one year with a 40' fifth wheel and dually
Its been just a little over a year that I have had my current setup which includes a 40' Cyclone toy hauler and a 2001 f350 dually. I figured I would share my observations given how many questions are posted about big trailers and duallies.
My prior setup was a 36' keystone travel trailer towed by a diesel excursion. The main thing we didn't like about it was how every breeze or passing car would push us around. Also going down hills it always felt like the truck was being pushed around. We had two antisway bars. Granted, neither of those issues were horrible but given the amount of miles we put on the RV annually (about 6000) we wanted a more stable ride.
Our toy hauler weighs in around 15.5k so I was really surprised to see how well it towed behind the dually. We experience zero sway. What is most important to me is how well it handles in the mountains, particularly curvy downhill runs. It does great but we also have our first truck with an exhaust brake. I am now a firm believer in the benefits of exhaust brakes. I have not found that steering or slowing/stopping is a problem at all. In fact the dually/fifth wheel combo performs better in all aspects of driving when compared to the excursion/TT except in acceleration.
Ok, so that's the good. The bad is. Fuel mileage sucks. We average 8.5mpg (lots of mountain driving) at an average speed of 55mph. We found that navigating such a big trailer around the campgrounds that we like to visit is a pain but after a year I've improved somewhat on backing up and driving through tight locations. I'm now thinking of installing several rear/side looking cameras to help in tight spots. I've also had to add a 6.0 trans cooler which means I now have two additional trans coolers.
The dually has become my daily driver. So far it has worked out well. One pain is that given that I came from an excursion I like having an enclosed bed so I bought a bed canopy. For every camping trip I pull it off of the truck and reinstall it after the trip. What a pain, but I haven't come up with another option.
We're camping this weekend at the coast in the rain and I'm sure happy that I have the big trailer to entertain the family and friends.
My prior setup was a 36' keystone travel trailer towed by a diesel excursion. The main thing we didn't like about it was how every breeze or passing car would push us around. Also going down hills it always felt like the truck was being pushed around. We had two antisway bars. Granted, neither of those issues were horrible but given the amount of miles we put on the RV annually (about 6000) we wanted a more stable ride.
Our toy hauler weighs in around 15.5k so I was really surprised to see how well it towed behind the dually. We experience zero sway. What is most important to me is how well it handles in the mountains, particularly curvy downhill runs. It does great but we also have our first truck with an exhaust brake. I am now a firm believer in the benefits of exhaust brakes. I have not found that steering or slowing/stopping is a problem at all. In fact the dually/fifth wheel combo performs better in all aspects of driving when compared to the excursion/TT except in acceleration.
Ok, so that's the good. The bad is. Fuel mileage sucks. We average 8.5mpg (lots of mountain driving) at an average speed of 55mph. We found that navigating such a big trailer around the campgrounds that we like to visit is a pain but after a year I've improved somewhat on backing up and driving through tight locations. I'm now thinking of installing several rear/side looking cameras to help in tight spots. I've also had to add a 6.0 trans cooler which means I now have two additional trans coolers.
The dually has become my daily driver. So far it has worked out well. One pain is that given that I came from an excursion I like having an enclosed bed so I bought a bed canopy. For every camping trip I pull it off of the truck and reinstall it after the trip. What a pain, but I haven't come up with another option.
We're camping this weekend at the coast in the rain and I'm sure happy that I have the big trailer to entertain the family and friends.
