New 5th wheel

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
M

Mtnmac

New member
Joined
Sep 20, 2018
Posts
4
Location
Boulder Creek CA
I?m a new member, and have found a 5th wheel I?m about to purchase.  I?ve read through all the relevant stuff in the Library, but have a few questions.  The trailer is a 2014 Forest River Wildcat Maxx 242RLX.  It was traded in at a dealer.  We looked at it yesterday in the rain, so weren?t about to do a detailed inspection.  It appears to have been well cared for by the previous owner and has some nice upgrades such as solar panels, inverter, satellite tv.  I?m going back in a few days to do a detailed inspection of the trailer.  They have agreed to have it ready for me to look at, hooked up to power etc.

Anyone have direct experience with this model? 

Also, I will be getting a hitch installed on our tow vehicle.  It?s a short bed, so will need a sliding hitch.  Everything I read about the automatic type says they can be difficult to deal with unless you are on a flat, level surface.  So I?m leaning towards a manual type.  The salesperson at the dealership says they have used theirs maybe 3 times in the last 3 years.  How often does the average user need to slide the hitch?  And are the auto types that difficult to use?

Thanks from rainy CA
 
One thing would help us help you is to put the details of your tow vehicle in your signature. Posting the details here will help too.

A question sure to come will be the cargo capacity of the tow vehicle as listed on the yellow bordered sticker on the drivers side door post. It will say something like people and cargo should not exceed xxxxx. When your truck rolled off the assembly line, it was weighed and that sticker is unique to your truck.
That number has to accommodate you, your wife, the 5th wheel hitch, anything else in or on the truck, AND 20% of the GVWR of the trailer.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Sadly I dont find any weight specs and you did not post your truck info.  So anything anyone says is purely speculation.
 
I put my truck info in my profile, not realizing it wouldn?t appear in every post.  Now changed to appear in my signature.
Thanks!
 
Many fifth wheels really need a 3500 from what I've seen.  You really want to figure out the "numbers" before committing to the fifth wheel.

I know,not the question you asked.  Sorry.
 
For those concerned about the tow vehicle vs the weight of the trailer, after doing all the math the combination leaves a large safety margin.  It will be about 60% of the max rating of the truck, even less on the pin weight.  That?s with the trailer fully loaded. 
 
The absolute best time to look at a used RV is during a rain storm.  You can spot a leak right away.

I assume all looked dry inside while you were checking it out.
 
So, whats the trailers GVWR?  This can be found on a metalized tag outside on the street side near the front.  It should give you things like mfg, build date tire and axle ratings along with OE tire size and the trailers GVWR plus the serial number.  From this GVWR you can calculate the base pin weight.  After weighing your truck fully loaded ready to travel and adding for the hitch you will see if your truck actually works.
 
According to the website the GVWR is just over 11,000# which translates to almost 2300# on the hitch. It's doable but you are pushing the limits of your 2500. It's going to be a handful in a wind and coming off a 6% grade may give you grey hair and religion.
From what I can see the front corners are not cut away so you would be wise to have a sliding hitch. Make sure it can be operated with the trailer hooked up, mine can't. The back of the cab has a dent to prove it. The automatic ones are the cat's meow if your budget can handle it.
 
Payload as per the yellow decal on the drivers side door panel will be between 2200 and 2700 lbs depending on crew cab or reg 2 or 4 wheel drive and base or ltz trim if the pin is 2400lbs then yes its maxed out and then some
 
An alternative to a slider may be a "Sidewinder" type pin box, which moves the pivot point back to avoid a cab strike as well as improving maneuverability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElkyA5CmnVQ
 
Mtnmac said:
For those concerned about the tow vehicle vs the weight of the trailer, after doing all the math the combination leaves a large safety margin.  It will be about 60% of the max rating of the truck, even less on the pin weight.  That?s with the trailer fully loaded.
Click to expand...

Towing capacity is only part of the equation

payload is the other part and a 2500 has limited payload add in a 200 lb hitch and a couple people and your limited as to what you pull/are able use as a 5er
 
I believe he needs to upgrade to a 1 ton if he's thinking fifth wheels, as others have pointed out a 3/4 ton is limited on payload.....
 
I know when we looked at suitable tow vehicles for our intended 5th wheel, I nearly made the mistake of only looking at towing capacity. As many have said on here, many times, it's the payload that is the decider. Had I gone with the intended F250, by the time you consider the pin weight, hitch weight, levelling blocks, etc, not to mention that the given payload assumes a driver weight of only 75Kg, (of which those who know me, know I am a little over that!!) and no passenger, additional passengers would definitely be a no no. After towing around 10,000 miles so far I have to say not once have we had a time where wind, hills or passing trucks has been an issue. Whilst we have seen plenty of F250 / Ram 2500 pulling much larger fiver's, it's just not worth the risk. Just my experience and opinion.
TonyL
 
I think most 3/4 tons would have enough payload to handle that trailer, but odds are it would be maxed out unless it was configured strictly for hauling, e.g. a regular cab model with basic trim to keep the weight down. Most of us want an extended or crew cab and lots of creature comforts and that eats heavily into the payload rating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,113 (members: 26, guests: 1,087)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,932
Posts
1,387,731
Members
137,682
Latest member
duckyw7528
Back
Top Bottom