looking to get a 2008 Big Horn 3670RL.............

kickerxt

total newbie
and i have a few questions about it. first im completely new to RVing and im looking to jump in and go full time right away. the reason being is im taking a new job in a few months that will involve lots of travel and i can pretty much do it however i want as long as im there on time. talking to most guys bin the feild now they eventually bought an RV of some type because with all the travel they do (about 10 months a year) they got sick of hotel rooms and because they could sock away more of the perdium money. anyways, like i said i would be full time and traveling all up and down the east coast all year long so i could see every kind of weather there is. im young and single with no kids so theres no need to worry about other people living in the trailer with me. eventually i want to move to AZ in a year or so and plan to take this trailer with me as my home still until i find a place to settle down. im hoping people here could give me good advice about what things i should do and will need to full time and basiclly any advice on the lifestyle. im really looking forward to this and would hate to start off on the wrong foot because of stupid things i didnt know or think of. thanks for any help you can give me.
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
I have a 3655RD, which is the same length as the 3670 you are considering. With you being single, I really question if you need something that long - it will cut back on the sites that you can park in. Many BH owners are buying the 3055 unit, which is a more flexible size.

That being said, there is no way that Saundra would go down in size - she loves the separate den with fireplace. Still, there are times when I am pulling it that I wish I had a shorter unit.

Chuck
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
We are fulltiming in an 08 3600RL, the only difference in our unit and the 3670 is basically the bathroom layout and part of the kitchen. Therefore the weights, etc. would be basically the same.

We are a couple and travel with several pets, one dog and two cats, making a unit of this size very comfortable for us. In your case I would not think you would really require a unit of this size, as stated earlier, If I were single and no pets I would have definitely opted for the 3055. The layout is great and it is a much more manageable overall size.

Our current unit is grossing out at about 15,800lbs, which is very heavy, working on eliminating some stuff to get us further under the GVWR. This is where it becomes a real issue for you. You would be well over the capability of your 2500 Dodge Ram. When we traded out of our HR 35' Alumascape into the Bighorn we finally retired our 3500 DRW Ram because we would have been well over 4,000 OVER our GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) for the truck and trailer. Even though you would be closer you would still be grossly overweight. If your GCWR is somewhere around 21,000lb (an optimistic number), your truck is going to have a ACTUAL curb weight of about 8,000, deduct that from the GCWR and you can only handle around 13,000...16,000 or higher is a real issue. With the smaller unit you will be much closer to your GCWR or, possibly even under...a much safer bet!

Remember, the GCWR includes truck, trailer, all passengers and fluids, i.e., fuel, water, waste water, etc., so all those things take away from your towing ability...good luck in your decision...which ever you choose Bighorn is a really good choice!
 
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khd995

Active Member
I am single and travel a lot for my job and use my Bighorn as my home away from home. The only thing different that I would do is to have bought the 3600RL. I find that when I spend extended time in mine that although I love it, I do wish it was bigger. Just goes to show you that it really is "to each his own". Since you are going to be spending a lot of time in it, I would buy the one that you will be most comfortable in. When you spend that much time away from home, after awhile you just really want to be comfortable.
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
khd995 said a lot there. I have had 24', 27', 30' and now the magnificent 36' / 39' over all BH 3600. If you have the tow vehicle and you feel confident in towing and if you are going full time I would get the biggest unit you feel comfortable with. Every time I have upgraded it was due to being kept in by inclement weather. All units get pretty small if you are stuck inside for 4-5 days.........good luck.........
 

kickerxt

total newbie
thanks for the help guys. keep it coming. as for some of the quetions you guys have brought up ive got a few answers. first i agree a smaller trailer would be a better idea for many reasons,, but as khd995 and uncle rog pointed out i really dont want to say later, "i wish i had gone bigger", and i really like the floor plan of the 3670RL. im going from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house to this unit so it will be a bit of a change but im getting more and more determined and anxious. as for the weight, i am a bit nervous about. my truck weighs around 7300# with me and current gear, no hitch ( figure another 100#?). Dodge says 20000# GCWR which gives me 12700#. yes very close to the dry weight of 11950# for the 3670RL. however for the first year i will be mostly working around the local area so i only really need the truck to get the trailer to a local park around here and some local travel. that gives me a year to get another tow vehicle and im hoping to grab a Ram 4500 or maybe even a 5500. but i agree towing any significant distance with my current rig would not be a good idea with my current rig. i know its a bit big for a single person but i really do like that floor plan and i figure ill find a use for all that space. one thing that does kinda concern me though is the washer/dryer. it seems i would get a better unit with the 3600RL. anyone have any thoughts on this?
 

nhunter

Well-known member
I use my 3600RL for work about 200 days a year and love it. Like you I have a choice of a hotel or trailer. It's nice having your own sheets, food, etc. Just wish I had a washer / dryer. When the wife, kid, dog and cat come it fills up but like Uncle Rog said nothing worse than being couped up in to small a trailer. I pull ours with an 06 F-350 SRW.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
Yep...the washer dryer is exactly why we bought the 3600 instead of the 3670. Wouldn't give it up, much better than the combo in the front closet...would think you'd need to be a contortionist to use it!

As long as you don't mind the open bath layout, which we don't, makes the entire bedroom seem much bigger, go for it! So far this layout has proved to be perfect for us; wouldn't change a thing about the layout!

