JustKeepMoving
Member
Hello all, we are new here. Previously, we owned a 16 ft Starcraft TT and a 31 ft Class C Thor Freedom Elite for weekending.
My husband had just (in 2017) bought a new 2017 Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi (Lonestar edition) with tow package and an axle ratio of 3.9. We had planned on having this truck for several years until he retired from the Air Force and then upgrade to a diesel 3500 with perhaps an Arctic Fox 5th wheel with fantastic storage capacity to full time in. Well in comes Murphy, and my husband had a mini stroke (no deficits) in December with 21 years toward his retirement. He had a cardiac cath procedure to close a hole in his heart last week and is doing well. Now he has a high chance of being medically retired some time this year. So now we are trying to figure out what to do and still want to full time, but now already have a smaller truck than we planned at this point. The truck is already paid off.
We are unsure of full-timing in a TT with 2 teenage daughters, nor do we really like TT in general except for perhaps the Minnie Plus. We really like Grand Design and finally got the change to check out their 5th wheels today and were told that only the Reflection 28BH https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2018/fifth-wheel/reflection/floorplans/28bh (which we really liked) is small enough for our 1500, but we would need to install air bags (quoted $800) to give the truck more leeway on towing capacity for safety. We do not plan to be dry camping much at all since we will be new to full-timing, so we won't have the need to travel with full tanks.
Ram towing capacity: 10,300, with Air bags: around 13,000.
Reflection 28BH: Storage capacity 2,100.
UVW: 8895 lbs
GVWR: 10995 lbs
We also looked at a Grand Design TT that was the same layout as the 5th wheel. The 2800BH with a hitch weight of 575 and total capacity GVWR 7,500.
The Winnebago Minnie Plus has a capacity of 8,800. https://winnebagoind.com/products/travel-trailer/2017/minnie-plus/specifications
We know to buy the bigger truck before you buy the 5th wheel, but now in our situation we already have this one and are trying to figure out how to use what we have and then in maybe 5 years we will upgrade. We really don't want to have to go and already trade the 1500 in for another truck, but if we have to then we will consider it. My husband's father and mother 'n law part time in an Arctic Fox 5th wheel and GMC diesel 3500, so we will be getting their advice too.
My husband had just (in 2017) bought a new 2017 Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi (Lonestar edition) with tow package and an axle ratio of 3.9. We had planned on having this truck for several years until he retired from the Air Force and then upgrade to a diesel 3500 with perhaps an Arctic Fox 5th wheel with fantastic storage capacity to full time in. Well in comes Murphy, and my husband had a mini stroke (no deficits) in December with 21 years toward his retirement. He had a cardiac cath procedure to close a hole in his heart last week and is doing well. Now he has a high chance of being medically retired some time this year. So now we are trying to figure out what to do and still want to full time, but now already have a smaller truck than we planned at this point. The truck is already paid off.
We are unsure of full-timing in a TT with 2 teenage daughters, nor do we really like TT in general except for perhaps the Minnie Plus. We really like Grand Design and finally got the change to check out their 5th wheels today and were told that only the Reflection 28BH https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2018/fifth-wheel/reflection/floorplans/28bh (which we really liked) is small enough for our 1500, but we would need to install air bags (quoted $800) to give the truck more leeway on towing capacity for safety. We do not plan to be dry camping much at all since we will be new to full-timing, so we won't have the need to travel with full tanks.
Ram towing capacity: 10,300, with Air bags: around 13,000.
Reflection 28BH: Storage capacity 2,100.
UVW: 8895 lbs
GVWR: 10995 lbs
We also looked at a Grand Design TT that was the same layout as the 5th wheel. The 2800BH with a hitch weight of 575 and total capacity GVWR 7,500.
The Winnebago Minnie Plus has a capacity of 8,800. https://winnebagoind.com/products/travel-trailer/2017/minnie-plus/specifications
We know to buy the bigger truck before you buy the 5th wheel, but now in our situation we already have this one and are trying to figure out how to use what we have and then in maybe 5 years we will upgrade. We really don't want to have to go and already trade the 1500 in for another truck, but if we have to then we will consider it. My husband's father and mother 'n law part time in an Arctic Fox 5th wheel and GMC diesel 3500, so we will be getting their advice too.