Looking at Toy Haulers

[CyndiTad]

My husband and I are getting close to retirement and are actively looking for a quality toy hauler to travel around the country in. We've never had any interest in Rv'ing in the past, we would just ride anywhere we wanted to go, so we're brand new to the experience.
We currently own a '16 F350 and can tow up to 15,000 lbs. our toys are 2 HD Electric Glide Classic weighing 800-1,000 lbs each.
I've been getting a lot of helpful tips by reading the threads from this group on RV's but haven't seen anything on toy haulers specifically.
My question is more about the garages and loading ramps. Is there anything specifically we need to ask the dealer about construction and materials used?
We're leaning heavily towards either a '38' Torque or Cyclone 5th wheel.



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[jimtoo]

Hi CyndiTad,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I'm sure some of our other members with toy haulers will jump in soon with some info for you.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

 

[ATM]

We just purchased a Torque and the first problem we ran into was how to tie down the bikes. Our Torque came with 4 D ring type tie down points, basically one in each corner. That is all right for a quad or side by side but does not work so well for bikes. So far I have found two manufacturers that make wheel chock systems that work with D rings. "Beast racks" and "Bolt it on". The other thing I have found is even with my DR which probably weighs in around 300 pounds it is a two person push to load the bike. A bit more of a beaver tail would help. The other thing I have note is even with the grippy material on the ramp door, when unloading the front wheel will slid on the ramp with the front brake on.

 

[alwaysbusy]

Hi Cyndi,
Please see the Heartland website and view the manufacturing floor video which shows you how and what materials are used when constructing a Cyclone. I don't think there is one for the Torque and as I'm sure you already know the two units you are considering are made differently. The available video may answer some of your questions. If not, contact the hauler reps at Heartland and they will definitely have your answers if the folks here on the forum do not. There's a lot of smart people around this joint.

ATM - believe it or not, the D rings are not installed in the best locations for atv's either. I agree. The manufactured locations make sense though due to frame construction and its related stability, but not the most user-friendly. I know this sounds elementary and I don't want to sound smart in any manner to you; however, when your loading and unloading, are you raising the front of the coach up? Doing so reduces your rear angles (i.e. ramp and beaver-tail). Just a thought.

 

[Sniper]

My husband and I are getting close to retirement and are actively looking for a quality toy hauler to travel around the country in. We've never had any interest in Rv'ing in the past, we would just ride anywhere we wanted to go, so we're brand new to the experience.
We currently own a '16 F350 and can tow up to 15,000 lbs. our toys are 2 HD Electric Glide Classic weighing 800-1,000 lbs each.
I've been getting a lot of helpful tips by reading the threads from this group on RV's but haven't seen anything on toy haulers specifically.
My question is more about the garages and loading ramps. Is there anything specifically we need to ask the dealer about construction and materials used?
We're leaning heavily towards either a '38' Torque or Cyclone 5th wheel.



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Welcome to the forum! We own a 2011 3010 Cyclone, and haul our Harleys with us EVERYWHERE we go, they are not dressers though. The garage area weight capacity on ours is 2500# according to this sticker on the wall, so your bikes should not be too much for it. We use two removable "pingle" wheels chocks, but folks here on the forum have success with other chocks as well. The ramp door weight capacity on ours is 3000#. There have been some reported ramp failures here on the forum. Depending on the terrain we our loading or unloading we will sometimes raise the front of the 5th wheel to decrease the angle of the ramp, also I shore up the low side of the ramp if the terrain is angled to keep from putting a forced "twist" on the ramp.

I cannot speak at all for the Torque models, but you may want to consider going to the "ask the factory" area here on the forum to ask specific questions about those models https://heartlandowners.org/forumdisplay.php/69-Cyclone-Ask-The-Factory and https://heartlandowners.org/forumdisplay.php/619-Torque-Ask-the-Factory Hope this helps you some.

I can tell you we absolutely love our Cyclone, and have not regretted our purchase for even a minute. You can check out our modifications and upgrades here https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/53549-Our-3010-Modifications if you'd like.

 

[CyndiTad]

Thank you all for the responses. We're headed to the fall RV show this weekend and want to try to as prepared as possible.


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[Sarge]

My two cents:

If you are going that big on the trailer - Upgrade your tow vehicle first.

