Fifth wheel...yes or no?

[frank4711]

Originally Posted by Hafton5er

There are a lot of people that say you can't/shouldn't tow a fifth wheel with a 1/2 ton truck or that you will only be ok on flat land/short distances. If you know the capabilities of your truck and choose a camper that is within those capabilities you will be fine. I have a 2010 F-150 Supercrew Max tow, pull a fiver with no issues, and I only have the 5.5' bed. Last June I purchased a Flagstaff Superlite 526RLWS w/the Reese Revolution pinbox. The Dry weight is 7600 lbs and a pin weight of around 1300 lbs. Loaded, I weighed 8700 lbs with a pin weight of 1400 lbs which is well under my trucks' capability. I picked up my camper on a Friday and pulled it from Ohio to North Carolina on Saturday. It handled the mountains and interstates way better than my Jayco expandable that weighed thousands less. We towed it almost 4000 miles last year and our trips included some 10% grades through the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. The only upgrade I did to the truck was replace the rear shocks with Monroe load adjusting shocks with the built in coil overs. That was enough to keep my truck level. On Interstate 77 through West Virginia, I was passing Super Duty's pulling TT's with their bumpers dragging. It is all about getting the right setup.

Yep ... x2 .... thanks

[Lzerarc]

5 pages in and no mention of a ProPride hitch for your travel trailer? We were in a similar situation considering going to a 5th over our 30' Rockwood TT. We really like our Rockwood and tows decent with our f150 Max tow 3.5. however it does wiggle around and wind does effect it using my Equalizer hitch. I did not want to spend the money to trade to a 3/4 ton nor did I want the extra cost and size of daily driving one. We decided to drop the money and get the ProPride hitch and see if that fixes the swaying and stability. Mind you, I am within all weight numbers of my truck.
We have been using the 3P for about a couple months now of towing and I have to say it's a very large improvement. The overall stability in towing is greatly improved, sway is eliminated, and hitching/unhitching is very easy. You will still get wind "push" just like in a 5er but you can watch the mirrors on a windy day. Trailer is tracking straight and right behind you.
These hitches get a lot of flack because they are so expensive, compared to other hitches of course. However compared to trading trucks and the cost of owning over my f150? I'm saving thousands of dollars and I now have a rock solid, very comfortable tow.
Because of this, my TT tows similar to a 5er but now I still retain my full truck bed and other benefits that come with a TT, the main being many are well within your capacities of your current truck.
I should also note my truck is upgraded with Michelin E rated tires and Bilstein shocks.

[debit]

There are advantages with a smaller TT. I am certainly happy with the Surveyor 251rks.
..........
Ram 2500

[sunnyinfla]

Get the fifth wheel,youll be happy you did...I wont pull a TT,THEY ARE SCARY...

[TheWolfPaq82]

5 pages of comments....and no reply. She's probably in a corner, in the fetal position going Buh, buh, buh.

[Kennypatrv]

Yes on 5th wheel, no grease no weight distributing bars no hitch to bang your leg on and no sway when large trucks pass you. More head room too.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Kennypatrv

Yes on 5th wheel, no grease no weight distributing bars no hitch to bang your leg on and no sway when large trucks pass you. More head room too.

That's one benefit I had forgotten about. Headroom. I can actually stand up straight in most fifth wheel showers. Now if I could just find an RV towable with a taller entry door

[phillyg]

A properly equipped, i.e., maxed out in towing capacity, 1/2t can indeed handle a lightweight FW, and the combo will handle better than a TT. Fuel mileage will still suck.

[dwebster]

I have pulled many trailers over the years. Big trucks and busses passing always caused some “white knuckle driving”. Also bad was heavy crosswinds. All of that stopped the day after I installed a Hensley Arrow. It was expensive, but the peace of mind was worth it. I no longer experienced the push that you get when a large square vehicle is overtaking you.
Most fifth wheels require at the very least a 3/4 ton truck to safely pull them.

[Robo313]

Going to need a bigger tow vehicle if your going to a 5er. Half Ton towables leave your TV at the top end of your total towing ability. Always better to have a safety margin.

[slchott]

I only read about 30 of the replies but failed to find the one thing that I noticed when I went from a bumper-pull to a fifth wheel, backing and cornering. The 5th wheel is quite different when backing into camping sites. The 5th wheel also tracks more to the inside of a corner.

