HELP! Is towing a 5th wheel easier?

Hensley or ProPride hitches are not the cure-all for towing a travel trailer. If the trailer is not loaded properly, wrong tires, wrong tire pressure or hitch is not set correctly, the trailer will still have problems being towed.

I recommend to ALL RVers that they get the manual pertaining to their hitch and learn the proper way to set the hitch up once the vehicle and trailer are loaded fro normal travel. Once loaded, set up the hitch. Smaller and undersized tow vehicles are much more sensitive to proper loading and hitch set up than larger tow vehicles.

Ken

"These are the kind of posts that make me think the hensley is hype."

By all means, the Hensley is NOT hype. We towed the TT with a dealer-installed hitch and sway-bar, along a windy lakeshore road toward home. My husband was ready to take the TT back to the dealership, as the sway was that significant.

Someone talked to us about a Hensley would make all the difference, so in desperation, we bought the Hensley hitch. It made a huge difference. There is NO sway and made the tt much easier to tow. If it wasn't for that Hensley Hitch, my husband would have towed the tt trailer back to the dealership and have said, "Do something about this!"

What I am talking about is maneuverability, not sway from towing: The ability to back into a campsite and the way a 5th wheel would handle when going 65 mph down the highway along the side of tractor trailers. Also, easy of operation: hooking up and unhooking the 5th wheel from the tow vehicle. My husband remembers the 5th wheel has being a lot easier.

It seems there is no ideal situation and everyone has their own preferences

Itching to go: Good advice and I'll check to see if he has done that with the TT. But I really do think, if we do sell the tt, the next unit will be a 5th wheel.

Thank you all for posting your knowledge and experience....much appreciated. :)

We've towed both TT's and 5th wheels. While you CAN set up a WDH to make a long TT pull as comfortably as a fiver, you do have to work at the setup more than with a fiver. Simple physics as with a fiver, the pin weight is always slightly in front of the TV's rear axle, while with a TT, you need to adjust your WDH to transfer that tongue weight forward. As for us, we really prefer the fiver. Pulling 10k in our previous rig and 12k in our current rig, we've never been pushed around, and don't feel any 'push' when passed by the big rigs. Much more relaxing than having to correct for side winds and such.

Mayo30...nailed it as far as towing both the TT & the 5er is concerned, but I think it should be said that the 5er is much easier to set up and to break down, and has much more storage as the TT...IMHO

Stefonius wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Backing in is the same but different. The same principals apply but the 5er starts turning more slowly but ultimately can turn sharper. The easiest solution is to use an S-curve to jump start the backing process:
- Start out as close as you can to the side the site is on.
- As you pass the site, turn hard away from the site until you run out of room.
- Then turn hard back toward the site.
- If you have done this properly, the trailer is now turned 20-40 degrees towards the site with the trailer at an angle to the truck, so you are already past the "slow to start" part of the turn.

In general 5th wheels do tow nicer.

I'll have to try that method next time I'm out. One question: You said, "As you pass the site, turn hard...". At what point would I start that turn? When the front of the truck passes the site? The rear axle? Trailer axle? Back of trailer?

The exact point will vary depending on how wide the road is, the lengths of the truck and trailer and how sharp your truck turns.

We usually start the process about the point where the front truck tires are in front of the site but you may have to play with it a bit to find out where it works for your rig.

I tow a fiver and would not go back to a TT. My car hauler is also a fiver (no not a goose neck) same would not go back to the bumper hitch.

Both types have advantages & disadvantages.

Having said that. No trailer is like driving solo. Over confidence is not your friend. I have 5 different trailers I pull (for fun) with my truck each has its differences good & bad. All have their learning curves......

Regardless of what you pull be sure that everything is set up correctly, I have seen too many vehicles with trailers not loaded properly and way too many wreck. In the past month I have seen 3 TT wrecks. 1 Fatal Motorhome wreck.

May have too much spring bar for the TT.. Or not enough.

Have y'all weighed the TT's tongue weight?

These are the kind of posts that make me think the hensley is hype

My experience with a 31.5 ft TT and a standard WD hitch with dual friction sway controls was flawless. None of the garbage the OP is talking about.

22 ft trailer and a D/A...and the tow is bad still...

Something is DEADLY wrong

A 5th wheel will not tow any better than a TT using a Hensley hitch.
My current 5'er tows great but it does not tow any better than my prior, 36',10K loaded TT using a Hensley Hitch.
If the OP is having a problem towing with a Hensley don't expect a miracle by going to a 5'er.
I would strongly suggest having your combo checked out. There is something not properly adjusted if your having that much trouble using a Hensley with that rig

You simply cannot compare a boat trailer to a fifth wheel as far as towing.A TT is by far easier to get into tight spots then a fifth wheel.As soon as your front truck wheels turn the trailer hitch on the bumper reacts faster allowing shorter faster turns,then slow reacting sweeping turns.The fifth wheel hitch does not react until the truck axle point moves.TT follows better in traffic cornering.The longer the TT the easier it is to move around,short trailers react faster.I have owned them both and personally like TT better for useage,height etc. and handling is not a problem.Just a personal choice for us.

Being an ole farm boy I can do either with ease. But I prefer a bumper trailer. A longer trailer of either type will back easier. I will take a 5er for the room and comfort. JMHO.