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  1. #11
    Rolling Along backtrack2015's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ncitro View Post
    I had a 23 foot hybrid for twelve years before buying my 28bh three years ago. No way I would go back. The biggest improvement for me was the storage in the 28bh. Between the pass through storage and the rear storage I'm able to keep everything in the camper rather than needing to load up the truck bed before every trip. Literally saves me hours everytime we go out.

    Granted I don't have your struggles with access at my home to get loaded up, but I'd find a way to work around those issues if they're important. Maybe a bike rack on the front of the truck or something.
    You make good points. I'm really most curious about the towing. How was your towing experience with the 23ft hybrid? Did you tow it with a Super-Duty? How does the 28BH compare?

    I think we all can agree that a 5er of the same/weight and length will tow better than a TT unless a ProPride or Hensley hitch is used (e.g., pivot point projection). I'm just wondering if 25 ft and 6K is enough of a size reduction (moving into the TT realm) that it will tow relatively easily with a heavy F350 in front of it. I know the TT would work well (for me) for short camping trips. I'm just wondering how much I'd be giving up on the long drives in terms of towing ease. Hard to quantify I know.
    2017 F-350 CCSB 6.7L
    2021 Micro Minnie 2100BH
    previously - Reflection 28BH, Intech Pursue

  2. #12
    Seasoned Camper ncitro's Avatar
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    It was 6k pounds. I towed it with a 1500 Avalanche, a 05 Super Duty 6.0, a 08 Super Duty v10, and a 12 6.7 diesel. I towed it to Florida (from Chicago) with the Avalanche, and up into Michigan with the others. I can tell you with the smaller truck I had a standard weight distribution hitch, and except for wanting more power it towed great, and with the Super Duty’s I didn’t use any weight distribution at all and it towed great as well. I would say my 28bh tows excellent, but it’s also almost ten foot longer and almost twice the weight. I am quite sure it tows better than a comparably sized travel trailer even with a Hensley (just my opinion, no experience there).

    I have been in some tight spots with the 5er, and never not been able to get into my site, but there are certainly more sites I could have had access to with the smaller trailer. That’s part of why we didn’t go any bigger than the 28bh.
    2018 Reflection 28BH
    2019 F350 Platinum 6.7L LB 4x4

  3. #13
    Rolling Along backtrack2015's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLexx View Post
    If you really want a rugged travel trailer check this brand out.

    https://www.blackseriescamper.com/
    I'm not looking for anything especially rugged. Since you mention it, I actually passed one of those headed toward NM on my last trip. It certainly looked plenty rugged, far more so than the Tundra pulling it.
    2017 F-350 CCSB 6.7L
    2021 Micro Minnie 2100BH
    previously - Reflection 28BH, Intech Pursue

  4. #14
    Rolling Along backtrack2015's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ncitro View Post
    It was 6k pounds. I towed it with a 1500 Avalanche, a 05 Super Duty 6.0, a 08 Super Duty v10, and a 12 6.7 diesel. I towed it to Florida (from Chicago) with the Avalanche, and up into Michigan with the others. I can tell you with the smaller truck I had a standard weight distribution hitch, and except for wanting more power it towed great, and with the Super Duty’s I didn’t use any weight distribution at all and it towed great as well. I would say my 28bh tows excellent, but it’s also almost ten foot longer and almost twice the weight. I am quite sure it tows better than a comparably sized travel trailer even with a Hensley (just my opinion, no experience there).

    I have been in some tight spots with the 5er, and never not been able to get into my site, but there are certainly more sites I could have had access to with the smaller trailer. That’s part of why we didn’t go any bigger than the 28bh.
    Thank you for sharing your towing experience. It's great to have a forum like this where we can learn from the experiences of others. I agree, the 28BH was as big as I'd allow the wife to go. It's nearly equivalent to a 28-ft TT (behind the truck), but it sits a bit higher (more clearance) and the rear-jacks are pretty far forward which really helps it fit into smaller sites.
    2017 F-350 CCSB 6.7L
    2021 Micro Minnie 2100BH
    previously - Reflection 28BH, Intech Pursue

  5. #15
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    I would definitely stick with the fiver. I don't understand the comment about maneuvering in-and-out of gas stations. 5th wheels maneuver and back much better than travel trailers do. The pivot point is closer to the axles as opposed to a bumper pull that hangs about 4' further behind that vehicle. I also don't understand your concern about bicycles. We have a grand design 33RL reflection and we take bicycles, they have a trailer hitch on the back of the trailer that holds a bicycle rack. As far as towing 500 miles A-day at 65 miles an hour that would depend on the truck. We tow with an F450 at a combined weight of 23000 pounds total. I usually set the cruise control at 75 and it rarely moves out of 6 the gear unless I'm going up steep grades then it shifts down to 5th to maintain the speed. And using the bed to carry things really isn't that big of a problem. I currently carry 2 generators and a 40 gallon combination fuel tank and tool Box. As well as a handful of other things in the bed of the truck and everything sits below the bedrail so the 5th wheel pivoting to 90゚ is not an issue either.