[itat]

Originally Posted by Hafton5er

There are a lot of people that say you can't/shouldn't tow a fifth wheel with a 1/2 ton truck or that you will only be ok on flat land/short distances. If you know the capabilities of your truck and choose a camper that is within those capabilities you will be fine. I have a 2010 F-150 Supercrew Max tow, pull a fiver with no issues, and I only have the 5.5' bed. Last June I purchased a Flagstaff Superlite 526RLWS w/the Reese Revolution pinbox. The Dry weight is 7600 lbs and a pin weight of around 1300 lbs. Loaded, I weighed 8700 lbs with a pin weight of 1400 lbs which is well under my trucks' capability. I picked up my camper on a Friday and pulled it from Ohio to North Carolina on Saturday. It handled the mountains and interstates way better than my Jayco expandable that weighed thousands less. We towed it almost 4000 miles last year and our trips included some 10% grades through the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. The only upgrade I did to the truck was replace the rear shocks with Monroe load adjusting shocks with the built in coil overs. That was enough to keep my truck level. On Interstate 77 through West Virginia, I was passing Super Duty's pulling TT's with their bumpers dragging. It is all about getting the right setup.

I had an ‘09 F-150 XLT with the 5.5’ bed. Here is a picture of my door sticker.



Notice the payload number is 1385#. I’m really curious what yours is.

[TheRoosterCA]

Sorry if someone already brought this up, but the reason we have decided on a TT rather than a 5'r wasn't because of towability, but rather the trailer height (profile) and loss of cargo space in the PU. The higher the profile the more you start limiting the places you can get into. Also the loss of cargo I can take in the back of th PU is a major thing for us. We like to take just about everything and sometimes I'll load my fishing boat on top of the truck (as you can see in my signature pic). I had the same issues pulling our trailer with a 1/2 ton as the author of this thread; load felt so heavy I was a nervous wreck and not to mention the amount of fuel I used. We loved the convenience of a TT so much, we purchased a truck with more capacity and now I can hardly feel the trailer behind me.

[EarlA]

Originally Posted by cmstone0718

Thinking about moving to a fifth wheel vs travel trailer....mainly for ease of towing. Is it easier to tow a fifth wheel trailer vs a 25 to 30 ft pull behind? I had a 2006 Salem and would white knuckle it whenever towing on the interstate. It seemed so heavy. �� Had issues with the Salem fbs 22 and am now needing to trade it. Thoughts? Pros vs cons? I’m a middle aged female (not that it matters) and want the best experience possible. I have a 2015 Ford F-150 V8 4x4 as a tow vehicle and use the Anderson WDH. Thank you!

I pulled TT for years and now we have a 2018 Cedar Creek CK2 and would never go back to a TT. The 5ver pulls so much easier in wind and around trucks that it is easy to forget it's there other than the weight. I have an 2018 F-250 with the 10,000 lb gvw option and I still added air bags which made it ride way better.

[The Boys]

Here is our 2 cents......… So much easier hooking up, unhooking and towing a fifth wheel over that of a pull behind trailer. We have owned 1 TT and 2 fifth wheels and the diff is amazing. There are only 2 drawbacks owning a 5th wheel I can think of #1 Steps & #2 Pin weight, so if your family can handle steps and your TV can handle the added pin weight 5th wheel is the way to go. Good luck and have fun

[BandJCarm]

Almost all fifth wheel owners at one time had a bumper pull. Very few bumper pull owners previously owned a fifth wheel.

[frank4711]

5th wheels are easier to tow, that is clear from all responses and there a many Ultra lite that might fit your truck. I should have picked a smaller 5ver but changed my mind and bought one that puts my payload over by 200lbs all my other #'s are good .... the rig tows perfect and stops great and I have added LT E rated tires and some air assist springs ... we are only in Florida and about 2-3 hrs our longest drive .... we will upgrade in couple years to a big truck... good luck with your decision and do not do like I did, make sure your camper fits the truck ... Thanks Frank

[moose074]

Offering my 1/2 ton payload I wouldn’t tow anything bigger than a bike on flat bed trailer with this truck but my Tundra and F-150 I would tow heavy all day with less payload

[gos5]

Sorry, I’m late to the discussion. I’ve been towing 5’rs for over 20 years and will never go back to a tag along mainly from a safety and comfort point of view. I dove right in and bought a diesel dually before I even got my first 5th wheel knowing that I would be upgrading to larger and heavier trailers over the years. I still have the same 2005 dually and on my fourth 5th wheel. My point is always get more truck than you think you need, because you will want to upgrade trailers as time goes on.
Can your F-150 tow a 5th wheel? Sure, but your options are limited to GCVW. If in the budget, upgrade to at least a 3/4 ton truck.
Another thing to consider is to go to any campground and look to see how many half tons are pulling 5th wheels. I’ve seen maybe 2 in over 30 years of camping.

[Hafton5er]

Originally Posted by itat

I had an ‘09 F-150 XLT with the 5.5’ bed. Here is a picture of my door sticker.

Attachment 206017

Notice the payload number is 1385#. I’m really curious what yours is.

My payload with the Max Tow package is 1910 lbs.