Best 5th wheel toy hauler for extended vacations?

[Rockwerx]

I vote for the XLR. But that is because I have one
We did a lot of research and that seem to fit the needs the best. Had the best ground clearence compared to a lot. And for back woods camping that was important

Good to hear that it is working well for you! I like to hear things like it working well for back woods camping because that is where we like to go also. I have been looking at smaller units more and more because it will be easier to get in and out of the places we like to camp/quad/sled. Did you have to flip the axles to gain some more clearance? I saw a few lately that were flipped so that they fit the tow vehicle better. I may have to do it if I get a smaller unit (25-30 ft) so my 1 ton will fit under it.

Some of my friends have 40 footers and they seem to get around not bad so I am not afraid to tow a longer unit. My redneck toy hauler is 35 feet and I can get in and out of some pretty tight spots with it...sometimes you have to use all the tricks to get to the best camping spots. My wife will get out and radio directions if I have to back up into a tight camping spot or if it is dark out. We use those same radios while out quading or sledding...very handy to have them!

 

[RMK Junky]

We looked at one of these at Uncle Bens in Red Deer last week. I have been looking at the different units also but very frustrating to find a hauler that has exactly what one wants. The one that is there is the H396RGR. Never did ask how many $$$ :d

 

[mudboy]

I will be honest with you. When we went to buy one. My mind was set on the enduramax Wide open. But when we saw the XLR we fell in love. It has great ground clearence compared to the wide open and I think it was the sportsman can not remember now. The 3 of them were lined up and I instantly was looking at the under carage and was like NOPE not gonna work for where I drag things. They now make a 35 X 12 which I wish they would of made when we were looking.. This set up is in my opinion very nice.

 

[Rockwerx]

We looked at one of these at Uncle Bens in Red Deer last week. I have been looking at the different units also but very frustrating to find a hauler that has exactly what one wants. The one that is there is the H396RGR. Never did ask how many $$$ :d

I am sure they are pretty pricey, but they look like they are built well, have lots of standard features and some cool luxury items. We sure liked the floor plans of H396RGR and the H397RGR also. They look like they would be nice to live in. We liked the shower in the garage bathroom. It would help keep the mud and dirt out of the living area after quading. They could use some closet space for riding gear and some more cupboards for food and pots and pans (my wife was not sure she would want to leave the cookware hanging while traveling) though IMO (many other toy haulers have this same problem).

 

[Rockwerx]

I will be honest with you. When we went to buy one. My mind was set on the enduramax Wide open. But when we saw the XLR we fell in love. It has great ground clearence compared to the wide open and I think it was the sportsman can not remember now. The 3 of them were lined up and I instantly was looking at the under carage and was like NOPE not gonna work for where I drag things. They now make a 35 X 12 which I wish they would of made when we were looking.. This set up is in my opinion very nice.

I appreciate your opinion. I am always looking under the units to see what they are made of also. Some are built so that there is nothing hanging down that may get damaged and some look like they would be damaged easily. Does your XLR have the bathroom in one room?

My wife tells me that I can not look at anything that does not have a proper bathroom. I don't blame her...I am not sure why even top of the line units have the sink seperate from the toilet. Not very smart IMO. As a compromise I am allowed to look at units that have a shower or shower/tub with the toilet. I find it strange that many of the small units and older units have a more complete bathroom than the super expensive ones. When I have asked why people are selling their trailer this has been one of the reasons...the wife hated the RV because of a poor designed bathroom.

 

[mudboy]

Yes
we have the XLR 37x12sa which was also one of the misses likes. The bathroom is all in one. nice open kitchen and lots of storage space

 

[Rockwerx]

Yes
we have the XLR 37x12sa which was also one of the misses likes. The bathroom is all in one. nice open kitchen and lots of storage space

My wife liked that model. Looks like it would fit our needs very well. I hope it serves you and your family for many years!

