Free Spirit
Well-known member
Can I assume that only a long bed will do for a 5th Wheel?
Pugapooh said:We have a short bed truck and 5 th wheel. We have a "sliding" hitch in case we get in a tight spot. Only been out once and didn't need to use it yet.
PopPop51 said:Having some fun thinking about the geometry of this topic, it occurs to me that trailer pin/ball-to-trailer axle length is a factor in how likely you are to get into a jack knife situation.
The setup is this:
Backing two such trailers, both 8' wide, along an arc of a given radius.
Seems to me that to keep the trailer wheels on the arc, the pin/ball of the longer trailer will have to move farther laterally per foot of travel along the arc than will pin/ball of the shorter trailer. That would require a more acute truck-trailer angle for the longer trailer, and so a 90-degree situation is more likely.
What do you think?
SargeW said:I disagree with one point. A modern 5ver may be more aerodynamic than older ones, but they are still 8' wide. Jack knife that rig to get into a right angle campsite and you will have 4' of fiver in front of the pin looking for some place to go. Granted it may not happen much, but I have had 2 different fivers and pulled them both with long bed crew cab pickups. Both were 20' long. One dually and one SRW. Each made me glad when maneuvering that I was pushing that monster backwards with a long bed. Get all the available info, and make your decision.