RV REVIEW REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY HOWARD ELMER
2020 Keystone Avalanche 320RS—FifthWheel A fulltimer’s dream machine Travel trailers, including fifth-wheels, make up the bulk of new RV sales today. Of course this trend has been growing for a while now, and I see no reason for this market domination to slow in the future. But why have travel trailers sold so well? That success has everything to do with the continuing evolution and popularity of the pickup truck. Here is a case of one industry—automotive—having a profound influence on another—RV builders. Just look at the stats on the Keystone Avalanche 320RS I tested for this review. At 35’8” in length, it features three slide outs and has a dry weight of 11,571 lbs. But this is hardly the biggest trailer in the Avalanche lineup—that distinction goes to the 396BH which has four slide outs, two full bathrooms and a loft. It’s 41’6” in length and has a dry weight of 13,940 lbs. To haul weights and lengths like these you need heavy duty pickup trucks. This segment of the truck market now makes up over 20% of total pickup truck sales, and the Detroit builders will tell you that it’s the increasing numbers of recreational haulers that are driving those sales.
My tow vehicle for this test was the 2019 Ram 3500HD powered by the new 6.7L Cummins diesel engine (which now makes 1,000 lb.-ft of torque). This truck will haul over 30,000 lbs. My truck was also equipped with a factory installed fifth-wheel hitch (which included a removeable Gooseneck hitch ball) and in-bed 7-pin electrical cord plug-in. But hauling this much weight isn’t just about the power—these new HD trucks also bring modern driver assistance features with them as well. For instance, there’s the seven-camera surround-view system in the Ram—an in-bed camera view showed me the hitch and pin lining up as I backed under the trailer. This system includes a camera that can be installed at the rear of your trailer as well. Now that cleans up a huge blind spot. Preparing to hookup, I watch the screen in the center stack where a clear image of the trailer was shown. Once the trailer was on the hitch, I felt the rear air suspension compressor come on as it automatically raised the truck and trailer to a level attitude. These are just two of the integrated systems that now help the driver mange the load. These features make handling large trailers like these safer and much less stressful.
RV REVIEW
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2020
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