Purchasing / Upgrade To A Fifth-Wheel

Give a lot of thought to truck choice. 3500 is much better choice for any fiver over anout 30 feet long.
As for brands? Arctic Fox from Northwood Mfg is a good option. As would be from its sister company Outdoor MFG.

It really depends on how big of a 5th wheel you want to get. We tow a 28' 9000lb 5er with our 12 Ram 2500 CTD. I'm over my GVWR by 200lbs. Under the RAWR by 1100lbs and well under the tow and GCVWR. It tows it like it's not there.
The pin is around 1800lbs.

For our current type of use it's perfect. We never go any longer than 2 weeks at a time. If I were to go for longer I would want bigger. Or at least more closet space. If I were to be out longer under less than favorable conditions I would want something with more room. We also like forest service camping better than the RV park style. We are able to get into more spots having a shorter 5er.

JMO but if I were to do it again and had no truck or trailer I would look at the 5th wheel 1st and would get the biggest I could afford that would work for the type of use I want. Then I would match the truck to it.
Chance are that you'll probably need a 1 ton SRW at a minimum.

I won't even begin to recommend what trailer might work for you...way too many individual variables.

But, I do recommend that you consider a 350/3500 instead of what you are thinking now....especially for any larger 5th wheel.
Good luck with your search and choice.

rookie_rv wrote:
Rookie Rver :C here! After many years of saying "NO" my "financial adviser" has said "yes" we can upgrade! We have a small 26' Class A and my thoughts (strong thoughts) are to get fifth-wheel. My thinking is get something with more living area, wont need a tow-able, no more engine maintenance, cheaper insurance, and bigger man-cave when parked in backyard.

I want a fifth-wheel that's well insulated, sturdy, and going to last inside and out. I want my first fifth-wheel to be my last. I'm thinking that an F250 will do the job of pulling it.

What are your suggestions/recommendations?

See my response to another post just a few minutes ago: http://forums.trailerlife.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29090924.cfm.

Biggest issue you'll face is PAYLOAD on a 250/2500 class truck, especially if it's an older truck, like mine ('02). My 11.3k GVW FW sets me squarely on the overloads and, when I'm running heavy, probably puts me over my "legal" weights by a bit. If you're looking at newer trucks, their payloads are much better, though it's still something you need to be very aware of when trailer shopping. Usual rule-of-thumb is to settle on a particular FW, =then= go truck shopping. Also, don't forget that you =can= get single rear wheel 350/3500 trucks, and usually for not a lot more than a 3/4T. Certainly gives you a =lot= more options for a FW, that's for sure. Wish I'd known that a long time ago...

Lyle