Long Bed or Short Bed PU for towing a fifth wheel?

Going full time Long bed for capacity, the issues with long bed crew cabs are 90% perception, you learn to deal with with the size.
Long bed bigger fuel Tank, smoother ride more stable on the road.

Still personal choice.

One other thing, if you get a short bed, you need a slider hitch, or a very rounded noise.
One cost $$$, the other cost you closet space. We have a 5er with a full width hanging closet, and a full width flat floor.

Personally I would never buy a short bed, 26 gal tank, not 35 gal of a long bed 100 extra miles! After market tanks cost $1,000++.
Member just caught his cab, doing a forward tight turn with a SB, $2,500+ for repairs.

Short bed because it's also a daily driver. Super glide 18,000 hitch.

We chose a 6.5' bed for maneuverability both while hitched up and while working.

It is simply a matter of preference, what suits you best. Pros and cons for both depending on how much towing, does it need to fit in a garage, is it a daily driver etc.
My short bed works great for me. I drive daily for work, and it fits nicely in my garage. Long bed wouldn't work for me. Plus you lose a couple hundred pounds of payload.
I have a slider hitch and have never (6 yrs) needed to use hitch in maneuver position.
If I was full time towing, I wouldn't need to worry abt garage and would have much more needed room in bed.
I also have a toolbox in front of bed and all fits no problem.

duplicate post

Hi. long bed will give you load cap. Just don't over do it.

I don't have a 5er, but I've read a lot from the 5er forum. Seems one item to watch for with a short bed is the distance from the corner of the truck cab to the corner edge of the 5er so they do not hit. With a short bed, you may not be able to make a 90 degree.

However, there are those who successfully use a slider hitch with no problems with a short bed. So, I would think you should consider 2 options:

1: Long bed with a fixed 5er hitch
or
2: Short bed with a slider 5er hitch

Regardless of which set-up you get, you always have to watch the corner of your camper and the corner of your truck cab. With a TT, we always have to watch jack-knifing (regardless of long OR short bed), which can do a whole lot of ugly pain too.

Same answer as the one from your other post, in a different part of RV net...

Long bed ......

If you're going full time then absolutely the long bed. You get almost 4' of space between the cab and 5th hitch. A good place for a large aluminum box to store stuff in. Plus still have some extra room between it and the hitch. I have a LB and wouldn't want it any other way. No messing with sliders. Can't compare the ride between an SB and LB while towing but I did test drive an SB and LB before I bought my LB. Didn't notice any difference. You'll want a DRW anyway for that big of a 5th if you're full timing. I'm guessing you'll have it loaded to the gills and you'll need the payload capacity the DRW has.

Hi.. We tow our 5th wheel with a 2004 Dodge diesel which has a 8 foot box.. We just have regular 5th wheel hitch that sits in the center of the bed. With the long box we do not have to worry about the trailer bulk head hitting the cab in a sharp turn. If the truck had a short bed we would have to get a slider hitch (more $) to avoid the bulkhead hitting the cab in a sharp turn. Also I like the extra room the long box has compare to the short box (I do not remove the 5th wheel hitch during our off season). Down side of the long box (when not attached to the truck) is that it is harder to park. When the time comes to trade the truck I will get another long box. Jim2007