New to 5th wheels bought my first toy hauler

[Boosted1200]

Hey guys brand new to this camper thing. Last year I had a tent and last week I bought a 2015 nitro 39dks5 I know it's a definitely a cheaper toy hauler compared to others but with the 16 foot garage and low price we just had to go with it. Just wondering what to watch out for? Problems and things I should be concerned about? I searched for reviews on this model but could not find anything. Like I said I'm brand new to this so any help would be great. Thanks

[dedmiston]

nayther wrote:

RickSo wrote:


I have driven DRW trucks for daily drivers for many years and it is something you get used to.

Not if you live in the city. Try driving just the truck in my sig. around downtown L.A. and finding places to park! I've been doing it for 10 years now and it is not fun when I have to do that, would be impossible with a long bed dually.

Another good reason to stay out of the City. :B

We went to an event down in Hollywood last weekend and I was surprised when we came out and DIDN'T have a parking ticket.

[nayther]

RickSo wrote:


I have driven DRW trucks for daily drivers for many years and it is something you get used to.

Not if you live in the city. Try driving just the truck in my sig. around downtown L.A. and finding places to park! I've been doing it for 10 years now and it is not fun when I have to do that, would be impossible with a long bed dually.

[RickSo]

Congrat's on the new TH.....great looking unit. 🙂

I think most triple axle TH's these days require a 3500 DRW. Since you haul other trailers and if you are at 30K on the trailer that is way over even the max trailer rating for new GM 3500's.
Maximum conventional trailering capacity of 19,600 lbs
Maximum fifth-wheel trailering capacity of 23,200 lbs

I have driven DRW trucks for daily drivers for many years and it is something you get used to.

[mrkoje]

Dually would be safest option but not always practical if you use it as a daily driver as well. I have a 14 Ram 3500 Megacab short box loaded and my payload rating is right at 3980. Some of the other 3500s were past 4k.

Here is the deal - some one posted the specs and those aren't always right. 20% of the GTWR is 3600lbs. You most likely will be adding toys you mentioned 2k - so dry weight +2k + water and other stuff that seems to accumulate will at least take you to 16k or 17k which might be around 3400lbs on the pin. You are in the boundaries of most new SRW 3500s. However, you are also close to exceeding the capacities of most SRW trucks as well.

Some people on here will say get a dually for hauling tent camper. In some cases they might be right and most others they are quick to offer advice for which they have no experience.

Yes - a dually will be more stable and offer a nicer towing experience as well as a level of comfort that you are having the weight spread over 4 tires instead of 2. However, if you will be using the truck the other 300 days a year and need to utilize it as a daily driver you might just find out that you hate driving the dually around.

To me it sounds like you haul a lot of trailers frequently - in that sense you might find it beneficial to go with a dually anyways. - That would be my recommendation but I can understand staying with a SRW.

You could always go from the factory wheels to set of 19.5" commercials as well to give you some breathing room for comfort.

In my case - I would test it out first with my current setup. If I don't like the towing experience then I would cross that bridge when I get there.

[jandjbaums]

Yep thats a biggin! Really nice trlr by the way. The dually route would be the way to go, these retired truck salesman will get you on the right track! JK!

[kaydeejay]

Boosted1200 wrote:
So now I have an excuse to by a new 3500

Yup!
You're learning!
It's not what your truck is rated to PULL, it's what it can CARRY.
Your 2500 payload is probably around 2500#.
You plan on putting 3500# on the hitch, plus occupants, fuel and other stuff.
Do you really think this makes sense?

Go out and get that dually - you need it (or a VERY stout recent 1-ton SRW)

[tinner12002]

Boosted1200 wrote:
Actually last week I had 30k on the trailer I put it on the scale just to see what my load weighed.

Hopefully your talking a dually with that kind of weight or I hope to never see or pass you on the hiway!!

[mdamerell]

2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel

Dry Weight 12,866 lbs
Cargo Weight 5,075 lbs
Gross 17,941 lbs

Pin weight 20% of 18,000# = 3,600#

You need atleast 4,000# of cargo capacity
Personally, I think this puts you in dually area.

[schlep1967]

Now you're starting to smile!

Back to your original question. Pulling a 5th wheel not much difference. Wide on turns and watch the tail swing. Extra room for braking like any trailer. When backing it will take a few more feet to start turning. Once it starts it will turn quick. Since you pull trailers regularly you should have no problems adapting.

[Boosted1200]

So now I have an excuse to by a new 3500

[schlep1967]

Boosted1200 wrote:
I wasn't consered about the weight of the 5th wheel at all more so just General things to watch out for the 5th wheel. But now you guys have me scared with the weight.

As you know from your own experience these diesels will pull just about anything. The limiting factor is the payload of the truck. You have a 3/4 ton truck and figuring 20 percent of the empty trailer weight as tongue/hitch weight you are beyond 2500lbs. Add water, propane, food, people, fuel, hitch, etc....

[Boosted1200]

I wasn't consered about the weight of the 5th wheel at all more so just General things to watch out for the 5th wheel. But now you guys have me scared with the weight.

[Boosted1200]

It was 30k on the trailer 12 boxes of seed. The toy hauler will have a 4 seater canam maverick so 2000 pounds.

[Ivylog]

Welcome to the forms where there are plenty of weight police that have never pulled anything until they bought a fifth wheel. I hope the 30,000 pounds included the weight of the truck. The problem with fifth wheels and toy haulers especially when empty is they have excessive pin weight. Unlike hauling a machine where you can shift the weight by where your position it fifth wheels limit this. How much weight are you going to be hauling in the toy hauler?

Instead of putting heavier axles and tires under them, they put 20% on the pin to save $750. I would be checking the axle rating and tire load capacity as they are probably at their max when you put a load in the back.

When my combined weight was 30,000 pounds with a f350 I decided to do something different like this as I was afraid the F350 would be taking me to the scene of the accident.