Going 5th Wheel from RV Class C

[Sabluka]

I now go with a 30' Minnie Winnie towing a Jeep Cherokee. Works fine 'cept for the occasional normal problems.

I plan to switch to a 5th wheel so gotta buy the truck and the 5th wheel.

Plan to tow back to Ak and maybe even back down. I lived there for 30+ yrs. I'm in Ga now.

I guess I have a huge learning curve.

Just wanted to get advice on 5th wheel to buy for 2 people and two pups. Winter insulation would be good but not mandatory.

Is there a site that has all the 5th wheels listed and rated by owners like there is for the RVs?

I need to size trailer then buy Crew Cab to tow it. Frankly I haven't a clue as to a sturdy dependable 5th wheel. I do prefer GMC trucks tho.

Any and all advice and ideas are welcome.

Rick

[Veebyes]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
I'm just going to throw this out there:

We drove our 28' Class C to Alaska in 2006. Once north of Destruction Bay, YT, encountering frost heaves was an eye-opening experience! We encountered other RVs along the way, and IMO, the 5ers with their tow vehicles, were having the most trouble, due to the distance between the sets of wheels and the clearance between the bedrails and the trailer? We passed many that were driving very slowly 9maybe 35 mph), probably trying to protect their truck beds from being damaged by the trailer? In other words, if you're driving on a roller coaster - a short wheelbase is your friend. Now granted - a lot of 5th wheels go to Alaska; I'm just saying you might own the better RV for it right now?

And there you have it, an opinion about taking a 5er to AK from somebody who has not done it.

Driving the AK highway with a 5er is not different than any other vehicle. We have done the 13,000 mile trip 3 times from MD. The only damage sustained was south of Calgary. Hit a dip that was not seen & did spring damage.

Drive to suit the road conditions. Pay attention to those flags.

Now as far as what to buy goes everything is going to seem huge after the Minnie Winnie but don't get carried away & buy too big like one of those monster 38 or 40'ers.

One poster is heavy on the Dodge & the Cummins. I like the Cummins too. Got one in my boat. Too bad you have to get a Dodge truck with it. Nuthin wrong with the Isuzu in the GM trucks. 160,000 virtually problem free miles on our 06. Vast majority of those miles with a 13,000# 5er behind it.

[Sabluka]

laknox wrote:

kohai wrote:
We had a discussion on quality and I tried to put together a very ugly rough draft of what were peoples' opinions on quality manufacturers.

Discussion on quality

Too bad that there aren't more publicly-traded mfrs. A careful reading of their financials might give you a clue as to how they're doing on sales vs warranty repairs. Divide by the # of units produced and you get some idea of the cost/unit they budget for warranty claims. Any mfr that wanted to =really= tout their quality would release their warranty #'s, both in # of units, # of repeat visits/unit and cost/unit/repair. Even if they had average #s, it would be a baseline for other mfrs, as well as themselves, to exceed. Never happen, though...

Lyle

laknox - Very good idea. I hope they hear you.

Be real nice to have that metric out there ti help folks decide.

Gotta be some money changin hands to keep it off the radar.

RR

[Sabluka]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
I'm just going to throw this out there:

We drove our 28' Class C to Alaska in 2006. Once north of Destruction Bay, YT, encountering frost heaves was an eye-opening experience! We encountered other RVs along the way, and IMO, the 5ers with their tow vehicles, were having the most trouble, due to the distance between the sets of wheels and the clearance between the bedrails and the trailer? We passed many that were driving very slowly 9maybe 35 mph), probably trying to protect their truck beds from being damaged by the trailer? In other words, if you're driving on a roller coaster - a short wheelbase is your friend. Now granted - a lot of 5th wheels go to Alaska; I'm just saying you might own the better RV for it right now?

D & E,

Thanks for the input.

I have been considering driving the Class C back and now I'm towing a 2009 Grand Cherokee Limited Hemi Edition. I was stinkin I could sell them there and get top dollar. Then buy the big truck for bldg my cabin there for fishin. I had lots of land 16-miles north of Wasilla on the Kink Arm.

Yep me too.

Very long wavelength frost heaves north & besides Kluane Lake, YT.

At one spot coming south I thght I was thru them so I sped up. I bounced very hard 3-times. The last one was very hard and I heard something sound like a crack..no doubt the frame hitting the RV structure rubber standoffs.

When I left ANC there was about 2" clearance from the top of the cab to the bottom of the cabover. When I got to friends in Goldendale, Wa there was no clearance.

However, I have driven the 2000 30' Winnie Minnie 10K+ miles since that time and no adverse effects from the experience that I have noticed.

