Bought my first 5th wheel camper!

[Slowpoke Slim]

Wow. Nice rig.

Do yourself a favor, get it loaded up with all the "everything" you're going to keep in it, plus all clothes, food, beverages, gear, water in tank, etc, and go weigh that thing on a CAT scale.

I think you are going to be very much over you're trucks weight capacities for payload, rear axle, and rear tires.

I'm pulling a '34 foot 5th wheel, weighed on a CAT scale on the way to camp, 11,800 trailer weight, 2520 pin weight, and I'm within a few hundred pounds on rear axle and rear tires. *Forgot to add, I'm pulling with a 3/4 ton truck.*

I have air bags to level my ride height, and that helps the ride quality too. But air bags don't increase your rated payload numbers.

I'm debating now on going up to a dually, mostly to get more side to side stability when I'm pulling through heavy crosswinds. That's really about the only time I have any issues at all.

 

[Soldier415]

Nice rig for sure. That is a monster. Maybe that's why the guy sold it. Maybe he found it was to big for him to handle.
I bought a 38' fiver with three big slides with load range G tires as I assume yours is. I got a feeling your weight is off a little bit and I think it is heavier. You should scale it, because my weight at the axles was around 14k with 3k on the hitch, fully loaded for a trip. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a 3/4 ton with single rear wheels pulling that.

I bought mine in 2002 and a Dmax Dually around the same time. No squishy ride at all. It drops the rear end about 2 inches if I recall, so all is good. It pulls it nice and is the a nice way to travel,,,as long as you have a nice landing spot. You can enjoy your home away from home, your own kitchen and your own bedroom.

We had a 3 year warranty so I used that for every little bitty thing as the dealership was very convenient. As long as you got your thing so cheap if you need to spend a little bit down the line it won't be a big deal.

After the warranty was done all I had to do in 15 years with 8 years of snowbirding was tires, and I replaced all the brakes. When I pulled them off 3 were still good but had one bad one but I changed them all anyway. And I replaced the LP regulator last week. Not bad for using it for living in almost full time for so long and I still use it for camping trips one week each month. I go with 6-8 couples but they are mostly high rollers with big class A motor homes.

Have fun camping.

Wow. Nice rig.

Do yourself a favor, get it loaded up with all the "everything" you're going to keep in it, plus all clothes, food, beverages, gear, water in tank, etc, and go weigh that thing on a CAT scale.

I think you are going to be very much over you're trucks weight capacities for payload, rear axle, and rear tires.

I'm pulling a '34 foot 5th wheel, weighed on a CAT scale on the way to camp, 11,800 trailer weight, 2520 pin weight, and I'm within a few hundred pounds on rear axle and rear tires. *Forgot to add, I'm pulling with a 3/4 ton truck.*

I have air bags to level my ride height, and that helps the ride quality too. But air bags don't increase your rated payload numbers.

I'm debating now on going up to a dually, mostly to get more side to side stability when I'm pulling through heavy crosswinds. That's really about the only time I have any issues at all.

I plan on taking it to the scales empty, and loaded to get accurate weights. My truck with just me driving and a full tank of diesel is almost 8k lbs exactly. GCVWR on my truck is 25,300.

Previous owner towed it all over the place with a 2015 3/4 ton GMC duramax. Just ordered the airbags and wireless compressor.

 

[tjkubota93]

I googled bumper pull camper for 1/2 ton truck - out of curiosity (have 2 and a 5 year old) and find this. Too bad you cant get stuff like this anymore.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I plan on taking it to the scales empty, and loaded to get accurate weights. My truck with just me driving and a full tank of diesel is almost 8k lbs exactly. GCVWR on my truck is 25,300.

Previous owner towed it all over the place with a 2015 3/4 ton GMC duramax. Just ordered the airbags and wireless compressor.

Cool.

But I'm specifically talking about rear axle weight loading, and rear tire weight loading. Those 2 capacities. Not gross combined weight.

