Earlier this spring we bought our current fifth wheel, a Wildcat 29rlx and in the week in between the time we put a deposit on it and when we closed on it I went back to the dealership to verify measurements on the unit. I was shocked at how far off the measurements were. The specs say exterior length - 32' 9" and in reality it was 34' bumper to front of nose cap. I laid my tape down and checked a couple of times as I only have about 34'8" inside my barn with the door closed. I have literately 8" of play after I took off the spare tire. Taking of the spare tire I can live with that as I wasn't going to back out because of that as we really liked the unit. But when I checked the height it was about 6" shorter that stated on the specs. Makes no sense, longer but shorter. Fast forward two months at a neighborhood party and we were talking to our neighbors a few houses down and they said they were buying a new Fifth wheel, a Keystone Cougar and were picking it up that Friday. I told them half jokingly to check the measurements on their unit and proceeded to tell them about our close call. Long story short, he verified his measurement vs. specs and his unit was to long to fit in his barn! He ended up in a heated discussion with his salesmen and canceled the purchase. He was disappointed but thanked me for it.The moral of the story is check your measurements. I wonder how many people purchase a unit only to find out it doesn't fit. I would not be a happy camper. Pun intended.Where do these specs come from? WAG method?

One item on fifth wheel height - you can't be completely accurate about that until it is hooked to the truck that will be towing it.I've seen friends measure a rig sitting on the dealer lot - then hit the AC on the top of the storage door when trying to back in. This was with a level entry for 80 feet in front of the storage building. Another friend hit the back AC on his motorhome on a 13 ft 11 inch clearance door. We finally figured out that the downslope in front of the door was tipping up the rig enough to let the AC hit.

Did they perhaps measure the length from the hitch pin to the back bumper? For a traditional bumper-pull trailer, that would be the way to measure trailer length, and perhaps they applied it to the fifth wheel as well.Often the dimensions (in particular height) have a footnote that they vary depending on equipment options.

It's just not trailers... it's also for motor homes. Mine, for instance, specs say it's 42' 6" in length....in reality it's 43' 11".Ron

It's the new math their teaching.

RV measurements are more of a guesstimate. Nothing new, though. There has never been a rhyme nor reason for how a trailer is measured.

Inaccurate unit sizes. | Good Sam Community

PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
One item on fifth wheel height - you can't be completely accurate about that until it is hooked to the truck that will be towing it.

I've seen friends measure a rig sitting on the dealer lot - then hit the AC on the top of the storage door when trying to back in. This was with a level entry for 80 feet in front of the storage building. Another friend hit the back AC on his motorhome on a 13 ft 11 inch clearance door. We finally figured out that the downslope in front of the door was tipping up the rig enough to let the AC hit.
DrewE
Explorer II
Sep 10, 2016
Did they perhaps measure the length from the hitch pin to the back bumper? For a traditional bumper-pull trailer, that would be the way to measure trailer length, and perhaps they applied it to the fifth wheel as well.

Often the dimensions (in particular height) have a footnote that they vary depending on equipment options.
lanerd
Explorer II
Sep 10, 2016
It's just not trailers... it's also for motor homes. Mine, for instance, specs say it's 42' 6" in length....in reality it's 43' 11".

Ron
stickdog
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
It's the new math their teaching.
azdryheat
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
RV measurements are more of a guesstimate. Nothing new, though. There has never been a rhyme nor reason for how a trailer is measured.
rk911
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
Hammerboy wrote:

Where do these specs come from? WAG method?

great question. I've often wondered the same thing.

our 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35u was in reality 35'11". our 2016 Itasca Suncruiser 38q in reality is 39'2" long.
K_Charles
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
The model number has nothing to do with the length but the spec sheet should know the length.
rk911
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
K Charles wrote:
The model number has nothing to do with the length but the spec sheet should know the length.

I agree with the second half of your statement. it's too bad a lot of dealers don't have current brochures. maybe the mfgs aren't producing them.
Hammerboy
Explorer
Sep 10, 2016
I mean, how hard is it to come up with an actual unit length? These are critical measurements to some. If this is the best they can come up with don't publish anything at all. No specs are better than bad specs, that at least forces people to measure first.

As far as my height goes, it's 6" shorter than stated hooked up to my truck with 6" bed rail clearance. At least that worked in my favor.

Dan
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 10, 2016
Models numbers can be:
Interior length
Exterior length
Have NOTHING to do with length
Mean NOTHING except to MFG.

Spec sheets SHOULD be accurate BUT there is always the tiny fine print caveats

Whenever length/height is critical............never believe any published data
Always take measurements to verify

My 5th wheel
32.5 UKTG
It isn't interior or exterior measurement......just a model number
Brochure lists eight at 12'8"///////actual measurement hookup level 13'4"

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