What do we buy?

That is generally the purpose of my extended post. To tell the OP to do it right the first time and save a LOT of money and shopping and frustration camping in something you don't like or struggling to tow it.

me1magoo wrote:
By the way, I had a 25' travel trailer with no slides and a F-150. Then I bought an F-250. Then I bought a 28' fifth wheel with one slide. And then a 3500 single wheel truck. Then we had to have the bigger trailer and bought a 35' triple slide rolling house. Yep, it was after several trips and a few uncomfortable moments that I made my 3500 into a dual wheel truck. I won't go back to a single wheel. 2500 or 3500 with or without airbags, single wheels is single tires. I like having the stability and security of the dual wheels on each side.
Yeah, it cost some money to do those upgrades and we started with the first truck and trailer in 2002 and bought the last trailer in 2010. That's eight years and quite a few checks written to learn what we really wanted and then what we needed to tow it safely and comfortably.

Go big with your TV from the start and you will save money and frustration.

By the way, I had a 25' travel trailer with no slides and a F-150. Then I bought an F-250. Then I bought a 28' fifth wheel with one slide. And then a 3500 single wheel truck. Then we had to have the bigger trailer and bought a 35' triple slide rolling house. Yep, it was after several trips and a few uncomfortable moments that I made my 3500 into a dual wheel truck. I won't go back to a single wheel. 2500 or 3500 with or without airbags, single wheels is single tires. I like having the stability and security of the dual wheels on each side.
Yeah, it cost some money to do those upgrades and we started with the first truck and trailer in 2002 and bought the last trailer in 2010. That's eight years and quite a few checks written to learn what we really wanted and then what we needed to tow it safely and comfortably.

Shop for the trailer you want. If it fits within real and common sense weight capacity for your truck, great. If not, buy the truck that it takes to make it right. That's it. You will not be happy if you buy a smaller trailer or cut out that bedroom slide to save hitch weight or go with a travel trailer if you want a 5'er and then it's all going to be frustrating. Just get the right trailer and THEN decide on the truck. Nothing says you have to even take the trailer home. Pick the trailer, heck even buy it, then take it to the scales and weigh your truck and the trailer. If you are not 100% sure, go buy a truck that makes you 100% sure. Even if that means limping home and then not moving the trailer again until you can get the truck done. Seriously, don't feel pressured, if the money is an issue then shop within your limits and that might mean some used gear instead of all new trailer and new truck!

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Probably good thing he had a POS hitch. Really who knows how this would have turned out if it had not broken loose. Maybe all would have been fine??????

Probably, Probably, Maybe, Maybe ???????

If I had to guess it was that stretch of road between Cheyenne ,and Laramie, Wyoming. Have towed thru there a couple times ,once when the freeway was closed the day before because it was blowing semis over. It was still blowing pretty hard the next day, and the semis were pulled over, I didn't seem to have much problem with a SRW truck towing a large fifth wheel, blowing hard enough to keep blowing the steps down until I tied them up, rocked the trailer pretty good ,but the truck handled it well, guess my junk hitch was okay that day. Just lucky I guess, or because it was a ford I was towing with :)

They all say "It tows fine", even the 150/1500 owners with the 12 to 14K 5er, until something goes wrong. No one is saying a Dually is a "Cure All", just that with a Dually you stand a better chance of getting things under control.

Veebyes wrote:

sidney wrote:
I have seen this accident picture several times before.

I don't disagree that DRWs offer superior stability over SRWs.

But to assume an SRW would have rolled over with the 5th wheel and the hitch (or some other component) would not have failed as it did in the accident is not logical.

What evidence is there that an SWR would have rolled with the trailer?

You would have had to have been there to understand. Lets just say that we were taken within 18" of the edge of the embankment (tires left a mark) before it tore out. Hurricane force sustained gust of wind absolutely broadside on a high profile vehicle is an awful lot of pressure. Had we been a Class B, a C, or even a big A, it is likely we would have been history. When sand & small gravel is traveling horizontally across the road you have alot of wind.

The hitch is rated at 18,000#. Trailer was 13-14,000#.

SRW guys, carry on. Beef them up with airbags etc. all you want. If the day comes when you get hit like we did that DRW extra sideways stability could make the difference between your life or death.

Your call.

Your experience must have been terrifying... I'm very glad no one was injured.

sidney wrote:
I have seen this accident picture several times before.

I don't disagree that DRWs offer superior stability over SRWs.

But to assume an SRW would have rolled over with the 5th wheel and the hitch (or some other component) would not have failed as it did in the accident is not logical.

What evidence is there that an SWR would have rolled with the trailer?

Well I can tell you from personal experience. I was towing a trailer thru Portland and it started swaying and could not control it and the trailer went over and so did the truck. Maybe not with a dually??????

But I can tell you that we then started towing the same trailer with a dually and never a bit of sway after that.

So until you have had a bad experience with a single wheeled truck you will say "it tows just fine" !

A bit of an extreme what if example. I see dually tractors flipped over regularly. So we really don't know if this scenario would Ever play out the same just too many variables to say srw would have turned out different. I do understand drw worked for you and in the end that is all that should matter.

sidney wrote:
I have seen this accident picture several times before.

I don't disagree that DRWs offer superior stability over SRWs.

But to assume an SRW would have rolled over with the 5th wheel and the hitch (or some other component) would not have failed as it did in the accident is not logical.

What evidence is there that an SWR would have rolled with the trailer?

You would have had to have been there to understand. Lets just say that we were taken within 18" of the edge of the embankment (tires left a mark) before it tore out. Hurricane force sustained gust of wind absolutely broadside on a high profile vehicle is an awful lot of pressure. Had we been a Class B, a C, or even a big A, it is likely we would have been history. When sand & small gravel is traveling horizontally across the road you have alot of wind.

The hitch is rated at 18,000#. Trailer was 13-14,000#.

SRW guys, carry on. Beef them up with airbags etc. all you want. If the day comes when you get hit like we did that DRW extra sideways stability could make the difference between your life or death.

Your call.