5th wheel vs. TT storage: what about the truck bed?

[oldryder]

5th wheel vs. TT storage: consensus seems to be that 5th has some to much more storage space than a similar length TT.

Question: does this comparison include or ignore the substantial additional storage space the back of a pickup (probably with a cap) that is available with a TT but not a 5th wheel?

 

[donn]

Depends. Towed q fifth wheel for 12 years with my long bed truck which had a hard tonneau cover. When towing I had about 2 feet of covered storage and the rest of the bed not taken up by the hitch for open storage. In one corner I had my generator, a ladder, fire wood, extra pop and beer plus my fly fishing gear. My fiver storage was all the stuff I needed for living including a portable freezer. There is no way I could have put all my stuff in a pickup bed, even with a canopy.

 

[SpencerPJ]

One problem is, most people are on border line available payload with the pick-up that they really can't put much additional items in the bed.

 

[Kirk]

they really can't put much additional items in the bed.

Far more people do load the remaining bed with generators, firewood, and assorted other heavy items when they really shouldn't. Overloading can be either a safety or reliability issue and many breakdowns happen from abuse without the owner realizing the cause. The same is quite likely true of accidents. Of course a tow truck can be overloaded when towing a travel trailer as well.

 

[Ex-Calif]

It's all about the GCVWR... If you buy less trailer than you think you need and more truck than you think you need, loading the bed of the truck can be a lot less problematic.

Don't forget the weight of the cap (if you use one) is also part of the payload.

The long term trend is and has been, "Bigger is Better" - that's why 5W are now so popular. Almost anything you are gonna load in the truck bed can be loaded inside the 5W.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A TT leaves some additional space in the truck bed, especially if you want to carry a bulky object like a bike or big BBQ grill. Not a huge difference, though. When we towed a 5W, I still carried firewood, folding chairs, etc. in the truck bed.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that with the TT you can have a cap on the truck bed or use a locking cover and thus have protected storage.

 

[steveblonde]

My 5th wheel hitch sits under a cover when not in use, i also have a locking LUND chest tool box in the bed of the truck. When doing long trips i carry firewood 2 20 gallon jerry cans and a 30 gallon water jug so we have easy access to water for the dogs

 

[foneguy]

i carry my inverter, small flat top grill infront of the hitch and everything else is in the fifth wheel when we go anywhere.

 

[rbrdriver]

I tow a fifth wheel with a long bed dually and also have a big tool box with a 66 gallon fuel tank under it. Of course with the dually I have quite a bit of payload (5400 pounds worth) which helps.