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Blue74 · 10-19-2017, 05:40 PM

Wanting to tow a boat and have been looking to install a receiver hitch on the rear frame of the fifth wheel. Not worried about towing double I have a CDL with the endorsements.

The question has anyone done it? The underbelly i enclosed and I have not removed the rear part to see what is under there. The rear portion of the frame looks to be tapered for the last several feet as it is covered by the underbelly.

The receiver I have to use.

BFlinn181 · 10-19-2017, 09:32 PM

First, I'd remove the underbelly covering and inspect the frame of the 5th wheel. Few frames are built with the strength to allow towing a heavy boat behind the 5th wheel trailer. Having a CDL and endorsements to tow double doesn't make the combined vehicle safe, it just says you've got the training to drive doubles. The distance between the axle and the rear of the trailer also has a lot to do with the behavior of a boat trailer behind the 5th wheel.

How big and heavy is the boat? a 10-12' aluminum boat with a 10 hp kicker is a whole lot different than towing a 16-18' ski boat with a larger, heavier engine and interior furniture.

You'd still be heald to total vehicle length limits. While most folks report never being stopped for being over length, towing a 5th wheel and a boat trailer would draw attention to your rig.

mrgrayaz · 10-22-2017, 06:01 PM

I'm not sure how similar the See Ya! series is, but I looked up under ours with a pretty experienced trailer fabricator and it didn't look good.

There isn't a whole lot to weld too - at least my trailer the frame is a 12+ inch C channel by the looks of things, and the open end of the "C" is facing the interior.

His plan was to run I-beams all the way back to the rear suspension mounts, welded to the bottom of the existing frame, and mount the receiver to that. It was all custom - he wanted ~$1000 to do it. I declined the work.

Blue74 · 10-23-2017, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

First, I'd remove the underbelly covering and inspect the frame of the 5th wheel. Few frames are built with the strength to allow towing a heavy boat behind the 5th wheel trailer. Having a CDL and endorsements to tow double doesn't make the combined vehicle safe, it just says you've got the training to drive doubles. The distance between the axle and the rear of the trailer also has a lot to do with the behavior of a boat trailer behind the 5th wheel.

How big and heavy is the boat? a 10-12' aluminum boat with a 10 hp kicker is a whole lot different than towing a 16-18' ski boat with a larger, heavier engine and interior furniture.

You'd still be heald to total vehicle length limits. While most folks report never being stopped for being over length, towing a 5th wheel and a boat trailer would draw attention to your rig.

Thanks for the concern about towing double. It would be a bass boat either fiberglass or aluminum and at first glance something around 3,500 Lb total. The hitch I found to fit the frame has a tongue limit of 350 Lbs and total of 3,500 Lbs. Just thinking out loud and looking at ideas to take a boat and fifth wheel traveling after retirement.

Blue74 · 10-23-2017, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrgrayaz

I'm not sure how similar the See Ya! series is, but I looked up under ours with a pretty experienced trailer fabricator and it didn't look good.

There isn't a whole lot to weld too - at least my trailer the frame is a 12+ inch C channel by the looks of things, and the open end of the "C" is facing the interior.

His plan was to run I-beams all the way back to the rear suspension mounts, welded to the bottom of the existing frame, and mount the receiver to that. It was all custom - he wanted ~$1000 to do it. I declined the work.

That's the plan. Where I park and live all year makes it difficult to get under it and work or design. It tapers just where the regular underbelly cover ends and the fiber board starts. So I figure that the C channel stops there and the rest is not as large. When I first started to think along these lines I too thought about basically adding a "sub" frame.

Still in the planning stage. The first idea then I bought the 2001 truck ws for a rack over the truck and a aluminum fishing boat, that might be the way I go.

Blue74 · 10-23-2017, 02:16 AM

Thanks for the replys

grindstone01 · 10-23-2017, 08:12 PM

I have a Cameo fifthwheel camper and I tow a trailer with a motorcycle (was Goldwing, now VTX1300). Cameo camper uses a steel tube frame the entire length to the rear cap. I was able to weld a 2"X2" sq tube across the back and then add a 2" stub to act as the receiver. Everything is welded with gussets at all corners. My rig is 61' long and most states allow 65/70' length. As far as double towing, most states allow it except for the very East and West coast states.