Wow, a 5er!!

[jq1031]

Just got settled into the Laredo TT........know thinking about moving up! God help me. What I really don't know is how the king pin set up works. My TV is a short bed, 6.5 ft. Where do I go from here?:(

[Handysam]

Big difference Joe in hauling, in a good way. I feel the fiver tows better than the TT. I find it easier to pull, park, and OMG the storage room. The hitch is similar to the big rigs, the king pin slides into the hitch and then locks in place with jaws that either clamp or wrap around the pin. With the short bed its not that much of a big deal any more with the new rounded front ends and/or sliding hitches. I have a slider but in our twenty or so trips I only used the slider once just because. I've gotten to the point where I know the turning limits and adjust from there. Hope this helps, good luck, Happy camping, Sam

[hankpage]

Joe, Once you tow the 5r you will never go back. Especially on long trips there is no comparison. JM2¢, Hank

[jq1031]

Thanx Guys, still pulling my hair out, the ones I've left!

[Ron]

Joe, I'm with the others, been pulling fvers most of my life and the only way to go. Alot smother ride, easier to back into campsite, gets into tighter spaces, very little or no trailer sway when big rig passes etc. 5ver all the way for me. Happy Campin............Ron:thumbsup:

[jq1031]

Big difference Joe in hauling, in a good way. I feel the fiver tows better than the TT. I find it easier to pull, park, and OMG the storage room. The hitch is similar to the big rigs, the king pin slides into the hitch and then locks in place with jaws that either clamp or wrap around the pin. With the short bed its not that much of a big deal any more with the new rounded front ends and/or sliding hitches. I have a slider but in our twenty or so trips I only used the slider once just because. I've gotten to the point where I know the turning limits and adjust from there. Hope this helps, good luck, Happy camping, Sam

Sam, what's a slider?

[JRTJH]

A slider is a hitch that rolls or slides back in the pickup bed to move the king pin further from the cab allowing increased clearance in backing maneuvers. It needs to be moved back to the forward position over the axle for travel due to the weight transfer in the rear position.

As for towing a fifth wheel vs travel trailer. We have had everything from Airstreams, Holiday Ramblers, shorter Jayco travel trailer. I thought after towing a straight wall trailer across Kansas that the "miracle" of Airstream was profound. It really towed much nicer in crosswinds. Now that I have a fifth wheel, I wonder how I ever managed all those years. We arrive at campgrounds after a long tow much more relaxed and ready to roll out the awning and enjoy the evening. When we were travel trailering, often, after a windy tow, we didn't even talk to each other for a good part of the evening, just from the tension.... All (well at least most) of that is gone with the fifth wheel... I won't call it the best, but for us, we'll not go back to a travel trailer given what we know about the future. "Never say never" but it's not in our plans to go back !!!

[Paddler]

Hi Joe,
A word of caution, it is very easy to find yourself under-trucked in 5er land. With your 2500, you will need to keep a close eye on the pin weight of your 5er choices. I would imagine your truck's payload capacity is around 3000 lbs. Thus you would want the empty pin weight below 1800 lbs. Yes, this is the voice of expensive experience taking.
Have fun shopping!

[SteveC7010]

Hi Joe,
A word of caution, it is very easy to find yourself under-trucked in 5er land. With your 2500, you will need to keep a close eye on the pin weight of your 5er choices. I would imagine your truck's payload capacity is around 3000 lbs. Thus you would want the empty pin weight below 1800 lbs. Yes, this is the voice of expensive experience talking.
Have fun shopping!

I agree with this 1000%!

We've talked with a number of folks that are somewhat hung up on buying a new 1500 series truck because of the high tow ratings. But they overlook payload ratings of the truck and that is a serious error, especially when considering TT's and 5er's that are going to weigh in around 8-10K dry.

Both tongue weight (for TT's) and pin weight (for 5'ers) matters big time. 1500 trucks are generally rated around 1,500-1,600# payload in the bed of the truck. 2500's are rated right around 3,000#, and the 3,500# duallies come in at approximately 4,500# or better. (3500 single rear wheel trucks generally fall in the same weight rating as a 2,500, but there are some exceptions. Study specs closely.)

Our new Cougar is factory spec'd with a pin weight of 1,565#, but I suspect it is actually quite a bit higher. An even ton would not surprise me.

[SAABDOCTOR]

PADDLER HAS IT RIGHT! ANDWHEN YOU GO TO BUY YOUR NEW 5ER. REMEMBER THAT WHEN DW LOADS IT UP WITH STUFF THE WEIGHT WILL GO UP! ON THE PIN TOO. SO LOOK AT YOUR PAY LOAD CLOSELY. ALSO I TOO WENT FROM A TT TO A 5ER. 30 YEARS WITH A TT WHEN I GOT THE 5 I WAS LIKE A MONKEY WITH A STRAIGHT RAZOR!! YIKES WHAT ADIFFERANCE I WAS TURNING TO TIGHT BACKING UP WAS AWFULL. SO I WENT TO A BIG EMPTY PARKING LOT. IN A HALF HOUR I HAD IT DOWN. WILL NEVER GO BACK!!! TOWS SOOOOOO NICE SOME TIMES I LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW AND JUMP I THINK SOMEONES TAILGATING NO IT MY TRAILER YEP I'M TOWING. SO GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY WHATEVER YOU BUY:wave:

