Looking for a 5th Wheel

[Community Alumni]

I just currently went full time into my 31' Class C. I am looking to "upgrade" to a 5th wheel since I will be living in it full time for many years to come. I am 6'7" and would love the much needed space, especially the head room. I do not want a toy hauler and I would like to stay under $60k. I would like new if possible. I don't want to go too heavy because I would rather not have to upgrade my truck. I currently have a 2014 F-150 STX supercab. I understand I may have to upgrade my leaf springs to equal a F250.

I am in the preliminary stages so the first couple of questions are

1) What brands are notorious for troubles?
2) What are the pros and cons of the rigs you have?

I like the Coachman Chaparral models. They have a lot of headroom, even in the master bedroom. I am also not looking for models that have multiple bedrooms or bunks.

[56Jeff]

May want to go to a Ford Truck Forum and ask about your truck pulling a 5th wheel. Ask about the hitch weight, and how it pulls up bridges, hills, and Mountains. I had a 1500 chevy, it struggled to pull a TT. I knew then, I would have to upgrade the truck before the camper. going to a 3 year old used F250 Diesel was a really good move. It has lots of power. Resulting in me not being stuck with limited choice of Campers when I did go looking.

[BB_TX]

Being that tall you would do well to visit several RV dealers and walk fhru multiple models. I have been thru many at dealers and RV shows. At over 6'-4" I have trouble walking in the front bedrooms or front living area of many models without having to bend over. And one that had a somewhat higher ceiling, they had put the antenna crank handle right where you walk, ensuring a bumped head.

[Community Alumni]

ChuckV1 wrote:
chag67

Check out the Kz 5th wheels, they are well built an allot of them are price new below the 60K you are looking to spend 🙂
https://www.kz-rv.com/fifth-wheels.html

Ask the owner about the Kz brand you are looking at on the Kz form at http://kzfamilyforum.com/

You will like the open floor plans allot in the Kz 2500 series an 1500 series 5th wheels, they do not have the bing/glitter that the high priced 5th wheels have but they have the functionality that many of the other brands do not have, take a look I think you will be surprise ...

But also say such I would recommend moving up to 3/4 truck for safety reasons no matter what 5th wheel you buy, it's not that you can't pull it, it the stopping power an weight distribution that makes the 3/4 ton way better than your 1/2 ton. I will say there are sales people who will tell you no problem pulling that 7000 or 8000 but ask them would they bet on you stopping in an emergency an not hurting you, your family or the people who did a quick stop in front of you ....

Good luck an safe travels

Found the pricing. Thanks.

[Community Alumni]

After just a quick trip to a local RV dealer and to Ford dealership, I know now that I will need a F250 to be safe. I don't mind getting a bigger truck. Now that I know I need a bigger truck, what about my previous questions?

[ChuckV1]

chag67

Check out the Kz 5th wheels, they are well built an allot of them are price new below the 60K you are looking to spend 🙂
https://www.kz-rv.com/fifth-wheels.html

Ask the owner about the Kz brand you are looking at on the Kz form at http://kzfamilyforum.com/

You will like the open floor plans allot in the Kz 2500 series an 1500 series 5th wheels, they do not have the bing/glitter that the high priced 5th wheels have but they have the functionality that many of the other brands do not have, take a look I think you will be surprise ...

But also say such I would recommend moving up to 3/4 truck for safety reasons no matter what 5th wheel you buy, it's not that you can't pull it, it the stopping power an weight distribution that makes the 3/4 ton way better than your 1/2 ton. I will say there are sales people who will tell you no problem pulling that 7000 or 8000 but ask them would they bet on you stopping in an emergency an not hurting you, your family or the people who did a quick stop in front of you ....

Good luck an safe travels

[Old-Biscuit]

Your trucks GVWR and Axle weight ratings are going to be your limiting factor.....leaving you with few choices.

Adding leaf springs, air bags etc will NOT change that.....

You can get MORE trailer if you go bumper pull then via 5th wheel.
5th wheel pin weight is carried by trucks Rear Axle and use a higher pin weight percentage (20%-25% of trailers total weight)
Trailer tongue weight can be 'distributed' across truck and trailer axles using a WDH (10%-15% of trailers total weight)

Many trailers now have high ceilings.

Do you know what your truck weights are 'camp ready'------all passengers, stuff in truck cab, stuff in truck bed etc) ?
Do you know how much add'l weight truck could carry....GVWR minus scaled weight and RAWR minus scaled weight??

Weigh your current truck...then with real numbers you can calculate max numbers your truck could handle w/o being overloaded


Tire Data Sticker (Yellow sticker on door jamb) will have MAX Cargo Carrying Capacity

[donn0128]

Oh geese. There are really few if any fivers that you can tow without being overloaded. Truck first.

[IdaD]

What are your axle and tire ratings? The good news is the list of fifth wheels that would work with that truck is probably pretty short so you won't have too much to sort through. Unfortunately that's also the bad news.

An F150 is a distinct model from an F250/F350. In the latter case the differences range from non-existent to minor and in most cases it's easy to fix any shortcomings. With an F150 you've got a whole different set of components and simply upgrading the suspension really won't do much since you'll still have an F150.