Fifth wheel towing advantages vs more living space

[Mike G]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but a person sleeping in a 5.0 upstairs bed can’t just move his legs out to the side of the bed and stand up, can they? This would seem like a great inconvenience, having to crawl to the foot of the bed in order to get up. With bumper pull trailers, I can simply swing my legs out of bed and stand up straight. I think this is probably the #1 reason why I’ve never seriously contemplated any 5th wheel. (Obviously it isn’t a deal breaker for any of you who own a 5.0! Different strokes for different folks.)

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Mike G

With bumper pull trailers, I can simply swing my legs out of bed and stand up straight. I think this is probably the #1 reason why I’ve never seriously contemplated any 5th wheel. (Obviously it isn’t a deal breaker for any of you who own a 5.0! Different strokes for different folks.)

Can't do it with a 21' C either. It's also a crawl-to-the-end-to-stand-up-bed. You really need to say "... with some bumper pull trailers..." The biggest difference is neither build requires anyone to crawl over a bed partner to stand up.

[TahoeJoe]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

In 2011 just prior to retiring at the end of January, I sold my A-liner and ordered a Scamp 19. That was admittedly a big mistake; the quality control of Scamp is, in my experience, highly questionable. I purchased a 2012 F-150 (Silver, though I really wanted white) to tow it. Because I wanted to store camping equipment in a cross bed toolbox so I wouldn’t have to load it for every trip, I got a Super Cab rather than the Crew Cab. In 2014, I sold the Scamp (one of the happiest days of my life) and ordered a 5.0TA. In 2015, I traded the F-150 because I still wanted a white truck and I thought that by going from a 3.5L EcoBoost to a 2.7L EcoBoost and from a steel to an aluminum body I would get a big increase in fuel efficiency. The big increase turned out to be .1 extra mile per gallon. I am now on my third F-150 because lightning fried the electronics in my 2015, and I have gone back to the 3.5 L engine. All three F-150 were Supercabs with a 6.5-foot bed. I have always transported an Extend and Climb ladder under the toolbox, 2 or 3 camping chairs, a milk carton with a 20-lbs propane cylinder, and sometimes a small Clam shelter beside or behind the 5th Wheel hitch. Since 2012, I have had passengers in the back seat of the truck on exactly two occasions, and both times were for short trips from the campsite. The point I am making is that when towing, my entire back seat is storage. I do not feel that I have sacrificed any cargo carrying capacity because of the 5th Wheel hitch. And I have a fold-up aluminum cargo rack on the back of the trailer should I need it. I often hear I would have bought a 5.0TA but I didn’t want to give up outside storage space. I consider the back seat of the truck outside storage space that stays dry in periods of inclement weather. So when I hear the line about losing cargo space I chuckle to myself. The ceiling height, the separate sleeping area, and not having to crawl over one’s partner far outweigh the loss of outside space argument for me.

I hear you about the truck bed, you're not the first to tell me that, so I should not consider that a major loss with the 5.0.
I would figure it out. But as for the back of the cab...I've got the Ram Megacab, the biggest in the industry, so you'd think I'd have lots of storage back there when towing. But you would be wrong, cause you know what's back there? My 2 huge canine kids and their beds!

I agree with you on the separate sleeping area and the ease of getting out of bed, I focused on that a lot when I saw it in person. But that's also a reason I'm interested in the 23, which will also have both of those features...

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Mike G

Correct me if I’m wrong, but a person sleeping in a 5.0 upstairs bed can’t just move his legs out to the side of the bed and stand up, can they? This would seem like a great inconvenience, having to crawl to the foot of the bed in order to get up. With bumper pull trailers, I can simply swing my legs out of bed and stand up straight. I think this is probably the #1 reason why I’ve never seriously contemplated any 5th wheel. (Obviously it isn’t a deal breaker for any of you who own a 5.0! Different strokes for different folks.)

Not if you're the one who has to do the crawl over, or on the outside wall of the 21.

At 71 I have no problem getting out of our queen bed without waking Terry.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Bea]

Hey TahoeJoe, We have a 21c and it tows rock solid behind our TV (with a WDH). I'm also grateful for our 21's height for when I wash & wax it. I can reach all the areas on the top with our 8 ft ladder and that's important to me cuz I like to rinse or wash it after each trip. According to the website, the 23 will be about the same height as the 21.

On the other hand, the 5.0 is about a foot taller (than the 21 and 23), so that would be a bit more challenging for me to reach and clean/wax the highest section/part of a 5.0. This is a small thing...and probably not a deal breaker either way...just a heads up in the maintenance department. -Bea

[Doug2000]

Well we bought the 2020 19. It seems a little harder getting out of the bed than the 17B was, maybe I'm getting old. At the time, we were buying a new truck and a new trailer. I got an amazing deal on the Tundra, brand new for $34K Cad (about $25K US) and we couldn't find a used 5.0TA, so we ordered a new 19, buying the fifth was to far a stretch at the time.

I hind sight, having to crawl out of bed or do the crawl over will get old, we will likely buy the Escape 5.0TA down the road.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Bea

Hey TahoeJoe, We have a 21c and it tows rock solid behind our TV (with a WDH). I'm also grateful for our 21's height for when I wash & wax it. I can reach all the areas on the top with our 8 ft ladder and that's important to me cuz I like to rinse or wash it after each trip. According to the website, the 23 will be about the same height as the 21.

