Community Forums

Rat · 04-16-2007, 04:10 PM

Right now I have a 31 foot Sunnybrook fifth wheel but the wife is looking at trading. We are looking at a FSW2800 weekend warrior travel trailer toy hauler ,Hitch weight of 1040, axle 6110 GVWR 13000. I am looking at pull type over 5er because most 5ers are over 12' tall and I keep my camper in a garage with a 12' door. My question is how much difference is there going to be pulling a TT than a 5er???

I know that TT have come a long way over the years but I'm still concered about towing a TT in strong winds????

I have a 2004 powerstroke crewcab single rear wheels.

Thanks for all the input!!!!

Rat · 04-16-2007, 04:10 PM

Right now I have a 31 foot Sunnybrook fifth wheel but the wife is looking at trading. We are looking at a FSW2800 weekend warrior travel trailer toy hauler ,Hitch weight of 1040, axle 6110 GVWR 13000. I am looking at pull type over 5er because most 5ers are over 12' tall and I keep my camper in a garage with a 12' door. My question is how much difference is there going to be pulling a TT than a 5er???

I know that TT have come a long way over the years but I'm still concered about towing a TT in strong winds????

I have a 2004 powerstroke crewcab single rear wheels.

Thanks for all the input!!!!

gearman · 04-22-2007, 06:30 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rat:

I know that TT have come a long way over the years but I'm still concered about towing a TT in strong winds????

I have a 2004 powerstroke crewcab single rear wheels.

Thanks for all the input!!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know what has changed over the years that would affect how a TT tows. I think that they still tow the same, what makes a differance is the hitch, if you go with a weight distribution with anti sway or not.

I think you will be unhappy with the way that large of a TT tows, even with WD hitch with anti sway, vs your 5th in heavy cross winds.
I had a 28' TT before our current 35' 5th, there is no compairson in cross winds, the 5th tows so much better even though its longer, taller and heavier.

Only you can decide what you want. If you don't care about it towing a little worst vs. the 5th and storage is you main consern, then by all means get the trailer that has the features you want/need.

Happy camping.

TexasPSDX · 04-22-2007, 02:37 PM

I have never towed a 5th wheel, but I cannot image that it would tow any better than my travel trailer using the Hensley Arrow hitch. Now it was a very different story when I towed with a Reese dual cam. I was ready to trade, but the Hensley hitch was cheaper. Now travel towing the trailer is a real joy.

BurbMan · 04-23-2007, 06:48 AM

Agree with Tex, if you are used to towing a 5er, plan on investing in a Hensley Hitch along with your new trailer. It's not cheap, but your towing experience will be every bit as pleasant as with the 5er. No issues with sway, even in heavy cross winds. Other weight-distributing (WD) hitches (except the PullRite) will not give you the same sway protection as the Hensley.

Other things that affect towability are whether the trailer has shock absorbers, and the location of heavy items like the kitch, slideout, and holding tanks. Too much weight behind the axles will make to tongue too light and the trailer will be squirrley to tow. You want about 12% of the total weight on the tongue when the trailer is loaded.

diandtom · 04-24-2007, 01:08 PM

I hated the hooking and unhooking of the travel trailer that we had. It did not tow all that bad. I also got much better storage in our fiver. I could never go back.
Tom

RobG · 04-26-2007, 07:23 PM

I have owned and used an Equalizer Hitch for years (weight dist + anti-sway) and it works marvelously. Best of all it costs maybe 1/6 what the vastly overpriced Hensley will cost you.

I've towed in some MAJOR crosswinds and my trailer has never even so much as twitched. I've even double-towed with it on the first trailer (between my tow vehicle and the first trailer) and again, no troubles with sway at all.

Rob

Budwizer · 04-28-2007, 02:38 PM

Well, here goes.... I know a lot of folks out there disagree with me on this subject but I will give my $0.02 worth anyway. I pulled a 37' 5th wheel with a F350 CC Dually powerstroke for quite a while and never felt comfortable when on the road. We sold the 5th wheel and bought a 34' TT with 2 slides and we love it. It pulled just fine with the dually and a Equalizer hitch. We sold the dually and bought a powerstroke Excursion. IMHO, Excursions are not know for superior stabilty when pulling large TT's so I bought a Hensley Arrow. The TT pulled better than ever. I now have a 06 Silverado CC Duramax and of course I will never give up my Hensley so I am definitely a happy camper when pulling my TT.
Like you, I really appreciate the 10.5' height of the TT vs the 12.5' height of the 5th wheel. No sweat when parking in campgrounds with a lot of trees or watching for low overpasses while towing on the backroads.
Good luck with your decision.
Oh, BTW, Hooking up a Hensley is no problem if you understand anything about geometry. :-)