Few camper newbie questions.....

[hesutton]

What is the combined GVW of an F350 crew cab SWR?

What is a good maximum length and weight for a 5th wheel camper to be hauled with my '86 F350 SRW?

Who makes a good 5th Wheel hitch, and what features (if any) are "must haves" on a 5th Wheel hitch?

Any (and I mean any) input is appreciated. Me and my wife are looking for our 1st camper. We'd like to avoid and "newbie" mistakes. Thanks a lot.

Heath

 

[towcat]

heath-
iirc if you stay at 10k gvw and below and a combined OAL of 40ft, you should not have any issues with any port of entry or DOT. Rumour has it you can go 15k on a GN/fiver, but you might get some cop who doesn't know the rules to invite you in for a closer inspection. I figure if you drop Tonkadoc a pm, I'm sure he has some distinct opinions on which trailers he thinks will hold up the best. All I know is the older wood framed units don't have a good life span.

 

[Russ]

My 26' 5er was a perfect match for my 2wd IDI, It weighed about 7,500 lbs. One thing you will want to look at is the height of the 5er hitch. My 5er had the axles flipped and I was still about 3" nose high going down the road with my 4x4. You really want about 5-6 inches of clearance between the overhang and the bed rails. IIRC your CC had big tires on it and that makes it even worse for towing with a 5er hitch. The top of the line hitch is the B&W turnover with the 5er companion. But Reese makes the rail type.

This is the main reason we sold our 5er and got a TT.

 

[snicklas]

Heath,

Agreed with the above. Also... look at the cabinets, the higher grade are like home cabinets. Real joints that are screwed together. Cheaper rigs have cheaper cabinets that are stapled together. My coachmen had screwed together cabinets, and the rest of the rig was higher quality. Also look at the supporting appliances. I like the water heater to have both electric and gas options. Also, for the the HVAC to have an optional electric heat strip available. Mine has the heat strip, and Trav used it throughout the winter before last and saw a major savings in the propane for the winter. With my rig, the tanks were filled when I picked it up in May of 2006. I still had part of the first 2 tanks left when I lent it to Trav, in 2009. With the electric water heater and the electric heat option is a must for me. Because at almost all transient campgrounds electricity is free, gas is not.

Also, one other thing to think about, which Trav and I have discussed is if you run into truck trouble. Think about this, how many people do you know that can tow a conventional trailer? Now, how may are set up to tow a 5er? Even if not I deal, if I were stuck on the side of the road, my dad could get the trailer off the road and home to safety with his half ton van.... not ideal.... but better than nothing. A 5er would have to sit there until my truck was back in service, or till I could find someone to move it.

My opinion, I plan on sticking with a travel trailer, even when I upgrade.

 

[argve]

If you are going to be a weekender (meaning towing the thing all the time) go with the 5th wheel. But if you are going to be a seasonal camper (meaning drop it at a campground and just go visit it on the weekends) I would do a TT. The reason I say if you are going to be a weekender the towing is much easier with a 5th wheel - sway is almost nothing even it at all. And most 5ers have much more storage compartments compared to their TT buddies. TT's are cheaper compared to 5ers because the frame is heavier on most 5ers.

Now as gruss mentioned towing with a tall truck can be a pain because of the pin height requirements. A stock height truck does a better job for towing a 5er.

Now a 5er with a living room up front (like Mel and I have) or a front bedroom that you can stand up in will be harder to pull down the road because of the air it displaces and it will pull like a 30k lbs trailer at highway speeds (meaning foot to the floor) compared to a TT. That is because most TT's are lower and the truck blocks so much more of the wind that the frontal area of the TT grabs.

Case in point.

With my TT behind the Nanny Goat she was a screamer down the road - I could very easily do well above the posted limit and could even do triple digits with it, but pulling a 5er of the SAME WEIGHT she worked a little harder to do the job - again that camper (5ver which Ron has) you could stand up in the bed room so it grabbed a ton more air.

But the sway created with the TT behind the Nanny Goat was at times more than I liked - I could feel every pickup and larger vehicle pass me or as I passed them - but with the 5ver I didn't notice it much at all and only the semi's could I feel if I was actually looking for the feeling. that is why I say if you are going to tow it everywhere then 5ver is the way to go.

Now as Scott said the smaller campers with the heat strip is the way to go (NON DUCTED AC) but on a larger unit I wouldn't have anything other than Ducted AC because on the larger units and especially 5vers you need to have the air flow in the upper portion of the unit or it gets mighty warm up there. I know that my first 5ver with the bedroom up front and non ducted ac sucked during the hot nights and days of summer and I put a fan in the bathroom that would blow air into the bedroom to keep it at a comfy temp but then I had to walk around the fan to enter or exit the bedroom or use the bath room.

And if you didn't know I'm living in my 5ver currently and have been for better than a year and I use electric heaters (little stand alone units) but I still want to use the forced air furnace for the same reason because heat rises and I will have cold spots if I don't use the furnace.

Don't know what price/year you are looking for but if it has water damage RUN don't walk away.

Slide outs are nice but just make sure that if you can access the bathroom if you are going to be a weekender without putting the slide out - makes ***** stops so much nicer. I actually looked for a non slide unit for our second one for that very reason. but not that I'm a full timer or even if I was a seasonal I want one and would consider a slide out a must have item. I'm actually looking to get a slide out on my next one and want multiple slides on my next one because of the increased living space.

 

[argve]

now 5ver hitches...

