we fell in love with a rear bdrm floor plan--know of any others besides montana?
suse1023 said
01:13 PM Mar 6, 2013
i think--drumroll please---we've decided on a fifth wheel for starting our fifth wheel lifestyle, after spending the morning climbing aorund various rigs at the dealership.
the floor plan we loved came in a montana 40'. elevated forward living room, mid ships kitchen and rear bedroom with many windows.
but i want to look at other brands, namely new horizons and the other heavier built mfctrs.
please post if you know of another rear bdrm forward living room floor plan.
thanks!
-- Edited by suse1023 on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:39:01 PM
Jo And Craig said
01:26 PM Mar 6, 2013
Sue, if you do a search on here you will find previous discussions about layouts and what is important to have and look for. I have spent the past year trying to narrow down what will work for us and I am glad to say I have finally found "it"! My DH and I were also considering a front living room at one point in time. But, while doing my research, someone on this board mentioned that they have been full-timing for a while and the view out their back window has always been so wonderful; HOWEVER, they did not want to have to sit on the edge of their bed to enjoy that view. So, something to think about.
Also, something else to note... make sure you can get to the refrigerator, bathroom (especially), and then your bed (not quite as important as the former two) when your slides are in. When traveling and you need to make a 'pit' stop, you need to get to your bathroom without having to pull out the slides. Same for the fridge.
Good luck in your search. Don't get in a hurry, whatever you do! It's a process that can take a long, long time. Again, it has taken me an entire year!
P.S. Don't forget structure, structure, structure... especially if you will be FTing.
Best wishes!
-- Edited by Mary Sunshine on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:27:03 PM
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 09:59:17 PM
Rob_Fla said
04:04 PM Mar 6, 2013
Many manufacturers are now making front Living 5th Wheel Floor Plans. Crossroads Rushmore, Jayco Pinnacle, Open Range, Keystone Montanna, KZ Durango, Redwood RV, just to name a few.
Crossroads new Rushmore and the Open Range Front Living 5th Wheels have a Front Cap Window, something different from the others.
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 05:16:08 PM
Racerguy said
09:37 PM Mar 6, 2013
Mary Sunshine wrote:
Also, something else to note... make sure you can get to the refrigerator, bathroom (especially), and then your bed (not quite as important as the former two) when your slides are in. When traveling and you need to make a 'pit' stop, you need to get to your bathroom without having to pull out the slides. Same for the fridge.
-- Edited by Mary Sunshine on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:27:03 PM
I would NOT let the above stop me from buying a unit if everything else works for you.Remember you will spend MUCH MORE time in it with the slides out.
NorCal Dan said
10:16 PM Mar 6, 2013
DW and I were impressed with the 3850 model. The front living room is very nice, but I wonder if I would be able to stand up and not hit my head on the ceiling. The kitchen & counter space looked small. We liked the 2nd door on the other side of the rig. I'm guessing that with the slides in you can't do much inside the rig, hence the 2nd door. But over-all we liked what we saw in the pictures and video. Thanks for sharing.
Jo And Craig said
10:16 PM Mar 6, 2013
You are absolutely correct, Racerguy. What I mentioned was simply a consideration... something to think about. If I had not read what I did about the rear bedroom and the view, and being able to get to certain things with the slides in, I would not have been aware of or thought about these things. I could see, for myself, how these things could become an irritation later on down the road. Now that I know about them, it is very important to me and my DH, and another reason I believe the thoughts put out there on this forum are so darn important!
Cindy T said
10:19 PM Mar 6, 2013
I have to agree with Racerguy. I wanted a very specic floorplan based on the way we wanted to live in the unit. I found the exact floorplan that I wanted & you can't get to the bathroom or the fridge when the slides are in. But we spend a lot more time living in the unit than we do driving it, so it's a tradeoff we were willing to make. For us, accessing the bathroom & fridge while travelling would have been nice to have but not absolutely necessary.
bigboomer said
11:23 PM Mar 6, 2013
Suse,
We have been in both the 3750 and 3850 and like the concept except we found that the kitchen is smaller than we like with less counter space and over all room. Our biggest thing was that these front living room units (Heartland makes one also) is that you loose ALOT of basement storage in the front of the unit. Otherwise the Montana's are very well made, we love ours.
Remember, yourselves and only yourselves have to be happy with the layout.
DRV announced last year that their Traditions line would have a front living floor plan, so you might check them out as well.
