Do You Need A Long Bed Truck To Tow A Fifth-Wheel
When towing a fifth-wheel camper, you will probably need a pickup truck to pull it. The trailer should be installed over the truck’s rear axle in the truck bed to ease hauling and to allow a better turning radius with a long bed truck.
The 5th wheeler needs a truck bed that allows the front part of the trailer to stay on top of it.
While a long bed truck can be advantageous when towing a fifth-wheel trailer, it is not an absolute requirement. Both long bed and short bed trucks can be used to tow fifth-wheel trailers, but each has its pros and cons.
You can use either a short bed or a long bed to tow the trailer so long as the truck’s bed has space to mount the rear axle.
Therefore, you do not necessarily need to have a long bed truck to tow your fifth wheel.
Most manufacturers are not designing haulers to be versatile hauling vehicles typically able to haul at least ten thousand pounds of weight.
The fifth-wheel trailers range from thirty feet or less feature an upper portion that can ride on a shorter or average truck bed.
So you won’t have to worry about the length of the bed.
For most fifth-wheel travel trailers, a light-duty pick-up truck or bed measuring less than five feet will not be able to install a fifth-wheel trailer properly.
But now, it is not challenging; there are several specific fifth-wheeler goosenecks and notches that can be comfortably towed a fifth-wheel trailer.
However, you will require to find a camper that can fit your vehicle specifications which can be daunting.
How do you Match the right camper with your truck
It is simple to figure out if a certain trailer is compatible with your truck.
This is because all pickup manufacturers rigorously test and label the pickups with the highest haul capacity.
Finding your vehicle’s hauling capacity is simple because you can find it online via a quick search or in your vehicle’s manual.
Keep the number so that when you will be shopping for a new RV camper, you will pay attention to the trailer’s gross weight.
As long as your RV camper trailer weight is within the pickup’s max haul capacity, you will key to purchase it.
Can you haul a fifth wheel with a short bed truck
Yes, you can use the short bed truck to haul your fifth wheel even without using a slider hitch.
However, if you have a truck whose bed is less than six feet, hauling of the fifth wheel trail will be possible when a sidewinder hitch is used.
Although not recommended, using a sidewinder hitch will act as a hook extension of the Fifth Wheel to fit the short bed of the truck.
Therefore, the sidewinder will push back, a little past the truck’s rear, so the front part of the wheeler is free to navigate road corners while transporting.
Is it better to tow the fifth wheel with a short bed or long bed
Short bed trucks have less space for the bed to accumulate the front part of the fifth wheel.
However, you can use the short bed truck to haul your wheeler, but you need to improvise by using sliders or a sidewinder hitch.
Sliders allow the trailer to have free navigation and rotation on the hitch while transporting.
Indeed, purchasing such additional items could be costly and time-consuming.
Manual operation is also required to mount and unmount the trailer and sliders before and after destination, which is a hectic activity.
For long bed trucks, the work is simple, and in fact, these kinds of trucks are the one that gives you the best hauling experience to tow the fifth wheeler.
A long bed truck has enough space or bed to hold the trailer firmly, and you don’t need to use sliders.
It is simpler to deal with long bed hauling activities even after your destination than when a short bed truck is used to tow the wheeler.
However, some circumstances may force you to choose either, such as costs of hiring and availability of such trucks.
Do I Need A Dually Long Bed truck to tow Fifth Wheel
Absolutely No, it’s not always necessary to use a long bed truck with a dual rear wheel to haul your fifth-wheel trailer.
In fact, single real wheels are more fuel-efficient than dual rear wheels.
Although dually trucks can consume much fuel, they have better hauling experience when towing the fifth wheel.
Conclusion
When it comes to towing and you are hauling fifth-wheel trailers, much has to be considered beginning with the nature or type of the trailer and its cargo and hauling costs.
Such factors drive to choose which truck to use, either short bed or long bed.
However, no matter what, long bed trucks are the best to tow a fifth wheel since they don’t need mounting sidewinders or sliders to hold the trailer.
Long bed trucks are cost-effective, simple to use, and time management, unlike a short bed truck to tow a fifth-wheel trailer.
We hope you enjoyed this post on Do You Need A Long Bed Truck To Tow A Fifth-Wheel
