motor home or 5th wheel

[83 crew cab]

ok now that the crew cab is done I am thanking of trading in the motor home for a 5th wheel I have to take a ski boat with me most of the time and the 460 in the motor home gets 6mph how does the 5th wheels handle with a boat beind them andy pros or cons to this would help me out alot thanks George

 

[JPS]

Boat behind 5th wheel

From what I have seen on web sites different laws in states. I have done this with small 5th wheel and 18' boat. Worked fine. Boat does react quickly to any sudden turn on steering wheel. Depends on hitch weight of boat. I would want a good hitch on rear of 5th wheel.

 

[Kimrey]

What are you talking about crew cab? Dodge doesen't have a true crew cab yet As far as the boat, I have never towed that combo. I know on windy days the tail end of the 5th can be swaying, and with something attached to it, I think it would be whiping it around. Like JPS said, it would magnify anything on the stearing wheel. I wouldn't pull that combo on any long trips, but each to his own. I hope this helps.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Towing double

I have towed a 17' bass boat for a 200 mile round trip and towed a 16' aluminum rig on a 600 mile roundtrip. The bass boat loaded me up pretty good. I really couldn't tell I had the aluminum rig back there. (That could be a problem too if you had a flat on the boat trailer. ) My 5th wheel is a 31' Carri Lite. My fuel mileage dropped to about 10mpg versus 12 with just the 5th wheel. For short trips you should be ok but for cross country you need to check the laws as I don't think double towing is legal in some states, most states have a maximum length restriction. bg

 

[Barry]

Last fall hooked a 17' Roughneck bassboat behind a 28' CarriLite 5er and took off for Bull Shoals, Ark. Did not even know the boat was back there.

 

[pwr2tow]

I tow the rig in my signature 13 weekends (140 miles each weekend) every summer and don't even know the boat is back there. I also tow the rig on summer vacations for a few weeks at a time.



One time I towed 120 miles with a 40 MPH cross wind, I had more apprehension about the 5th tipping over than I ever worried about the boat, I should not have even been out in such a wind but had no other choice that day. You should have seen the motor home that passed me, I had to move over on a two lane as he was useing both just to go straight I was doing about 50MPH because of the wind, normally I tow around 65 MPH where speed allows.



Ron

 

[83 crew cab]

Kimrey I put a cummins in an 83 dodge crew cab



I f I do this I will towing the boat about 300miles perty flat land



what kind of a hitch to you guys have on the back of the 5th wheel?



thanks for all of your input guys

 

[Fuzz]

Some thoughts on Hitch

We have a King of the Road Trailer. . I had a custom hitch maker

put a hitch on it. Expensive.

There is no doubt in my mind that the hitch(receiver) would take about all you could hook to it but. . the "gotcha" is :

The manufacturer has "placarded" on the rear of trailer,that if a hitch is installed Do not exceed total 2000#'s load and 200#'s tongue weight. Guess a person might want to check with manufacturer if they don't have any such placard.

 

[pwr2tow]

Welded two steel tubeing between frame and then welded a two inch receiver hitch between them, front and back of receiver. tacked corner braces for strength.



Ron

 

[B.G. Smith]

Towing

I built my hitch, it is a 3"x2"x3/16" angle iron at the rear with a 2"x2"x1/4" angle about 20" in front of that with braces in between. bg

 

[C Schomer]

I've seen some RV mfgrs that don't recommend putting a hitch on the back - not built strong enough. Good idea to check with mfgr first. Craig

 

[rob10858]

can you guys see the boat behind your fiver? if you can i'd like to know what type of mirrors you have. sometimes "not even back there" can be a bad thing. not trying to be a smart... just wondering. :--)

 

[pwr2tow]

I have the big truck type chrome mirrors and I can see the boat wheels and fenders.



The boat will sway a little more than just towing it alone, but that is due to the amplification through the camper. I use to tow with a single rear wheel vehicle before this one and yes there was more sway and you could feel it back there. Not with this rig though. My truck steers and rides better towing what I have in my signature than it does empty. I use to worry going down hill triple trailering with the single rear wheel, With this rig I still stay on guard but I do not worry any more.



Ron

 

[Jeepthing]

Crewcab , What about putting a CUMMINGS in the motor home!Oo. Oo. :--)

 

[RHamner]

We've towed a 15' wide body alum with a Honda 45 on it behind our fifth from Ca. to Az. and into Mex, around Ca and over to Ut. I see it whenever I'm not going straight, it does bounce and swing a little more.



A brief rundown of the rules by state are in those big campground directory books. (like Trailer life) I sure prefer it to a rack on top with the motor somewhere else. Very little backing is possible.

 

[83 crew cab]

jeepkthing the funny thing is I got another cummins that need rebuilt and we have all ready beeing talking about that