[The Bone]

I have a Keystone Montana now. She is a oldie 03 but she still tows great. I have been looking at Grand Design. Quality rig right there. I however don't like the Anderson because it's lightweight. Thats why I went with the B&W . I have had zero issues with it. I have hooked up about 200 time anbd locked every time. Don't need to do a test jerk. The handle locks the jaws closed. No spring loaded pin to look and see if it's locked. I have about 30,000 miles on my trailer so far. Headed to Texas next month. It's been too long since we had her out.

 

[StinkyPeteJones]

I have a Keystone Montana now. She is a oldie 03 but she still tows great. I have been looking at Grand Design. Quality rig right there. I however don't like the Anderson because it's lightweight. Thats why I went with the B&W . I have had zero issues with it. I have hooked up about 200 time anbd locked every time. Don't need to do a test jerk. The handle locks the jaws closed. No spring loaded pin to look and see if it's locked. I have about 30,000 miles on my trailer so far. Headed to Texas next month. It's been too long since we had her out.

I get that but I watched a bunch of videos online before buying the andersen and it showed a down pressure test that showed it could stand something like 50k lbs of force or something like that (can't remember the numbers exactly). The only reason I switched to the demco recon goose hitch is cause Keystone said they wouldnt cover our warranty if we kept using the andersen. After all our problem with Keystone I just assume they had beef with andersen for whatever reason and not a legitimate concern with safety or anything. We'll be in Texas soon as well. Moving for work, cant wait to get out of Missouri... too damn cold for us.

 

[Crackerjackshot]

I have a Keystone Montana now. She is a oldie 03 but she still tows great. I have been looking at Grand Design. Quality rig right there. I however don't like the Anderson because it's lightweight. Thats why I went with the B&W . I have had zero issues with it. I have hooked up about 200 time anbd locked every time. Don't need to do a test jerk. The handle locks the jaws closed. No spring loaded pin to look and see if it's locked. I have about 30,000 miles on my trailer so far. Headed to Texas next month. It's been too long since we had her out.

Too light? Is that a thing? I was kinda looking at lighter rather than heavier.

I get that but I watched a bunch of videos online before buying the andersen and it showed a down pressure test that showed it could stand something like 50k lbs of force or something like that (can't remember the numbers exactly). The only reason I switched to the demco recon goose hitch is cause Keystone said they wouldnt cover our warranty if we kept using the andersen. After all our problem with Keystone I just assume they had beef with andersen for whatever reason and not a legitimate concern with safety or anything. We'll be in Texas soon as well. Moving for work, cant wait to get out of Missouri... too damn cold for us.

Everybody going to Texas haha. My plan was to go ahead and put in electric/septic on a plot I have down there near my parents in east texas to have a place to run back to in the winter and then during the spring/summer head up north and travel/look for plots of land to buy.

 

[ZMANN]

i would be skeptical of any RV with a lippert hitch

if I did buy one it would be beefed up before I ever hauled it

too many issues and blame deflection

 

[StinkyPeteJones]

Too light? Is that a thing? I was kinda looking at lighter rather than heavier.

Everybody going to Texas haha. My plan was to go ahead and put in electric/septic on a plot I have down there near my parents in east texas to have a place to run back to in the winter and then during the spring/summer head up north and travel/look for plots of land to buy.

Yeah it being light was pretty nice. Only weighs like 35lbs. Super easy to take off and use my flatbed still but she had to go unfortunately.

 

[Crackerjackshot]

I have a Keystone Montana now. She is a oldie 03 but she still tows great. I have been looking at Grand Design. Quality rig right there. I however don't like the Anderson because it's lightweight. Thats why I went with the B&W . I have had zero issues with it. I have hooked up about 200 time anbd locked every time. Don't need to do a test jerk. The handle locks the jaws closed. No spring loaded pin to look and see if it's locked. I have about 30,000 miles on my trailer so far. Headed to Texas next month. It's been too long since we had her out.