 

[storm1972]

heres a pic for ya .this thing is simply awsome inside and out, pulls great even when loaded, only running a 1 tonne dually, and ive had it up and down the trunk road several times, tow /haul button for the win. in an earlyier post someone commented on the onan 5500 genny, saying it was load, i find mine is quite the oposite, i can barely hear it, and it uses next to nothing for fuel.

 

[Little Buddy]

We got a Fuzion 398 with the touring edition II package. 43ft long 3axles, 3 slides. Well built & well insulated. It has a 14ft garage & a 12cu ft fridge:d.
Lots of windows too, that's why we went with dual pane glass. We also plan on using it year round.

Towing with a Dodgec C/C quad 4x4 /w6.7L with some mild mods & a 6spd standart & exhaust break.

Hooked up with a 25K Airsafe hitch. This hitch is pricy but money well spent. The trailer just floats on the truck - you don't fell ANYTHING from the trailer.
The trailer itself also has TrailAir suspension which is basically rubber mouting the leaf springs to the frame to redoce the shock & stress.

 

[Rockwerx]

heres a pic for ya .this thing is simply awsome inside and out, pulls great even when loaded, only running a 1 tonne dually, and ive had it up and down the trunk road several times, tow /haul button for the win. in an earlyier post someone commented on the onan 5500 genny, saying it was load, i find mine is quite the oposite, i can barely hear it, and it uses next to nothing for fuel.

Thank you for your input. I will be emailing you for some pics of your new unit.

We got a Fuzion 398 with the touring edition II package. 43ft long 3axles, 3 slides. Well built & well insulated. It has a 14ft garage & a 12cu ft fridge:d.
Lots of windows too, that's why we went with dual pane glass. We also plan on using it year round.

Towing with a Dodgec C/C quad 4x4 /w6.7L with some mild mods & a 6spd standart & exhaust break.

Hooked up with a 25K Airsafe hitch. This hitch is pricy but money well spent. The trailer just floats on the truck - you don't fell ANYTHING from the trailer.
The trailer itself also has TrailAir suspension which is basically rubber mouting the leaf springs to the frame to redoce the shock & stress.

Good to hear that you are happy with your new purchase. My wife and I both loved the 398 Fusion and thought it would be a great unit to live in. Your truck should tow well if it is anything like mine. What mods did you do to your 6.7 CTD? I have heard that the combination of the TrailAir suspension and the Airsafe hitch are excellent mods to consider. What ever I end up towing in the future will have either a rubber dampened pin or an air bag dampened pin. I am leaning mroe towwards the airbag pin. My red neck toy hauler kicks a bit unless it is fully loaded (and we can't load it up enough with just our toys) so I am looking forward to the day I we can upgrade to a dedicated unit.

This weekend my wife and I joined some friends and family out in the foot hills near Sundre. I have never seen so many toy haulers go by our camp site. They are getting more popular every year with the off road community. I saw some cool DIY mods on a few of the larger units. One cool mod was some small but not too small HD wheels on casters at the rear corners of the unit. I am sure they would help save the trailer from damage when traveling over some uneven ground say when you are parking your unit for the weekend. They might also help on the street when you pull out of a fuel station and the street is at a different level than the station. They would only help at slow speeds but that is what they are for. My work trailer has steel skid plates welded on for this purpose. One or the other might help some units last longer.

 

[Orrin]

Just bought this 35X14 XLR, get to pick it up next Tuesday so no more tandem pulling for me. Gonna need a bigger truck as the F-350 SRW will at it's max pulling this thing.

 

[green-horn]

That looks SWEET!! How about some more pictures? The only thing I don't like is the slide under your awning. You will definitely like the door to your garage.

 

[Orrin]

I gotta a few more,dealer pics though.

 

[Rockwerx]

Nice toyhauler! I really like the black graphics also! I have not seen one with those nice graphics packs yet. What year is your new unit? Any cool options? Were you able to get a good price on your new unit because of the time of year? How big a family do you have? I hope that you and your family get to use it lots!

