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Old 10-18-2016, 10:07 PM   #11
Padgett
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Just looked at Gas Buddy and 87 is $2.15-$2.19 and Diesel is $2.45-$2.50 on the cheap end & typically everything is about 10% higher in south Florida (Miami etc.).

Agree FCA has some issues. Would like the new 8 speed in mine but being a '12 it has the five speed and has never been an issue even on uphill on ramps from a stoplight.

ps V6 has a different kind of power and at 4000 rpm is less than 2/3 of the way to redline.

pps if the diesel had been available in '12, I would have bought one.
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Old 10-19-2016, 12:02 PM   #12
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Ah, there you are, LoveToCamp! I could not recall your handle! I love the demeanor of this powertrain - it isn't overtly, overwhelmingly powerful, but load it up and ask it to do a job, and it responds with sort of a shrug ("Yeah, I can do this.. What else have you got?") and goes about business casually. I wonder how I'd feel towing closer to max weight on mountain grades - I anticipate no issues with the TM, but I can imagine it running out of power on a long pull towing heavier and slowing down. Also have the impression that brake fade might be an issue heavy, but need more experience on grades. The 8 speed does downshift and hold pretty nicely in tow/haul mode, but you just don't get much compression braking with the diesel. I'd always go for an exhaust brake if one were offered... Wonder if one is in the cards in 2018 Rams?

Jim
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3124KB delivered 5/2015 - early unit from Nebraska. TM installed Dometic compressor fridge, lower battery rails, 4AWG batt cable, and PD converter during build. Custom RV installed cassette toilet, two 260 AH 6V batts, 2 UniSolar 64 solar panels, Morningstar MPPT controller/meter.

Tow vehicle: 2016 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman CC 4x4 3.0 diesel.
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Old 10-19-2016, 12:18 PM   #13
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aslag54, you are going to love towing with your Ecodiesel! I might wind up back at Custom if I were in your shoes - Scott pretty much rode herd on our trailer during construction. I'm not sure we would have ever been able to take delivery if he had not done that. As it was, we had enough issues to make us doubt the wisdom of our choice but Matt, Scott and the rest of the crew at Custom eventually got it all handled.
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3124KB delivered 5/2015 - early unit from Nebraska. TM installed Dometic compressor fridge, lower battery rails, 4AWG batt cable, and PD converter during build. Custom RV installed cassette toilet, two 260 AH 6V batts, 2 UniSolar 64 solar panels, Morningstar MPPT controller/meter.

Tow vehicle: 2016 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman CC 4x4 3.0 diesel.
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Old 10-19-2016, 06:17 PM   #14
aslag54
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I do look forward to towing with the new truck. Custom RV is 1200 miles away and Hartington NE is 1500 miles away. I certainly have more faith in Scott and his crew than I do the factory. Besides I'd much rather be in California than Nebraska in November. I called Scott this week and told him to expect me in a couple of weeks.
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returned with nearly as much damaged as was repaired. I took it back to
Custom RV (2400 mile round trip) where it sat 5 months waiting for parts
and repairs before I gave up and traded it in for a loss of close to $8K.
9,600 miles we traveled during the 11 months of ownership dealing exclusively
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Old 10-19-2016, 10:41 PM   #15
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Aslag54, I'm pretty confident in Scott, Matt and their folks. I think you are making a good call!

Love the dog, BTW. We just lost ours in late August after almost 16 years and I'm having withdrawal pains... but we need to wait a while before we consider another dog. This one was special, and it is going to hurt for a while.
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3124KB delivered 5/2015 - early unit from Nebraska. TM installed Dometic compressor fridge, lower battery rails, 4AWG batt cable, and PD converter during build. Custom RV installed cassette toilet, two 260 AH 6V batts, 2 UniSolar 64 solar panels, Morningstar MPPT controller/meter.

Tow vehicle: 2016 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman CC 4x4 3.0 diesel.
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Old 10-19-2016, 11:38 PM   #16
aslag54
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Jim

I looked at your photo album and it appears your 3124 has a swing away hitch (tongue) and your using an Andersen WDH. If I'm correct, were there any problems or modifications you had to make for the Andersen to fit? I haven't bought a WDH yet and would really like to go with an Andersen but I thought the hinge and extra steel on the tongue would be in the way.

