New Member: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

[JFogleman]

Hello Heartland owners and prospective owners. I must say that my wife and I are excited about moving up to a bathroom and one button set-up as well as the toy hauler ramp/rear deck. We have ordered our tow vehicle (2016 Dodge 3500 diesel Megacab) and have spent the past 2 months traveling to see toy haulers and really have landed on Heartland just recently after a conversation with Steve Jacobs with Heartland who returned a call to me after I had a chat question on the website. His patience and conversation has led me to believe a CY or RW is a probable purchase for us and encouraged us to call him with any questions. He suggested this forum as well and I am impressed. I look forward to this relationship and our journey towards a purchase this year.

Thanks...John and Cheryl Fogleman
2016 Dodge 3500 Megacab 4x4 Diesel
2000 Coleman Bayside
??Cyclone 3611 JS current model of Great interest

 

[jimtoo]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Hi John and Cheryl,

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.

When you get that new unit be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.

Enjoy the forum and if you have questions, just ask.

Jim M

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

I wonder how many of us started in a pop-up??? I know we did, in a great little Coleman "Utah CP".

If you're in no rush, perhaps you can find a local Rally and go there and see a RV's with no sales pitch. Folks there will have first hand knowledge on what to look out for.

 

[JFogleman]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Thanks for the welcome and we have already found some excellent topics and answers to questions. It appears we will have even more information available to us now that we have joined.

 

[avvidclif]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

I hope that MegaCab is a dually. Otherwise the 3611 is too much trailer.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

My 2 cents... One thing to look for is a floor plan with the main portion of your windows to be on the camp/door side.
Our last Toy-hauler had the kitchen on the camp side and one very small window over the stove and a bunch of big picture windows (Living room & Dinette) on the off camp side. So when your inside at a camp ground your looking at your neighbors instead of your camp and your family.

 

[JFogleman]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

It is a SRW and Max Tow 20,300 with 5488 payload. I hope this is enough with Aisin 3.42 transmission. I definitely want to keep the toy hauler to a dual axle which as each axle has a max load of 7000 lbs would keep the trailer below 14,000 lbs. The numbers for GVW for the 3611 do show 17,000 on the sight and I was thinking this was an error as it would require a third axle, right? These numbers do confuse.

 

[JFogleman]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Thanks that is a good point. The 3611 has an extra 2 foot(jumbo slide) in that other direction. I may look at the RW 355. It has the bigger slide on the camp side and still has an opposing slide with seating that opens up the floor space.

We are going to take our time as we prefer to keep under 40 feet.

 

[Treyz71]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Thanks that is a good point. The 3611 has an extra 2 foot(jumbo slide) in that other direction. I may look at the RW 355. It has the bigger slide on the camp side and still has an opposing slide with seating that opens up the floor space.

We are going to take our time as we prefer to keep under 40 feet.

We purchased an RW 355 last September. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.

 

[avvidclif]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

It is a SRW and Max Tow 20,300 with 5488 payload. I hope this is enough with Aisin 3.42 transmission. I definitely want to keep the toy hauler to a dual axle which as each axle has a max load of 7000 lbs would keep the trailer below 14,000 lbs. The numbers for GVW for the 3611 do show 17,000 on the sight and I was thinking this was an error as it would require a third axle, right? These numbers do confuse.

Not necessarily. They figure the difference between the axles and GVWR to be carried on the hitch. Mine with the bike in it weighs 15,100 but it has ~3000 on the pin therefore axles are OK. Those numbers for payload look like dually numbers what tires are they using that are rated over 4k each?

 

[JFogleman]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Not necessarily. They figure the difference between the axles and GVWR to be carried on the hitch. Mine with the bike in it weighs 15,100 but it has ~3000 on the pin therefore axles are OK. Those numbers for payload look like dually numbers what tires are they using that are rated over 4k each?

You are right the SRW is 4273 payload.

- - - Updated - - -

We purchased an RW 355 last September. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thanks Trey & Shari. My wife and I just got home from church and are going to try to find a dealer with one we can make a road trip to see now. We were wondering if the TV position was ok for viewing a movie in its' angled location or if it puts the old crick in the neck. I know this type layout is fairly common in the toy haulers and though we seldom watch TV there is a nice fire below as well. We were also wondering if you got the canopies for the slideouts as I hear they also keep the heat out besides debris and water.

