5er accidents

[Terryallan]

seems like the last few weeks have been really bad for 5ers here in NC. Why? My opinion.
Many have been sold that story about how 5ers tow so good that you don't even know there are there, and that is how they drive. Like it is not there, and they get themselves into situations they don't have to skills to get out of, or don't have the Tv to get them out of it. Also many don't appear to have a 5th wheel capable TV. As in. I'll just put airbags on it, and it will be fine. WRONG. Airbags do not increase it capacity of your TV.

Bottom line. Yes a 5er may or may not tow better than a tag along. But it is still a trailer hanging off the back of your truck, and it is still heavy, and it still moves the TV around some. Especially in the wind, and if your TV is not capable enough., and especially if you are tow really fast, and ignoring the trailer. You wouldn't believe the number of 5th wheels that pass me on the highway running 80, and 85 MPH. That folks is too fast. Even the big trucks don't run that fast as a rule.

So don't fall for the myth that "you won't even feel it" You will, and if you aren't being careful. It may feel you right off the road. Drive like you are towing a trailer, because you are. You can't change lanes as fast, you can't accelerate as fast, and you can't stop as fast. You can't do anything like you can with out a trailer behind you. Drive accordingly.

I'm tired of seeing campers scattered out all over the road. And yes. That goes for the tag alongs as well. But it just seems the 5ers are being driven with less caution than needed.

[JRscooby]

Terryallan wrote:

wing_zealot wrote:
What’s the difference between a video of a truck moving silly large load or a chyron of a truck moving a silly large load?

I’m old enough to remember an advertisement for a front wheel drive car that was towing a boat on a trailer with the back wheels of the car removed. Any reasonably bright persons learns by about the age of 3 that commercials exaggerate and are to be taken with a large grain of salt.

I remember that commercial, and use it as an example of what a WDH can do when I set up some one's trailer.

As a practical joke my Dad cranked up the spring bars on uncles Vista Cruiser to the point he could not move, 1 rear wheel would just spin on gravel. BTW, Olds built a Toranodo without front bumper, and most of the front overhang, used it to move snow at the plant.

"What’s the difference between a video of a truck moving silly large load or a chyron of a truck moving a silly large load"

I don't know what "chyron" is. But when they tell us a 150 can tow whatever many do not understand not all 150s can tow the same thing. This leads to issues

[Terryallan]

valhalla360 wrote:

rlw999 wrote:
I'm always amazed at how fast people tow. Like in an area with 70mph speed limit for cars, and 60mph for trucks+trailers, I regularly see people towing RV's (both 5th wheel and bumper tow) at 75mph+, keeping up with the car traffic.

I don't tow, but when I drive my Class C, I generally stick with the truck speed limit... not only is it safer, but the gas mileage is better too. Just because you *can* drive at 75mph, doesn't mean you *should*, or that you can do so safely.

Unless there is weather or other conditions coming into play...on a clear dry day, keeping up with traffic is generally safer on freeways.

Truck speed limits are put forth by politicians not traffic engineers.

Now if it's a lightly traveled rural freeway, doing 60-65 isn't a big problem but as traffic builds keeping up so you don't create a rolling road block is safest.

But I'm with the other post asking what data is there that a lot of 5th wheel crashes are happening? I've seen far more bumper pulls in crashes over the years.

Only data I have is the news. And it tells me all the RV accidents in the past month in this area have been 5ers. My only reason for posting is to remind people that even though a 5er does tow pretty good. You are still towing.

As for those advocating that you "keep up with traffic flow" remember as well. that unless you have replaced your ST tires. They are rated for 65 mph. Not realy safe to run them at 80.

[Terryallan]

wing_zealot wrote:
What’s the difference between a video of a truck moving silly large load or a chyron of a truck moving a silly large load?

I’m old enough to remember an advertisement for a front wheel drive car that was towing a boat on a trailer with the back wheels of the car removed. Any reasonably bright persons learns by about the age of 3 that commercials exaggerate and are to be taken with a large grain of salt.

I remember that commercial, and use it as an example of what a WDH can do when I set up some one's trailer.