Thanks in advance

Will
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Former owner of a brand new 2015 2720QD that began to fall apart on the drive
home. It spent 1 month waiting for TM Mfg to pick it up and 2 months later it was
returned with nearly as much damaged as was repaired. I took it back to
Custom RV (2400 mile round trip) where it sat 5 months waiting for parts
and repairs before I gave up and traded it in for a loss of close to $8K.
9,600 miles we traveled during the 11 months of ownership dealing exclusively
with repairs of this POS Trailmanor.
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Old 10-20-2016, 12:42 AM   #17
Skyjim73
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Hi Will, you are correct on both counts. Andersen plus swing hitch. At this point I like how quiet, bounce-free, and LIGHT the Andersen is, but dislike the dry hitch ball, which can be a pain to unhitch (plus it simply offends my mechanical sensibilities; still not sure about wear on the female socket... need more miles to decide.).

I am not certain how much weight transfer is actually going on when the chains are tensioned but have been too lazy to do quantitative experiments. Also been fairly low on spare change since buying the truck and shell, but I do need to do some baseline weighing of the combination ready for the road!

Scott and his crew actually performed the installation at Custom after I brought the hitch to them. I bought mine on Amazon after a quick call to Andersen to verify I was specifying the correct model number. I'll take some images tomorrow if you need more detailed shots, but IIRC you can see the bracket locations pretty clearly in the shots in front of my house. Scott followed the installation literature when positioning the brackets (you really will want to weld them) and they have caused me no problems thus far, though to be honest I have yet to swing the swing hitch...

Let me know if you want some detail images of the brackets and I'll get them to you ASAP. EDIT: Attaching a cropped blowup of existing shot. Will, note that the brackets are well aft of the swing hitch mating plane...
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3124KB delivered 5/2015 - early unit from Nebraska. TM installed Dometic compressor fridge, lower battery rails, 4AWG batt cable, and PD converter during build. Custom RV installed cassette toilet, two 260 AH 6V batts, 2 UniSolar 64 solar panels, Morningstar MPPT controller/meter.

Tow vehicle: 2016 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman CC 4x4 3.0 diesel.
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Old 10-20-2016, 01:11 AM   #18
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Padgett, I think the 8 speed with the Ecodiesel is brilliant, but wonder how it would feel with the previous generation 5 speed behind it - Probably not great! That ZF 8 spd keeps you so close to the torque peak in most situations it is uncanny, and you get the impression that the huge gear range allows the little diesel to kind of punch above its weight... but I still remember what an 88 F-250 with the pre-Powerstroke 7.3 was like with a C-6 and 4.10 gears - out of breath and not too happy at 65 mph! That created a pretty low diesel bar for me. (GOOD truck, just limited speed range with that gearing and no OD!)

I wonder how that 10 speed in the next gen F-150 is going to be with the Ecoboost engines... not to mention the forthcoming diesel.
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3124KB delivered 5/2015 - early unit from Nebraska. TM installed Dometic compressor fridge, lower battery rails, 4AWG batt cable, and PD converter during build. Custom RV installed cassette toilet, two 260 AH 6V batts, 2 UniSolar 64 solar panels, Morningstar MPPT controller/meter.

Tow vehicle: 2016 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman CC 4x4 3.0 diesel.
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Old 10-20-2016, 11:30 AM   #19
aslag54
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Jim

Thanks for the detailed images offer but not necessary. But could you tell me the distance from the center of the hitch ball to the center of the Andersen bracket. I may have some issues because of the slide out support mechanism. There is just not a whole lot of room on my A-frame.

Will
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Former owner of a brand new 2015 2720QD that began to fall apart on the drive
home. It spent 1 month waiting for TM Mfg to pick it up and 2 months later it was
returned with nearly as much damaged as was repaired. I took it back to
Custom RV (2400 mile round trip) where it sat 5 months waiting for parts
and repairs before I gave up and traded it in for a loss of close to $8K.
9,600 miles we traveled during the 11 months of ownership dealing exclusively
with repairs of this POS Trailmanor.
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Old 10-20-2016, 12:59 PM   #20
Shane826
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Will-
I have an Andersen WDH for my 3326 King, which has a front slide. You'll need to fashion some spacers to push the outer brackets away from the frame, otherwise the threaded rod & bushing runs into the lower part of the frame that supports the slide. I stole this idea from Edugo here on the site. I took a couple pieces of 5/8" stock and drilled holes to match the outer bracket, including the tapped hole for the set screws. Then I had to drill out the threaded hole on the original bracket. Doubled up the spacer and the outer bracket, used longer bolts, and good to go. The Andersen works great. I can take pics of the setup if you like.

Quick note: It isn't truly greaseless. After about 500 miles I started to get a creaking noise when the hitch was under tension. Although the ball moves side to side with the trailer, that does not account for any up & down rotation of the coupler on the ball. Andersen told me a little grease on the ball would do the trick.
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