We are really excited to finally be able to upgrade to a 5th wheel! We are hoping that this will be our "Forever" camper for the next 10 years if it can hold up to full time living/traveling.
We opted for the King Bed and the Dinette with a 2nd AC unit.
I have a few questions as this is my first 5th wheel.
1. What system should I have installed in the truck to connect this to, I would like to have the dealer install this for me.
2. What washer and dryer combo should I put in this thing?
3. Should I get the over the slide toppers?
Any other stuff I should know about this particular unit?
We can't wait to get it in as we will be full timing starting October and heading west with it as well as Florida.
Congrats. We had a 320MKS, nice unit.
1.
Some characteristics of the truck will steer what you have to add to it to tow your trailer. We have a short-bed SRW truck so I opted for the Pullrite Superglide hitch which automatically moves the trailer back in the bed as you're turning. Without it, an incautious sharp turn will ram the trailer into the back of your cab, and many tight campsites and fueling stations will require a lot more careful wiggling around with much-increased turning radius, so I opted for the carefree fuggedaboudit auto-slider.
I don't love it - it takes up roughly half the bed of the truck, weighs several hundred pounds so it never comes out, and it gets pretty oily and dirty, but I'm VERY glad I have it for the carefree extra mobility it gives me.
Alternatives are fixed hitches, and hitches that don't auto-slide but allow you to "manually" slide the trailer back in tight situations. You'll doubtless hear from people who own them, and then have to make the choice that's best for you.
Whether or not you need to add airbags or anything else is again determined by what truck you have. My advice is, don't do this with less truck than you need. Do it with MORE truck than you need if you can afford that. It's worth it.
2.
I don't know - we didn't install one - but be forewarned that washer-dryer sets don't usually just drop into place in these trailers. You likely have to do some venting and some additional plumbing, and in at least some GD trailers it's necessary to partially dismantle the frame of the washer/dryer closet door to get the units in there. It's not a job I'd do myself, though others here have done it.
3.
Yes. We didn't have slide toppers on our 320MKS, but we have them on our Solitude and would put them on any future trailer after experiencing the benefits of them. They reduce the noise of rain on slide roofs quite significantly - very noticeable in bed at night - and they almost certainly help keep the trailer cooler in sunny weather.
4.
I know, I know, you didn't have a number 4, but you don't mention getting double-pane windows. Again, we did not have them on our 320MKS and we do have them on our Solitude. They quite noticeably reduce noise from outside, and condensation on the windows when temps drop towards freezing. They might also help a little in maintaining temperature inside the trailer, though I can't swear to that.
One final bit of advice: plan to do a VERY thorough pre-delivery inspection of the trailer before you hand over your check for it. Plan to spend a couple of hours at least, ask the dealer to put the trailer somewhere with full-hookups so you can test everything, find on the internet lists of things to check, and then check them all, every one. It is generally MUCH easier and faster to get the dealer to look after problems before you pay for the trailer and drive away than afterwards.
Congratulations again.
