I am looking at a Platinum 3hr 8ftSW with LQ's. I know a few folks who own these trailers and have had good luck with them. The one I am looking at is a Silver series which is the 7 tall 7 wide. I will be pulling it with a 05 chevy 2500HD Duramax.

My questions are:

Do I have enough truck to pull this trailer? (with  2 horses)

Any serious problems with these trailers?

WHat you like and don't like about them if you have/or had one?

We owned a Platinum 3H 10'SW with an Outlaw Conversion for a little over a year and a half.It was a very very nice trailer,and,the only reason we traded it was because we made a big mistake when we went shopping for a LQ.We got caught up in trailer fever much as people will buying a new vehicle.Didn't realize that: it was really not tall enough.When we were up in the GN bunk,we couldn't sit up.It was a nightmare to get in/out of.You had to scoot feet first to the edge of the bed and only after you were out of it were you able to straighten up! Dumb mistake,I know,and expensive to boot.

Otherwise,we would have undoubtedly still had this trailer,had it not been for that.If it is just you,and you don't mind the shortage of head room in the GN,it's fine as far as that goes.But we found it intolerable.Plus,the width of it,for a LQ,was hard for us to get around in.We're not big,either.It's just that we were constantly having to trade spaces if he was standing where I needed to be,ect.

So think on that carefully,and,if you can live with the height/width factors,I believe that Platinum is a very good trailer.I class them with Elite,Integrity,ect.There will be some dissenters to come out of the woodwork after this plug,I am sure.All I know is that we loved ours except for these factors which were our fault.My cousin (really) also has owned one approximately the same time factor,and they really love theirs.It was 8'SW but 8W and 7'6" tall.

PS I'll leave the towing factor to others who I'm sure are going to show up any time.Some will tell you yes,some no.All I do know about that is our experience.We had a 3/4T Ford Powerstroke,and,it squatted our truck too much.Instead of putting air bags,ect on,we traded for a dually.(another expensive mistake had we gotten a dually to begin with.) But as I say,this was just our experience with the 10'SW.My cousin pulls their 8'SW with 2 horses with a 3/4 diesel.

Thanks for the input....I am also going to look at the other series the Coach which is the 8 wide.....

We're not kids,either,but,we're younger than that,and I'm telling you that it was a literal NIGHTMARE getting in/out of the bed.Not to mention trying to sit up,which,we could not do.One time,my husband fell off of the edge of the bed trying to get down in that crouched over position and landed on the sofa.That was the last of the Platinum.

I highly recommend you try it out before you buy it,or try another one that is 7'tall first.That's what we should have done.

I'm 5'2 and my husband's 5'7.I know we could have made it,we could have lived with it I suppose.I felt like I was laying in a coffin with the ceiling about 4" from my face.One night a ruckus took place in camp,and not realizing where I was at,at first,I sat straight up.Let me tell you this: you might do that once,but,you sure won't be doing it again.

Can we say,we hated it? Yes,I'd say it finally came down to that.I still say a person should try everything out in a LQ first to be sure it will be something they can or can't live with.If we'd known what a hassle it was to get out of the bunk,not to mention up there trying to wrestle sheets on a mattress with about 6" of headroom,we wouldn't have bought it.I rest my case on the 7'tall trailer.Somebody younger is now living with it.It was a really nice trailer,tho.

The folks talking about the head room stuff...Did you have ducted air or not? just curious. I am 5'9 so height is a consideration.......

I will check it out...

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I'm sure the nose wasn't dropped.We didn't have 24" of headroom,no matter how you measured it.When we were laying on the mattress,not a 12" pillowtop,or a Temperpedic,or a sleeping bag but an ordinary mattress we got at the outlet store,we had maybe 6" above us to the ceiling.That's it.Hardly enough to sit up no matter how short you are.Try it and see if you can sit up.Betcha can't do it.

We now have an Exiss with a Sierra Conversion,12'SW,8'W,7'6" tall,and yes,it also has ducted air.But we can darned sure sit up in the bed without knocking our heads off.We both made sure of that this time,before we traded our nice 40K Platinum trailer off.Otherwise,we would have still had it.Would have been paid off by now,too.

Some folks choose to live with certain problems,some don't.We chose not to live with this particular one.Doesn't make us stupid,or bad people.I merely wanted the lady to be aware of this issue that we had with our trailer that caused us to trade it off.No need to have a big hoo doo over it,it's not rocket science,or the cure for cancer here.

Turnnburn64. Not sure if Platinum offers a raised roof like this Silverlite or not, but it is an option if bunk head room is a concern....  http://silverlite.com/category.asp?id=1971

I would imagine other mfg.'s are/will soon build trailers with a raised roof in the LQ/DR area.

Haulin HOrses is right.It was an expensive,albeit dumb,mistake.We purchased from a dealer that had a couple of kids working the sale,and all they were interested in was the sale as quickly as possible.We were older,and therefore,should have known better,but,it was our first time out purchase,also.

The dropped nose can make it hard on the tailgate of a 4WD truck.We know because we had this happen when we made a turn out on a highway that was banked pretty steep in a curve.When we started back up to our side of the highway,the trailer nose was still down,and the truck tailgate was not.Self explanatory.We had to raise the sleeve/coupler to avoid THAT.

I was told by another Platinum dealer when describing several things about the trailer that the dealer we purchased from didn't know how to order a trailer in anticipation of a conversion for that trailer.Had the dealer pointed out the lower GNceiling or, had somebody TOLD us before hand,as I'm trying to tell TurnBurn,and told us that they had a taller trailer that was due to be in shortly after,we could have waited for it.My cousin wound up with it,and,still has it.

Platinum is an excellent trailer overall from our experience with it.

I agree as well. CRG's objective review of her ownership of her trailer was informative and well stated. The fact that she still liked her trailer, was an indication that her posting was not an effort to degrade its reputation.

It brought up a point recently echoed by a purchaser of an Exiss trailer. Both parties bought equipment that was not suitable as delivered. The reason was a lack of communication between the buyers and sellers. When we, as purchasers, buy something as complex and expensive as a trailer, we don't often know all the questions we're supposed to ask. We rely on the sales person to guide us through the process, and if he doesn't know our requirements, we may not end up with what we had envisioned.

Fortunately for us, we have this forum to use as a guide. Because of the expensive mistakes made by others, and the generosity of sharing their experiences, we are enlightened and can avoid similar mistakes. If I were purchasing a new Exiss or Platinum trailer, I would know what to avoid and what to specify.

Thank you for these types of postings. They are very valuable.

BOL  Gard

Well,thanks a bunch to both of you.

Yeah,I'm just pretty direct and shoot from the hip (and shoot OFF from the mouth) too!

Remember,it's Valentine's Day today.Let's all be nice to one another for a change.Peace/love and all that good stuff you know.