Get one that tips side to side as well as forward and backwards. Makes unhitching on something other than perfectly level ground much easier. I have had mine want to bind a couple of times and it even tips side to side but when that happens the truck is twisted compared to the camper pretty good and the weekenders that roll in at our campground that don't have the tippy ones sometime have a hell'va time unhitching because it's go the pin in a bind.

now for TT hitches....

ELECTRIC JACK... ELECTRIC TONGUE JACK! can't stress that enough and don't get the cheap ones either - get the big one - so that you can pick up the rear of the truck with a bed load of wood, bikes and other junk - makes hitching up the weight bars so much easier...

 

[argve]

length of camper.... - LONG.... The longer the better - means more space inside.

Look for outside storage - the more the better and LARGE... you would not believe how much stuff you don't want to be dragging in and out of the camper everytime you set up and tear down camp.

Awnings big is the way to go - the larger the awning the more room you have under it when it rains.

 

[hesutton]

Clavin, Scott, Gary, and Travis..... THANK YOU SO MUCH. That's exactly what I'm looking for. We still haven't found what we are looking for. We'll be hauling it to camp, not going to keep it at a campground. The tires on the crew cab are 285's. There is not a lift on the truck. I don't know if those tires are going to cause a hitch height issue or not. Still looking at 5'er hitches as well. Those B&W's are nice, but pricey for sure. I'll keep ya posted if we find a camper.

Thanks again.

Heath

 

[hesutton]

Again, any guess or anyone know the combined GVW of the '86 F350?

What about a max (dry) weight for the camper? Is there a good cut off to say, that's just gonna be too dang heavy?

Heath

 

[towcat]

heath-
one thing i forgot to ask. are you a dirtbike/atv sort? if so, a "toyhauler" rv trailer will definitely get you to use it more often.
since tonkadoc hasn't seen this thread yet, i'm going to do beat on his door.

 

[Russ]

Heath, look at the floor plans and see what you like, you've been to enough rallies to see what IDI's can tow. Most popular length will be around 30-35 ft. Smaller than that and they can get very small when it rains, bigger than that, and it can make it tougher to get into some smaller campsites. We liked the bunkhouse when Mike was small, but now that he is taller than Patty, he didn't fit in the bunk any longer, so he just sleeps on the couch in the new TT.

 

[gandalf]

Heath, keep in mind also that many campgrounds have a maximum length they will allow. You don't want to buy a luxury liner only to find that you can't take it where you want to go.

 

[hesutton]

Calvin, I have thought about a toy hauler, but I rarely have time to ride my dirt bike at all. The trip next week down to Georgia will be the first real ride I've been on in close to 9 years. I'm just going to haul the bikes down on a small trailer and camp in a cabin there. Maybe one of these days, when Heidi is riding more, I'll get a toy hauler.

As far as size...... We're looking at 5'ers in the 30 foot range. They seem to be big enough without being too large. Bunkhouses are what we've been looking at. Heidi (and hopefully some future little brothers/sisters) should be good in the bunks for years to come. Nate and Natalie (my nephew and neice) can sleep on the sofa if they are a bit too big for the bunks.

We are looking at two campers this weekend in Indiana. I hope one is what we need.

Heath

 

[tonkadoctor]

I'm not going to get into recommending any brand or size camper. Fiberglass sides hold up better than tin.


5th wheel - Curt Q5 20k very happy with mine and is very popular with RV transporters.

Must have items

1. Permanently installed orange teflon lube plate on the fifth wheel head. They are spot welded in place with countersunk washers. Roughly $65-$75 intalled at a good hitch shop. Skip those $10 plastic frisbys that evey RV dealer sells, they are a PITA and easily lost.
2. Air bags on the rear axle. Greatly improve the ride and handeling as it gets the truck back level when hooked up and gets you off those stiff overload spings that slap the heck out of you.
3. Full length mud flap across the back. For those running a dually you'll need flaps behind the tires too.
4. In bed 7 pin RV style plug.
5. A fat wallet for fuel at these prices. I do typically get better fuel milage towing fifth wheels than lighter travel trailers. Aerodynamics is more important than weight here.

Optional Item

1. Vally Industries "Monster Ball" About $50 and worth every penny for the laughs as you prank people.
2. Low profile fifth wheel tool box behind the fifth wheel.

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One other thing. I don't run a tail gate when I'm towing fifth wheel or Gooseneck trailer. Always seems to be in my way and makes hooking up harder.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Try to set the fifth wheel height at about 51" which is a good height on most fifth wheel trailers. If you're too high at the lowest setting on the hitch you can often unbolt the pin box on the trailer and raise it up.

heath-
iirc if you stay at 10k gvw and below and a combined OAL of 40ft, you should not have any issues with any port of entry or DOT. Rumour has it you can go 15k on a GN/fiver, but you might get some cop who doesn't know the rules to invite you in for a closer inspection. I figure if you drop Tonkadoc a pm, I'm sure he has some distinct opinions on which trailers he thinks will hold up the best. All I know is the older wood framed units don't have a good life span.

DOT flat don't give a rip about GVW, GCW, GVWR or GCWR as long as you are plated and licensed for it. Look at all the duallies hauling 3-4 cars on a wedge, these guys are often running 32-40k gross. Only thing DOT is hanging these guys running around in duallies is for sleeping in the back seat which is not a legal sleeper berth.

65' is OAL for RVs and RVs are exempt from all the commercial regs....Unless you are hauling RVs for a living, then it's no longer an RV, it's a commercial vehicle.