Turning distance for Cyclone CY3612

We are building a drive-thru RV garage for a Cyclone CY3612 (not yet purchased). Before we proceed with construction, need to know how much turning room is needed after you pull thru the garage and exit thru a 12' garage door to make a 90 degree left turn to the street. Will be pulling with a Ford F350, 8' bed. This is my first post, excuse please if it is the wrong place or otherwise not posted correctly.

The answer to your question also a function of the turning radius of your truck.

If it was me, I would be getting out the tape measure, some empty plastic bottles to use as traffic cones and actually going through the turn procedure so that you know for sure what length you require.

Thanks, D-max. We have not yet have not yet purchased the fifth wheel, building the garage first. So we cannot do a traffic cone test. Was hoping someone with a similar RV and truck would have some specific experience with this.

Don't forget you will have a long overhang in the 10 to 12 foot range behind the axel. You could still setup something to try to get an idea. My self I would try to get in the 60 ft range if possible then you would be safe for most units.

Well, the overall length of a CY3612 is 39'10" and of a 2012 F350 C/C LB is 22'. Taking into consideration the hitch/pickup box overhang and your tailswing, I'd think that 60' would be a very safe MINIMUM measurement to use.

The CY is 8'5" wide but don't forget the ladder that hangs off the left side so now you're left with approx 1'6' on either side of the rig as you exit your 12' door.

We have a 12 door and we are 30 feet from the edge of the street. I swing all the way across the street/road to minimize the effect on the hangers and axles. If your building has the width I would go with a 14 foot door. I put the pontoon boat on one side and the Augusta on the other side.

Welcome to the forum Buzzworthy and congrats on your upcoming 3612. We've had ours since September and absolutely love it.

I agree with Truknutt, 60 feet minimum just to get out of the garage. With the trailer being 8 1/2 feet wide and a 12 foot door, you will pretty much have to pull straight out and clear the door before starting your turn. Any sooner and you run the risk of the tail hitting something on the way out. As said, after that it really depends on the turning radius of your truck and any other obstacles that may be outside of the garage or along the drive.

As an FYI - the ladder on the 3612 is removable so it shouldn't be an issue.

Frank

Thanks for the info. We do plan to have a 14' wide door so I can began the turn earlier. The garage will be parallel with the street, so we are limited by the width of the lot we are building on. The shorter the turning distance, the bigger we can make the garage. I presume your garage is perpendicular with the street and that you back in. If you wanted too crank it hard, what is the minimum distance from your garage to where your truck would make the turn (without taking out the garage door with tail kick). PS Noticed you live in Nebraska, we just moved to Arkansas from Omaha.

TrukNutt, your photo looks like you have an RV garage that you back into with what looks like a 12' door. Is this correct? If so, how much learning curve is required to learn how to back a big fifth wheel into a garage? If I could learn how do do that, the who question of turning distance on the exit end of the garage becomes moot.

BUZZ, my only comment to you about your garage is. Try to set it up so you are not "blind side" backing it in. Try to set it up so you can watch the rear of your trailer all the way in from your drivers mirror even if you have to set the garage up at an angle. BTW, how high are the doors....you will need and least 14' or higher if your backing up an incline. JMHO

Buzz-

My Razor toy hauler has the almost the same dimensions as the Cyclone 3612. The only difference is that it is about 8 inches shorter. I tow it with a Dodge 3500 DRW crewcab.

I went out and took some measurements of our shop (garage) which is perpendicular to the access road. We also have a slight slope on the exit end. I agree with the above posts that 60' is required to make the turn onto the road. We also have it set up to drive through and our doors are 12W X 14H. The factory says that the Cyclone is 13' 3" and if you add an air condtioner or domed satellite dish it could be higher. In hindsight I wish I had used 14' wide doors and that I had offset them to one side or the other. Although the shop is 30' wide, with the toy hauler right in the middle it makes doing other projects difficult.
Even with the 12' wide doors I can pull in and out with the ladder on the side.

Thanks, Harley-Rider and Old Crank. If you had a 14' wide door on your garage, would that cut down the 60' distance to perhaps 50" or less because of the quicker exit turn?

Buzzworthy -As Dave pointed out you have 60' of truck and trailer. You have a huge overhang with the trailer. With the trailer axle location where it is I would guess the rear corners of the trailer will move about 2/3 of what the front corners do, in the opposite direction.

With a 12' wide door you only leave yourself 1.5' on either side (with the ladder) The odds are against you never having an issue.
Sine the truck-trailer is 60', the 60' recommendation gives you a couple feet of leeway since the pin is 5' ahead of the truck's bumper, another foot or so if you use teh setback of the pin from the nose of the trailer.

Another disadvantage you have is the truck. And F-350 with an 8' bed needs a parking lot to turn around.

My vote is the 60'

Buzzworthy said:

Thanks, Harley-Rider and Old Crank. If you had a 14' wide door on your garage, would that cut down the 60' distance to perhaps 50" or less because of the quicker exit turn?

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Since you don't have a garage to actually try this, perhaps a parking lot with cones? The potential problems I see are possibly getting into a position that you can't move the trailer without hitting something. The rear swing will be your concern.

I'm guessing the pull in part is not an issue?

The other alternative would be, and this is not something I would want to do every time I leave, would be to exit the garage until the tail is clear. If you can wiht your hitch, un pin the saddle, raise the trailer and then reposition the truck at the angle you need to get onto the street. This would just complicate things and complications can lead to damage.

Buzz

Even with my 12 ' door I am turning just before the 60' mark I mentioned. How far I don't know. I would have to go out and hook up to see. But as I recall, when I see the ladder just start to clear the door I am beginning my turn.

Here are some measurements for you. On my Dodge it is 14' 8" from the front bumper to the center of the hitch, 39' 3" from the end of the trailer to the center of the pin so if my math is correct the effective length of my rig is 54' 2". The distance from the end of the trailer to the center of the rear, third axle is 11'.

Thanks to all who posted responses. I have come to the conslusion that we do not have enough width across the lot next door to put a garage parallel to the street and allow for driving through. We plan to build the garage at an angle to our current driveway, probably something like 120-130 degrees to cut down on the angle needed to back in. On the bright side, we can now make the building as long as we want.