Going to a larger fifth wheel. Thoughts? Help!

[1Adam12]

Were giving serious thought to going to a larger unit We would be making the jump from approximately 33 feet to 38'5. The weight increase will be approximately 2500 pounds. I'm a little nervous about the length.

I would like to hear from anyone who has made a similar jump and what their thoughts about it are now. I would prefer to keep the discussion about the length and added weight with the fifth wheel and not discuss tow ratings. We will be purchasing something that will safely comply with our trucks abilities.

Any comments about topics like getting gas (dealing with gas stations on the road) backing into campsites etc. would be appreciated. I'm afraid I might be getting ready to plunk down some cash and picking up another 5-7 feet.

Just FYI we have in over 20 years had a slide on truck camper, pop up, small TT, large TT with slide, current fifth wheel which is a 31.5 bunk house. This will be the first behemoth so to speak!

Thanks!

[remoandiris]

Veebyes wrote:
Get ready to have site & CG options severely cut back. Lots of back in sites you won't be getting into anymore.

This. You just have to look closely at length limits when you're searching for CGs.

[1Adam12]

Thanks all. Appreciate the feed back.

[Veebyes]

Get ready to have site & CG options severely cut back. Lots of back in sites you won't be getting into anymore.

[deleted-2]

We went from a 31 to 36 overall.
Thing I noticed was some of the length is now over the truck bed.
We are also 1 foot taller (12' 1")

Maneuvering\backing seems close to the same.
I do worry about the height though.
Trees I used to drive under would now definitely strike the roof.

[Bird_Freak]

Take a tape measure, pull out 5 ft, Lay it on the floor and look. You are probly taller than that. Still worried about 5FT?

[rasteck]

We went from a 26', 5900lb GVWR 5th to an almost 37', 12,200lb GVWR 5th and are loving every minute of it.

As stated narrow roads and obstacles can be more of a pain now when backing but that was expected.

We sure won't be going back. 🙂

[ddschuman]

We went from a 28ft TT to a 37ft fifth wheel recently. Biggest difference is parking in back-in spot with semi-narrow road and trees to maneuver truck and camper. Once set up, it is nice to have the extra room. DH does most all of the driving and he claims pulling is no issue and really not much different than the TT. We learned to pay attention to fuel station awning heights from reading other post in here. We try to find stations with pull thru pumps on the side or truck stops since the length of our tow vehicle plus camper is so long and would block entrances or driveway otherwise. On a recent vacation we drove up on a detour and had to exit the interstate. We later learned that a big rig had taken out the bridge a few hours before. The NO warning detour took us under a bridge that was marked 12'10" with no way around. Our rig is 12'6" according to specs but we had never measured connected to the truck. There was no service road around or road turning off...it was under or stop. A line of cars were behind us so we chanced it, praying the entire time that our a/c made it under. We breathed a sigh of relief on the other side and thanked God for small favors.

[carpetguy2]

As I went from a 34ft tt to a 39 ft fw.It will get some use to.the height and watching low hanging trees and etc..Also had a 3/4 ton long bed Gmc.Went to a dually pulls a lot better and more stabil.But I did lose some turning radius .
If you get a diesel its is easy to get fuel at truck stops.
Just watch the extra length when making turns.always have the mirrors adjusted so you can see the fw tires and the back end.
Just like anything practice makes perfect if aware of everything

[johncamtravel]

Went from a 35ft fifth wheel to a 40ft fifth wheel in April this year.
Don't really see much difference at all.

[greenshield]

subscribed

[greenshield]

I went from a 33 foot travel trailer that was 7K and now have a 39 foot FW that is 12K. The FW is easier by far. I got used to the weight and length difference quickly, you will too.

[Krease]

We recently went from 34ft to 40ft. It's also about 4k pounds heavier. It just takes a little longer to get moving, a little longer to stop, and a little wider to turn. Other than that, it's all the same. Your first few trips just be cautious, and before you know it you'll be used to it and won't even think twice about it.