Did I just buy a 5th wheel?!?!?! What did I get into?

[webejpn]

Some background.
Been camping all my life. We recently sold our travel trailer that was sitting on some land we owned. We sold it with the land because I had no way to tow it hence why it sat at that land. Well, that was 4 months ago and since I bought a new half ton truck shortly after selling the land, we got the itch to buy a camper that we could actually go places with. So we went to the dealer with full intent on buying a mid 20's footer travel trailer. Well, thanks to a good salesman and my negotiating wife we got a great deal on a 2018 Arctic Wolf 265dbh8 fifth wheel. I've never owned a 5th wheel!!!!

My truck is a 2015 Chevy Silverado half ton, crew cab with 3.73 gears (10,900lb towing capacity)
I guess my biggest concern is towing this trailer with this truck. Any insight as to what I'm getting into?

Thanks
Matt

[laknox]

GordonThree wrote:

ChuckV1 wrote:
I'm not going to go over weights, it's been done as you have read a number of times, all I will say is think about safety.

At 45 or 50mpg can you stop your truck an trailer within safe limits, ie think about the weight that's pushing you down the road, then someone brakes in front of you, can you stop before hitting them ...

That is why people move up to bigger TV, not only to handle the weight but the stopping power, it's for the safety of your family along with others on the HWY . Can your truck pull the trailer, yes without a problem, but can it stop your trailer in an emergency stop is the real ????

Safe travels

I've never owned a fifth wheel, so do I understand correctly that they don't have their own brakes?

They =do=! This is one of those things that people bandy about all the time who really don't understand how the system works. The truck should stop itself and the trailer should stop =itself=; you should feel little, or no, pushing by the trailer during braking. If you do, then something's wrong. That being said, in a worst case scenario, all bets are off, and that includes semi trucks hauling massive loads. Also, a bigger truck is =heavier= and provides more stability since there's more mass for the times that might occur when the tail wants to wag the dog.

Lyle

[Dayle1]

ChuckV1 wrote:
I'm not going to go over weights, it's been done as you have read a number of times, all I will say is think about safety.

At 45 or 50mpg can you stop your truck an trailer within safe limits, ie think about the weight that's pushing you down the road, then someone brakes in front of you, can you stop before hitting them ...

That is why people move up to bigger TV, not only to handle the weight but the stopping power, it's for the safety of your family along with others on the HWY . Can your truck pull the trailer, yes without a problem, but can it stop your trailer in an emergency stop is the real ????

Safe travels

Truck brakes stop the truck (which includes pin weight), but the fiver axles have brakes rated to stop the same weight they can carry. No trailer should be pushing the tow vehicle, sure way to loose steering control. Proper brake controller setup and brake maintenance are critical. Sure, my 3500 has bigger brakes than a 1500 truck, but last time I checked the published UNLOADED stopping distances were about the same. So there is not excess braking capacity available for stopping the trailer.

[GordonThree]

ChuckV1 wrote:
I'm not going to go over weights, it's been done as you have read a number of times, all I will say is think about safety.

At 45 or 50mpg can you stop your truck an trailer within safe limits, ie think about the weight that's pushing you down the road, then someone brakes in front of you, can you stop before hitting them ...

That is why people move up to bigger TV, not only to handle the weight but the stopping power, it's for the safety of your family along with others on the HWY . Can your truck pull the trailer, yes without a problem, but can it stop your trailer in an emergency stop is the real ????

Safe travels

I've never owned a fifth wheel, so do I understand correctly that they don't have their own brakes?

[ChuckV1]

I'm not going to go over weights, it's been done as you have read a number of times, all I will say is think about safety.

At 45 or 50mpg can you stop your truck an trailer within safe limits, ie think about the weight that's pushing you down the road, then someone brakes in front of you, can you stop before hitting them ...

That is why people move up to bigger TV, not only to handle the weight but the stopping power, it's for the safety of your family along with others on the HWY . Can your truck pull the trailer, yes without a problem, but can it stop your trailer in an emergency stop is the real ????

Safe travels

[mattmountz94]

Nice camper, one of those just popped up on my facebook the other day. Congrats on the new toy you sure will love it.

I won't weight police you like the rest but i must say i never saw a 1500 pulling a 5th wheel.

[GordonThree]

Congrats on the new trailer. Like others have said, add some airbags, upgrade to E rated LT tires and have fun. When the opportunity comes up to buy a new truck, go for a one ton.

Lots of huge trailers on half tons trucks around my parts, and I don't see them in the ditches, and the sky is not falling.

The weight police on this forum may sound like a broken record, but they really do know what they're talking about. When I moved from a half to a 3/4 truck, it made a huge difference, just towing my little 20ft trailer. Almost always, the bigger the truck the better.

