I have owned a 33ft Class A MH since 2004 and am familiar with Class A's. I have been looking for a smaller RV's such as TC's, 24ft Class C's and now 25-28ft 5th wheels. I know little about these RV's other than from searching on the internet. What started the search for small 5th wheels is I did not want to drive a big DRW truck as a second vehicle that I would need for a TC with some room, storage and FW for an RV that would be used for maybe 3 months of the year max. The short 5 wheel looked like a good compromise. So what I have found was a KZ Sportmen 231RK 25ft, UVW 6100lbs, DHW 840 lbs,FW 37 gals and pass tru storage. Second option was a Winnebago Mico Minnie240 5RL 27ft,UVW 5740lbs,DHW 1140lbs,FW 31gals and pass tru storage. Looked at the Escape 5.0 but it had no slide. Do any of you own or know something about these two 5th wheels? Or can recommend other 5th wheels of similar size and specs?

You can generally pull up to around 33’ with an SRW. IMO, livability jumps way up around 32’.Everybody has different ideas about an ideal layout, but I’d recommend looking at the Grand Design 303RLS as a point of comparison for other rigs. We love ours. It’s just shy of 33’, but really makes good use of space and is plenty comfortable pulling behind a SRW. Some folks even pull them with max tow package F150s.

Gjac wrote:I have owned a 33ft Class A MH since 2004 and am familiar with Class A's. I have been looking for a smaller RV's such as TC's, 24ft Class C's and now 25-28ft 5th wheels. I know little about these RV's other than from searching on the internet. What started the search for small 5th wheels is I did not want to drive a big DRW truck as a second vehicle that I would need for a TC with some room, storage and FW for an RV that would be used for maybe 3 months of the year max. The short 5 wheel looked like a good compromise. So what I have found was a KZ Sportmen 231RK 25ft, UVW 6100lbs, DHW 840 lbs,FW 37 gals and pass tru storage. Second option was a Winnebago Mico Minnie240 5RL 27ft,UVW 5740lbs,DHW 1140lbs,FW 31gals and pass tru storage. Looked at the Escape 5.0 but it had no slide. Do any of you own or know something about these two 5th wheels? Or can recommend other 5th wheels of similar size and specs?Since you're already looking at one KZ, I'd also recommend that you look at the Durango Half-Ton and Durango (NOT Gold) lines for more options. Decent quality, if my '17 model is any indication, and their customer service is excellent, too. The Half-Ton series is the follow-on to their previous D1500 series, though I'm not a fan of all the changes. If you find an older 1500 series, take a look at them.There's a good, relatively active, user forum for KZ. www.kzfamilyforum.com. As here, people there are always ready to answer questions. Several members there also post here.Lyle

Grand Design has a few in their Reflection 150 series that are under 30'. Not sure I believe them about being "half ton towable" but all that aside, they look like nice smaller campers. Wouldn't mind having one myself to take on shorter trips instead of our monster.https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2020/fifth-wheel/reflection-150-series/floorplans

I’m a Minnie fan but not of their small fresh water tanks in 2016 and newer models.

There's a lot more to the truck spec than the wheel count. My short (30' OA, 27'nominal) rig is 18,000-ish grand total, with 10K on the truck axles. My SRW F350 has no trouble at all on steep mountain passes. So far this summer Yellowstone, Grand Tetons & Glacier!

Short light weight 5th wheel search | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

Gjac
Explorer III
Jul 04, 2019
laknox wrote:
Gjac wrote:
I have owned a 33ft Class A MH since 2004 and am familiar with Class A's. I have been looking for a smaller RV's such as TC's, 24ft Class C's and now 25-28ft 5th wheels. I know little about these RV's other than from searching on the internet. What started the search for small 5th wheels is I did not want to drive a big DRW truck as a second vehicle that I would need for a TC with some room, storage and FW for an RV that would be used for maybe 3 months of the year max. The short 5 wheel looked like a good compromise. So what I have found was a KZ Sportmen 231RK 25ft, UVW 6100lbs, DHW 840 lbs,FW 37 gals and pass tru storage. Second option was a Winnebago Mico Minnie240 5RL 27ft,UVW 5740lbs,DHW 1140lbs,FW 31gals and pass tru storage. Looked at the Escape 5.0 but it had no slide. Do any of you own or know something about these two 5th wheels? Or can recommend other 5th wheels of similar size and specs?