Another reason is I want to get there early in the season to get an early start. Need to leave Ak in mid-Sept, tho I left on Oct 6th in 2013 and beat the weather. It would take me over a month to find and buy the truck and the 5th wheel TT.

Thanks again for that input.

RR

[TGPILOT]

For several years I was a professional RV transporter going to all states and Canada. I've tried the Ford, Chevy and Dodge and found that for the money you just can't beat a Dodge with the Cummins's engine. I had a lot of problems with both the Ford and the Chevy and liked their cabs. But performance failed. In our company made up of about a hundred drivers, most ran the Dodge as well as other companies.

I averaged well over a hundred thousand miles a year on my trucks and ran them hard. For personal use I still have a 2006 3500 SWR with the 5.9 Cummins. Only have a hundred and seven thousand on it now. Don't drive it much now, looks like new.

Tom

[laknox]

kohai wrote:
We had a discussion on quality and I tried to put together a very ugly rough draft of what were peoples' opinions on quality manufacturers.

Discussion on quality

Too bad that there aren't more publicly-traded mfrs. A careful reading of their financials might give you a clue as to how they're doing on sales vs warranty repairs. Divide by the # of units produced and you get some idea of the cost/unit they budget for warranty claims. Any mfr that wanted to =really= tout their quality would release their warranty #'s, both in # of units, # of repeat visits/unit and cost/unit/repair. Even if they had average #s, it would be a baseline for other mfrs, as well as themselves, to exceed. Never happen, though...

Lyle

[Jim_Sharon]

You will be happy with a long bed, dually, GM, Duramax/ Allison Diesel.

I don't think you will find a RV that is warm,draft free, enough for Alaska winters.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I'm just going to throw this out there:

We drove our 28' Class C to Alaska in 2006. Once north of Destruction Bay, YT, encountering frost heaves was an eye-opening experience! We encountered other RVs along the way, and IMO, the 5ers with their tow vehicles, were having the most trouble, due to the distance between the sets of wheels and the clearance between the bedrails and the trailer? We passed many that were driving very slowly 9maybe 35 mph), probably trying to protect their truck beds from being damaged by the trailer? In other words, if you're driving on a roller coaster - a short wheelbase is your friend. Now granted - a lot of 5th wheels go to Alaska; I'm just saying you might own the better RV for it right now?

[Sabluka]

kohai wrote:
We had a discussion on quality and I tried to put together a very ugly rough draft of what were peoples' opinions on quality manufacturers.

Discussion on quality

Great discussion on quality. Gave me lots of names to check out.

Thanks a lot.

RR

[kohai]

We had a discussion on quality and I tried to put together a very ugly rough draft of what were peoples' opinions on quality manufacturers.

Discussion on quality

[Allworth]

You might check around used trucks carefully. There are occasionally 12 or 18 month old one ton diesels on the market that are not even fully broken in.

Some guy buys one and then finds out how big it really is and how much diesel costs. An almost new truck hits the market. (or his wife finds out how much it costs!)

[NC_Hauler]

Sabluka wrote:
Thanks all.

Aware of the winters there since I lived there for 32+ yrs.

Will buy a 1-ton diesel.

Prefer GMC but looks like the Fords and Rams are so much cheaper.

I just don't have a clue for the 5th wheel. As long as it is dependable...tough etc.

Any increase in interior size will be great as I've been in the 30' class c since Oct. 2013.

Rick

Guess it's regional...In and around my area, (Western NC), Ram has the best deals, with GM/Chevy being next and normally, comparing oranges to oranges, Ford is the most expensive..but again, that is in and around area where I would shop for a truck

[Sabluka]

Thanks all.

Aware of the winters there since I lived there for 32+ yrs.

Will buy a 1-ton diesel.

Prefer GMC but looks like the Fords and Rams are so much cheaper.

I just don't have a clue for the 5th wheel. As long as it is dependable...tough etc.

Any increase in interior size will be great as I've been in the 30' class c since Oct. 2013.

Rick

[NC_Hauler]

I would look at what 5er you think you can live with, THEN purchase a truck that will be able to tow it...When looking at 5er's, use the GVW and not the "empty" or "dry" weights to try to figure what truck you'll need to tow it with...You can "ballpark" pin weight, (amount of weight you'll be putting on the hitch in the bed of your truck by taking 20% of the 5er's GVW of the 5er.

[amandasgramma]

We traveled around to RV shows and lots to figure out what exactly we wanted in a 5er....THEN we decided we needed a 1 ton to haul without going over mountains at 25 mph. 🙂 I suggest you try that before you decide on a pickup.