2004 28' SO with Elk Mountain Decor - Help

[joshua32064]

Greetings,

I am brand new to the forum and I have to tell you that after reading several of the comments written, I am so glad to see that there is a way for fellow owners to communicate with one another.

I have never owned an R/V before and self admittedly know nothing about the entire buying process. I have quickly learned that buying an R/V is nothing like buying a car. There is no www.kbb.com to check what a dealer invoice is, etc.

With that said, I will tell you that I originally was looking to purchase a 28' CCD. The unit that I had originally spec'd out was fully loaded and there was not one option that it did not have. The MSRP was $57,221. After sending a few e-mail's to various dealers, I have found that a few are more willing to negotiate than others. The best price that I have received so far is $45,000. Is there a way to find out what the invoice is? Is there a certain percentage off of MSRP that I should be looking to get?

With that said, I will tell you that I no longer feel the 28' CCD is the best unit for me. The 28' SO seems to be the same price and offers much more space and in my opinion just seems like a more comfortable unit. I am now waiting on new quotes from the dealers, but I still have NO clue what a good deal is considered to be? In addition, what is the deal with the freight and pdi? They have told me that there is a charge of $1,100 for freight and then $349 for pdi. I have already said that I will not pay any pdi charges. To me, if I am going to spend upwards of $40,000 for a recreational product, that is what customer service is all about.

I will be towing the new unit with my 2003 GMC 1500HD. My truck is very unique because it has Quadrasteer. I should mention that in addition, I have the trailering / towing package. Do you all think that my truck is OK with the weight of the 28' SO? From the research that I have done, it seems like everything will be OK, but as I have said, I have NO experience with this.

Will it be important for me to purchase products such as a sway control or braking module? Do I have to purchase accessories such as hoses from the dealer to make my unit campground worthy at an R/V park?

I appreciate all of your help and look forward to your responses.

Josh

[59toaster]

See if this thread helps with the MSRP http://www.airforums.com/forum...highlight=MSRP

Truck should be up to the task if it has 4.10 gears and one of the larger motors.

[j54mark]

I don't know what the towing limits are for your GMC, but you should. Keep in mind that the limit is derived from max combined weight, which is affected by not just what is in the trailer but also those six people, your two generators, and the concrete lawn ornaments you carry to your campsite.

The Safari 28' slide out is one heavy dude. You should expect it to be ready to travel at not less than 7500 lbs. Published empty weight is just that - no water, no LP gas, no canned goods, and NO OPTIONS. If you max it out, you are looking at 8500 lbs.! The empty 28' CCD is about 1,000 lbs lighter, with a gross of around 7300 lbs., which is still a pretty good load.

The tongue weight of both those models seems very high to me. I would want some answers before I bought one. It could be that, once loaded, it becomes a more reasonable figure.

The experience of this forum seems to be that dealer discounts run in the area of 10 - 20 %, with 15% being more or less the norm. Some dealers do not come off list at all. Some hot selling models have been known to bring full list regardless of dealer. The quality of dealer service should be a factor as well.

Many dealers have accessory packages to get you ready to go. It is not unheard of to get them to "throw it in" to make the sale.

I doubt you will find anyone who will recommend against some form of sway control for a 28' trailer. Some hitch systems have it built in - Hensley, Pull-rite, Reese Dual Cam. Others use some kind of damper or friction device. There is a lot of information on hitch options on the towing forum.

Brake controlers have also been discussed at some length on these forums. Don't srimp here. The very best on the market is only about $70 more than the cheapest.

Good luck,

Mark

[john hd]

josh

your truck will do quite nice.

it is essentially the same as my '00 3/4 ton, with an 8600 lb gvw. minus the quadra steer.

as toaster mentioned the 4.10 gears and a 6.0 liter engine will allow you to tow without worry. i have had over 10,000 lb behind mine and had no handling issues.

yes, you will need a brake controller and sway control, essential items for safe towing. the brake controller wiring is pre-installed on chevys since '99, it is a plug and play installation. 15 min. tops!

as for hoses etc. your dealer will sell you those, if you don't like their prices check wal-mart. they will have everything you need. -or- ask your dealer to throw those items in with the deal. 50 bucks of assorted hoses shouldn't break the deal. if your spending 40+k they should throw them in gratis!

john

[luke warm]

Josh, I would make certain that the truck can handle the 9100 lb max weight of the safari 28 slide out, considering the weight that you will be loading into the truck. Let me preface by saying that I do not have a trailer, but that model is the one that we have become stuck on. In our search, once we saw one, nothing else seems to be able to change our minds. For that kind of $, I refuse to "settle" on something less (IMHO) ! What kept it from happening is the fact that my silverado 1500 4wd 5.3 isn't up to the task, & I can't afford this trailer and a new duramax... or maybe just the thought of that much $ for the "whole rig" scared me away, at least so far. Don't let me scare you off too, just make sure that the truck can handle the load, then once you're sure , enjoy! luke

[joshua32064]

Greetings all, I just received an e-mail from the dealer telling me that the Elk Mountain Decor package has been discontinued. With that being said, I am going to switch back to my original plan which was to purchase the 28' International CCD.

I want to clarify that my GMC 1500HD is equipped with the 5.7 V-8 engine and has the 3.73 gear ratio. I could be wrong, it's either 3.73 or 3.75. With that said, do you think that the 28' International CCD is still to heavy?

