Happy 280BH Owner

Flyguy · 03-24-2009, 01:10 PM

I think that the Passport series of travel trailers are well engineered, my wife and I own a 280BH and have not had any trouble with it. We had a minor issue when we first got it, the screen door was manufactured about an inch to short, but our dealer changed it and all is well now. It's a very light trailer with an empty weight of 4580#'s and a gross weight of 6040#'s and I think that's execellent for a 30+ foot trailer. We both loved the floorplan the first time we saw it, it sleeps 9 and this comes in handy when the grand kids want to go camping with us. I have made many modifications and additions to the trailer and it seems that this is a never ending thing (the more I do, the more there is to do) but we have features now that we didn't have before such as LCD tv, DVD movie capability, 12v outlets outside at the wheel wells so I can use my air pump and impact wrench to service the tires on the road, removable power cord because I hated having to stuff 20' of power cord in that little round hole, a power tongue jack to make hitching and unhitching easier, a Camco LP bottle cover so I can open and close the gas valves without taking off the cover, backup lights, so the guy behind me knows when I put it in reverse or I can see better when backing up at night. I took off the wheels and had them balanced and I'm looking into adding Shock absorbers to the suspension too, I know that this will make it pull better because we once owned an Avion TT and it had them and it pulled great.

Maniac · 06-29-2009, 03:06 PM

Flyguy, do you still have oll of your files availiable for viewing, I still like getting ideas. (Just don't tell my wife I found this site

) Besides, I am never to old to learn something new

Flyguy · 06-29-2009, 03:34 PM

Yes, and on this forum it's even easier to get to it, just click on "FLYGUY" on the post header (upper left), this will bring a drop down menu, then click on "visit homepage" and it will take you to my info.

Maniac · 06-29-2009, 04:57 PM

thanks for the info, my wife got a real good laugh when I showed her you old avitar.

Flyguy · 06-29-2009, 05:18 PM

I see that you have the Superglide 5th wheel hitch, is this the auto slide one? If so, how is it working out for you? Do you have to keep some sort of grease on those slide rails?

Maniac · 07-01-2009, 06:34 PM

It is the 18K superglide. It was in a Chevy shortbox. When I bought this 250SD longbed, I just went ahead and put it in. It was paid for and is really easy to maintain. I make sure the way tubes are clean and spray them with a spray graphite that I get from NAPA. It is the same lube that we use on our motorgrader turntables. I really didn't need the superglide but there was no way I could get any of my money out of it, couldn't trade even for a regular hitch and I was gonna even gonna install it myself. By the way, my 13yo daughter and myself installed this hitch in 2.5 hours total, and wired the bed plug at the same time. One of these days I will post pics of my work. All this and a second a/c in the bedroom.

Flyguy · 07-01-2009, 07:24 PM

Now I would be very interested in seeing all that and I'm sure that many others would be interested too. I was considering going to a 5ver but it's a difficult transition more for the expense because I would have to get a Superglide hitch, and the bed rails, and the capture plate for the kingpin, best price I could find on those parts was $2500 with me installing it. I've had my eye on a used 5ver that I like but it's this way, which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do you invest the money in the hitch and hope the bargain is still there? Or do you buy the bargain, get someone to pull it to your place and then look for the hitch? Decisions Decisions. I think I'll stay with the TT that I have and be satisfied, or so my wife would say.

antiqfreq · 07-02-2009, 05:47 AM

Hi,

We have a 15K Pullrite Superglide hitch in our F250
and you can't use the bedrails with a superglide hitch.

I think we paid around $1800 for our hitch and that
was a year and a half ago.

If you do decide to get a fiver, let me know I can always
look up where we bought it.

Since our F250 is a short bed we knew we'd need a slider
and we weren't getting out in the rain or the mud to use a
manual one. Sometimes we need it just getting in and out
of our property here and in Georgia.

Jody

Flyguy · 07-02-2009, 07:01 AM

Jody, it would be great if all three items are included in that $1800 price, but from what I've been able to gather, I would need a 12K hitch (Pullrite part#3100 @ $1800), and then the removable bed rail kit (Pullrite part#3118 @ $515) and then most importantly the universal capture plate that mounts on the kingpin box and makes the hitch work ($150) all that adds up to $2465 just for the parts and I install it. The bedrail kit is nice in that all of it removes easily and leaves a smooth bed with only the four holes in the bed which can be plugged. These prices are from RV Wholesalers in Ohio. Have I missed something here? This is just me kicking some ideas around, I have to try things on in my mind before I take any action, also, if you leave the 5ver at some repair or storage place and they have to move it, they would damage that capture plate and possibly damage the pinbox as well so you either have to take that plate off or use an overide adapter to protect that plate.

antiqfreq · 07-02-2009, 07:24 AM

When I called pullrite they said we DO use the bed rail kit,
but CANNOT use the Bedsaver Kit
maybe it was just for the Ford F250.........
--that was what I responded to before, sorry--

And the capture plate, you can order from most RV supplies,
just need the numbers off your RV's king pin for that!

