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RE: New 5th Wheel Manufacturer
So far many RV's like Hartland products are glitz and glammor with inadequate engineering incorporated for travel and endurance. It is difficult to "polish a turd". I fully support entreprenureship if it enhances things that would contribute to a better and improved product. I will sit back and evaluate this new company as they progress. I really hope they come up with a product that moves the RV industry forward. BTY many management folks in the RV industry have been quoted in the past that the reason that past RV manufacturers go out of business was because they put too much quality into the product that diminished the profitability. They felt the public wanted inexpensive rather than quality.
I totally agree. We have seen it before. Theres nothing special about their engineering, frame, or otherwise. Just another cookie cutter like all the others. Since the demise of NuWa, Carriage/Lifestyle, Excel they are all built the same. That goes for Vanleigh, too. Throw a beautiful pint job on it and it's the icing on the cake for the typical American buyer.
We thought when we bought our Excel 8 years ago that we would maybe do one more, which would have been our 4th Excel. That didn't work out so well. We look but just can't find anything that matches the feel of quality ours has. Most just look flimsy. We don't want anything super heavy or priced like a New Horizon. Excel was kind of in the high middle but not many of those left. I hope this new company builds a good reputation but have my doubts. They do look good though.
We considered an Artic Fox but they do not offer a residential fridge. If they ever do they will be on our list but I'd probably have to drive 800 miles just to see one.
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JTrac
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01/20/20 02:28pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Ford Increases GVWR for 2020 Trucks
My new 2020 has the 12,400 rating and 4562 lbs payload. The GM's have 12,250 in the same long bed configuration. The short bed GM has 12,100 but the Ford short beds stayed at 11,500. I think they did it so they can say the have the highest payload capacity of any single rear wheel truck. I'm not sure why they didn't try to beat the short bed capacity of the GM models. I don't know how this stacks up against the Rams.
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JTrac
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01/15/20 07:27pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: just saw my 1st 2020 F-350's
I gotta say, ALL of the big 3 have come a long way in the past 10 years..
I stopped on the way home tonight to look at the 2020 Lariat, 6.7, 4x4, Long Bed sitting at the local dealer ..
curb weight - 7490#
GVW - 12,400
listed payload on sticker - 4514
RAWR - 8300.. I may be wrong on that, but am pretty sure I saw that listed..
just for example, those numbers are a decent jump just from a 2015... payload is 1200# higher...GVW is 1,000# higher... curb weight is 1000# lighter...RAWR is about 1000 or 1200 higher...
They are ALL making it easier to justify a SRW with those numbers...
You need to drive one to really get a feel for the changes, especially with the engine and new 10 speed transmission. It is very smooth and takes very little pedal to get it moving along smartly. It is as quiet a vehicle as I have ever been in. The transmission shifts at low speed were a little rough until it learned my driving habits, which took about 50 miles.
Mine has a payload of 4562, about 600 to 700 more than I need. My last 2 trucks have been duallies and I don't want another. This one will work for me until I decide to retire from the lifestyle. At my age that could be tomorrow or 10 years, who knows.
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JTrac
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01/09/20 09:07pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New 2020 Ford engines for Super Duty (gas or diesel) who has one, or towed with one?
I wonder if Ford has fixed the death wobble on the new 2020. Over on the IRV2 site there's a thread about Fords death wobble and the TSB thats out. Looks like a band-aide fix coming Jan.
Unfortunately that always seems to be the case when this issue pops up. The new Jeep and Ram has also had issues with this and difficult to resolve.
I've driven mine for a couple of days now. It is much more solid in the front end than what my 17 was. I had to change the steering stabilizer in the 17 to get rid of the bump steer. I've intentionally driven the 20 over some bad roads to see what happens and nothing but normal. No shaking or anything and that was before I changed the shocks. I had ordered a set of Fox 2.0 shocks before I got it. That is one of the first things I do when I get a new truck, get the factory ones off and put a set of good ones on. The ride with the Fox shocks is really much smoother and controlled.
Power wise there is a noticeable difference in the seat of the pants torque. The 10 speed is almost like driving the wife's Subaru with its CVT. Very smooth with very little feel of any shifting. I had the adaptive cruise set at 75 on the way home and got stuck behind a car going 60. When I moved over to go around it got back to 75 very quickly but never shifted out of 10th gear. It will be a while before I tow anything so can't say anything about that yet.
