Fifth Wheel or TT

N-Trouble wrote:
Time to upgrade to a 3/4 ton. A 30ft TT is not going to tow nicely behind any 1/2 ton regardless of how well it's setup.

Now that is just flat out untrue. My DW pulled a 32' TT weighing in at 5,700# with a heavy tow equipped Tahoe for 5 years and around 40k miles while I pulled the horse trailer. My DW hates towing but didn't complain about that setup. If there was anything even a little scary about it believe me I would have heard about it and it would have occurred only once and that would have been the end of that. Towing ability is way more about weight and very little about TT length if properly setup.

Time to upgrade to a 3/4 ton. A 30ft TT is not going to tow nicely behind any 1/2 ton regardless of how well it's setup.

And their experience is not likely to improve with a 5'ver.

Racine96 wrote:
I think your problem is a 30 ft TT, too much for a 1/2 ton.

fla-gypsy wrote:
You should start with providing complete info on what you currently have. There is no reason a TT should be jerky if set up correctly

So the 1st quote could be true, without more information!

We really need some numbers.
Engine size
trucks GVWR
Front GAWR
Rear GAWR
All of the above numbers are on the white VIN sticker on drivers door post.

TT
GVWR
Dry weight

Listed on a VIN sticker on the outside, and a tag in a cabinet near the sink.

You should start with providing complete info on what you currently have. There is no reason a TT should be jerky if set up correctly

I think your problem is a 30 ft TT, too much for a 1/2 ton.

If it's jerky in stop-and-go traffic that could as simple as a brake controller adjustment.
With a decent hitch properly setup you shouldn't have much drama with a TT.

That said, my 5th wheel does tow much better than my TT, but I wouldn't describe my TT as jerky by any stretch. Might dig in a bit deeper on tweaking your TT setup before throwing in the towel and getting a 5th wheel (and the inevitable truck upgrade as well)

There are things that can be done to improve the ride of your current set up. A better description of jerky will help. Ie side to side sway, trailer is like tail wagging the dog, you feel pushed and pulled by passing vehicles, or I'm guessing more of a porpoising movement. You should be able to have a pretty smooth ride when towing if you are within specs of the TV. Generally you want to have 13-15% tongue weight so some load redistribution may help you. Also you may need to dial your hitch in better. These are all guessing games without more info. What is needed are tv gvwr, gcwr, payload from tire loading sticker inside your door (even better are actual scaled weights of your rig). What are your tt weights (scaled is best)? What model open range do you have?

I can't speak to how the fifth wheel tows yet as we don't pick ours up for another 2 weeks. As others have said finding a 5ers for an f150 will be tough if not impossible depending on which f150 you have. The ecoboost with max tow package can pull a 5er but most others really fall short of being able to do the job.

Welcome to the forum!

How about providing a better description of "jerky" and the weight of your TT along with your trucks payload specification? With that information we might be able to suggest some actions to correct this "jerky" condition

To answer your question directly - yes, generally speaking a FW will tow better. But, there are very few FWs that can be towed with a 1/2 ton truck and is with only a few select heavy duty equipped 1/2 tons, like specially equipped F150 with Eco-boast.

Kyaker wrote:
We are new to Rving and have a 30ft. Open Range TT towing with a Ford F150 with towing package. The ride is very jerky. We've got the anti sway hitch. Does going to a fifth wheel make for a smoother ride?

In general, a FW will tow much better than a TT, though a FW that's not well set up can ride rough, too. With a 150, you'll be very limited on the size FW you can pull. With a FW, it's not how much you can TOW, it's how much you can CARRY that will limit you. KNOW your numbers before you go trailer shopping and never use dry weights to calculate your payload. Search on here about pin weights, payloads, etc. You'll be reading for days. :-)

Lyle