In the market... Suggestions?

[DieselWiezil]

Im finally in the market for a good used TT or 5th wheel. Ill be totally new to owning a trailer of this sort. Im 20 years old, I go camping 10+ times a summer and am interested in starting in the Winter months too. I usually have atleast a min of 4 people go with me each time so im looking for somthing that could handle several people. Whats the difference of pulling a 5ver over a bumper pull? From what you see in my signature what would be a good matchup as far as length or lbs? Im sure ill be adding rear bags b/c I have no helper springs. I think around 28-30 foot is about an appropriate length. Basically Im just lookin for some input from more experienced campers than myself. Any advantage of older vs new. My price range is less than 12,000. I really dont want to go and buy the biggest and best since this is a first time thing.

[DieselWiezil]

anyone?

[DENNY]

There are a lot of good used travel trailers around for that price. I would start there, 5th wheels are nice but for a good one you will pay a pretty fair price, even used.
DENNY

[firefighter9208]

If you go with a fifth wheel you won't need air bags unless you go with a really large one. A 10,000 trailer will have a "tongue" weight of 10-15% or 1,000-1,500 pounds. No need for air bags.

If you go with a bumper pull get a good weight distributing hitch (Equalizer) and you won't need airbags.

Both trailers pull well and have advantages and disadvantages.

Bumper Pull
Advantages:
No step up into the front room.
You can use the bed of your pickup for bicycles, etc...

Disadvantages:
Trailer Sway: Can be solved w/ a good hitch.
Long. If you buy a 30' trailer you are pulling the whole 30' behind you.

Fifth Wheel:
Advantages:
No or little sway
Easy to maneuver. You can jackknife the rig and turn easily.
Some of the length of the trailer is over the bed of the truck, so you really aren't pulling as long a trailer.

Disadvantages:
You loose the use of your truck bed.
Step up into the front room.

Which ever one you go with consider a bunkhouse model. The queen bed in the front will sleep two adults, but the dinette and couch will really only sleep one. With a bunkhouse you get two or four beds in the rear that smaller adults can fit in.

I have a Cougar 314EFS that has 4 rear bunks. Two are "adult size" twin bunks and two are normal width bunks.

After Hurrican Katrina I took a group of men from my church to Mississippi to help clean up and 7 adult men spent 3 nights in my Cougar and slept "comfortably". 1 in each bunk, one on the dinette, one on the couch, and I got the queen size by myself.

Maybe this will help.

Firefighter9208

[Bob C.]

Be very very careful in regard to finding a unit that has been maintained. R.V.'s can leak if yearly inspections & sealing "touch-up's" are not done. Dry rot repairs are very expensive & can suck the fun right out of your new purchase. Try to get a friend with some R.V. experence to look at units with you.
If you are buying from a private party, ask the owner to explain what sort of maintenance he has done. If all you get is a blank look.. I would keep looking.
Stay away from units that have been used as a house for grandma (or whoever) in someone's back yard, as living in a R.V. full time ages it much more quickly than one that is used once every few months.

[SmokeyWren]

[ QUOTE ]
Whats the difference of pulling a 5ver over a bumper pull?

[/ QUOTE ]

A bunch. With ordinary hitches, 5ers pull great with no sway, while TTs can kill you and yours because of sway.

The fix is to pay the big bucks for the right hitch for the TT. Then it will tow as good as a 5er and no sway.

5ers cost more than comparable TTs if you don't include the cost of the hitch. But a Hensley Arrow hitch for a TT costs about $2k more than a good 4-way-tilt 5er hitch, such as the Reese 16k Classic. So usually a 5er with good hitch will cost about the same as a TT with a Hensley Arrow hitch, or maybe a bit more.

Personally, I prefer my 5er. I would consider a TT only if I could hook it up with a Hensley Arrow hitch. www.nosway.com

[ QUOTE ]
My price range is less than 12,000.

[/ QUOTE ]

So a new 5er is a budget buster. And even a new TT is probably not available - including athe Hensley Arrow hitch - for that price.

So you're looking at a used TT plus a Hensley Arrow hitch for 12k. That's possible, but you'll probably spend a lot of time shoping to find a good clean unit that meets your needs at that price.

[ QUOTE ]
From what you see in my signature what would be a good matchup as far as length or lbs?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your biggest problem is the low GVWR of your pickup.

Figure a 5er as having 17 percent of it's GVWR as hitch weight. Figure a TT at 11 percent. So a trailer with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds will have a hitch weight of around 1,700 pounds if it's a 5er, or 1,100 pounds if it's a TT. Both trailers will probably cause you to exceed the GVWR of the tow vehicle, but the 5er would be 600 pounds worse.

Your GVWR is 8,800 pounds, and your GCWR is 20,000 pounds.

Load the truck up with a typical camping trip worth of buddies and coolers full of cool and a bed full of campfire wood, etc., and go to a certified automated truck (CAT) scale. Fill up with diesel, then weigh the wet and loaded truck - with driver and passengers in the truck. Subtract that weight from 20,000 pounds and that's the maximum GVWR of any trailer you should look at.

For example, if your wet and loaded truck weighs 9,000 pounds, then you should look at TTs with a GVWR of 10,000 to 11,000 pounds, or less. That's a nice "lite" TT about 28 feet long with one slide, or maybe 30 feet long with no slide.

But if your wet and loaded truck grosses 9,000 pounds, and you have an additional 1,100 pounds of hitch weight from the TT, then your GVW will be 10,100 pounds, or 1,300 pounds overloaded. So yes, you'll need the Firestone RideRite airbags. Or a better plan might be to take a second vehicle to haul all the folks and firewood and coolers full of cool, and let the PSD with only a skinny driver tow TT. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/warmsmile.gif[/img] That way your tow vehicle will probably barely be overloaded.

[DieselWiezil]

thanks guys thats EXACTLY what I needed to know!!!

[kiteflyer]

Aside from the information provide so far you maybe happier with a travel trailer. For how you will be using it, the travel trailers have better floor plans. If you look at most 5th wheels they are set up for a single couple.

Leaks can be a significant problem. Look at the ceiling seams on the inside of the trailer for water stains. Also look inside of cupboards for evidence of leaks. The water stains indicate the trailer had some type of sealing problem at some point in it’s history. It might be OK if corrected promptly, if not the dry rot can set in. Get up on top and look at the sealing job. Does it look like was maintained? Ask when was the last time it was sealed.

Also I have a 10000-pound 5th wheel with a hitch weight is in excess of 2000 pounds and I don’t have any additional helper springs on the truck. The truck handles fine.

The other thing you need to consider is brake controller. The BrakeSmart controller is expensive but the best on the market.