Thinking about moving over to a 5th wheel

How big of a boat? My thinking is unless you are getting a Light version of a 5th wheel then the frame is strong enough. Not really any difference across brands until you get into the heavy duty type 5th wheels. Have someone weld a hitch onto the frame rails. Buying used you don't have a warranty to worry about. If you're towing a small 1000 lb boat with a 120 lb tongue weight I don't see the issue at all especially if you're staying under the 5th wheels GVWR. Wouldn't be any different than putting an extra 1,000 lbs in the 5th wheel.

My current travel trailer came factory equipped with a hitch and it is framed using the trailer frame and the sewer bumper. It looks pretty strong, and I use it for carrying a cargo cage. However, there is a label on the hitch that has a weight limit warning. I don't think I'd ever want to tow anything with it, even a small utility trailer, even though it looks like it's well done. Look can be deceiving. If it were not for the weight limit label, I would have never known.

As stated above, you are best to check with your camper's manufacturer (or even your local dealer may be able to help you). Even welding a hitch to your camper's existing frame might be detrimental to the integrity of the camper.

FYI, Indiana allows double tow also. In fact, Indiana allows double towing behind a "bumper pull" trailer too. I see it all the time in Southern Indiana where there are more lakes and recreation areas.

goducks10 wrote:
How big of a boat? My thinking is unless you are getting a Light version of a 5th wheel then the frame is strong enough. Not really any difference across brands until you get into the heavy duty type 5th wheels. Have someone weld a hitch onto the frame rails. Buying used you don't have a warranty to worry about. If you're towing a small 1000 lb boat with a 120 lb tongue weight I don't see the issue at all especially if you're staying under the 5th wheels GVWR. Wouldn't be any different than putting an extra 1,000 lbs in the 5th wheel.

Boat and trailer fully loaded is less than 1500. It is a old 16. Ft aluminum V-hull

Not trying to push Arctic Fox but they do come with a stout trailer hitch option. It's installed when the frame is first built and there's no extra charge for it.

nmhuntr wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
How big of a boat? My thinking is unless you are getting a Light version of a 5th wheel then the frame is strong enough. Not really any difference across brands until you get into the heavy duty type 5th wheels. Have someone weld a hitch onto the frame rails. Buying used you don't have a warranty to worry about. If you're towing a small 1000 lb boat with a 120 lb tongue weight I don't see the issue at all especially if you're staying under the 5th wheels GVWR. Wouldn't be any different than putting an extra 1,000 lbs in the 5th wheel.

Boat and trailer fully loaded is less than 1500. It is a old 16. Ft aluminum V-hull

I would look for a 5th wheel that have the GVWR to cover the weight of your gear plus the boats weight. That way your pin wouldn't be over stressed. Not how else you'd figure out the safety margin.

We have had hitches welded on to each of the two FWs that we have owned. The first one was a Jayco Eagle 215SD and we towed boats weighing up to 5,000 pounds behind that FW with no problems. Second FW, 2012 Jayco HT 26.5 RLS, we had a hitch professionally installed after we bought it and currently tow a 3,500 boat behind it with no problems. The installer reinforced the I beams about 5' forward from the rear of the trailer and totally fabricated the hitch rather than just getting one to weld onto the FW. I would certainly recommend that you get a hitch welded to the frame rather than one attached to the bumper as bumpers are not, generally, well enough attached to carry the load a boat trailer will put on it. By the way, my FW is an HT, so it's a lightweight trailer, more or less, and for mine in 2012, the manufacturer said that adding a hitch to the frame would void the warranty, however, I didn't have a warranty claim so don't know what they would have done. Jayco does now sell the HT FWs with a hitch installed but I believe the hitch weight is limited to 300 pounds.