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RE: Tire / lift upgrade while pulling 5er question...
I have a similar truck... 2005 F350SD SRW 4X4 PSD. I have a 4-1/2" Donahoe Racing lift on mine and I'm running 315/70-17's. Yep, it's tall!
My truck has to be functional for off-road (lease roads in the oilfield that are at times unpassable with a "normal" 4X4) as well as towing a 34' 5er. I have a similar dilemma that my trailer sits nose-high. The dealership where I bought my 5er is looking into the best way to make it level. It's not THAT bad but I am a perfectionist.
I'll let you know how I make out.
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andawaywego
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06/25/08 12:50pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Gas mileage with your rig alone, and with your fiver?
10 MPG (highway) towing (with water on board) averaging 68MPH
17 MPG (highway) not towing averaging 78MPH
11.5 MPG (highway) towing (with water on board) averaging 55MPH
20 MPG (highway) not towing averaging 65MPH
2005 F350 SD PSD SRW (completely stock drivetrain)
2009 Open Range 337 RLS
Friend of mine has the same truck but a dually, runs an Edge Juice w/ Attitude, cold air intake and no muffler / hollowed out CAT. He pulls a big trailer with a S205 Bobcat and a Bobcat dump truck / buggy on it and claims 17 MPG towing on the highway. I want to see this for myself. If it's true I'm sold on Edge Juice w / Attitude!
I guess another bonus of the controller is that it monitors your EGT as well.
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andawaywego
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05/09/08 03:25pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Suspension air bags
I have the Firestone bags. Absolutely great.
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andawaywego
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05/08/08 10:56am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Suggestions for Glacier and Banff campgrounds, please
Just an FYI... Whistler (British Columbia) is approx. 750 miles from Banff National Park (Alberta)
I can recommend Tunnel Mountain or even Bow Valley. They both have hook-ups (not waste though).
The drive through the Rockies is truely amazing. Even though I have lived here for 20 years it never ceases to amaze me when traveling through them. I lived in Colorado for 5 years and loved the Rockies there but the maountains in Banff and Jasper just seem bigger. I guess its ebcasue you drive through the Colorado Rockies at 5-6,000 feet and through the Alberta Rockies at 2-3,000 feet.
In any case, watch out for shopping in Banff, VERY expensive. Also, please, please, please watch out for the Elk, they can do some damage! I know! If there is a bull with a few cows around stay WAY clear, they see almost anything as a threat to their harem. Given the time of year you are coming through as well, there should be a lot of bear out and we have had a bad run with the Cougars lately too.
As far as diesel prices go, you can expect to pay approx. $1.27 a liter ($4.94 CDN$ or $5.04 US$ per gallon) as of today. The Canadian Media is aniticpating regular gas to be $5.84 US / Gal. by the summer, diesel around $6.00 a gallon.
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andawaywego
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04/30/08 09:02am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Black water tank frozen
One solution is to use a brine water solution. Albeit kind of late to add a mix of salt and water you could add a bag of pickling (coarse" salt through the toilet trap. The salt will not wreak havok on the plastic. I may not thaw the entire tank but it will give you a good start. The freezing point of heavy salt water is -20C (-4F).
We had the same problem ready to happen here (temp. was dropping and tanks were not empty). The tech at the dealership recommended either the antifreeze or in a pinch, use salt (no pun intended).
Hope all works out for you.
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andawaywego
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04/22/08 09:49am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dumb Question...
Thanks VERY much for all of the answers / input folks.
I think I'll go for an Onan. they aren't much more $$$ and will likely be worth it in the end (both noise and durability).
We're taking the "maiden voyage" April 18-20. The spot is only 40 miles form home so if anything catastophic happens (13 year old daughter forgets her cell phone) we'll be close enough to re-coup.
Cheers,
Alan
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andawaywego
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04/10/08 02:04pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dumb Question...
I think I'm going to pick up one of the $300 RV GenSets from Costco tomorrow. I'll likey go with a Yamaha or Honda later on but the $300 now won't sting. If it craps out oh well lol
Since this is all new to us I'm willing to sacrifice the $300 for a lesson learned perhaps. Who knows maybe the cheapy will run for a year and pay for itself.
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andawaywego
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04/09/08 02:15pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dumb Question...
Thanks Donn. I wasn't 100% sure so thought I'd ask. I'm going with a portable generator anyways and it will only run long enough to make sure the batteries are at 100% and when we have to fire up the nuker or the A/C which will be rare.
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andawaywego
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04/09/08 02:12pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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Dumb Question...
Hi all...
Okay, I'm a NEWBIE so flame on! ;)
What exactly is a "Generator Prep" from the factory? Does it usually include a jennie or is it just "electrical wiring" or what? I'm confused lol.
