gitane59
Ontario, Can
Senior Member
Joined: 02/21/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
When making a tight right-hand turn trying to stay in one's lane can be a challenge. One hint is to ensure you start from the left most side of the lane on the road you are turning off. Pull straight forward as far as possible but not into the oncoming lane and turn your TV tightly/sharply to the right and the trialer will follow around behind you
Remember that a fifthwheel always follows your TV arc closer to the inside of the turn.
I find that since I got my long box TV I never worry about hitting my cab corners when I am turning corners any more much tighter and as a result I am making much squarer turns and even though I am pulling over 35ft I can turn from one lane and pretty well always stay within one lane after the right turn.
* This post was
edited 07/29/10 04:24am by gitane59 *
Pictures of Newmar Renovation
|
me2
Wherever
Senior Member
Joined: 04/20/2006
View Profile
 Offline
|
We went from a 32 foot fiver to a Chaparral 355, which is 40 feet from nose to (modified) rear bumper. Its 42 feet to the back of the rack I added. Overall (truck and trailer) we are 55' 2" bumper to bumper and 57' 6" bumper to rack.
The length really doesn't make much difference.
The height, however, does. In really bad side winds the new trailer moves the truck around more. Its not that bad though. I have driven in several wind storms and by the time I'm not liking it, neither are people driving cars and minivans. When it gets that windy, its time to stop.
The weight also makes a difference on the mountain passes. Before I never dropped into 2nd gear. Now it happens rarely. That also might have something to do with running larger tires on my truck and a corresponding 8% drop in RPM.
Tomorrow I am hooking my boat behind my trailer. We'll be 73 feet long. No more backing up with the trailer. Luckily the boat and trailer are very light, about 500 pounds. I can easily unhook the boat and wheel it around by hand if I need to.
The rack on my trailer also folds up, but I have to unload the stuff from it first.
|
cKarlGo
Alexandria, VA
Senior Member
Joined: 04/21/2003
View Profile
|
johnrbd wrote:More important than length is floorplan. We a 30-32 ft floorplan you like then find a 35 ft in similar floorplan and see where the 3 ft difference comes into play. Towing wise you may not even notice the difference. As with any towed vehicle, you quickly learn not to cut ANY corners, especially right turn, go as deep as possible into intersection before beginning you turn, and don't rush it.
I agree totally! Pay close attention to the space at the sides of the bed and in front of the closet. Being a full figured sort of guy, I rapidly discovered how much difference 6 inches on the sides of the bed and at it's foot can make. Also, standard doors on hinges rock. My old unit had one of those slide doors in the bedroom and that ate into the space even more.
I just went from 33 to 35 and added a slide. It's amazing how much difference it makes.
---------
k.
2011 Montana Mountaineer 326RLT
2010 Chevy 3500
2007 Black Lab/Pitt Bull mix named Harley
|
slomark
San Luis Obispo, CA
Full Member
Joined: 04/09/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
We use the CA State parks, and the three additional feet is a deal breaker. Our 30'er barely makes the turning radius when backing into some sites. It really depends on where you'll be going.
|
Vulcaneer
Northern New England
Senior Member
Joined: 10/17/2007
View Profile
|
IWally wrote:Hi All,
Assuming one has the power to tow the weight and do not exceed wheelbase criteria ..
Maybe you should tell us what year and model your truck is. Without that info, we are just guessing at your limits. And the info we provide could be misleading.
It's not the trucks power or the wheelbase that is important to your question. It's the cargo carrying capacity of the truck. A 30 to 32 foot trailer probably weighs in at 11,000 pounds. And a 3/4 ton truck might handle that weight OK. But a 34-35 foot trailer could weigh 14,000 pounds or more. With that weight you might be way overweight for Cargo Carrying Capacity with a 3/4T truck. And could be in dually territory. And maybe a diesel at that.
If you have the truck to handle a 35 foot, 14,000 pound trailer, the extra few feet won't be a problem towing. But could be a challenge in getting into some camp grounds/sites. And many state parks could be off limits for the larger trailer.