Since you're already looking at one KZ, I'd also recommend that you look at the Durango Half-Ton and Durango (NOT Gold) lines for more options. Decent quality, if my '17 model is any indication, and their customer service is excellent, too. The Half-Ton series is the follow-on to their previous D1500 series, though I'm not a fan of all the changes. If you find an older 1500 series, take a look at them.

There's a good, relatively active, user forum for KZ. www.kzfamilyforum.com. As here, people there are always ready to answer questions. Several members there also post here.

Lyle
Thanks Lyle, I had looked at the Durango 250 RES on their web site and also found the 1500 245RL, more FW but heavier that is why I zero in on the 231RK. The Durangos claim to be 1/2 ton tow able I would just feel safer towing with the lighter 231FK. I see Ford has a HD 150 5.0L Ti-VCT V8 GVWR 7850 lbs, payload 2,890 lbs, in a super cab and a 3.5L EcoBoost® V6 GVWR 7850 lbs, and a payload of 2870 lbs. I guess if I add 1000lbs for people and stuff that would bring the actual weight close to 7100 lbs. Would the hitch weight increase to 1000 lbs or there abouts? Would this be a safe combination to tow?
BB_TX
Nomad
Jul 04, 2019
I agree with statements above. There are a lot of longer 5ers that are completely within ratings of 250/2500 trucks and especially 350/3500 SRW trucks. Unless you just want to stay as small as possible, open up your search for something with more room and multiple slides.
RickLight
Explorer III
Jul 03, 2019
There's a lot more to the truck spec than the wheel count.

My short (30' OA, 27'nominal) rig is 18,000-ish grand total, with 10K on the truck axles. My SRW F350 has no trouble at all on steep mountain passes.

So far this summer Yellowstone, Grand Tetons & Glacier!
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Jul 03, 2019
I’m a Minnie fan but not of their small fresh water tanks in 2016 and newer models.
JAC1982
Explorer
Jul 03, 2019
Grand Design has a few in their Reflection 150 series that are under 30'. Not sure I believe them about being "half ton towable" but all that aside, they look like nice smaller campers. Wouldn't mind having one myself to take on shorter trips instead of our monster.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2020/fifth-wheel/reflection-150-series/floorplans
laknox
Nomad
Jul 03, 2019
Gjac wrote:
I have owned a 33ft Class A MH since 2004 and am familiar with Class A's. I have been looking for a smaller RV's such as TC's, 24ft Class C's and now 25-28ft 5th wheels. I know little about these RV's other than from searching on the internet. What started the search for small 5th wheels is I did not want to drive a big DRW truck as a second vehicle that I would need for a TC with some room, storage and FW for an RV that would be used for maybe 3 months of the year max. The short 5 wheel looked like a good compromise. So what I have found was a KZ Sportmen 231RK 25ft, UVW 6100lbs, DHW 840 lbs,FW 37 gals and pass tru storage. Second option was a Winnebago Mico Minnie240 5RL 27ft,UVW 5740lbs,DHW 1140lbs,FW 31gals and pass tru storage. Looked at the Escape 5.0 but it had no slide. Do any of you own or know something about these two 5th wheels? Or can recommend other 5th wheels of similar size and specs?

Since you're already looking at one KZ, I'd also recommend that you look at the Durango Half-Ton and Durango (NOT Gold) lines for more options. Decent quality, if my '17 model is any indication, and their customer service is excellent, too. The Half-Ton series is the follow-on to their previous D1500 series, though I'm not a fan of all the changes. If you find an older 1500 series, take a look at them.

There's a good, relatively active, user forum for KZ. www.kzfamilyforum.com. As here, people there are always ready to answer questions. Several members there also post here.

Lyle
jkwilson
Explorer III
Jul 03, 2019
You can generally pull up to around 33’ with an SRW. IMO, livability jumps way up around 32’.

Everybody has different ideas about an ideal layout, but I’d recommend looking at the Grand Design 303RLS as a point of comparison for other rigs. We love ours. It’s just shy of 33’, but really makes good use of space and is plenty comfortable pulling behind a SRW. Some folks even pull them with max tow package F150s.

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Short light weight 5th wheel search

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