Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Towing a 5th wheel versus Travel trailer : Pros and Cons

redneck is trying real hard to tell you something in his last post.
i personally would not believe the tow rateing on most gas burners, but half tons in particular. voice of expierance speaking.

i see you will be in flat country a lot so you may get by.

Tell her no diesel, no fifth wheel.

There's no comparison between towing a fifth wheel vs. a travel trailer, a fifth wheel is much nicer. The only downside is the loss of bed space with the fifth wheel.

Check the pin weight on that fifth wheel you're talking about. I'll bet that the pin weight puts you over the payload of the tundra. Half ton trucks aren't really meant to tow fifth wheels.

I've pulled lots of trailers, goose necks, 5th wheels, bumper pulls. Currently have gooseneck horse trailer, 5th wheel travel trailer w/ gooseneck adapter. Wouldn't change a thing. The 5th wheel/gooseneck is by far the best way to pull a trailer. And I like to pull them with a diesel (Ford F350, SRW). I've never heard anybody pulling complain about too much spring or too much power, FWIW. I don't like dual rear wheels, have never seen the need.

I like my fifth wheel, but I have always had a 3/4 ton, used to be a Ford, now I have a 1996 GMC K2500 which is a four wheel drive, extended cab, long box with a 4L80E tranny, with a 454 engine, and I went up to a 99 Coachmen 22 foot fifth wheel, from a 1986 Prowler fifth wheel 18.5 foot long, still have both fifth wheels, wife wanted bigger, now have to sell the smaller one.
But having towed trailer and fifth, I do like the fifth, and I went long box to have a bit of space to put stuff in the back.
Am going to install a front hitch so I can fabricate a boat carrier when towing the fifth wheel.

Watch those gross weights when you do select a combination. I've heard that insurance companies can get persnickety if you have a wreck and it turns out you were overloaded. I pull a 31 ft. TT with a 3/4 ton and it sometimes feels like I'm driving the spaceship from the beginning of Spaceballs...loooooong. Will be looking for a 5th wheel toy hauler when we upgrade. Good luck.
SD

I appreciate all the responses. I knew I could count on the Campfire members for some good advice.

You haven't gotten good advice until someone tells you to get a can of OJ and shave your junk...

There is good and bad with either.Myself I prefer a TT. I have owned and towed both for over 35 years and our current one is a 25' HR. I have a Tundra and this past year pulled this trailer somewhere in the 15K miles for my work. This was over several mountain passes and we never had any problems. We were in the tri-cities area and the wind was unreal and with the proper hitch set up it was an easy tow.
I like and use the bed of my pickup so TT was the only option.

Been pulling live and dead weight for 40 years in the Rockies, on paved two lane mountain highways and off-pavement backcountry roads--in the early days with underpowered, overloaded pickups.....

Like you said, 5th wheels/goosenecks pull easier and are more manueverable. 5th wheels render the pickup useless for anything else except hauling a gallon of milk. The gooseneck ball can be hidden under the bed when not towing.

TT/hitch trailers don't use up the pick up bed, and are less expensive to buy (usually)

I run camper shells on 2 out of 3 pickups, so I usually grab the hitch trailers for that reason.

Couple things, last I knew GM is still making the "light duty 3/4 ton trucks--a 1/2 ton with the 3/4 ton rear axle and heavier springs--it is intended to be a puller.

Secondly, the new gas engines have lots of power--even in the mountains and at altitude where normally aspirated engines lose hp. I tried out my 2001 1/2 ton with the 5.3 this fall (which has been my Sunday-go-to-meeting truck since I bought it a few years ago) and pulled 3 horses in a 3 horse plus tack room trailer up to 9000 ft altitude, and was surprised how well it did on the highway and on the FS roads--and that was with 6 ply tires even. The newer motors have even more hp.

I sold my turbo-diesel because I didn't use it enough to justify its cost, and instead use my light duty 3/4 ton and my 1/2 ton trucks. On the rare occasion I feel the need for more, I grab my dad's turbo diesel.

My next camper will be a TT. I don't want to lose my camper shells, good, used TT's are a dime a dozen right now, and I don't want or need anything bigger than a 20-24 ft TT. With an equalizer hitch, good tires (8 or 10 ply), any of my trucks are fine.


Casey

I'm also in the market for a 5Th wheel this spring. Last fall went out and bought a new PU to haul it.
I looked real hard at diesel vs. gas and did a lot of research on both plus talked to a number of my shooting buddies that had diesels. I ended up buying a Chevy Extended Cab 2500HD with 6L gas, 6 speed tranny.
1. I live where it gets cold and didn't want to have to plug in the truck every night
2. I'll use the truck 75% for travel and 25% for towing
3. I get 14 in town and 18 on the highway, just a 1 or 2 mpg short of my buddies diesels.
4. Gas is almost 50cents cheaper than diesel, makes up for the difference in mpg.
5. Maintenace is half what the diesel costs, oil changes and repairs.
6. The $8000 difference in price from gas vs diesel will buy a lot of gas.
7. Availability of fuel when traveling in remote places.
Three of my friend that own diesels now say if they buy new it will be gas.
Those are the reasons I bought what I did, I'm sure you diesel owners have your own reasons and I guess that's why they offer both.

I went back and did a little calc on that Tundra and the 5er she's looking at.. Most 5ers have pin weights of about 20% of total weight, therefore you'll have 1280# in the bed before you load it up.. Add 2-3 adults, full fuel tank, gear etc., (not to mention the hitch) and you're overweight. That truck's gonna squat and that means you can bottom out on dips and break things.. Plus, what weight are you licensed for? What's the load rating on your rear axle? What's the axle ratio?

