quick question for the fifth wheel vets. started out looking at 23 feet but to get all i want (rear bunks house) looks like 26 to 27 footer is necessary. see sig is this getting to long for a non training wheel truck. i pull gooseneck often as well as others, just virgin when it comes to fifth wheels. dealers say all is well and i figure also just wnt a second opinion.

thanks,

tim

 

Your sig does not indicate your truck size or engine type. You would be fine with a 27'er if you have a 2500 with enough engine. Since this is a diesel site, I would assume you are probably diesel. If so, you would eat a 27'er for lunch and want dessert. Be aware of probably having to raise the height of the fiver to fit your 4x4.

 

With a 2500 diesel you should have no trouble with a 27-foot unit... shouldn't run into even an iffy situation until you get to 30+.

 

In September we bought a 28 foot Wilderness fifth-wheel that is a dream to pull with our 2001 2500 QuadCab 2x4. Especially compared to the 24 foot pull trailer we used to have even though the new one is 2000lbs heavier. What we also really like is that we're only 13 inches longer overall length while picking up so much more room.

 

I pull a 28.5 ft. fiver and don't have any problem at all. If you have a Cummins diesel you have a real truck.

 

Piece of cake. 27 footer is only a partial load

 

I had a 24 foot fifth with an 18 foot pontoon boat (parachute on back) 65 feet bumper to bumper.
And the only problem I had was backing up!

 

I pull a 35 foot Carriage Fifth with my 2500 and have had no trouble at all. I deliver campers for a living and would much rather pull a Fifth then a Tag-A-Long .Trailer is 10,800 lbs. empty

 

Hey scrambler, have you weighed your 5er loaded for a trip? What's its GVWR?

 

Be very very carefull when selecting your 5VR. As stated before your sig does not say if you have a 3500 or 2500 LB or SB and all the other important things.
You need to worry about pin weight of the trailer and payload weight of your truck. You also need t take into consideration how many people you are carrying, this effects payload.
When you choose your 5VR look at the weight sticker that is inside the 5VR cabinate it should have a more accurate weight but the only real way to know the weight is take it to a scale.

 

I have no trouble at all pulling a 30 ft bunkhouse that weighs 10500. That is if you dont count the little cars that allways seem to get in my way on hills.

 

If you know the laden curb weight (LCW) of your truck - that's the actual scale weight with driver, passengers, full fuel tanks, cargo, options, accessories, hitch, etc. just like you will be hitting the road - you can use the following two formulas to size a trailer and stay within your truck ratings:

Truck GCWR - Truck LCW = maximum allowable loaded total weight of trailer

Truck GVWR - Truck LCW = maximum allowable pin/hitch weight of loaded trailer

If you don't have loaded trailer weights, a conservative approach is to use the trailer's GVWR for its loaded total weight. For pin/hitch weight, you can use 20% of the trailer's GVWR for a 5th wheel and 12% for a "bumper pull" as approximations.

Rusty