  6. #16
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    Yep we just went from Salt Lake City to Winnemucca in I-80 at about 75 mph. We encountered heavy cross and headwinds. As a result my fuel consumption was 7.4 mpg. But the tow was easy and we passed all the semis going up the hill with ease. The DRW really helped to stabilize the load in the winds.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  7. #17
    Rolling Along backtrack2015's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by [email protected] View Post
    I would definitely stick with the fiver. I don't understand the comment about maneuvering in-and-out of gas stations. 5th wheels maneuver and back much better than travel trailers do. The pivot point is closer to the axles as opposed to a bumper pull that hangs about 4' further behind that vehicle. I also don't understand your concern about bicycles. We have a grand design 33RL reflection and we take bicycles, they have a trailer hitch on the back of the trailer that holds a bicycle rack. As far as towing 500 miles A-day at 65 miles an hour that would depend on the truck. We tow with an F450 at a combined weight of 23000 pounds total. I usually set the cruise control at 75 and it rarely moves out of 6 the gear unless I'm going up steep grades then it shifts down to 5th to maintain the speed. And using the bed to carry things really isn't that big of a problem. I currently carry 2 generators and a 40 gallon combination fuel tank and tool Box. As well as a handful of other things in the bed of the truck and everything sits below the bedrail so the 5th wheel pivoting to 90゚ is not an issue either.
    Thanks for your reply. The towing comparison in this case is between a 33'10" fiver and a 25' total-length TT. The TT is nearly nine feet shorter overall, but admittedly only about 3'6" shorter behind the truck. I totally agree with those who have stated that, given both are the same length and weight, the fiver will tow better and be a shorter overall combination than a TT. The reason I speculate the shorter TT would be easier in gas stations is that it is shorter overall and the location of the pivot point (behind the truck) means it would track the truck better in turns. I expect the lighter weight of the TT (3000-lbs less than the F-350) would likely keep quite a bit of the bad behavior in check on the highway, but one could always go nuclear and get a pivot-point-projection hitch.

    We did a bigger trip this past weekend down to Corpus Christi and the 28BH was a superb pull in very strong side winds. I may ultimately just keep the 28BH and get a bike rack for the top of the truck cab on our local trips. I don't like adding length and tail-swing targets with a rack mounted on the rear of the trailer. I've been keeping it to 65MPH thus far (except for an occasional pass) in order to keep some extra margin on the Westlake tires. My tires are loaded to about 74% of rated capacity (axles at 80%) when we are underway and the 65MPH reduces the rate of flex/heating a bit in addition to giving me a prayer that I might stop in time if something occurred ahead of me. The truck would love to go 75MPH.
    2017 F-350 CCSB 6.7L
    2021 Micro Minnie 2100BH
    previously - Reflection 28BH, Intech Pursue

  8. #18
    Big Traveler
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    Do yourself a favor and get rid of the Westlakes. One of mine developed a split sidewall within the first week. I propmptly replaced them with Sailun 637ST 14 ply tires. We’ve got about a bit over 10k mi on the trailer now with zero tire issues. Yes 14 ply tires are overkill for the relatively light 28bh, but that’s exactly the point. That’s why I was able to drive almost 400 mi today at about 75 mph into strong head and crosswinds on a hot day.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  9. #19
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    We are currently considering the opposite switch (From a 6.5K 21ft TT to the 28BH). We used to tow the TT with an F-150 Max Tow and all the concerns people have brought up are very valid, it was not always a fun experience. However, we have since upgraded the tow vehicle to a Chevy 3500 Duramax SRW and I can tell you that towing the TT is not a concern. We have taken several 2000 to 4000-mile trips and it is a pleasure to tow. We live in Utah and our trips take us through some very steep grades and windy conditions. I am sure the 5th wheel does tow superior but I would personally not make the decision based off of that if you are going to pull with a full-size HD truck. Personally, our upgrade is more based on wanting more space for the family (especially when on longer adventures). The thing holding us back a bit is the concern about being able to get a 28BH into some of the boondocking spots we love to visit.

  10. #20
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    I will add this update. Yesterday we went from Winnemucca, NV back to our home in the Folsom, CA area. We took I-80. Most of the trip was at about 4500 ft elevation. The headwinds and crosswinds were VERY bad. The big semis were blown all over the place. I saw a couple of Mercedes Sprinter vans get blown half a lane over. At one point we saw more than half a dozen dust devils all around us. In fact I think we passed through part of one because I felt a violent hard push. And let me tell you. It freaked me out.

    Thankfully our truck/trailer combo was rock solid. We did not move out of our lane. The effect was more psychological than physical movement. Being I had my entire family with us (3 kids in the back), I was VERY thankful that we were driving a vehicle that was overkill for the trailer we were towing.

    I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those towing with "lesser" vehicles. There are a lot of very safe combinations out there. But I'm the kind of person that tends to plan for the worst and this was probably as close to that as I'll get since we generally don't drive in tornado country.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

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