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Old 11-09-2015, 02:01 PM   #21
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Measure your height once hitched up. With front AC, hitched I am at 13'6" (I'm 40' long too). You need to be very aware of your height. I was once told for turns, wait until your truck wheels enter the intersection to start your turn. That has worked well for me. When backing it will be a totally different experience. It takes longer for an initial response and then cuts quickly. You typically will need to pull forward to straighten out. Your truck should be just fine with that fiver. My fiver is 13500 Gvwr but actually weighs in loaded at 12,300 with a 2700 lb pin weight. Yours will likely weigh near that loaded. That diesel won't miss a beat.
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Old 11-09-2015, 02:24 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SKnight View Post
Who carries 2,300 pounds of stuff?
my DW
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Old 11-09-2015, 02:45 PM   #23
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you might be surprised once you tow across a set of scales.
No I wouldn't. Ready for a trip, clothes, food, tank full of water, all the usual junk in the basement I'm just over 1,200 pounds over dry weight. 750 pounds without water. From what I've seen around here most folks come in somewhere around 750 for those that pack light to 1,500 for those that don't.
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Old 11-09-2015, 02:52 PM   #24
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All great advice, but no one warned you about losing MPG slightly, you're pulling a bigger billboard now.
Enjoy your new toy!
Ugh, I'm sounding like a protagonist.

Just my experience, but I went from a 6500lb dry, 28' TT to a 11,500lb dry, 38' 5er that's three feet taller with the same truck. I picked up over 1 MPG on the same roads. It's got to be the aero nose and the smoother sides (I had the accordion style aluminum siding on my TT.) that made the difference.
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Old 11-09-2015, 03:55 PM   #25
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Just really understand how your hitch works. There are some differences between types. A rocker hitch really helps in a gusty wind. Make a check list.
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Old 11-09-2015, 04:59 PM   #26
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we bought our first 5'ver this spring and like you have bumper pulled for YEARS. we LOVE it. the difference in towing for us has been the turning ... forward or backward. it takes longer to response to turn, so start farther away, if going backwards especially, and wider if going forward. Ours tracks about a 10 ft difference in making turns going forward. (It will cut 10 ft closer to anything going forward so make wider turns going forward. Backing up it takes about 10 foot MORE length for responding to turning when you start turning other than that, it is so much quicker and easier hook up and go than our bumper pulls. our 5th wheel is the same length from back bumper to king pin, as our last bumper pull was from back bumper to ball hitch, so we were surprised in the difference in turning. we were always lead to believe that the turning radius would be shorter because of the length over the truck bed
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Old 11-09-2015, 05:41 PM   #27
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Welcome from Western Ma and congrats on the new 5er . We had a 33' TT and upgraded to a 33' 5er no differance in mpg . When you hook up to the trailer be sure to do a pull away test to make sure you connected correctly .
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Old 11-09-2015, 06:43 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by SKnight View Post
No I wouldn't. Ready for a trip, clothes, food, tank full of water, all the usual junk in the basement I'm just over 1,200 pounds over dry weight. 750 pounds without water. From what I've seen around here most folks come in somewhere around 750 for those that pack light to 1,500 for those that don't.
We don't ..... We are at about 4000 lbs of cargo over the yellow sticker but there are many reasons for that.......... ..... Never weighed it empty too late now but we have 4000 - 4800 lbs of capacity sooooo we use it......... Dry weight 9800 Gross 14500...... scaled last time at 13800.......


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Old 11-09-2015, 07:34 PM   #29
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Ditto on the tracking of the 5th wheel, different than a TT. A TT tracks a bit closer to the vehicle than a 5ver so just make a little wider turn and watch those curbs they are tough on tires and wheels. One suggestion I would make and that would be to get yourself a couple of handy talkies for backing up. It will make for a lot less arguments as backing a 5th, at least for me is much harder than a TT. Once you make a correction and you lose sight of what the trailer is doing in your mirrors you are gonna need someone talking to you. It may help you and those with you to keep from getting stressed out.
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Old 11-09-2015, 08:19 PM   #30
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Towing will be easier, but your likely going to be overloaded once you fill the trailer with stuff. Good luck loading and going across the scales

Don't recall seeing a question from op about weight??????