If your F350 is a diesel you should have little trouble towing your new unit. I see many of my friends towing units similar to yours with a single rear wheel 1 ton truck...but many of them are also thinking of changing to a dually at some point. I guess it would depend on how far you tow or how much you use it in order to justify a different truck...budget also! If your truck is too close to being overloaded then saftey could be a concern also. You could add some load stabilizing devices to help make it safer as long as you were still under your weight limits.

Good luck with your new home away from home!

 

[Orrin]

Nice toyhauler! I really like the black graphics also! I have not seen one with those nice graphics packs yet. What year is your new unit? Any cool options? Were you able to get a good price on your new unit because of the time of year? How big a family do you have? I hope that you and your family get to use it lots!

If your F350 is a diesel you should have little trouble towing your new unit. I see many of my friends towing units similar to yours with a single rear wheel 1 ton truck...but many of them are also thinking of changing to a dually at some point. I guess it would depend on how far you tow or how much you use it in order to justify a different truck...budget also! If your truck is too close to being overloaded then saftey could be a concern also. You could add some load stabilizing devices to help make it safer as long as you were still under your weight limits.

Good luck with your new home away from home!

Those graphics are mostly painted on which is pretty cool, this thing has a lot of options including built in vac, on board generator, outside fridge etc etc etc. There's just my wife, daughter and me but I bought it primarily to put on an rv lot we just bought in Raymond Shores on Gull Lake. The lot we bought is 55' x136', is fully serviced year round and I want to use it in the winter for ice fishing and sledding etc so we needed something thats good in cold weather, this thing is double insulated so it should be ok in pretty cool weather.

My truck is a SRW F350 diesel and it's tuned pretty good, it's just the stability while towing that has me concerned and having that much weight on the rear tires in case I have a blowout. My next truck will be an F450, in about three years I think. I should only need to pull the toyhauler once or twice a year so I'll just be carefull and maybe get some airbags.

 

[Rockwerx]

Sounds like a nice plan for your lake lot get away! You may want to make skirts for your new trailer. Are there building laws or rules at your lake lot? Some people make some pretty cool pole sheds for their trailers at some lots. I had an extremely well insulated 5th wheel trailer (built for -20C) but had to skirt it in for winter weather. It was a lot more comfortable afterwards and used way less propane to keep things from freezing when I had to use it in the winter.

Hopefully we get some snow this winter for some sledding! Good luck with your plans!

 

[SSABMUD]

If you do mostly camping and quadding toyhaulers are great until you decide to put bigger tires on your quad. Then you cannot put them side by side anymore. I have a Cyclone and a CanAm 800 with 29.5 tires which has not been able to see the inside of my toyhauler since new. The garage part is now full of kids toys, not my toys! I now need a second vehicle to pull quads, so what is the point of a toyhauler then? Also built in generators suck after you try an inverter type placed away from the trailer. Just be sure you know ahead of time what you want to do with the toyhauler before buying one as I am now going to sell mine and buy a bunkhouse with four slides and use a second vehicle to pull quads.

 

[Little Buddy]

Thank you for your input. I will be emailing you for some pics of your new unit.


Good to hear that you are happy with your new purchase. My wife and I both loved the 398 Fusion and thought it would be a great unit to live in. Your truck should tow well if it is anything like mine. What mods did you do to your 6.7 CTD? I have heard that the combination of the TrailAir suspension and the Airsafe hitch are excellent mods to consider.

I added a cold air intake, Smarty Jr programmer & a South Bend Dual Disk clutch. Deleted the DPF & EGR. It's a whole new beast. I now downshift because I want to instead of have to...MPG is waayyy better as well.

We've put in a full season with the 398 - no issues. We would still be using it but no one wants to join us. In this weather, you will definately notice the furnace running. 30lb propane every 2 days roughly. I added a 120watt solar pannel so the batteries stay charged unless it stays cloudy all day, then we just fire up the genny & watch a movie or 2 before bed.