Just because your F350 will pull it - Doesn't mean it's the best choice for stability in bed weather or stopping it. My first choice was the F450 dually - But the RAM dually was the only one that fit in my driveway. (Short bed)

A few bucks more on the tow rig also ensures peace of mind if you want to upgrade the fifth wheel later on for a heavier unit...

Sarge

 

[Dennyha]

We have a 2015 Cyclone 3010 which we've used to haul our Ultra Limited to many places. In July, we took it to Shenandoah National Park and rode on Skyline Drive. In October, we plan to take the bike to Daytona Bike Week.
We've hauled our golf cart along with the motorcycle. It is tight, but it does fit. I used to tie down the bike with a wheel chock and tie downs, but I recently bought a Biker Bar, made by B&W. It is overpriced for what it is, but it works great. It is easy for me to load my bike by myself, and only takes a few minutes. So, maybe it's not overpriced.
Good Luck with your toyhauler search. I don't see how we could ever go back.

 

[U2fletch]

We just purchased a 2017 Cyclone 3110. The first thing I noticed was the surprisingly small cargo capacity. We looked at a Road Warrior 3611JS and noticed the same thing. Both are dual axle trailers with a max gross of around 16k.

What it means for us is if we haul the Stratoliner, we need to make sure the trailer tanks are nearly empty. Which is fine since we are probably going to a place with full hookups.

Basically take a close look at the cargo numbers on the "luxury toy haulers". All that quality is heavy and the feature list eats into load capacity.

Jeff

 

[Miltp920]

Here is my experience. We bought the 2014 Cyclone 3100, 10 foot garage. It was the most my tow vehicle at the time could tow, or so I thought. Actually, I was over 1000lbs overweight. Now I have a DRW. When I had the golf cart in the garage, and loaded up for camping, the RV weighed in at 15720 on the CAT Scale (rated at 15500). I had 3280 pin weight. I did have the generator in the front compartment. 12440 on 5er (2 7000lb) axles, 3280 on pin, total with truck was 23340 lbs. My point is the weight adds up quickly. Do your homework IF you really want to know. We thought the luxury and the quality was the best in the Cyclone (in 2014). Not sure who might have caught up in 2016-2017. BUT, after camping in it for 3 years, we ended up disappointed with seating capacity in living room (only room for 3 to sit and talk, someone ended on the steps to upstairs) and lack of separation of living room and kitchen. I had to look over the kitchen sink to watch TV while sitting sideways on the couch. Put the sofa-recliners out and you are going to have trouble passing by to get to the single bathroom. Bathroom was GREAT - loved the vessel sink. One side of the bed was GREAT to get out of, but the other side had about 6-8 inches (hard to make bed), and get in and out of on that side. Nice to have bed side countertops on both sides of bed. NOT much storage in a Toy Hauler. We had to store tubs in the loft bed. Count your cabinets and visualize WHERE are you going to put everything. We went with the smaller RV fridge. Never again, we will go for the larger fridge in future. We had a dormroom size fridge in the garage for cold drinks. I would buy another Heartland, but it would have to have more inside storage. May not be an issue in a 3 axle. I guess you have to give up something to be able to haul your toys around. We used the dinette in the garage always, but rarely put the top bunk down. On my 2014, the rear ramp was NOT rated the same as IF I had got the patio option. IF you get the patio option, you do not have to worry. I learned that in 2015 and later, they put the same ramp on the rear whether you bought patio option or not. Tires - Make sure they are 14 ply minimum. Good Luck

 

[Sarge]

We just purchased a 2017 Cyclone 3110. The first thing I noticed was the surprisingly small cargo capacity. We looked at a Road Warrior 3611JS and noticed the same thing. Both are dual axle trailers with a max gross of around 16k.

What it means for us is if we haul the Stratoliner, we need to make sure the trailer tanks are nearly empty. Which is fine since we are probably going to a place with full hookups.

Basically take a close look at the cargo numbers on the "luxury toy haulers". All that quality is heavy and the feature list eats into load capacity.

Jeff

The 3611JS and the 362RW are basically the same - And both max out at 17k lbs - With only 1600lbs of cargo capacity.

For boondocking we'll only be bringing a UTV - Full hookup trips will have a combo of either UTV/Indian or Spyder/Indian....

Sarge