Questions about 5th wheel/GN hitches
Up to now I have only towed trailers with frame mounted hitches mainly with SUV's or vans. I'm looking to get a 1 ton dually with a 5th wheel hitch for possible upgrade to a 5th wheel RV and a goosene...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
The 158" wheelbase on a supercab Ford is pretty normal in towing, so that the co-driver can take a nap while driving. Crewcab is even better, and also used much of the time, with a rear platform for a larger more comfortable bed.
So with a 158" wheelbase, and 1,000 pounds of hitch weight, the pin centered over the rear axle, none of the weight is transferred to the front axle. Move it forward 1" and you get 1/158 transferred to the front axle, or about 8 pounds. 2" is 2/158 or 1/76 of the pin weight, or about 16 pounds.
So handling might improve a bit by moving the hitch pin forward about 2-3 inches, but weight transfer will not change significantly. You just DO NOT want the pin behind the rear axle. When the weight of the trailer starts to 'bounce' - that is on a rough road, and the pin is in front of the axle, more weight is applied to the drive axle. If behind the rear axle, more weight is removed from the drive axle.
AS for me, I would rather not wear out a pickup truck so quickly by driving it coast to coast in a few days. Putting 100,000 miles on the truck will take a $40,000 truck and turn it into a $10,000 truck. That is about 3 miles per $1 lost in the truck's value.
I did see a truck someone posted about here on Rv.Net that had about 700,000 miles on the odometer. It was a 2007 GM crewcab with a perfectly good back seat. The back seat had been removed, it was used 5 years for hauling cars, and then the back seat re-installed before being traded in on a new GMC. I was impressed that it went that far in only 5 years. I guess big rigs go even farther in a short time as well.
Have fun camping!
Fred.
The 158" wheelbase on a supercab Ford is pretty normal in towing, so that the co-driver can take a nap while driving. Crewcab is even better, and also used much of the time, with a rear platform for a larger more comfortable bed.
So with a 158" wheelbase, and 1,000 pounds of hitch weight, the pin centered over the rear axle, none of the weight is transferred to the front axle. Move it forward 1" and you get 1/158 transferred to the front axle, or about 8 pounds. 2" is 2/158 or 1/76 of the pin weight, or about 16 pounds.
So handling might improve a bit by moving the hitch pin forward about 2-3 inches, but weight transfer will not change significantly. You just DO NOT want the pin behind the rear axle. When the weight of the trailer starts to 'bounce' - that is on a rough road, and the pin is in front of the axle, more weight is applied to the drive axle. If behind the rear axle, more weight is removed from the drive axle.
AS for me, I would rather not wear out a pickup truck so quickly by driving it coast to coast in a few days. Putting 100,000 miles on the truck will take a $40,000 truck and turn it into a $10,000 truck. That is about 3 miles per $1 lost in the truck's value.
I did see a truck someone posted about here on Rv.Net that had about 700,000 miles on the odometer. It was a 2007 GM crewcab with a perfectly good back seat. The back seat had been removed, it was used 5 years for hauling cars, and then the back seat re-installed before being traded in on a new GMC. I was impressed that it went that far in only 5 years. I guess big rigs go even farther in a short time as well.
Have fun camping!
Fred.
