5th Wheel Novice Needs Advice!

The main consideration you need to understand is the weight capacity of your truck. Yes, it can probably tow 10,000 pounds, but that's not the whole story. You need to know the GVWR of your truck (Look on the door post), then figure out what the total weight of your truck will be with a FW hitch, Pin weight, passengers, cargo and everything else you'll have in it.

On your TT, you probably had about 800-900 pounds of hitch weight. On a FW, your pin weight can be MUCH more. You can get a fairly close understanding of your weight capacity by looking at the tire placard. Let's say it lists the weight capacity at 2600 pounds. From that, you need to compare the weight of the passengers, cargo, FW hitch and FW pin weight. If you don't exceed the weight capacity, you should be in good shape.

The main advantags to a 5th wheel vs a tt...is that a 5er has a substantial portion of the actual length of the trailer sitting over the truck bed..so the turning radius for a given overall length of trailer is less than a TT, so backing it up is a whole different experience at first.

Then the handling of the tracking is different too. And the sway and "push" you get from a passing big rig or gust of wind is less. You generally get more interior volume in a 5er, higher ceilings, more storage volume under floor and in the front under the master bedroom.

I had 6 TT's towed mostly by Expeditions...and one Jayco 5th wheel towed by a Diesel F250. LOVE the 5er! With our Pullrite SuperGlide hitch I can spin a U-Turn in a cul-d-sac or slip it into a tight camping space no problem. The backing and manuevering is a definite learning curve...practice in a big empty parking lot first!

No drawbacks that I have found.

Thanks for the replies! My GVWR is 8600 lbs (4250 Front and 6000 Rear). Trailer GVWR is 10,200 lbs. Trailer Gross Dry Weight is 7200 lbs. Hitch weight is 1420 lbs according to the trailer specs...so I assume this applies to the portion of the hitch on the trailer?

WeGoCamping wrote:
Thanks for the replies! My GVWR is 8600 lbs (4250 Front and 6000 Rear). Trailer GVWR is 10,200 lbs. Trailer Gross Dry Weight is 7200 lbs. Hitch weight is 1420 lbs according to the trailer specs...so I assume this applies to the portion of the hitch on the trailer?

At 10k, I would say your approaching diesel territory. I would figure about 20% a good approximation of pin weight. The vehicle you have will probably move it, but it won't be happy. Jmo

Most likely will not be a problem. 5th Wheels have less wind drag than bumper pull trailers, due two the position of the trailer to the trucks cab. Give it a try. Chris

WeGoCamping wrote:
Thanks for the replies! My GVWR is 8600 lbs (4250 Front and 6000 Rear). Trailer GVWR is 10,200 lbs. Trailer Gross Dry Weight is 7200 lbs. Hitch weight is 1420 lbs according to the trailer specs...so I assume this applies to the portion of the hitch on the trailer?

Do yourself a BIG favor and don't even go by the dry weight, it's sort of a joke, NO ONE tows a 5er empty or dry....and it's amazing how much one can pack into their rv and not realize it until they decide to completely empty it....You need to use the 5er's GVW of 10,200#...now you may never load to that, but, "what if"...using the 20% "ball park" pin weight equation, you could be looking at a pin weight of 2,000#.

I owned a 27' travel trailer, with a GVW 6500#, went to a 27' 5er with a GVW of 8500# and I traded trucks after a couple of "up hill" extreme slow downs.

The pin weight/hitch weight is what you'll be putting in the bed of your truck..

if your GVWR is 8600#, that is how much your truck can weigh with full fuel tank, all family in the truck, any pets, 5er hitch (figure 200#) AND the pin weight of the 5er, which again, would more than likely be MORE than the dry weight the manufacturer shows. I'd weigh the truck, just like you were about to hook up and go camping, (truck loaded)...then add 200# for 5er hitch...get the weight and subtract it from the GVWR of your truck, 8600# and that'll give you an idea of how much pin weight you can put in the bed of your truck..

NOW, if you exceed your trucks GVWR, which some do, you can ignore the GVWR numbers as quite a few do and go by your RAWR of 6,000#....I just wouldn't cut into it too deeply or you'll start wearing out components on your truck...I had an 01 Chevy 2500 that had a 9200# GVWR, which is 600# more GVWR than your truck has....

I think, though I might be wrong, a 5er with a 10,200 GVW may be too heavy for your older 2500 truck, and if your towing in the mountains, you may find this out sooner than later.....I've been there, done that and got the T-shirt:).....not a fun towing experience....

ON EDIT: OK, maybe I read something wrong,but in your first post you stated 8500# loaded 5er...after re-reading that, I thought I needed to re-thing what I posted, but in your next post you stated trailers GVW was, 10,200#...I would think THAT might push your older 2500 a little with limits....the 8500#, no, but the 10,200#...yeah, I'd want to know the numbers by doing the weighing.

Guess like Chris said, hook up and see what it does...

The only draw back with a fiver is that you loose your cargo space in the bed of your pickup. I have a fifth wheel which we enjoy a lot, you get a feeling of more room because of the height of the inside ceiling. Towing is easy and with my dually it is real easy. My brother tows a TT and likes that because he can load his extra water , quad, and misc. stuff. Bottom line they are all fun and at this age they sure beat tents! LOL

Reelay wrote:
The only draw back with a fiver is that you loose your cargo space in the bed of your pickup. I have a fifth wheel which we enjoy a lot, you get a feeling of more room because of the height of the inside ceiling. Towing is easy and with my dually it is real easy. My brother tows a TT and likes that because he can load his extra water , quad, and misc. stuff. Bottom line they are all fun and at this age they sure beat tents! LOL

totally off topic, but even with the 5er, you have more space IN the 5er's basement to stow stuff than the TT offers altogether, and I can still get quite a bit of gear in my truck even with 5er hooked up...I carry my 7500/9000 Champion generator in the back of my truck when 5er is hitched along with more than several other items as well as my tool box.....

WeGoCamping wrote:
Thanks for the replies! My GVWR is 8600 lbs (4250 Front and 6000 Rear). Trailer GVWR is 10,200 lbs. Trailer Gross Dry Weight is 7200 lbs. Hitch weight is 1420 lbs according to the trailer specs...so I assume this applies to the portion of the hitch on the trailer?

Without actual weights, you're right at 2,000 lbs on the pin with that FW. (1420/7200)*10,200 = 2,011. Add the weight of a hitch, people, fuel and "stuff", and you're at ~2,500 cargo for your truck, ASSuming the ratio of 19% stays the same. If it loads more to the front, it could be even more. Probably =way= over the payload rating for that truck.

Lyle

and you really really need to look at the load rating of your tires on the rear axle. never ever exceed those..