Exploring the purchase of a used fifth wheel for first time RVing.Plan to retire and see the country .Our short term plan is to sell the house and travel for 2 years,.after that, who knows.our question is we have the opportunity to buy a 2007 Glendale titanium, 35 ft..seems in great condition..anyone have one,had one, know of this unit and will it serve us for 2 years..Thanks to anyone who can guide us! Originally thinking 30 ft Jayco...
kb0zke said
09:26 PM Mar 26, 2014
Welcome, brireey. Glendale was a Canadian company that made high-end coaches. They, like many others, have gone out of business. Heartland bought the intellectual property rights to the Titanium design. As you know from looking at the two coaches you mention, the Titanium has an additional "step" in the nose. The hitch is in the normal place relative to the main body of the coach, but the front end is longer and steps up a bit. That lets you have a longer overall trailer while still having the maneuverability of a shorter one. Heartland used to have a Titanium Bighorn, but I don't see any Titanium models listed now, so I guess it wasn't that much of a seller.
There will be a big difference in quality between the Jayco and the Titanium. Go find a 2007 Jayco and compare it to the Titanium. I'm guessing that you will get the Titanium.
I constantly tell people to buy the highest quality you can find, even if it means buying an older coach. A few years ago some friends of ours were in a similar position to you. They decided on a diesel pusher motor home, and bought a popular brand, brand new. Less than a year later they traded their coach even-up for a ten-year-old Foretravel. Why? After less than a year in the popular brand they could see that the quality wasn't there. A ten-year-old Foretravel held up better than a brand-new entry-level coach. The Jayco is more of an entry-level or vacation coach than a full-time coach.
brireey said
08:50 AM Mar 27, 2014
Thank you for the information. The Glendale does look like it was built good. Not knowing too much about RV's, it always seems you can spot one that looks like a good unit. We are going to take a harder look at it this weekend. I need to figure out the dry weight and carring capacity of this unit. The add said 11,107 lb. towing capacity, I am not sure what that means. Is towing capacity the total weight or dry weight? The next step for us will be a truck. Thinking maybe Dodge 3500 with dual wheels and Cummins diesel. I have heard they tow really well. I want to be safe and not struggling in mountan areas and also want to be able to break going down mountains. I will need to research exhaust breaks. I have been following the forum on all of this and it is very helpfull.
Jo And Craig said
10:15 AM Mar 27, 2014
Funny. Never heard of the Titanium before but just saw one on the freeway. What timing!
Terry and Jo said
06:42 PM Mar 27, 2014
brireey wrote:
Thank you for the information. The Glendale does look like it was built good. Not knowing too much about RV's, it always seems you can spot one that looks like a good unit. We are going to take a harder look at it this weekend. I need to figure out the dry weight and carring capacity of this unit. The add said 11,107 lb. towing capacity, I am not sure what that means. Is towing capacity the total weight or dry weight? The next step for us will be a truck. Thinking maybe Dodge 3500 with dual wheels and Cummins diesel. I have heard they tow really well. I want to be safe and not struggling in mountan areas and also want to be able to break going down mountains. I will need to research exhaust breaks. I have been following the forum on all of this and it is very helpfull.
Brian,
If they are talking about the 11,107 pounds being the towing weight of the truck, don't go by that figure. Instead, find out what the GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) is for the truck. Then try to make sure that your GCVW is more than the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) of the trailer and the weight of the truck with full fuel, all passengers and pets and any other cargo you plan to carry in the truck. I can guarantee that even on my Ford F450, if I towed something the weight of the listed "towing weight," I would be overweight.
You should be good with the Dodge 3500, but it still helps to make sure your weights are right.
Terry
TheHarveys said
11:19 AM Mar 28, 2014
My folks full-timed in a Titanium for several years. They loved theirs. I think it was something like a 2934RL. They did not have any real issues with it over the 5 or so years they lived in it. Dad did have to repair a water line under the sink as the design of the slide-out could cause the water line to come unhooked (and did once). However, he made a minor modification that did not allow that to happen a second time. The Titaniums, because of the two-step design in the nose, have a very deep storage area under the foot of the bed. Dad constructed a drawer system there that made that storage area much more useful.
Overall, they really liked theirs and towed it between British Columbia, Canada and Yuma, Arizona (with stops along the way) every year. Dad towed his with a 2003 Crewcab Ford F350 dooley and felt that was plenty of truck for that trailer.
NWescapee said
12:03 PM Apr 1, 2014
We camped next to someone for a week in AZ last winter that had a Titanium. They loved it for their snowbird trips although they both felt it was lacking in basement space. Other than that they loved it, but were a bit envious when they saw our basement storage space.
Exploring the purchase of a used fifth wheel for first time RVing.Plan to retire and see the country .Our short term plan is to sell the house and travel for 2 years,.after that, who knows.our question is we have the opportunity to buy a 2007 Glendale titanium, 35 ft..seems in great condition..anyone have one,had one, know of this unit and will it serve us for 2 years..Thanks to anyone who can guide us! Originally thinking 30 ft Jayco...
There will be a big difference in quality between the Jayco and the Titanium. Go find a 2007 Jayco and compare it to the Titanium. I'm guessing that you will get the Titanium.
I constantly tell people to buy the highest quality you can find, even if it means buying an older coach. A few years ago some friends of ours were in a similar position to you. They decided on a diesel pusher motor home, and bought a popular brand, brand new. Less than a year later they traded their coach even-up for a ten-year-old Foretravel. Why? After less than a year in the popular brand they could see that the quality wasn't there. A ten-year-old Foretravel held up better than a brand-new entry-level coach. The Jayco is more of an entry-level or vacation coach than a full-time coach.
Funny. Never heard of the Titanium before but just saw one on the freeway. What timing!
Brian,
If they are talking about the 11,107 pounds being the towing weight of the truck, don't go by that figure. Instead, find out what the GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) is for the truck. Then try to make sure that your GCVW is more than the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) of the trailer and the weight of the truck with full fuel, all passengers and pets and any other cargo you plan to carry in the truck. I can guarantee that even on my Ford F450, if I towed something the weight of the listed "towing weight," I would be overweight.
You should be good with the Dodge 3500, but it still helps to make sure your weights are right.
Terry
Overall, they really liked theirs and towed it between British Columbia, Canada and Yuma, Arizona (with stops along the way) every year. Dad towed his with a 2003 Crewcab Ford F350 dooley and felt that was plenty of truck for that trailer.