 

[Orrin]

Sounds like a nice plan for your lake lot get away! You may want to make skirts for your new trailer. Are there building laws or rules at your lake lot? Some people make some pretty cool pole sheds for their trailers at some lots. I had an extremely well insulated 5th wheel trailer (built for -20C) but had to skirt it in for winter weather. It was a lot more comfortable afterwards and used way less propane to keep things from freezing when I had to use it in the winter.

Hopefully we get some snow this winter for some sledding! Good luck with your plans!

Well the F350 pulled it like it wasn't even there, better than my Wildcat but that may be the TrailAir hitch I put on it too, the truck hardly squatted at all. I will definitly be needing skirting for winter use, the trailer was plenty warm but the floor was pretty cool and my daughter still crawls. What did you make your skirting out of? I had a 250lb propane tank delivered and plumbed in at the lot so warmth shouldn't be a problem just need to fill it when required.

 

[Rockwerx]

I added a cold air intake, Smarty Jr programmer & a South Bend Dual Disk clutch. Deleted the DPF & EGR. It's a whole new beast. I now downshift because I want to instead of have to...MPG is waayyy better as well.

We've put in a full season with the 398 - no issues. We would still be using it but no one wants to join us. In this weather, you will definately notice the furnace running. 30lb propane every 2 days roughly. I added a 120watt solar pannel so the batteries stay charged unless it stays cloudy all day, then we just fire up the genny & watch a movie or 2 before bed.

My truck responded well to doing the EGR and DPF delete also! My fuel economy went up and she will pull just about every hill in top gear if I want. I hear you on the beast thing!

Solar panels are well worth installing on an RV! Lots of models have an inverter so you can use a few small 110 volt appliances off of battery power before you have to recharge them with the generator...but if your solar panels can do the job then you are not spending as much money on fuel. Sounds like an excellent trailer! We like to watch movies before bed when we are out quading/camping also! Good to hear that you were able to use your new unit lots this season!

Well the F350 pulled it like it wasn't even there, better than my Wildcat but that may be the TrailAir hitch I put on it too, the truck hardly squatted at all. I will definitly be needing skirting for winter use, the trailer was plenty warm but the floor was pretty cool and my daughter still crawls. What did you make your skirting out of? I had a 250lb propane tank delivered and plumbed in at the lot so warmth shouldn't be a problem just need to fill it when required.

A few years ago my friend took us for a tour through Raymond Shores resort. There were many things in the development stage at that time but you could see how it was going to unfold. Looks like a good plan for this type of resort. I checked out the website a couple of days ago. Not very many lots left. Is the road paved all the way to the resort now?

I thought that your truck would be able to haul your new trailer! I have been hearing good things about the Trailair hitch...I am definately going to consider installing this on our next 5th wheel trailer.

I got a deal on some plastic panels to use for skirting, but you could use lots of other sheeting products. Our last 5th wheel trailer had a basement that ran under the whole living area to help make it a lot more comfortable in colder weather. It was a 29ft Komfort. :d I used it to live in while working on jobs away from home. The panels would fit in the basement compartments and you could get at them from both sides of the trailer. I chose to use plastic panels as they were pretty durable and also they were fairly light.

I have seen some real nice tent type of skirting that fits around the front of 5th wheel trailers. One that I saw was made with an insulated tarp material with some zippers in strategic places so one could use this area for storage. I saw one fellow using this area to store his motorcycle and lawn mover.

Good idea using a big 250 lb propane tank. I am sure you will appreciate it's capacity in the colder weather. I used a couple hundered pounders for my unit as I had to be able to take them to town for refilling. I made a manifold with some extra valves and fittings so I could remove either the 30 pounders or the 100 pounders for refilling but still use one of the bottles.

Good luck with your new trailer and lake lot!