 

[Navvet]

Nice rig you got there. Nothing beats traveling with your own bed, bathroom :thumbsup: and kitchen. :thumbsup:

And if you go out west and stop at one of those rest areas with no facilities .....

A few years ago I found a 12 year old 32' 5th wheel toyhauler for $8K in great shape. Hooked it up to my 99 F350 (Powerstroke), loaded the Goldwing into it, and headed out on an 8800 mile 8 week trip coast to coast. What a blast.

Newer 5th wheels and newer trucks are nice, but my wife and I like spending the money we save on more traveling with our old comfortable truck and camper. :cool2::cool2:

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I googled bumper pull camper for 1/2 ton truck - out of curiosity (have 2 and a 5 year old) and find this. Too bad you cant get stuff like this anymore.View attachment 561448

Cool option in the day.

 

[Soldier415]

Hauled it up to a friend's camp for the weekend for our first time out. Adding the Air Lift ultimate air springs/bags with wireless compressor made all the difference. 80 PSI in the bags made for a smooth tow. Started, stopped and went down the road quite smooth.

Only downside was there was only 30 amp electrical plug in instead of 50 amp so we were able to run just the fridge, one of the two AC units, and lights/outlets/etc.

All in all damned pleased with the purchase.

 

[hawkeye08]

Very nice!

 

[oosik]

Very nice unit - a LOT of luxury there. I've had most everything under the sun. Never anything that big though. Moose hunting when we lived in Alaska - air mattress, double down bags on Army cot out in the snow at -25F - not a lot of fun but I was young and quick of foot. 22 foot pull camper - 18.5 foot fifth wheel - all types of tents.

I always wanted something big but it would NEVER fit where we wanted to go. Numerous times we "camped" before we got where we wanted to be.

 

[Budweiser John]

Hotel, Motel? Nope. wife and I thourly enjoy our 5th wheel 35’ camper and the convince of having all our stuff packed once and not needing to pack and un pack at every destination and not knowing what hotel accommodations await us at the end of the trail. In years past, we’ve found well known 5 star hotels to be questionable.
I’m inclined to think the RV industry is giving the sticks and bricks hotel folks a serious run for their money based on the number of rigs on the road and the ever improving and increasing RV facilities popping up around the country. I sure hate to leave the farm, but when we do the convince of having our portable condimuniam well stocked with home grown food, adult beverages, and yes, two Jack Russel companions,
Makes life on the highways and byways a lot of fun.
B. John

 

[Stimw]

Just a tip, if you close that door you might not need two AC's!
Do you have to worry about Skeeters there?

 

[Dftodd]

We have a travel trailer and my answer to those saying hotels are cheaper, I don't disagree, but then again, I don't like to camp at a freeway exit, but rather enjoy getting out away from where the hotels are..

Congrats on nice RV, make some good memories.

That's so true. We're heading out in the morning with the grand kids for a week. We have a 30ft bumper pull ultralight with one slide. Campers 9 years old. We've owned it for 3 years and paid about 3 vacations for it.

We can sleep 4 adults and 4 kids, and at $25 to $45 per night at a campground we are way ahead over what it would cost for a hotel for the tribe

We usually try to work our trips around state parks and avoiding the cookie cutter camp grounds.

 

[R_Walter]

Hauled it up to a friend's camp for the weekend for our first time out. Adding the Air Lift ultimate air springs/bags with wireless compressor made all the difference. 80 PSI in the bags made for a smooth tow. Started, stopped and went down the road quite smooth.

Only downside was there was only 30 amp electrical plug in instead of 50 amp so we were able to run just the fridge, one of the two AC units, and lights/outlets/etc.

All in all damned pleased with the purchase.

Towing it with a shortbed?

 

[Turbys_1700]

Very nice camper and truck. You bought it at an excellent price.

My wife and I camped over 30 years starting out with a truck camper shell, then a truck camper, two pull campers, and last but not least a fifth wheel. Nothing as nice as yours. The only sage advice I can give as a 30 plus year veteran; keep your tires inflated to the max.

