TT or 5W
We are planning for our RV experience starting next year; our goal is to be about 80% full time, with a couple months around holidays being spent at home. We keep going back and forth on what kind of...
Forum Discussion
Any trailer is going to be affected by strong cross winds and a 5th-wheel trailer that sticks another 5 or 6 feet higher is going to be affected a lot more by head winds and generate more air drag that is going to reduce fuel economy.
The people I know that recently sold their 5th-wheel trailers all disliked the steps up to the base level and then the additional step up to the sleeping area. All had problems with the 5th-wheel trailer motion being telegraphed to the cab of the truck to the point where drinking a cup of coffee while underway was not possible. They all added a Trailair type of dampener to correct the problem. Sway control bars are designed to dampen movement of a travel trailer and they work well if setup properly.
When you get past a certain trailer weight the use of a kingpin instead of a trailer ball is required so you are forced into a 5th wheel trailer for something that has a loaded weight over 10,000 lbs. gross weight.
With a travel trailer the entire bed of the pickup is available for gear and makes it easy to haul small boats or bicycle or other items.
Basement storage space is greater with a 5th wheel though some of the travel trailers, like some Keystone models have space that is accessible from the outside that is designed for large items like bicycles.
It may be an overly broad generalization but with 5th-wheel trailers the focus of the manufacturers is on having as high end a look and feel, even to the point of marble counter tops, while with the travel trailers there has been more effort put into reducing their overall weight so that they can be pulled by smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.
The people I know that recently sold their 5th-wheel trailers all disliked the steps up to the base level and then the additional step up to the sleeping area. All had problems with the 5th-wheel trailer motion being telegraphed to the cab of the truck to the point where drinking a cup of coffee while underway was not possible. They all added a Trailair type of dampener to correct the problem. Sway control bars are designed to dampen movement of a travel trailer and they work well if setup properly.
When you get past a certain trailer weight the use of a kingpin instead of a trailer ball is required so you are forced into a 5th wheel trailer for something that has a loaded weight over 10,000 lbs. gross weight.
With a travel trailer the entire bed of the pickup is available for gear and makes it easy to haul small boats or bicycle or other items.
Basement storage space is greater with a 5th wheel though some of the travel trailers, like some Keystone models have space that is accessible from the outside that is designed for large items like bicycles.
It may be an overly broad generalization but with 5th-wheel trailers the focus of the manufacturers is on having as high end a look and feel, even to the point of marble counter tops, while with the travel trailers there has been more effort put into reducing their overall weight so that they can be pulled by smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.
