)/solar/ and the nearly 100 gallons of water this thing can hold and you are realistically on the edge if not overweight before you even put one personal item in this thing. No matter how you try to slice it, it comes up drastically short.
4 years ago when we went shopping for our current fifth we looked at the Reflections line and at that time anyway they were short on CCC which was one of the reasons we crossed them off the list. My current #9060 (sticker)little Wildcat has more CCC than this beast I've been referring too, just doesn't make sense. Fortunately I have plenty of CCC on our fifth for how we use it today for week long trips and weekends.
Can you imagine shopping for a truck and you come across a dually (pick your brand) with #5000 payload capacity and build like a tank ideal for pulling your 16K rig but it only came with a anemic 80's era 140HP V6 in it? Maybe a bad analogy but you get the point I'm trying to make.
I would gladly pay an extra $5k for them to ditch the 7K axles or make it a triple and strengthen the frame if needed to add a couple thousand pound of capacity to this thing, after all if your spending 70-80 K on a rig like this whats another 5k? I wonder how many people who are dreaming of full timing even pay attention to this.
Off my soapbox again:)
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/12/20 08:51am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Slide room skis source?
Hey All,
We have a Rockwood 5th wheel and I noticed a rip in one of my slide room plastic skis. It appears to be an "L" shaped plastic piece that wraps around the bottom of the slide room and is screwed to the slide wall bottom edge. It looks easy enough to change, but I don't know where to find one!
Any ideas for online sources? The dealer is 200 miles from my house so popping in to order one isn't convenient.
Thanks!
I know some people in the past had fabricated their own with stainless. Just a thought and probably more durable in the long run. I'm sure any local metal shop can make you a pair.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/11/20 03:57pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Low cargo carrying capacity rant
honestly. Unless you are full timing. I can't imagine loading more than 1000lbs in to a camper. Unless you are married to Lucy and she has been collecting rocks again.
In truth. My camper gets lighter every year. Don't use it, don't take it.
The thing is Solitude's are full time rated units and many people use them for that. This is not a weekend warrior fifth wheel but ideal for full timing/extended stay with the cargo capacity (volume) and layout. It just comes up drastically short in one key area.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/11/20 02:37pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Low cargo carrying capacity rant
We FT'd and I could open ANY compartment/cabinet/drawer and readily see/get anything I needed W/O a lot of hassle
LESS is MORE
You could here as well, open one door for the #2 Philips screwdriver, open another compartment door for the #2 square drive screwdriver, roll out the 8' tray for table cloth, etc. Thats all your going to have left.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/11/20 12:13pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Low cargo carrying capacity rant
Funny part is the units without the large rear storage have about 1,000# more CCC capacity :? I guess all that extra material needed to make the extra storage ate into it lol.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/11/20 12:01pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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Low cargo carrying capacity rant
Went to our local RV show last night in Grand Rapids and one that caught my eye was a new floor plan from Grand Design - 390 RK Solitude. This is one of those with the huge basement under the raised rear of the trailer with a large roll out tray that are becoming popular, massive amounts of storage between front and rear basements. Went on their website this morning for specs and based on the published dry weight(14,562) and GVWR (16,800) you barely have 2200# left over for cargo (some other models had less than 2K). By the time you add batteries/propane/solar if wanted/washer & dryer if wanted/water if you travel with it, etc, there is not much left. Short of carrying inflatable toys in the basements I'm not sure what you could do with so much storage. Kind of a shame they have such massive amounts of storage and not enough capacity. My 9,000# dry weight Wildcat has nearly #2900 CCC and according to the cat scale I have about #1700 of "stuff" in that little thing ready to travel and that's without water.
Maybe I'm missing something, rant over
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/11/20 10:36am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Add steps without mounting box?
I'd call the Torklift customer support folks -- they actually answer the phone and will help you develop a strategy. For example, maybe weld mounting plates to those triangular brackets, which will then give you a place to attach the steps.
Torklift will custom design the steps to fit into the available space. Their steps are not cheap, but they are good.
I second this as well, we have them on our unit and they are the best of both worlds being able to fold up outside and solid. Not really sure why the RV industry thinks everybody wants these steps when a lot of us don't.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/09/20 03:13pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Alone or in a group?
My wife and I have a friend that constantly wants to travel with us. He wants to leave together, sightsee together, stop for gas, everything. My problem with him is that he does not get up until 9 or 10, spends a couple of hours getting ready to leave and then takes 45 minutes to get gas.
My wife and I wake up before 6 on our days off, take our time eating and packing up and gone by 7:00. Our gas stops are always under 15 minutes. It is easy to see that this would never work out.
Funny, I know the type as we used to going camping with him years ago, maybe it's the same person and he found you lol.
We are about 50/50 going solo or with others. When we go with others it could be just one other couple (usually my wifes parents) or a large group and we may do things together or do our own things as we usually don't have any sort of set schedule to do things together other than meals. I do though enjoy it when it is just the wife and I as we have a little more freedom to do what we want and when.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/09/20 03:06pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: B&W RVK3300 vs. RVK3305
I believe the head is the same but one thing I noticed in a couple etrailer.com videos is the arms that hold the head on the base unit is substantially beefier on the 3305. There may be other things as well but that's one thing for sure.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/05/20 09:31am |
Towing
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RE: Where is #2 Black tank pull valve Crusader ?
I am going to take a stab at this as my Wildcat is built nearly identical to the Crusader, in fact I think in the same building if I'm not mistaken.
Anyway, my black and bath gray tank valve handles are outside underneath and next to each other while the valve for the galley is a few feet further back by itself near the tires. Did you get down and take a good look underneath in both directions?
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/01/20 04:40pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Thinking a Battery Monitor.............
Bluetooth is bad? That's a bold assertion. My Victron with Bluetooth works great.x2. Things you don't like or can't afford are 'bad.'
Don't think bluetooth effects accuracy at all as it's just the "messenger" to your device.
Dan
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Hammerboy
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01/01/20 10:30am |
Tech Issues
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