Rear Living Room

[JRodAlbano]

First love my Cyclone 3100 TH. Thing is I have no toys so we bought it for two reasons. Kids are grown w/o grandKids yet, so just the Chief of Staff the dogs and I go camping.

First: We have three dogs and the garage is great for them when we primitive camp and they get dirty. I also will use the back to reload when I am at shooting events. I have installed a toolbox up front to hold items and be a reloading bench. Next I want to take the existing plumbing for the washer/dryer and convert to a sink and vanity to wash up before tracking into the main living area. Also want to add more cabinets for storage of items because no matter how many cabinets and basements you have, we always carry more crap so there is never enough storage space.
Second: We LOVE the porch and that was the main selling point for us.

These lead to my design idea.

My design idea is two fold as it could go either way with a TH or 5ver. Either provide the option to have a living area (furnished as a living room as the current couch table setup restricts flow through the area) in the "garage" for those of us with no toys), OR offer a rear porch on a 5ver. I think the option for a porch on a 5ver would be a huge selling point for the rigs. Make the "all season door" a slider to hold in the heat or AC when needed, but the "garage door" covers when moving. With the slide outs on 5vers, you loose the back wall of windows, but you could put in a sliding door with windows on the side to maintain the ambiance.

Now taking this further as the garage door is pretty heavy, but a winch system on it to raise and lower the porch or a spring cable system like on a home garage door to assist with the wieght.

Just some thought when we were enjoying out beverages on the porch this weekend....

 

[iowaone]

We love our 4100 for many of same of the same reasons. The patio, deck porch or whatever you what to call it. It serves many purposes. We have foam block flooring on ours so it makes a terrific play area for our small grandchildren. Or it is nice on the feet if I want to go out with shoes off or lay on that foam and watch the stars. The rear living area serves many purposees. Large indoor dining area, super two queen bedroom with private half bath, sewing room, game room, storage area on and on depending on who is with us and type of trip. It works as a four season room with its AC and a electric heater and so full of light!

 

[TxCowboy]

DW and I have been discussing getting a toy hauler for the past couple of years. We love the garage area as a general use space and the option of having a half bath or second full bath. We also love the patio and what that additional outdoor space can do to expand the overall living space.

Unfortunately, the actual living space in the rest of the toy hauler just doesn't work for us. It seems very restrictive with the couch/table setup and doesn't support active interaction/conversation between more than three people.

We'd like to spend a few weeks living in a toy hauler just to check it out but I've been told/read time and time again that a toy hauler really isn't intended for long term/full-time occupancy and we want to start full-timing in a couple of years.

 

[Sniper]

We have a 3010 and we love it. We haul two Harley's with us everywhere we go. What we do once the bikes are out we set the "garage" up as our dining room. We do not even set the table up in the living/dining room. This allows me to just "plop" down on the couch if I desire. We love dropping the ramp and putting the screen down while eating our cooked on the fire breakfast, and supper. (usually out riding during lunch). It also makes it very nice when you are wet, or get muddy to be able to use the rear door to get out of our wet clothes without coming in the main living area. We first thought it may be to small of a unit to full-time in (which we are not yet, but hopefully in the next 2 years), but after using it as much as possible for extended periods we are sure it will suit our needs. We are so sure of it we just made a major investment of having a 6 pt. auto leveling system (Big Foot) installed, which we love. Safe travels.

 

[Randor]

We have a 3010 and we love it. We haul two Harley's with us everywhere we go. What we do once the bikes are out we set the "garage" up as our dining room. We do not even set the table up in the living/dining room. This allows me to just "plop" down on the couch if I desire. We love dropping the ramp and putting the screen down while eating our cooked on the fire breakfast, and supper. (usually out riding during lunch). It also makes it very nice when you are wet, or get muddy to be able to use the rear door to get out of our wet clothes without coming in the main living area. We first thought it may be to small of a unit to full-time in (which we are not yet, but hopefully in the next 2 years), but after using it as much as possible for extended periods we are sure it will suit our needs. We are so sure of it we just made a major investment of having a 6 pt. auto leveling system (Big Foot) installed, which we love. Safe travels.

We do the same thing with our 4150. Don't even set up the table in the living area. We use the garage for what ever purpose we need it for - craft room, office space, bigger screen tv to watch while lounging on the patio, etc. Its pretty versatile.