[Terryallan]

way2roll wrote:
Curious where all these accidents for FW's are in NC. And how is it more than the rest of the US per state? Do you have some data? And you seem to be making some bold assumption of drivers towing FW's as to the causes of the accidents. There could be a million reasons for accidents completely outside the responsibility of the drivers. I just find the post completely presumptuous.

Sorry, they were not all in NC. Some were in SC. Surprised you didn't read about them in Wilmington. You aren't that far from 544.

[thomasmnile]

If an electric F150 can pull railcars loaded with F-150 gassers.......:)

[philh]

MFL wrote:
Towing a FW, the RAWR/tire rating is what makes a huge difference between a 150/250. The 250 can carry 2K-2.5K more pin wt, on it's rear axle.

Many 1/2 tons are not capable of carrying a fully loaded 1/2 ton towable FW, which often have a 10K GVWR. However, some can, and the RV marketing folks point at those trucks as an example.

Jerry

I was shocked at the difference LT E tires made on my F150. F250D can have payload under 2,500 lbs. Numbers are all over the map! But, as you point out, numbers are what matters. I've seen F150 short bed with a 5th wheel attached to it. It was frightening to watch the front end of the truck wandering back and forth.

[wing_zealot]

What’s the difference between a video of a truck moving silly large load or a chyron of a truck moving a silly large load?

I’m old enough to remember an advertisement for a front wheel drive car that was towing a boat on a trailer with the back wheels of the car removed. Any reasonably bright persons learns by about the age of 3 that commercials exaggerate and are to be taken with a large grain of salt.

[JRscooby]

Walaby wrote:

laknox wrote:


I'm in agreement that RV dealers need to be held liable if they sell a rig to someone they =know= will be towing with a truck that's simply not meant for hauling something that size. Doubly liable if they actually set up the truck for the customer. There =are= the occasional dealers that will refuse to sell a trailer to someone if their truck's too small. With FWs, =tow= ratings mean almost nothing; it's =payload= that's the controlling factor.
Lyle

While I agree there's dealers that will sell anyone anything to make a buck, isn't it the consumer who should be held accountable? Or maybe it should be the truck manufacturer, because after all, they show a Toyota Tundra pulling a Space Shuttle.

Mike

I'm not real found of private companies regulating behavior, even if most people prefer that to government regulation. But I don't think ads showing a vehicle moving silly large loads is near the issue as the ad that say in great big letters CAN TOW WOOFTY,000 LBS! then in fine print, when properly equipped

I bought a wrecked F350, needed a front clip. Found one that fit fine, even the same paint code. In the gospel according to some, if I wanted to buy a heavy travel trailer, I could not because the badges on the fender are overloaded?

[Walaby]

laknox wrote:


I'm in agreement that RV dealers need to be held liable if they sell a rig to someone they =know= will be towing with a truck that's simply not meant for hauling something that size. Doubly liable if they actually set up the truck for the customer. There =are= the occasional dealers that will refuse to sell a trailer to someone if their truck's too small. With FWs, =tow= ratings mean almost nothing; it's =payload= that's the controlling factor.
Lyle

While I agree there's dealers that will sell anyone anything to make a buck, isn't it the consumer who should be held accountable? Or maybe it should be the truck manufacturer, because after all, they show a Toyota Tundra pulling a Space Shuttle.

Mike

[Grit_dog]

Now that TA has given up RVing, apparently his only function here is to stir the chit pot!

Got a good batch brewing now! Nice work TA!

[laknox]

philh wrote:
I'm getting trashed in a RV Facebook page for daring suggesting that 1/2 Ton trucks generally can't tow !/2T ready 5th wheels. And then I suggested that many F250's don't have that much more capacity. Never thought I'd be a member of weight police, but here I am!

My KZ Durango 1500 grosses 10.5k and I'm pretty sure that it'd bust my CCC rating if it were fully loaded. I know that my old Komfort, with an 11,360 GVW, put me over my CCC by over 1k lbs the one time I measured it, and I was nowhere near my GVW. This is on the '02 Duramax in my sig.

