I'm looking at toy haulers and would like comments on TT vs 5'ver.I see pluses and minuses on both, want to stay under 35' if possible. My TV is 2500 Dodge cummins.I've read through this forum almost completely and appreciate the 'old timers' willing to impart their knowledge to us newbies. I'm going to haul a Ultra Classic and a Soft Tail for the load. Some dry camping but majority with hook ups. Thanks in advance for your replies.TRFD

I just got done going back and forth with this decision. Big questions are do you want a seperate garage? With just one bike and a trailer that big I would think yes. If thats the case the TTs like that are about 32-35 ft in length to the tounge and usually have a very small from bedroom. If you get a Fiver that length it will have a nice large bedroom. Also the trailer is about 4+feet forward of your bumper instead of a foot behind it which makes your overall length alot shorter. With just one bike you might check out some of the side loading garage units like the Outback. They have a large bedroom and living space with a smaller garage, sometimes in front.The next issue is the pin weight. Most of the fifth wheels with a seperate garage have pin weights north of 2600lbs..... Peope will argue all day if thats too much for your truck or not one other cargo is involved.

Generally speaking 5ers tend to be taller, and have greater ground clearance, but their ramps also tend to be steeper. There is a plus to the TT with a bike, many have issues with steeper ramps and backing down (or at least a fear of backing down). 5ers tend to have larger tanks, so do compare - but as you note you won't be doing a lot of dry camping so this may not be a big issue for you.If you get the right hitch, like a Hensley, you really won't find any towing difference between a TT with good hitch and a 5er. The big plus to a TT is it's all one level, no step up to the bedroom, but you also lose the storage that comes with that step up too. Personally I found towing my 39' Raptor so much easier then with our 28' TT. But if I'd found a comparable 5er and TT I'd be hard pressed to decide.

I went with the TT TH by Northwood because 1. they don't make a FW version and in my opinion they are about the best trailers made. 2. The king pin weights of similar length FW TH are pushing high 2500 - 3000lbs+ dry. That is too much weight for my little 2500 and I wouldn't feel safe I don't think. Those are the biggest reasons. I do like the fact that I have my entire bed available now for other things. What you really need to be concerned with on a TT TH is the tongue weight. I didn't even think I would have an issue with mine until I dived deep into the specs. The dry tongue weight is around 1600lbs. On mine, the holding tanks are all in front of the axles so if I'm hauling water then there will be more tongue weight to deal with. I had to get a heavier duty WD hitch setup just to handle the additional weight. Now when you add your toys to the back behind the rear axle then it will reduce some of the tongue weight but not a lot. Towing seems to be about the same as my previous trailer. This trailer (13k GTWR) and the Cummins knows it's there unlike the previous TT I had that maxed out about 8k. Other than that though I couldn't be happier with all the features they pack into these units.

toytacoma8 wrote:...With just one bike you might check out some of the side loading garage units like the Outback. They have a large bedroom and living space with a smaller garage, sometimes in front....Good point but I believe the Outback sideloading units are still only 8 feet wide on the outside. Most likely not enough room on the inside of the garage for the big bikes he plans on hauling. Another thing with the side loaders is they generally don't have beaver tails to prevent bottoming out on the top of the ramp.I think the OP would be better served by a rear loading beaver tailed setup.

Prior to our current setup, we had a bumper pull toy hauler. This allowed me to keep all the dirty things, tools and spare parts in the back of the truck bed under a contractor canopy instead of storing them in the garage. A SRW truck will have limitations on how much pin weight it can handle and fifth wheel TH setups are typically biased too much to the front to compensate for your garage load. You will be limited to a FW around 15K lbs GWR due to payload limits. There are some nice aluminum chassis FW TH's, but you will pay a premium over steel. Even the longer BP TH's can have 2k lbs of tongue weight, so expect to upgrade your receiver to a Class V and possibly add suspension aids to level out your truck.

