What's the most "Bang for my Buck" - TT or 5th Wheel?

[F350460gas]

Trying to help out a relative. He has a 2014 F-150 4X4 with the 5.0 V8. I believe it's rated at 7,000 lbs towing capacity. He's looking to purchase a trailer now. In your opinion, what trailer weight should he be looking at considering all the additional weight added with camping equipment, food, clothing and supplies. He doesn't expect to do any dry camping requiring him to have full fresh water tank.
Also, can his truck handle a heavier/larger 5th wheel than a TT?

Thank you all

[mdcamping]

Up to 5000K dry sounds good. My Tacoma is rated at 6500k towing and my jayco is rated at 3750K dry. I have no problems towing! :C


Mike

[bikendan]

The OP hasn't been back for over 3 weeks now.
He's also only 22 times in over 10 years.
His post here, is the only one that shows up in his profile.

So it's been a long time since he posted before this one.

I vote that no one else posts until he answers some of these questions that have been asked.

[Charley67]

Good advice has been given. Go TT with good hitch setup.

[shepstone]

F350460gas wrote:
Trying to help out a relative. He has a 2014 F-150 4X4 with the 5.0 V8. I believe it's rated at 7,000 lbs towing capacity. He's looking to purchase a trailer now. In your opinion, what trailer weight should he be looking at considering all the additional weight added with camping equipment, food, clothing and supplies. He doesn't expect to do any dry camping requiring him to have full fresh water tank.
Also, can his truck handle a heavier/larger 5th wheel than a TT?

Thank you all

You really need to nail down all the capacity numbers on it first before determining any kind of towing ability. "I believe its rated at 7000 lbs" is kind of vague , take a pic of the door stickers and post it up if needed

[rhagfo]

:S
Normally I would suggest a 5er, even if put it slightly over GVWR, BUT with only a 7,000# tow rating his payload will be very low!
Small TT is about the only option.

[Grit_dog]

You'll find about 100x more inventory of TTs that are suited to pull behind a half ton than 5vers so a TT will be the easiest to find a deal on and the most options when shopping.
But if I was going to pull a lot of miles and and found he right deal on a little 5ver I wouldn't turn it down. To me a 5ver is pretty useless for a weekend warrior hauling a family a bunch of extra stuff but gets the nod for tow ability if it's going to be on the hook a lot.

But if you find the right 5ver don't tank the deal by listening to the weight cops on here that think a 700lb pin weight is too much!

[fla-gypsy]

Limited to a TT of no more than 5k IMO

[APT]

The value of a 5th wheel vs. TT is highly subjective. 5th wheel RVs cost more in order to get the same features and size. But 5th wheels tend to have a lot more storage and more headroom in living area, as well as are offered with a lot higher end conveniences and features.

As for RVing for your reletive's truck, a TT will offer far more options than a 5th wheel. I think the tow rating is likely higher, but it probably doesn't matter. Is is quite easy to exceed some other rating with a 7000 pound loaded TT, let alone a 5th wheel of same weight.

Let's take a typical half ton truck with 1500 pounds of payload. Some have more, some have less. Your relative can check his Tire and Loading sticker for his exact configuration as equipped. Let's say he needs 500 pounds of that payload for the family, and 200 pounds of camping gear in the bed. I've never seen a pickup truck pull into a campground with an empty bed. So there is 800 pounds left for trailer tongue weight. That's abut 6500 pounds loaded TT. With Ford's recommendations of restoring 50% of lost front axle weight with a WDH, owners tend to report that also puts them right at rear axle rating as well.

Now the 5th wheel example for the same truck. Starting with 800 pounds of payload left after people and cargo, you need a 150-250 pound receiver, leaving 600 pounds for RV pin weight. I think this Scamp will even exceed that when loaded up.

TTs can tow just as well as 5th wheel RVs. That means a $2000-3000 WDH though. Most people are pleased with the towing comfort provided by a ~$500 WDH with integrated sway control like the Equal-i-zer 4pt, Reese Strait Line, Blueox Swaypro.

As for water - I always fill up my fresh tank before leaving home. Most of our camping is electric hookups only, so it saves some time at the campground filling up with the family anxious to get out of the truck. It also means we can use some while traveling for emergency potty breaks and washing up.

[noteven]

Running a setup that you have to "manage" fresh water loading prior to leaving home is silly.

A small 5th wheel is a nicer trailer to tow than TT but choices will be much more limited.

In the Time Before All Common Sense Was Lost the SK Canada DOT published you could tow "manufacturers recommended trailer weight" on the receiver hitch, but up to 1.5 times that weight by 5th wheel connection over the rear axle because of the better weight distribution and handling of a 5th wheel/gooseneck type trailer...

And now for a word from the Weight Police and Hall Monitors...

[2012Coleman]

Payload will be exceeded before tow capacity. Tow capacity is determined using a flat trailer with weight, not a high walled travel trailer. Post a picture of the sticker in the door jamb if you want better info.

[tragusa3]

Terryallan wrote:
Personally, I'd look in the 4500 to 5000lb dry range. No more than 5000 dry. Once the TT and the truck are loaded to camp. He will be right where he needs to be.

As for the 5th wheel. Just don't

I agree with this. My truck is rated at 11,xxx towing. My TT is dry 5300 with a payload of 2200. I'm very comfortable for local trips, but on longer trips I can tell that I'm at the limit of my comfort regardless of what the numbers say.

[valhalla360]

Another vote for a TT in the 4-5,000lb range.

Except for some oddball tiny ones, the pin weight is what limits his truck for 5th wheels.

A few items need to be checked:
- Always use fully loaded weights, no one camps with an empty truck and trailer and beyond a 150lb driver everything and everyone else is cargo using up the trucks capacity.
- GCVW Rating (fully loaded truck and trailer weight)
- Tow Rating (heaviest trailer that can be pulled)
- Rear Axle Rating (figure 10% for TT and 20-25% for 5th wheels and thus the reason 5th wheels need heavier duty trucks)
- There are actually a couple other things but these are the big ones.
- If any one of these fails, you are over weight. You will find people who tow beyond thier rated capacities but that's a seperate discussion.

[coolmom42]

Usually cargo capacity of the tow vehicle becomes the limiting factor when towing a trailer. The tongue weight of the trailer should be 10-15% of the total trailer weight, and the tongue weight becomes the cargo of the trailer.

Find out the cargo capacity of the truck, subtract occupants, hitch head, and other cargo,and what you have left is the amount available for the tongue weight of the trailer. Look for a trailer that is no more than 7-10X that remaining cargo weight.

A good rule of thumb is to look at trailers no heavier than 80% of the towing capacity. Then double check the trailer specifics against the cargo capacity available.

[mileshuff]

Scamp 19' fifth wheel is just under 3,000lbs dry.
Escape 21' fifth wheel is around 3,700lbs dry.

Not a lot of other 5'rs your truck could handle safely.