maiden voyage with the 2013 xlr27hfs-EP

[melk-man]

learning experience for sure but overall went very well. 400 miles or so round trip to a FTR harescramble just west of Jacksonville FL pulling with my 2005 diesel 6L ford excursion with air-bag system.
First off, i don't know how ANYONE would pull this thing with a standard 1/2 ton gas truck. The former owner did, but wow, it's not light. I figured with 20gal of fuel onboard, 60+- gal of fresh water, the trailer weight, 2 dirt bikes, stuff, etc. it was easily 8500lb. I averaged 10 mpg never exceeding 70mph. It pulled well, but felt "heavier" than my 24' cargo roadrace trailer that gets loaded to the max (that with 2 roadrace bikes, golf cart, pit bikes, tool chest, etc. is easily 8500lb rolling down the road).

Took some help from fellow racer Keith (who has a 2011 xlr27hfs) and others, including the former owner, to get me sorted with getting the hot water to work, what switches work what, etc. But overall this toyhauler is SWWEEEEETTT.
Very nicely appointed, lots of nice features, no real complaints. The 15k AC works great (although was only 80f or so), floor plan is very nice, generator works well.

I stuffed a bunch of old pillows and blankets around the metal generator box in the storage area under the bed. The gen is kind of loud, and hoped that dampend the sound some. I will likely sleep on the bed in the back and you HAVE to add memory foam or something to BOTH front and rear beds. The rear bed for sure. It's super thin, but the front is not great. I'm gonna try the camping world suggestion for $162 to add 4" to the front bed. The dinette table is a tad wobbly, but not horrible. the newer seat foam is very nice.

overall very happy with the 2013 xlr27hfs-ep, and many that looked at it seemed to like it as well.



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Here is the spray port i had added to the DRIVER side of my trailer. i'm using the fuel station compartment to house the 15' coiled hose and trigger sprayer, as well as the shower wand and suction cup holder (that you stick on the outside trailer wall). Not tons of pressure, but worked well enough. Lazy Days ran the water lines, and mounted the spray port. We couldn't go any higher as the frame of the trailer was there.


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[leadhead358]

I will be pulling mine with a 1/2 ton Silverado with tow package and air bags in a couple weeks though West Virginia mountains for the first time. We will not be loading with water and fuel though. Pulled it 300 miles to bring it home last fall and I was surprised with gas mileage still was around 15 mpg. Could you tell me if factory put your generator in. I had mine ordered with one but have not ran it yet. Thanks

[melk-man]

i don't see how you will average 15mpg with a 1/2 ton-gas. are you sure you didn't forget to reset the mileage meter prior to towing
My diesel gets about 18mpg on the hwy at 70-72 (not towing anything). above that, with as much air as the excursion moves, mileage goes down. I have never gotten better than 11 when towing my big 24' loaded up 8.5' wide 7'high interior roadrace trailer.. and as i found this weekend, the xlr was just a tad worse.
I'm sure the 1/2 ton will work, but i had a lincoln navigator back in 2004, and it only got 6mph pulling a 16' cargo trailer with a couple race bikes in it.. lol
Naturally you should be better off if you don't have the extreme weather package weight, and can hold off on filling up the water and gas tank.

Yes, the generator was installed at the factory.. it's the 4k wt Onan with the gen prep (have to have that to get the onboard generator). If you have the room in the back, or in the back of your silverado, you could carry a nice quiet Honda EU3000 and perhaps get the remote start for it. I just picked up a genuine honda remote start kit ($110) that plugs right into my EU6500. really nice. The Onan is reasonably quiet, and it is VERY nice just pushing a button to start and stop and not having to drag it out, undo the cord, etc. But it is not SUPER quiet, and you will feel it when using the front bedroom as it is literally 8" or so from the bottom of the mattress..

[djmac1964]

I pulled mine down to our seasonal site two weekends ago. I was a bit heavy, as I had brought along stuff for camping and hunting, and had the water tank filled, since I wasn't sure if the water would be on yet at the campground. I was actually about 800lbs over the GCVWR (and I knew it) I was within the vehicles rating on the axles, and the tongue weight was about 200 over for the vehicle. It was about 100 mile trip, from the Cleveland OH area, to the Cambridge OH area, some hills to deal with, but nothing bad. It pulled very nice, and I got about 8.4 MPG in my 2013 Silverado 1500. Will be a little lighter when we go to FL in the summer, but I was happy with the way it handled.

[jwhitemx15]

I get approximately 8 mpg when pulling my 27HFS with my Yukon XL Denali. Mine has the 6.2L engine and it pulls the trailer just fine. sure it would be nice to pull it with a diesel, but I'm pulling it with my every day driver. If I had a diesel truck... then I would have went with a larger toy hauler.

So far I love the 27HFS, but have yet to take it out this year, and actually need to de-winterize it now. We'll be using it a lot more mid-summer through fall, so I can't wait to hit the races then!