New to Fifth Wheeling...

[WNY Bullet]

Not new to camping or to this forum, but new to 5th wheel ownership! We just bought a 2018 Cedar Creek 36CK2 down in Tucson, AZ.

Anything I need to know/learn about the difference between owning a pull behind as opposed to a 5th wheel?

Mike

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by WNY Bullet

Not new to camping or to this forum, but new to 5th wheel ownership! We just bought a 2018 Cedar Creek 36CK2 down in Tucson, AZ.

Anything I need to know/learn about the difference between owning a pull behind as opposed to a 5th wheel?

Mike

Biggest difference is that a fifth wheel puts more of its weight on your truck. The gross weight of your new 5th wheel is over 16K lbs which means your pin weight will be about 3800 lbs. Add the weight of the hitch and cargo/passengers and your total payload will be over 4500 lbs. If you look at the yellow placard in your driver's door frame it will have the payload your truck is rated to carry. That new 5th wheel seems to be in dually land and your current Chevy isn't like a safe towing vehicle for that 5th wheel.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by WNY Bullet

Not new to camping or to this forum, but new to 5th wheel ownership! We just bought a 2018 Cedar Creek 36CK2 down in Tucson, AZ.

Anything I need to know/learn about the difference between owning a pull behind as opposed to a 5th wheel?

Mike

That is a nice, but large and heavy 5th wheel. I hope your Tow Vehicle is at least a 3500 SRW, and that may be close to maxed out with that 5th wheel.

Dry Weight 13,075 lbs.
Payload Capacity 3,391 lbs.
GVWR 16,525 lbs.
Hitch Weight 2,525 lbs.

[cougar23]

Welcome and congrats on your new to you camper. Now me thinks you need a different truck to pull it around.

[Camping family]

Congratulations enjoy the new rig and be safe on them roads. Like others have said check the weight your truck can safely handle. Most 5th wheels need at least a 3/4 ton. Yours is in the 1 ton range. Single rear wheel or dully rear wheel

[JRTJH]

First, congratulations on your new fifth wheel. Most travel trailers/fifth wheels share many components and build technologies, regardless of who the manufacturer may be. That said, there are some things in your post that need to be addressed:

1. The 2018 Keystone Cedar Creek 36CK2 is not a Keystone product. That trailer is built by Forest River and is one of their "luxury fifth wheel brands".
https://recreationalvehicles.info/20...n-brochure.pdf There are some "significant differences" in construction that cause it to be far removed from the way Keystone builds fifth wheels. Start with the "adhesive bonded/not welded aluminum frame" and continue to the "hand packed spun fiberglass sidewall insulation" as some of the significant differences.

2. The 2017 Chevy Silverado LT Z71 appears to be a 1500 class 4x4 truck with a maximum payload of around 2200 pounds. The 36CK2 at GVW, will have a pin weight of about 20% of total trailer weight. That means it will put around 3300 pounds plus the hitch weight in the bed of your truck. That's likely to be almost 2 times the maximum capacity of your truck before you put any passengers or cargo in the truck. If that is true, then your truck is not capable of safely towing your trailer and staying under the maximum payload and GVWR. As others have stated, you should be towing with at least a 3500 class HD single rear wheel truck, but may be in the dual rear wheel class truck, depending on the pin weight of your "ready to travel" trailer weight. A half ton truck is simply not capable of safely towing a 40' 16,000 pound fifth wheel trailer.

Now, that said, many of the internal components and all of the towing, living, running gear and livability features are very similar to owning and using a Keystone fifth wheel product, so you can get a vast amount of use and enjoyment information on this forum. You're most welcome to continue membership. I hope your time spent with us is beneficial and enjoyable.

Again, congratulations on your new fifth wheel, and I'd urge you to take a look at your towing weights and your truck capacity.

[WNY Bullet]

Thank you for the concerns about pulling it with a 1/2 ton truck. We purchased the 5th wheel that was already parked at an RV Resort and will remain on the site as our winter retreat, so not moving it anytime soon.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by WNY Bullet

Thank you for the concerns about pulling it with a 1/2 ton truck. We purchased the 5th wheel that was already parked at an RV Resort and will remain on the site as our winter retreat, so not moving it anytime soon.

