Thinking of Buying a 5th Wheel Heartland Cyclone 3800

[Bayousunrise]

We have a F250 FX4 Diesel. The 1st thing is can our Truck pull the Cyclone 3800 Toy Hauler 43 foot long. We have had 2 Jayco Bumper pulls and now we want a 5th wheel. I really don't want to get a bigger truck that's why I'm asking.
2nd thing is has anyone had any problems with these Rv's? I really don't like the price but I love the layout and the floor plan, and it get rid of my Jayco Park unit. No we don't have any problems with the park unit it's just a bumper pull and we'd have to get a bigger truck and we can't go camping to different places since it is 40 feet long with any truck attached.. Our daughters are both graduated from high school and one is a RN and the other is starting College in the Fall so we want to start doing a little more getting away..... Oh I can't forget about my 2 dogs that will be coming with us.. Thanks and sorry for the rambling......God Bless


Thank you,
Michelle
Bayousunrise

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Michelle,

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.

You will get lots of answers about your tow vehicle. You can tow it,, but you will most likely be overloaded.

I am moving your post to a better area for more folks to see it.

Jim M

 

[Bayousunrise]

Thank you

 

[FiremanBill]

What year is your 250? The older ones don't have nearly the weight ratings the newer ones do for sure. Either way the 3800 is a lot of trailer for a 250, probably too much

As far as the trailer, we got our 3110 back in February and have already traveled over 2500 miles with it and we absolutely love it. The quality of build, the ease of use, the way it tows... everything about it I love. I honestly have no complaints with it at all.

 

[waytoogood]

These trailers are far to heavy for a F250 of any year. Please buy a real truck first. We don't need anymore overloaded and trucks with braking system not designed for this load on the road! Not safe for us all .

 

[Bayousunrise]

I have a 2011 F 250 FX4 Loaded

FiremanBill
We have a 2011 F250

 

[Bayousunrise]

waytoogood

That's why I'm asking this is not my first rodeo with RV's . Like I said I have a 40' Jayco now... I got rid of my other truck because my camper stays parked at a Hunting camp ground now for the last 2 1/2 yrs. (an upscale campground). I wound not be asking if I wasn't a responsible person or a safe person. I want to have to right truck to pull this camper.. I don't want to get stuck like we did years ago with the dealer telling us we can pull the RV with the truck we had and come to find out we can't. Then I turned around a got a GMC 3500.. If I have to go get a F350 I will that's why I'm asking before I buy the Cyclone 43' Rv. Thank you for answering my question, please don't take my response as i'm being mean... Have a Blessed Day

 

[FiremanBill]

after looking up the model number, I was thinking that a 3800 was smaller for some reason. I am in total agreement with waytoogood, well except for the "buy a real truck" line. I am pretty sure that a 250 constitutes as a real truck also and is fine in a lot of applications except for some of these extremely large behemoth's out on the road.

 

[Bayousunrise]

FiremanBill,

Thank you for being kind with your words.. I just don't want to have problems that's why I'm asking all the questions.. I like what I looked at in the 3800, and the quality of craftmanship is for better than what we have looked at. We've looked at the XLR, Fusion, Raptor, and others even just the regular 5th wheel camper and the smaller 5th wheel Rv make me feel all confinded to small. If we have to leave due to a Hurricane (i'm in south Louisiana) we can have my parents, my husbands mom, and some other family members that will need to get away..I'm just thinking ahead of the came and my husband and I want to go camping to different places.... Thank you, and have a Blessed Day..

 

[FiremanBill]

Glad to assist. We looked at all of them also, it took 3 years for my wife and I to find one we both liked! lol One of the hangups was having an older 250, we were limited on size and if we bought a new truck then we couldn't have afforded the camper. Kind of a catch 22 so to speak.

Then we found our 3110 and we both fell in love with it. it is 38' but only a 2 axle as opposed to 3 and quite a bit lighter than some of the 40+ footers. It still seemed just as spacious to us as some of the bigger ones except for the bedroom and the shorter garage. at only 10' it's a bit shorter than the big boys but for what we use it for it is perfect. Model airplanes is what we haul in the back.

Anyway, if you go with the Cyclone I am sure you will be happy. It really is a top notch unit.

Bill

 

[Bayousunrise]

FiremanBill,

I love what I saw and my husband love it also. We've just thinking if we have to leave again at least we don't have to stay in a Hotel for 12 days, at least we'll have something that feels like home. My dad is 81, my mom is 66, and his mom is 77 and in a nursing home due to her falling and breaking her hip and her wrist so If we have to leave then they would have a place to stay and we can't forget about his brother and sister in law that help with his mother. We also like it because it comes with a Generator that they can be in the AC.
The way they build these are just so much better than the other brands we looked at. I don't know anything about Heartland but what we saw they take pride in what they do..

Michelle

PS. I guess we'll be getting a F350 soon

 

[FiremanBill]

Agreed, we compared to all the others as well and the Heartland brand just beat everything hands down.

I'm looking at new(er) trucks also, It's a never ending cycle! LOL

 

[Mizmary]

Like you we looked and looked. I swear the only brand we didn't look at was open range and we had planned on it. Heartland and their cyclones were the best. The runner up was -- road warrior. By heartland! The room, the quality, they are amazing. We love ours.

