Travel Trailer or 5th Wheel

simmsjs Said:
...... One downfall to me is there is absolutely no room iin the box once the 5th wheele hitch is in...........

To start with, more than likely you'll need a slider hitch. What I don't know is if you're truck can accomidate a slider??? Is it the really short box (5ftr) or the 6.5ftr??

The thing about Fifthwheels is they are inhearetly very pin heavy. Typically 20% of total wieght sits on the pin over the axle of the truck. so an 8000lb FW (usually a 26ft or so) would normally have about 1600lbs pin weight, now don't forget about how much coolers, firewood, yourself, your passengers, and all the junk a person drags with them all weighs. It all adds up. So if your camper puts 1600lbs in the bed and all your junk adds another 500lbs you'll be up around 2100lbs. The rear axle weight is likely around 2500lbs so your at 5200lbs over the rear axle. The question is, Is you rear axle rate to handle this weight and equally important are you tires heavy enough???

There's alot of IFs and to tell you an ansewer we'd need to know the type, brand, size, and loaded weight of the camper and the truck. We'd also need to know the brand and size of tires on your truck and also the engine size, gearing, year, make, model. There's lots more to this than just hooken it up.

Does anyone have experience with installing a fifth  wheel plate in a 5 1/2 foot box?  Considering the rule of thumb is 52 inches from the rear glass for clearance, it seems impossible (even with a slider available for the really tight corners), but there are extended pin boxes as I understand.  I think Ford was foolish for putting the 5 1/2 footer on the Supercrew, but I was probably equally foolish for buying it that way.