Next Time I Buy a Tow Vehicle....

[kjmcdowell77]

Originally Posted by mazboy

Always have wife look as you move.

And yes I do a window when not listening to her

Oh well, that's life

I had my wife watching and asked her to make sure that I didn't hit the truck with the trailer. She misunderstood and was looking at the back bumper and the lower part of the coach. She really felt bad as it was her first time guiding me into a back in pad. We usually are lucky and get pull through spots but this time our regular park was almost full up and we had to settle for a back in. I think this is a lesson well learned and I'm reasonably certain it won't happen again. Fortunately my insurance policy only has a $50.00 deductible for glass breakage. Broke it Saturday afternoon and had it fixed by Monday. No harm no foul, but good experience for future reference.

[Slow Hand]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

And I may be wrong but I suspect that the long wheel base will have higher resale/trade in just like the dually. For certain the Crew Cab holds its value better. That might be a topic for another debate: which truck holds its value the best. I vote that it is most likely going to be the 1 ton long wheel base crew cab dually 4x4. That is certainly the most commonly used large 5th wheel towing truck hands down. Only seems logical that the most popular truck would have highest resale right?

As for resale on the trucks you describe i never see long bed dually's on dealer lots around They just don't sell here so resale may be difficult in some areas.

[Theunz]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

And I may be wrong but I suspect that the long wheel base will have higher resale/trade in just like the dually. For certain the Crew Cab holds its value better. That might be a topic for another debate: which truck holds its value the best. I vote that it is most likely going to be the 1 ton long wheel base crew cab dually 4x4. That is certainly the most commonly used large 5th wheel towing truck hands down. Only seems logical that the most popular truck would have highest resale right?

Like powerholic, I too have never been to a campground where duallys outnumbered SRW trucks pulling 5th wheel trailers.

Here is the results of a survey conducted in 2018 on trucks sold in 2013 showing 5 year depreciation percentages. It was conducted by iSeeCars.com, and used results from 3.6 million sales. Any vechicles with outlier pricing were removed from survey results. It clearly shows 3/4 tons to have better resale values then 1 tons or 1/2 tons.

Chevrolet Silverado 2500, 29.5 percent
Toyota Tacoma, 29.5
GMC Sierra 2500, 30.6
Ram 2500, 33.7
Chevrolet Silverado 3500, 33.8
Ford Super Duty F-250, 34.3
Ram 3500, 34.3
Ford Super Duty F-350, 35.3
Toyota Tundra, 37.1
Honda Ridgeline, 37.2
Nissan Frontier, 37.8
Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 39.7
GMC Sierra 1500, 39.9
Ram 1500, 42.7
Ford F-150, 44.1
Nissan Titan, 44.7

[beeje]

Originally Posted by Slow Hand

As for resale on the trucks you describe i never see long bed dually's on dealer lots around They just don't sell here so resale may be difficult in some areas.

To my knowledge GM has not made a short bed dually in quite some time.

[mtlakejim]

Well I did say "I may be wrong".


But on the other hand if you only look at what is towing 35' or larger 5th wheels then I strongly suspect that 1 Ton long wheel base crew cabs are in fact in the majority. I know for a fact they are here in the Escapee park where I am at. There are about 15 large 5th wheels here and I think all those owners have 1 ton long wheel base crew cab duallies. And this is a park full of very experienced Full time RV owners. Aside from the fine folks on this forum, I don't think there is any group that I would trust more than the folks in this park for advice. They know what they are talking about and give good dependable advice based on real world experience.


Maybe my misunderstanding is that I assume that ALL Montana's are on the larger and heavier side? Are there any floorplans that are under 35' in the line up?


From my experience, it just seems like the vast majority of "Big Rig" owners (especially highly experienced full timers that travel a lot) almost exclusively own 1Ton long wheel base crew cab duallies. I am sure a good reason for that is you need the additional tow capacity that a dually offers with a trailer that heavy. Or maybe it is that most of the full timers tend to be early retirement folks with more disposable income. I'm not trying to be ugly with that comment it's just an observation.


But for absolute certain, the owners in the oilfield tend to pull with heavy trucks. We are just used to oversizing everything and absolutely aren't sissy about driving a heavy duty piece of equipment. Around SE New Mexico there are more RVs than you can shake a stick at and the big ones are nearly all towed by big duallies.