I don't have Gen Prep in my 5er (I don't think I do anyways) and I am in the market for a jenny. It's not something to do with how the Jenny is hooked up to the power box on the trailer is it?
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andawaywego
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04/09/08 01:58pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Open Range 5'er vs. Monte Vista
Well, we picked up our 337RLS on Friday! My finace used to work for an RV dealer here in Calgary so she new the PDI very well! We went through it from stem to stern and found a couple of little things that were damaged in shipping but not really a "defect" so to speak. They were recitified by our dealer immediately.
It was only a 5 mile trip form the dealer to our house so I can't comment too much on the towability of the unit. From what I could tell it was a dream, "handled" well, bumps were soaked up by the suspension and it tracked really straight. The TV had no trouble with it (F350 SRW PSD 4X4) of course.
From a quality perspective... seems very well built. Since it is kind of a uni-frame it seems very rigid and solid. The jury is still out on the cable slides as of yet as they've only been in and out 4 times. First impression is that Randy Graber had his engineers think the cable system through and they seem to have learned for others mistakes. Again, jury is still out as time will tell. Overall, the quality of the unit seems to be at par with the other manufacturers out there. They have thought of some good ideas that may seem as gimicks to others but were added selling features for me (I won't open that debate) :)
The finish is a 9 on a scale of 1-10. There were a couple of things that weren't 100% right but then again I am an engineer and I'm overly OCD about fit and finish. The TV in the bedroom was mounted a little crooked on the pivot arm but all I had to do was tighten two screws and it was fine, not really a finish "problem".
The plumbing in the unit seems very easy to use (water heater bypass, drain valves, city water fill etc...)
We will be taking out to a campground about 45 miles SE of where we live on April 15th - April 20th to give it a good go. It is a non-powered site so we'll give our generator a bit of a go too!
Hopefully it won't be the inaugral camping trip from hell! :)
I'll give a better write-up once we have REALLY used the unit.
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andawaywego
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04/07/08 11:53am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Open Range 5'er vs. Monte Vista
Just noticed that Open Range RV has their website updated (finally). They actually have 4 models now, no weights or anything on the biggest model (I think it was a 385 w/ 4 slides).
Hope they turn out to be a decent unit since my GF and I just bought one (337 RLS).
Anyways, they look like very nice units, good construction and great options.
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andawaywego
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02/22/08 08:56am |
Fifth-Wheels
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NEWB. Hey there...
Hi All...
I've been perusing this site for quite some time now and first off, let me say a bif THANK YOU to everyone on here. I went to numerous RV dealerships and a huge RV show... they were informative but a sales pitch is a sales pitch!
All in all I put a lot of weight in some of the opinions from here. I didn't ask for any recommendations as we all know how that can go! :?
Finally decided to go with a new Open Range 337RLS in Lifelong color scheem. We cant wait to pick it up (PDI is end of March, 1st. week of April) and spend another bazillion dollars getting everything we need in it lol :B
We were really worried about going with a new manufacturer in their first year of production but... we decided to give it a shot. I guess you could say we are the monkeys in the nose-cone of the rocket.
Our tow vehicle is my tried and trued 2005 F350 4x$ PSD CC SRW. we went with a Husky 16K slider hitch.
So, we "plan" on being out at least 30-34 days through the spring and summer, mostly in Alberta and at my parents place (Christina Lake B.C.)
Hope to see someone out there from the forum at some point!
Cheers and Thanks!
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andawaywego
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02/15/08 03:02pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Shell rationing gasoline, diesel in Western Canada
I wouldn't panic yet. It was a fire at the Shell Scotsford Refinery. We here in Alberta have seen this kind of thing happen before. It should be short lived. Shell isn't the only refinery though, syncrude, suncor, Esso (Imperial Oil), Petro Canada etc... all refine crude to Diesel.
Looks like the problem is with Shell / Flying J, but it is temporary.
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andawaywego
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02/13/08 10:55am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: open range rvs
Well, I'm playing Guinea Pig. Just ordered the 337RLS unit from Novak RV here in Calgary. PDI is end of March.
I did as much research as possible on the company, personnel and product as was available at the time. Is it risky buying something that is "new" and not established in the marketplace? Yup but somebody has to go for it! :)
I spoke with Open Range's district sales manager very in-depth at the Calgary RV show in January. He and I went through the build from bow to stern and back. I can't foresee any "build shortcuts" that they have taken to reduce weight as much as they have taken on the role of using new technologies.
Yes it is lightweight, no it does not have cardboard cabinets :)). There is a considerable weight-savings in the exterior materials and a biggie is using cable driven slides, not the typical rail style. Apparently this makes a huge difference +/- 1K lbs. overall.
There are some things like the LCD tv that can be mounted outside that might be a bit of a gimmick but hey...
Anyways, wish me luck!
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andawaywego
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02/12/08 01:34pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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