We looked at a few with the front living area, felt like we lost a lot of basement storage, smaller kitchen and the kitchen was almost always a "walk thru" arrangement. Seems like they had less counterspace/cupboards than other floor plans in the kitchen area. When we were looking we didn't see any with the kitchen arrangement that had a big enough fridge for full timing, but that was just our experience.
However, the rear view window view is not something that would stop me from buying a front living area. While I understand there are some great camp sites with wonderful views out the rear window, I think that's a "it depends" on where you are. In western OR/WA, if it's a back in site, I generally find the view out the rear window is a bunch of trees. Not that I object to trees, but it seems like the view, if there is one, is out the side windows. There are also those campgrounds where the view out of the back is the back of another RV, not exactly the scenic view pictured in the brochures.
IMO one of the best options in this lifestyle is the view, if you don't like it, you can always move!! And of course, knowing where your windows are, helps you pick the best campsite from the ones available when you enter a campground.
Racerguy said
01:58 AM Mar 7, 2013
Mary Sunshine wrote:
You are absolutely correct, Racerguy. What I mentioned was simply a consideration... something to think about. If I had not read what I did about the rear bedroom and the view, and being able to get to certain things with the slides in, I would not have been aware of or thought about these things. I could see, for myself, how these things could become an irritation later on down the road. Now that I know about them, it is very important to me and my DH, and another reason I believe the thoughts put out there on this forum are so darn important!
I agree.
Terry and Jo said
06:08 AM Mar 7, 2013
Just as a thought on the Redwood. Be sure and check to see what their frames are like now. When I researched them some time back, the "main" frame was made of 12" I-beam metal, but the "drop frame" was only a 10" frame. The drop frame is that section that sits under the basement area. My concern, perhaps unjustified, is that I would be concerned with the forces applied to that section of frame with the normal "bounce" of a trailer going down the road. After all, that is between the axles and the pin box.
As for the walk through area when the slides are in, we feel the same in that we spend more time in the trailer with the slides out instead of when traveling. Our bathroom stops are usually made at truck stops or stores with large parking lots. In fact, a while back when I had a stomach virus and had to get up every 30 minutes to use the bathroom both with diarrea and vomiting, I even got to a point of nearly passing out. With our side bathroom, I had plenty of room to lie down to help avoid passing out. Otherwise, I would have been blocking a "hallway."
Terry
Jack Mayer said
01:09 AM Mar 8, 2013
Spacecraft makes a nice upper-deck kitchen model with the livingroom at the entry door and the bed/bath at the rear of the 5er. It is custom and heavy, but a nice workable floorplan.
jayc said
03:27 AM Mar 8, 2013
Heartland has a Bighorn with a front living room/rear bedroom floorplan, the 3855FL.
suse1023 said
01:09 AM Mar 9, 2013
we were in a thor front lounge today and it was a nicer product in my mind. but i fear too heavy for my truck. i'd rather not replace the truck the first year, so we'll keep looking--which is really fun anyway,lol.
btw my truck is a 7.3 liter 2001 F350 diesel 4x4 dually crew with under 50 thousand miles on it, i couldn't pass it up when i found it for sale near me. it's be great if i could find a rig it could safely haul and stop with our requirements.
tibbar said
02:34 AM Mar 13, 2013
The only problem I can see with a front living plan is painful knees. The fewer times I have to go up and down steps the better. I travel between the living, kitchen, and bath more than to the bedroom.
Rob_Fla said
05:37 AM Mar 13, 2013
We like the ability to access the bedroom and bathroom and kitchen with the slides in.
Since we spend most of our time in the southeast and we do get some bad weather, storms and hurricanes, having the ablity to bring the slides in and still being able to Sleep, Eat and Poop is a plus for us.
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Wednesday 13th of March 2013 05:37:33 AM
PD CFK said
11:37 PM Mar 13, 2013
One of our most memorable experiences was sitting in our rear living room Cameo, hanging out over the water at Boyd's, in the Florida Keys. So we are really partial to the rear view arrangement. We also have enjoyed the glow of the sunrise from the bedroom windows. A lot of your viewing will be when you are outside anyway. Just get the floor plan that you feel most comfortable with. Also, we stand with the group that want to be able to access the bathroom with the slides in. Pat K
MandV said
04:52 AM Mar 14, 2013
We looked at a front living room unit (probably the Bighorn, but I can't remember now to be honest). Everything was looking good until we got to the bedroom, which had two slides. The headboard of the bed was in one slide and the closet/TV/dresser was in a slide opposite. Due to the way they did the slide, the bottoms of the closets were almost 3 feet off the floor and the hanging rod was a good six feet up and a couple feet back. My average height wife couldn't reach the rod to hang things up without using a step stool. Deal-breaker for us. Might look at that if you continue looking at this type of floorplan.