[Theunz]

Jim, I think the crux of the matter is that you are residing in a park that caters predominantly to long term residents. This type of park shouldn't really be called a RV park, but a trailer park (no disrespect intended) as its clientele are not using their trailers as "recreational" vechicles, but as mobile homes. Because of their intended usage these people are carrying much more weight in personal belongings and therefore need the added capacity of a dually. If you get back to the Corp and state parks you will see many more 35' or so 5th wheels pulled with SRW trucks and a lot of them will be 3/4 tons. Most of these campers are probably only carrying 1000 or 1500lbs of gear and are nowhere near their GVWR. Even on a two or three week trip I doubt if I exceed much over 2000lbs of gear which is only half of my trailers cargo carrying capacity. The fact is that full timers are a small percentage of RVers even though this form may be skewed more towards full timing. I will however agree with you that those with the larger fully loaded to capacity 5ers will benefit from the added payload of a dually. As far as resale, I suspect the reason duallys don't do as well as 3/4 tons is that most buyers of used trucks feel that the dually has been used harder tha a 3/4 ton.

[beeje]

There is no way (besides weighing everything) to be certain how much weight we all carry along with us. But I suspect most if not all are WELL beyond 1000-15000lbs.

Think about that, we travel with full water 500lbs/several coolers of ice with beverages 200lbs?/tools 50lbs/firewood300lbs/chairs25lbs/grill25lbs/propane30lbs/clothes25lbs/fridge full of food75lbs etc.= 1230lbs, Just guessing.

Our unit weighs 12150 completely empty+1230=13380lbs loaded in this example.

I know for a fact we have been at our max of 15560lbs several times (I weighed it).

So lets say somewhere in the middle at 14500lbs x 20% pin weight=2900lbs.
That's well beyond ANY 2500 truck and some 3500 SRW trucks.

[dfb]

Took two years to find a ram 3500 long bed dually, auto level, 4:10 gears aisin auto.. lots of little kids trucks tho..you know, short beds with 60 inch tires jacked up to the stratosphere.. black rims, tinted windows!. What a waste...

[dfb]

Originally Posted by Slow Hand

As for resale on the trucks you describe i never see long bed dually's on dealer lots around They just don't sell here so resale may be difficult in some areas.

Thats what we needed.. a long bed dually.. with the max ratings for towing, weight, torque, hp...

[mtlakejim]

[QUOTE=Theunz;1164195]Jim, I think the crux of the matter is that you are residing in a park that caters predominantly to long term residents. This type of park shouldn't really be called a RV park, but a trailer park (no disrespect intended) as its clientele are not using their trailers as "recreational" vechicles, but as mobile homes. Because of their intended usage these people are carrying much more weight in personal belongings and therefore need the added capacity of a dually. If you get back to the Corp and state parks you will see many more 35' or so 5th wheels pulled with SRW trucks and a lot of them will be 3/4 tons. Most of these campers are probably only carrying 1000 or 1500lbs of gear and are nowhere near their GVWR. Even on a two or three week trip I doubt if I exceed much over 2000lbs of gear which is only half of my trailers cargo carrying capacity. The fact is that full timers are a small percentage of RVers even though this form may be skewed more towards full timing. I will however agree with you that those with the larger fully loaded to capacity 5ers will benefit from the added payload of a dually. As far as resale, I suspect the reason duallys don't do as well as 3/4 tons is that most buyers of used trucks feel that the dually has been used harder tha a 3/4 ton.[/QUOT

Your somewhat correct, this is a retirement park and about a third of the folks here will never move their trailer. However it tends to be the folks that do move around on occasion that have the duallies. And nearly all of them have very large trailers. Some of the folks here even have two trailers. One will be the larger one that they leave here full time and the other will be a much smaller one that they take short trips with. We have even considered getting a slide in for our 1 ton so we could tow the 24' enclosed trailer behind it.

"Trailer Park" does have a negative connotation. I think "Snow Bird Park" might be a more accurate description as many of these retirees are using this park as a wintering location. It is an Escapee park. Most of the folks here a very well off with very nice and expensive rigs. It should be noted there are at least 6 Montana's in the park and several Class A diesels.

However, my commentary on this forum are biased as I think of the Montana line as being high end LONG and HEAVY trailers.

So again I ask, are there many Montana's that are less than 35'?

[jsb5717]

It does seem that "popularity" of style is regional. Around here there are a lot of SRW short beds. That what I prefer and have. However, there are quite a few long beds and duallys available as well.

The selection of duallys is much larger for the person willing to travel to where they are popular. Texas comes to mind. Also, places with large retirement communities in the southern states where all kinds of trucks migrate.

[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

So again I ask, are there many Montana's that are less than 35'?

Not many. Mine is right at it. The latest HC model is just under. We picked the model we have specifically so I wouldn't need a dually...just didn't want one. I told the wife that our 5er choice was going to be limited by the truck I prefered as a daily driver. Fortunately, that worked.

I'm pretty sure if she had found a larger 5er that we "just had to have" that I'd be driving a dually

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

Not many. Mine is right at it. The latest HC model is just under. We picked the model we have specifically so I wouldn't need a dually...just didn't want one. I told the wife that our 5er choice was going to be limited by the truck I prefered as a daily driver. Fortunately, that worked.

