First timer needs help

WildBill · 12-29-2005, 09:57 PM

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to get some ideas and opinions from the experienced crowd. I just retired in October 2005 and I am thinking of selling my house in Colorado this coming spring/summer and buying a 5th wheel. I like the looks and lay out of the Mobile Suites 38RL3. I am interested in knowing if anybody has had any big problems with this unit and what people would think would be a good tow vehicle.
I would also like to know what would be comparable units to the MS 38RL3 for full timing.
Any information, personnel opinions, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated since this would be my first 5th wheeler and I would like to do it right the first time. I am thinking of living summers in CO and winters someplace warmer.
Thanks again for any information provided.

CampingCaptain · 12-29-2005, 11:13 PM

Hi Bill,
Welcome to the fifth-wheel forum. You can definitely find a lot of good information here. I might suggest that you check out the Mobile Suite portion of this forum. You can definitely get a lot of good advice from the people who already own a Mobile Suite. You can get a lot of good information just from reading a lot of the posts that are already there.

We don't have a Mobile Suite yet, but plan on buying one after we retire in 2007. We have been reasearching them for a couple of years, checking them out at RV shows. I think they are one of the best built fifth wheels out there for the money.

You can also get a lot of great information by going to the Mobile Suite forum on Yahoo. The link there is:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/mobilesuites/.

Again, welcome to the forum and good luck in your search.

rverdlm · 12-30-2005, 08:12 AM

Selling the house and going fulltime was a good decision for us. We've been doing it 10 years now. We have a MS 38RL3 & we love it. It and a few other brands are good fulltimer trailers. Teton, Travel Supreme, come quickly to mind. With the MS you get a lot more bang for the buck. The only thing I will say in a negative vein is that if after a year or 2 you decide you don't like it you will lose a lot of money in depriciation on any new trailer. As for a tow vehicle, just make sure you get enough truck. All the fulltimer trailers are heavy. Think at least 19K pounds with a pin weight of 4K pounds. A used HDT will give you the most truck for the money, but they are not for everybody. What ever trailer you get, if you buy new, get disc brakes and the biggest, heaviest tires you can get. I'm a firm believer in air hitches.

RodeWorthy · 12-30-2005, 08:39 AM

Hi Bill,
Thanks for joing 5th wheel forums and welcome aboard. You will find a wealth of information related to Mobile Suites products on the forum dedicated to that product. CampingCaptain is right, spend some time going over the old posts - there is a tremendous treasure chest of information from really nice people here.

Activity here has slowed a bit over the holidays and I have taken the opportunity to review as many of the old posts as I could the last few days. It is really helpful. You will surely come up with some specific questions so bring them back here. I can virtually guarantee you will get many viewpoints to ponder. Especially with regard to tow vehicles.

I am in the same situation as you except I will not be selling my house (yet). I retired in February 05 and have been looking at RVs for 3-4 years but very seriously the last 6 months. I am now focusing my efforts on the Mobile Suites, largely because of the information I get from this forum and also the WOW factor I got from my very first view of a 36TK3 about 3 years ago. At that time, I didn't think I could afford to go into that level of trailer and now I don't think it would be wise not to. I haven't decided on a model yet but I am liking the 38 RL3 as well as the 36TK3.

I have looked at other mfrs and have a short list of what I consider suitable to my needs. Drop me an e-mail if you would like a list.

And finally, if you have the opportunity, visit the factory in Howe, IN. It will surely boost your confidence in the Mobile Suites product. I was there on July 20th and it was the best of 7 tours we did that week.

Happy hunting and Happy New Year everybody!
RodeWorthy

nelsonraymond · 12-30-2005, 10:16 AM

Hi
We have had a 2004 36TK3 and now have a 2005 36TK3 MS and are Full Timers. They are definely an all season 5ver but so is a Teton and it has a great reputation. They also build one that is lighter that we had considered.

If we had any advice to pass on going from the 2004 to the 2005 we would say there is a nite and day difference in the ride in the truck and the trailer performance.

The 2004 had the Magnum Suspension/Trail Air package and bounced the inside of the trailer contents around and gave a very poor ride in the truck. (note we sought out help with Trail Air and the Factory many attempts)

The 2005 we asked the Factory to have the "MorRyde Independant installed and put a MorRyde Pin Box on and it performs great! (note it started out as the magnum suspension and was converted to MorRyde Independant)

They are heavy like people have posted prior and pulling them loaded up even with a Dually stretches the limits. Down the road we will be upgrading to a 550 series truck.

The difference between looking at the 38MS vrs. the 36TK3 is you won't be able to put as much contents in it because it dry weighs more. So that is something to consider too.

I would definely look at Teton.
hope this helps!

nelsonraymond · 12-30-2005, 10:19 AM

Hi
I forgot to mention that because we fulltime our unit is heavier and we would now never do without the MorRyde Suspension no matter what Brand we went with in the future. The ride is so smooth (more like what a Triple Axle gives you)

And we can say in our experiences this because we had a big enough truck to be pulling all the of units, (all of our past to present units)

Our 1st unit had no special suspenion /pin box package.
Our 2nd unit had a MorRyde Pin Box that we like.
Our 3rd unithad the Trail Air/Magnum Package with Pin Box which we trouble shot the ride in the Trailer and truck with the Factory and Trail Air and never Resolved.
Our Present has MorRyde Independant and MorRyde Pin Box. Which anyone who has a MS knows how heavy they are and the MorRyde changed the ride in the Truck nite and day from that Trail Air package. We are very satisfied with and just sharing this with you and others because of our total experiences.

Stripit · 12-30-2005, 10:25 AM

Hello Bill;
We decided to just quit working, sell the boat, house, cars and all the stuff in the house and take off to see the wonderful sites. We bought our 5er used with a MDT for our adventure, just in case, we didn't like it or wanted to quit. If we had to sell, we felt we would not loose as much. Well, after 5 months, we decided we needed a "better" 5er, that fit our living style, and the M.S. was exactly that trailer. We have been on the road for 2 1/2 years, and going strong, with no feelings of quitting. I would strongly suggest looking at everything out there, and once you start to see the "little" things that make up quality, or lack of, you will quickly remove many units as fulltimer rigs. Spend time sitting where you normally sit, and see if you think it would be comfortable for you. Some rigs to watch the tv, your looking thur the kitchen area, others your neck is turned slightly, causing a "pain in the neck" to watch tv. Some have extremely small holding tanks, tiny size wheels and tires, weak suspension systems and less insulation. We would drive thru various rv parks, and when we saw a trailer we were thinking about, we would stop and talk to the people. You get great information from someone who isn't a salesman. Come on out and visit, it is a great lifestyle and enjoy what America has to offer.