2006 F350 V10 4X4 SC SB SRW 4.30 22,500 GCWR
2011 Open Range 393RLS 14,250 GVWR
Pullrite Super Glide 18K
Super Duty, Super Cab, SuperGlide
|
|
|
texasjayco
Texas Hill Country - west of Austin
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
We recently went from a 35' to a 40' and really didn't notice a big difference. I was surprised at how much more cross-winds effect it with just 5 more feet.
Mark
2010 Sierra 355 QBQ
2011 Ford F-350 Lariat Diesel Dually
PIC OF BOTH
My home town
|
cKarlGo
Alexandria, VA
Senior Member
Joined: 04/21/2003
View Profile
|
Vulcaneer wrote:
If you have the truck to handle a 35 foot, 14,000 pound trailer, the extra few feet won't be a problem towing. But could be a challenge in getting into some camp grounds/sites. And many state parks could be off limits for the larger trailer.
You are exactly right. There's a SC state park that I love near Lancaster, but I cannot go to it with my new unit. The old one (33') would barely squeak through. There's not way the 35' one would make it. At least, I'd not be willing to try it.
They need to lose 3 trees in that park in order to make it friendlier to large rigs, especially when it's packed there.
|
IWally
flyover
New Member
Joined: 07/01/2010
View Profile
Offline
|
Great comments, thanks to all. I must say this all has been an education and this forum sure has a lot of nice folks!
In our case the 34-35' trailer I was looking at (and desire) was about 11300# which our SRW diesel F250 can handle ( incl generous cargo/hitch/body-weight allowances) .. but .. I think we're going to end up going with something smaller for several reasons. BTW I would consider 14000# (dry) way out of bounds for my set up.
First, I'm going to trust what all y'all have been telling me about the length not be all that big a deal while towing. So on that score I'm willing to step up to the plate for my desired trailer.
However, getting back to the weight, although the weight is handled with an "adequate margin" (about 9.5% spare GVWR capacity) I don't really think it qualifies for "very-well-within-limits" or "no-sweat-whatsoever" which are perhaps better when you're talking about going up and down steep grades.
Regarding the SRW/DRW consideration I gave it some thought and decided that apart from spreading the load on the tires (well-within-limits in my case with the 35'r), there is an argument to be made for Dual Rear Wheels when the trailer gets to where it outweighs the truck by some considerable margin. Generally I would expect that if the trailer weighs up to 25% more it probably isn't a big (stability) problem (SRW-wise) but may become one as you climb above that ratio. Just a theory.
Second, well, we're newbies and we want to do some mountain climbing out west.
Third, the comments regarding fitting into campgrounds make a good point. Being new at this I kinda think it'll be better in the long run if we make it all as 'brainless' as possible - including less worry about which campgrounds we can fit in. Since we plan to roam around some I guess this means smaller. sigh
Now then, have I done a good job of convincing myself?
|
Ryanjb01
Syracuse, NY
Full Member
Joined: 08/17/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
I will be picking up our new Sundance 3300CK this Saturday. I am going up 5 feet in overall length and about 2000 pounds. I had the same questions, but decided to do it anyway. My biggest concern was fuel mpg decrease. Hopefully it wont be much.
Also, we are planning a trip out west next year, for a total of 4 weeks. Going to CA. Can't wait.
I have not been to any campgrounds yet that would have caused any issues for us. And most of our camping is local in NYS Campgrounds. Some are small sites.
I will let you know how I do after Saturday.
2008 Silverado 3500HD Dually Duramax Crew Cab 
2011 Sundance 3300CK(Picked up Auqust 7, 2010) = beautiful
Ryan, Marsha, Alyssa and Emily
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work" ~ Thomas Edison
|
me2
Wherever
Senior Member
Joined: 04/20/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
I am seeing a lot of big (33-35') fivers and many big toy haulers being pulled by SRW trucks.
On the Fords some of the 20 inch tires are rated at 3750 pounds each. I think that makes up for a bit of what dual rear wheels offer. Adding air bags also increases the spring rate. Part of the security that people talk about with a dually is the stiffer rear suspension.
|
|
|