I'm pretty sure if she had found a larger 5er that we "just had to have" that I'd be driving a dually

I respect anyone who recognizes that you have to match the trailer to the truck! Unlike a lot of SRW owners you do recognize the limitations of same and were willing to make the compromise that required.

I just wish there weren't so many SRW folks out there that RECOMMEND same to folks with no experience. Particularly if the new folks are looking at a larger trailer! When we are handing out advice we should try to do so erring on the side of safety.

[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

I respect anyone who recognizes that you have to match the trailer to the truck! Unlike a lot of SRW owners you do recognize the limitations of same and were willing to make the compromise that required.

I just wish there weren't so many SRW folks out there that RECOMMEND same to folks with no experience. Particularly if the new folks are looking at a larger trailer! When we are handing out advice we should try to do so erring on the side of safety.

To quote Clint Eastwood "A man's got to know his limitations".

Yep, either match the truck to the trailer, or the trailer to the truck. Sadly, rookies don't always understand that one should always determine the other. I think RV dealers try to bring some help here...at least ours did. Truck dealers...not so much.

I do appreciate the first timers who come to a forum like this to ask the question before they have made the purchase.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

I respect anyone who recognizes that you have to match the trailer to the truck! Unlike a lot of SRW owners you do recognize the limitations of same and were willing to make the compromise that required.

I just wish there weren't so many SRW folks out there that RECOMMEND same to folks with no experience. Particularly if the new folks are looking at a larger trailer! When we are handing out advice we should try to do so erring on the side of safety.

Wishful thinking, Apparently most are more concerned with the ability of being able to park in their garage/going through a drive through/parking close to the store entrance/going through a car wash. Etc. instead of paying attention to what they should be paying attention to, which are weight ratings in many forms.

[JABURKHOLDER]

Ok, I really had to stop and think about posting a comment.

Will what I have to say provide any added value ?

Will what I have to say send us down a rabbit hole ?

Do we truly need another debate about trucks ?

I gotta do it:

This is the first truck thread I've seen in quite awhile that hasn't gone completely off the rails.



P.S. If anyone read my thread "What's The Point", this puts me one more post closer to "Montana Master" HAHA

[PeteandJoan]

Originally Posted by JABURKHOLDER

Ok, I really had to stop and think about posting a comment.

Will what I have to say provide any added value ?

Will what I have to say send us down a rabbit hole ?

Do we truly need another debate about trucks ?

I gotta do it:

This is the first truck thread I've seen in quite awhile that hasn't gone completely off the rails.



P.S. If anyone read my thread "What's The Point", this puts me one more post closer to "Montana Master" HAHA

I'm just here for the great info, not a "title".. and the occasional debates so I can get out the popcorn! haha

[Keith and Pat]

We have an F350 long bed SuperCab. Just my wife and I, so all the room that we need in the cab. Plus, it's 14 " shorter than a crew cab, much easier to park.

[Cushing872]

Originally Posted by kjmcdowell77

We have a 2018 Montana 321MK and have been enjoying it a great deal. However, it is a crew cab std bed and I think you probably know what's coming. We were backing into our slot and I got just a little too close to the cab with the nose of my coach.

The next thing I heard was the sound of breaking glass as the front of the 5er came though the back window. I should have been paying more attention and will certainly do so the next time. I think my next truck will be a double cab 8' bed to eliminate the problem. For the time being, this "college" course on backing up cost me about $1000.00 tuition.

Lesson learned.

For this reason is why I own a Pullrite Superglide Hitch with my 2011 F250. A capture plate goes on your pinbox and as you turn the Superglide automatically travels back about 14” allowing you to 90 degree turn. No getting out to switch levers or no worrying. Worth every penny.

[Mark N.]

Originally Posted by kjmcdowell77

We have a 2018 Montana 321MK and have been enjoying it a great deal. However, it is a crew cab std bed and I think you probably know what's coming. We were backing into our slot and I got just a little too close to the cab with the nose of my coach.

The next thing I heard was the sound of breaking glass as the front of the 5er came though the back window. I should have been paying more attention and will certainly do so the next time. I think my next truck will be a double cab 8' bed to eliminate the problem. For the time being, this "college" course on backing up cost me about $1000.00 tuition.

Lesson learned.

Sorry
to hear about the rear window. I agonized over the bed-length decision 6 years ago with my 3400RL. Because of several reasons (Biggest of which was I hate the looks of the long-beds) I chose a Ram 3500 diesel short-bed. I'm now on my second 5er since then and I've never once been sorry I chose the short bed. The link between the trailer and truck is an Andersen Ultimate hitch.