By the way, good choice on the Dodge 4500 or 5500. Unfortunately we didn't feel we could wait for them to come out and got a great deal on our Kodiak 4500...so far we really like it...stops this rig like there's no tomorrow!
 

madigand

Well-known member
As others have stated, the 3670 is heavy. FYI, we are full timing in ours and this is our weight

Truck (no trailer attached)

Front axle 4940 gawr 6000
Rear axle 4060 gawr 9000

Truck and Trailer

Front Truck axle 4980
Rear Truck axle 7360
Trailer axels 12820 (7k axles)

Total weight 25160
Pin weight 3300

We are pulling it with a 2007 F-350 DRW 4X4, 4.10 rear end. On relative flat ground we average 14 to 15 mpg towing. In the mountains we drop to about 12 to 13 mpg.

Good luck. We really love our floor plan. we opted for both AC's (one with heat pump), Dual Pa e windows, 8 cubic foot icebox and put a 5 cubic foot freezer in front closet for stocking up with. We are real happy with our set-up.

Good luck and welcome to the forum
 

kickerxt

total newbie
yeah, im starting to rethink the the floor plan choice. i really really like the 3670 and i dont mind where the washer is, just that i was told it wasnt a great unit. very small and takes even longer to dry than others. too bad there arent any other choices.
 

rjhewitt

Mike and Robyn
Hey there! You are just the people I want to chat with. We are in the process of purchasing a 3670. We will pick it up in a month. We have a Chevy 2500 Deisel, Allison trany- will we have trouble towing this unit? The dealer told us no way- what do we really need to know?

Thanks for your advice. We are new to full time RVing. we currently tow a 32' travel trailer so we do a quite a bit of towing.
 

madigand

Well-known member
You might check my previous post on actual weights. In my own humble opinon, I would not tow with less than a 1 ton dually.
 

Oldlthrnecksgirl

Hisyoungercuterwife
According to a chart on this site,,, our truck actually pulls more than a lot of one ton duallies,,, so doesnt it depend on what you have for a truck?
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Oldlthrnecksgirl said:
According to a chart on this site,,, our truck actually pulls more than a lot of one ton duallies,,, so doesn't it depend on what you have for a truck?

I want to add something here. The above statement is definitely true for the 2003 Chevy Duramax trucks. If I hadn't had this printed in black and white in my owners' manual I wouldn't have believed it either. But it just so happens that the 2003 2500HD can pull more weight than the 2003 3500HD Dually. Why that is I do not know but I feel pretty good owning a 2003 2500HD Duramax. As I continue to look at the new Chevy truck ratings they seem to be turning around. The 2008 2500HD now can handle less weight than my 2003 but the 2008 3500HD dually can pull more weight than the 2008 2500HD.

All that said, I would certainly feel better with more truck and better stability if I towed alot. For now I can live with what I have.

FYI:
My 2003 owners' manual states that:
2500HD Duramax, short bed, crew cab, 4WD - maximum trailer weight 14,700 lbs
3500HD Duramax, long bed, crew cab, 4WD - maximum trailer weight 14,700 lbs
Yes, that's right they both can pull the same weight as per my owners' manual. This was new information to me also. I have at home a separate trailering guide published by Chevy that shows a bit different information whereas the dually actually pulls less. If I can find it I will scan and attach to this later for general info.

Chevy website for 2008:
2500HD Duramax, short bed, crew cab, 4WD - maximum trailer weight 13,600 lbs
3500HD Duramax, long bed, crew cab, 4WD - maximum trailer weight 15,900 lbs

Well that' all I have for now.

Mark
 

Oldlthrneck

Just an Old Jarhead
When I bought my truck, a 2500HD Duramax/Allison, I believed I could tow pretty much anything on wheels. After coming to this site and reading a lot of the posts, my faith in my truck was shaken. So I started doing my own research. I have seen different web sites w/ different charts that have the amount of weight I can carry bouncing from 14,500# up to 16,200# and many in between. So I have gone back to basics. My owners manual says that I have a GCW of 22,000#. I have weighed my truck with a full tank of gas and my wife and I in it and it came out to approx. 6800#. My registration says a curb weight of 6262#. So the scale weight is pretty accurate. So that leaves me with 15,200# that I can tow. I plan on hitting a scale as soon as I head out on the road to make sure I am not over that weight. I don't believe I am. And as Mark said the 3500 are rated exactly the same as my 2500HD. The big advantage that I see is the dual tires. They offer more stability and perhaps better braking because of having 6 tires on the road instead of 4. I had originally planned on moving up to a 3500 but now fail to see the advantage in doing that. If and when I do upgrade it will be to the Kodiak, with a Monroe pickup conversion. I cannot justify, in my own mind, spending the extra money for a 1 ton, when it gives me no appreciable advantage over what I have now.
Keep in mind that this is just one Old Jarheads opinion and probably worth about what you paid for it. And after having said all of that, I do honestly believe that bigger is better. I just want to move up to a better margin of safety than a 1 ton truck will give me.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
Oldlthrneck...you won't be sorry! The Kodiak is a great truck, really does the job both in towing and stopping, like nothing we've towed with before.

Just make sure you get air ride seat and suspension, otherwise it will be a really bumpy ride!
 

FLSTS03

Member
Kickerxt,
Everytime I find a floorplan I like, I seem to research myself right out of it and to this day I'm still debating a new Augusta. I'm now convinced my 07 dodge Dually/3.73 gears will be over weight, and it is basically the same as the 3670rl. Sounds like the 3670 is what you want, so do a little home work and go jsut for it, if you are uncomfortable with the truck I bet the dealer will pull it where ever you need it to go until you can find that perfect truck. I have also learned that confidence in your TV comes with experiance and that there are a lot of oldtimers out there who would pull a 3670 with your trk and probally have no second thoughts, I'm not one of those guys and because I'll have my wife of 32 yrs and my 2.5 yr grandson with me I tend to be a little over causious. I guess from all my rambling I'm tring to say is Find and go with the trailer you want, the truck will be the easy part. Good Luck...Steve
 
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