Generic questions about 5-ers
My only experience with owning RV's is Class A motor homes. As we look to part time next year (3-6 mos at a time) I am looking at new MH's. But I am curious about fifth wheels. They certainly offer mo...
Forum Discussion
way2roll wrote:
I am sure I will have a TON of questions during our shopping, but one that comes to mind right now - I had thought we needed a diesel truck, but someone mentioned the newer gas trucks will work as well. If this is the case I can save a lot of money - not only on the truck but maintenance as well. Thoughts?
Depends:
- Our first setup was a 9500lb (loaded) 5er. We had an old F250 with a 180hp diesel that did just fine. Modern gas engines have twice the HP. It will rev higher but otherwise it will be fine.
- We have friends with a 40ft 5th wheel/toy hauler (20k lb range) and a late model diesel dually. After their first trip in the mountains, they are debating if they made the right choice. Of course, I questioned if they had enough truck when they brought that monster home...but it wasn't my place to call them out.
If you are down below 10-12k lb, a gas truck should be fine. By the time you hit 15k lb, I would prefer a diesel for the extra power.
Two follow up thoughts:
- Most people worry about gas because gas engines develop peak HP at higher RPM and they get scared running at 3500rpm. Assuming the engine is in proper running order, it won't hurt anything.
- In the mountains, diesels really do offer a big advantage since all the modern ones are turbo charged (our 180hp diesel was not and it showed). As you go up in altitude, you lose about 3-4% of power per 1000ft of altitude due to thinner air. At 7000ft, you can be down by 25% on HP. A turbo largely cancels that out by force feeding more air into the engine. Also most of the newer diesels have some form of exhaust brake which makes coming down the mountain more comfortable.
