Travel trailer vs fifth wheel in terms of road safety (blowing around)?

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fulltimerintraining

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What about travel trailers being more prone to high winds or big gusts from semi-trucks passing? One friend said it was a harrowing experience all the time to drive one of those and asked why we weren't doing a fifth wheel instead. We're looking at a Jayco 32 BHDS that has a GVWR of 9975, so it's not a lightweight. Any trouble to drive something like that around the West and keep it on the road?
 
Both types have their advantages / disadvantages,..

Having pulled both, I will never go back to a TT...  we were caught in heavy winds a week ago...the trailer just followed the TV...no more "white knuckles"...

Drive behind a TT with a wind..then you will see...

Grassy
 
First off if the wind is blowing hard you should be parked and waiting for calmer weather. The speed you drive has a big influence also. Both have advantages and disadvantages and they haven't made the perfect motorhome yet. Shop for floor plan, that is way more important.
 
I have towed various things for years and now I am towing a 5th wheel and have had no white knuckle moments, except when an Earth Shoe wearing Tree Hugger in a Prius pulled out in front of me and took 2 miles to get up to speed.

I hardly know the 5th wheel is back there, when I had a travel trailer and my boat, both tended to move the truck around in cross winds.

I do stop and take a break or wait for good weather when there are high winds, it is good advice - you are in an RV so why be in a hurry!

Good Luck,

Jim
 
While the hitch position of a 5W makes it inherently more stable and reduces the effect the trailer has on the tow vehicle, a properly set up travel trailer should still be fine. Problem is, some (many?) are not "properly set up", with a quality weight distributing hitch with built-in anti-sway and 10-12% tongue weight. The tow vehicle suspension & tires make a difference too.
 
The only time I have had a white knuckle experience with my TT was when I was towing with an under rated TV.  If you drive smartly and have the proper equipment a TT is not a harrowing experience.
 
I've only been towing a TT since 2004 but have had only 1 bad experience when I had to pull over - high winds when we were out west (SD if I recall correctly) in 2007. At this time, many commercial trucks and RVs/trailers were pulling over to wait it out. I've never had an issue with passing or being passed by semis/buses. I've taken the time to properly set up my hitch on the two TTs we've owned and it's payed off.
 
Much of how stable a travel trailer is depends on what is towing it.  I think (moreso than a fifth wheel) too often large travel trailers are being pulled behind trucks that are inadequate for what's being pulled.  Again, the salesman telling a new buyer "you can pull anything on the lot" is where it starts.  Then an improperly set up hitch, an inexperienced driver, excessive speed, and a 35 mph crosswind and several semi passes later, the travel trailer gets written off as an unsafe death trap. 

I pull a 30' TT.  With my old 1989 F250, it was a handful at times, especially in high wind.  My 2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab Cummins barely knows it's back there.  I keep it at 55 MPH, and have yet to have a white knuckle moment with this setup.  I had to pull it back from Ruidoso in 25-30 mph winds a while back and it behaved just fine.  That said, if it gets much windier than that, ANY RV should be parked until it calms down. 

Find a floor plan (TT or fiver) that you like best, and buy it.  Ensure you have enough vehicle to pull it, set it up right, don't tow in crazy wind, and keep the speeds down.  All will be fine.

 
A 5 th wheel trailer does not require any type of sway control.  Bumper pull trailers require a sway control to handle emergency braking and maneuvers.

Not much else to say.
 
I've always enjoyed towing and felt super comfortable with everything I've pulled.  I've towed both 5th wheels and travel trailers over the last 30 years and never saw much difference.  I've always used an equalizer hitch on the Travel trailers with sway control and never felt like I was unsafe, even in some pretty high cross winds.  I've also had a more than capable tow vehicle.
 
Frizlefrak said:
Much of how stable a travel trailer is depends on what is towing it.  I think (moreso than a fifth wheel) too often large travel trailers are being pulled behind trucks that are inadequate for what's being pulled.  Again, the salesman telling a new buyer "you can pull anything on the lot" is where it starts.  Then an improperly set up hitch, an inexperienced driver, excessive speed, and a 35 mph crosswind and several semi passes later, the travel trailer gets written off as an unsafe death trap. 

I pull a 30' TT.  With my old 1989 F250, it was a handful at times, especially in high wind.  My 2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab Cummins barely knows it's back there.  I keep it at 55 MPH, and have yet to have a white knuckle moment with this setup.  I had to pull it back from Ruidoso in 25-30 mph winds a while back and it behaved just fine.  That said, if it gets much windier than that, ANY RV should be parked until it calms down. 

Find a floor plan (TT or fiver) that you like best, and buy it.  Ensure you have enough vehicle to pull it, set it up right, don't tow in crazy wind, and keep the speeds down.  All will be fine.
Click to expand...

