To Do or Not to Do?? Tow trailer and golf cart behind 5th wheel

[SYE]

All ststes have their different rules about it. I used to tow my quad on a utility trailer behind my 29' Cardinal. Here in Michigan you need to have a Double R endorsement on your License and there are a few more rules as well. I found a website that told what states it was allowed in. Most of them have reciprocity with my state. It is just like having people ride in the 5th wheel while going down the road. It is allowed here but not in all states, all that is required is 2 way communication between the camper and truck. This site will give you the towing laws for each state. Towing World Official Website

[BigBaron]

Lionhart,
What did you have to do to get all the kinks worked out?
I don't understand four years of work... Why so long?
I live in Korea, so it's pure curiosity on my part.
BB

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by Lionhart75

Hey guys I figured you will get a kick out of this. I have a custom hitch on the back of my 285b+ and tow about 6500lbs behind it. It took a lot of work and some scary moment and long slow trips to get it all worked out but now I can run 70 and no issues. It is 64'11.5" long with the slide hitch all the way up. As they say DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!! This has been a 4 year project that took a lot of work and trial and error. Lucky the error was never a major issue or accident of any kind.

WOW...impressive!

[Lionhart75]

You cant see it in the pics but I installed a Anderson weight distribution hitch to the back trailer that was the final key. Before I had very little margin for error with weight placement. The 5er becomes a teeter todder in this setup. It would produce alot of head jerk and the wonderfully California roads would send everything crazy. With the hitch it does exactly what it would on a bumper pull but now I get my pin weight back. Also alot of weight removal has been done to stay within gvt

[bakken]

Originally Posted by Lionhart75

Hey guys I figured you will get a kick out of this. I have a custom hitch on the back of my 285b+ and tow about 6500lbs behind it. It took a lot of work and some scary moment and long slow trips to get it all worked out but now I can run 70 and no issues. It is 64'11.5" long with the slide hitch all the way up. As they say DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!! This has been a 4 year project that took a lot of work and trial and error. Lucky the error was never a major issue or accident of any kind.

Keep an eye on your pinbox area, as I could see it breaking out of the camper frame. And I assume your camper has a heavy enough frame to take all of the forces from that weight-distribution hitch? My fifth wouldn't take it.
But it is an impressive outfit!

[Lionhart75]

That is a very valid point to make. This isn't as easy as it may appear. You can't just bolt a hitch to the back of your 5er and call it done. I have had a structural engineer work with me on the whole mod. I pulled the skin off the pinbox and side skirts and did a through inspection of the frame and support structure after the first 10k. at that point I decided to gusset the pin box and reinforce the front of the trailer. Not because of any failure but my concern that there could be. In the early development there was a large amount of head jerk and had a real hard time with fish tail on the back trailer that puts alot of lateral strain on the head that they are not normally designed for. Buy re engineering the front towers and box mount I was able to reduce the overall weight and (on paper) increase the structure strength 150% of the oem design. Like I've said before. "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME". This isn't a simple undertaking. If anyone doubts the gvw. Keep this in mind. I'm running 4:10 gears with a auto transmission. I have 106k on the truck and besides oil changes on the trans has never been touched. It's been a dedicated tow rig for the last 40k mostly pulling this setup and variations of it. If I was way over gvw the trans never would have lasted this long and is still running well

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Lionhart75

That is a very valid point to make. This isn't as easy as it may appear. You can't just bolt a hitch to the back of your 5er and call it done. I have had a structural engineer work with me on the whole mod. I pulled the skin off the pinbox and side skirts and did a through inspection of the frame and support structure after the first 10k. at that point I decided to gusset the pin box and reinforce the front of the trailer. Not because of any failure but my concern that there could be. In the early development there was a large amount of head jerk and had a real hard time with fish tail on the back trailer that puts alot of lateral strain on the head that they are not normally designed for. Buy re engineering the front towers and box mount I was able to reduce the overall weight and (on paper) increase the structure strength 150% of the oem design. Like I've said before. "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME". This isn't a simple undertaking. If anyone doubts the gvw. Keep this in mind. I'm running 4:10 gears with a auto transmission. I have 106k on the truck and besides oil changes on the grand has never been touched. It's been a dedicated tow rig for the last 40k mostly pulling this setup and variations of it. If I was way over gvw the trans never would have lasted this long and is still running well

I'd surely enjoy seeing scale tickets.

