What 5th wheel are YOU pulling?

[FutureTitanOwner]

it seems there at least a few out there with 5th wheel campers. I am starting my homework with the intention of getting a 5th wheel (and a pickup). I'd like to get the Crew cab (4dr) because of the growing kids and the reviews that praise the Titan.
can you good people post your stats?
king / crew cab.
2wd / 4wd
dry weight of 5th wheel.
final weight (if ever taken to the scale)
pin weight
type of receiver
mpg

I guess I'm most worried about the 5th wheel / crew cab combo. Just looked in the bed of one today, doesn't seem to be enough room (aren't the hitches supposed to be installed forward of the rear axel?) I thank you for any info. or advice.
thanks to campsmoke for all the great info already.

[rvsixer]

Originally Posted by FutureTitanOwner

I thank you for any info. or advice.

I am trailer shopping myself, and quickly ruled out all but the smallest 5th wheels. The pin weight plus a tank of gas and you are right at GVRW on a Titan...forget about adding people.

[LI Titan]

The Titan is a great truck but it is not the truck to purchase to tow a fifth wheel.

[Fab]

We have been long time rv'ers (1984 Pace Arrow) and it just keeps getting to be more of a pain in the butt to roll up the awnings and disconnect everything else to launch and retrieve the boat on a daily basis.

So we are also shopping for a 5'er, the Titan was the first step. We are also planning on towing the 16 foot aluminum boat behind the 5'er. We are leaning to the Cougars because of having a full under belly enclosure that keeps all of the tanks heated.

The 26 foot Cougar with super slide has a 6,200 lb. total dry weight and 1,100 lb. pin weight, all within the Titans numbers. Add the 1,500 lb. boat/motor/trailer combination and we should still have pleanty of weight to play with.

Like I said, I am a long time rv'er and no we do not carry tons of junk with us, (why do people carry so much junk?) I don't even fill the water tank till we get where we are going. Clothes, 3 days of food and 4 Beagles (100 lbs. total) is all we take with. After that we go to the store, I have not seen a rv refrigerator made that can keep an entires week of food an beer cold while traveling. I take that back, if I run my generator and keep the fridge on 110v it will stay cold, but that raises the cost of cold beer while traveling.

Putting a boat on the rear bumper of a 5'er will lessen the pin weight, do ya'll think? Fab.

[Tom Roper]

You asked...I totally disagree on all points. 1,100 lb pin weight may fall within the weight allowance, but it's too much. The Norcold refrigerator in ours is plenty cold, the trick is to get it cooled down before you put the food in.

[rvsixer]

Originally Posted by Fab

The 26 foot Cougar with super slide has a 6,200 lb. total dry weight and 1,100 lb. pin weight, all within the Titans numbers. Add the 1,500 lb. boat/motor/trailer combination and we should still have pleanty of weight to play with.

1100lb pin weight, 180 lbs of gas, plus the hitch and you are pushing 1400+ lbs without any passengers or cargo. The payload capacity of the any Titan with tow package ranges from 1202 lb (CC 4x4 LE) to 1541 lb (KC 4x2 SE).

Either overloaded already or a very small driver only traveling machine depending on which Titan with this trailer. Any 1/2 ton simply isn't enough truck for this job.

[dknb]

got a KC SE. Bought a 5th wheel. 29ft. Pretty heavy at 8000#. I added 500# of weight to the trailer. Pin weight is 1200. Went and weighed the Titan at the scale. Loaded with a full tank and two of us we were still under all the weights except for payload. We were 30# over. We were under axle weight, GCVW, GVW. By the way... I added an extra leaf spring to the rear. Don't know if this has a bearing on the payload weight... I would assume so, payload should be a rating of how much your suspension can support.
As is sat without the extra spring we were border line... could have towed it ok, but added the leaf to be sure. My only concerns are the rear diff. I changed to synthetic 75W 140, cause of the weight I am pulling. No problems yet but havn't done any long hauls yet... Ill keep you all posted... Titan seems to be bullet proof so far. Except for the brake problems that everyone is having.

[rvsixer]

Originally Posted by dknb

got a KC SE. Bought a 5th wheel. 29ft. Pretty heavy at 8000#. I added 500# of weight to the trailer. Pin weight is 1200. Went and weighed the Titan at the scale. Loaded with a full tank and two of us we were still under all the weights except for payload.

Interesting. My XE KC 4x4 has a higher payload capability than most all of the SE KC trim/drivetrain levels (including 4x2's).

With two aboard, and full fuel my XE weighs 5700 lbs at the scales, leaving it with 800 lbs payload/pin wt left. Well out of bounds to legally/safely tow a 1200lb pin weight trailer (and remember I have more payload capability than an SE).

You must have packed that 500 lbs way way way back in the trailer to reduce the pin weight to less than 700lbs .

[COTitan]

dknb:
It does not matter how much the truck can hold if your brakes can't stop it. the truck weights 6000lbs, If you put 8000 behind it, adding springs won't really help you unless you use it to stop the truck and roast your trailer brakes.
Do you really want to travel 105% of capacity when someone locks there brakes in front of you and you have 8000 behind you?