My 5er's pin weight is about 1640# and the EW of the trailer's nearly 8,000#. GVW is 12,500#... My truck's GVW is 11,500# GVW and the rear axle's rated for 9,000# with an axle ratio of 3.73.. And I probably should have 4.10 instead, but I rarely carry to full load - maybe once per year..

If your trailer weighs about 6640# empty, that means max GVW is more likely close to 10,500#.. That's too much trailer for that truck and for sure you're going to have issues with payload.. And yes, while it's flat where you are now, are you going to be camping always in flat areas? When you find hills you'll wish you had a bigger truck.. Plus, there's the issue of braking.. Do you have a good controller? Is your truck an auto or manual trans? If manual, your gears will sure help on downgrades..

If you do nothing else, do NOT listen to the trailer salesman who will tell you that your truck can pull a 33' triple with ease.. Call Toyota and talk to someone who can give you honest answers as to what weight you can carry and how much trailer you can pull...

Since you tow rarely vs. commuting etc., the gas makes sense.. Your mpg is about right.. But what is it when you're actually towing? Gas here is 2.79/gal. Diesel's 2.95/gal, not much different.. Oil changes are $90 for my diesel, $34 for a similar gas.. But I can go 5000-7500 miles between changes vs. 3000-5000 for a gas truck.. Overall, it's close. Where the difference will come into play is longevity between the two.. The diesel can literally last a lifetime.. I got one calf-hauler in town who had over 1 million miles on his 7.3 and it still ran well. Towing with a gas engine over that period and you'll be on your 3rd engine, plus..

I hear ya on the $8,000 difference though.. It's a bunch.. But when you wanna tow serious loads for a long time it's the only way to go - and worth every penny.. My truck should last me the rest of my life. I have no intention of ever replacing it..

redneck is telling it like it is.

weigh it or you will never know!

6ply tires towing 3 head sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. a light trailer has about 1000lb on the truck with no tack or horses in,add animals, horse crap and tack and you will have over 2500 on the truck without counting wt of the truck or payload or passingers or whatever. check the tires, just cause the engine gets it up to the top dont mean it is safe. running on the edge of the wt. rateing bothers me to no end. the same thing with the tires on the trailer. lots of trailers come with 6 ply and if you weigh them they are way over what the tires should have on them.
that little 5.3 gas will do fine if you only use it twice a year. durability is important to me.

I have a 2008 Tundra with the 5.7. I pull a 30 ft. bumper tow with it. The trailer is an ultralight, 4900 lbs. empty, and I use an equalizer hitch. I have never towed a 5th wheel, but I have no complaints about this set up. The Toyota pulls it smoothly without much stress, the trailer tracks well, and I can honestly say I have forgot to hook up the electric one time, and I did not even realize it, the brakes on the Toyota handled it fine. Before the Toyota, I had a 2006 F150 5.4 liter, and before that a 2004 Dodge 1500 with Hemi. The Toyota is hands down the best tow vehicle out of the three.

Couple of things:

DONT listen to the salesman when he tells you your truck will pull his trailer with no problem!! They all do this with no regard whatsoever for the reality of the situation, they will tell you your Ranger or Tacoma will pull their 32 footer. Know your tow ratings when you walk on to the lot.

DONT put much faith in the sticker in the trailer that tells you how much it weighs. They can be off by quite a bit.


ALWAY take into consideration the weight of the stuff you will be putting into the trailer. You will be amazed how much stuff your True Love will be packing in there, and how much it will weigh.

ALWAYS, take your truck over the scales with full fuel and passenger load, then you will know for sure what you have. Then, hook on to the trailer of your dreams and do it again. You will almost always be surprised and amazed.

I think you can get by with a gas tow vehicle if it is rated for the trailer and you tow mostly on level ground. When you travel in an area with a lot of big hills or mountains is when you really appreciate the power of a diesel. My current tow vehicle is a 2005 Dodge diesel with the 6speed standard and 4.10 differential. I wish I had bought a diesel years ago. My gas trucks didn't have enough power, gas milaeage was terrible and I burned up several transmissions. I don't think the automatic transmission in the Toyota will last long towing. If my wife forbid me to buy a diesel I'd buy 2 just to show her who's boss. I guess that's why I'm not still married.

Now THAT'S tellin' her!!!

Don't think your question got addressed, there Bruce. Friend of mine has both a 5th wheel & a goose neck. He didn't want 2 hitches so he extended his 5th wheel hitch so all he needed was a ball in the truck bed. The only problem was the point of pivot on the 5th allowed the bottom of the trailer to touch the top of the truck bed on rough terrain, thus damaging the top sides of the truck bed. Goose neck trailers usually are narrow or higher up where they go over the sides of the bed so they can pivot in rough terrain without touching the sides of the truck bed.

'bruin, you got good advise here. Personally, I pull a 24' 5th wheeler with an '03 Dodge diesel & like redneck, don't expect to wear it out. I also put a 2" receiver on the back of the trailer to pull a boat or quad trailer which we can do legally in Alberta. When not towing a trailer I have an aluminum tool box mounted there to haul extra stuff securely & out of the weather. Works really well.

Let me throw in one more thing here. Most folks from back east or the midwest have no concept of what altitude does to the available power of your engine. If you tow in the Rockies or the Sierras with a gasoline rig, you can easily be operating at 7000-10,000 feet at which point you only have 60-70% of the engine power you had at sea level, and on hot days it will be even worse. The nice thing about having a diesel is that the engine does not know it is operating at altitude, it always thinks it is still at sea level (turbocharger) and you have available 100% of rated power. Many gasoline rigs are marginal at best when operating in the Western states.