# 27rsds...info. Please!



## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

We are SERIOUSLY considering the 27RSDS.

Can you give me any info...good or bad.

Also, I have read that the website and dealers are not giving the "true" weight.

I will be pulling it with both...
"04 Expedition XLT sport 5.4L 4X4 trailer pkg.
"03 F150 4X4 trailer pkg.

(we will be bringing 3 to 4 kids and gear.)

I know that just because you can doesn't always mean you should!









Thanks,
MaeJae


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## marci4lsrv (May 2, 2005)

MaeJae said:


> We are SERIOUSLY considering the 27RSDS.
> 
> Can you give me any info...good or bad.
> 
> ...


Hi MaeJae,
I looked up the actual weight from the MCO's for the 27 RSDS' that I have in stock and the weight is 5700 lbs. You should have no trouble towing this trailer with either of the vehicles that you have. I always recomend that you try to tow with the tanks empty whenever possible so that it puts less stress on the tanks and the underbelly. Towing empty also saves on weight.

Happy Camping!!
-Marci-
Lakeshore RV Center


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

I am pulling a 27RSDS with a Suburban 4x4 1500 with a 5.3L and 3.73 gears. I don't know exactly what the Fords would be rated to tow (you could contact a Ford Dealer with the VIN's and they could give you that info). My Suburban is rated for just about 7200 pounds....the GVWR on the 27RSDS is 7200 pounds...we haven't towed the camper in the mountains yet. The towing on flat land, we pulled from Delaware to Florida and did not have any problems...I do expect the towing much harder in the mountains.

You will hear many options here on this site and you can make your decision based on what you think. My opition is General Motors, Ford, Dodge, and the other manufacturers put out a trailer guide for thier vehicles. I have worked for a GM dealer as a truck salesperson for 19 years and have never seen a "West Coast/East Coast" or "Flatland/Mountain" trailer guide, so if GM, Ford, or Dodge says it will tow 7000 pounds or whatever, then it will do it in on flatlands or in the mountains...(Don't yell yet...it will do a better job on the flatland, but it will pull it in the mountains). That is if your truck is properly equiped and your trailer does not overload your truck in anyway: axle weight, gross vehicle weight, or gross combined weight.

As for the empty weights of the Outback trailers...they are not that acurate...I have not weighed my unit, empty or loaded, maybe I should. I could be over in anyone of the weights that I listed.

Maybe when I take the camper to the mountains later this year, I will change my mind about the towing capacity of my Suburban. If I was living in the mountains or if I was towing alot, I would upgrade to a 2500 or 3500.

Just remember that the first and most important concern is the safety of you, your family, and the other people on the road.

Just my .02 cents.....and it might not be worth that much!!!









By the way the 27RSDS is a great unit, we love ours. I have a teenage daughter and a 5 year old son and we find that we have more room than we need..(my daughter would like a bigger shower).

Welcome to the site. It was one of the major reasons that we bought a Outback. You will not find any more information on using a camper anywhere else...

Gary


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## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

maejae,

find out the exact towing capacity of your vehicles, calling dealer with your VIN is good idea, there is a trailer life "towing guide", etc. There can be significant differences for the same model vehicle (engine size, rearend gear ratio, tire size).

I have 2002 F150 5.4L 4x4 with 3.55 gears and 17" tires. I am rated to pull 7100lb and I feel my tow vehicle is well matched to the camper (~5500lb fully loaded with my gear), I would not want to pull much more weight than I have, but I tow in a lot of mountain areas. The 27RSDS weighs in quite a bit more than my 25rs-s, so I would really question whether your tow rigs are big enough.

Many suggest to follow the 80% rule, only pull 80% of your rated capacity. So if the RSDS is 5700lb, then applying the 80% rule, your rig needs to be at 7125lb. Add 700lb of gear and you are looking at 6400lb for the rsds, after 80% rule applied your tow rig would need to pull 8000lb.

Good luck
Danny

marci, I would not recommend telling someone they can pull something without even knowing enough about the tow vehicle


> 03 F150 4X4 trailer pkg.


 to be able to look up the rated towing capacity. Too many of us have been burnt by a dealer assuring us that we would be just fine with our rig, I was one of them.