Good deal as the safety towing was a major concern. I have owned both Keystone and FR fifth wheels and don't think the differences in construction will make a bunch of difference unless you are parking the camper in a very cold area and then no 5th wheel will be 100 percent up to it without some additional cold weather work. If it is a winter retreat, what state are you going to park it in? Good luck.

[WNY Bullet]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Good deal as the safety towing was a major concern. I have owned both Keystone and FR fifth wheels and don't think the differences in construction will make a bunch of difference unless you are parking the camper in a very cold area and then no 5th wheel will be 100 percent up to it without some additional cold weather work. If it is a winter retreat, what state are you going to park it in? Good luck.

It is parked in Tucson AZ. We went down to visit friends that snowbird down there and fell in love with the area.

[dutchmensport]

Congrats on getting your new Cedar Creek. And welcome to the fifth wheel family!

OK, I came from 62 years of travel trailer experience, so when we got our Montana High Country Fifth Wheel, yes.... I had a hard learning curve. Here's some problems you'll have with your fifth wheel that you did not have with your travel trailer(s).

1) Backing up. Backing up is different, the reaction time for it to start pivoting is different than a travel trailer. Once it does start reaction, it reacts fast. What to do? Take the fifth wheel to an empty parking lot and practice backing up into lined parking spaces. Use markers and place them at ever tire, then turn the wheel sharp (either direction, and eventually both) and see how far it is before the camper starts reacting, and how far to actually make the camper back in.

2) Reaching the arm to release the jaws of the fifth wheel hitch and reach the bottom of the truck bed to hook the break away cable on something. It might not be so bad if you have a single wheel axle. But if you have a dually, those fat fenders make it very hard. I keep a 4 foot step ladder in the bed of my truck all the time. Even the tail gait is too high for me to climb in.

3) You always have to watch the tilt difference between the truck and the trailer. If the truck tilts left and the trailer tilts right, you only have a few inches until the bed rails of the truck will come into contact with the under side of the trailer over hang. And then you have an "ouch!" Unlike a travel trailer on the ball of a hitch on the end of the tow vehicle, a conventional bumper pull, the two can be at quite an angle different and nothing gets hurt. Not so with a fifth wheel. Bed rail contact is very easy to happen. You must always be aware of this and watch your mirrors. If it look like contact is going to happen, you absolutely cannot go forward. You need to back it up and approach that dip at a different angle or take an alternate path.

4) Always be aware of your height. Your fifth wheel is taller than a conventional travel trailer. Know your height, measure it and write it down in plain view from the drivers seat of your tow vehicle. Also, low hanging tree branches along city streets or country roads can catch the roof, same as in a campground. Always be aware you are now taller.

5) The turning radius of your fifth wheel is different than your travel trailer. Practice in an empty parking lot. Again, use markers for tracking the path of the wheels of the tow vehicle and the wheels of the trailer.

Be patient learning how to back up. After 60 (plus) years of travel trailer ownership and towing bumper pulls, it took about 2 years for me to get comfortable backing the fifth wheel.

Here's a chart used in a trucking school. The same principle applies to your fifth wheel turning radius.

Good luck, enjoy. And happy camping!

[LadyCPA]

[QUOTE=dutchmensport;555351]Congrats on getting your new Cedar Creek. And welcome to the fifth wheel family!


1) Backing up. Backing up is different, the reaction time for it to start pivoting is different than a travel trailer. Once it does start reaction, it reacts fast. What to do? Take the fifth wheel to an empty parking lot and practice backing up into lined parking spaces. Use markers and place them at ever tire, then turn the wheel sharp (either direction, and eventually both) and see how far it is before the camper starts reacting, and how far to actually make the camper back in.

Sure Dutch, where were these words of wisdom a year ago when we first brought the 5th wheel home. I though my wonderful hubby was a bit crazy. He has towed backed up trailers for 50 years, but the camper was not the simple easy parking job I expected from him. We are a year in, and he is getting there, but a definite learning curve.

[dadnjesse]

If it's going to be parked there is very little difference between trailers. Watch your head when accessing the front storage.