[JRTJH]

Steve's advice is very sound. We looked long and hard at fifth wheels before buying ours. We tow with a F150, and although we have managed to keep the weight within truck specs, it's not always an easy task. Our reasoning for the 150 was storage (garage parking) options on the truck, pricing, fuel mileage, not wanting a diesel again, etc. At any rate, we compromised and bought the F150 and a lightweight small fifth wheel. Our pin weight loaded is about 1200-1300 lbs, but that is achieved by making a packing list and then removing those things we "really don't need" (but would be nice to have) and leave them at home... Sometimes, that means we get where we're going wishing we'd have brought along something.

It's not really "that bad" but it is always a challenge to stay within our weight limits, for example, do we take the extra 6 water jugs (240 lbs) for the dry camping weekend, or do we take the generator? Would be nice to have both, but there's just not enough weight capacity to do that...

Don't get me wrong, the F150 tows our fifth wheel as well as any truck I've owned would have towed, but when it comes down to staying underweight, it's a challenge... It is very easy to face the same dilemma with most any truck if you buy too large a trailer.

I'd strongly suspect from what I've seen on the highway and in campgrounds/rest areas, that there are a LOT of 250/2500 series and some 350/3500 series trucks that could use some weight reduction. We saw an enormous toy hauler in West Virginia this past summer being towed by a 3/4 ton truck, the bed was almost touching the rear wheels and the front was so far up in the air I really wonder if he could steer. He was going down the mountain passes over 70MPH and climbing them in the truck lane at 20-30MPH. The sad part was he had at least 4 (maybe more) kids in the back seat. Now that was unsafe and overweight towing if I've ever seen it. The reason I bring this up is that some people think that the answer to towing a fifth wheel is that you need a 3/4 ton truck. Just owning one of those critters doesn't mean that you can walk onto an RV lot and pick out any fifth wheel there and expect your truck to tow it. There are some fifth wheels on the market that would challenge F450 and F550 load ratings.

Keep your expectations realistic, watch your truck specs and compare trailers that are within those specs. Essentially, on larger fifth wheels, plan to add between 500 and 1500 lbs to the empty pin weight depending on how you load. And, remember, you still need to keep a certain percentage of trailer weight on the pin just as in travel trailers to get a good tow. That is usually about 15 - 20% from all the info I've seen. That means you can't just put all the heavy stuff in the back of the trailer and make a heavy pin weight go away....

[jq1031]

I agree with this 1000%!

We've talked with a number of folks that are somewhat hung up on buying a new 1500 series truck because of the high tow ratings. But they overlook payload ratings of the truck and that is a serious error, especially when considering TT's and 5er's that are going to weigh in around 8-10K dry.

Both tongue weight (for TT's) and pin weight (for 5'ers) matters big time. 1500 trucks are generally rated around 1,500-1,600# payload in the bed of the truck. 2500's are rated right around 3,000#, and the 3,500# duallies come in at approximately 4,500# or better. (3500 single rear wheel trucks generally fall in the same weight rating as a 2,500, but there are some exceptions. Study specs closely.)

Our new Cougar is factory spec'd with a pin weight of 1,565#, but I suspect it is actually quite a bit higher. An even ton would not surprise me.

Thanks for your help, my truck is rated to pull 15,600 lbs with a cargo payload of 2,959lbs. From a numbers perspective, my TV could easily handle your Cougar. What's your opinion?

[msp2jxr]

I am fairly new to the 5er business. I have been towing since 1989 and have always towed TTs. In 2009 I bought my first 5er because that is all the wife would talk about. I don't plan on going back to a TT again. The hook up and unhook is easier. As far as backing it is a toss up. I got very good at backing with TT's. I am still struggling a bit with the 5er. It seems to turn in slower but goes quicker as the back continues. I don't think you will regret going to a 5h wheel. Jay

[SteveC7010]

Thanks for your help, my truck is rated to pull 15,600 lbs with a cargo payload of 2,959lbs. From a numbers perspective, my TV could easily handle your Cougar. What's your opinion?

I think you'd pull our Cougar pretty well. Interestingly, my '02 3500 duallie is only rated to pull 13,000#, but has a payload rating of 4,700#. Detroit has done a great job of upping the tow ratings in the last 5 years or so, but really hasn't increased the truck payloads. Payload ratings on new trucks today are virtually identical to the 2002 ratings.

I really like the added payload and stability of the duallie when towing the Cougar, but as a daily driver, it's a bit much. So I clearly understand why folks look at the 2500's.

[jq1031]

Thanx everyone for all the information. I've learned alot about towing a 5th wheel, the kingpin & etc. I really like my Laredo TT, it tows well, has been pretty much trouble free and at this stage of my life it's a pretty good fit. This is kind of a "grass is greener across the street situation". The big Florida RV show in Tampa comes this January, if I can stay away from it, I'll keep the Laredo, if I go to the show, well, who knows!......................Joe