My camper used 15" wheels and I was tied to trailer tires. I am thoroughly convinced that even at max tire inflation rates they will not hold up in the summer heat at elevated towing speeds of 60 plus miles per hour. I know from experience. Your unit should have 16" wheels. Make sure that they are inflated to the max and if possible install truck tires.

I will probably get disagreement on this issue. That is OK. I know from experience.

Keep us updated on your experiences. A great forum that I utilized was rv.net. Lots of great information on that site.

 

[Soldier415]

Towing it with a shortbed?

Yes. I have a Pullrite 2700 16K Auto Slider hitch. Works perfectly!

 

[sdquick]

Nice setup! Looks like a great way to get the family to enjoy the outdoors!!!

 

[Soldier415]

Just a tip, if you close that door you might not need two AC's!
Do you have to worry about Skeeters there?

LOL. We had the door open as it was cool that morning and didn't need the AC yet. Its a full size residential fridge so was having issues with the fridge shutting off when running the AC on 30 Amp service.

Very nice camper and truck. You bought it at an excellent price.

My wife and I camped over 30 years starting out with a truck camper shell, then a truck camper, two pull campers, and last but not least a fifth wheel. Nothing as nice as yours. The only sage advice I can give as a 30 plus year veteran; keep your tires inflated to the max.

My camper used 15" wheels and I was tied to trailer tires. I am thoroughly convinced that even at max tire inflation rates they will not hold up in the summer heat at elevated towing speeds of 60 plus miles per hour. I know from experience. Your unit should have 16" wheels. Make sure that they are inflated to the max and if possible install truck tires.

I will probably get disagreement on this issue. That is OK. I know from experience.

Keep us updated on your experiences. A great forum that I utilized was rv.net. Lots of great information on that site.

It has 16" Tires. When I had it inspected at the dealership they recommended filling tires to a cold PSI of 75 to allow for expansion when they heated up. On this last trip my rear tires on my tow vehicle were at 75 cold (as cold as they can be in the summer), after 20 miles on the interstate they were at 85 PSI.

 

[kevinwak]

You will find 30 amp service very common and have a harder time finding 50 amp stalls. If you do struggle keeping cool on hot days when you can only run a single AC then pull some of the slides in in the areas of the camper you aren’t currently using. It will reduce the volume of space you need to keep cool.

 

[Dftodd]

Hauled it up to a friend's camp for the weekend for our first time out. Adding the Air Lift ultimate air springs/bags with wireless compressor made all the difference. 80 PSI in the bags made for a smooth tow. Started, stopped and went down the road quite smooth.

Only downside was there was only 30 amp electrical plug in instead of 50 amp so we were able to run just the fridge, one of the two AC units, and lights/outlets/etc.

All in all damned pleased with the purchase.

Are your fridge and hot water heater dual energy?

Mine will run on either gas or 110 volt power. When switched to gas, they use a very small amount of power. And can run both for a few days just off the battery.

If I'm at a place with either a standard 110 power, or hinky 30amp service, by switching the fridge and hot water to run on gas, I can run my ac without popping a breaker.

 

[YLee Kioti]

Congrats on the 5'r.

For those on the fence or already have one, here is an article I got from the Ford-Trucks dot com forum.
The RV Industry Death Spiral | RV Daily Report

Something to really consider as part of the purchase.

We had a 26' Outback (oh I so despise Keystone quality) now we have a Keystone 31' TT.

First one we bought for same reason as OP, second one was to move out while house was on market. Very poor decision on our part. (not worth discussing but yeah another Keystone.

Also learn what your rights are as a buyer: Don't Buy An RV! - Lehto's Law Ep. 45 - YouTube

With all that said this post is just to add additional information for those looking, exploring the idea of getting a camper. A personal choice, but one should go into it with eyes wide open and as fully informed as possible.
After reading the article above and watching the video and having owned two over the last 15 years found both sources to b very accurate.

To the OP, enjoy your camping time, we certainly have.
Regards...