Thanks for replying

 

[avvidclif]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Turn your TV in the house to an angled position and see how much you like it. Straight on to the TV is one of our requirements for layout.

 

[TandT]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Welcome to the Heartland Forum!

You will get a lot of different opinions here, especially regarding your tow vehicle. Both your truck and trailer choices are a very personal decision, that only you can make based on all information available to you.

I will tell you this, we have owned four RVs and our Heartland Bighorn is head and shoulders above any of them.

Good luck on your purchase! Hope to see you down the road. Trace

 

[Treyz71]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Thanks Trey & Shari. My wife and I just got home from church and are going to try to find a dealer with one we can make a road trip to see now. We were wondering if the TV position was ok for viewing a movie in its' angled location or if it puts the old crick in the neck. I know this type layout is fairly common in the toy haulers and though we seldom watch TV there is a nice fire below as well. We were also wondering if you got the canopies for the slideouts as I hear they also keep the heat out besides debris and water.

Thanks for replying

The TV is so large, that it's fairly easy to see. The only real bad spot is on the ODS love seat next to the walkthrough door to the garage, which happens to be the reclining section of that sofa. We've used the faux fireplace/space heater quite a bit. It will warm the main area and master bedroom pretty quickly on a chilling morning or evening.

We do not have canopies over the slide outs. On the door side, the large slide out can be covered by the awning. We are considering a canopy over the ODS slide out later on. We haven't camped through a summer with this unit as of yet, so I can't comment on the heat issue. We have the triple AC units, so I think we'll be fine (realizing we can only run living room or master bedroom along with the garage unit).

 

[Bogie]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

We also graduated to our Sundance after 30 years of camping in our trusty old Coleman Sequoia. I can't say I miss the set up and take-down time. Also, it's pretty nice to just turn on the heater when it's cold and raining. Enjoy your new toy!

 

[Bones]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Here is a picture of a toy hauler Slide in a slide during production. I don't remember if it was the Cyclone or the Road Warrior

 

[JFogleman]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Here is a picture of a toy hauler Slide in a slide during production. I don't remember if it was the Cyclone or the Road Warrior

View attachment 43680

Wow that really sticks out into the neighbors side. Too bad they didn't flip it to the door side. I see you have the Gateway. I really like a toy hauler for the patio deck and just found the Gateway has 2 3750 PT models with a side deck. I really like the rear queen model with the side deck. How do you like your Gateway?

 

[Bones]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Wow that really sticks out into the neighbors side. Too bad they didn't flip it to the door side. I see you have the Gateway. I really like a toy hauler for the patio deck and just found the Gateway has 2 3750 PT models with a side deck. I really like the rear queen model with the side deck. How do you like your Gateway?

We love the 3650 BH works great for us and the kids. They have their room and we have ours. The rear queen model is essentially ours but without the kids beds. I wish I had a fire place in there so maybe in the future I will install one.

 

[coram8]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

Wow that really sticks out into the neighbors side. Too bad they didn't flip it to the door side. I see you have the Gateway. I really like a toy hauler for the patio deck and just found the Gateway has 2 3750 PT models with a side deck. I really like the rear queen model with the side deck. How do you like your Gateway?

We we have the 3750PT that has the patio on the side and the queen bed in the back. The bed works great because it is bigger than a bunk for our older son, but we still have one bunk for our younger son. The patio makes a great place for the dog to go outside without having to tie her up to something. The other big benefit to the side patio, is the sliding glass door. We looked at a lot of RVs that had limited viewing out of the door side. The sliding glass makes for a really nice viewing area.
If I was doing it over, I would definitely order this one again, I would just make sure it had the auto-leveling on it.

 

[Bones]

Re: New Memeber: Pop-Up camper since 2000, Researching under 40' Toy Hauler for past 2 months

We we have the 3750PT that has the patio on the side and the queen bed in the back. The bed works great because it is bigger than a bunk for our older son, but we still have one bunk for our younger son. The patio makes a great place for the dog to go outside without having to tie her up to something. The other big benefit to the side patio, is the sliding glass door. We looked at a lot of RVs that had limited viewing out of the door side. The sliding glass makes for a really nice viewing area.
If I was doing it over, I would definitely order this one again, I would just make sure it had the auto-leveling on it.

I would have the auto level as well. I saw a bunch of 3650BH's being constructed and they all had auto level on them.