[p]Decided to get the Bearcat 16FK toyhauler now instead of waiting till Fall. Not easy finding one close by as they were all sold. Nothing here in NM or the nearby States that I could locate.[/p][p]Found a New 2014 in Portland, OR but was told it was Sold, too bad, it was $4K less than a 2015 BC16FK and yes I would of gone for it.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Ended up driving to Duluth, MN 1,450 miles away in two days over Easter weekend, got back on Wednesday with it.[/p][p]Towed excellent w/my F150, did have a Equalizer sway control hitch installed, no drilling, clamp on type, the sway is controlled by the hitch and works perfect. Return trip with the BC16FK in tow I had no issues with any sway with the 18 wheelers or the 50+ head winds I drove with for 250 miles on Wednesday, my mpg suffered with the winds but that was it. The Return trip was 2.5 days and covered 1,372 miles ( I took a different return route).[/p][p]
[/p][p]Stayed in the Bearcat for two nights, quiet furnace with the fan on, I'm so use to the noisy past furnace's I have had before I was shocked by how quiet it was. The radio when on off puts out a lite blue glow for a nite lite, lites up the entire area inside. The Fold out sofa to a bed was very comfortable, hopefully the pop out tent bed is the same.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Off to a Spring Turkey Hunt in Southeast NM next week (I'm not hunting, just going to be a campguard), 1st campout with the 15 BC16FK, I'll report back after the trip.[/p][p]
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Congrats, looks awesome! Glad to have another BC owner on the forum!
Interesting that your furnace is quiet. I'm thinking there must be something wrong with ours. It makes groaning noises when starting up, and fairly loud ticking noises from the time the thermostat clicks the heating element off until the fan shuts off. The fan itself is pretty quiet when running, but the startup and shutdown noises make it a bit annoying in the middle of the night...
I don't have any other sounds with the Furnace other than the quiet fan I hear but not enough to keep you awake or wake you up during the night when the furnace fires up.
It does put the heat out so I kept the temp set at a lower temp.
Congrats and welcome to the LL family!!
Looks like a nice rig! By picking it up now you won't miss out on this summer's camping season. Camp on!
[p]Really pleased with my BC16FK, out on the Spring Turkey Hunt everything went fine but I do need to upgrade the stock RV Battery as it is lacking reserve power that my other Toyhauler had. camp area was the Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcroft, NM.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Towed straight as a arrow, no sway or bounce, I am using a WDH.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Looking into adding a solar panel to the roof to help maintain the rv battery and not run the generator as much. The Honda EU2000i is quiet when running though and even more so with the eco-switch on.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Next Venture is a Week long dry camp 1st week of June, so by then I should have the water leak fixed and make some additional storage changes to take advantage of the current large cabinets.[attachment id="794" thumbnail="1"][attachment id="795" thumbnail="1"][attachment id="796" thumbnail="1"][/p]
Dude, I am jealous. You have the rig I want and are in the place I want to be. My best telescope views of the heavens were from just up the road at an astronomy resort in Mayhill. Views of galaxies thru my telescope looked like astrophotographs. If you have a pair of binoculars, look up at night.
I'm interested in hearing about the trials and tribulations of the Bearcats here on the forum. Especially good and bad options to order and add-ons and upgrades.
So did you bag any turkeys?
Not me, I went as the "Camp Dog", lol.
Weather wasn't nice to the Turkey Hunters on this outing, rain/hail/sleet and snow showers but that is expected if you are at 8,100+ ft elevations.
It was no concern to me though as I slept in every morning.
Don't really need the Binoculars as we all noticed the few nights of no clouds the bright stars above our campsite. A few nites got down into the mid 20F range on those clear nites. Sitting around a hot burning campfire was all you could do to stay warm as the winds were constant but again, this is normal for the Spring Turkey Hunt.
They had no luck in bagging any Turkeys but I will say they did put allot of effort into it and they all had fun, me too.
Options on the Bearcat Toyhaulers like my BC16FK and the BC7x20 is get just about all that you can.
My Options were: Awning, Convection/Micro, 9,200BTU AC, Rear pull down Bug Screen, A/V Package w/flat screen LED tv wall mount, am/fm/cd player, high output exhaust fan, carpet kit. (mine did not come with the LED TV)
Stock they come with allot of goodies to begin with.
They left out my Carpet kit by mistake and by the time I realized it I was almost home. A quick call and I got them to send me other stuff instead of shipping out the carpet kit.
The carpet is a easy fix at Walmart, I already have them and installed them with Velcour, easy removal to wash out the floor with a water nozzle.
I ended up paying Nothing for any of the Options, $0. MSRP on all of the options was right under $4K.
Sometimes it is best to buy what is on the Dealers Lot than ordering, to move a unit some dealers will really mark down the Trailer you are wanting and if they don't, then go elsewhere.
The dealers put in a not so good stock battery, so you may want to upgrade right there at the dealer for a better RV Battery.
Propane tank cover, Vent Covers for the roof vents, get these if you can when you buy the Bearcat, my Dealer gave a 15% off at time of purchase of the Bearcat for any parts/accessories.
If you do allot of dry camping then if you don't already have a Generator then by all means get one. I have a Honda EU2000i as it will run the 9200BTU A/C unit or the convection/micro oven, the Honda is also quiet but if you camp away from others, then any generator will do fine as long as it is a 2000Watt.
The BC7x20 will require a higher watt generator for the roof mount AC unit.
As the time goes by, I'll be adding and changing my storage needs inside the Bearcat.