Looking for Silverback 29IK Owners

[JCGibson]

Hello Forum,

We are new to the forum. Just sold our toyhauler FW and are looking to buy our next FW. We like what Silverback has to offer and like the 29IK floorplan. We don't have a local dealer that has a new one so we would like to hear from current owners of their likes and dislikes. Also, we would like to know the actual length from cap/hitch to bumper. The brochure says 33'11", but they aren't always correct. And does anyone know if the dry weight is accurate to the brochure (10,829)? Our truck can handle a lot, just want something a little lighter than our toyhauler was. Thanks!

[ependydad]

I generally recommend adding 1,000-2,000 pounds to the dry weight to find what is realistic for you to be carrying. You know if you generally pack light or heavy. From there, you can estimate the pin weight by figuring out the dry percentage (dry pin / dry weight) and then applying that against your estimated weight (pin percent * estimated weight). Once you have that, you can compare it against your truck's GVWR and/or rear axle weight.

Lots of people say to use GVWR instead so that you're OK in a worst case scenario.

[pengle]

Seems like we’re all pretty shy. Our 2012 29RE is brand new to us. We camped for one weekend before winterizing it. It took us 8 months of RV Shows, trips to dealers in a 30 mile radius, and hours of Internet shopping to finally decide that this was a 5th wheeler we could full time in. They say “when you step into the one that’s yours, that you’ll know it.” It seemed that way for us.

With both slides out the living room is huge. I know yours is the kitchen island version, ours isn’t. It’s still a big room. The television is on the end wall. When we really want to watch a movie I slide one of the easy chairs into the middle of the living room for a straight-on view. The chairs are very comfortable for reading or watching. We need a table between the two of them to put drinks on, magazine storage, etc.

We like having the table and chairs setup instead of a dinette. For those that don't know, the table has a leaf that stores in table that makes the table even longer.

The refrigerator seems large enough for the two of us. I’m going to add the fan mod that seems to increase the efficiency.

The 900 watt microwave takes twice as long to cook as our 1200 watt one in the house even though it has a smaller cavity.

There is gobs of storage in the living room and kitchen. There’s a place for a garbage pail under the sink.

A big selling point of some trailers is “real wood”. I don’t think our cabinets are solid wood. We like to keep things clean and I hope that our constant cleaning of the cabinet faces don’t wear off the paper that covers the pressboard.

The Corian countertop scratches. We bought this slightly used. There were scratches in the countertop; lots of scratches that are easy to see when the light shines on it. I’ll read some internet solutions to getting the scratches out and then we’ll see if OUR day to day use causes scratches as well. We may end up “ignoring” them.

The cathedral slides are nice looking and add to the hugeness of the living room. I see you only have one in your living room. It looks strange with just one. The window next to the entrance door gets very dirty from rain water running off of the cathedral slide. Camping World has this flexible vinyl gutter that I’m going to install over the window(s) after the temperature gets above 70 degrees to see if I can keep the windows cleaner.

We don’t have double pane windows – wish we did, for both hot and cold insulation.

Single handle faucets allow you to control temperature so much better. I’m going to replace the faucet in the bathroom but haven’t decided about the one in the kitchen. OUR bathroom sink and counter top space is very small. I really like yours, but I’m not fond of the sideways faucet layout you have. We have a corner shower that is large enough for us. I think you have one of the 42” rectangle ones and I would like it better.

We have a very nice floor to ceiling cabinet to the right of our corner shower in the bathroom and that seems like it will be plenty of storage for us.

We have a wonderfully comfortable regular queen size mattress. I’d guess it is 8” thick with Donald Trump’s name on it. I’ve read some complaints about it online but honestly it is like sleeping on our home mattress. The room can take a king size mattress but I wouldn’t want to give up the side-of-the-bed walking space.

I would be the one who would end up going to the Laundromat so I was thrilled to find a 5th wheel with connections for a washer/dryer combo unit in our bathroom closet. We’ll buy one next year. I KNOW it takes 3 hours to do a load. Don’t care. I’m out in the sunshine with my feet up reading a book. I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be starting a load and then heading to the museum though.

Speaking of the bathroom closet…you can actually hang coat hangers in there! With clothes on them! Wow, I can’t believe the number of trailers we went into with the hanging area next to the bed – THE HANGERS DON’T FIT.

We saw a newer 29RE with the television over the window with a dresser under the window. We would have preferred that layout. In our bedroom we have a vertical 4 drawer dresser to the left of a vertical window. The television sits on the dresser.

The basement storage for outdoor stuff seems HUGE right now. Wait till we start full timing and we’ll see if there’s really enough. I’m sure I’ll be adding shelves that hang from the “rafters”. I’ll also add a couple of those square vinyl fence storage tubes that hang under the basement area. One will contain the sewer hose.

We bought the 5th wheel first and then went and bought a new ¾ ton Ford Diesel to pull it. I am really comfortable with this combination. It tows very nicely and the new truck is so fun to drive. We averaged 11.5 MPG on our 250 mile shakedown weekend.

Our dry weight label says 10,300 lbs. From the front of the towing pin to the back of the spare tire hanging on the back bumper it is very close to 34'.

[Old car]

We don't own one but have looked at one and really liked it. The two concerns I have are you can't put slide toppers on the cathedral slide and the drainage directed toward the door. Inside--we loved the layout.

[Oakman]

The length of the 29IK listed in the brochure will be accurate. The weight listed in the brochure is the weight of a standard equipped trailer. When optional equipment and dealer installed items are added the weight increases. There will be a sticker, probably on the door, that will have the actual weight of the trailer as it went out the factory door.

BTW the 29IK is a new floorplan for 2014 which is why you haven’t gotten any responses from other IK owners.

[Little John]

Hello from the Great White (and Cold) North,
My wife and I are looking at these units as well and so far the only thing we see as a issues is not being able to access the fridge when the slides are in...
For that reason we likely will be going with the 29RE...
Take Care!

[lupie989]

We have a 2013 29RE. So far so good. We had it on some long trips last summer and it behaved itself quite well. No leaks. We love the huge living area and even put in our own island that works quite well. I had a similar size Cedar Creek and find I get about 2MPG more with my Silverado Diesel pulling the Silverback. It is a step down from the Cedar Creek but the price difference is significant. So far we are satisfied.

[Little John]

Thanks lupie989 for your feed back!
We were saying the same thing about picking up some type of "kitchen island" if we get this unit...might you have any photos of your and were you got it?
In fact are plan has just changed a little as of yesterday...as we found a 2011 29RL that has been well looked after and it even comes with a Diesel TV (this will help as we can then place our current "TV gasser" for sale!)
Take Care!

[lupie989]

My unit is in storage so a picture would be difficult. I bought the island online. Just Google kitchen island and you will have all kinds of options. Mine is dark wood with a butcher block top. Cost around 300. Assembly required. I don' t know about the room of the unit you are looking at, but ours must store between the two lounge chairs. Fits perfect and with a strap does not move at all. If I think of the company I will post it.

[lupie989]

Found It! Go to vintagetub.com, the unit is a Crosley Kitchen Cart/Island #CF3001. Hope this helps.