Im looking at buying a camper for the wife and I to use and enjoy several times a year. I have found a few deals on some 27-32ft toy haulers but was curious about a few things. Is a fith-wheel a better way to go? Im not 100% set on a toy hauler, I just want to be able to take a golf cart with me. I would like to haul the cart in the bed of my truck if it will fit, I just have not measured one yet. If I am able to fit one minus the tailgate, I will be looking at a regular camper somewhere in the 30ft range but with a tongue hitch. Im not nervous about pulling something that large, I have a class A CDL, I just want it to feel "safe" at normal speeds. My truck is a 2007.5 2500 4x4 quad cab short bed. Its still stock with 82,000 on it but will be deleted soon with exhaust and a smarty. I have a quadzilla scout monitoring system already installed and most of my trips will be foothills and coastal driving. Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to hear what others have learned from experience and what setup yall prefer.
Thanks

 

I had a small (17') bumper pull. I now have a 27 5ver. The 5ver is much more comfortable to pull. I miss the bed space, but feel much better going down the road. The 5ver is just as easy (if not easier) to move around as the bumper pull, but has much more space in it.

 

I currently have a 32" fifth wheel. I have absolutly no troubles pulling it with either truck. The fifth wheel takes alot of load off the truck by putting it directly over your rear axle. Before I bought my fifth wheel I had a 29' tongue pull. I only ever pulled it with my 01 but I had stabilzer arms and sway control on it and I never had any trouble pulling, it was not as smooth as the fifth wheel however. Also the weight should not be an issue my fifth whell has a 16' susperslide and an 8 ' small bedroom slide and I do not have any troubles at all.

 

I am not speaking from experience so hopefully someone will correct if wrong. I have read that you need a sliding hitch if pulling a fifth wheel with a short box or you will be to close to the cab when manuvering in close quarters.
Del

 

I dont think a golf cart will fit in your short bed so if it was me I would get a sliding hitch an 5er . but you need to see what will work for you ,the truck will pull it

 

I use this PDF booklet from Ram in determining what size vehicle I can tow.
Click on the MY, than the Ram pick-up icon than what every type of truck you have. In the Technical information section click on base weights/GCW/payloads.

http://www.rambodybuilder.com/year.pdf

Jim W.

 

Thanks for the information. I am going to check this weekend about the cart fitting in my truck without the tailgate. If it doesn't fit, I am going to go with a 5th wheel setup toyhauler. Anybody know more about the sliding hitch since I have a short bed?

 

I would also recommend the 5ver toy hauler route, our trucks can't legally carry a lot of weight and a golf cart along with a travel trailer would be a lot. One thing to mention is the newer 5vers are made a little different and have the front sides cut away and the pin is further forward, this gives the clearance needed to pull it with a short box truck WITHOUT using a slider hitch. I would highly recommend the B&W with companion. The goose hitch is installed
5-5 1/2 inches in front of the rear axle center line, this works great for a goose neck but when the companion is inserted to tow a 5ver the pin center ends up about 1 inch behind the rear axle center line but the weight is transferred down to the frame 5 1/2 inches in front. This makes the tow vehicle more stable by transferring more weight to the front axle and also gives a little more clearance to the cab.

 

That geometry doesn't make sense. If the pin is behind the axle, then the load is behind the axle. If the hitch angles forward that doesn't make any difference, except for some weird forces on the hitch and frame. The center of gravity and the downward force on the truck vectors out the same.

Still should work for towing a fiver, but you aren't going to be transferring any weight to the front axle. It's a compromise to allow turning with a short bed.

 

Most fifth wheels will put more weight on your truck than a travel trailer. The fifth wheel will be easier to hook up, but with the right hitch a TT can haul well too. I would think you can put a golf cart in the bed, and hook up a decent sized TT too. Also sometimes it's harder to find a fifth wheel that will fit under a newer 4x4.

 

The B&W companion is ONLY attached to the truck 5 1/2 inches in front of the axle center line so the hitch itself becomes an extension of the pin box.

 

If you don't understand vectors, and moment, you'll have to hook one up and check it out. You'll find slightly more than the pin weight on the back axle, and a few pounds lightening on the front axle, hooked up as you say.

And yes, I know what a companion goose neck to fifth wheel conversion hitch is.

 

I have never regretted my Superglide hitch.

 

That's gotta be neater than sliced bread. What makes it slide automatically in a corner?

 

I must admit it has been over 20 years since I last did calculations involving moments to change the C of G for an aircraft and over 40 years since I last took Physics so I'm a little rusty. I didn't think of the hitch as being an arm. When I can get the hitch into the truck again I will have to measure the height and then do the math to determine the arm length, from there I can calculate how much force/weight is being applied to each axle. It will be interesting to see because it is something that can actually be checked by weighing.
My point for posting was you don't need a slider or a B&W hitch to tow some of the new trailers with a short box because of the newly designed fronts. When I bought my truck last year I didn't know this was possible until I started looking at trailers.