With your '01 7.3, you'll be limited in what you can (safely) tow and stop. DRVs will be out, as will a few other higher-end units.
suse1023 said
03:03 PM Mar 14, 2013
i'm afraid you're right about the truck and we know we may have to move into somehting bigger depending upon the rig we end up with. it's only money, right!?
Terry and Jo said
01:03 AM Mar 15, 2013
Susan,
With regards to your current truck, I suggest that you take it by a Ford dealer and let them look at it and the information on the "data plate" that is located on the driver's side door post. That data includes what the rear differential is, so they should be able to research and find out what your truck is capable of handling. The 7.3 liter engine is a good one, and would be good for towing, depending on the rest of the capabilities of the truck. However, I don't have any Ford brochures or towing guides for trucks that old, so I can't help much there.
Terry
MandV said
09:52 PM Mar 15, 2013
Regardless of axle ratio, you will probably find that you have a GCWR (gross combined weight rating) of 20,000lb. That is Ford's recommended maximum total weight of truck and trailer.
Now I'm not here to say that you can't or shouldn't load up the truck more than that. You'll find that your truck probably weighs around 8,000 lb without a trailer, leaving about 12,000 lb for the trailer itself (if you stay within spec). We shopped and shopped for something in the 10K range for full-timing and came up really short (literally, as the only things we found we liked tended to be smaller/shorter fifth wheels).
So, here we are with a rig (truck and trailer) that weighs right at 23,000 lb. total fully loaded up and rolling down the road. The truck handles it fine. I just drive it a little more carefully. I wouldn't want to pull anything heavier with it, though.
-- Edited by MandV on Saturday 16th of March 2013 08:28:09 PM
Soody said
04:00 AM Mar 16, 2013
The Redwood 36FL is super nice. I was just looking at them last night. I like that FP too.
DeeJee said
12:46 PM Aug 1, 2013
We went with the Cedar Creek 38FL. We looked at the Heartland's and Keystone's, (which I really loved) but the ceilings were flat or lower than the CC's are. They have a nice arch to them. DH wanted the open kitchen, since he works from home or travels. (by plane)
Racerguy said
11:31 PM Aug 1, 2013
Good luck with the Cedar Creek.We were only able to full time for 17 months in our Cedar Creek but it was a wonderful home and we still miss it.
Bobbi said
04:05 PM Aug 4, 2013
suse1023 wrote:
i'm afraid you're right about the truck and we know we may have to move into somehting bigger depending upon the rig we end up with. it's only money, right!?
Yes, right...it's only money if you have the cash to spend, otherwise it's the prison of debt! :>)
Yes, the tow capacity and max pin weight of your truck is going to be an issue, unfortunately. It is for us too. In fact, we are the poster children for insufficient tow vehicle research before buying. We have decided to make due with what we have, but we definitely know what we would buy if we would choose to upgrade.
See if you can dig through floor plans of the superlights and lights to find something suitable. Or you could consider upgrading to a 2005-2007 F-350 with the Tow Boss package to up your capacity from a base of 13,200 to around 15,500 lbs. +/-, other factors considered. Or go with an F-450+ or other MDT, but they consume more fuel, if that's of any concern.
jjsbergy said
11:02 PM Aug 7, 2013
With regards to whether you can access the bedroom, bathroom, etc, when slides are in, the more important issue is when you are parked and the slides are out, if it's a pass-thru bathroom, and not self-enclosed, if someone is using it then the other person or people are stuck in one end or the other.
-- Edited by jjsbergy on Wednesday 7th of August 2013 11:03:20 PM
PD CFK said
05:25 PM Aug 8, 2013
There are lots of floor plans that have pass-through bath rooms, and also have a hall pass into the bedroom. Our Cameo does
and the bathroom is accessible with the slides in as well. We would not have a rig that we had to put out a slide to get to the
bathroom and in fact, cancelled a deal when we found that was not possible with it.. Really liked that one, otherwise.