 

[Bighurt]

I just bought a 4100 which we intend to use as a home while I build our home, after that it will be used for camping. And when we retire, to spend time on the road.

I full intend to use the garage as a mud room/dining room/office.

 

[2isbetterthan4]

Hello Jeff & Laurie, I'm not sure if anyone has replied to your post yet as I am new to the forum. No one ever told me I couldn't full time it in a toy hauler, I guess I've been breaking the law for 3 1/2 years now. Seriously, we just recently purchased a 2010 Cyclone 3950 and it is the best floor plan we could find to meet our needs with 2 children. It does seem like everything in a toy hauler is a compromise or living space (course that comes with the territory in RVing) especially when you have a half bath and extra closet/refrigerator cutting into the floor space. The older 3950 has more usable space for us than the newer floor plans but I'm looking for our next floor plan as the master bath and bedroom feel really cramped to me. Out previous toy hauler was 38' with a 10' garage and no half bath so we actually lost a little living space with 42', 12' garage and half bath and residential refrigerator closet. The kids made out with separate sleeping areas having a loft now and the extra half bath. I'm curious as to what some of the reasons you've been told toy haulers weren't intended to full time in? Toy haulers have come along way since their inception. I first started looking at toy haulers 16 years ago when I first started contracting, and in those days manufactures basically just took existing trailer chassis and added a door on the back. In actuality, the first toy hauler were exactly that, individuals just put a fold down door on the back of their RV and the manufactures took note. The early ones were not insulated well, and for that matter didn't even offer a bulkhead to keep the gas fumes separate from the living area. Good luck on your search, I too am on a quest for that perfect floor plan. Neal.

 

[danemayer]

I've been told/read time and time again that a toy hauler really isn't intended for long term/full-time occupancy and we want to start full-timing in a couple of years.

The standard Heartland warranty, along with warranty from most manufacturers, excludes full-time use. The Landmark 365, Bighorn, and Big Country all come with an enhanced warranty that does include full-time use. That may be what is meant when someone tells you a toy hauler isn't intended for full-time occupancy.

That said, there are many owners in toy haulers full-time and I don't think anyone has ever had Heartland refuse a warranty claim based on using the coach full-time.

So

 

[TxCowboy]

Hello Jeff & Laurie, I'm not sure if anyone has replied to your post yet as I am new to the forum. No one ever told me I couldn't full time it in a toy hauler, I guess I've been breaking the law for 3 1/2 years now. Seriously, we just recently purchased a 2010 Cyclone 3950 and it is the best floor plan we could find to meet our needs with 2 children. It does seem like everything in a toy hauler is a compromise or living space (course that comes with the territory in RVing) especially when you have a half bath and extra closet/refrigerator cutting into the floor space. The older 3950 has more usable space for us than the newer floor plans but I'm looking for our next floor plan as the master bath and bedroom feel really cramped to me. Out previous toy hauler was 38' with a 10' garage and no half bath so we actually lost a little living space with 42', 12' garage and half bath and residential refrigerator closet. The kids made out with separate sleeping areas having a loft now and the extra half bath. I'm curious as to what some of the reasons you've been told toy haulers weren't intended to full time in? Toy haulers have come along way since their inception. I first started looking at toy haulers 16 years ago when I first started contracting, and in those days manufactures basically just took existing trailer chassis and added a door on the back. In actuality, the first toy hauler were exactly that, individuals just put a fold down door on the back of their RV and the manufactures took note. The early ones were not insulated well, and for that matter didn't even offer a bulkhead to keep the gas fumes separate from the living area. Good luck on your search, I too am on a quest for that perfect floor plan. Neal.

Hi, 2isbetterthan4, and welcome to the Forum! Dan answered the warranty comment. We had a Greystone 32RL at the time of our previous response to this thread which just didn't meet our long term needs for full timing. We looked at a ton of other HL products and a few by SOBs before seeing and falling in love with the Landmark 365 Key West. Pulled the trigger on that beauty late August 2015 and we've been splitting our time between the SnB and the Key West ever since.

Back to the Cyclone toy haulers, as I stated in my previous post, we just couldn't make the kitchen/living room set ups work for us. However, the President of Heartland listened to customer feedback and has made (or is making) substantial changes to the Cyclone floor plans. I just saw this video yesterday from the 2015 Heartland Open House where he is chatting with several of his production leads/managers including the guy that manages the Cyclone series. You might find it interesting.

Enjoy your Cyclone!!

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnXkxi78nA