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Old 11-09-2015, 08:28 PM   #31
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Who carries 2,300 pounds of stuff?

Don't forget this weight calculation should include the truck passengers, a full tank of gas, truck cargo bed weight & 5th wheel hitch. Which alone could easily surpass 1300 lbs if you have 4 adults. So,then add the trailer contents, water, groceries, bicycles, storage items, ect. It adds up fast.


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Old 11-09-2015, 09:03 PM   #32
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Don't forget this weight calculation should include the truck passengers, a full tank of gas, truck cargo bed weight & 5th wheel hitch. Which alone could easily surpass 1300 lbs if you have 4 adults. So,then add the trailer contents, water, groceries, bicycles, storage items, ect. It adds up fast.


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That weight calculation was for the 5er ccc, nothing to do with truck


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Old 11-09-2015, 09:14 PM   #33
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I was hybrid and travel trailer for nearly 10 years. For a couple of years several of my friends told me to go 5th wheel for reasons already mentioned. This past spring we switched to a 5th wheel and noticed an immediate change. We are very pleased with our decision and look forward to enjoying what we hope is many more years of camping and meeting new folks along the way.

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Old 11-09-2015, 11:35 PM   #34
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Lots of good info!! I've been driving all day to pick our unit up. I have a few more hours in the morning too! Ugh..... WELL worth the deal I got though. The local guy 5 min from my house wouldn't touch the price. I think he was just thinking I was going to cave because of the distance. Ha ha! He was WRONG!
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Old 11-12-2015, 08:08 AM   #35
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Things I learned on the trip home.... After the 1st hundred miles you get used to the extra 5000lbs, a Ford 6.7 diesel is a beast, she (both the F350 and the 5er) pulls well even in 16 plus mph winds and it seems truckers respect you a bit more with a 5er in tow. I see the tighter turn radius that will take some practice. I haven't had the need yet to back it so we shall see. Thanks to all for your input!
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Old 11-13-2015, 09:04 AM   #36
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Things I learned on the trip home.... After the 1st hundred miles you get used to the extra 5000lbs, a Ford 6.7 diesel is a beast, she (both the F350 and the 5er) pulls well even in 16 plus mph winds and it seems truckers respect you a bit more with a 5er in tow. I see the tighter turn radius that will take some practice. I haven't had the need yet to back it so we shall see. Thanks to all for your input!
Go to an empty parking lot and back it into a parking spot a few times. I won't say it is hard but it is different from a ball hitch.

Sounds like you had a good trip home. I agree, truckers seem to respect people pulling a 5er more. They seem to give you more room and they know when they pass you they are not going to knock you and your trailer all around. The 5eer is much more stable and they know it.

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Old 11-13-2015, 09:42 AM   #37
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Planned on doing the parking lot BUT you've got to love Texas State Parks. We have a pass and I called the park 30 min from the house and they gave me the all clear to come out and practice there.
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Old 11-13-2015, 09:57 AM   #38
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Chop249: Congrats on your new 5er. Can't wait to see pics and very glad you got a deal you like and a floorplan that will work for the family.
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Old 11-13-2015, 10:07 AM   #39
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Planned on doing the parking lot BUT you've got to love Texas State Parks. We have a pass and I called the park 30 min from the house and they gave me the all clear to come out and practice there.
Great!! Never heard of that before. Do they have trees? If so watch the height, you will need 13 feet if not more. My 5er is 12 foot 6 inches but always look for 13 feet. Saw a tractor trailer stuck in an overpass on the news one day. According to the signs he should have been ok but they had repaved the road and hadn't up dated the signs. They had added 4 inches of asphalt so the signs were wrong. He thought he had the clearance but guess what. It was a good thing he was going slow!

You never know.

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