8 ft v 6ft

As long as you stay with a sliding hitch you should be ok. But by getting the Mega Cab you are limiting your towing and payload capabilities. Having the larger cab is nice but the extra weight of the cab translates into less of both of those. Good luck.

Many newer 5th wheels have contoured sides allowing you to tow with a "short bed". While that works most of the time, get a sliding hitch, considerit insurance!

virtually every choice you make vehicle wise comes with a trade off somewhere, even if it's something as simple as cost. Bigger truck may be better for towing, but not necessarily even possible to park in areas you may want to travel without the trailer.

Most newer 5ers have nose caps, and extended pin boxes that help when towing with a short bed truck. You can still hit the cab though so the responsibility is on you to watch and not let that happen. Bumper pull folks deal with it all the time, although generally the damage isn't quite as much if you jackknife a bumper pull.

Keep in mind that with a short bed truck, and a long pin box 5er you could end up hitting the inside of the tailgate with the back of the pin box if you use a slider hitch, it's another area you have to look in to. In the end, you just have to look at the potential issues you'll run into with whatever combination of truck/trailer/hitch you end up with and make sure you never operate outside the constraints of that combination. Sounds easy enough, but it's also easy to get distracted and have a bad day.

As to the magic answer, in the end it's whatever works best for you. Good luck.

Do what you want but the 8' bed has no compromises. I do understand the Mega has more room in the back but the Crew has PLENTY IMHO.

Perfect tow rig IMHO. No compromising.

When I bought our present Super Duty, I decided that it was going to be a "no compromises" vehicle and opted for the Crew Cab and Long Bed. I wanted every inch of hauling capacity I could get. I've never regretted the decision. Yeah, there have been times when it has been a tiny bit of a problem, such as when trying to find a longer parallel parking spot, but those have been few and far between (I have no problem walking if that's what it takes). As a matter of fact, I haven't met an off-road trail that has turned me away yet, and that does include doing a LOT of backing and filling whenever I've reached the end of a dead-end trail. I couldn't imagine living with a Short Box.

Having the mega cab for me there is no compromise. I have towed with a 350 or 3500 shortbed for the past 19 years.

I know the limitations of all the trucks, long bed dully's have their limitations, and compromises, not just a shortbed . Cab clearance is not an issue with short beds with the sliders ,automatic or manual, contoured front caps, and now the Andersen hitch.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what I don't see in the above discussion is mention of the class of truck or DRW vs. SRW. I hope you're talking 1-ton DRW whichever truck you get. Large toy haulers often have pin weights upward of 4,000 - 4,500 lbs... clearly in 350/3500 DRW territory. As stated by several of those above, there is nothing like towing with a long bed, too.

Rob

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Do what you want but the 8' bed has no compromises. I do understand the Mega has more room in the back but the Crew has PLENTY IMHO.

Perfect tow rig IMHO. No compromising.

Big toyhauler...yup, this is what you need, 8' DRW. Might as well get the B&W 3600 hitch for factory pucks also.

Jerry

Of course the long bed will give you better ride with a 5th because of the longer wheel base, and more room in the bed. Like another poster said, it is a trade off.

You won't be able to add this AWESOME tool box with a shorty! HighWay Products 30" front to back.

Be sure to get the pucks and factory rear air ride.