We have seen the rear bedroom floor plan and agree that it is nice, but there don't seem to be many available. pk
i think--drumroll please---we've decided on a fifth wheel for starting our fifth wheel lifestyle, after spending the morning climbing aorund various rigs at the dealership.
the floor plan we loved came in a montana 40'. elevated forward living room, mid ships kitchen and rear bedroom with many windows.
but i want to look at other brands, namely new horizons and the other heavier built mfctrs.
please post if you know of another rear bdrm forward living room floor plan.
thanks!
-- Edited by suse1023 on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:39:01 PM
Sue, if you do a search on here you will find previous discussions about layouts and what is important to have and look for. I have spent the past year trying to narrow down what will work for us and I am glad to say I have finally found "it"! My DH and I were also considering a front living room at one point in time. But, while doing my research, someone on this board mentioned that they have been full-timing for a while and the view out their back window has always been so wonderful; HOWEVER, they did not want to have to sit on the edge of their bed to enjoy that view. So, something to think about.
Also, something else to note... make sure you can get to the refrigerator, bathroom (especially), and then your bed (not quite as important as the former two) when your slides are in. When traveling and you need to make a 'pit' stop, you need to get to your bathroom without having to pull out the slides. Same for the fridge.
Good luck in your search. Don't get in a hurry, whatever you do! It's a process that can take a long, long time. Again, it has taken me an entire year!
P.S. Don't forget structure, structure, structure... especially if you will be FTing.
Best wishes!
-- Edited by Mary Sunshine on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:27:03 PM
hmm, we didn't think the kitchen was too small, it was a 2013--could that be the difference?
found the redwood site, this one is just lovely.
http://www.redwood-rv.com/products/redwood/item/redwood-36fl?category_id=3
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 09:59:17 PM
Many manufacturers are now making front Living 5th Wheel Floor Plans.
Crossroads Rushmore, Jayco Pinnacle, Open Range, Keystone Montanna, KZ Durango, Redwood RV, just to name a few.
Crossroads new Rushmore and the Open Range Front Living 5th Wheels have a Front Cap Window, something different from the others.
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 05:16:08 PM
I would NOT let the above stop me from buying a unit if everything else works for you.Remember you will spend MUCH MORE time in it with the slides out.
You are absolutely correct, Racerguy. What I mentioned was simply a consideration... something to think about. If I had not read what I did about the rear bedroom and the view, and being able to get to certain things with the slides in, I would not have been aware of or thought about these things. I could see, for myself, how these things could become an irritation later on down the road. Now that I know about them, it is very important to me and my DH, and another reason I believe the thoughts put out there on this forum are so darn important!
I have to agree with Racerguy. I wanted a very specic floorplan based on the way we wanted to live in the unit. I found the exact floorplan that I wanted & you can't get to the bathroom or the fridge when the slides are in. But we spend a lot more time living in the unit than we do driving it, so it's a tradeoff we were willing to make. For us, accessing the bathroom & fridge while travelling would have been nice to have but not absolutely necessary.
Suse,
We have been in both the 3750 and 3850 and like the concept except we found that the kitchen is smaller than we like with less counter space and over all room. Our biggest thing was that these front living room units (Heartland makes one also) is that you loose ALOT of basement storage in the front of the unit. Otherwise the Montana's are very well made, we love ours.
Remember, yourselves and only yourselves have to be happy with the layout.
I suggest you visit the Montana Owners Club forum as there are several active members who have these models - http://montanaadministrator.forumco.com/
Good Luck,
Les
We looked at a few with the front living area, felt like we lost a lot of basement storage, smaller kitchen and the kitchen was almost always a "walk thru" arrangement. Seems like they had less counterspace/cupboards than other floor plans in the kitchen area. When we were looking we didn't see any with the kitchen arrangement that had a big enough fridge for full timing, but that was just our experience.
However, the rear view window view is not something that would stop me from buying a front living area. While I understand there are some great camp sites with wonderful views out the rear window, I think that's a "it depends" on where you are. In western OR/WA, if it's a back in site, I generally find the view out the rear window is a bunch of trees. Not that I object to trees, but it seems like the view, if there is one, is out the side windows. There are also those campgrounds where the view out of the back is the back of another RV, not exactly the scenic view pictured in the brochures.