Same here... I tow with a long wheel base truck (2002 Dodge Cummins 3/4 Ton) and very stable in wind even with a 30 foot travel trailer without sway control. It takes a considerable amount of wind to make me grab the wheel with both hands and white knuckle it. Frizie is right about the whole dealer thing. So many people look at the spec s and go... "I can haul xx,xxx amount of RV because the owners manual says so." What people forget is that number is for a completely empty truck, full tank of fuel and 154 pound driver. So all other cargo and passenger have to be subtracted from that advertise towing number. So look at your numbers and longer wheelbase is better.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
While the hitch position of a 5W makes it inherently more stable and reduces the effect the trailer has on the tow vehicle, a properly set up travel trailer should still be fine. Problem is, some (many?) are not "properly set up", with a quality weight distributing hitch with built-in anti-sway and 10-12% tongue weight. The tow vehicle suspension & tires make a difference too.
Click to expand...

I think gary summed it up nicely

but I'll add a consideration....

a 5th wheel means that you need a pickup truck.... most often 3/4 ton or better
but a TT opens up options.... pickup, or SUV, or van, or stripped chassis work truck, or motorhome, etc....
 
The other nice thing with a TT is you can still use the bed of the truck.  I haul plywood, drywall, etc with my truck in it's "downtime" and having a fiver hitch in the way was a pain in the neck (yes, we went from a fiver to a TT).  Also like to haul generator, bikes, firewood etc in the bed of the truck when we go camping. 

It's really a matter of preference.  Both will tow nicely when properly set up. 
 
i've been thinking about this thread, and another recent one where someone was looking for a non pickup option to tow a large over 10k# TT....

there aren't really a lot of options for that
Saw one of those new Ford transit vans sitting in a parking lot over lunch.... it was a "1 ton" model (350)
It looked like it would be good
so I looked it up....
of course hard to tell based on book numbers without knowing actual curb weights..... but it doesn't look to be much of a tower.

so I'll amend my earlier post...
there are a lot more option for small to mid sized TT's, but not so much for larger ones...

If I were ever going to tow something larger, I would likely opt for a big diesel pusher class A as my tow vehicle  8)
with a 5th wheel trailer behind a 3500 pickup as my second choice.
.... and wishing they still made the 2500 Suburbans....
 
Frizlefrak said:
The other nice thing with a TT is you can still use the bed of the truck.  I haul plywood, drywall, etc with my truck in it's "downtime" and having a fiver hitch in the way was a pain in the neck (yes, we went from a fiver to a TT).  Also like to haul generator, bikes, firewood etc in the bed of the truck when we go camping. 

It's really a matter of preference.  Both will tow nicely when properly set up.
Click to expand...

Absolutely... Like myself I typically pull the canopy off and load the ATV in the bed of the truck and then hitch up the RV. Don't need to tow doubles then. Or the other example is big shopping trips we might take the RV down to Emmett, ID and leave the canopy on. Then stay in Emmett, ID for 2-3 days and use the back of the truck to haul supplies home. All locked up and won't be messed with. Can't haul a 5th wheel with a canopy on the bed so that means all your store stuff would be blowing in the wind and weather.
 
we live in the land of the wind lol - problem is it never stops here. a properly set up tow package on either is critical - by nature a tt is lower height overall than a 5ver  giving you less sq ft to blow around - having dsaid that as others have said a 5vr because of its hitch point can be more stable. Having said that - if either vehicle towing the trailer is not correct you have other issues. and as other have also said if its that windy stop and have a coffee or lunch etc - honestly is a case of 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other ive pulled both in horrible winds where its blown over semis now i stop and relax make a sandwich and walk the dog lol
 
ps all of the new trucks GM/Ford/Dodge come with a antisway tow package /stabilty control which senses trailer sway and applys the brake to the one side of the trailer to bring it back into line with the truck
here is the Gm one but they are all the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQn-6B50m14
 
Frizlefrak said:
The other nice thing with a TT is you can still use the bed of the truck.  I haul plywood, drywall, etc with my truck in it's "downtime" and having a fiver hitch in the way was a pain in the neck (yes, we went from a fiver to a TT).  Also like to haul generator, bikes, firewood etc in the bed of the truck when we go camping. 

It's really a matter of preference.  Both will tow nicely when properly set up.
Click to expand...

thats why we have 2 trucks lol
 
steveblonde said:
ps all of the new trucks GM/Ford/Dodge come with a antisway tow package /stabilty control which senses trailer sway and applys the brake to the one side of the trailer to bring it back into line with the truck
here is the Gm one but they are all the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQn-6B50m14
Click to expand...

Explain how you can brake only one side of a trailer.  I believe you mean it can apply braking to the needed wheel /wheels on the truck.
 
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