Cougar322qbs

[cajunrzr]

Hello all! I currently have a forest river BH that my family and i have outgrown. We are looking at a 5th wheel 2010Cougar 322qbs, we love the floorplan and ammenities and from the little i know about rv's, it seems to be good construction. I know that this model is a new floorplan, but does anyone have any good/bad vices about a Cougar? ANy help appreciated!!!

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I've heard a lot of great things about Cougars, it's one of several that my wife and I really looked at.  Check your trucks capacities.  I know you're in Louisiana but a 32' fiver on a half ton truck seems a bit too much.  I may be wrong though.  Your trucks payload (all occupants, gear and pin weight of the trailer) is somewhere around 1645lbs, that's not much at all and that capacity goes quick once you load the trailer and get your passengers situated in there.  From what I can tell by doing a quick search the couger and wildcat 32 footers are pretty light, what is the Hitch weight and GVWR of the cougar you are looking at?  What does the sticker on the door jam of the truck say for GVWR?

http://www.toyota.com/tundra/specs.html

 

[cajunrzr]

Just looked in the brochure and hitch weight is 1460. Im offshore right now and wont be back home for another 2 weeks to see what the door jam of the truck says. Shipping weight on the brochure says 9435, so im calling it 10k.  The bumper pull i have now is 8800, and i feel like i could drag it upside down ( figureativley speaking). So im guessing another 1200lbs. would be ok. I know the hitch weight is super close if not over, but ill bag my truck. what cha think?

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Well I know the Tundra has beefy brakes so stopping a trailer that is new and has good brakes shouldn't be a problem but I feel like you will be overweight,  we need some more numbers to be sure.  I'm surprised that the Cougar is that light being that it's a 32 footer but be sure you go off what the GVWR says and not the dry weight because the dry weight won't matter.  If the pin weight on the trailer is 1460 and your Payload is 1645 (based on a 120lb driver) that leaves you with 185lbs to work with assuming you are only 120lbs.  I'm almost positive you will certainly be overweight and if you get into an accident and the investigation reveals that you were overweight you may be liable.  Honestly I thought the Tundra's payload was more than that but when you can get the numbers off the door jam we will be able to be more accurate.  if the trucks GVWR is 7500lbs and your truck weighs in at 6000lbs than you have 1500lbs to work with just as an example.

 

[cajunrzr]

Gotcha... see im learning something new everyday!! Thank u for all the info. I wish i was at home to get the numbers off the door. I might try and describe it to my wife so she can look, but u know how that goes. She may tell me it is 33PSI... ahahaha! I knew right off the bat id be close if not a hair over. And i do plan on getting a 1-ton down the road, just not this year. We just have really outgrown our TT and we have camping spots booked every weekend im home till bout november. So i was hoping to squeak by with the tundra until i do step up to a 1-ton.

 

[dknouse]

Hi there. 

Keystone and all their brands including the Cougar brands are nice campers.  We bought a 2009 316QBS last fall which is the predecessor to the 322 model (I believe the 322 is new for 2010).  One of the differences between the two versions is the designers moved the wardrobe slide to the driver side to be able to extend the awning length.  Mine only has a 12 foot awning and the 322 has 18 feet IIRC.  No complaints so far but we haven't used it much yet.  I've towed it about 750 miles so far and it tows nicely.  I tow with a 2001 Ford F350 Crewcab dually though.

I agree with the previous poster, unfortunately you are going to be overweight with the Tundra.  I weighed my camper at a scale recently and it came in at 9550 pounds total weight.  The sticker weight was

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I have a brochure for the wildcat models and it has all the specs which I believe will be very close to what you have.  Wildcat has a 32QBBS and it has a GVWR of 11660, that's the dry weight plus all it's cargo and fluids, otherwise known as the "wet weight". It's hitch weight is 1500lbs.  I understand why you are interested in it because those cougars and wildcats are very nice units and you hate to pass on a great deal but you don't want to become a statistic.  Even though the numbers look like they will be close you will be very surprised at how fast the weight adds up and when you get on the scale I wouldn't doubt that you will be much heavier than what you think.  I pull my 34' fiver with a 2001 F350 SRW, it has a 12,500lb GVWR (the trailer) and the truck has a GCWR of 20,000lbs.  I weighed the truck with just me in it and it weighed 7400lbs so that leaves me with 12,600lbs to work with.  the truck easily pulls it when it's loaded with enough cargo for 5 people that plan on staying for 4 nights but I drive it extremely careful because some people on the road don't understand that it takes longer for you to stop and when the right/left lane is closing so many people try to get as far as they can and if that means darting in front of you and jamming the brakes they will do it and if you can't stop it's your fault somehow.  I'm sure that state trooper will get the scales out and if you're overweight your in trouble. Good luck and I hope you choose wisely.

