Christopher Hodapp - RVs & Campers For Dummies

Photograph courtesy of Christopher Hodapp

FIGURE 2-10:The distinctive overhanging design of a fifth-wheel trailer requires a special kind of hitch mounted in the bed of a pickup truck or other utility truck.

What puts a trailer into the fifth-wheel category is its unusual shape and towing method. Instead of the usual trailer chassis and frame that hooks on a hitch at the back end of your car, SUV, or truck, the front end of a fifth wheel stretches its neck out and hangs over the top of a truck bed. And instead of the usual trailer hitch with a ball on it mounted below the rear bumper that most trailers use, a fifth-wheel utilizes a king pin hitch , a large metal bracket mounted in the middle of the truck bed itself, to more evenly spread the weight of the trailer into the center of the truck. What this means is, you must pull a fifth wheel with a pickup truck, and usually a heavy-duty one.

Of course, if you decide to buy a different truck a few years down the line, your dream trailer goes right on being your home on the road. That’s not the case with a motorhome, where your RV is your truck, and vice versa.

A different option is available for fifth-wheel RVers if a pickup truck seems too limiting for your taste. Freightliner, International, Peterbilt, and others make 2-ton diesel towing trucks that resemble a small semi. These unusual trucks have a low deck in the back made just for towing fifth wheels (or horse and livestock trailers with gooseneck hitches). Companies like SportChassis and Utility Body Werks take these trucks and further customize them inside and out. Depending on how far into the deep end you wade with options, these are the luxury Cadillacs of the tow vehicle world, often costing well over $100,000 and frequently closer to $150,000. But you’ll have a truly one-of-a-kind towing vehicle and an impressive rig. We talk a whole lot more about tow vehicles and options in Chapter 7.

In return for being forced to buy a special truck just to haul a fifth wheel, what you get are the largest possible travel trailers on the market. Manufacturers stress wide-open spaces in fifth-wheel trailers. The large living spaces, better insulation, residential-grade appliances, and other luxury amenities of a fifth wheel make them the top choice for full-timers. If you travel with lots of family and friends or you’re expecting lots of houseguests, a fifth wheel is probably your best choice. They can typically sleep 8 to 12 people.

The largest fifth wheels are 45 feet long and as tall as the tallest motorhomes. Even though they have a head start in the square footage department, most fifth wheels also have multiple slides that dramatically increase the living spaces even more when they’re fully opened at the campsite — having five slides on a fifth wheel is not uncommon.

The raised, gooseneck portion of the interior is reached by a short staircase inside and is commonly a large master bedroom suite with loads of closet space, or a spacious split-level living room area.

Fifth wheels are available with countless options and decors. Depending on your needs and wants, you can get full-size appliances, washers and dryers, electric fireplaces, home theater seating, big-screen TVs, multiple bedrooms, plenty of sleeping options, and lots more. The area inside the unique overhanging upper deck up front is reached by a short set of stairs and is generally used for a roomy master bedroom suite with loads of closet space or a spacious split-level living room area. And because your towing vehicle is not built-in as it is with a motorhome, your RV money is spent on the trailer itself.

Unlike with a motorhome, passengers can’t ride inside a moving trailer. That means if you have a large family or a gaggle of fellow vacationers with you, passengers are limited to how many can fit inside your towing vehicle, or they have to follow in a separate car.

For safety-conscious owners, it’s a comfort that modern trucks are engineered with the latest air bags and anti-collision warning systems, whereas a comparably sized Class A motorhome probably won’t have any of these.

Of course, the RV world being the RV world, someone out there built a very different sort of fiver, the Scamp fifth wheel, tiny and adorable, which can be towed by just about any truck. If nothing else, it proved that a fiver can still give you all sorts of options.

If you already own a pickup truck or like the all-in-one convenience of a motorhome but you don’t like the price tags, a truck camper (sometimes called a truck cap or a camper shell ) may be just the right solution. Once the favorite weekend solution for hunters and fishermen, truck campers are getting more popular as entry-level units for new or single campers.

Essentially, a truck camper is an RV shell that is plopped into the back end of an existing pickup truck bed and rides piggyback (see Figure 2-11). They’re extremely versatile because they can be easily removed and left behind when your camping trip is over, returning your truck to its normal, daily uses.

Photograph courtesy of Christopher Hodapp

FIGURE 2-11:A truck camper or camper shell slides on and off of your pickup truck, and may be just the entry-level RV for you.

The better camper units have hydraulic lift jacks that flip down and extend to the ground; these jacks raise and lower the shell to install or remove it from the back of the truck. Push the button, and the shell is lifted high enough to clear the tailgate end of the truck. After the shell is on the back of the truck, tie-down straps, brackets, and turnbuckles are used to secure the shell from falling out on the road or bouncing around. Less-expensive models use a manual cranking system to do the lifting and lowering.

You can buy a new truck camper for as little as $6,000, but they can run well over $50,000 depending on the options and features you want. The biggest ones extend over the top of the truck’s cab like a Class C’s cab-over hump, and these days some even have a slide to increase the usable interior space after you’re parked. An interesting variation is made by Northstar Campers ( www.northstarcampers.com ) — its truck camper incorporates a pop-up roof.

The most useful truck campers have a kitchenette with a sink, refrigerator, cooktop and microwave, dinette table, and enough seats for everybody; a toilet with at least a privacy curtain; and even a shower. You get many of the same amenities you’d find in any other trailer, including a furnace and a water heater powered by propane (technically, liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG), as well as an air conditioner. Typically designed for two people, some truck campers’ convertible places allow you to sleep as many as four. (A handful of designs claim to sleep six, but that’s unlikely unless at least four of them are under the age of 10.)

Pay close attention to the total loaded weight of any camper shell you’re interested in, along with the maximum loaded capacity of your truck. The heaviest campers combined with four people and their belongings piled into the truck itself may be more than your average light-duty quarter-ton pickup can handle. You may have to step up to a half-ton pickup to safely haul the truck camper of your dreams.