My wife and I just bought a Chevy 3500HD Big Dooley Crew Cab Long Box LTZ 4x4 to use for towing a travel trailer or fifth wheel. We previously considered a Class A, but dropped that plan - we'd rather have the versatility of a family truck.
Anyhow, on to my question: my parents have a travel trailer that feels very roomy and has ceilings about as high as a 30+ foot long fifth wheel typically does. When my wife and I go to look at travel trailers, we don't see any with the really high ceilings like they have. What brands/lines of travel trailers have the higher ceilings? We're heavily leaning towards fifth wheels because we don't like the low ceilings we're seeing in trailers.
My Starwood has a high ceiling, so high that we had to put an extension on the vents so that we can open them and close them. Starwood is put out by McKenzie, we have had no trouble with it except some real minor stuff in the begining.
We are looking at getting an Class A or C, every time I go in one I feel like it is too small, now I know why the ceiling are night high enough. Duhhh
Get a fiver, much more to it than just higher ceilings. More storage, more room, higher ceilings ( ) and the towability! So much nicer and safer than a TT, no more white knuckle moments, no more wind whipping by a passing big rig,a lofty eagle nest view of the world from the master bedroom!
It took me quite a while (6 TT's) before I smartened up and got a fiver! In my opinion, a fiver rig is a better overall choice than a Class A. You'll have a built in "TOAD" to drive around when camping, you know, those critical trips to WalMart for shopping! Good Luck!
It seems too easy to make a big mistake when towing, Hearing that a travel trailer is more susceptible to wind whipping is enough to make it clear that a small to medium fifth wheel is probably better for a novice like me.
There are advantages to a TT, just as there are advantages to a fiver. Our rear-living TT has 2 doors, one in the bedroom. We can easily load and unload our trailer through the bedroom door without moving the slide and the rear chairs which store just inside the rear door. My niece and her husband have the same floor plan in their fifth wheel. They must extend the slide and move one of the chairs out of the way to gain entrance into their fiver. We have a door and steps in our bedroom in case of fire. They have an emergency window in the bedroom. My niece is a large woman, and she has disabilites. She could never exit the emergency window without injury, and without her husband physically pushing her out.
I carry a motor scooter and several other large items in my truck bed while I'm towing our TT. You can't do that if you have a fifth wheel. I have no hitch rails or ball in the bed of my truck to work around when I'm not towing. I am also disabled, and getting a fiver hitch in and out of the truck bed isn't something I want to do. Being disabled, I hate having steps to climb while going through the narrow doorway from the living area to the bedroom and bath on their fifth wheel. Our TT has a flat floor throughout the trailer, and going through our door between the living area and bath is much easier. The ceiling height of our TT doesn't bother us at all after all the years we spent in popups.
A TT is easy to level with an adjustable hitch. Leveling a fiver isn't as simple. And with your new GM truck, your pin may sit too high, or you may have interference problems between the fiver and the pickup bed. A TT requires less clearance on overhead objects, such as tree limbs. A TT has less wind resistance than fifth wheels, a plus considering I pull with a gas truck, not a diesel. It is easier to clean a TT roof than it is the slanted roof of a fifth wheel.
I use a Reese Dual-Cam HP sway control on our 33' TT. My BIL uses an Equal-I-Zer hitch/sway control for his 35' rear living TT. Neither of us has any problems with sway. If we did, we could scrape up the money for a Hensley Hitch. With a DRW pickup, our TTs would be even more stable back there. My son uses the Reese Dual-Cam HP, and pulls a 35' Cougar TT with his '07 Duramax CC. During a recent outing with his in-laws, who have an identical truck, but pull a large fifth wheel, it was his father-in-law who pulled over first, during a microburst from a collapsing thunderstorm. He was experiencing no sway, but the wind was pushing both the truck and the tall fifth wheel across the center line. My son, pulling his lower-height TT with the Dual Cam, was having no trouble staying in his lane.
That said, your diesel truck is more than capable of overcoming the wind resistance of a fifth wheel with ease. And especially if you plan to full-time, the large cargo bins on fifth wheels come in handy. If you have claustrophobia, the higher ceilings in the living area may tend to relieve it somewhat, at least until you walk to the very front of the fiver. And a fiver needs no sway control.
Only you can decide whether a fiver or a TT would suit you best. There are hitches/sway controls out there that can make sway a thing of the past, if that worries you. You may have already pretty well decided on a fifth wheel, and wanted confirmation from others that a fiver would be the right choice. And I have no problem with that. You SHOULD make your own decision as to what's best for you after researching the alternatives.
Happy Hunting!
* This post was
edited 09/24/08 12:39am by campercajun *
2003 GMC Sierra Crew HD; 6.0L; Prodigy
2006 Thor Tundra 30RL-DSL; Reese Strait-Line & Dual-cam HP
2001 Honda Elite Scooter
Jim & Gayle Bryant
Murphy's Law: "Anything that CAN happen, WILL."
Bryant's Law: "31 years of RVing? Probably already HAS."
If you can find a Pioneer around, they have a good height to the ceiling.
We have had ours for six years and are looking for the next longer one, but it seems that no one has them any more.
Like you, we are finding that all the newer models are lower and none of them have the good storage space under the trailer that Pioneer has.
There is much hype on this forum about how much better a 5ver is than a TT. But it is just that, hype. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both types of trailers. A properly set up TT is as stable as any 5ver when towing, allows you the use of the truck bed, is no harder to hook up when properly equipped. They typically have less storage than a 5ver. My TT is very roomy and has 2 doors, something I consider an absolute must for safety reasons. And last but not least, it is a heck of a lot cheaper to by a TT over a 5ver. Now make an informed decision and have fun
05 Super Duty XLT CC 5.4/3.73 5 sp auto Torqshift
06 Keystone Hornet 29 RLS/(The"Cracker Cabana")
Reese HP Dual Cam
Bear with me here but have you looked at small toy haulers? They have high ceilings as well as neat fold down queen size beds in the "toy area" or living room type area. Had friends who couldn't find what they wanted in a regular TT, didn't want a 5'er (were towing with a Suburban) and ended up with a smaller Toy Hauler. With an "average" interior height of 99" instead of the traditional 81" of a TT, it might be a good compromise for your situation.
We have a Cherokee TT (non-lite) and it too has the higher ceilings. I know what you mean. our Previous Cherokee lite had the lower ceilings and while it was much better than our Award TT was we didn`t realize how much better a taller ceiling is untill we got one. you don`t even feel like your in a TT. as far as towing goes, yes it probably does suck a little more gas when towing, it is 11.5 ft tall, but the extra roomy feeling is worth it. and the difference of 1 ft in height in towing mileage is maybe .5 mpg at most.
Wife kim
Son brandon 7yrs
Daughter marissa 6yrs
Dog shadow
07 Cherokee 32B
02 Excursion 4X4 V-10 4.30 gear
Reese HP dualcam,Prodigy brake controller,
Air lift air bags.
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camping than a good day at work!
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) and the towability! So much nicer and safer than a TT, no more white knuckle moments, no more wind whipping by a passing big rig,a lofty eagle nest view of the world from the master bedroom! 
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