 

[edjunior]

With that big 5er, you're definitely going to be over the ratings of your truck.  But let me give you a more "real world" example.  I just bought a Wildcat (28RKBS), with a "supposed" dry weight of 8600 pounds.  With my old F-250 (a 2003 with a 5.4L and 4.30 gears), I had a few hundred pounds to work with.  Well, when I brought the 5er home, it really towed admirably, but wow...pulling that much trailer was an interesting experience.  The wieght on the back of the truck was no big deal...it sat great.  And getting up and going was not really a problem either, nor was stopping.  But the problem came in making that 5.4L pull that trailer with all the wind resistance.  As I said, it did an admirable job, but it was just not enough.  I also went in knowing I would be getting a better truck, but I also knew it would happen sooner rather than later.  After I got the trailer home, the hunt began.  I now have a diesel that is made to tow.  I feel more comfortable towing it, the truck doesn't even grunt, and I know it's the right tool for the job.  Believe me, even if you managed to keep the weight down enough to stay within the limits of your truck, you will not like how it performs once you hit the open road.  And if you live anywhere near any hills or mountains, or are planning on going that way...forget about it.  Get the new truck first, then get the trailer.  It's the right thing to do.

Oh, and I almost hesitate to add this, but it at least answers your question.  The Cougar is a very nice camper.  A friend has one and has been very pleased with it.  Me and my wife really love our Wildcat also.  They are both a great rig.

 

[cajunrzr]

Thank you guys for all the input, its nice to get comments from "real world" guys and not sales peolpe. I am taking all your comments into consideration!! Cant thank you enough, and im sure this wont be the last time i post a question and i hope u guys are there for me then too. I still may tow the new rig home with my Tundra, the place we camp at mostly is only 22 miles from home, with a 10 minute stint on the hwy. This will allow me to camp in the new trailer while looking for a new tow pig, cause it seems i will need one. But thank u very much for the input once again!!

 

[broncobilly]

thats a great new model, one of best freinds is picking up his on monday, he bought it at www.lakeshore-rv.com and is driving 800 miles to pick it up this weekend, will write more when he brings it home next week.

 

[cajunrzr]

Yeah Billy, keep me informed.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Thank you guys for all the input, its nice to get comments from "real world" guys and not sales peolpe. I am taking all your comments into consideration!! Cant thank you enough, and im sure this wont be the last time i post a question and i hope u guys are there for me then too. I still may tow the new rig home with my Tundra, the place we camp at mostly is only 22 miles from home, with a 10 minute stint on the hwy. This will allow me to camp in the new trailer while looking for a new tow pig, cause it seems i will need one. But thank u very much for the input once again!!

I can't believe the dealers are as careless as they are, ever dealer I have talked to tells me I would have no problem pulling this or that.  I had one tell me last November that my 2001 F350 SRW would easily pull anything she had on the lot at 80 MPH because they do it all the time when they are going back and forth to RV shows.  No way, they had 40' tripple axle double tree units there with 4 slides that had a GVWR of 18000lbs, that is way more trailer than I should be pulling with a SRW and if I did I surely wouldn't be doing 80 with it.

 

[DieselJay]

HI GUYS, Just saw this post because this is the trailer of been looking into and have a lot of posts on this site about what size truck can pull this trailer. You are not going to like what your about to hear because i didn't. I was asking if a 2500hd 2011 Dodge diesel could pull this trailer and so far no.......... Yes this truck can pull it that not the problem, the problem is hitch weight. Cougar says hitch weight is 1500 pounds real life weight is closer to 2000 plus about 20% of trailer weight is more like it. And this trailer is not 32ft it is 36'6" so my answers were a 3500 SRW or even a DRW. This is a big trailer and there is no way a 1/2 ton could do it . SORRY, i didn't like to here it also, but better to here it now if your not ready to buy a truck, because you will have to if you bought the trailer first. Good luck        PS This is the nicest bunk floor plan on the market IMO  Jay

 

[cajunrzr]

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated this post. I ended up buying the 32qbbs and still have the tundra. This truck handles the trailer no problem. I've installed the super glide automatic sliding hitch makes turning a breeze. I had put 5000lb bags on te truck, but didn't even need them, I think I have like 7lbs. In them. I didn't even need the bags really, but if I would have to do it again I'd only get the 2500lb bags. And like I said, I live in southern Louisiana so we don't have any mountains or hills. And I'm getting around 11-12 mpg's when pulling to boot. I've been running this set up for almost a year now.

