length of rig for campsite

Hi all,

When looking for a new5/w we asked everyone to show us 29 footers. We wound up purchasing a 29RKSA Elkridge; however the outside measures about 34' bumper to end of hitch. When we asked our rep about that he said it's how the manufacturers are now doing things. According to him the 29' is what you are actually towing, not the overall length. So, when we go to reserve a campsite, and they ask the length of our rig, what do we give them? 29? or 34?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

The only difference it should make is in how large a site they will give you. I always add a few feet to mine so I make sure I get enough room. Some parks will try to squeeze you in to the smallest space they have. They don't charge by the foot so they all cost the same..JMHO..Don

GOTTOYS said:

The only difference it should make is in how large a site they will give you. I always add a few feet to mine so I make sure I get enough room. Some parks will try to squeeze you in to the smallest space they have. They don't charge by the foot so they all cost the same..JMHO..Don

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I would tend to agree. I learned early on to request a longer site as to not be squeezed in something that might work but provides no extra room.

PS rickandjoyce, I see you are from WA state. Please accept this as a personal invitation to attend the very first WA State Heartland Owners Club Rally in August! Hope you can make it!

Best Wishes!

I have also learned early on that campgrounds will tell you anything to get you in. My first question is are you big rig friendly and most of them say yes, but once you get there, they try to squeeze you in.

Mine's about 31 bumper to tongue tip and I always tell them 35 and even then I sometimes barely fit especially in some of our state parks. Luckily, in most of our parks here in Texas, during the week if there are several sites open, they'll often let you pick a site out before assigning one or tell you if the one you are assigned doesn't work, pick another and give them a call. Normally you can only reserve a spot but not a specific site as it is assigned when you arrive. No one has ever called me on my extended length.

You will find all manufacturers under rate the sizes. Guess they don't measure hitch to ladder just front cap to rear cap. If you measure hitch to ladder my 36.5 footer becomes 40. I always say I am 40 feet for the rig and 53 foot overall, rig and tow vehicle with triple slides.

Thank you everyone for the reply's. My fear was that some parks wouldn't be able to accomodate 35', but I think we'll do what several people suggested and just tell them 35 so we get as big a space as possible.

Thanks so much for the invite. However, we are taking off for Wenatchee and a week long golf tournament that won't be over until the 19th. If bad golfing occurs and Rick winds up not making the finals we could make it, but I know you have to have reservations ahead of time. Perhaps if we came in late Friday or early Saturday morning. I'll check the link for details. Sounds like fun. Joyce

Don't confuse the model number (which means different things to different manufacturers) with the overall length of the rig.

I hate models being designated by number as they never tell the truth as far as the real length. I much rather have models designated by name like the Landmarks are.

We recently measured our Sundance 3300QS The brochure length states that it is 35' 9" - which was pretty much exactly what it measured from the nose (which was about the same position as the kingpin) to the rear. I'm not sure tho if the DH included the ladder in the measurement, as he was responsible for the tape on the back end. At any rate, when specifying length for a campsite, I use 36' as 35' usually is a cut-off point, and like others, I'd rather have some extra room.

Karen

If where me I would tell them 34' + that way you know they will give one that is as long as your RV. Ours says it's 38.5' but it is 40' 1 1/2" so they all do it

In many state & National parks there is a length limit. If I have done a little scouting around before hand, I tell them whatever they want to hear, if I think I can get in a spot.
Don't over inflate the size of your rig in national and state parks, or you may not get in. Many are strictly "by the book" when it comes to size.

Our 06 Mt. Rushmore is listed by the manufacture in their literature as 37', this is the number we used, never thought to measured it. Had reservations at a park in So. Dakota, pulled in and they questioned us on our length. I told them it is 37', they looked at me like I was trying to pull one over on them. They get out their 50' tape and measured us. I never seen this before, my wife wanted to know what is up with that. Well we found out we are all of 40'! No ladder, I removed it long ago, rear cap to front cap, 39'9"!! Pin put us over! After much discussion, they allowed us to stay the one night, since we had been on the road some 9 hours and we had to leave first thing. What a great start with our first 2 week vacation in our new to us Landmark. With this newly learned information, we called the parks we had reserved ahead. And we found out that the park we had reserved in the Bad Lands and Yellowstone would not accept us because of our length. We would be turned away if we showed up, because their spaces just are not long enough. 37' was pushing it as it was. We found one in Custer that had an opening and had to shorten our stay at Yellowstone to just a 4 hour pass through so we could get into Jackson Hole by midnight. The KOA we found in Jackson Hole had us in 2 sites to accommodate us. Trying to find a last minute opening on the road using your cell phone Internet and calling to find something is no fun when your driving down the road. Not me, but the wife was getting sick trying to read as I drove. That was one long day!

We are considering a Cyclone 3950 - which is over 40 feet. Does anybody know of a good resource that lists campgrounds that can accomodate rigs over 40 feet? Any info would be much apprecated!!

Our 24 ft. NT is actually 28'8" from rear bumper to the hitch, but we always say it is 24 feet, we have already found a few of our favorite parks, we are a bit long for many spots by the time you add in our truck. But the back of the trailer can always hang over the rear stop of the site, so we are managing quite well in that respect, after we unhook, we can back the truck up more a bit sideways.
We like State, National and County parks, but will stay in an RV park is we have no other choice.

johnjanney said:

We are considering a Cyclone 3950 - which is over 40 feet. Does anybody know of a good resource that lists campgrounds that can accomodate rigs over 40 feet? Any info would be much apprecated!!

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When looking at parks in the books and on the internet look for the ones that say 'Big Rig Friendly' and those should be alright. We have never had problems when using this.

We're also in WA, and have the 29RKSA model - we LOVE IT!

We also thought we were getting a "smaller" 5th wheel... until we measured out the full length with the pickup at 55'. That was with our old 'little' F520, now we have a larger F350, so we're probably well over 56' long now.
My understanding on the model number, was that there is 29' of living space inside - specs show 34' outside length. The depth of the front closet isn't included in the living space. If you look at some of the other models without the bedroom slide, it seems to make sense.

We're only in our first summer with the rig, but have had good luck with the 'XL' category on the WA state park campground reservation form. We're also still looking for pull-throughs... haven't had enough practise backing up yet.
We'll be at the rally next month - maybe we'll see you at next year's.

-Tina

When we went to Texas with our SOB it was 34' and when we bought our new Landmark it said it was 38.5' but when we got it back to the RV site and took a tape to it we found out that it was 40' 1 1/2" luckly out site was set up for a 40 footer. The people that run the RV Park told me if I wanted to find a larger site to move to I could but in measureing the other site the wider one where to short and the loner one to narrow. So we just stayed in the site we where at

johnjanney said:

We are considering a Cyclone 3950 - which is over 40 feet. Does anybody know of a good resource that lists campgrounds that can accomodate rigs over 40 feet? Any info would be much apprecated!!

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Rvbookstore.com has a directory called, "2011 Big Rigs Best Bets Campground Directory." It lists over 1200 campgrounds personally visited by the authors that can accommodate RVs longer that 32 feet. Might be useful. Click on the link.