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JTrac
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01/03/20 06:26am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F450 vs F350 SRW payload
This is payload sticker on my 20 F350, srw, 4X4 diesel which I picked up yesterday.
On edit, can't get the picture to download. The payload is 4562.
For future, or now if you like, go to this site and upload your picture. Then simply copy the generated code and paste it in the post you are writing..... no need to use any of the forum tools.
Thanks. I don't post many pictures but that is good to know.
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JTrac
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01/01/20 08:39am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F450 vs F350 SRW payload
This is payload sticker on my 20 F350, srw, 4X4 diesel which I picked up yesterday.
On edit, can't get the picture to download. The payload is 4562.
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JTrac
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01/01/20 08:01am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New 2020 Ford engines for Super Duty (gas or diesel) who has one, or towed with one?
They are just hitting the dealers so probably not many yet. Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum, 2017+Super Duty (ford-truck.com/forums/forum279) and you might get more information. It's a pretty active forum and a few have had their ordered 7.3's delivered. I haven't seen any reports of anyone towing anything yet with either the 7.3 or the newly upgraded 6.7 diesel. Initial reports are good on both. A friend of mine test drove a 2020 model F-450 diesel, and told me he could tell a pretty significant difference in it versus his 2017 F-450 set up the same way. He said it's a hoss, and it has a little different sound to it when idling, he said a more noticeable lop to it, versus the previous. He was very impressed with the overall performance. I have yet to test drive one, but hope to soon. We have quite a few diesels showing up on our local dealers lots, but no big gasser's yet. You look like you have one coming, how is it speced out, obviously a diesel, single rear wheel, long bed, 4wd, it looks like from your signature. What all will you tow? Sounds like a nice rig!
I pick mine up in the morning. It is being delivered to the dealer this afternoon. Besides the 4X4 Platinum, diesel, long bed it will have the 3.31 e locker, bed spray, 5th wheel prep, upfitter switches, customer installed trailer camera, block heater, rapid heat with 397 alternator, cab lights, and fitted floor mats. It will pull our fifth wheel and bass boat, not at the same time. We are looking at maybe downsizing our fifth wheel in the next year.
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JTrac
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12/30/19 10:35am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New 2020 Ford engines for Super Duty (gas or diesel) who has one, or towed with one?
They are just hitting the dealers so probably not many yet. Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum, 2017+Super Duty (ford-truck.com/forums/forum279) and you might get more information. It's a pretty active forum and a few have had their ordered 7.3's delivered. I haven't seen any reports of anyone towing anything yet with either the 7.3 or the newly upgraded 6.7 diesel. Initial reports are good on both.
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JTrac
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12/29/19 10:15pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F450 vs F350 SRW payload
There is a post on a Ford diesel forum from a guy who just got his loaded 2020 Lariat CCLB, single rear wheel with the 6.7 and 12,400 GVWR. He posted a picture of his payload sticker and it is 4561 pounds. My 17 King Ranch dual which I sold last month was a little over 5300. My new truck will be here in the next couple of days and I'm anxious to what its sticker has to say. That Lariat has the snow plow package, moon roof, FX4 off road package and power take off, all things I won't have on my Platinum.
There was another guy who just got his 2020 F450 Limited. He posted a picture of his sticker and his payload is 4743, 182 pounds more than that single rear wheel F350 Lariat. Can't wait to see the comments on that one.
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JTrac
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12/27/19 07:09am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: The Big Boys have Just Arrived
The new 7.3 gas might work great for us but one of the main reasons I stick with a diesel is ease of fueling while on the road with our fifth wheel. There a lots of truck stops which makes for easy in, easy out. I would imagine there are a number of stations that can handle bigger rigs needing gas but most are not designed with that in mind, at least in my experience.
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JTrac
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12/11/19 06:41am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F350 6.7
I just sold my 17 F350 dual King Ranch diesel with the 3.55 e locker. It was flawless towing my 16K fifth wheel. The only warranty issue with the leaking valve stems which was a problem with the 17 duals. We towed in the Rockies numerous times and never an issue.
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JTrac
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12/08/19 06:48am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Just curious?
