How long is to long?

Bed rail clearance and pin twist has always been an issue pulling into steep driveway cutouts and when traveling on logging or forest roads. This is one reason why flat bed trucks and goosenecks are so popular with farmers.

1jeep wrote:
is bed rail clearance an issue still with newer 5th wheels? Ive have not seen this with mine or any of the newer setups I have seen around campgrounds.

Absolutely if you drive in areas where you encounter the kind of terrain changes I described above, which is about impossible to avoid out west if you're going to camp in the primitive areas of the national forest.

Either trailer you are considering, you are not going to put them in every spot that you accustom to with your 23 footer. Any changes are always a compromise.

is bed rail clearance an issue still with newer 5th wheels? Ive have not seen this with mine or any of the newer setups I have seen around campgrounds.

Another thing you run into with a fifth wheel, aside from height, is bedrail clearance. I have a 6" lift (axle flip) on my fifth wheel and have really good bedrail clearance, but I've still come close to hitting in some situations. The scenario that seems most common is climbing up a steep road and pulling from it onto a flat road (or vise versa). Basically your truck is on one surface and the trailer is on the other. But you do get a shorter overall length and much better towing characteristics, so there's a tradeoff.

I have a crew cab short bed with a 32' fifth wheel and it doesn't feel big at all until I pull it on a forest service road in the woods. We plan on upgrading it anywhere from 2-4 years from now either with a toyhauler or another fifth wheel, but I really don't want to add much length if I can help it. I do plan on sticking with a fifth wheel type setup as I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

As mentioned height should also be a concern.

Recently I had to take a road 30 minutes out of the way to come into a campground from another direction due to a bridge with a 12' clearance. All my friends made it with their travel trailers but my 5th wheel is 6" too tall.

5vr....It's what we have.

Your overall length will be shorter with the 5er but the 5er will also be taller. So if you camp in areas with trees you will have the height factor to contend with. Personally Im not a fan of 30ft+ bumper pull haulers because of the way they tow more than anything.

It is valid. We had the same length bumper pull toy hauler as you and went to a truck camper with enclosed trailer to keep the length the same but increase our garage hauling space.

It is a VALID concern. You are not going off road very far with that size rig. Ever have to back out of a dead end logging road? I have.