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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Tow Vehicles -> Long or Short Box?
Post Info TOPIC: Long or Short Box?
the Parentals


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Long or Short Box?
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We currently tow a 21.5 ft. fifth-wheel trailer with a Ram 2500 that has an 8-foot box. We're looking to replace the truck and wondering if we need to have a long box or if a short one works as well for pulling a fifth wheel. I would appreciate any insight from the experience of others. Thanks. 



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The Bear II


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I choose long bed trucks for the following reasons:

More comfortable ride... not as choppy as short bed. I've had two short bed trucks and on some California highways they became Porpoises both when towing or empty
More room to carry stuff... we like to carry lots of stuff
When not towing I can carry full sheets of plywood or other 8ft long stuff in the bed with the tailgate up

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RonC


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What Bear said.  Plus, you would need a slider hitch with a short bed truck.



-- Edited by RonC on Wednesday 20th of September 2017 04:58:02 PM

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Terry and Jo


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What Ron C said.  I've literally seen a guy break the rear window of his truck by having the short bet and no sliding hitch.

Test drive whatever brand of truck you are interested in to see what kind of turning radius it has.  For instance, I think that the Ford F350's with the right steering system (sorry, I can't recall the exact name for it) has as good of a turning radius as the F450 does.  My truck is older, but I used to have a Ford F250 with the "Club Cab" and a short bed and replaced it with a 2008 Ford F450 with four full sized doors and an 8-foot bed that ended up being 3 feet longer, but it turned in the same radius as the F250.

Terry



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Second Chance


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We've pulled with both short (6.5' GM) and long (8' Ford) bed trucks. In both cases using fixed hitches without problems. A lot has to do with the front cap design of the trailer and the position of the pin box (newer fifth wheels tend to have the pin box set farther forward than many older fifth wheels). Our fifth wheel is a 2016 model year (purchased in 2015) and has a contoured front cap with set-backs at the lower corners and the pin box is fairly far forward. With the short bed truck, I could get the truck to about an 80 degree angle to the trailer backing up and still have a little clearance to the back of the cab. We never encountered a camping spot we couldn't get into or out of. Both trucks were/are crew cabs so neither would be considered short wheelbase and both handled very well towing. We traded trucks not because of bed length, but to move up to a dual rear wheel truck for payload capacity... not something you're concerned about, I'm sure, with a 21.5' trailer.

Rob

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Camper Chronicles


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We intentionally selected an 8 foot bed as well because of the sharp turns and numerous times might have been "stuck" without it.

Trace

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rocketman


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The longer the wheelbase the better........

 



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Diana and Jim


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Unless it won't fit in your garage, I'd suggest a long box also. We have always had a long box and love the ride and flexibility it offers. We haul kayaks on top of our truck; the long box allows the clearance we need to not interfere with the front of the fifth wheel.

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the Parentals


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Thank you everyone for your input! We are now shopping for a truck with a long box. It may not fit in our garage, but we'll have to live with that. We plan to move, anyway. Jim & Diana, I appreciate your tip about the kayak, as we plan to get one or two of them as well!

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Cummins12V98


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Stick with the long bed, no compromises!!!

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with a tiny 21 ft 5er a short box is perfect in every way; especially when it comes to parking etc

if u were gong like 28-38 then LWB will serve better thousands of SB trucks out there pulling 5ers so
obviously its fine to do so

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carolinakids


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Long Bed


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rocketman


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The longer the wheelbase the better,more stability!!



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