Want advice on operating a 5th wheeler

The Blackies · Member

Want advice on operating a 5th wheeler

vince56 · Senior Member

Hi Paul,
I"ve often thought that if I were to go 5th wheeler I would consider the F series utes from Ford, the larger models have dual wheel rear.
Cheers Vince

iana · Guru

I was considering a 5th wheeler at the start, and brought a Mazda 3.2 extra cab flat top ute. The idea being to get the hitch as far forward as possible so there was some load sharing with all the wheels. My main concerns with the fifth wheelers was the lack of storage space, you loose storage in the tug, and the van tends to have very little. Yes you probably will need stronger springs at the back. I ended up buying a caravan, the maker of the 5 wheeler wouldn't do the changes I wanted, and a caravan was half price for the same thing. Although secondhand 5 wheelers would be a buyers market ATM.

The Blackies · Member

Thanks again for your input. Paul

Yuglamron · Guru

A friend has a 36' Fifth Wheeler and tows with a 4x4 Ford F350. Cummins 7.3 litre diesel. Wanted to re-engine up to the 10.litre for better fuel economy but SWMBO said no.

Airbagged the rear of the 350 and also had the coupling air bagged.

Towed like a dream and he swears he got 38MPG across the Nullarbor going West on cruse at 110.kph.

The attached photo was taken in Esk Qld in 2013.

The owners third fifth wheeler. The tug is the 2103 F150 5.8 LITRE. (351) Common Rail diesel

Owner is from the well known Paw Paw ointment guy.

Saw the F150 at the Melbourne car show.

Was told by the sales team that towing his Fifth wheeler he should get under nine litres per 100 K on the trip to Qld from Melbourne. If he didn't he would get the vehicle free.

He got 9.1 and didn't claim the car.

Don't discount the bigger yank tanks running far less RPM than the usual tugs, Nissan,Toyota Mazda etc. Better running a bigger diesel at 1700 rpm than the others running at 2500 and above.

Some of the Iveco Tray backs are a good bet too.My two bobs worth.

Whatever way you go Enjoy the Playground when you get out there.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Light truck ( Isuzu, Mitzi etc) with long tray . Canopy up front . Plenty of storage with correct vehicle. Some have double cab .

wasn_me · Guru

Hi Blackies. Take a drive up the hill to Toowoomba & talk to the guys at Winjana RV. They've been building 5th wheelers for a long time. They have a big range of sizes & build to your requrement. They do one that only has storage over the gooseneck, no stars. They know their stuff re tow vehicles. Cheers Pete

daffyfrancis · Senior Member

There has been some discussion on another forum I subscribe to regarding a brand of 5th wheeler hitch that does not have ADR approval for over 3.5 ton so it would be prudent to research & make sure your choice of 5th wheeler hitch is Legal in AU.
David

diggerop · Senior Member

We have a 24ft 5th wheeler. As far as lack of storage for me is a total myth. We have more than enough storage in the van that we don't need the lost space on the back of the ute.

banjo · Senior Member

Light truck, as said previously, no weight carrying issues ever does the job admirably and half the cost of a yank tank !

We towed a 30' Truelux 5'er for 6.5 years full time with an Isuzu NPR275 no issues at all and returned an average of 20/22 litres/100.

Super reliable, service anywhere and parts reasonable and available everywhere.

And I'll add we had more storage than we could shake a stick at in the truelux. And a heap of extra in the truck storage locker.

PeterD · Guru

The Blackies wrote:
Paul & Orlean here, in our mid 70's; next 6 mths selling acreage property in Lockyer Valley Qld; going on the road permanently; decided on a 5th wheeler as our best option; not going off-road, but considering 4WD as tow vehicle to cover wet conditions. So, need advice on tow vehicle - looking at van of about 26 - 30 ft.. length.
(1) what would be approx. dead weight on the rear of tow vehicle
(2)considering tow vehicle Toyota/Nissan/Isuzu, diesel 6 cyl. 3.5 or 4.0 litre turbo; diesel for towing grunt and fuel efficiency
(3) what should we have to strengthen the rear suspension, and is this essential?
(4) what else do we need to know? - suggestions please

The suggestion to go and look at the Winjana range is a good one. If you are getting one of their models then a twin cab ute would be a good choice. Look at this page to see the tugs they suggest. If you are settling on a van 27' or smaller then there is a selection of twin cabs that will cope well.