TT toy hauler vs 5th wheel toy hauler | Good Sam Community

tinner12002
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
I think Puma and there's also another brand or several actually that make decent 34-36ft toy haulers with separate 12ft garages. If you want to look a several all at once go ebay and type in toy haulers and it will bring up 4-5 pages of them, some used but a lot of new ones with specs. If they don't list the specs then ask them, most are more more than willing to let you know what the weights are.
I have a winners circle with a 12ft separate garage that I use to haul an Ultra limited and a Heritage softail plus have room for grill and misc stuff so don't sell yourself short on getting one with a too small of garage space.
To your orig ques, I've pulled a 28ft TT cargo with living quarters vs this 5R and enjoy the 5R much better, more room, better handling on the road.
You just also need to watch that you don't get one too big for your truck...a lot of them out there rated for a 3/4 ton truck to pull them.
ace44
Explorer
Aug 09, 2013
We just went through the same issues about a month ago. It was a tough decision but we decided to purchase a used 29 foot 5th wheel toy hauler. We have an Electra glide standard and a can am spyder. The ramp is a bit steep for the Harley but manageable. The reason we went with the 5th wheel is for the same length trailer we got a lot more storage and sleeping area. The pin weight is 1800 pounds and the trailer pulls awesome with our 1 ton. It is a tough decision but after looking at several different models over the last 6 months we knew what we wanted.
dieseldan723
Explorer
Aug 09, 2013
following
toytacoma8
Explorer
Aug 09, 2013
fj12ryder wrote:
toytacoma8 wrote:

...

With just one bike you might check out some of the side loading garage units like the Outback. They have a large bedroom and living space with a smaller garage, sometimes in front.

...

"I'm going to haul a Ultra Classic and a Soft Tail for the load."

I believe the OP is talking about hauling two bikes, not just one. An Ultra Classic is one bike, and a Soft Tail can be a different bike, and most likely is in this case.

Oops I stand corrected, I am still learning the Harley types...

The beaver tail is a good point, that might be something to keep an eye out for. There are whole threads that discuss loading big bikes in THs that might be worth checking out as well.
mrkoje
Explorer
Aug 09, 2013
trfd wrote:
fj12ryder wrote:
toytacoma8 wrote:

...

"I'm going to haul a Ultra Classic and a Soft Tail for the load."

I believe the OP is talking about hauling two bikes, not just one. An Ultra Classic is one bike, and a Soft Tail can be a different bike, and most likely is in this case.

I'm planning on hualing 2 bikes, of unequal weights. Is that a loading issue?

The 2500 pickup shouldn't have an issue with a TT should it?

Fj12ryder I'm just down the road in Parkville.

It's not that the 3/4 will have an issue with the TT TH, it's that usually the factory receiver hitches are the limiting factor - with 1600-2000lbs of tongue weight I found I needed to get a new WD setup and I may even consider getting a new receiver on the pickup all together. I'm going to be taking me setup to the scales the next few days I have off just to see what the actual loads on the tongue are.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Aug 08, 2013
The weights are that bad, not like a dirt bike and a Ultra Classic. :) It's not a bad idea if you put the bikes side-by-side to put the heavier bike on the side that looks like it carries a bit less weight. Maybe opposite the side with the fridge and/stove, like that.

A 3/4 ton shouldn't have an issue with a modestly sized TT.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Aug 08, 2013
Wow, not far away at all. Howdy neighbor. :)
trfd
Explorer
Aug 08, 2013
fj12ryder wrote:
toytacoma8 wrote:

...

"I'm going to haul a Ultra Classic and a Soft Tail for the load."

I believe the OP is talking about hauling two bikes, not just one. An Ultra Classic is one bike, and a Soft Tail can be a different bike, and most likely is in this case.

I'm planning on hualing 2 bikes, of unequal weights. Is that a loading issue?

The 2500 pickup shouldn't have an issue with a TT should it?

Fj12ryder I'm just down the road in Parkville.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Aug 08, 2013
toytacoma8 wrote:

...

With just one bike you might check out some of the side loading garage units like the Outback. They have a large bedroom and living space with a smaller garage, sometimes in front.

...

"I'm going to haul a Ultra Classic and a Soft Tail for the load."

I believe the OP is talking about hauling two bikes, not just one. An Ultra Classic is one bike, and a Soft Tail can be a different bike, and most likely is in this case.
Bedlam
Moderator
Aug 08, 2013
Prior to our current setup, we had a bumper pull toy hauler. This allowed me to keep all the dirty things, tools and spare parts in the back of the truck bed under a contractor canopy instead of storing them in the garage. A SRW truck will have limitations on how much pin weight it can handle and fifth wheel TH setups are typically biased too much to the front to compensate for your garage load. You will be limited to a FW around 15K lbs GWR due to payload limits. There are some nice aluminum chassis FW TH's, but you will pay a premium over steel. Even the longer BP TH's can have 2k lbs of tongue weight, so expect to upgrade your receiver to a Class V and possibly add suspension aids to level out your truck.