Truck Shopping for Fiver

[JAL_Camper]

It's been awhile since I have been on the boards. Looking to move from the current lashup ('02 Suburban 2500 LT, 8.1l / '05 Jayco Eagle 29 BHS TT) to a Fiver and Truck.

Settled on a Jayco Eagle Fiver 336FBOK

Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 11,745
Dry Pin Weight (lbs) 2,215
GRVW (lbs) 13,750

Total Exterior Length 39' 8"
Exterior Travel Length (Pin box to bumper) 38' 9"

Going with a 3500 Diesel, Club Cab.

Questions:
1. Long Bed or Short (6'4")?
2. If short bed, sliding hitch -- Manual or automatic?
3. DRW or SRW?
3. Minimum Payload (The range has been 4,200 - 5,500 in my searching, only duallies so far)
4. Minimum Towing Capacity? (Range has been 23k - 30k, so I'm OK there so far)
5. Fuel Tank / In-Bed Aux Fuel. So far it's been 31 or 50 on the truck. Think I'll be OK with 50 and not have to add an In-Bed Aux Fuel.)

Regarding slider hitch - RV Dealer told me most ppl never use it. (I assume they are not backing up at sharp angles and/or have tapered front on their fiver?)

This will be the biggest (and likely last) RV as we are both now retired and plan to do extensive travelling and will be in the Rockies and other high elevations.

Thanks in advance to all your input!

[ford_truck_guy]

If ordering NEW... I'd go with a long bed.. I have been in the short bed camp for a long time with no issues.. I switched over to a long bed last year and won't go back.

Again... IF ordering new.. ANY of the big 3 New generation 1 ton SRW's will handle that weight of that fiver.

If you go with the long bed, ford's standard is 48 gallon.. And Titan Fuel tanks are great and are available in many different configurations.

and hitches... Like Grit said, B&W .. 12V98 wasn't lying when he said they are awesome..

[Grit_dog]

That camper will easily pull behind any short bed 3/4 ton, on up truck.
Personal preference as to dually vs srw is your real consideration.
Half the people will say dually ,some will say srw. All will be “right.”
The rest of the options are generally personal preference as well save for the possible necessity of a slider with a short bed. But that is either you need it or you don’t. Not a question of what others think.
Sounds like you want someone to build your ultimate hauler for you...I’ll take a stab.
Truck: CC dually GMC Duramax or Ram HO “when” they finally get a 8 speed.
Tank, 40-60gal gravity fed slip tank/tool box combo.
Hitch? I don’t know about those, but I’ll say B&W because that’s the best one according to 12V98! Lol.
And some fuzzy dice!

[ksss]

In addition to what Valhalla posted, Titan tanks can likely get you the gallons you need inboard without taking up bed space, especially on a long bed. I think at the weight your looking at, either SRW or DRW would work. Nice to have the option either way.

[valhalla360]

1 Long bed...it's going to be a big vehicle no matter what so no point short changing yourself.
2 Irrelevant with long bed
3 You might be able to get within ratings with a 1 ton SRW...it's the borderline where I would want to go DRW, so just bite the bullet and get the DRW. That way you won't be worried about pushing the limits.
4 Tow rating shouldn't be an issue with a DRW.
5 Not sure about new but in older trucks, the short bed gets you the small fuel tank.