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

Welcome MaeJae!!!!!!

You did not specify the engine on you 150 and left out the gear ratio on both. A little more information would be helpful!!!! My gut says you should be fine







, but I would run the numbers and find a scale!

Check out the RV Towing tips website. They have weight calculators as well as HP calculators all in Excel spreadsheet form. The site is:

http://www.rvtowingtips.com

The information you need to plug in is on the driver side door stickers!

Check some other threads here. There was some recent discussion of the weight stickers coming from the factory. I would really look at the GVWR of the unit and not the dry weight. That way you know you are safe.









I know that I always load more into the camper than I thought I would!









Be safe.....Educate yourself......Welcome and have fun!

Tim


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

Thank you....there is a lot of info to investgate.

One more question though.

How has the material on the dinette and couch held up...maybe for someone that 
has had an Outback for a while.

Thank you again,
MaeJae


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## MAYZ83 (Mar 24, 2005)

I tow a 23RS with a 03 ford expedition (see signature). In Montana I would not want to tow a much larger camper with this setup.







We considered the 25RS-S, but I thought it would be too long and I might be pushing the weight limits (80%) with the 23RS anyway. Well after towing for several hundred miles on a few different trips I am glad I didnt get a larger camper. We love our 23' anyway. In the wind it is a little tough pulling and in the hills it is also tough. I am used to driving 75 MPH +. When towing it is 60-70 (about the fastest I can and want to go) on the interstate depending on terrain and conditions and how loaded I am. I use a EQ hitch which makes a big difference. There are alot of people on this site that tow with the equivalent of my TV and that may work great for them, but in mountainous terrain I would suggest a smaller camper. You didnt say where you plan to travel so this is just my opinion.








FYI, Our expy is rated for about 8900 lbs, the 23rs weighs about 6000 fully loaded, I get 8-8.5 MPG traveling 60-65.

The 27rsds weighs about 7200 fully loaded.


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## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

maejae,

I have had my outback since aug 2002 and they material on the coach and dinette sofa cushions looks as good as it did the day we bought the rig. It is some sort of vinyl. Not sure if newer outbacks still use that stuff.

Danny


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## Morrowmd (Feb 22, 2005)

MaeJae said:


> Thank you....there is a lot of info to investgate.
> 
> One more question though.
> 
> ...


Ditto to what Danny just said- this will be our 4th summer with our Outback and the cushions still look great.

BTW, 24 trips and counting in our little condo on wheels







.


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## uoutcampin2 (Mar 3, 2005)

Maejae â€"

We have a 27RSDS and are towing with a â€œNewâ€ bodysyle 2004 Ford F-150 Super Crew 2 wheel drive 5.4 with 3.55 gears. The F-150 handles her very well. In south Louisiana, we have flat land so mountains arenâ€™t a problem for us but we do have very high bridges here. (It is a common thing to see a ship passing in the Mississippi and it actually sits higher than your house.)







Now I canâ€™t race anyone going up a bridge but I sure can hold my speed pretty well. Our capacity on the truck is 7050 and total GVWR of 14,500. Now keep in mind that the new F-150 is a little bit more truck than the previous years like yours. We weighed our TT on our first trip with all 3 water tanks empty, one full propane tank and the other tank was about 2/3 full. We were fully loaded for a weekend with 3 adults and our 2 dogs. This is what we got:

F-150 â€" 6060 (with 3 passengers inside)
Tongue â€" 780 (Keystone said 480. Must be some heavy propane)
TT Axles â€" 5580

GVW â€" 6840
GCW â€" 12,420

As far as the TT. WE LOVE IT! We have had no major problems and we have used it about 10 nights already within the last 2 months. The best part of the unit is when you start to show it off. The only word that I repeatedly hear out of everyoneâ€™s mouth is WOW! Got to love those outback interiors!









One other question, you said that you have 3-4 kids that will be traveling with you, have you checked out the 28RSDS? It is only about 75# heavier than the 27RSDS and you get the 4 bunks in the front.

Hope my 2 cents helped.

Happy Shopping!