The MSRP on our Excel did not quite top a 100 grand but if was being made today I'm sure it would. We've put about 65K miles on it and so far very few house issues. Nothing major such as a water pump, CO2 dectector, propane leak detector and a leak in a water line, easily fixed. It came with a fully boxed frame, hydraulic operated slides and hydraulic auto leveling. It also came with Dexter Nev-R-Lube axles, disc brakes and 17.5 wheels. A couple of years ago we went to Elkhart and had MorRyde independent suspension installed along with a new disc brakes. Helped the ride even more. I also have had an air ride hitch most of the time we have owned it which I think helps it ride even smoother and hopefully reducing the affects of some of our bad roads.
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JTrac
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12/07/19 05:31am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 2017 or newer F-450 issues
My F350 had a couple of recalls for the block heater cord. Other than that the only warranty to work done in over 2 years was for a couple of leaking valve stems. The main difference between the 450 and 350 is 19.5 tires and a tighter turning radius on the 450. Drive trains are the same.
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JTrac
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11/24/19 02:55pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Tires - too many options
That mileage seems very low for the tires to be worn out. I have 19500 on mine and have a lot of miles left. I did take mine to a shop that specializes in front end alignment as soon as I saw my right front tire showing signs of wear. This fellow lined my front end up based on my fiver weight. I am fortunate that I only use my pickup to pull my fiver. My Ford dealer told me nothing was off on the alignment but he was strictly going by Fords specs and did not consider the weight of the fiver.
I am having the same issue with my 17 dually with Michelin a/t's. Both of my front tires are wearing on the outside edges at 29K miles. I took it to a local alignment shop and they said it was within specs. They did mention it was not uncommon pulling a heavy weight but did not suggest changing anything on the alignment. I am going to have the fronts moved to the inside dual and put those tires on the front. Hopefully I can get some good mileage out of them as the back 4 tires are wearing very evenly.
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JTrac
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11/01/19 06:59am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F450 Review with Pro's and Con's
Nice video. The only part I didn't agree with was his assesment of the high mounted camera for hooking up the fifth wheel. He didn't like it because it washed out in sunlight. In 2 years of use I have never encountered that. I consider it one of the best features Ford offers. I have a BakFlip Revolver X2 that rolls up behind the cab. I cannot see my hitch but with the camera and the centering line I see everything and it is super easy to line up the hitch and the pin. I never miss. I may have to make sure I'm lined up height wise but other than that it can't get any simpler.
I'm wondering how the updated 6.7 in the 2020's will compare. I'm anxious to see the real world reports.
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JTrac
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10/21/19 08:02am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New 5th Wheel with 4-camera system
I was going to order the camera for my truck until I found out it would only work in reverse. I wanted a full time observation camera so I ordered a separate system. I have a separate monitor that sits on my dash. Another issue with the 17-19 Ford Super Duty is if you do get the trailer mounted camera the hook up for it is in the rear bumper. Not good if you have a fifth wheel. I think I read where the camera hook up will be in the bed in the upcoming 2020 models. Unless something has changed I think it will still be a back up camera only.
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JTrac
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10/09/19 03:39pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Trying out a S&B 60 gallon fuel tank
The new 2020 Super Duty's will still have the 34 gallon tank for the short bed diesel but the gas models will have a 48 gallon tank. That might make the new 7.3 gas engine a more desirable option if it pulls well.
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JTrac
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09/29/19 07:22am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 Chevy payload
You can build one on nadaguides.com. It shows the GVWR to be 14K. Maybe apples to oranges but my fairly loaded King Ranch has almost 5300 pound paylaod. I would imagine a Denali dually would be in that ballpark. I saw a picture of the paylaod of a Denali single rear wheel short bed and it was a little over 3700 pounds. It has a 12,100 GVRW. The long bed has 12,250.
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JTrac
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09/11/19 04:18pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: GM's 2020 tow rating question for all
I don't think Ford has announced it yet but I saw something on one of the truck forums that the 2020 F350 single rear wheel will have a 12,400 GVWR, up from the previous 11,500. I figured they would try to beat GM with their 12,100 rating. Haven't seen anything on tow ratings. My personal opinion is they are all great trucks and it's kind of fun to watch the "my truck is bigger than yours" game. One good thing, it does open up some options for those who are on the dually vs. single fence.
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JTrac
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08/28/19 03:44pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: what defines a 3/4 ton?
GM's new 2500 has a GVWR of 11,350 with the Duramax. That used to be one ton territory.
The old nomenclature may be outdated but it's easier to say I have a 1/2, 3/4, or one ton truck instead of trying to explain I have a Class 1, 2 or 3.
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JTrac
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08/23/19 10:07pm |
Tow Vehicles
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