Welcome to the Forum.

34' is not to hard to get around. Our previous TT was 34' and we did not have any problems.

As far as usable space and layout, this will have to be something you choose for your needs.
If you will be living in the trailer for a year , and being a bachelor , you would not have to have a large amount of room. If you plan on having visitors or entertaining then the extra bunks may be in order. Keep in mind that the bunks are not really " big people" friendly. With that said the bunks would be usable for storage as you have stated, and the outside kitchen may be useful for you as well.
If you kind of use your searching as you would looking for a house or apartment , 1 bedroom or two , closet space , things like that it may help you with a decision.

Another thing to consider is how much time you will be spending in the RV. The extra space of the 2970 would be great for entertaining and also usable space while you are alone.

Good luck on the choice and hopefully others will chime in.

Brian

The wife and I seriously considered the 2970 before getting the 315RLTS.

I suspect you'll appreciate having the closet in the bedroom of the 2970 for clothes.

The island is great for food prep.

I like the layout, too, as the theater seating is directly across from the TV and it has a "fireplace". If you wanted more interior storage it would be easy to remove the couch and then build yourself a custom work area/desk/storage. (Keep in mind it can't interfere with the slides!)

Either way you can make it work, but I also "vote" for the 2970.

-Howard

Thanks. After much consideration, I have come to the same conclusion. I think over the long run, I'll be happier with the 2970.

My last concern is towing with my 2015 F150. I have a 3.5L Ecoboost with tow package, but not max tow. The tow rating for my truck is 10,700lbs/16,100 GCWR. With a GVWR of 8995 for the 2970, the numbers look like I have the capacity, and I will definitely run a WD hitch. Any thoughts whether I'm pushing it with these numbers? Apologize if these are very basic questions, but I've been reading a lot of different things about towing capacity, and there are so many opinions it is hard to tell if I'm setting myself up for problems with this large a trailer or if I should stick to something smaller. Thanks again.

The critical number that many overlook is payload. Payload in most all cases is the limiting factor on a truck where this value can be found on the yellow sticker in the door jamb of your truck. In addition, often overlooked is the maximum capacity of the hitch.

A rock solid method in looking at this is to use the max GVWR of the RV and use the following as a guide. Do not use the unloaded UVW of the RV as a means to determine your vehicles capability on payload.

TT: 10-15% of max GVWR of the trailer
FW: 20-25% of the max GVWR of the fifth wheel

Using these numbers you will never have issues if your purchase is based on these values.

howson also has links to help you as well.

Jim

As Jim ( Guest ) suggested, check out this post as it has a lot of information: https://gdrvowners.com/towing-and-hi...=9226#post9226

Hopefully Cate&Rob chimes in, too, as he is an F-150 "evangelist" (at least for the max tow package version!). If you can tow the 2970 with your 150 he'll know.

Thanks all. I read through the linked thread and ran the numbers based on the sticker on my truck and the GD website for the 2970. I padded all of the numbers to be as conservative but reasonable as possible (e.g., I used full GD GVWR to calculate tongue weight instead of the "average"). The calculator says I'm good to go, but there isn't a lot of cushion - about 250 lbs below max GVWR and 1100 lbs below GCWR. While my kids would probably not travel with us often, adding them in would put my GVWR about 50 lbs over.

Is that pushing it too much?

Did you verify the hitch rating on your truck, too? Your Ford's hitch may have two weights, one for weight-distribution and one without.

Regarding your specific question...only you can answer that question. IMO the typical issues are sway and stopping when you're dancing on the edge of the GVWR. (The truck's not going to break in half!) Sway can be dealt with given the right weight-distribution/sway control setup along with a carefully loaded trailer (with correct tongue weight). Stopping? Disc brakes on the trailer. Makes a world of difference.

But the "right" answer is to get the right truck for what you want to do and then don't look back. I have a long tale of woe I could spin here, but I'll spare you the details. Bottom line--you (almost) can't have too much truck. When the weather is awful, there's a long hill (up or down!) ahead, or you have to do a panic stop--you won't regret having the right truck.

Hi onelapcoastie,

I am a little late to this discussion, but I do know quite a bit about what an F150 can tow. The most capable F150 has the "HDPP - Heavy Duty Payload Package". This is seldom stocked by any Ford dealer and some seem to know nothing about it, even though it is in the sales brochure sitting on their desk. The "tow" and "max tow" packages get the trailer connection parts, but not the heavier suspension and the LT tires that are part of HDPP. As mentioned earlier, you need to look at the yellow tire pressure label on the drivers door for the line that says "Combined weight of occupants and cargo must not exceed ????" This is your payload. This will be your limiting number . . . not the brochure or website numbers on GCWR or GVWR.

Your other limitation will be the hitch receiver. All F150s come with a Class IV (2") hitch receiver rated at about 1200 lbs with a WDH. There will be a label on the underside of your hitch frame with your exact number. 10% of the 2970 GVWR is 900 lbs. Most Imagines tend to be "tongue heavy" so tongue weigh is more likely to be closer to the 1200 lb limit of your Class IV hitch.

I am guessing that your payload will be in the 1800 lb range. With 1200 lbs on the hitch, this leaves you 600 lbs for people and stuff in the truck. If all these numbers turn out to be correct, you are at the limits of your F150 but this is still doable. You can push these trucks to their rated limits. (I have been doing this for 5 years and 25,000 towing miles) A quality WDH is a must and you can significantly improve your tow vehicle stability by changing from the OE passenger car tires to LT (light truck) tires similar to what is part of the factory HDPP.

Rob

Wow. Thanks for all of the great information. I knew there was more to safe towing than just looking at the tow capacity tables, and now I understand better how people new to this world make the mistake of not looking at payload. More to think about. Thank you all again. Now to make a decision.