Why Buying A Fifth Wheel Makes Sense

Fifth wheels are taking over America – and why not? They’re spacious, luxurious, and easy to tow. See if you and your rig are ready to hitch one up…

Fifth wheel RVs are invading American roads at a record clip, and it’s easy to see why. Owners appreciate the smooth towing experience and countless luxurious features like full-size appliances, high ceilings, and space-enhancing slide outs.

Travel trailers will forever rule the road among RVers, thanks to the broader number of vehicles that can tow them… but fifth wheels are making their move. Last year, fifth wheel sales growth outpaced travel trailers 8.9% to 8.7% year-over-year, while reaching 44% sales growth this January – compared to 40% for travel trailers.

The sheer numbers behind U.S. towable sales are borderline remarkable, especially considering the economic toll caused by COVID in the past year. More than 298,000 travel trailers shipped to RV dealers in 2020, compared to 81,500 fifth wheels. What’s more, the RV industry expects to crush those numbers this year, making 2021 one of the highest sales years on record.

It’s true that fifth wheels are not for everyone. These vehicles are typically much larger than travel trailers, weighing somewhere between 8,000 to 20,000 pounds and stretching 27 to 40 feet long. That means, those who plan on towing one better have either a 3/4-ton truck for lighter fifth wheels, or a full-ton truck for average to large-sized fifth wheels. By comparison, some small travel trailers can be towed by cars and SUVs, with medium and large trailers usually handled by 1/2-ton trucks.

The Pros Outweigh the Cons

The benefits of fifth wheel ownership are numerous – especially if you plan on spending a lot of time on the road or even living in your trailer. For these folks, the key word is spaciousness.

Some units feature up to five and even six slide outs, offering more interior square footage than some New York City apartments (and better full-size appliances). Ceiling heights also average between 8 to 10 feet, which is a blessing for tall travelers who crane their necks to fit in smaller travel trailers.

And of course, the chief benefit of fifth wheel ownership is ease of towing. It’s much simpler to connect a trailer to the bed-mounted fifth wheel hitch because the driver can see what they’re doing without the need for cameras and other gizmos.

Driving also feels far more stable with the fifth wheel’s weight centered between the rear axle and truck cab. This design means reduced sway and a better turning radius compared to towing a travel trailer.

Before you purchase a fifth wheel or break your unit out of storage for the season, it’s worth brushing up on your towing capacity know-how to ensure maximum safety before loading up. Below are two helpful guides from The Engine Block, and one useful breakdown from hitch leader CURT Manufacturing to get you started.

• Tow Ratings Are Not As Straightforward As You Think
• Calculating Your Vehicle’s Towing Capacity
• Tow Capacity 101 and Visual Glossary from CURT

CURT also has fifth wheel owners covered for their hitch and accessory needs. Ensure you’re properly geared up with these products before you hit the road in 2021.

PowerRide 30K Fifth Wheel Hitch

Are you all-in on the fifth wheel life? CURT’s PowerRide 30K hitch can easily handle the largest of fifth wheel trailers. It features a 30,000-pound fully tested rating, a cast head with multi-directional tilt, an easy-to-use self-resetting handle, enhanced portability, and no welding or fabricating required for installation.

The hitch has a cast steel body for mega strength and operating precision, and it uses two interlocking jaws to fully wrap the kingpin for less chucking. To ensure long-lasting use, the fifth wheel head is equipped with a durable wear indicator. This feature also contributes to smoother towing, and eliminates the need for messy grease or a lube plate.

The hitch also offers strategically placed grip points for a comfortable, confident hold when lifting. Additionally, the PowerRide is thoroughly tested to SAE J2638 specifications for safety.

This bad boy should hit the market in early summer 2021.

Q25 Sliding Fifth Wheel Hitch

Got a whole lot of truck but not a lot of truck bed? CURT’s Q25 Sliding hitch takes the worry out short-bed towing by offering 12-inches of displacement – unlike the more common 10 inches – to give you a wide range of motion and plenty of space to get your RV around any turn.

The spherical axial bearing of the Q25 offers free movement of the head, allowing it to tilt in any direction. Once coupled to the kingpin, the head pivots and angles with your fifth wheel trailer. It also uses a pair of dual-locking jaws to completely wrap the kingpin and ensure a secure vehicle-trailer connection. To make the Q25 even quieter, it comes with three grease fittings and a polyethylene lube plate for optimum lubrication.

CURT fifth wheel sliders are true rolling units, meaning they roll on actual wheels that bear the weight of the trailer rather than simply sliding on hollow rods. With a thick operating handle, the roller smoothly rolls the fifth wheel head forward and back, locking securely into each position as desired.

Constructed from strong carbon steel and rigorously tested for safety in accordance with SAE J2638, the Q25 hitch is also coated in a black carbide powder coat finish to protect against rust and wear.

BetterWeigh Mobile Towing Scale

The biggest stress in hauling large loads is figuring out how much your cargo weighs. Obtaining these measurements in the past has been difficult, requiring trips to the scale, a tape measure, pen and paper. These challenges lead to infrequent and inconsistent measurements, leaving drivers to make assumptions about what they tow.

The BetterWeigh Mobile Towing Scale is a marvel of modern engineering and here to help eliminate all that guesswork. It wirelessly connects to your Apple or Android phone to display the weight of the vehicle, trailer, cargo, payload, tongue weight, weight distribution, and trailer brake gain. It’s also ideal for fifth wheel and gooseneck towing, quickly and easily measuring the pin weight.

BetterWeigh is powered by TowSense technology, equipped with Bluetooth, and has virtually no installation requirements. It’s as easy as plugging the device into your diagnostic OBD-II port below the steering wheel, pairing to your smartphone through the BetterWeigh app, and entering your vehicle’s VIN to calibrate the device. Using an accelerometer circuit, TowSense measures changes in the velocity and pitch of your vehicle, and uses that data to calculate weights associated with towing and hauling.

Extended View Tow Mirror

The CURT extended view tow mirror does just what its name suggests: it extends your view when towing. Quickly mounting on your side mirror, the tow mirror instantly adds 5 – 7.5 inches to your mirror, opening up your view behind your vehicle and minimizing blind spots.

Also, because the tow mirror is fully adjustable, it does not merely make your side mirror larger, but it pivots, angles and rotates to give you the perfect view you need to see around that extra-large load and safely tow to your destination.

The CURT tow mirror is extremely versatile, being able to mount onto any mirror between 4- and 11-inches tall. This makes it a useful extension for fifth wheel owners.

Because of the extended view tow mirror’s versatile design and fully articulating head, it can be used on either the driver side or passenger side, whichever is more useful for your towing setup. It can also be positioned vertically or horizontally. For added visibility and safety while towing, the CURT extended view tow mirror is a lifesaver.

Custom Wiring Extension Harness

As with any trailer, fifth wheel RVs must be properly wired for lighting and electrical. However, these vehicles tend to require more complex connectors than a standard receiver-type trailer setup.

The CURT fifth wheel extension harness makes this simple. These wiring harnesses are designed to put an extra connector socket in the bed of the truck, while still retaining power to the rear connector socket mounted to the bumper. The unit plugs into the back of the existing original equipment (OEM) harness and routes through the body of the truck to a hole in the truck bed, providing a connector that is ready to accommodate the fifth wheel trailer.

CURT’s extension harnesses work with seven-way RV blade connectors and come in lengths of 7 and 10 feet.

Check out more great towing products at www.curtmfg.com