"Light" type fifth wheels versus "regular"???
Need some advice on advantages (or disadvantages) of the "light" fifth wheels (other than weight). Most of them don't seem to allow much cargo weight for the overall gross vehicle weight (some ~1200 t...
Forum Discussion
In recent years many mfg. have added light fivers to its line ups. In most cases these are to accommodate the 1500 series tv. We are one of these and have elected to move up to a 2500 tv and upgrade a "normal or Full Profile" model for our retirement traveling.
Here are some of our observations:
Light weight:
-walls are thinner and afford less insulation. Not that we want to do winter camping but rather to keep the unit cool during the hot weather
-Some model's do not have standard (regular interval) studded walls. The framing is around windows/doors and spars. One to 1 1/2" studs vs. 2.0". You can easily see this by looking at the wall thickness in the basement/cargo area.
-With studs being spars it does not allow for much wall mounted cabinetry leaving much of the cabinets at floor level.
-Many will not have the bedroom pull out... or the full nose master closet.
-In our case we have had the front awning brace pulled out of the wall due to a storm burst...on inspection we noticed that the rear arm was anchored in the door frame stud but the front arm was only anchored in the rv's exterior wall/skin. Eeeeer! :M
-All 5er's general have high profile characteristic (especially the 4 step entry models)... a lighter unit will be more subject to cross wind action. We have taken to keeping some water in our holding tank adding to some low gravity weight... but this adds to cargo weight.
I cannot comment on the integrity or longevity as we have only had our 1500 series since 2010 which was a perfect match for our Dodge Mega Cab 1500... but as mentioned above we are moving to a 2500 and a full profile model.
Hope this helps.
GPG
Here are some of our observations:
Light weight:
-walls are thinner and afford less insulation. Not that we want to do winter camping but rather to keep the unit cool during the hot weather
-Some model's do not have standard (regular interval) studded walls. The framing is around windows/doors and spars. One to 1 1/2" studs vs. 2.0". You can easily see this by looking at the wall thickness in the basement/cargo area.
-With studs being spars it does not allow for much wall mounted cabinetry leaving much of the cabinets at floor level.
-Many will not have the bedroom pull out... or the full nose master closet.
-In our case we have had the front awning brace pulled out of the wall due to a storm burst...on inspection we noticed that the rear arm was anchored in the door frame stud but the front arm was only anchored in the rv's exterior wall/skin. Eeeeer! :M
-All 5er's general have high profile characteristic (especially the 4 step entry models)... a lighter unit will be more subject to cross wind action. We have taken to keeping some water in our holding tank adding to some low gravity weight... but this adds to cargo weight.
I cannot comment on the integrity or longevity as we have only had our 1500 series since 2010 which was a perfect match for our Dodge Mega Cab 1500... but as mentioned above we are moving to a 2500 and a full profile model.
Hope this helps.
GPG