IMO one of the best options in this lifestyle is the view, if you don't like it, you can always move!! And of course, knowing where your windows are, helps you pick the best campsite from the ones available when you enter a campground.
I agree.
Just as a thought on the Redwood. Be sure and check to see what their frames are like now. When I researched them some time back, the "main" frame was made of 12" I-beam metal, but the "drop frame" was only a 10" frame. The drop frame is that section that sits under the basement area. My concern, perhaps unjustified, is that I would be concerned with the forces applied to that section of frame with the normal "bounce" of a trailer going down the road. After all, that is between the axles and the pin box.
As for the walk through area when the slides are in, we feel the same in that we spend more time in the trailer with the slides out instead of when traveling. Our bathroom stops are usually made at truck stops or stores with large parking lots. In fact, a while back when I had a stomach virus and had to get up every 30 minutes to use the bathroom both with diarrea and vomiting, I even got to a point of nearly passing out. With our side bathroom, I had plenty of room to lie down to help avoid passing out. Otherwise, I would have been blocking a "hallway."
Terry
i'd rather not replace the truck the first year, so we'll keep looking--which is really fun anyway,lol.
btw my truck is a 7.3 liter 2001 F350 diesel 4x4 dually crew with under 50 thousand miles on it, i couldn't pass it up when i found it for sale near me.
it's be great if i could find a rig it could safely haul and stop with our requirements.
We like the ability to access the bedroom and bathroom and kitchen with the slides in.
Since we spend most of our time in the southeast and we do get some bad weather, storms and hurricanes, having the ablity to bring the slides in and still being able to Sleep, Eat and Poop is a plus for us.
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Wednesday 13th of March 2013 05:37:33 AM
With your '01 7.3, you'll be limited in what you can (safely) tow and stop. DRVs will be out, as will a few other higher-end units.
Susan,
With regards to your current truck, I suggest that you take it by a Ford dealer and let them look at it and the information on the "data plate" that is located on the driver's side door post. That data includes what the rear differential is, so they should be able to research and find out what your truck is capable of handling. The 7.3 liter engine is a good one, and would be good for towing, depending on the rest of the capabilities of the truck. However, I don't have any Ford brochures or towing guides for trucks that old, so I can't help much there.
Terry
Regardless of axle ratio, you will probably find that you have a GCWR (gross combined weight rating) of 20,000lb. That is Ford's recommended maximum total weight of truck and trailer.
Now I'm not here to say that you can't or shouldn't load up the truck more than that. You'll find that your truck probably weighs around 8,000 lb without a trailer, leaving about 12,000 lb for the trailer itself (if you stay within spec). We shopped and shopped for something in the 10K range for full-timing and came up really short (literally, as the only things we found we liked tended to be smaller/shorter fifth wheels).
So, here we are with a rig (truck and trailer) that weighs right at 23,000 lb. total fully loaded up and rolling down the road. The truck handles it fine. I just drive it a little more carefully. I wouldn't want to pull anything heavier with it, though.
-- Edited by MandV on Saturday 16th of March 2013 08:28:09 PM
The Redwood 36FL is super nice. I was just looking at them last night. I like that FP too.
Yes, right...it's only money if you have the cash to spend, otherwise it's the prison of debt! :>)
Yes, the tow capacity and max pin weight of your truck is going to be an issue, unfortunately. It is for us too. In fact, we are the poster children for insufficient tow vehicle research before buying. We have decided to make due with what we have, but we definitely know what we would buy if we would choose to upgrade.
See if you can dig through floor plans of the superlights and lights to find something suitable. Or you could consider upgrading to a 2005-2007 F-350 with the Tow Boss package to up your capacity from a base of 13,200 to around 15,500 lbs. +/-, other factors considered. Or go with an F-450+ or other MDT, but they consume more fuel, if that's of any concern.
With regards to whether you can access the bedroom, bathroom, etc, when slides are in, the more important issue is when you are parked and the slides are out, if it's a pass-thru bathroom, and not self-enclosed, if someone is using it then the other person or people are stuck in one end or the other.
-- Edited by jjsbergy on Wednesday 7th of August 2013 11:03:20 PM
and the bathroom is accessible with the slides in as well. We would not have a rig that we had to put out a slide to get to the
bathroom and in fact, cancelled a deal when we found that was not possible with it.. Really liked that one, otherwise.
We have seen the rear bedroom floor plan and agree that it is nice, but there don't seem to be many available. pk