RE: Cyclone vs Raptor
Winter camping is the one reason I'm glad I don't have the bedroom slide in my Raptor 3814. I've been planning on pulling the underside covering and seeing about adding more insulation up in there, plus covering the garage's underside area, and maybe even add some insulation board inside cabinets. I'll probably do that this Fall after I finish rebuilding the motors in the snowmobiles.
I also figure that for really cold temps, I will keep the slide closed, at least at night, to conserve heat.
Rob
RE: Raptor owners, battery question
Never thought to take any. For me, it's just a black box that holds the two batterys end to end (so it's like 2' long by 10" deep by 14" tall, approximately), with a black lid. Then I stack wooden blocks in ahead of it for putting under the landing gear and stuff.
Rob
RE: Need some help with decision
Everybody who has it seems to like it... I haven't heard of ANY troubles with it, and there are already a number of 6.7 owners online with over 100k on their trucks.
Rob
RE: 3924 Raptor
The tires they come with are garbage. I lost all six (tread delamination) with fewer than 1000 miles on the trailer. Replaced 'em with E-rated radials for now (15") but will be going to 16" Michelin XPS Ribs in the near future.
The Raptor comes with a big sticker in the garage that says 'load capacity cannot exceed 2000 lbs'. I peeled it off because it was ugly, but I did the math and can explain why. It's mostly due to the lame tires. If you go over 2000 lbs in the garage, you will overload the rear axle of the trailer.
So... given that the STOCK tires are rated at 2640 lbs each and you can go 2000 lbs with them, if you upgrade to better tires, you should be able to add more weight back there. The tires I went to are good for 2880 each, or 240 lbs more per tire. So I could safely go to around 2500 lbs in the garage.
When I upgrade to those 16" Michelins, they're good for 3042 lbs, or about 800 lbs more than stock.
Rob
RE: Cyclone vs Raptor
I picked the Raptor for two reasons -- price and the 14' garage. To my knowledge there are only two companies that make a 14' garage model (Keystone and K-Z). Ours was a leftover 06 at the beginning of 08 so we got a stellar deal on it.
I looked at the Cyclone and really like their floorplans. The 4012 is great, but I don't like the tiny 45 gal gray tank. I would get the 3912 instead if I were getting a Cyclone.
FWIW, I weighed mine the day I bought it (completely empty) and it was 2850 pin and 9550 on the axles. Fully loaded with quads (see sig), water, tools, food, clothes, propane, etc, etc, it was at 3200 pin and 14500 on the axles. I normally keep the water tank almost empty, but I wanted to see what total weight was this time.
Rob
RE: raptor 3612 - additional A/C
I'm also looking at the Coleman 13.5 Mach III+. I can get it from RV Parts Outlet in Oregon for $465. The inside portion with the heat strip is $112 more, and shipping is $109. Puts it at about $180 less than Camping World (since they'd charge sales tax).
I will probably install it myself, but I just have to figure out how to get it onto the roof. I keep trying to use the Force but it hasn't worked so far. ;)
Rob
RE: Raptor owners, battery question
I also added two more T105s in my front comparment, in a nice box. Works great. My inverter, which is an AMS full sinewave unit (1500W I think), is mounted in the pass-through storage. I haven't wired it to the breaker system yet, just need to get around to it. There's room for a breaker in there. Up on the roof I have a pair of 120 watt solar panels. The charge controller is an SCI 16A unit mounted in the wall above the Raptor control panel. I had initially installed a Xantrex setup, but it was defective and wasn't charging the batteries properly, so I gave up, returned it, and went back to the SCI that I've had for several years.
Rob
RE: 2008 FUZION 362 HEADS UP
Pop cans huh? Maybe that's why I only get heat out of one heat duct in my Raptor.
Sawdust... yep mine has it too. Thing is, I think all RV's do. I had a 2000 Lance 1030 truck camper that I bought new, and I complained bigtime to Lance about all the sawdust. I do think they listened because I've heard rumors that they vacuum the inside walls out now.
I agree that build quality is pretty awful. My dealer is beyond awful too so I need to find someplace else to work on it. Love the trailer though.
Rob
RE: Need some help with decision
Yeah I don't wanna start an off-topic argument, but Dodge in no way uses any Allison transmissions. The 4500 and 5500 series use the Aisin brand (japanese) 6sp automatic, but the 2500/3500 with the Cummins use the Dodge 68RFE. Take a visit over to TurboDieselRegister.com or DieselTruckResource.com and you can confirm this.
The automatic used on the older 5.9L Cummins is the older 48RE, which I had on my 2003 RAM 3500. My current truck, however, uses the Mercedes-supplied G56 6sp manual.
My dream truck is going to be a 2012 (4th gen) RAM 5500 quad cab, 4x4, super-long-frame (84" cab-to-axle measurement) with a 10' flatbed. Still dunno if I'd do the Aisin auto or get another 6sp. My current truck is making 420 hp (with a Smarty tuner module) and I know the automatics generally can't take that much extra power.
Meanwhile... I like that screen room. Found it at Amazon.com for $236. What I want, though, is the one that extends the back of the trailer. I've see it in the catalog... you drop the back door and level it with jackstands or something, and the room basically covers the back door (making it more floorspace). All I have right now is the drop-down screen that came with the trailer.
Rob
RE: Need some help with decision
I'd like to know more about that screen room... is it a Keystone item or made by somebody else? Also any input on TV's is appreciated too. I'm about to order a new 32" flatscreen. I bought a nice swivel mount-arm that I will mount to the wall above the front door.