[bakken]

Lionhart, good to hear you did it the right way!

[Lionhart75]

I'll see if I can dig some up alot of that stuff is still Mia from my recent move. Thanks forthe comments from everyone. It always a kick to read when I post my pics. Ironic though one of the first questions I usualy get is exactly how did u get that rzr up there.

[Dave Lyon]

I once saw a guy with a 3/4 T truck towing a 28' TT, hitched to a 14' aluminum boat turn into a fast food place and go through the drive thru!

Craaaaaazy!

[bakken]

Originally Posted by Lionhart75

I'll see if I can dig some up alot of that stuff is still Mia from my recent move. Thanks forthe comments from everyone. It always a kick to read when I post my pics. Ironic though one of the first questions I usualy get is exactly how did u get that rzr up there.

How did you get that RZR up there?

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by bakken

How did you get that RZR up there?

He went to the turbs hiflyin school of golf cart super air! Lol

[jevanb]

I have a rec doubles license from the state of MI, we can tow doubles up to 65ft, total length, but the front trailer has to be 5th wheel attached

[prairiecamper]

Read all the posts here, very interesting! With our old 5th trailer at only 27 ft. we towed our 17 ft lund pro sport behind our trailer a lot! Total length approx 70 ft. In Manitoba max double tow is 75ft. It handled and followed very well, no swaying, fishtailing etc. I could see the boat trailer wheels in the rear view mirror. My GCVW was about 9500 lbs. so I was within my weight ratings! My old triple E trailer had a square tube frame, very solid and I installed the hitch myself, a class 3 hitch. The boat & trailer were under 2000 lbs. so I was not to concerned about stressing anything and the boat trailer has surge brakes.

Also I limited my max speed to 55 mph with this combination. Oh and another thing, in Manitoba you can only double tow behind a fifth wheel not a ball hitch trailer! If done properly and proper weight distribution it is a very doable thing!

Now I have a question, does anybody have a factory installed class 2 or 3 hitch on the back of their fifth wheel trailer (any forest river). I ordered one with the trailer we bought thinking it might be a class 2 or 3 and received it with a class 1. A class 1 is only good enough for a few bikes, generator, etc. Any other thoughts?

[BigBaron]

Lionheart-the WDH is genius. It almost makes the two trailers act as one, doesn't it?
How did you handle brakes? I would think an electric brake on the third trailer would be great insurance just in case you had to "pull it all back in line"if it started swaying.

[Lionhart75]

I have to run brakes on the rear trailer to be legal. In most states if the trailer has a capacity over 3500 lbs they are required. I am using the prodigy rf wireless brake controller. I originally tried using my prodigy controller that I have for the trailer but the load balance wasn't close enough to work in a predictable way. That left me with two choices. first run new wire from the cab to the bumper then wire from the 5th wheel to its bumper. That would have been a real pain. I came across the rf unit and thought it would be a much simpler solution. It works well and it also allows me to put it in the wife's land rover without adding a controller that would rarely get used.

[Lionhart75]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

He went to the turbs hiflyin school of golf cart super air! Lol

The trailer was a run of the mill flat bed trailer. I cut most of the center support beams out and rebuilt the frame to support the load. The entire deck raises up and down no tilt or ramps it moves vertical up to 7'. I have a few different heights that I can lock it into place once raised. I have worked out a custom cable hoist system that pulls from all 4 corners at one time with one hoist. It uses a 12,000 lbs hoist to get the job done. The goal when I built it was to be able to load the rzr and 3 to 4 bikes in 20 min or less with as little hassle as possible and remain within the legal limits for length.

[bodzcampers]

Question: Would the golf cart be on a trailer? Or were you thinking towing it behind on it's own tires? I presume trailer, right? If not, I wouldn't dream of towing a Golf cart on it's own tires. They are not made to go that fast. I would think the safer option would be to get a toy hauler or have someone else in your party tow the golf cart or go seasonal like we are and have your golf cart everyday. Good Luck and let us know what you find out.

Here's a link to state by state towing laws:
State Towing Laws for RVs.

I'd still double check with the state directly though, as laws can change or there could be a typo.

[OldCoot]

The whole rig looks like a disaster just waiting to happen. Wouldn't follow it on a road regardless of the braking system/s used. Too many things could happen.