Hello First Post - Waiting on my 5th Wheel

[MarkH]

I just purchased a 2018 Cougar 25RES, which is an upgrade from my Jayco 2020 183RB, which I had to completely revamp to fix all the crazy problems that came from the factory (breakers put in backwards, burned out DC Controller, entire carriage coming off the frame, on and on and on).

I haven't taken delivery yet, and they're prepping it. I have a few weeks.

I was wondering about the type of fifth wheel to put in my F250, and also, I'm wondering if the bed is an RV Queen or a Queen?

Any feedback would be great.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by MarkH

I just purchased a 2018 Cougar 25RES, which is an upgrade from my Jayco 2020 183RB, which I had to completely revamp to fix all the crazy problems that came from the factory (breakers put in backwards, burned out DC Controller, entire carriage coming off the frame, on and on and on).

I haven't taken delivery yet, and they're prepping it. I have a few weeks.

I was wondering about the type of fifth wheel to put in my F250, and also, I'm wondering if the bed is an RV Queen or a Queen?

Any feedback would be great.

Welcome! Hopefully the Cougar will not have as many issues. I am really curious about the "carriage coming off the frame". You might want to share as that is beyond belief that Jayco could get that so wrong. Anyway, in the interest of safety, your Cougar has a gross weight of 10K lbs. The typical pin weight of a fifth wheel is about 23 percent of the gross weight so the pin weight will be over 2000 lbs. Add hitch and passengers and many 3/4 ton trucks will be over the payload. The payload sticker is in the driver door frame and is yellow/white. Check out your sticker.

That is a nice floor plan and since you have a few weeks, probably best to measure yourself. Many Cougar owners (like myself) change the mattress but perhaps yours is adequate. That is a sweet floor plan and only negative I see is lack of kitchen counter space if that is important to you. My wife LOVES counter space. Anyway, be safe and enjoy your new camper.

Take a sec and put together a signature (under UserCP0 with year, make and model of camper and same for truck. Will make answers to your questions have more context.

[Northofu1]

Congrats and welcome to the forum.
If you're tied to the F250 and the pin weight is close to your payload when loaded, the Andersen Ultimate will save you weight, space in the box when not towing, and money.
It is most likely a full Queen.
Happy Trails

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Northofu1

Congrats and welcome to the forum.
If you're tied to the F250 and the pin weight is close to your payload when loaded, the Andersen Ultimate will save you weight, space in the box when not towing, and money.
It is most likely a full Queen.
Happy Trails

But the OP may want read Lipperts warranty about using the Anderson hitch then decide for himself if willing to void the rv warranty.
If I were concerned about, warranty or a clear truck bed I'd go with the Reese Goosebox, no warranty issues, nothing in the truckbed but the turnover ball that only weighs about 5lbs.

[MarkH]

Thanks for the reply. The F250 has the gas 7.3L engine, so in theory it shouldn't be an issue with weight on the pin since the engine is light compared to diesel. I'm think I'm going to pull the memory foam mattress that is BRAND NEW and put it in the Cougar. If it's too short, I'll figure something out at the headboard (maybe pillow or foam).

The trailer I'm trading in came with a HORRIBLE mattress, and even the topper didn't help.

Yes, the screws holding down the carriage had no nuts on them. We were in Parker Arizona headed for Yellowstone and suddenly the slide started catching on the bolts. So I had to go to a lumberyard and buy lock washers and spacers, screw the bolts back in and lock them. I put struts on the bed and that caused the entire front of the trailer to collapse and break all of the crappy 1/8th inch covering beside the bed, so I had to reinforce the bed with 1 x 8s. But the REALLY good one was the electrical. At the factory they switched the 30 amp shore power with the plug circuit, which caused the DC controller to fry. So I replaced the control panel and suddenly the additional amps caused the breakers to pop when you turned on the air with anything else. Switched the breakers and all was good.

Astonishing. Moral of the story, avoid anything made during Covid.

I paid too much for the Cougar, but the RV place is preping it so all should work. We'll see. I usually get screwed on these deals, but maybe I'll get lucky this time. My motto, buy high sell low :-)

[MarkH]

Is there a warranty on a used RV?
I just spoke to a place... I'm thinking maybe having Ford put in a puck system ($995) and then just get something like an A16. Does that make sense?

[Northofu1]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

But the OP may want read Lipperts warranty about using the Anderson hitch then decide for himself if willing to void the rv warranty.
If I were concerned about, warranty or a clear truck bed I'd go with the Reese Goosebox, no warranty issues, nothing in the truckbed but the turnover ball that only weighs about 5lbs.

Pretty sure on a 2018 the warranty is done. It's a 10k GVWR, I'm also pretty sure no one would have to worry about the Andersen hitch or the frame on that unit. Something 11500k and over, different story.

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[dutchmensport]

Since others are addressing the truck payload and the pin weight for your truck and some are indicating you truck might not be sufficient for the trailer or marginal (I'll leave that part of the discussion up to them to discuss). However (IF) you are marginal, then installing a fifth wheel hitch is really one of your biggest challenges. You'll want the lightest hitch you can find.

Check the weights of the hitches carefully. Some of the higher ended feature fifth wheel hitches are quite heavy. Many folks navigate to the Andersen hitch because it is light weight. Granted it is, but there are other issues with the Andersen you seriously need to consider (like the warranty issue stated above) and the modification you'll need to make to your camper.

May I suggest you seriously look into the Recon hitch. It's a traditional fifth wheel hitch, but the total weight is only about 75 pounds (or so). It does install on standard bed rails in the bed of your truck, so the bed rails stay there permanently. But the hitch itself is extremely easy to remove, and it can be lifted out by one person, if they are strong enough to man handle it. I have removed mine alone, and I'm 66 years old now.

Also, the hitch itself can come apart in 3 sections, making the heaviest part only about 25 - 30 pounds. It separates with a single pin held on with a Cotter type pin. Recons are extremely durable, very reliable, pretty much nothing to maintain on them except maybe a shot of WD40 if it makes you feel better, and has a very, very good track record and history. There are no air bags on it, it's not a slider, it doesn't have bells and whistles. But its a darn good light weight, standard fifth wheel hitch that will serve you well for the rest of the life of your truck and trailer.

AND.... they do not cost a small fortune that will require selling all your stock, 401k, and children's saving account to purchase either.

Click here to go to the web site and learn more.

Video, click here.