fifth wheel truck bed storage

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Wow! tough crowd this evening! This guy is looking at towing a 11,000# GVWR 5er with a GAS F250 with a payload of 2,960#, we have a site team member that tows a 10,000# 5er with a Diesel F250, I think John would be closer on numbers than the OP.

Here are the numbers on JRTJH's (John) 5er, yes it has 1,000# lighter GVWR, but also he has a diesel TV, which eats payload from the TV.

Technical Specifications:
Length 30' 5"
Width 8'
Height (in/mm) 11' 11"
Dry Weight 7,136#
Payload Capacity 2,864#
GVWR 10,000#
Hitch Weight 1,230#

John's signature,

John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS

I agree that it would be nice to have the make and model of the 5er the OP is looking at it would help with figuring numbers. In addition you always mention adding the DRIVER, only the drivers weight over 150# needs to be accounted for. I will make an assumption that the 19,000# rating is the combined weight rating to the TV.

I would say this poster has a bigger issue than the OP on this post!

https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...597#post472597

I've stayed out of this discussion so far, but since my rig has been "identified as closer on numbers than the OP." I'll comment.

I am "closer on numbers with a trailer 1000 pounds lighter than the OP's trailer consideration. His would be even heavier than mine".

We (he) said it's about 8000 pounds dry with a pin of 1300. We all know (or should know) that when he adds 60 pounds of propane and a couple of 45 pound batteries to the trailer so he can even raise the landing gear to hitch it, that 1300 pound pin will be closer to 1450 or heavier and we/he still hasn't put the first bit of camping equipment or personal goods in the trailer.

That tells me that if I can "barely make it work" and often have to make the decision about what to leave at home vs take on the trip, if my fifth wheel were 1000 pounds heavier, I'd be in "deep doo doo" on every departure....

Will it work for the OP? We don't really know. Does it work for me with a 1000 pounds less trailer? BARELY... Would it work for me if my trailer was 1000 pounds heavier? NOPE.....

So, the "real world" conclusion I bring to the table is that the OP will NOT be OK with his truck and choice of trailer. Why? It's too heavy for his payload allowance.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I've stayed out of this discussion so far, but since my rig has been "identified as closer on numbers than the OP." I'll comment.

I am "closer on numbers with a trailer 1000 pounds heavier than mine".

That tells me that if I can "barely make it work" and often have to make the decision about what to leave at home vs take on the trip, if my fifth wheel were 1000 pounds heavier, I'd be in "deep doo doo" on every departure....

Will it work for the OP? We don't really know. Does it work for me with a 1000 pounds less trailer? BARELY... Would it work for me if my trailer was 1000 pounds heavier? NOPE.....

So, the "real world" conclusion I bring to the table is that the OP will NOT be OK with his truck and choice of trailer. Why? It's too heavy for his payload allowance.

Well it was my intention to say it can be done, not to throw you under the bus. At 1,000# heavier that is at most 250# more on the pin. The number I didn’t have is your factory payload number, but I would put it at least 500# less than the OP’s 2,960#, correct me if I am wrong that your payload is about 2,500# or less.

[Camping family]

Originally Posted by Frisbeekev

I am going to be going from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel and I was curious about truck bed storage. I have a ford f250 with a 6ft9 bed and will be getting a slider hitch. With that set up would there be room in front or behind of the 5th wheel hitch to store gas cans, a generator, or plastic tote bins? The trailer will have a cargo rack but I will be using that for bikes.

I have a f250 short bed and pull a 5th wheel with slider hitch. You will have some room in bed. Small cooler as for a generator it would have to be a small one. I have about 1.5 feet up front of hitch. Some room on the sides and some between the kitchen and tail gate. But remember you have to have room for the hitch to move.

[flybouy]

I was using 23% (the generally accepted pin weight of a fiver when estimating) of his "stated" trailer GVW and his "stated Load capacity" that was not qualified if ist was from actual scaled weights or a door sticker, or a sales brochure, or internet site, or ?????

Not being "tough" in my opinion and not being coddling and gentle either. If I offend someone by pointing out that they may be in an overloaded situation and they go check it out to prove me wrong then I'm good with that. I'd much rather have it turn out that way than have some poor soul end up in a situation where they say "Man I wish someone would have told me the truth about this before this happened".

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Camping family

I have a f250 short bed and pull a 5th wheel with slider hitch. You will have some room in bed. Small cooler as for a generator it would have to be a small one. I have about 1.5 feet up front of hitch. Some room on the sides and some between the kitchen and tail gate. But remember you have to have room for the hitch to move.

Same with my truck. I have enough room forward of the hitch to store a couple of small generators and a 5 gallon gas can. Behind the hitch, there's no room for anything that is "very tall"... The pinbox swings in that area and if I store anything taller than about 12" or so, the back of the pinbox will crush it on turns. I use that area to store "split firewood" across the bed and about 10-12" high. I've found that when towing at highway speeds, the airflow in that area will "lift anything that's not heavy" and if it's small enough, it'll float out of the bed, if it's too big to get through the 6" gap between the truck bed and the trailer underside, it just "floats around, banging into things"... That's a recipe for getting it destroyed if it winds up in the wrong place when we slow down and need to make a turn.....

