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tourusa
Ft Lauderdale
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Hi all, as I’m sure most of you have seen my posts on a separate thread and got a f350 dually and looking for a fifth wheel.
My question - towing a 36 ft fifth wheel vs a 39.5 ft upto 41 ft what are your experiences and is there much difference when you going long distance.
Currently coast to coast
F350 dually 2020
2020 Vanleigh Pinecrest 392MBP
B&W Companion OEM 5th Wheel Hitch for Ford Super Duty Prep Package - Dual Jaw - 25,000 lbs
ITEM # BWRVK3305
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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Little to no difference in the actual towing. Getting into and out of service stations will be a bit more difficult with the larger 5th wheels. The longer trailers will make your selection of RV parking spots a bit fewer. Once you get up around 35 feet, a few feet more doesn't make a lot of difference.
Howard and Peggy
"Don't Panic"
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corvettekent
Marysville, WA
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Towing you will not notice much difference but parking it you will notice a big difference.
2022 Silverado 3500 High Country CC/LB, SRW, L5P. B&W Companion Hitch with pucks. Hadley air horns.
2004 32' Carriage 5th wheel. 860 watts of solar MPPT, two SOK 206 ah LiFePO4 batteries. Samlex 2,000 watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter.
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tourusa
Ft Lauderdale
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Thanks for your input can I use the truck gas in loves etc, looking at thousand trails and Naco sites for a month at a time
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stripit
Prescott
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Joined: 02/24/2004
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We started out full time travel in a 38.5 5ft wheel, then moved to a 36 ft. Zero difference in the actual towing down the roads, a slight change in some turning. Seems the rv parks sites that would fit a 38.5 and a 36 were about the same. Interior space changed a lot, you would think a bit over 2 feet would not make a difference, but it does. Find the trailer that will fit your lifestyle and you will make it work.
Stacey Frank
2016 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40AP
2019 Tesla Model X
2015 Cadillac SRX we Tow
1991 Avanti Convertible
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azdryheat
Tucson, AZ
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My first 5th wheel was a 35 footer. Next I got a 40 foot toy hauler 5th wheel, which I still have. Towing them I can't tell the difference in length. I can tell the difference in the weight, though.
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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As others said, once you are rolling down the road, almost no difference.
I assume in that size range, you have a diesel one ton (probably dually), so running thru the truck lanes as truck stops is viable. If you have to go into a small local station, that can be a bit more challenging.
What type of camping will you do?
If it's just back and forth once a year snowbirding and you have a big site anyway, no brainer, get the biggest you can.
Likewise, if you stick mostly to newer wide open campgrounds with pull thru sites, not a big concern.
If you will be moving around a lot, particularly using state & national parks (or other more natural setting private parks), keeping the size down does make it easier to find sites or avoid stressful squeezing around wooded roads and into very tight sites.
No right or wrong answer and you can always adapt to what you have.
Our preference is around 27-32ft. Big enough to be comfortable but we can get into most parks.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV
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toedtoes
California
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I agree. In general, once you hit over 32 feet, the size won't be any more limiting. Most people either stay at 32ft or less, or go as big as possible.
The exception might be in regards to local roads. Just make sure there are no size restrictions on roads leading to your home or the homes of friends/family that you may visit - destinations that you definitely want to be able to get to. Some communities may have limits on the local roadways that could prevent you from reaching your daughter's home, etc.
As you will be using thousand trails and NACO, you can do a search on their sites and see the difference in sites that come up with the two sizes. If you get 100 sites using the 35ft and 95 sites using the 41ft, then you're good to go. If you get 100 with the 35ft and 47 with the 41ft, then that 6 feet cuts your options in half and might be a deal breaker.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
1998 American Clipper Fold n Roll Folding Trailer
Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)
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tourusa
Ft Lauderdale
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valhalla360 wrote:As others said, once you are rolling down the road, almost no difference.
I assume in that size range, you have a diesel one ton (probably dually), so running thru the truck lanes as truck stops is viable. If you have to go into a small local station, that can be a bit more challenging.
What type of camping will you do?
If it's just back and forth once a year snowbirding and you have a big site anyway, no brainer, get the biggest you can.
Likewise, if you stick mostly to newer wide open campgrounds with pull thru sites, not a big concern.
If you will be moving around a lot, particularly using state & national parks (or other more natural setting private parks), keeping the size down does make it easier to find sites or avoid stressful squeezing around wooded roads and into very tight sites.
No right or wrong answer and you can always adapt to what you have.
Our preference is around 27-32ft. Big enough to be comfortable but we can get into most parks.
Hi the plan upto now is 3 weeks at each site thousand trails or naco, moving over the weekends from Florida across state , most of those site through researching can accommodate the larger fifth wheels
* This post was
edited 11/04/22 04:08am by tourusa *
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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tourusa wrote:Moving every 3 wks tt or naco, interstate
I can guess at what this means but it's not real clear.
I'm guessing you do one travel day every 3 weeks and stay at a membership campground like thousand trails.
In that case, as long as the campgrounds have big enough sites, I would look at going large.
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