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Post by ronc on Oct 28, 2016 19:16:40 GMT -5
i am wondering how many out there have successfully pulled this model wt. 10,200 loaded with a ford f150, 5.4 liter? There is so much to say about this question that would go deep into the weight ratings of your truck and trailer. That would take several paragraphs to fully develop the explanation, let me give you the reason WHY all this would be important ... LAWYERS. If you aren't "legal" (within all your weight limits) when/if anything happens, you automatically become "at fault" and your insurance company could (would) find grounds to deny claims. So the real question isn't "CAN it tow it" ... it probably can ... I mean a Toyota towed the Space Shuttle right? The real question is "SHOULD you try to tow with it" ... which leads back to the need to fully understand all the weight ratings (GVWR, CGWR, RAWR, etc) that will answer the question for you (I assure you the trailer sales person does not know the answers). Then the question of "do I need a special license to operate this combination" will come up (state laws vary, but generally follow Federal Laws with the magic number being CGVWR of 26,000 lbs before special licenseing becomes necessary). Operating equipment without proper licenseing is also of interest to LAWYERS and Insurance Companies. The wrong license is equal to operating without a license. Sorry for the buzzkill!
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Post by ronc on Oct 20, 2016 18:21:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips on the drawers being all tucked away before opening the slides. Something I'm not sure I would have thought about. Also on the Satellite dish. I have talked to a few people around here and they say that they did not opt for the dish due to the difficulty of syncing up with the satellite. Trees and mountains limit the access? The units I've seen here all have had Goodyear tires (75 mph rating) on them so i think I'll be ok with those, but good point to note fore sure.Well, the offer was good ... and bad ... they accepted the offer with one minor exclusion but unfortunately sold the original unit. So,I am ordering a new one to arrive for early in 2017. It's not such a bad thing as we really only have a month (give or take) of good camping left around here and although I have been looking for a few weeks now, there are very limited sites available that will handle that size of a trailer. This will give me a chance to gather up all the other "stuff" we need and talk to more folks about their experiences. I have a buddy down in Oregon right now who keeps sending me some pretty enticing camping pictures. They have a 43ft toy hauler and a boat. (two trucks) thanks again M If the Goodyears you see on OEM trailers are E rated Goodyear Marathons, they are made in China. They ARE NOT the same as the G rated Goodyear 614's. Marathons are suspect and if they are ST tires, they are speed rated to 65 MPH (as are all ST tires). The 614's are LT tires.
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Post by ronc on Oct 20, 2016 18:03:36 GMT -5
What we do is plug the rig into a 120v outlet (just as though we were plugged in to shore power) and this allows the fridge to run and the batteries to charge. Residential refrigerators are designed to run 24/7 for many years. Although I only have an opinion, I wouldn't think that long term shutdowns are good for a residential refrigerator. I will follow this post to see what others think about this. I really hadn't thought about turning it off for an extended period, as I said, we just pug our trailer in which maintains the batteries and runs the fridge.
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Post by ronc on Oct 3, 2016 18:38:38 GMT -5
That looks like a very professional job. I will keep an eye out for any cracks that might develop.
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Post by ronc on Sept 22, 2016 18:17:15 GMT -5
When you say that you "welded" your frame, was it to repair a crack or to strengthen an area you were concerned about?
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Post by ronc on Sept 17, 2016 20:32:18 GMT -5
Does anyone know if KZ makes their own frames or buys them from a third party (like Lippert). I know that Lippert supplies a lot of "pieces" to the RV industry. I have heard some disturbing stories about Lippert frames and premature failures.
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Post by ronc on Aug 21, 2016 15:39:40 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I discovered I have 7000 lb. Axcels but can not go to G rated tires with out changing rims from T06 to T09 class to handle the 110 psi. Too bad KZ choose to save money on tires and rims rather than at least provide a safer option on tires for the larger trailers. Customer service told me they are now using Goodyear G614 unisteel tires on the bigger trailers. Too bad theuy dindnt in2012 . This up grade is going to cost me around $2000.00 I know this is an old post, but I have. 2017 Durango Gold 381REF and it did NOT come with G rated tires. It came with E rated Trailer Kings (China Bombs). I towed it from the dealers lot to the ire store and put on a set of Goodyear G614's. KZ still uses the minimum acceptable tires, just like most other manufacturers. I find it amazing that there haven't been recalls, lawsuits and other actions that force RV manufacturers to build in SAFETY in their products. Disc brakes, good tires, more fire extinguishers are just a few items that need to be addressed.
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Post by ronc on Aug 21, 2016 14:46:49 GMT -5
The current KZ line up has the Durango Gold as the top model, but I understand that the Stoneridge used to to be the top model ... when did they stop making the Stoneridge?
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Post by ronc on Aug 3, 2016 20:15:46 GMT -5
The Onan noise level is reasonable. You definitely hear it (it is directly under your bedroom), but we have not found the drone of the generator to be unacceptable ... but that is a VERY subjective opinion. Others might be bothered by any noise at all, so the only objective thing I can tell you is that you will hear it, I don't know if that will bother you or not. Try to find another unit with a genny and listen for yourself. I freaked out over the $3,800 for the Wingard Dish ... glad you explained that it is priced in CDN dollars. Camping World sells them for around $1,500 US and the install runs around $600 or so. By the time you pay tax etc, expect it to be $2,500 or so.
