Motorhome or Travel trailer

[Nash22Hman]

Hello fellow RV’ers

We recently gifted our 1989 Damon Ultrasport 20 foot motorhome to a family friend.

So my wife and I are mulling over our next step.

We do a lot of mineral collecting so we off road and boondock when we are out.

We have pets that we take with us and have been debating whether a Class C+Jeep (we own) or our 2500hd+TT is the best option. We like the floor plans of a Forest River 3011DS Class C and a Forest River Heritage Glen 273RL travel trailer. My concern is where to put the pets while driving a TT, which is not a problem with the motorhome.

I would value your opinions both on the specific units I mentioned, but also the motorhome vs TT issue.

Thanks in advance.

The Newman’s

We pull our TT with a with a crew cab truck with a cab high canopy on the back. That's where our 100 lb Chesapeake rides. She has a large bed and a no spill water dish with plenty of ventilation. The canopy also provides covered storage for a few things.

 

[Wolfram]

Yes, forgot to mention we do have a cap for the truck bed. I was looking for whether someone makes a pass through that connects the cab to the bed region when you have a cap. Anybody know of something?

We also found a 5th wheel that has a nice floor plan. It looked like the pin weight was 1500lbs or so. Our truck is rated for 1950lbs max bed load, so it sounded ok. But it’s not clear what a such a fully loaded unit would be bearing down in the bed. Guess I need to do more reading...

 

[Rob&Deryl]

Find the GVWR of the 5th wheel. Take 20% of it and see if that plus passengers & other stuff in the truck is still under payload.

 

[Wolfram]

Hey thanks Lynx, I was all manner of confused about determining pin weight by what I had read. Why couldn’t they hav just said that.

Once my wife started looking she has found several 5th wheels with floor plans she likes. How easy are they to disconnect and reconnect?

 

[Rob&Deryl]

Hey thanks Lynx, I was all manner of confused about determining pin weight by what I had read. Why couldn’t they hav just said that.

Once my wife started looking she has found several 5th wheels with floor plans she likes. How easy are they to disconnect and reconnect?

I don’t know about the hitching/unhitching. Likely I won’t as I am getting an Andersen hitch for rail mounting. It is lighter and a gentler hitch up. As a Class A driver, just line it up and wam. The commercial world is way more heavy duty so you didn’t have to be too gentle. With 5th wheels you do have to be a bit more careful (I am told) so as not to bend the landing gear.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Once my wife started looking she has found several 5th wheels with floor plans she likes. How easy are they to disconnect and reconnect?

Easier than a pull trailer. To unhitch, lower the landing gear, block the trailer tires, unplug the electrical cord and disconnect the breakaway switch lanyard. Pull the release handle on the hitch, then drive the truck away.

To hitch up, adjust the trailer's tongue height to match the hitch (it likely changed when you levelled the trailer). Then pull the lever to open the jaws on the hitch and back the hitch under the tongue. When you hear the hitch snap shut with a thunk pull forward gently to ensure the hitch is latched shut. You can also verify this visually by looking into the back of the hitch. Connect the electrical cord and breakaway lanyard, retract the landing gear and you're good to go.

If you can't see the hitch platform from the driver's seat (common with extended cabs) , you can use a backup camera or a mirror to line things up.

A travel trailer requires all of the above plus setting and tensioning the equalizer bars and sway control and connecting the safety chains. None of these are used with a 5th wheel

 

[Wolfram]

Thanks Lou, sounds straightforward. Do the hitches run dry or are they lubricated? If lubricated how do folks protect from contamination when unhitched. Our plan is to boondock a lot, using the truck for daily off road trips in dusty environments. Don’t want to conducted uncontrolled erosion tests, I’m done breaking things for a living. Hah hah.

I’ve also been wondering what sorts of storage configurations do folks use in the available areas of the bed. We carry lots of tools for mineral collecting and buckets to hold what we find. 5th wheels have seemed to me to severely restrict the utility of the truck. Methinks I need to expand my mind and search in the TT and 5th wheel section of the forum.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You can usually run dry, but some folks use teflon pads or spray with dry lube before hitching up. If you are towing a lot of miles every day, some lubrication is beneficial in reducing wear, but for occasional tows it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Reese/RP83002.html?

 

[Wolfram]

Much obliged for the info Gary.

 

[scottydl]

Methinks I need to expand my mind and search in the TT and 5th wheel section of the forum.

That will definitely help you get more specific answers to more specific trailering questions, as they come up in your mind. Also check out the "Towing, Hitching, and Towables" area.

 

[Wolfram]

Roger that.