Fifth wheel campers: 3 things to know before you tow

There are many considerations when deciding whether a 5th-wheel camper is the right choice for you and your traveling companions. Some are designed spaciously, with plenty of room to spread your legs even with a large party, while others are more appropriate for solo trips or off-roading. Many include a “second story” where you’ll find additional sleeping or storage space and most offer bathrooms, kitchens, living spaces, and more. 

Whatever you choose, here are 3 things you should know before you set out in a 5th wheel camper. 

1. Your truck’s towing capacity

While many camping trailers can be towed with an equipped car, van, or SUV, a fifth-wheel camper requires a pickup truck. Arguably the most important consideration when you set out on a trip in a fifth-wheel camper, you’ll definitely want to check, double-check, and triple-check that the weight of your camper does not exceed your truck’s capacity. 

To determine the towing capacity of your truck, you can start with its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). GVWR represents the maximum loaded weight of your vehicle according to the manufacturer. You’ll find this number in your owner’s manual, or if you’ve misplaced the manual, you can do a quick search online. It’s recommended to give yourself a buffer of about 20% of the trailer’s weight to ensure the safety of the trailer. 

If you are a heavy packer, planning a long trip, or require weighty equipment that will need to be stored in your camper, remember to include this additional weight in the total packed weight of your camper and make sure that it doesn’t exceed what your truck is capable of. Overloading your truck can lead to damage to the vehicle, the camper, or accidents. 

For the best experience, consider the truck and the fifth wheel as a combination and match the capabilities of your truck with the weight of the fifth-wheel camper. If you already own a truck, make sure you buy or rent a fifth wheel that falls within its towing capacity. 

2. Type of hitch and how to use it

You’ll also need a fifth-wheel hitch to provide a link between your trailer and towing truck. The name, “fifth-wheel,” actually refers to the U-shaped coupling you’ll find mounted onto the cargo bed of your tow truck. This hitch is attached to the truck’s rear axle, which provides a stronger and safer experience. You’ll notice that the configuration is very similar to those seen on over-the-road tractors used to haul commercial sem-trailers. 

Some hitches are permanently mounted in the pickup truck’s bed, while others can be removed to free up space. There are hundreds of hitch models to fit your truck, bed length, and trailer weight needs, and the fifth wheel coupling locks onto the truck with a pin-box on the front of the trailer. Like the truck’s towing capacity, you’ll also want to double-and-triple-check that your hitch can handle the load: most fifth-wheel hitches can handle up to 12 tons, but don’t just assume that yours can handle this weight without checking!

Give yourself plenty of time and practice (and patience!) when you first hook your fifth-wheel camper up to your truck. We recommend using a spotter and/or a rear-view camera to ensure that you’re aligned as you back your truck into place. To start, you’ll want to raise or lower the trailer to at or slightly beneath your hitch height. You’ll then back the truck up slowly until the kingpin on the trailer pin box slides into the coupling. Verify that the hitch pin is securely fastened by the hitch jaws, and then lock the hitch handle using a pin or padlock before you attach the emergency breakaway cable to your truck bed and raise the trailer jacks out of the way. 

3. Your combined vehicles’ sizes

We talked about how important it is to know the weight of your camper compared with the towing capacity of your truck, but it’s also important to know the combined weight of your truck and fifth-wheel camper before you hit the road. If you are planning to travel to rural areas or places with limited access points, the roads and bridges you encounter may have weight limits that will keep you from enjoying your travels if you don’t plan ahead. 

It’s also important for you to know the full height of your truck-plus-fifth-wheel camper setup. Remember that adding on that extra height might put you over height limits for tunnels on some routes or destinations, or it may limit your ability to park in certain areas. If you regularly drive your towing truck, it’s easy to become accustomed to its normal height and forget and pull into a heavily wooded area only to find tree boughs shredding on the roof of your camper, and no one wants that. 

Similarly, make sure you are aware of the length of your setup. As someone who regularly drives a pickup, you are likely already used to using your side and rear-view mirrors to merge or change lanes, but these mirrors don’t let you see all the way around your much-longer camper. It’s worth it to consider purchasing mirror extensions to see the sides of your fifth-wheel RV. It’s also important to know how long your setup is so that you aren’t blindsided by undersized campsites on a big trip. Some sites are built with large Class As or fifth-wheel campers in mind, while others cater to much smaller campers, if at all. 

You’ll want to thoroughly research your camping destination, plan your route around possible size issues, and plan ahead. 

Interested in a fifth-wheel camper or towing truck?

It’s a tough decision to find the right fifth-wheel camper and towing truck for your unique needs. That’s why Transwest’s friendly and knowledgeable staff is always available to help you choose from the highest quality fifth-wheel campers, trucks, (and more) made by top manufacturers. Find a location near you today, or shop our online inventory and let our experts help you find the perfect fifth-wheel setup to put some miles on, starting today.