crash course in 5th wheel hitches?
I've done the whole Truck Camper thing (twice), and the Class A thing. Now I'm getting ready to try a 5th wheel next. I'm just starting to come to terms with how much I DONT know yet about 5th whe...
Forum Discussion
JeffPritchard wrote:I have a theory on this:
Another thing I noticed when I looked at the weights table for the Cougar XL line (just because it was handy on my desktop, and is probably somewhat typical for the "HT" segment)...
...the CCC for TT's is paltry compared to same size/weight of 5'er. Seems to me the average family user would be up a creek with these tiny CCC's. Put just a small amount of travel water and propane in the TT, and a few odds and ends of gear, and you're already over your CCC. In fact, if you put just a normal amount of "stuff" in a HT TT, your tongue weight would probably shoot way above what's listed in the table...making it similar to that of the same size 5/er's pin weight.
Say the TT and FW each weigh 8000 lbs. Ideally the TT will have 800 lbs (10%) tongue weight, leaving 7200 lbs on the TT axles whereas the FW will have 1600 lbs (20%) on the pin, leaving only 6400 lbs on the FW axles. Most if not all HT TT and FW come with 15" 'D' rated tires rated for a total of 10,000 lbs. The designer SHOULD derate that to 9000 lbs. The FW gains 800 lbs of CC here.
For every 100 lbs you add to the TT ideally 10 lbs will go to the hitch and is distributed across the TV front and rear axles by the WDH. The remaining 90 lbs go to the TT axles.
For every 100 lbs you add to the FW ideally 20 lbs will go to the pin and straight to your TV rear axle. The remaining 80lbs go to the FW axles. Therefore the FW can carry 10% more from this.
Furthermore, the TT tongue weight is limited to the TV hitch rating of I believe 1000 lbs whereas the FW pin weight is limited to the TV payload and TV rear axle rating, whichever runs out first.
That's the way I see it but I've been wrong before.
