Quote:
Originally Posted by 7Iron
After 6 months of looking and defining requirements, we picked up our Cougar 315RLS this past week.
We initially purchased (down payment made) a Montana High Country 372RD without seeing one, and when we were able to physically see one, we decided that it was too big (40ft and 13k dry)....going from a 29ft TT to this giant was a step too big.
I have a F350 6.7 LB 4x4 CB SRW and the 372 would push the upper limits of my TV, so we narrowed down to the Montana HC 305 or the Cougar 315. The 315 was selected primarily for two reasons (1.5ft more living space, dinette slide on our campsite side and refrig access in tow config) The big downside with the 315 is less available payload [5.2k axles vs 6K) and smaller bath.
The 315 had a spec dry wt of 10,562 lbs without 2nd AC and a published pin wt 1995. The actual wt (dry/empty) was 10,740 with pin of 2120.
After loading out normal TT gear the wt is now 11,520 w/pin of 2440 and was very close (within 20lbs) to my Wt & Balance spreadsheet calculator (see previous posts).
I have plenty of available TV cargo available (515 lbs) but only 1050 5er cargo available. Unfortunately, the 1050 has to be inside the 5er as the basement is full.
Doubly unfortunate is that the bedroom fwd closet and bedroom chest of drawers are nearly empty...and 88% of the wt put in these areas gets transferred to the pin/TV. The panty, hutch and refrig also have tons of space left and very little of this wt is transferred to the pin/TV.
I may need to re-engineer my loadout plan and shift basement stuff to inside...to optimize the available 5er and TV available cargo and axle ratings
What is remarkable is the significant difference in the TV handling compared to the TT.
The overall rig length only grew by 6 inches, and the living area grew by 10 ft in length and nearly 3 ft in width (2 additional slides) --- 60% more sq ft (208 vs 333).
And the pivoting point of the tow is 2.75 ft shorter (closer to TV) with the 5er.
The real bummer is that it is nearly 2 foot taller and I can't get it under the live oak tree in front of my house....
I think we are going to love the new rig!!
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Good luck with your new rig. We have a Cougar 32 RLI TT. One thing we did to help balance the load is to move some heavier items from the TV and TT to the cargo carrier in the back and it helps. I don't know if your 5er comes with that but you may be able to add it on.