I am going to check the trailering capacity on the GMC website and will update when I find something out.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[joshua32064]

Greetings,

After visiting the GMC website, I am absolutely convinced that the truck which I have has been discontinued.

I then searched www.edmunds.com and was able to find my truck and the information regarding it. According to the Edmund's site, my truck is equipped with a V-8, 6.0 engine and creates 300 HP. The site claims that the towing capacity is 10,300 LBS. Does this sound right?

If anyone is curious about viewing the vehicle that I do have, it can be seen by following this link:

http://www.roadandtravel.com/awards/...3gmcsierra.htm

I searched the web to find my truck and sure enough it does exist. This is why I think GMC discontinued it. If you check their website, you will see absolutely NO mention of it.

With that said, does everyone think that the 28' CCD will be OK or should I start thinking about a 22'

Thanks!

[jcanavera]

Josh,

Why guess? Call a dealer or call GMC with your information from your vehicle. They should be able to give you what you need. I just looked at their site and the Denali pickup shows Quadrasteer with the 6.0 liter engine and 4.10 axle. About 10,000 lbs towing capacity. No 6.0 liter engine option on the 1500 pickup.

Do you still have your window sticker from your vehicle or any other new vehicle information? I've got a 2500 Savana van with the 6.0 liter engine and 4.10 axle. Its night and day difference from my 5.7 liter 3.73 axle van which I had previously.

Jack

[joshua32064]

Jack,

Believe it or not, I am currently in China right now on business. As soon as I return to the states, I will take a look at the window sticker and call the GMC dealer.

Thanks again for your help.

Josh

[59toaster]

I have a 454 with 3.73 gear. That sort of weight is at the max. The HP is not nearly as important as the torque. My truck peaks torque at 1600 rpm at 385lbft. I have pulled that kind of weight and it will do it BUT it isn't a happy camper in the hills. I also had a run problem so it may not be as bad now.

Now that said, since your truck should have the 4l80 it has a lower set of gears internaly in 1st and 2nd. your third gear should be 1:1 so at that point your in the same boat.

[john hd]

"I then searched www.edmunds.com and was able to find my truck and the information regarding it. According to the Edmund's site, my truck is equipped with a V-8, 6.0 engine and creates 300 HP. The site claims that the towing capacity is 10,300 LBS. Does this sound right?"

yes

john

[joshua32064]

Forgot to mention one thing about the truck, it definitely has a 3.73 gear ratio, not the 4.10

[john hd]

Originally posted by joshua32064
Forgot to mention one thing about the truck, it definitely has a 3.73 gear ratio, not the 4.10

i'll restate my yes, and say "most likely"

since you decided to go with the lighter trailer you should do just fine.

john

[Happycampers]

Josh, This is Annie's husband Marvin, We have a 02 GMC 1500HD and tow a 1976 Tradewind 25ft the truck has a 5.3 and 3.73 rear end and it tows our trailer very well. I can pull it 70 mile per hour with no problem. Hope this helps.

[davidz71]

Josh,
I think you will find that your 1500HD is outfitted with a 6.0 litre engine rather than a 5.7 litre engine. This translates to about 387-389 cubic inches of engine and it is a better engine than the 5.7 was. If your truck is a 2WD crew cab, the max. trailer weight is 8200 lbs. with 3.73 rear end ratio and 10,200 with the 4.10 rear. If your truck is a 4X4 crew cab, these values are 7,900 lbs. and 9,900 lbs. respectfully for a non-quadrasteer equipped vehicle. Chevy says that these figures may be less with the quadrasteer option so check with them.

[joshua32064]

After a lot of research, here it is:

The Sierra 1500 HD can tow trailers weighing up to 10,200 pounds, or haul up to 3094 pounds of payload (2783 with 4WD). It comes standard with the Z85 handling/trailering suspension designed to provide a smooth ride. Though its bed is short, this truck is a great choice for people who tow horse trailers, race cars, or campers. The 6.0-liter V8 that comes standard in 1500 HD models is tuned with considerably more torque in the four-wheel-drive versions (488 pounds-feet) than in the two-wheel-drive versions (360 pounds-feet); the 4WD model trades off 76 peak horsepower to the 2WD model to do this.

Thanks for everyone who helped out. I am in the process of finalizing my deal on a new 28' Airstream. I will let you all know what happened.

[csimingt]

Josh,
Are you dealing with Oasis RV in Tucson? I think they are very nice people, but would be curious about how much of a discount they give you from the list price.
Clark

[joshua32064]

Oasis RV in Tucson was the very first Airstream dealer that I contacted. I sent them a very lengthy e-mail, but I never received a response.

After that, I sent the same e-mail to several other Airstream dealers and all but one quickly replied.

I figured that when I never heard back from Oasis, they were clearly not interested in my business.

As I have mentioned in some other postings, I am currently working on a project in China so I am unable to just pick up a phone and speak with various dealers.

To this point, I have found some dealers who act like they are selling gold and going to do you a favor if they reduce the price by 3% off of MSRP. To be honest, that is a dealer who I have nbo interest in dealing with. I have also found many dealers that will take 10% to 15% off of MSRP and I have a found a handful of dealers who will take 20% to the best being 24% off of MSRP and that price was an out the door price.

Josh