I'm in agreement that RV dealers need to be held liable if they sell a rig to someone they =know= will be towing with a truck that's simply not meant for hauling something that size. Doubly liable if they actually set up the truck for the customer. There =are= the occasional dealers that will refuse to sell a trailer to someone if their truck's too small. With FWs, =tow= ratings mean almost nothing; it's =payload= that's the controlling factor.

Lyle

[laknox]

valhalla360 wrote:

Michelle.S wrote:
I'm not creating a "Rolling Road Block", doing 65 because the other traffic never use the right lane and are running 10 to 20 over the speed limit at least.

Where exactly is the average speed in on a busy urban freeway upwards of 80-90mph?

I'll wait for you to provide data supporting your position. Yes, there is the stray vehicle doing it but I never suggested keeping up with the outliers.

Come to AZ and drive the Loop 101 through Tempe, Scottsdale and N Phoenix. Speed limit is 65, I drive 75, and there have been occasions where I have not passed a single vehicle for miles, but have been passed by 60-70% of the other cars on the road. I'd say that the average speed is close to the 75 that I drive, overall. It's insane. All I can say is, with the number of lifted / modded trucks I see driving 80-90, or faster, they must have some awful deep pockets just to pay for the fuel.

Lyle

[laknox]

Lynnmor wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:


Now if it's a lightly traveled rural freeway, doing 60-65 isn't a big problem but as traffic builds keeping up so you don't create a rolling road block is safest.

So in heavy traffic with all those BMWs, Audis and such, I need to match their speed? I'm driving my speed, deal with it.

Yup! Amazing how many fewer traffic issues you have when you're in the right lane and everyone else is going around you. 🙂

Lyle

[laknox]

valhalla360 wrote:

rlw999 wrote:
I'm always amazed at how fast people tow. Like in an area with 70mph speed limit for cars, and 60mph for trucks+trailers, I regularly see people towing RV's (both 5th wheel and bumper tow) at 75mph+, keeping up with the car traffic.

I don't tow, but when I drive my Class C, I generally stick with the truck speed limit... not only is it safer, but the gas mileage is better too. Just because you *can* drive at 75mph, doesn't mean you *should*, or that you can do so safely.

Unless there is weather or other conditions coming into play...on a clear dry day, keeping up with traffic is generally safer on freeways.

Truck speed limits are put forth by politicians not traffic engineers.

Now if it's a lightly traveled rural freeway, doing 60-65 isn't a big problem but as traffic builds keeping up so you don't create a rolling road block is safest.

But I'm with the other post asking what data is there that a lot of 5th wheel crashes are happening? I've seen far more bumper pulls in crashes over the years.

Decades ago, a study was done in MT or WY, where they opened up a stretch of highway to NO speed limit for a period of 1-2 years. Kept very good stats on speeds, accidents, crashes, injuries, deaths, etc. They then set a speed limit of 80 or 85% of the average speed they'd recorded during the test period. ALL stats went down to =below= the pre-test period, and stayed that way. Of course, the Feds jumped in and F'd it all up by mandating the 55 speed limit and, guess what? All the stats went back up. IIRC, this was based on a similar test that had been done in Germany in the 50's or 60's, when the autobahns were being constructed.

The basic conclusion was that it's not speed that kills so much as speed =differential= that kills.

Lyle

[laknox]

rlw999 wrote:
I'm always amazed at how fast people tow. Like in an area with 70mph speed limit for cars, and 60mph for trucks+trailers, I regularly see people towing RV's (both 5th wheel and bumper tow) at 75mph+, keeping up with the car traffic.

I don't tow, but when I drive my Class C, I generally stick with the truck speed limit... not only is it safer, but the gas mileage is better too. Just because you *can* drive at 75mph, doesn't mean you *should*, or that you can do so safely.

Just dropping from 65 to 60-62 mph, gives me 1-1.5 mpg, calculated a number of times. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling DW that my new Endurance tires are 81 mph rated, so she keeps wanting me to drive faster. I just respond with, "how much of a hurry are you in and how much more do you want to pay to go that fast?" :B She grumbles a bit and lets me just roll on at my favored 62. I =do= like it that I can roll down a hill at 70 and feel I'm not damaging my trailer tires, though.

Lyle