New to traveling

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by NannaK

Trying to figure out how to put a response in to what I posted yesterday was a new task. Not so tech savvy so hoping I’m putting it in the right place. I don’t have the truck or 5th wheel with me right now so I looked up info from their VIN numbers The truck is a 2003 Ford 250 Class 6 rated for 19,500-26,000 lbs Super Duty F250 4x4 Supercab SRW long bed V-8 Diesel by Navistar, Net Brake H.P. 325. I’m not sure how to interpret the Brake HP 325 (distance?)
The 5th wheel is a 2005 Alpenlite 36 RLQ Seville 38’x8’6” 2 axles weight 13,261 self contained with 4 slides. The washer/dryer and household size Refrigerator were standard equipment. Both were used in tandem only 2 times - to bring to my parents home and only one trip to Yosemite. The 5th wheel has been parked in my folks yard and landscaped around it for the past 13 years with only myself using it as guest quarters a couple times a year. The truck was driven about 30 miles once a month just to keep things working. My dad was not the best driver and often was speeding

Below is a link to the tow capacity of your truck. Also a jpeg of the section that applies. It's about 3/4ths of the way down the page.

If the 5th wheel has been sitting for 13 years, it is going to need new tires, the bearings greased and likely the brakes adjusted. Most people will automatically replace their trailer tires when they are between 5 and 7 yrs old, regardless of how the tread looks.

I suspect the weight of the 5th wheel you list above is the empty weight which already puts you over the truck limit.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...mper_03abb.pdf

Here's the pic of the truck specs which shows a Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of 20,000 lbs. As the pic show, you also need to take into account the weight the 5th wheel will add to the truck, along with gear and passengers and make sure you are not over that weight limit.

Click the picture to enlarge.

[NannaK]

Rig is schedule with Les Schwab’s the day before pulling out. Thank you so much for all the good info from ya’ll. Truck has already been to Ford dealer to make sure all is okay there too. 5th wheel will not have personal items on board other than a suitcase for my daughter and one for myself. Traveling light. Dad already took the recliners out and I’ll get rid of the couch ASAP. I think mice were in there at one time. I found some foam crumbs - uck
I tried to attach a pic. Us kids had to clean it once a year and dad would sit and watch us to make sure it was done to his expectations

[AudiDudi]

Good Luck and have some fun on the way down!!

[NannaK]

I’ve been reading as much as possible and more apprehensive of going downhill versus uphill now. Are there any tips on how to approach difficulties with going downhill. My plan was to keep my speed at 55-60. I’m hearing that this is not the case for downhill even on freeways. Any tips would be appreciated.

[NannaK]

We made the trip down I-5 and across I-10 without any problems with F250. We did have many misadventures including a 4 hr dig out of the original space then the hydraulic jacks not working to lift the rig off the saddle so we had to hand crank it up to take the truck for a full maintenance that was NOT done as was to be. The first time we hooked up to empty blackwater we had a gushing of 13 y.o. black coming out of multiple holes in the line that was supposedly new. I learned really quickly not to trust what I had been told. After a lot of cleaning up we were able to get things moving properly. We found that the 6 battery compartment had only 2 of the 6 and the remaining 2 were jerririgged so we stopped to make new connectors and installed new batteries. My daughter was a great help at following the manual. We discovered a hole in the duct work near the hose storage compartment that appeared to have been punctured when someone rammed the cord in and didn't pay attention that there was no ceiling in the compartment. I used aluminum tape to patch the 2" x 5" gapping hole so that no critters would visit us at night. All in all we were able to laugh about all the adventures and forgive the musings of an elderly man with a failing memory. This is the short version. You can just imagine the long one. :-)

[NannaK]

Did I mention that the 4 hours of digging out and rocking back and forth was due to the water holding tank leaking out and soaking the ground where the rig had been sitting for 13 years?

[M2D]

I salute you for your management of the situation and God Bless You.


It is amazing what "stuff" can come your way in life especially when dealing with family situations wherein you do not want to give offense but still must deal with whatever is currently going on.


Glad to hear that you made it to your destination.



Michele and Mark

[NannaK]

Thank you to everyone for the encouragement and support. God is good and always with us. The time with my daughter was special and we will be building a place together in Texas for our next journey. I think I got my fill of pulling a huge rig. Next time I consider it I will choose something a lot more suited to my lifestyle and appropriate for getting into small spaces. I’m sure I tried a few folks with my slow and awkward backing up but I did get it done. I have much research to do bfore my next journey.