Do They Make 5th Wheels Like This Anymore??

[AdvancedQs]

Do they make new 5th wheels with a small area over the pivot point anymore?

Like this? Where there is just a bed there sort of like a truck camper but bigger?

Are there new models out that are smaller like that?

[valhalla360]

I did a quick search and couldn't find any low profile 5th wheels. The shortest I could find was the Winnebago 2405BH. With an overall height of 11.5ft, 13.5 ft is typically the max legal height. That gives you 2ft plus the height of the suspension...so if your truck puts it less than 3.5ft off the ground, it should be viable.

PS: We've had both fiberglass and aluminum siding. Unless you spend a lot of time in hail areas, I prefer aluminum. The market has moved to fiberglass mostly because it looks pretty. There's certainly nothing dangerous about it.
- My Dad's 40yr old aluminum sided trailer was in perfectly good condition when it was sold. We had a 1997 that is in the same park we are in right now...siding is perfectly fine.
- Go wander an RV park and it's rare to find a 5yr or older fiberglass unit that doesn't has at least a small area of delamination.

[JIMNLIN]

Our first 5th wheel rv trailer was like that with a truck camper style bed above the pin. It was a 26' 1984 Aljo Aries RB (rear bath).
Double towed a 18' 3500 lb bass boat with it.
Check out Allen Campers (Allen Oklahoma). allen campersThey show pictures of 5th wheel trailers with just the bed like a truck camper.

I bought my first 8' over head truck camper from them in '72. No issues with it...till a '75 tornado took it.

[AdvancedQs]

time2roll wrote:
You would need an older truck to pull an old style low profile 5th wheel. New trucks are too tall at the bed rails.

Here are a few to look at. Not what you want but a few examples of mid profile fifth wheels.

https://trekkn.co/small-5th-wheel-trailers/

Yes, definitely trying to get these things to all match up

The bed rails are 36” from the ground on the commercial truck I’m using.

[time2roll]

You would need an older truck to pull an old style low profile 5th wheel. New trucks are too tall at the bed rails.

Here are a few to look at. Not what you want but a few examples of mid profile fifth wheels.

https://trekkn.co/small-5th-wheel-trailers/

[AdvancedQs]

NRALIFR wrote:
Funny, a friend just sent me this yesterday. I believe that’s a Scamp 5th wheel on top of that commercial truck. Looks like you’d need about a 6’ stepladder to get in the thing :W



:):)

That’s the general idea.

But, that’s a little different than my idea. It’ll have a pass though and it’s on a much lower truck frame. also, I need to buy new. I’m not looking for old stuff.

[RickLight]

All 5ers have an area over the pivot. When we were shopping modern trailers were described as "low, mid, or full profile" meaning the height of the front.

Most floorplans have additional storage and utility space under the bedroom and bath. Short or long these are things that most of the world thinks work better.

[NRALIFR]

Funny, a friend just sent me this yesterday. I believe that’s a Scamp 5th wheel on top of that commercial truck. Looks like you’d need about a 6’ stepladder to get in the thing :W



:):)

[ksbowman]

I had a 1987 Coachman Frolic 18' fifth wheel. I used it for hunting and 3d shoots for 12 years and it was so easy to use and handle. I flipped the axles and it weighed 3800# empty. It was great and I could take it anywhere . Just sold it 2 months ago and got more for it than I paid 12 years ago.

[AdvancedQs]

So ok, I’ll come clean. I’m looking at making an expedition rig with a commercial truck and an RV with that shape I posted would work better than a travel trailer for it since the bed would be over cab.

Looks like they don’t make such a thing I guess.

[bob213]

It may be old but how many new 5th wheels come with their own roof mounted wind turbine? 😉

[SDcampowneroper]

5ers like you picture with exposed propane tanks and corrugated aluminum siding are long gone. Market shift hail damage and safety makes them obsolete.
Overheads have risen along with long bed trucks or sliding hitches that allow close coupled trailers.
Truck bed heights are rising, tanks moving to enclosed, super easily damaged siding gone with reason.
There is a new normal it is better

[valhalla360]

Assuming you are talking about a new unit...You might be able to special order one but finding one on the dealers lot...not likely.

Travel Trailers make more sense for smaller towable RVs. Frees up the truck bed for hauling things as your example has effectively eliminated the underbelly storage.

Also, the payload becomes an issue. A 3/4 or 1 ton truck is overkill but a 1/2 ton will struggle with payload (say a light 6000lb trailer will have around 1500lb on the pin)...so no payload left to load up the bed with firewood. A 6000lb bumper pull might have an 800lb hitch weight leaving an extra 700lb of payload to play with.

Most people want at least a mid-profile 5th wheel (where you can stand hunched over a bit and sit up in bed) if they are going to go with a 5th wheel.

Yes, 5th wheels tow very nicely but properly set up, a bumper pull should tow just fine. If you are white knuckling it, something is set up wrong.

So what is your goal with going with a low-profile 5th wheel?

[laknox]

AdvancedQs wrote:
Do they make new 5th wheels with a small area over the pivot point anymore?

Like this? Where there is just a bed there sort of like a truck camper but bigger?

Are there new models out that are smaller like that?

My '04 Komfort 25FSG was like that, though not quite =that= low profile. 🙂 Komfort made one that was smaller, with tin sides, than the one we had, and I recently saw one. Late b-i-l had a 19-20' FW that was very similar to the one in your pic. I also towed a 19-20' FW up to CO, and back, for a neighbor. Was so old that it had a manual slide out. 🙂

Oh, yes, the bed is in the space over the pin. 🙂

Lyle

[Y-Guy]

I know that Scamp makes one; 19' Deluxe 5th Wheel Travel Trailers

Escape 5.0

Then you get into something like the Winnebago Micro Minnie but I think those are on the way out.