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Post by ronc on Jul 29, 2016 19:20:42 GMT -5
As has been mentioned, let the campground know you have a roof mounted satellite and most will put you in a satellite friendly site. Never been blocked by mountains, but by trees a few times. I wouldn't consider it a "problem" ... not having DirecTV, now that would be a "problem"😎H
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Post by ronc on Jul 29, 2016 19:04:32 GMT -5
Red7578
While your tires are probably "OK" as the pin weight is subtracted from the load they carry ... HOWEVER ... I, like you, find this disturbing. Manufacturers (KZ is no exception), use the load range tires that are just barely legal. I am not comfortable with marginal tires, so I changed out my (Chinese) Trailer King Load Range E tires to Goodyear (USA) G614 Load Range G tires. I run them at 105 PSI and they are speed rated to 75 mph. The OEM tires (ST) are speed rated at 65 mph. Money well spent IMO. Many people try to use the OEM tires until they either wear out, time out or blow out ... seldom in that order. Those were not good options for me so I popped for the tires and added a Tire Pressure and Temperature Monitoring System (TST flow thru 507).
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Post by ronc on Jul 27, 2016 14:17:04 GMT -5
Just a suggestion. On that unit, the bathroom vanity doors can open in transit ... if they do, and the door is closed, you will not be able to open the door. This happened to me and fortunately the one that opened was the bottom drawer, so I could get my fingers under the door and managed to close the drawer. What we now do is roll up the floor mat and wedge the door against it so that it isn't quite closed, but won't move around. If the drawers try to open, they will only open until they hit the door .. so not much. Lesson learned for me. One other gotcha that I saw on a dealer lot ... the island between the kitchen and LR has drawers ... the one closest to the wall is hidden by the kitchen slide when it's in ... make sure that drawer isn't open BEFORE you attempt to put the kitchen slide out, cause the slide WILL destroy that drawer. Whenever these things are going down the road, there is an earthquake going on back there. Things move and open (or close) ... be mindful of all that when you are setting up ... check that everything is where it's supposed to be before moving the slides. Otherwise, it's a GREAT rig. We have a 2017 and love it. Ours has every option KZ offered and a Wingard Travler automatic satellite dish. It deploys and finds the sats automatically, with one push of the ON button. When leaving, just push the same button and the unit folds itself down (nearly flat) for travel ... all very cool to watch and EASY. I also immediately replaced the Trailer King (Chinese) tires with Goodyear G614 "load range G" (LT235/85 R16) and speed rated to 75 MPH. The OEM tires are MARGINAL and I was very uneasy with that. Blowouts are not only very inconvenient, they usually cause collateral damage and can be VERY dangerous, depending on the circumstances when the bang happens. So for me, the tire change was an easy decision. I also added a tire and temperature monitoring system so I know what's going on with my tires at all times.
How did your "aggressive" offer work out?
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 22:06:56 GMT -5
That sounds about right ... RV business is very good right now. Low interest rates are allowing finance buyers access to cars, trucks, and RV's. All of these industries are running at max capacity ... for now.
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 22:02:24 GMT -5
The two tanks are both gray water (in my 2017 381 REF). The kitchen is on one tank and the bath is on another. You should also have two grey water dump valves.
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 21:58:28 GMT -5
We have 2017 381REF ... I ordered an Onan 5.5KW LP genset from the factory. Works great ... I can run both AC's and pretty much everything else. The LP solves the issue of carrying fuel, gas gelling, hard starting, etc. It's pretty good, IMHO.
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 21:53:49 GMT -5
We have a Splendide washer dryer combo unit. Wife loves it, so that's really all I know about it. It is very quiet, I never hear it, but I notice the spin cycle now and then .... just a little shaking but very minor.
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 21:50:11 GMT -5
LED every time!!
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 21:40:47 GMT -5
I have a Hughes Autoformer ... what do you use?
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Post by ronc on Jul 15, 2016 21:35:56 GMT -5
A little more info on the Truma AquaGo. Just finished a 3 week 4 day trip. Two showers everyday (wife and me) each was long and hot!! Used 1/2 of a 30 lb. LP tank ... unbelievable economy. I figured it would be a "propane hog", turns out it is exactly the opposite. Truly a model of engineering efficiency ... gotta love those German engineers. Worth the money, no doubt.
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Post by ronc on May 31, 2016 19:04:52 GMT -5
The problem with using the cable hook-up is that it goes directly to the booster which destroys the signal. Also the jack under the awning is coming off the back side of the booster, taking signal to the main tv and the outside. You'll probably have to run a seperate hook-up for the satellite. You are correct that the cable goes to the "over the air" antennae booster. I have a 2017 Durago Gold 5th wheel and I was told to connect the parks cable to my external cable input and turn off the power to the booster. Booster on sends "over the air signal" to the TV's, booster off sends "cable signal" to the TV's. Mine has a button on the booster box, which is an on/off switch.
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