Chris


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## marci4lsrv (May 2, 2005)

DANJOGAVINMO said:


> maejae,
> 
> find out the exact towing capacity of your vehicles, calling dealer with your VIN is good idea, there is a trailer life "towing guide", etc. There can be significant differences for the same model vehicle (engine size, rearend gear ratio, tire size).
> 
> ...


Hey Danny,
I'm surprised that so many dealers try to convience their customers to purchase trailers that are to heavy for them. We pride ourselves on the number of return customers that we have, and would never want to mis lead anyone. I have a tow vehichle guide that I look up each vehicle so see all of the specs. Please let me know if I can ever help you out.
-Marci-


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

uoutcampin2 said:


> Maejae â€"
> 
> One other question, you said that you have 3-4 kids that will be traveling with you, have you checked out the 28RSDS? It is only about 75# heavier than the 27RSDS and you get the 4 bunks in the front.


Yes, we looked at the bunk house and I prefer to have a bigger bed option for 
when we "adult only" camp...my sister and husband will use the other bed.
For family camping...
The couch and dinette turn into beds for the girls. The Boys are bigger and
can have the queen slide.

The other MAIN reason for this camper is the size of the bathroom...HUGE
as far as lite TT go.


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

uoutcampin2 said:


> Maejae â€"
> 
> One other question, you said that you have 3-4 kids that will be traveling with you, have you checked out the 28RSDS?Â It is only about 75# heavier than the 27RSDS and you get the 4 bunks in the front.


Yes, we looked at the bunk house and I prefer to have a bigger bed option for 
when we "adult only" camp...my sister and husband will use the other bed.
For family camping...
The couch and dinette turn into beds for the girls. The Boys are bigger and
can have the queen slide.

The other MAIN reason for this camper is the size of the bathroom...HUGE
as far as lite TT go.









Also, we sold our 2000 Coleman NIAGARA...kinda like the 2 fill size beds.


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## uoutcampin2 (Mar 3, 2005)

MaeJae said:


> uoutcampin2 said:
> 
> 
> > Maejae â€"
> ...


You are right about the bathroom. It is a great size for a lite TT. Some of the main things that attracted us to the 27rsds was the bath, modern styling, and the 2 queen beds. We pretty much only have adults with us if someone tags along. Our pop up that we had before the outback had a king and queen bed, so we were already used to that type of layout as well.

Chris


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## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

The other big draw to the 27RSDS is that the table is not covered up when the queen slide is in. thus if you want to stop for lunch on a trip you can actually have a place to sit down to eat!


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

The reasons I sold my 26rs and bought the 27rsds

1. having a table to eat at on the road









2. bedroom upfront









3. large bathroom









4. Lakeshore's unbeatable price









5. An Avalanche with a big block









John


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

Another question? 
Does the front Queen bed have storage under it?
If not, do you think it could be _modified_?
Ya'know to put hinges and small gas shock
to lift up the platform.
Thanks,
MaeJae


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## cookie9933 (Feb 26, 2005)

Yes, there is storage under the front queen mattress. No gas shock, however.

Bill


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## uoutcampin2 (Mar 3, 2005)

That is one thing on my mod list. Install gas shocks on the bed. I have one of the 3" body molding matress toppers on that bed so it is heavy to lift. I might just do that this week!









Chris


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

uoutcampin2 said:


> That is one thing on my mod list. Install gas shocks on the bed. I have one of the 3" body molding matress toppers on that bed so it is heavy to lift. I might just do that this week!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What is the brand of your topper? I have been thinking about getting one for
home and our future camper. (we just used the waffle kind in our popup)
Thanks,
MaeJae


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

overstock.com had them on sale last week. (toppers)


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## uoutcampin2 (Mar 3, 2005)

MaeJae said:


> uoutcampin2 said:
> 
> 
> > That is one thing on my mod list.Â Install gas shocks on the bed. I have one of the 3" body molding matress toppers on that bed so it is heavy to lift.Â I might just do that this week!Â
> ...


Got it from Overstock.com

Chris


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## DAVERMB (May 18, 2005)

MaeJae said:


> We are SERIOUSLY considering the 27RSDS.
> 
> Can you give me any info...good or bad.
> 
> ...


Hi MaeJae
we just got our 27rsds yesterday, little heavy for my half ton gmc, once get everything loaded will be overweight--looking at new tv.

davermb


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