I need a large 5th wheel but am I looking too large?

[khtims75]

Hello, I am new to this community so first I want to thank you guys for using the years of experience you have to help newbies like me out.

Anyway, I am planning to go full time RV with my family. That includes my wife and two kids (10 and 16 years old both boys). We know we need to go much smaller to fit into any RV but we've found some very large 5th wheels that range from 44' to 50'. I've been assured by the salesman that there are no legal issues driving down the road with a 50' 5th wheel. Is that true? But I realize there must be some logistical concerns over going that large. Since I'm new to this community I don't know what the downfalls might be so I'd like to lean on some expertise to educate me on my decision.

The need for the extra room is to accommodate 3 bedrooms (2 are pretty small still) and two bathrooms. We simply don't want to share if we don't have to if we are going to be doing this full time.

So, with that said, what are the major implications I might not be considering when going as large as 50' on the 5th wheel?

Thanks again for any help or insight you can offer me.

[gbopp]

khtims75 wrote:
Maybe going smaller is really the solution here and give up some comforts.

That is probably a good idea. 50' is a lot of 5th wheel to be moving around and parking.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Suggest you visit the Escapees HDT forum.
LOTS of long, heavy 5th wheel owners there - lots of info & experience!

Escapees also has an MDT forum.

Length is *NOT* reciprocal between states. "Getting away" with excess length may work "sometimes" - but when it doesn't you *WILL* be in a jam!

65 ft (combined length) max...:W

~

[B_O__Plenty]

What is this 50 ft. 3 br. fifth wheel you speak of? Never saw anything like that except for custom made $$$$ rigs.
B.O.

[MarkTwain]

khtims75 wrote:
Well, I think I have heard enough to know that the 50 footer is not going to be my option. I don't want to go through the hassle of maxing out my capacity and I certainly don't want to add this much to the inconveniences as I'm sure there will be many other inconveniences without having an oversized rig.

Thanks again everyone for your answers. You have quickly educated me against making a bad choice. 🙂

How many total people and what ages do you need to fit in your 5th. wheel? What kind of RVing are planning on doing? short trips? long 3 month trips? what parts of the country do you plan on RVing in? Where are you planning to spend your winters? As you answer these questions you will begin to get a more realistic picture of what your RV needs are realistically.

[Me_Again]

Lots of used tow haulers available with many having a second or half bath in the garage. Divide the garage into two bedrooms for the boys. Most are fine with a 350/3500 DRW TV.

They can close the door to the garage and have their "space"!

[khtims75]

Well, I think I have heard enough to know that the 50 footer is not going to be my option. I don't want to go through the hassle of maxing out my capacity and I certainly don't want to add this much to the inconveniences as I'm sure there will be many other inconveniences without having an oversized rig.

Thanks again everyone for your answers. You have quickly educated me against making a bad choice. 🙂

[Lwiddis]

A newbie starting out with a 50 foot 5er? That will be interesting to watch.

[mtofell1]

How much and how often are you planning on moving around? If not much, you might consider "destination trailers" or "park model" trailers. These are kind of between an RV and a manufactured home. They are mobile but not the kind of thing you'd want to haul around every weekend.

[smlranger]

Agree with the suggestion to check with New Horizons. They will build you what you want but it will be expensive. Also, their rigs are heavy so you will certainly be needing more than the F350. Most of the New Horizons I've seen are being towed by crew cab Freightliners.

[belairbrian]

The longest I've seen was a 53' custom built. We were in a state park that sites were first come first serve, but one was coned off, a pull through. Later the rig showed up. It was built on a moving van chassis. and pulled by a single axle tractor.

It was a traveling preacher with 6 kids. The thing had 3 bunk slides, a kitchen slide a a queen slide.

Talking to him he said he learned the hard way, to find a lot in town drop the trailer and drive through the park.He had gone into a park once and found out he couldn't make the turns for the trees. Had to back out.

So he had asked the park to hold the pull through while he went and got the trailer.

[stickdog]

If you have the cash check out New Horizons they build custom 5th wheels. If you go over 44ft you will limit your access to most public camp grounds.
You should Google 5wheel bunkhouses you may find something there, I do recall seeing some bunkhouse models that separate bunk spaces.

[romore]

An F-350/3500 will not legally or safely do what you want, you are in medium duty territory. Getting into some campgrounds and gas stations will be a challenge. You may also have to upgrade your driver's licence, check with your dmv. Maybe a class A would work better for you.

[khtims75]

JIMNLIN wrote:
States can have a vehicle length law on the books and same for a combination max length. My state is 42' for a RV and 68' for a combination.
I've yet to hear of anyone (rv folks) being pulled over for being over either max lengths.

A '17 F350 DRW has a 9900 rawr that will carry all the hitch load and other gear in the bed. Many owners report around 3500 lb unladin rear axle weight (actaul weight depends on scaled axle weights). This leaves approx 6k-6.5k lbs for a in the bed payload. Your gonna' have close to a max loaded truck.

Just for fodder.....Next truck up is the F450 cab/chassis with those big 11.5k-12k rawr numbers which will give you plenty of reserve load carrying capacity.

Thank you! And thank you to the others offering great opinions. I guess I will be topping out the F350. I will consider the Dodge... OR F450.. Ugh. Maybe going smaller is really the solution here and give up some comforts. This was a really good discussion so far.

[MarkTwain]

khtims75 wrote:

gbopp wrote:
I've never owned a 5th wheel so I can't help with your questions.
I am curious, what will you use to tow the large 5th wheel you are considering?

The truck we are planning on buying is a 2017 or newer Ford F350 Diesel Dually. The 50' has a 21,000 lb capacity so it should work out great.

Right size truck but choose a Dodge diesel truck with an exhaust brake. I would then add a Transfer Flow auxiliary fuel tank 60 to 80 gallon tank??????.

[JIMNLIN]

States can have a vehicle length law on the books and same for a combination max length. My state is 42' for a RV and 68' for a combination.
I've yet to hear of anyone (rv folks) being pulled over for being over either max lengths.

A '17 F350 DRW has a 9900 rawr that will carry all the hitch load and other gear in the bed. Many owners report around 3500 lb unladin rear axle weight (actaul weight depends on scaled axle weights). This leaves approx 6k-6.5k lbs for a in the bed payload. Your gonna' have close to a max loaded truck.

Just for fodder.....Next truck up is the F450 cab/chassis with those big 11.5k-12k rawr numbers which will give you plenty of reserve load carrying capacity.