So, secure anything in the bed to keep it from moving/shifting around !!!!!

[slow]

I have a Pullrite auto slider and have room forward of the hitch for a BBQ with folding legs that take up width and a tote of wood or a Honda 2200, but not both. I do not carry anything in the bed behind the hitch. That is for the 7 pin cable.

As for the OP being over payload, all speculation so far without CAT scale tickets.

I have less payload with my gasser, but ready to camp, I am just within my limits based on scale tickets.

I encourage the OP to take the time to get real numbers to understand your unique situation. (It will also tame the harsh advice if you can demonstrate you are within your limits.)

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by slow

I have a Pullrite auto slider and have room forward if the hitch for a BBQ with folding legs that take up width and a tote of wood or a Honda 2200, but not both. I do not carry anything in the bed behind the hitch. That is for the 7 pin cable.

As for the OP being over payload, all speculation so far without CAT scale tickets.

I have less payload with my gasser, but ready to camp, I am just within my limits based on scale tickets.

I encourage the OP to take the time to get real numbers to understand your unique situation. (It will also tame the harsh advice if you can demonstrate you are within your limits.)

The reason I pointed out the potential for being over payload is that he wants to haul stuff (such as generator(s) and probably will be using a slider hitch. Seems to me we are looking 400-500 pounds in the bed.

[ssthrd]

Originally Posted by Frisbeekev

I am going to be going from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel and I was curious about truck bed storage. I have a ford f250 with a 6ft9 bed and will be getting a slider hitch. With that set up would there be room in front or behind of the 5th wheel hitch to store gas cans, a generator, or plastic tote bins? The trailer will have a cargo rack but I will be using that for bikes.

We got sidetracked with valid concerns that you may have figured out anyway, but to your question.......

I carry a couple of small totes for straps, tie downs, etc in front of my hitch with two 5 gallon cans for fuel. I save the room between the hitch and the tailgate for blocks, wheel chocks, and levelling blocks so I don't have to dig for anything when I'm setting up. Not much room for a generator, so I keep it in the front pass thru storage area.

[slow]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

The reason I pointed out the potential for being over payload is that he wants to haul stuff (such as generator(s) and probably will be using a slider hitch. Seems to me we are looking 400-500 pounds in the bed.

True, but if his actual pin weight is less than 2,000 lb ready to camp like mine is, he still has plenty of payload available. Like we like to always say, the weigh scale ticket numbers are what is important.

IMO: When searching for a tow vehicle, the purchase selection should always be based on trailer GVWR and the 10 to 15% for a TT, or 20 to 23% for FW rules of thumb. But if you already have the trailer and truck, what the scales tells you is what is important.

[Frisbeekev]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Wow! tough crowd this evening! This guy is looking at towing a 11,000# GVWR 5er with a GAS F250 with a payload of 2,960#, we have a site team member that tows a 10,000# 5er with a Diesel F250, I think John would be closer on numbers than the OP.

Here are the numbers on JRTJH's (John) 5er, yes it has 1,000# lighter GVWR, but also he has a diesel TV, which eats payload from the TV.

Technical Specifications:
Length 30' 5"
Width 8'
Height (in/mm) 11' 11"
Dry Weight 7,136#
Payload Capacity 2,864#
GVWR 10,000#
Hitch Weight 1,230#

John's signature,

John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS

I agree that it would be nice to have the make and model of the 5er the OP is looking at it would help with figuring numbers. In addition you always mention adding the DRIVER, only the drivers weight over 150# needs to be accounted for. I will make an assumption that the 19,000# rating is the combined weight rating to the TV.

I would say this poster has a bigger issue than the OP on this post!

https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...597#post472597

The trailer is a 2020 Artic wolf 287bh: The specs online are:

Hitch Weight:1,325 lb.
GVWR:11,525 lb.
UVW 8,368 lb.
CCC 3,157 lb
Length:35'
Height:12' 11
Width:96"

The truck is a 2016 f250 SRW
payload is 2960- I did add more leaf spring in the rear so assuming that helps the payload we will say it could be 3500lbs. Which would put me within the weight ratings.
tow rating is 12,300
GCWVR 19,200

Obviously i know the weights will change as I add people and gear, water, fuel, etc... to the truck and the trailer. Last time I weighted the truck this summer loaded with me and the fam for camping was 8200lbs. Assuming i dont max the fifth wheel out with cargo I am within my 19000lbs gcvwr. I am still working on the numbers but my main question I should rephrase "Is there room to store items infront of the fifth wheel hitch with a 6'9 truck bed.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Frisbeekev

The trailer is a 2020 Artic wolf 287bh: The specs online are:

Hitch Weight:1,325 lb.
GVWR:11,525 lb.
UVW 8,368 lb.
CCC 3,157 lb
Length:35'
Height:12' 11
Width:96"

The truck is a 2016 f250 SRW
payload is 2960- I did add more leaf spring in the rear so assuming that helps the payload we will say it could be 3500lbs. Which would put me within the weight ratings.
tow rating is 12,300
GCWVR 19,200

Obviously i know the weights will change as I add people and gear, water, fuel, etc... to the truck and the trailer. Last time I weighted the truck this summer loaded with me and the fam for camping was 8200lbs. Assuming i dont max the fifth wheel out with cargo I am within my 19000lbs gcvwr. I am still working on the numbers but my main question I should rephrase "Is there room to store items infront of the fifth wheel hitch with a 6'9 truck bed.