BTW, Dodge doesn't use Allison transmissions. The tranny in that truck is Dodge's own 68RFE 6sp auto. GM uses the Allison in their trucks.
Rob
RE: Marysvale, Utah
If you're going UP in elevation, the jets need to be SMALLER. Less air means less fuel to get the right mixture.
For example, on my Grizzly, I went from a 155 to a 150, which I believe is two steps (155 -> 152 -> 150).
In addition, you may also want to drop your needle either one step or a half step. Lowering it reduces the amount of fuel, raising it increases.
Note that the main jet is for WOT (wide open throttle) and the needle is for midrange. You'll need both set properly.
Rob
RE: Marysvale, Utah
Dwight...
I'm absolutely amazed your ATVs ran at 12000' if they're jetted for sea level. I used to have a Rincon and since I lived in Reno, it was jetted for 4000-6000'. I once took it up to 10k and it ran so badly I had to remove the airbox lid to get more air into it just so it'd run well enough to make it down into thicker air.
Likewise, my Grizzly 660.. it was jetted also for 4000-6000, and we were riding up above 8000' last Summer and it got to where it simply wouldn't climb anymore because it was jetted too rich. Once I dropped it down from a couple of jet sizes, it ran great up there.
I'm going to buy an altitude compensator for the Grizzly eventually, but they're about $230 so I haven't been ready to spend the money just yet. Fortunately, my Sportsman is EFI so I don't have to worry about it.
Rob
RE: Need some help with decision
The Escalade is a really, really nicely appointed trailer. Probably the nicest materials and stuff of any of the TH's currently available. The one I looked at stickered above $100k. Made the $40k I spent on my Raptor seem like a real bargain!! I'm waiting for Teton Homes to make a toyhauler. ;)
Rob
RE: Marysvale, Utah
Last Aug/Sept was my first year visiting the area, so I don't have a lot of info. The place we're looking to camp is going to be somewhere outside of Anna Bella on the 04, because the road is wide, and while very curvy, it's fine for taking a large toyhauler or motorhome up it. I also want to stay up at a higher elevation to avoid the Summer heat. The spots I'm considering are above 6500'.
The downside to where I'm thinking about is that it's really not all that close to any of the "good" trails. I mean, it's nice and centrally located, but the really neat stuff is well to the south, or across the valley up in the Tushars. It seemed like the best spot given that we were taking large RVs up there. It's times like this when I really miss my Lance camper.
When I stayed in Marysvale, I noticed that there are some wide open spots behind the campground a short ways. If you take the road that takes you into the campground (it's a public road), go through it, and on past it like a half mile or so, and there's a big turnout on the left that could fit some RVs. I considered that spot, but it was too close to town for me, and the poor cell reception was a turnoff too.
The roads out of Richfield to the west are going to be too rough and narrow to take anything much bigger than a truck camper or MAYBE a very short pull trailer... plus there's nowhere up there to camp. When I was there last year, the USFS or BLM or whomever hands that area, was putting up fences to block all trails off of the main road except signed ones.
BTW, if you like technical, challenging rides, you should make a point to ride Flat Canyon. I recommend going from Richfield south to Elsinore, as it's easier to follow in that direction. It's a the same elevation as Richfield (5500') so it's likely to be hot.
Rob
RE: Toy Hauler Tires
I have an 06 Raptor 3814, and all six of my Carlisle D's delaminated on the way back from Utah last September... not all at once, but before I got back to Reno, I had six brand new tires.
Unfortunately, the only "better" tire I could get was also Carlisle... at leats they're E-rated radials.
I'm thinking of selling off these wheels/tires on Craigslist or something and going with the XPS Ribs on 16's. Just have to make sure I have the $$. :)
Rob
RE: Raptor Broken Window
Give some auto glass shops a call and see if they can help. They may not be able to match the tint shade/color though, but at least it'll be fixed. Otherwise I'd suggest calling a local Camping World or other RV store. I guess it depends how quickly you need it fixed.
Sucks that it broke... I'll have to keep an eye on my Raptor's windows too! Which window broke, specifically?
Rob
RE: Marysvale, Utah
I run a number of ATV-related web forums (www.polarisriders.com, www.rinconriders.com, www.grizzlyowners.com to name just three) and we have a big ride planned for July 28th - Aug 1st. We plan on dry camping up in the mountains to the east of Richfield.
I stayed at Lizzies and Charlies last September, and it was nice enough. I had a nice campsite. My biggest complaint was that people ride too fast through there and don't respect your campsite. The only other "issue" was very sketchy cell service (Verizon).
I looked at Big Rock Candy and it's definitely newer, but there are no trees, and it's RIGHT next to the road so you get plenty of traffic noise. For this year's trip, I decided to dry camp and save the campground money towards gas.
The ATV Jamboree in Richfield... ugh, don't get me started. In brief, if you like hanging with the geriatric crowd and going no faster than 10 mph (ever), then you'll probably enjoy it. I'm 39, and it wasn't my thing. I basically bailed on all of the organized rides and did my own, by myself. Had a blast.
Rob
RE: victory lane or raptor ?
And to go waaaay out on a limb... if you got really ambitious, there are some sites out there that focus on doing Cummins conversions into vehicles like your truck, Ford trucks, Suburbans, Jeeps, etc, etc. :)
Rob
