5th wheel vs Bumper Pull!~ help a newbie

Make your decision based on what type of TV you want to drive without the RV. Currently the DW chooses an SUV for me to drive so we have a TT.

NMDriver wrote:
...There are other minor personal preferences/dislikes that some people will have like a 5er has steps inside, a tow behind has less cargo room, a tow behind needs safety chains and anti sway/weight distribution bars, a 5er has a hitch that is heavy to remove from the truck bed, etc. etc...

Excuse me for the interruption, but a tow behind has more cargo room. It has the whole unencumbered bed of the truck as high as you care to go. Anyone with bikes realizes this right off the get go.

Used to have a smaller Jayco 5th (26.5 RLS) towed with my Heavy Duty F-150. Now pull a Grand Design 34 ft. travel trailer (2670MK), with the same truck. Both are about equal in sq. feet inside, layout, etc. Loaded weights are in the same range. The fifth generally pulled better - no wiggle in the truck, tracked on turns better, withstood strong winds better. But the difference is not extreme. After 14,500 mi on the fifth, I averaged 10.5 mpg. After 4,500 on the TT, I average about 8.5 (!) I found it harder to back the fifth as the response seems to be non-linear as opposed to the TT. Most of the noted differences seem to be due to a lot more trailer further behind the truck for the TT than the 5th. Longer tail to wag the dog, so to speak. The "tow behind" length also makes it harder to find campsites - I can't wedge in to some I used to get the fifth into. The TT needed much more attention to weight and balance - too little tongue weight, and sway happens. Not something I had to sort out on the 5th. But - 5ths require a LOT more payload capacity for the truck. I was right at max payload with the 5th, and when it had to be replaced later versions had gained 4-500 lbs in pin weight, which put me well over, hence the change to a TT. Be careful - my F-150 has payload above what many commonly found f-250's have! If you have the payload, you lose most of the use of the truck bed for stuff with the 5th. For a 5th, the big limit is truck payload capacity. For a TT, the first limit is the amount the truck receiver can carry, then the payload of the truck. All trucks can pull far more weight than they can carry. I find it much easier hitching the TT than the 5th - but a big part of that is the specific hitches used on either. Others will report exactly the opposite.
But if I was shopping for a truck and an RV at the same time again, I'd first find an RV (5th or TT) that I really, really liked and then get a truck that not only could handle it, but was "oversized" to some extent to allow for changes in the future. Is one decisively better than the other? Nope - they are different, and so each have their own strong and weak points.

donn0128 wrote:
Remember, a TT places approx 12% of its weight about 6 feet behind the rear axle. A fiver places approx 20% of its weight directly over the rear axle. That makes a huge stability difference. Since you will likely be looking for a new TV also, please do yourself a big favor, forget anything less than a 3500SRW truck. 2500s simply do not have enough load carrying capacity for any but the smallest fivers out there now. And for any fivers over about 14,000 GVWR consider a dually for a better towing experience.

X2
If looking at a lot travel after retirement or full timing get the 350/3500 SRW as a minimum, if looking at a large 5er over about 14K to 15K get. DRW.
5ers really do tow better and more stable then a TT, and the tow shorter. Than a TT of the same length.
Many will come back and state you loose the use of the TV bed, yes you do loose some use of the bed, but gain the basement in a 5er. I have a roll up bed cover, which means once the 5er is disconnected I cover and have a dry bed for storage.

Do we really need to derail this into another 2500/3500 thread???

OP, a fifth wheel does tow better and it gives you a shorter overall package of truck and trailer. Those are the primary advantages to me. But you do give up some significant cargo carrying flexibility in your truck bed. Personally if I were retired and planning on the kind of use you're contemplating, I'd go with a truck and fifth wheel.

If you would be doing a lot of boondocking, particularly out west where those opportunities are abundant, give some thought to toy haulers which typically have much larger tanks and on-board gas generators. They also eliminate the cargo hauling trade-off with their garage space. Just food for thought.

TT's are more prone to sway (even when properly setup) because the pivot point of the hitch is so far rear of the rear axle. A fifth wheel pivots at the rear axle.

Remember, a TT places approx 12% of its weight about 6 feet behind the rear axle. A fiver places approx 20% of its weight directly over the rear axle. That makes a huge stability difference. Since you will likely be looking for a new TV also, please do yourself a big favor, forget anything less than a 3500SRW truck. 2500s simply do not have enough load carrying capacity for any but the smallest fivers out there now. And for any fivers over about 14,000 GVWR consider a dually for a better towing experience.

To me the biggest difference is the options for a tow vehicle. A 5er does tow better than a bumper pull even a well set up bumper pull. Whether the better pull is worth needing to buy a pick-up and live with the limitations it imposes depends on what else you want to do. I live in NM and need a pick-up anyway but most of my daily driving is in a 1/2 ton van capable of towing up to a 6500lb trailer.

On a trip to Florida we used a tow behind and the van. We got better milage, had more room for the two big dogs, had a place to sleep while one person drove, and did not have any big hills to climb or strong winds to contend with.

However, now that we mostly pull up to the same end of the dirt road places and the dogs have passed on, we prefer the truck and 5er. The truck has better ground clearance and with the 5er hooked up the locking rear axle can pull through most any mud, sand, or rocky place we encounter. --BTW make sure you get at least a locking rear axle on any pick-up you buy, they do not all come with one--

For rock steady towing in windy conditions the 5er is great, but it has that big front end sticking up to catch every headwind and eat up your miles per gallon.

There are other minor personal preferences/dislikes that some people will have like a 5er has steps inside, a tow behind has less cargo room, a tow behind needs safety chains and anti sway/weight distribution bars, a 5er has a hitch that is heavy to remove from the truck bed, etc. etc.

To me it is what vehicle do you want to drive, for others it will be another factor like the ease of towing.

Yeah- I did search first quickly, but didn't find a whole lot of specifics.

For previous posts you could search this Forum for `tt or 5er' and read on then wait for responses to this new post.