What does the door sticker say the GVWR of the truck say. Probably 10,000 pounds.. so the payload is that number minus the actual weight of the truck. You mentioned 8200 pounds so 10,000 -8200=1800

Welcome to the oh **** club... there are a bunch of members on this forum, including myself.

[Frisbeekev]

Thanks for all the info. I am still calculating all the exact numbers. However, as my OP i was just wondering about storage space in front of the fifth wheel hitch. Thanks for all the feednack

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Frisbeekev

Thanks for all the info. I am still calculating all the exact numbers. However, as my OP i was just wondering about storage space in front of the fifth wheel hitch. Thanks for all the feednack

The space is almost entirely dependent on which hitch you install.
The pucks are clearly marked by indentations in the bed floor and with a short bed you don't want anything to stick up above the sides of the bed because the nose of the trailer will it it during a turn.

Could be 18" up to as much as 36" although I doubt the 36".

The hitch is in the same position from the tailgate and center of the axle irregardless of the bed length

[Frisbeekev]

Originally Posted by Javi

The space is almost entirely dependent on which hitch you install.
The pucks are clearly marked by indentations in the bed floor and with a short bed you don't want anything to stick up above the sides of the bed because the nose of the trailer will it it during a turn.

Could be 18" up to as much as 36" although I doubt the 36".

The hitch is in the same position from the tailgate and center of the axle irregardless of the bed length

Thank you. That is the information I was looking for.

[JRTJH]

On my 2015 F250 short bed (same size bed as your truck) with the factory "puck system" the front legs on my hitch are 28" from the front wall of the bed and the rear legs are 37" from the back edge of the bed floor.

If you don't have the "puck system" your bed rails will be located in essentially the same location, so with a conventional hitch, the above is very close to what you'll find for your measurements.

If you choose a sliding hitch, some sit up to 10" further forward (leaving about 18") and up to 12-14" further back (leaving around 23"). So with a sliding hitch, you can lose a significant amount of clearance both in front of and behind the hitch.

As I said in an earlier post, I store 2 Champion 2000 watt generators and a 5 gallon gas can in front of my hitch and don't put anything behind it that is taller than about 12" or that is light enough to get caught up in the bed turbulence at highway speeds.

[notanlines]

"I did add more leaf spring in the rear so assuming that helps the payload we will say it could be 3500lbs."
You have been fed a line of BS a mile long. You have in actuality dropped your cargo capacity by the weight of the springs you added. You personally can only lower your cargo capacity not raise it. It is set at the factory, not a hypothetical number you can change by adding AutoZone extras.
Who told you that baloney, by the way? And read Javi's last post closely. That guy didn't come in the morning mail.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by notanlines

"I did add more leaf spring in the rear so assuming that helps the payload we will say it could be 3500lbs."
You have been fed a line of BS a mile long. You have in actuality dropped your cargo capacity by the weight of the springs you added. You personally can only lower your cargo capacity not raise it. It is set at the factory, not a hypothetical number you can change by adding AutoZone extras.
Who told you that baloney, by the way? And read Javi's last post closely. That guy didn't come in the morning mail.

Totally agree!
You can not legally increase the payload beyond the numbers on the door jamb on any truck by adding more stuff, you will always lower the payload weight by adding more stuff by however much that stuff weighs.
You can help level the truck by adding stuff, but that's all you are doing is levelling.

[Uncoolron]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Totally agree!
You can not legally increase the payload beyond the numbers on the door jamb on any truck by adding more stuff, you will always lower the payload weight by adding more stuff by however much that stuff weighs.
You can help level the truck by adding stuff, but that's all you are doing is levelling.

Agree. I was going to point this out but I’m not very good writing it.

To answer the OP question, gas can and small generator is doable at the front area with slider but as pointed out already, payload is negatively affected.

Good luck, have fun and safe travels fellow RVer.

[Dennydj2]

I have a 2013 F250, same bed length with a Demco manual slider hitch. I have room for my Yamaha 3000 iSEB inverter generator in front of the hitch. Once you get a hitch in place and shop for a generator…….. rely on a tape measure to see what you can fit safely

[friz]

There are now two posts going on here. The OP's question about space between the cab and sliding hitch and a tangent thread about load capacities/weight which has nothing to do with the OP's question. So, okay children, pay attention! Please stay focused on today's lesson.