Trailer Generator

Buster52 wrote:
I have thought of buying a trailer of 5th wheel to pull behind my 1/2 ton pick-up. My biggest reasons for not buying one is what is the largest rig I can pull behind my truck and where do you get electricity when you travel. Where can you put a generator? Thanks

Folks just aren't "pulling your chain" about possible weight issues if you are considering pulling a FW with a 1/2 ton truck. There just are not very many FW's out there that would be light enough.

Unless you are willing to switch trucks, maybe restrict your search to a lighter weight TT. You still will have to be able to figure your weight limits out but there will be many more possibilities out there.

There is really no use trying to figure out what generator or where to mount one until you get a unit to pull.

Buster52 wrote:
My truck is a 2005 GMC Sierra with the tow package. My RV buds who have 5th wheelers tell me that is the way to go. They know my truck and they are the ones who recommended a 5th wheel. But they only go where there is power to hook up their rigs. I am planning a cross country trip and some places I will need to have my own power. So where is the best place to mount a generator? If you put it on the back will you be changing the balance on the trailer taking the weight off the tongue? Also making it easy to steal?

Rather than listening to your RV buds, I suggest looking up the pin weights on some 5th wheels you think you can tow (they are available online from the manufacturers).

Now look up the weight ratings for your truck.
- Subtract off a couple hundred pounds
- Subtract off the weight of firewood and other misc cargo in the truck bed.
- If you take other people with you subtract off their weight
- Add maybe 20% to the listed pin weight because that typically assumes an empty trailer.

Let us know if your truck is still within weight.

Off the weight rating subject: If you are going off grid, I would lean towards a travel trailer. A travel can tilt side to side probably 20-30 degrees before you risk popping the hitch off the ball. By the time a 5th wheel tilts 10degrees, it has probably hit the bed rails, so it's not as well suited to crossing rough ground. Not that either are really suited to off roading, if you do need to cross some uneven ground, a 5th wheel is less forgiving.

KD4UPL wrote:
For some reason people assume a camper needs a generator. I have one built in and very very rarely ever use it. We mostly camp at places that have hook-ups. When stopping "on the road" the batteries run everything just fine. When we camp somewhere with no power usually our solar panel and batteries are enough. We mostly just run the generator for the toaster, coffee maker, griddle in the mornings when we're not plugged in. If I had room for more batteries I wouldn't even need to do that.
I've put way more hours on my generator running my house during power outages and "exercising" the generator per Onan's specifications than I've put on it for camping.

It depends on how you camp. For us we needed a generator.

For some reason people assume a camper needs a generator. I have one built in and very very rarely ever use it. We mostly camp at places that have hook-ups. When stopping "on the road" the batteries run everything just fine. When we camp somewhere with no power usually our solar panel and batteries are enough. We mostly just run the generator for the toaster, coffee maker, griddle in the mornings when we're not plugged in. If I had room for more batteries I wouldn't even need to do that.
I've put way more hours on my generator running my house during power outages and "exercising" the generator per Onan's specifications than I've put on it for camping.

msturtz wrote:
........................ You don't say what size your truck is 1500, 2500, 3500. That is very important if you want a 5er.

He says it's a 1/2 ton - makes it a 1500.
NOT the best for other than a VERY light fiver!!
In fact I believe GM stated their 1/2 tons were not recommended for pulling fivers back in 2005.

But his "Buds" say it's OK :S

Buster52 wrote:
My truck is a 2005 GMC Sierra with the tow package. My RV buds who have 5th wheelers tell me that is the way to go. They know my truck and they are the ones who recommended a 5th wheel. But they only go where there is power to hook up their rigs. I am planning a cross country trip and some places I will need to have my own power. So where is the best place to mount a generator? If you put it on the back will you be changing the balance on the trailer taking the weight off the tongue? Also making it easy to steal?

In my case it was for the better because of the excessive tongue weight I had. It would be very difficult to steal because it was bolted down to the custom made mount. You don't say what size your truck is 1500, 2500, 3500. That is very important if you want a 5er.

One lighter option is to go with two Honda 2k generators hooked together to provide 4k enough to run a/c.

My truck is a 2005 GMC Sierra with the tow package. My RV buds who have 5th wheelers tell me that is the way to go. They know my truck and they are the ones who recommended a 5th wheel. But they only go where there is power to hook up their rigs. I am planning a cross country trip and some places I will need to have my own power. So where is the best place to mount a generator? If you put it on the back will you be changing the balance on the trailer taking the weight off the tongue? Also making it easy to steal?

With my 100 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, generator, tools, blocks, winch, spare oil, coolant, wiper fluid etc. and the tongue weight I was at my max GVWR but well under my GCWR and I was driving a 1 ton SRW rig with a 8.1L gas motor. Pulled well, never had problems with it, but it was very loud going up steep grades! When I moved the generator from the bed of the truck to the back of the TT that helped because the generator I had in the bed of my truck was a 7,000 / 12,000 watt electric start model. It is very heavy! The one I mounted on the bumper of the TT was 3,200 / 4,000 watts and recoil start. By the way I should mention another thing I did that may help the OP, I had a 3,000 watt RMS sine wave inverter installed (hard wired) into the TT so we could run the TV, entertainment center, microwave, and charge our phones without starting the generator. To accomplish that required, 2 GC2 batteries on the tongue plus 3 AGM batteries under the bed. However, it greatly reduced the number of times the generator was required when dry camping in rest areas and parking lots. Essentially, if we were just stopping for the night and didn't need AC we didn't start the generator. Usually we would start it the next morning to charge the batteries while getting ready to leave. It is much less annoying to your neighbors in parking lots and especially at rest areas if you don't start a loud generator.

valhalla360 wrote:
- With a 1/2ton truck, you will be very limited on the 5th wheels you can tow. Most units advertised as 1/2ton units can't really be towed by 1/2ton trucks if you want to stay in the ratings of the truck. The big issue is typically the pin wieght which quickly exceed the rating of the truck.

Absolutely right! Very few fivers can be pulled by an average 1/2 ton. But it depends on the 1/2 ton. A Ford F150 with the Max Tow and HD package has a higher payload than many 3/4 tons. But that is the exception.