Which 5th Wheel to Buy?

[KFM]

My wife and I are considering buying a 5th Wheeler after giving consideration to a lot of great feedback from many on the forum. We will be pulling it with a Ford F250 6.2L V8 gas with a 4.3 axle ratio. Our maximum towing weight is 14,000# with a maximum payload of 3880#. We would greatly appreciate recommendations and opinions on 5th wheel model that we could tow. Thanks!

[imjustdave]

Smaller ones under 14k, in weight, but your pin weight will be the deciding factor if you want to stay within manufacturer limits and dot. Truck - gvw is your payload but how much is left on rear axle? Your truck will have an axle rating on the door sticker. IT might scale out with 1500 lbs capacity or less on rear axel. This is what screws you as lots of 5th wheels add 20+% of pin weight.
but there are also people who will say you can get air bags and tow what evert you like.

So if you want to stay within the stickers on the door weigh the truck ready to go get front and rear weights and find out the rear limits. Then find a shorter 5ver in a floor plan you love with a pin weight that works and that is your next camper. Pretty sure the high end ones weight to much.


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[garyp4951]

If you want to enjoy your first 5th wheel experience do not try to go for the max towing weight listed for your truck.
A 10k to 12k max weight 5er is what I would look for, and your truck should not have any problem towing it.

[Treatcg]

What are your requirements in a 5th wheel? Budget?


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[richie t]

Hi, We have the 2017 Eagle HT 28.5 RSTS. Love it! Tow it with a 2015 Dodge Rsm 2500, 5.7L gas. Tows like a charm! Good luck!

[Tail_gunner]

There is a lot out there to look at and the decision on which to get can be a difficult one. But for us it wasn't that hard of a choice to make.

The vast majority of the 5th wheels have floor plans where the main bedroom is in the front of the trailer. Some beds are oriented front to rear and others side to side. A large portion of front bedroom 5th wheels have limited headroom. That is an issue for myself at 6'2". It was for that reason we had two travel trailers before going with the 5th wheel. Travel trailers have the full length flat floor and ceiling height for which my forehead was appreciative.

We found one Jayco Eagle HT 5th wheel floorplan that addressed that concern. Currently it's offered as a 29.5FBDS.


With the bedroom in the back, it has that full height ceiling that my scarred up noggin' really likes. It may or may not be something that appeals to you. But to me, that floorplan makes it a stand out among most other 5th wheels and worth suggesting since you're looking.

[SkiSmuggs]

I recommend that you look at the Eagle HT models.

[clarche]

A lot depends on who will be camping with you. If it's just you and your wife, I would suggest a rear living room camper with a sofa sleeper. Got kids? You may want ones with the bunks. I like the Eagle HT line also.

[RayPayne]

Do you have a floor plan you like? For the first two RVs my wife and I didn't shop Floor Plan first. From third RV on, we've found the floor plan we both really liked, and then continued searching from there. Weight, exact specs, price and such come after the layout for us now. Within a set floor plan you will find a lot of choices in make and model to have enough options to get what you want. Both the wife and i are much happier with the choices made when we start with the floor plan, and then meet the rest of the Must Have and Nice to Have lists after that point. Even if you're only using it for a couple of months, it makes the difference between feeling entirely content on your trip, and making do.

[Archie]

Originally Posted by KFM

My wife and I are considering buying a 5th Wheeler after giving consideration to a lot of great feedback from many on the forum. We will be pulling it with a Ford F250 6.2L V8 gas with a 4.3 axle ratio. Our maximum towing weight is 14,000# with a maximum payload of 3880#. We would greatly appreciate recommendations and opinions on 5th wheel model that we could tow. Thanks!

We pull a HT 2017 RLTS- just the (2) of us- occasional GrandD with a Chevy 2016 HD GAS. Very pleased with it ! The only issue for us was keeping 5er level and still maintaining a proper clearance over bed rails. Our unit came with the Revolution pin box which allows us to reduce our clearance to 5'' instead of the recommended 6''.

[bogadel]

Originally Posted by KFM

My wife and I are considering buying a 5th Wheeler after giving consideration to a lot of great feedback from many on the forum. We will be pulling it with a Ford F250 6.2L V8 gas with a 4.3 axle ratio. Our maximum towing weight is 14,000# with a maximum payload of 3880#. We would greatly appreciate recommendations and opinions on 5th wheel model that we could tow. Thanks!

I have the same engine 6.2L and the 4.30 rear as well, it is on a F 350 but very comparable. I tow a 37 ft Cedar Creek presently that max's out at 12,500 loaded on the long trips. The 6.2L does a decent job but now that we aren't traveling long distances anymore, I am looking for a smaller Jayco HT, 31ft, that would be in the 8000 lb. range. I'm looking at the 27.5RLTS which has a nice rear living area, and is right at the 8000 lb. UVW and 1520 lb. hitch wt. One of the nicest features on the Jayco fifth is the quiet A/C feature. The A/C is mounted on roof as normal but the return air intake is ducted which isolates the noise that you normally get from the standard through the roof a/c. With ears that don't hear as well anymore, trying to listen to the tv with a std. a/c is a constant adjustment to the remote.

[BrittB]

Originally Posted by bogadel

I have the same engine 6.2L and the 4.30 rear as well, it is on a F 350 but very comparable. I tow a 37 ft Cedar Creek presently that max's out at 12,500 loaded on the long trips. The 6.2L does a decent job but now that we aren't traveling long distances anymore, I am looking for a smaller Jayco HT, 31ft, that would be in the 8000 lb. range. I'm looking at the 27.5RLTS which has a nice rear living area, and is right at the 8000 lb. UVW and 1520 lb. hitch wt. One of the nicest features on the Jayco fifth is the quiet A/C feature. The A/C is mounted on roof as normal but the return air intake is ducted which isolates the noise that you normally get from the standard through the roof a/c. With ears that don't hear as well anymore, trying to listen to the tv with a std. a/c is a constant adjustment to the remote.

It's funny, we often times wished we would of went a little smaller as well. The extra room we have is nice but sometimes the extra length and higher gross weight of a 37 foot long 5th wheel is a PIA.

[Archie]

Originally Posted by bogadel

I have the same engine 6.2L and the 4.30 rear as well, it is on a F 350 but very comparable. I tow a 37 ft Cedar Creek presently that max's out at 12,500 loaded on the long trips. The 6.2L does a decent job but now that we aren't traveling long distances anymore, I am looking for a smaller Jayco HT, 31ft, that would be in the 8000 lb. range. I'm looking at the 27.5RLTS which has a nice rear living area, and is right at the 8000 lb. UVW and 1520 lb. hitch wt. One of the nicest features on the Jayco fifth is the quiet A/C feature. The A/C is mounted on roof as normal but the return air intake is ducted which isolates the noise that you normally get from the standard through the roof a/c. With ears that don't hear as well anymore, trying to listen to the tv with a std. a/c is a constant adjustment to the remote.

We pull a HT 2017 27.5RLTS RLTS- just the (2) of us- occasional Grand daughter with a Chevy 2016 HD GAS. Very pleased with it ! Love the floor plan-- Loaded Scaled WT. 9300# pin 1800# Love the MAXXIS tire and Revolution pin options---You are correct about the quiet A/C- watching that large TV is no problem !

[richie t]

We have the Eagle HT 28.5 RSTS and I tow it with a 2015 Dodge Ram 2500 5.7L gas long bed. No issues at all. Hardly feels like I'm towing anything.

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