Jody

Flyguy · 07-02-2009, 08:43 AM

Jody, thanks for the info and yes I forgot to mention that I have a Tundra Crew-Max that this would be going in, sorry. The hitch is an amazing piece of engineering. I did not intend for this thread to be about 5th wheel stuff, my fault, I just was caught up with this hitch thing.

Festus2 · 07-02-2009, 08:53 AM

Flyguy:
I am wondering why you would consider a Pullrite SuperGlide 5th wheel hitch UNLESS you regularly find yourself in tight turning situations? I have an DrawTite/Reese hitch that can be adjusted so, that if you find yourself in a really tight turn, you can move the hitch back about 10 inches. Granted, it is not as convenient or as easy as the Pullrite SuperGlide. You have to stop, take the weight of the 5th off the hitch with the front jacks, put the hitch into the "maneuvering" position and pull the truck forward, etc.
I have never had to do this and I have been in some pretty tight turning situations.
I am not sure if the recessed, rounded corners of the Cougar 5th wheel have allowed me to make tighter turns. So far, my truck rear window is still intact and no dents in the 5th wheel front overhang corners.
By the way, I also have a short bed truck and have not found this hitch to be a problem at all.
The Pullrite hitch is a better one - no doubt about that but it costs a lot more than the Reese/Drawtite --- especially when you have to buy other components to make it work.
The Drawtite/Reese hitch truck rails run from side-to-side across the bed, they are permanent but when the hitch is removed, they do not get in the way that much. I also have a thick truck bed rubberized liner that I lay over the entire box so the obstuction factor is almost eliminated. Not perfectly flat = but close enough to it.
If I were going to switch to a 5th wheel, unless there was an absolute need for it, I wouldnt buy a Pullrite -- unless you have deep pockets. Richard.

Flyguy · 07-02-2009, 09:06 AM

The box on the Crew-Max is very short at 5' 8" so this is a must for me, besides, what you just described sounds like something that I would forget to do, and I would not hear the end of it from the misses if I damaged either the trailer or the truck (know what I mean Vern?), you see there's only two types of arguments in my household, the ones that she's won and the ones that are still pending.

Maniac · 07-03-2009, 06:06 AM

Festus2 and flyguy, don't get me wrong LOL, my pockets ain't deep. I purchased this hitch with the 5'r. I drive a drop deck lowboy for work and I was sold on the way it worked. I have over a million accident free miles pulling upward to 160,000 lbs. I am used to NOT moving a fifth wheel, thats why I bought mine. The rail kit I got is the universal kit and brackets. I also bought the 3" riser because I was to lazy to drop the king pin box down to ride level. I don't remove the main slider unit until late fall when camping is over for us. I do remove the head and spray it with WD-40 an store it in my box. I can be ready to hook up and leave in 30 min, an my kids like it that way. Expensive, VERY, would I move this hitch to another truck, YOU BETCHA, cuss its paid for

Besides I like Pullrites customer service, my hitch is over two years old, they are gonna replace both springs and three pin locks that are rusted for free.

Flyguy · 07-03-2009, 07:33 PM

Festus, I checked on the Reese hitch with "Kwik-Slide" and Reese says that it is not recommeded for boxes under 6', mine is 5'-8", and the price is about $800 on average.

Festus2 · 07-03-2009, 07:42 PM

I am thinking that the short box on the Toyota - and perhaps the Nissan as well - may be a factor as to why you rarely see a 5th wheel behind one. Come to think of it, I don't think I have. Obviously, the hitch that I have, wont work for you.
Richard

5er · 08-28-2009, 02:28 PM

I'm the new guy on the block and I see that many of the posts on this forum are kind of old. This very thread is dates to Mar 2009. We are at the end of August 2009.

Anyway I felt I had to respond to this Superglide thread. I have had a superglide for over 6 years. I pull with a 2500HD GM shortbed and the superglide is fool proof when it comes to manuvering. A comment made was about DrawTite/Reese You have to stop, take the weight of the 5th off the hitch with the front jacks, put the hitch into the "maneuvering" position and pull the truck forward, etc. While that may work in many circumstances there is a few places where it would be difficult at best.
Getting stopped on the road for a multi car and tractor trailer accident we were required by the police to make a U-turn or sit for up to 5 hours while they cleared the wreckage. I simply pull as far right as I could and swung the U-turn without a hitch (pun intended). The trailer was nearly 90 degrees to the GM. Never had a think about sliding anything.

BTW-When you get to working out the deal on that new 5er have them throw that Superglide into the deal. This way the cost of the hitch will be thrown in with the total finance package. Worked for me, they even installed it FREE.

Flyguy · 08-28-2009, 02:44 PM

I had thought about that "5er", you know about throwing in the hitch with the 5er sale, only thing is that an extended pin box is not the only consideration, with a 5'8" box on the truck I also have to consider the back side of the pin box so as to make sure that the back side will clear when making a tight turn. The superglide people say to give them the measurements of both and tell them what make and model of 5ver for them to say if that trailer will work. It's tough going with the "crew-max" body style and when I bought the truck I wasn't thinking 5ver just TT. You can look at my signature photo and see how short the box is. The Reese hitch is definitely out, even Reese says so.

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