towing 21 footer with full size truck

[jonwoolf]

Maybe a silly question, but I'm thinking of picking up a little 21' 5th wheel, and I'm concerned about hitch height. Were they designed to be towed by the mid size or smaller trucks? I have a 2000 3/4 ton Silverado, not jacked up, and I want to make sure that the hitch isnt too high for the trailer, leading to s****ing my bed sidewalls.


Anyone know?

[magic43]

Sounds like you struck gold. Enjoy !!!

[jonwoolf]

OK, many thanks for the info, especially the chart that was emailed to me. I did the logical, backed my truck up to the potential purchase Coachmen, and it looks fine. A bonus is that it has a pinbox installed, so my 6'6" box is not an issue. No slider needed, I don't think. The axles are underslung, and as best as I can eyeball, the trailer will tilt up just a couple of inches at worst. If I put 120lb air in the rear tires, it will be level....(Kidding!) BTW, this trailer is a real barn find- 1 owner, truly kept in a barn, used for 2 weeks a year since 1993. It's immaculate. Can't wait for my shakedown cruise.

[Padlin]

MY FW is 21'. The manufacturer asks for bed and bed rail heights so they can adjust the axle to fit your truck during manufacture. They fit on what I'll call mid size, like the Frontiers, up to F350 4x4's. On the F350 the top of the tires were even with the bottom of the trailer body, looked a bit off but it works for the owner.

The original Escape single axle FW was designed for small and midsize trucks. They just came out with a new twin axle model mainly to make it compatible with today's taller full sized trucks. The new one has 3 height positions, springs under the axle, over the axle, and has hangers that allow the springs to be dropped a couple inches. The pin box height can adjust some, as well as some of the hitches.

[sue_t]

We pulled a 1992 17' fifth wheel with our 2002 F-250 4x4 shortbox.
Perfect fit after the fifth wheel axles were flipped.



Before the axles were flipped it towed nicely behind our older F-150 4x4. You can see the difference in height above the tires.

[jonwoolf]

It's a 1993 Coachmen 210RB

[donn0128]

Age and brandmof fiver. Best thing is to measure ground to top of bed rails and ground to bottom of fivers overhang

[agesilaus]

They may have been designed and built for older model trucks which weren't as high. Is this new or a used model? You can use a tape measure to check the height.