 

[DieselJay]

cajunrzr,  Good for you!!! Prove us all wrong. It's very hard for me to understand this because it's very hilly around me. Went to Maryland this past summer and could not believe the trucks pulling huge trailers, you just don't see that where I'm from.  Took a lot of pics to show friends, made for some good campfire conversation. How much were the air bags and did you put them on??  And how do you like the trailer??

 

[reubenray]

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated this post. I ended up buying the 32qbbs and still have the tundra. This truck handles the trailer no problem. I've installed the super glide automatic sliding hitch makes turning a breeze. I had put 5000lb bags on te truck, but didn't even need them, I think I have like 7lbs. In them. I didn't even need the bags really, but if I would have to do it again I'd only get the 2500lb bags. And like I said, I live in southern Louisiana so we don't have any mountains or hills. And I'm getting around 11-12 mpg's when pulling to boot. I've been running this set up for almost a year now.

What Tundra do you have?  I have the new 2011 Tundra DC with the SR5 package and have also been looking at Cougar Fifth Wheels.  This is the one I was looking at http://keystone-cougar.com/index.php?page=floorplans&coast=east&model=276RLS and it is smaller than the one you got.

 

[cajunrzr]

Ray, I have an '08 Tundra crewmax SR5 with a few limited upgrades. I have the big 5.9 with with every towing option i could get ( 6 speed tranny, tranny cooler etc.) im not to sure which rear end gears i have, bnu im almost sure its the lowest ones i could get from factory as an option because i get the worse gas mileage out of any tundra i know just daily driving.... haha. Man i like the floorplan on the one you stated. Your tundra shoould be able to pull that thing no prob. I had a 28' T/T before i got the 5TH wheel and had no probs at all.

Jay, i think the bags were around $275 uninstalled shipping included and took about an hour and a half and a 6-pack of beer to install, Super easy. And like i said, i wouldnt go with the 5000lb. bags as u will never need all of that, save the few bucks and go woth the 2500. Im not trying to do anything unsafe or prove anyone wrong, but not everyone can afford a $125k + setup to go camping. I have a pretty good understanding of my truck and know its limits. Im not looking to make a cross country pull, or mountainous climbs. I watch my speeds and am very cautious. I just think some people take the "book numbers" a little too serious. I SAY ROLL WITH IT!!!! Thanks for being understanding about this issue, i have had some guys completly bash me for this setup.

I love my Cougar

 

[DieselJay]

cajunrzr,  If were talking about the same camper it is 36'6" right?? After pulling this trailer for a season now would you recamend this trailer to go cross country? Or is it to big? Have you ever had trouble getting a site because it's to long? When your pulling how does it feel compared to your TT?  Do you like to pull a  5th wheel more than the TT?

 

[cajunrzr]

Your right Jay, it is a total length of 36'6". Afetr pulling the trailer all season, i would recomend pulling the trailer cross country, but with a diesel for sure. My pulls are no more than 200 miles one way so far, and finding a gas station to swing 36' into a gas pump gets pretty tricky. Thats one complaint i do have about pulling with my tundra is always having to find accomodating fuel stations. Diesels can use the big truck fuel spots, way easier. But there are a few other reasons id pull with a diesel rather than with gas if i were going cross country. All th campgrounds i have gone to have had accomodating sized spots for my camper. The only issue is twice they only had 30 amp hook ups and i was only able to run one A/C. It wasnt that bad though as the trailer is very well insulated. I also have the little "cougar remote" which is a wireless remote control that lets me walk around the camper and function all my slides as well as my awning while watching out for trees and power poles etc.. This makes life so much easier in tight spots, id highly recommend this upgrade. I much rather the pull of my 5th wheel compared to the travel trailer in every which way. Pretty much the negative comment i have is loss of bed space. other than that, 5'er all the way. Easier to back up/maneuver in tight quarters, and pulls 5x's smoother on they highway.

 

[cajunrzr]

Jay, i just realized that this thread has over 570 views.. haha! Im sure there are some people choosing to stay out of this conversation once they see my tow rig/ trailer setup.