hey v10, while wer,e at it, fill me in on the double tow. I've been to the ca dmv site and noted no trailer over 28.5 ft long allowed when towing doubles. how do you set up the hitch on the rear of the 5th wheel and how concerned are you over taking the fifth wheel hitch weight off with the tongue wt. of the boat trailer? any other considerations? edu-macate-me-sumore.

 

We searched for a fifth-wheel trailer knowing we were going to use it to tow doubles. Looked at the various fifth-wheel frames to determine if a hitch could be added to the rear. Our fifth-wheel has a 10" C-channel frame. I built my own hitch receiver using 3/8" steel plate for the side plates and 4" square 1/4" wall steel tubing for the cross member. Purchased a prefabbed 2" receiver from a local trailer parts supplier and had friend (LA City certified welder) weld it all up. I'm sure any good hitch shop can do this for you. My boat trailer's hitch weight is about 350 pounds. The fifth-wheel has a 40-gallon gray water tank in the rear (also a 60-gallon gray towards the front). If this tank is full it would weigh 330 pounds. I make sure this tank is empty when I tow so I'm basically just exchanging the filled tank weight for the tongue weight of the boat trailer. Tapped into the fifth-wheel wiring for lights. Couldn't count the miles we've towed this without any problems. Numerous trips each year to the Colorado River and a couple of trips to Lake Powell. Doubles are legal in CA, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. These are the only states I've towed doubles in. We have family friends that tow the following set-up: '90 F350 X-cab, 30' fifth-wheel, 19-foot boat. They've been towing doubles for about 15 years now. We've been doing it for about 10 years now. This is our second doubles set-up. We started with a '88F250 X-cab, 22' fifth-wheel, and a 17' boat. Decided to push the limits in '95 and bought a new fifth-wheel and boat to go maximum length - 75'.

 

i am about to look at a 5th wheel to double tow and have some questions for you as well. have you ever been hasseled about the length of you rig by the police the max tow length in cal,az,and ut are 65' and nev. is 70') you said you were at 75'.what im am looking at would be 70'9" and the law here in colo. is 70' max. i dont want to be getting tickets every where i go. this is the main thing holding me back you input would be very helpfull thanks

 

I have been considering the double tow also and am wondering how the v10 does with the load. I have the v10 and a 21' boat. Currently take 2 vehicles a motorhome a f350.

 

California Vehicle Code 35401 states: No combination of vehicles shall exceed a length of 65 feet except: When a combination of vehicles coupled together which consists of a truck tractor, a semitrailer, and a semitrailer or trailer, shall not exceed a total length of 75 feet, if the length of neither the semitrailers nor the trailer in combination of vehicles exceeds 28'-6".

Basically, in California, when pulling doubles, if any trailer is over 28'-6", then the total limit is 65 feet, if both trailers are 28'-6" or less, than the total limit is 75 feet. Disclaimer: Your state may (and likely will) vary.

Note above: "Semitrailer" means fifth-wheel type trailer. You can't pull two conventional type trailers in combination in CA. I've seen trucks (tractor) pulling triples in Nevada; commercial though, not recreational.

To answer your questions; The V10 pulls very well, My only problem is my 3.73 gears. I added 35" tires and now my gearing is like stock tires and 3.56 gears. I need to change my gears to 4.10's to get my speedo correct or change to 4.33's and correct the speedo. I'll search the threads to see what's recommended.

Neither I, nor others that I personally know towing doubles, have ever been pulled over in CA, NV, AZ, or UT while pulling doubles. We always tow safely and stay to the right whenever possible. It's the idiots that tow at 80mph in the fast lane that attract attention and get pulled over.