I'm new to this site, been on the old truck one though. I have a 71 F250 CS with 5200# GAW. We had a slide-in camper for 12 yrs and want to go to a trailer or 5th. (small one) 20-22ft. Probably used because I hate it when I tear up new stuff. (Alaska 12yrs. ago was hard on camper) The dealers say no difference with new hitches, but I'd rather hear from someone with experience. I have very little experience towing stuff, but ain't afraid to learn..........thanks jim.

 

A fifth wheel handles much better but puts a lot more weight on the truck. Since you're only considering a 20-22 ft trailer I would recommend just getting a travel trailer unless you have your heart set on a fifth wheel. You'll have a lot more travel trailers in that size range to choose from. Most fifth wheels are larger than that so your selection wouldn't be as great.

 

Thanks for input. A guy in the next town has a 20' Aljo 5th wheel. I haven't seen it yet. Is that a decent manufacturer?

 

Aljo is made by Skyline . We have a Aljo travel trailer , it's a mid-line trailer , not top of the line but not junk either . If you could get the fifthwheel cheap it may be worth it . Remember you'll need the hitch and the light socket mounted in the bed to plug in the fifthwheel . Hooking and unhookong is simpler with the fifthwheel but because of their height you may get better milage with a towable . If you do go with the fifthwheel make sure the hitch is bolted to the frame ( don't laugh ! ) . Someone lost their life last year because their fifthwheel hitch was only bolted to the floor of the P.U box . When it gave way from metal fatigue the driver lost control and killed him and his passinger . Is this your first trailer ?

 

I owne a 30' Aljo. I like it and would buy another one if they still made them. You are correct about the new style hitches. If you sped a litttle time reading about a weight distrupiting hitch and learn to set it up correctly the trailer will tow very nice. You may even enjoy towing. I do.

 

DuallyDad , get your wallet out Skyline still makes the full Aljo line of travel trailers and fifthwheels . Go to skyline.com or just enter the word Aljo and there they are . We also have a 30' Aljo tt and would buy another also . Nice well built trailer for the price .

 

Thanks to all so far. I called the guy, but just missed the sale. A 93 20' for 4g's. Sounded like a fellow geezer that took good care of it. I'm in no hurry. There'll be others. A tt would be the most convenient since I have a rack and boxes to consider. I'm all about mileage too. I gotta study up on hitches though, is that weight disrupting or distributing? You can tell I'm a novice at towing. It took my wife 25 yrs of our 37 to get me out of a tent and into a camper. Don't remember the ground being sooo hard.

 

Weight distributing. You can read up on them on Reese hitch's website: www.reeseprod.com. Good luck in your trailer search.

 

Jim , you may want to take a look at www . RV . net . They have forums on all aspects of RVing , and like this site alot of knowledgable people , check it out . Like I said we have an Aljo '95 , 30' tt , picked it up for $4000 , so there are good deals out there .

 

You have got to think of your GVWR of the vehicle you are using to tow with.
If it is a F250 and a GVWR or 8800#'s you can pull a bigger travel trailer than you can a fifth wheel.
I pull a 30.5ft TT and with all the added things to the truck like gasoline, tool box, cooler and all those necessities that make it nice. My GVWR is right at 8600#'s not over but close. The tongue weight of the trailer makes it close like 1000#'s of tongue weight.
Not many fifth wheels have tongue weights of less that 1500#'s which would put me over my GVWR. A lot of fifth wheels go close to 2000#'s of tongue weight. Something you really need to look at before you decide to buy. With the new 2005 Ford SD I think the worry is a lot less.

THMO,
fknipfer1

 

I have an F250 CC that I use to pull a 33' TT. The tongue weight on it is about 1000# and it pulls very well. I just pulled it from Alabam to Mass and back and had no major problems other than the roads that tried to break my trailer due to the slamming up and down on washboard roads.

The major problem as stated is that the 5th wheel puts about 17 to 20% of the total weight of the trailer on the rear axel of the truck. With my truck (diesel and CC) the empty weight is 7150#. That leaves 1650# for the passengers and the 5th wheel which is not much. By the way the weight normally given is the dry hitch weight which goes with the dry or unloaded weight on the unit. The max hitch weight will be with the unit fully loaded to the GVWR for the unit. What we are looking at for most units is on the order of 2000 to 2500#.

The travel trailer only puts about 12 to 15% of the weight on the hitch and for the most part will be under 1000# on the hitch. A weight distribution hictch will have bars that will cause some of the hitch weight to move to the front axel and level your truck out when it is towing.

What is the difference. Well the TT is much more work to setup and tow and tear down and camp. For me it is about a 30 min job and I expect to get hot and sweaty doing it, a power lift on the tongue could make that an eaisier job, but a 5th wheel is faster to setup and take down, but you lose your bed in the truck and have stairs to clime in the unit (my wife said no way) and the head room in a 5th is sometimes low (i am 6' 3" tall i said no way).

Which is best, the one that works for you overall. Would I buy another 33' trailer (over 55' long with the truck) no way hard to get around in camp grounds. You might consider a Class C since you strike me as an older guy like myself and the only tow would be a small car. Do not know. Best of luck and happy RVing