[laknox]

webejpn wrote:
Some background.
Been camping all my life. We recently sold our travel trailer that was sitting on some land we owned. We sold it with the land because I had no way to tow it hence why it sat at that land. Well, that was 4 months ago and since I bought a new half ton truck shortly after selling the land, we got the itch to buy a camper that we could actually go places with. So we went to the dealer with full intent on buying a mid 20's footer travel trailer. Well, thanks to a good salesman and my negotiating wife we got a great deal on a 2018 Arctic Wolf 265dbh8 fifth wheel. I've never owned a 5th wheel!!!!

My truck is a 2015 Chevy Silverado half ton, crew cab with 3.73 gears (10,900lb towing capacity)
I guess my biggest concern is towing this trailer with this truck. Any insight as to what I'm getting into?

Thanks
Matt

Not =nearly= enough truck. Rule of thumb is 20% of the FW's weight is on the pin. You have to figure worst case at GVW, so 20% of 11,520 is right at 2300 lbs, and that's without a hitch, passengers and "stuff" that you want to carry in the truck. Way, WAY too much to safely carry with that truck. Personally, I'd rescind the deal based on false info provided by the stealer, or see if they have something at least 2k lighter that you could move to, IF you want to continue dealing with a liar.

Lyle

[Cummins12V98]

Weigh your trucks rear axle, now look to see what your tires can carry at full psi. Double tire capacity and then subtract rear axle weight. I am betting that number is much less than the weight of a hitch and 20 percent of the RV's GVWR.

You would be an accident waiting to happen.

[kzspree320]

You will probably exceed your rear axle weight rating (RAWR). Let's do the approximate math.

RAWR, based on new trucks on website. 3,950
Approximate weight of rear empty 2,100 - this is probably close but estimated

Max left to reach RAWR. 1,850
Pin weight per brochure 1,300
Battery and propane 100 usually not in brochure weight
Weight of 5th wheel hitch and rails 150
5th wheel storage is in front of trailer axles
and about 60-70% ends up on your
rear wheels - 1,000 X60% 600

Total est weight on rear axle 2,150

Looks like you would be about 300 lbs over your RAWR (and probably tire ratings if P tires) before you put any people or cargo in the truck. Some of my numbers are estimated but I think pretty close. You could take your truck to the CAT scales and see if the empty rear weight is less than my estimate.

That said, if you buy LT tires with enough capacity and add Timbrens or air bags you will probably be OK on shorter trips. It will take a toll on your vehicle. I wouldn't spend the money when it's not the real answer.

If you can afford it, it's time for a new 2500/250 truck of your choice. I would not pull your new 5th wheel with the current truck. It's just not safe IMHO. Good luck.

[Fisher_Bill]

Another thought are things like the ride or suspension not to mention the brakes.

You'll have more peace of mind going to a 3/4 ton.

[High5er]

webejpn wrote:


My truck is a 2015 Chevy Silverado half ton, crew cab with 3.73 gears (10,900lb towing capacity)
I guess my biggest concern is towing this trailer with this truck. Any insight as to what I'm getting into?

Thanks
Matt

Matt, what is the Payload rating on that half-ton? (That's a nice lightweight rig by the way)Still seems a bit much for your truck.

[garyp4951]

I pulled my first 5er with a half ton for a few seasons, and it was overloaded a little so I had to put Timbren load levelers on it to keep from damaging my rear springs, but I was real glad when I got the 2500HD.

[ford_truck_guy]

webejpn wrote:
Why is my truck not enough?
Unloaded its 8300. Hitch weight is 1300.
Last time I weighed our gear we were under 1000lbs.

advertised pin weight is 1300# DRY... ADD your 1000# = 2300# . . Noe add your hitch #, and your family . . NOW look on your door sticker and see what your allowable payload is?

[kerrlakeRoo]

webejpn wrote:
Why is my truck not enough?
Unloaded its 8300. Hitch weight is 1300.
Last time I weighed our gear we were under 1000lbs.

Pin weight of 1359
Hitch + ???
What type batteries weight = ???
Dresser and other items in Bed room weight= ???
Tools and supplies in basement = ????
Water tanks Forward of axles? = ???
You weigh = ???
DW weight = ???
Other stuff in truck will weigh = ???
Truck payload cap is somewhere between 2100 and 2300
You dont have a lot of wiggle room left

[fj12ryder]

With a fifth wheel it's not so much what you can tow, as much as it is how much you can carry. By the time you add a hitch, and various sundries you'll probably be over 2000 lbs. in the bed of your truck rather than 1300 lbs. Hitch weight alone will very likely be in the neighborhood of 2000 lbs.

Figure 20 percent of the GVWR of the 5th wheel for hitch weight, since no one hauls an empty trailer.