The dry weight on ours is a lot more than the listed dry weight so easy to overload. Ours was over weight with just water, food and clothes. So I wouldn't recommend pulling near max on the truck. We are maxed out on our tv- maybe even a bit over - and we have brand new leafs, (3500 dodge and 4100king), but it rides nice and smooth. We don't plan on going anywhere very fast.

I didn't look at the weight for the one you are looking at but if its anywhere near ours I would go up in truck if you can afford it.

Hope to hear about your new cyclone soon!! :-D

 

[nsf10162]

Im not sure why you guys say that a f250 would be overloaded with one of these bigger units. You say the brakes are the reason. Really? The brakes are the same on an f250 as an f350. There is no reason other than 1 spring missing from an f250 to an f 350. That's what makes the difference between an f250 and 350. Also if you have a 2011 or newer f250, the ratings have been changed to accommodate these heavier loads. Also I keep hearing everything about brakes, are you not using your trailer brakes? 40' plus units have 3 axles that's 6 additional wheels braking, is it not? If you don't want to change trucks, don't. If you feel unsafe with a single wheel axle, find a used dually rear end in a salvage yard with the springs, and pay a respectable shop to install it. Buy a set of fiberglass fender flares, and install. F250 is now upgraded to f350 dually status. Engines are the same, transmissions are the same, frames are the same, brakes are the same.

 

[danemayer]

Hi nsf10162,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and thanks for contributing to one of the most common and often heated discussions topics: tow vehicle capabilities.

You have a good point about the trailer brakes. If everything is working correctly, the trailer brakes provide the stopping power for the trailer. But as some of us know from experience, everything isn't always working correctly. If the tow vehicle is seriously overloaded, it may be unbalanced, affecting braking capability. If there's also reduced braking efficiency on the trailer, it may leave you in a difficult spot. I frequently go down steep mountain grades. I depend mostly on the engine, transmission, and engine brake to control speed, but I can assure you, that's not the place to be with an unbalanced, overloaded truck towing a heavy trailer.

Your comment about there being only a 1 spring difference between 250s and 350s is not completely correct. We shopped 2010 Dodge trucks and found that the payload difference was only about 300 pounds between the 2500 and 3500 SRW. In that case, the only difference was the 1 spring you mention. But on the 2011 Ford and GMC trucks, the difference in payload is around 1500 pounds. There's more going on there than a single spring. In some previous threads, part numbers have been contrasted to demonstrate that other components have been beefed up on the 1 ton trucks.

In addition to safety issues, on tow vehicles where the rating is lower because the components are not as heavy duty, you may also have premature parts failure caused by overloading.

There seem to be two views on this subject. Some people believe the design engineers know what they're doing when they set the weight limits and they go by the numbers. Other people take their chances and see how things work out.

 

[drmike]

I am also looking at buying a new cyclone. The 3712. My only concern is that we heard that HEARTLAND was recently sold to Thor. I'm afraid that the legendary customer service HEARTLAND is known for will not continue under Thor's ownership. Anyone have anything to say on that issue?

 

[danemayer]

I am also looking at buying a new cyclone. The 3712. My only concern is that we heard that HEARTLAND was recently sold to Thor. I'm afraid that the legendary customer service HEARTLAND is known for will not continue under Thor's ownership. Anyone have anything to say on that issue?

Thor invested in Heartland about two years ago and the legendary customer service has continued.

 

[cookie]

Drmike, welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There is a lot of great information available here along with a lot of great people.I do have something to say on the issue that you are concerned about.Thor has owned Heartland since September of 2010. That is nearly three years now. I don't know what your source of information considers recent.Heartland continues to grow as well as continuing to provide great customer service.PeaceDave

 

[nsf10162]

Yes, this is a very heated topic, especially with me. I for one know exactly what these trucks are made of, and how they are built. I work on them day in and day out. I've measured the frame thickness and compared suspension components, and brakes. Calipers, pads, and rotors are all the same. Now like any other automobile out there, there are differences in brands, but also, one must be competent in doing a per-trip inspection before, and during your travels. All braking systems should be checked before getting on the road. I understand that things happen during travel, but the comments of some of these guys on here about "overloaded trucks", more people have accidents due to incompetence of the equipment they are using, and not having the common sense to study and understand it. Do you think all these semi drivers are always under weight? Nope, I drove semi's for many years, hauled over weight most nights. Hauled double 28's, 48',and 53' refrigerated. Not saying everyone should overload their trucks, but what did you guys do before there was 450's and 550's. As these campers evolve, so do the tow vehicles. I'm not saying you should try to pull a 40' with a f150 by any means, but if you want to talk about braking power, and towing power, an f250 and 350 are the same. As for a dodge, cummins is one of the best engines on the market by far, don't get me wrong, they just need a truck to go along with the engine. Sorry, I get frustrated and amused at the same time when it comes to talking about this issue.

 

[AJJONES]

I am also looking at buying a new cyclone. The 3712. My only concern is that we heard that HEARTLAND was recently sold to Thor. I'm afraid that the legendary customer service HEARTLAND is known for will not continue under Thor's ownership. Anyone have anything to say on that issue?

I can assure you that the THOR acquisition has done nothing but improve our customer service. Rest assured that when you purchase a New Heartland you are getting the best product that Heartland has ever produced, as well as the best that Heartland has ever been in customer service. THOR is a hands off company that allowed us to keep the same business model in all facets of the business, they have allowed us to become more completive with better materials with our massive purchasing power. You can rest assured that even though we are a part of THOR you are seeing the BEST Heartland you have ever seen.