At what point does length cease to matter?

[dd992emo]

Sorry about the thread title...when I read it now it sounds kinda dirty.

We've been looking for a 5er in the 33-36 ft range. There is just the two of us and I'm accustomed to pulling a 33 ft TT, so I'm comfortable in that length. Have a chance to get a Big Country 3650RL for a really good price, which comes in at 39' 5", and I'm starting to think "another 3 1/2 feet, So what?"

For all of you 5er veterans out there, at what point do you go from pulling a trailer to feeling like you've got about a million feet of trailer behind you? I'm sure it's different for everyone.

[MP_soldier]

I'm discovering many places that I can't fit since moving up to a 44' toyhauler...

[Road_Phantom]

That's what she said.

[Rangerman40]

I went from a 23ft TT to a 43ft fifth wheel..... its big but easy to pull, and not really a problem to maneuver except for gas stations. I exclusively use the truck lanes now where before I could stop at any ol mom and pop gas station and be fine.

[avvidclif1]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
I don't get saying that a long 5er is easier to back than a shorter one. We with our 25 footer and a friend with a 34 footer tried to get in a site at a national park. I got in easy and he couldn't at all and it was because of length. Don't believe that length doesn't matter.

What has ease of backing have to do with getting into a site????

[Jayco-noslide]

I don't get saying that a long 5er is easier to back than a shorter one. We with our 25 footer and a friend with a 34 footer tried to get in a site at a national park. I got in easy and he couldn't at all and it was because of length. Don't believe that length doesn't matter.

[dd992emo]

DReisinger wrote:
dd992emo, I rode the 807 out of Long Beach, 66-70 SNIPES RULE MM2

DR, always nice to hear from a fellow FRAM sailor! My first ship was USS Epperson (DD-719). The other five were all destroyers, too. Couldn't imagine being on anything else.

[DReisinger]

dd992emo, I rode the 807 out of Long Beach, 66-70 SNIPES RULE MM2

[Dave_and_Sue]

One of the problems I mostly see when with owners upgrading
from a shorter trailer to a longer one is getting use to the
tail swing of the trailer

I'll second this one.We went from a 32'to a 42'.Very big tail swing difference.The first time in a tight campground,I about took out the power ped.Scared me the way the DW was hollering at me.LOL.Watch this closely.

[Lar_s]

One of the biggest things I've found is once situated and ready to back in, the length of the truck really matters. The front swings too far in to the site across from where the trailer needs to fit, especially when they are perpendicular.

Height also becomes quite a situation.

[ChuckV1]

As one person stated, "the feel of towing a fiver vs towing a TT is no comparison and will not go back to a TT 🙂

The fivers tow that much nicer, easier to get around turns, much easier to back and now have tons of room with slides.

The DW and I upgraded from a 33ft 5th wheel to a 41ft 5th wheel, it have two axles and I feel like it pulls the same with my F350 with a 6.0 diesel.

It is also 101" wide but looking in the mirrors it seems to me about the same as the old 5er we traded in. Also the trailer we traded in weighted in at almost 9k empty, the new a 5er weights in at over 12k empty. :B

One of the problems I mostly see when with owners upgrading from a shorter trailer to a longer one is getting use to the tail swing of the trailer. I have seen operators almost hit picnic tables, power and water pedestals with the DW screaming to stop either at the top of her lungs or on a radio.

That extra five or six feet or more in same cases may not seem like allot but if your use to say 6ft behind your axles and you got to say 8ft, size matters. Also the distance from your pin to the front of your axles as well matters at were you are going to start you swing when backing into a spot.

The last thing to remember is the longer you are the easier it is to back, the shorter you are the harder. Why, the longer you are the trailer turns slower, the shorter you are the quicker the trailer turns. Example backup a 10ft trailer and then try one with the axles at 20ft, believe me your will know the difference fast 😄

[Veebyes]

mhardin wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
... Matters even more when the only site in the CG long enough to take you is occupied by a class B camper who got there a few minutes before you.

Or, even worse, a tent camper using that site. Nothing against tent campers, but I've seen them in sites that could be used by RVs while there are plenty of good tent sites available.

Never good for the CG when it has to turn away the RV because of that.

On the funny side, we were once side by side with tenters in a very close double pad site. The weather made up that night & we did a fine job of blocking the weather for the tenters to the point where they made good use of the underside of our slideouts.

[mhardin]

Veebyes wrote:
... Matters even more when the only site in the CG long enough to take you is occupied by a class B camper who got there a few minutes before you.

Or, even worse, a tent camper using that site. Nothing against tent campers, but I've seen them in sites that could be used by RVs while there are plenty of good tent sites available.

[webecreekin]

I have a Cedar Creek that is 39.5 feet long. When I make reservations, I tell them it is 40 feet. This trailer has been to every state except Hawaii. I took it to Alaska and pulled it over the Top of the World highway from Tok to Dawson City. The length had nothing to do with it's ability to travel. Of course state parks and national parks are outta there. They are a little heavier, so good continuing maintenance of the suspension is a must. A lot of folks in the Cedar Creek RV Owners Club who bought the shorter (34 series vs. the 36 series) wish they had the 3-4 feet of interior space of the longer trailer. Pulling it? You don't know the difference of the 3 feet.

[Veebyes]

Length matters when the longest the site can possibly accommodate is 35' & you have a 39'er. Matters even more when the only site in the CG long enough to take you is occupied by a class B camper who got there a few minutes before you.