1.. The pin weight of the 5th wheeler will vary. Download some specifications of the models you are interested in and check out the pin/hitch weight. Winjana's biggest model has a hitch weigh of 420 kg.

2.. The newer twin cab utes are much more efficient than the old antiquated lumps of cast iron that you are considering. They last well as well. My Disco tD5 ran over 260 km with plenty of towing and it was only a 2.5 litre motor.

3.. The only reason for upgrading the suspension of the tug is if you are going to overload it.

4.. Other suggestions - many of the manufacturefrs web sites have good suggestions as well as specifications for their vans.

Winjana - Travelhome - Macquarie 25 - Trailblazers RV -

Captain Ron · Veteran Member

The ATM of the van you choose will determine a lot. Under 4.5t you require electric brakes. Over 4.5t you need air brakes.

The pin weight (download on your hitch) of a 5er is 15-20% of your ATM and is included as payload. The tow vehicle needs sufficient GVM and GCM. Neither of these ratings can be exceeded.

If buying 2nd hand I thoroughly recommend using a 'vehicle compliance engineer' recommended by the Caravan Council of Australia.

Do your homework and research and verify everything you are told. Some authorities claim that up to 90% of RVs have some compliance issue and my research would tend to confirm this.

Good luck.

Chris61 · Senior Member

The Blackies wrote:
Paul & Orlean here, in our mid 70's; next 6 mths selling acreage property in Lockyer Valley Qld; going on the road permanently; decided on a 5th wheeler as our best option; not going off-road, but considering 4WD as tow vehicle to cover wet conditions. So, need advice on tow vehicle - looking at van of about 26 - 30 ft.. length.
(1) what would be approx. dead weight on the rear of tow vehicle
600kg approx
(2)considering tow vehicle Toyota/Nissan/Isuzu, diesel 6 cyl. 3.5 or 4.0 litre turbo; diesel for towing grunt and fuel efficiency
ATM of 3500kg, look for 25 ft with small slideout, 29ft with no slideout, look at DMax BT50 or similar
ATM of 4500kg, I would go Iveco 50C21 with 8speed auto and airbag rear suspension, but there are lots of options
(3) what should we have to strengthen the rear suspension, and is this essential?
I would add airbag to supplement leaf springs, no more than 25psi, others will disagree and say that they bust chassis. This may be correct if you overload

(4) what else do we need to know? - suggestions please
Do your research, listen to everyone, believe no one
If you buy USA 5th wheelers, make sure they are compliant, not many are. This is OK for first owner, but next owner must have them fully compliant
I would recommend a Travelhome for you to look at. I have a friend who may have a very good 29ft one and has an excellent Nissan Navara STX550 already setup for sale (he has upgraded ute only last week).
Best of luck with research
https://chrisanddiannesultimaadventure.wordpress.com/educational-links/weights-explained/
https://chrisanddiannesultimaadventure.wordpress.com/my-rig/2014-iveco-50c21/

Branchie · Senior Member

Hi Paul & Orlean. We own a Crossroads Cruiser 29ft, three slide outs and all the mod cons. We tow with a 2012 Chev Silverado 2500 LTZ.. The rigs are a breeze to tow, and are very stable on the road. I thin for memory my dead weight on the Chev is around 300+ KG

Ours is FULLY Australian Compliant. in fact it has just passed its Vehicle test for Qld, as we have just moved across from WA.

We are looking at selling our rig, which as I said is fully loaded with all the mod cons and extras, like Sat King Satalite dish, Smart TV, Wine fridge, Dishwasher, Leather recliner rockers, Twin 110 amp/hr Batteries, Front loader washing machine, 6 Brand New tires.. the list goes on.

If you are interested we are on 0418220449, my wife phone (Elaine)

Cheers

Branchie