picked up a 320 BHDS Freedom Express yesterday

[jeeplj8]

Wife fell in love with the island kitchen, front bathroom and large bunkroom.

Picked it up yesterday. So far, A/C leaked on the slide carpet on the way home. Hopefully that is all we find wrong. The dealer went through it with us and fixed several things while we were there. Hopeing to get at least one night in it this weekend to see if we find anything else.

[ademalas]

Congrats on the FE. Saw it at the Hershey show, very nice floor plan. Post some pics when you get a chance.

Enjoy!

[TURBS]

congrats on the new to you unit !

[pwrplay]

Congrats on the trailer. Just got back from the Toronto Fall RV show today and our dealer brought one to the show and boy is it ever nice, it almost feels like a 5th wheel the way its laid out!! Love to upgrade my 292BHDS but the 320 won't fit in my driveway .

The 292 barely fits as it is. Oh well . have fun and keep us posted on how it goes with it.

[steeleshark2]

Wow, nice rig! Cannot wait to see some updates from your camping expeditions.

[jeeplj8]

It is a monster, We actually looked at the 292, which got us looking at the coachmen line. We had pretty much decided on ordering the 310 (wife really wanted a bunkroom) when they introduced the 320. different floorplan with the extra slide and island kitchen, she was in love.

Pulled it about 1000 miles so far, and only spent 4 nights in it - something wrong with that ratio. Anyway, pulls pretty well in general. Have not weighed it, but figure with light load of camping gear is over 9k lbs. The length takes some getting used to, and the sway in winds is more than I expected, though that may be partly due to the Reece Pro WD/friction sway set-up the dealer installed for me. May need to upgrade in the future.

Had a question about weight. I pull it with a Excursion diesel with upgraded 1 ton suspension all around and larger sway bars. I used to own a Dodge 1500 with the factory HD work package (don't know if they still sell it that way) but figure that is comparable to today's 1/2 ton HD package trucks. I would only pull this thing with a 1/2 ton for short distances, or I was able to travel non-interstate roads. I would probably do it, and be OK, but I would not necessarily recommend it to others.

[jeeplj8]

a few pics

[steeleshark2]

WOW, very nice looking rig!!

[jeeplj8]

a few pic from over the weekend

[steeleshark2]

Very nice rig. I really like it. It was a great choice.

[jeeplj8]

weighed 8640 on the scale the other night with tongue weight of 1160.

[Nomation]

Hi,

We are in the final stages of purchasing the same trailer. The dealer has told me that it should be safe to pull it with our 2004 Expedition, 5.4 with the HD Tow Package. I've pulled a 6 x 12 cargo van with about 6100 lbs in it before and no real issues. The tow rating on the TV is 8900 lbs. Any advice or updated info on the trailer "good or bad" would be appreciated. We also looked at the everlite 31BHS and it was a tough choice. We plan to live in the trailer for about a year near Salt Lake City Utah while house is being built. How do you think it will fair in the winter?

Thanks again

Tim

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Nomation

We are in the final stages of purchasing the same trailer. The dealer has told me that it should be safe to pull it with our 2004 Expedition, 5.4 with the HD Tow Package. I've pulled a 6 x 12 cargo van with about 6100 lbs in it before and no real issues. The tow rating on the TV is 8900 lbs.

Tim- unfortunately, unless the dealer is a close and personal friend, his opinion doesn't amount to a pile o beans. I strongly recommend that you learn about payload capacities and what your "gross vehicle weight rating" is and how tongue weight comes into play.

For help, I wrote an article about this:
What Can I Tow?

You have great numbers above to use in your calculations:

weighed 8640 on the scale the other night with tongue weight of 1160.

[jeeplj8]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Tim- unfortunately, unless the dealer is a close and personal friend, his opinion doesn't amount to a pile o beans. I strongly recommend that you learn about payload capacities and what your "gross vehicle weight rating" is and how tongue weight comes into play.

For help, I wrote an article about this:
What Can I Tow?

You have great numbers above to use in your calculations:

I sent Tim a PM as well. I want to re-iterate that after pulling this trailer for at least 2500 miles in the past year, I would not do it with a 1/2 ton truck. I think the closest is the Ford F-150 max tow with both the high payload and over 10K tow rating. Even then, you are pushing it.

It is not necessarily the weight, although virtually every 1/2 ton will be over at least one weight category, but the sheer size of it.

My Excursion is a 3/4 ton truck (and then I have upgraded 1 ton springs). My factory tow rating is 12,500, my CCC is over 3500 and my RAWR is 6500. It may be an SUV, but no one has ever made anything else with numbers like that. Most importantly, I would not want to tow this thing with ANYTHING smaller.

BTW - we still love this trailer and everytime we go out realize there is nothing that suits us better out there.

[snapper]

This trailer is one of the largest trailers on the road. I would cation you on towing it with that tow rating. I am looking to purchase the same trailer and decided to go with the 310BHDS FREEDOM EXPRESS. it is 500 lbs lighter and a foot shorter. It is very similar in accommodations. Plus you get a bigger dinnette and a second door to winter the bathroom.