Are you happy with your Keystone? I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to looking at brands/build quality or anything. The max I'll probably end up living in it would be about 2-3 years. After that I'm sure I'm going to be pushing really hard to get back to someplace more stable.

 

[Danomc57]

Hello Everybody,

I'm hoping to get some guidance. I have an 08 250 with 7 inch lift and 37's. Recently I have decided I would like to buy a trailer and do some living around the country since I've moved fully remote in my job. At first I was looking for regular hitch trailers but while looking I've ran into multiple people saying how much better it is to pull a 5th wheel trailer. I am not very experienced towing other than when I need to haul a vehicle or just moving. The only reason I want 5th wheel would be for the easier towing and I was told those trailers are more likely to handle cold better (will probably end up up north at some point in the winter). Not looking for anything huge, smallest 5th wheel I can find basically. Was only looking at the 20 ft range for the regular hitch types.

I've been reading forum posts but am confused. Some people say they can tow with a setup similar to mine but I'm not sure how. I am willing to modify things, including dropping the truck down to a 4.5 inch lift since I can reuse some of the parts, but then I've heard of people modifying the trailer instead? I'm in the used market for trailers. What would be the best way of navigating this? Should I just go ahead and drop the truck first and then look? What is more cost effective? Dropping the truck or modifying the trailer? I see the benefit of dropping the truck anyways for gas mileage and power going over mountain passes, but that includes new tires too and it gets pricey fast. Or maybe you just have some resources or material to share so I can understand the dynamics. Thank you in advance and I hope everybody is having a great day.

 

[The Bone]

Are you happy with your Keystone? I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to looking at brands/build quality or anything. The max I'll probably end up living in it would be about 2-3 years. After that I'm sure I'm going to be pushing really hard to get back to someplace more stable.

You will have issues with any new RV. they put to much automatic things in then these now days. Mine is a 03 so it has been around a while but I have had to fix some stuff but the appliances and heater are still original and work great. As for if I was going to buy a new one I an going to buy a Grand Design. There quality is much better than Keystone. My next one is going to be in the 35' range. I can't tow anything bigger than that with my F250. I strongly suggest airbags no matter which truck you have. I added them to my truck and it made towing so much nicer. DO not forget the air compressor. When I did my first cross country trip I had to keep getting out my compressor and that was stupid. You don't want to drive around with 60# of air in your air bags. I have been coast to coast twice and more than a few trips to Iowa from California. I have been all over the country. One thing I know for sure is RV sites are good souses of information but don't talk about trucks, hitches, tires, weights and never bring up that yellow sticker. I have spun them up more than once over that crap. Bunch of old guys that think they work for the weight police.
As for the hitch. there are videos out there of Anderson hitches that have failed. Personally I wouldn't want to trust 4 little pipes t0 pull a 15,000# trailer up a hill and ya hi have been up some steep hills. I'm no spring chicken and I can still get my B&W out of my truck. Another thing about the Anderson it has the typical spring loaded pin to hook up like the semi. Mine has a handle that closes the jaws so you always know its secure. Like I said before I have a lot of miles towing and there is no better hitch out there than the B&W.
Zman was talking about the Lippert hitch. and personally mine still has the old school pin box. No fancy air ride nothing like that. It rides just fine. I wanted to upgrade mine but these are expensive so I stuck with the stock pin box.

 

[ChrisSki]

I’m against any option that would raise the fifth wheel at all. To me its a clearance under things like bridges issue.

the fifth wheel trailers should measure 13’6” from the top of the AC unit to the ground. That will give you enough clearance to go underneath almost any obstacle without worrying about trucker maps.

I measured mine at 14’6”. I knew I measured it wrong after I went under a bridge that was listed as 14’2”. The sign on the bridge was missing on one side, the side I drove through first, but had it on the other side.

 

[krazyk]

I would not tow with 37" tires. My F250 is 59" from the ground to the top of the bed rail and tows just fine but Im running stock size tires (@33") with the stock 18" wheels. I think most of the Super Duty trucks from @2105 to 2019 or so are about 59" to top of bed rail.