Newbies - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Ljbrandt · RV-Dreams Community Member

Newbies

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome.

Can you be more specific as to the truck model year. Towing capabilities have changed dramatically over the past few years. 2500 series trucks will be single rear wheel and therefore limited in towing capability compared to a 3500 series (or F350) A dually would be a better choice for larger trailers. Better yet, give us a better idea of the fifth wheel you are considering then figure out the truck that will pull it safely. If you already have the truck you may be limited to your choices for a trailer. Short box PUs have their own issue's but not entirely insurmountable.

-- Edited by biggaRView on Tuesday 14th of July 2015 08:10:56 AM

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome, Larry.

Brian is giving good advice. It is better to know what size and weight of trailer one is going to purchase, or have at least chosen to purchase, before deciding on a truck's size. In addition to the stability that a dually would provide over single rear wheels, the short bed creates other problems. With a short bed, one REALLY needs to have a sliding fifth wheel hitch in the bed of the truck. Without a sliding fifth wheel, one is chancing the possibility of breaking out the rear window of the truck with the front of the fifth wheel, should one have to turn tight enough to back into some campsite or driveway. Even if one has a sliding fifth wheel, if it isn't automatic, one can forget to slide the hitch to the rear to prevent damage. I suppose that even an automatic sliding hitch might could malfunction. At any rate, one also needs to have a hitch that is rated for a heavier weight than what the trailer's GVWR is.

As for ease of removal of the fifth wheel hitch, many are fairly easy to remove by removing a few pins and lifting it out. If you are in the situation that you want to have your bed free to haul other things (without having rails in the bed), then a B&W Companion fifth wheel system is good to have. With it, the majority of the anchoring pieces are located under the bed, thus one has to cut a hole in the bed so that one can install the Companion system.

B&W Hitches

Terry

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

A friend of mine removes his hitch all the time. He mounted an electric winch overhead in his garage, backs his truck under it, lifts the hitch about a foot and drives out from underneath it. He then lowers the hitch onto a four wheeled furniture dolly. This way he can moved it around the garage as needed. It took him about 20 minutes to remove the hitch.

Cyclone Dave · RV-Dreams Family Member

Whatever truck you are considering, ensure that you know its realistic towing capacity. The publish charts can be somewhat misleading considering they don't include all the additional weight you'll ad to the truck. I recommend you use the app at RVtowCheck.com.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Larry,

As a follow-up, consider that the new Dodge and GM trucks have raised their bed rails. Enough so that some are finding they have to juggle things around with the hitch, pin box, and even to adding something like 2 inches of height to the frame of the fifth wheels in order to get sufficient clearance between the pickup's bed rails and the underside of the overhang of the fifth wheel.

Terry