rookie needs help w/ 5th wheel advice.

[goose89]

all you guys with experience out there, here's my question. i think i know the answer from reading a few other posts, but here it goes. my wife and i are looking for a smaller 24-25' 5th wheel. i've got a 2001 1/2 ton chevy . will this truck do the job. ??

if no, is there anything i can do / upgrade to make it possible and safe?? (not going to be pulling the boat, just the camper). not going cross country or anything, strictly minnesota and eastern wisconsin. thanks in advance. later.

goose

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-13-2004).]

[01zr800]

what is your gear ratio? do you have tow pkg? How old of a camper are you looking at. Just remember that when towing a fiver just because you are within your weight restrictions dosn't mean that you can pull it. Fifth wheels have a massive frontal they are like pulling a parachute, but if your truck can pull it they are easier to tow than a bumper pull. I would go to camper shows and ask some of the shoppers what they tow maybr youll find a few that have your same truck. NEVER TRUST A DEALER WHEN IT COMES TO "CAN MY TRUCK PULL IT" I fell for it and ended up spending a lot of money. Why do you want a 5er? I got mine so that I could bring the boat with when camping.

[goose89]

my truck has a 4 spd automatic with tow / haul mode. the rear axle ratio is 3.73. is this good, bad or indifferent? i know the tow/haul is good, but is the 3.73 ratio gonna allow my 1/2 ton to do the job? looking at getting a newer (not a high profile) 24-25' 5th wheel. thanks in advance. later.

goose

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-13-2004).]

[catfish1]

It depends on what you are going to use it for. Like camping around your area or hiting the road on long trips. If for the long trips I would go to a 3\4 ton but thats me. I've had smaller fivers and did it with a
1\2 ton and travel trailers as will but I did not enjoy the longer trips as will as I do now with the 3\4. But I'm partial to the 3\4 now for all my trucking.

Catfish1

[Powerstroke]

It all comes down to the weight of your new trailer. If doesn't really matter how long it is or how it attaches, but how much it weighs. Your truck can pull a 4x8 landscape trailer, but not if you've got a bobcat on it.

Figure out how much it weighs dry and how much its gonna weigh with all of your camping gear, fuels, water, food, all the people you're gonna have in your vehicle etc. You can take all of your camping gear and go to a truck scale and see how much you weigh. Don't forget to weigh the passengers too, or at least add them in afterwards. Then compare that to your GVWR and see how much room you have left to add in for a trailer.

You may want to get air-bags for the rear axle to help support the weight

[Big Dave2]

Well in my experience I know a few guys who pull bumper pull behind campers and one of them has a 1/2 ton 98 chev with a 350 and he says it pulls his 28 footer just fine to Itasca and all over the state. Another guy I know pulled a 30 footer all last summer almost every weekend(not as far)with his 93 ford 1/2 ton with a straight 6 cyl and 250,000 miles! A 25' 5th wheel should pull easier than either of those 2 campers. I am no expert but assuming that you have the bigger v8 in your truck if I were you I would try it and if you don't like it I would put on a set of overload springs and sooner or later you will have to get a new truck and then you can update to a 3/4 ton. Just my assinine opinion.

Dave

[01zr800]

You must take into account the wind resistance of a fiver, It is catching all the wind above the tow vehicle. Yes they pull nice if you have the truck to do it, if you don't you will struggle in any kind of wind. I believe that your truck will pull it but how hard is it going to be on the drive train, and how long will the drive train last, is the question. If you can't afford a NEW truck do what I did, start shopping around for a 2wd 3/4 ton there out there. I bought a 1990 F250 Ext cab with the 460 with pw, pl, air, cass in good condition, mechanicaly sound even the air worked for 2100.00 in 2002, used it for a year and sold it for 3655.00 gave me a good down payment on my F350. I know where there is a reg cab 1979 F250 460 auto 4:10 gears runs like new and the air works. Truck is all rusted out but the guy wants it out of his garage You could get it for 700.00 or less. That would be a good camper hauler. I even have a flat bed that would work on that truck, just a suggestion.

[goose89]

01zr800, have you got an email address. i would be very interested in looking at buying that truck. where is it? thanks for the advice / help. later.

goose

[email protected] -email

[01zr800]

The truck is in Mankato. I will call him and see if he will email me pics and I will forward them to you or he can email you.

[01zr800]

you have mail!

[goose89]

01zr, thanks for the reply. haven't seen any pics yet. i'm sure it's not a beut, but still would like to see pics before driving down there. i'm dumb, what is a headach rack? still interested in both truck and whatever your dad has if it will pull a 5er easier than my 1/2 ton. thanks again.

goose

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-17-2004).]

[01zr800]

Headach rack is the guard over the back window. I'll give him a call and find out if he sent them yet.

[wdgold]

I have a 23' jayco 5ver with a boat behind it that I pull with a 1/2 ton z71 chevy, rated to pull 7,000 lbs. I don't seem to have any problems. You can e-mail me at [email protected] if you want specifics.