On the other hand, the 5.0 is about a foot taller (than the 21 and 23), so that would be a bit more challenging for me to reach and clean/wax the highest section/part of a 5.0. This is a small thing...and probably not a deal breaker either way...just a heads up in the maintenance department. -Bea

But with the 5.0 model you can lower the front easily when needed, correct?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

But with the 5.0 model you can lower the front easily when needed, correct?

You’re correct, Jim. I typically refer to it as “having the trailer kneel down.”

[wdr2]

We bought the 21 instead of the 5.0 as we often take our canoe along on top of our pickup shell. The design of the 21 works well for us.

[TahoeJoe]

Originally Posted by wdr2

We bought the 21 instead of the 5.0 as we often take our canoe along on top of our pickup shell. The design of the 21 works well for us.

Another good point to consider...I've been looking at pickup shells with racks (to replace my bed tri-fold cover) to carry paddleboard and surfboards, which were formerly carried on top of my trailer

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by TahoeJoe

Another good point to consider...I've been looking at pickup shells with racks (to replace my bed tri-fold cover) to carry paddleboard and surfboards, which were formerly carried on top of my trailer

I've had caps on multiple pickups over the years and grew to hate them. I guess my view is that if you put a cap on a pickup you might as well just get an SUV.

Love my tri-fold bed cover. I just use removable hoops to carry two kayaks. Easy to remove, or not. And the rear is fully functional as a pick up.

Ron

[TahoeJoe]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I've had caps on multiple pickups over the years and grew to hate them. I guess my view is that if you put a cap on a pickup you might as well just get an SUV.

Love my tri-fold bed cover. I just use removable hoops to carry two kayaks. Easy to remove, or not. And the rear is fully functional as a pick up.

Ron

Those hoops are cool, what brand are those?

[Raider47]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I've had caps on multiple pickups over the years and grew to hate them. I guess my view is that if you put a cap on a pickup you might as well just get an SUV.

I agree. Crawling into a truck bed to load or unload is terrible.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I've had caps on multiple pickups over the years and grew to hate them. I guess my view is that if you put a cap on a pickup you might as well just get an SUV.

The difference is separation of the passenger and cargo compartments, which is desirable to some people.

For towing the issue can be wheelbase: the shortest pickup wheelbase is typically similar to the longest SUV wheelbase in the same model line. For example, the Expedition maximum wheelbase is 122.5" or 3,112 mm; F-150 minimum for a cab/box combination that no one buys is 122.4" or 3,109 mm and the common combinations are 145.0" or 3,683 mm.

The other "enclosed cargo" solution is a van, but traditional vans have an annoying "doghouse" for the engine and modern vans are not optimized for towing. Still, some tow travel trailers with vans and find they work well... our Sienna works well for a trailer the weight of an Escape 17'.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Raider47

I agree. Crawling into a truck bed to load or unload is terrible.

I agree, too. Both SUVs (station wagons) and vans fix the access problem by having side doors.

[Fox hunt]

i think the 5.0 tows really well also much easier to hook up i hated hooking up my bumper pull with the heavy stabilizer bars. I love the light Anderson hitch with turn over ball attachment allowing me to have a completely flat truck bed when not hauling. Great set up -my F150 2.7 short bed truck hauls it easily .

[luvlabs]

Originally Posted by padlin

You missed another reason people go with a bumper pull over the fifth wheel, to use the bed of the truck for purposes other then a hitch. They do not want to give up their truck bed.

When we toured a 5.0 TA (thanks, Cliff!), we were very impressed with the amount of storage. We believe that we will need very little if any of the truck bed (we do have a crew cab in our F-150 for added space) to put stuff in. Most everything we take will be able to be stored on board the trailer! Our biggest draw to a 5th wheel is the ability for one of us to sleep in while the other can have their morning coffee at the table.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by luvlabs

“You missed another reason people go with a bumper pull over the fifth wheel, to use the bed of the truck for purposes other then a hitch. They do not want to give up their truck bed.”

When we toured a 5.0 TA (thanks, Cliff!), we were very impressed with the amount of storage. We believe that we will need very little if any of the truck bed (we do have a crew cab in our F-150 for added space) to put stuff in. Most everything we take will be able to be stored on board the trailer! Our biggest draw to a 5th wheel is the ability for one of us to sleep in while the other can have their morning coffee at the table.

We find there's so much more storage space in the 5.0TA than we had in the old single axle 5. We've not used it all so don't worry about having to carry much in the truck, anyway I need to watch payload on truck since I have heavy B&W Patriot hitch and only 1484 lb. payload.

We like the fact there's no crawl over although we've not experienced doing that since camping with our kids in a 13 foot stickie. I (Adrian) usually get up earlier and can sit in dinette and not disturb Beth.

As far as losing truck bed space, once we've camped the last time in the fall the hitch comes out leaving only the rails so I've plenty of room for whatever I need to haul.

[TahoeJoe]

Well...it may end up that my 23 vs 5.0 decision is made easier for me, as my eagerness to get a trailer sooner rather than later encounters the new inventory process. I did place a deposit for a 5.0 with a completion date of Nov 2022 (earliest date = Feb 2022), with the caveat that if I like what I see in the final 23 reveal, I'd try to snag one of those 2021 slots. I knew that the inventory process was also in the works, but wasn't sure exactly how it would work or when. Those details were released yesterday, and I'm very happy with the process and also that it is happening so soon...starting this coming week! Long tory short: I'll be watching these units coming out every week, and if I see a 5.0 I like I'm going for it! I'd be stoked to be back in an RV before the summer...