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Well certainly not camping weather here yet but it’s prep time. Received new F-350 last week and went and took the 5er out of storage. Was concerned that the new rig was going to be to tall ( clearance from box rails) for safe traveling. The truck seems to have levelled out nicely, and~7” of clearance. However, the trailer is a little nose up. Might add 2” blocks to the trailer axels.
Sorry for the picture quality. Snapped with the iPhone.
Took delivery of our fifth wheel this morning. I was really nervous because I've never towed anything in my life. I had read all these stories about how the new Super Duties are too high in the back and the trailer would be nose high. Or the trailer would be too heavy and your truck headlights would be pointing up because the rear sagged so much. Others have a real tight clearance problem between the bottom of the trailer and the rails of the truck.
Fortunately I had none of those issues. We hitched up easily. The center high mounted cab camera made the process easy peasy. All those cameras, front, back, top 360 view - they make maneuvering this beast of a truck so much less cumbersome.
Towing the trailer was pretty uneventful. I was really worried that turns would be tricky since fifth wheel trailers will cut the turn INSIDE of the radius of the truck. Fortunately this thing is "only" 33"10". With the 3 feet overlap over the bed to the hitch, it's effectively 30 ft back there.
The big mirrors helped a lot. Power was a non-issue. The truck barely felt the trailer was back there. Braking was also pretty much a non-event. 15.4" brakes on the truck help a lot.
We have lessons set up with a RV instructor next week so we can be trained on really driving well with the trailer. I'm really looking forward to getting some good instruction on backing up into tighter spaces.
All in all, I'm really relieved that we didn't have any issues today.
Took delivery of our fifth wheel this morning. I was really nervous because I've never towed anything in my life. I had read all these stories about how the new Super Duties are too high in the back and the trailer would be nose high. Or the trailer would be too heavy and your truck headlights would be pointing up because the rear sagged so much. Others have a real tight clearance problem between the bottom of the trailer and the rails of the truck.
Fortunately I had none of those issues. We hitched up easily. The center high mounted cab camera made the process easy peasy. All those cameras, front, back, top 360 view - they make maneuvering this beast of a truck so much less cumbersome.
Towing the trailer was pretty uneventful. I was really worried that turns would be tricky since fifth wheel trailers will cut the turn INSIDE of the radius of the truck. Fortunately this thing is "only" 33"10". With the 3 feet overlap over the bed to the hitch, it's effectively 30 ft back there.
The big mirrors helped a lot. Power was a non-issue. The truck barely felt the trailer was back there. Braking was also pretty much a non-event. 15.4" brakes on the truck help a lot.
We have lessons set up with a RV instructor next week so we can be trained on really driving well with the trailer. I'm really looking forward to getting some good instruction on backing up into tighter spaces.
All in all, I'm really relieved that we didn't have any issues today.
nice setup. Lucky for you the F-450 sits lower then the 350 and maybe the 250 as well. The DRWs allow for smaller tires and likely a smaller block that bring that back end down.
Questn for you. Can you tell me the height from ground to bottom of trailer at the “in between trailer axel” position?
Brought the new home this past saturday!! going to live in it for a bout a year and save some money and travel a bit! Sierra 378FB, 41' at 12K.
Nice looking rig for sure! Word from the wise - do NOT go into Camping World and buy everything that looks like something you think you need. It is amazing how much of that stuff you toss out a year later, when you realize you never used it and it's just taking up space. All this stuff seems like a great idea when it's hanging on the rack, and it's ONLY $40 ... then you rediscover it in the back of some storage cabinet. This does not apply to stuff like extension cables, sewer connectors, etc. It's all the clever kitchen and bath stuff that sucks you in. Don't ask how I know. You're welcome!