[Tom Roper]

I agree with rvsixer and COTitan.

My observation from owning lots of pickup trucks is not to load the suspension to capacity. If you do, the rear leaf springs will weaken and sag putting you down nearly to the jounce bumpers. As a rule of thumb, I don't like to load to more than about 1/2 the payload rating.

My $0.02 is you need a 3/4 ton truck minimum to haul a fifth wheel or larger travel trailer. And a diesel engine option is better still, but not essential. I just don't like 1/2 ton trucks for anything more than grocery getting, trips to Home Depot, light duty hauling, pulling motorcycle trailers or hauling motorcycles or ATVs in the bed, those are things a 1/2 ton can do.

As always, my concern is always about crushing the rear suspension, which I have done. Any of todays 1/2 ton trucks have excellent tow ratings, but the concern you have to watch out for is the pin/tongue weight.

[dknb]

Sorry guys. I weighed my truck. Your numbers are off. My truck weighs 2020 on the front axle, 3010 on the rear axle (full). Gross weight is 5030. Add the pin weight of 1200 with the hitch weight 70#, makes my payload around 1270 to 1300. Under the payload weight of 1640. Rear axle weight is around 3400 or about 390 to 400# under the rating. GCVW is under by 870#. The only weight i am over is the GVWR which is 6400#. I have 6420#. Over by 20#.. Pulling about 8500# or under by 1000# of what the truck is rated for. I recommend taking your trucks to the scales. You will learn what your truck weighs as opposed to what a sticker or book says it weighs.

[COTitan]

dknb:
The titan is not rated to tow a 5 wheel, the 9500 is for TT with an SE KC with BT. So since you proved to yourself you have lighter truck that now means you can haul more with, it is that correct? The real reason nissan says you can't tow a 5th wheel is turning clearance of the short bed vs 8'

Technecly by weight you are very close to max(GCWR of 14,000lbs, 6400 GVWR ) which if you are going long distances with that load you will be more prone to failure. It is better to buy more truck if this is the reason you are buying this truck.

I'm buyin an 05 even though it is too small for some of my work truck use based on #'s, just so nissan will see people like the titan and release a Diesel which will have the capibility to do what i need. I plow and haul 8000+ regularly so if i used a titan i would just be ruining a 30k plus truck. I hate my ford work truck but it does what i need it to do until nissan or toyota releases a diesel 3/4 ton

[dknb]

Didn't know Nissan had a rating for 5th wheels. The rating is for towing trailer weight. No problem with the turning radius either. The trailer has an extended pin. The trailer is made to be 1/2 towable according to the manufacturer. I am just saying what I tow and I have had no problems whatsoever in doing it. Everyone has an opinion based on a lot of speculation. Just offering my opinion based on what I am doing and by my weights at the scale. I am behind you all the way on a Diesel version. That would be one tough truck.

[rvsixer]

Originally Posted by dknb

Sorry guys. I weighed my truck. Your numbers are off. My truck weighs 2020 on the front axle, 3010 on the rear axle (full). Gross weight is 5030. Add the pin weight of 1200 with the hitch weight 70#, makes my payload around 1270 to 1300. Under the payload weight of 1640. Rear axle weight is around 3400 or about 390 to 400# under the rating. GCVW is under by 870#. The only weight i am over is the GVWR which is 6400#. I have 6420#. Over by 20#.. Pulling about 8500# or under by 1000# of what the truck is rated for. I recommend taking your trucks to the scales. You will learn what your truck weighs as opposed to what a sticker or book says it weighs.

I did weigh my truck, twice, so no speculation or guessing (incidentally it came very close to book and sticker numbers). Under a real world situation not empty (me and my wife and full fuel and our usual 10 days worth of camping stuff in the cab NOTHING in the bed). 5700lbs total, 3250 front axle, 2450 rear.

Using your numbers, I come up with the following. You stated your empty weight is 5030. 6400 GVWR minus 5030 empty = 1370 payload (not 1640, no SE has anywhere near that capability either per the book). 1370 payload minus 1270 hitch/pin wt = only 100 lbs for people/cargo. Again, only one very small driver goes along for the ride, add a real driver and pax and stuff and you are way over.

Also, using my real world rear axle weight of ~2450, adding the 1270 hitch/pin wt really pushes the rear axle rating.

Have you actually weighed the entire rig, or just the truck and then add the book/sticker figures for the trailer? I'm very interested in a 5th wheel but ALL my research (as well as my calcs using your own numbers above) point to it being at least 400-500lb over GVWR and the axle right at the limit.

[dknb]

Sounds like your trucks too heavy for a 5th. My weight is full of fuel and my GF and our crap that we carry in the truck, not empty like you said. You are combining the GVWR and the payload in your calculations. My manual says I have a payload of 1640#. That is what I can carry in the bed based on what the suspension and axle will support, regardless of the GVWR. The GVWR is that max the truck can weigh with everything in it. Now these two ratings will not always add up like you showed. They are two different ratings though. So, based on the way I calculate things, I am still under by almost 400# on what my payload rating is....how much my truck can carry in the box. Now because I am putting a good amount of pin weight in the back, it is putting me over my GVWR by 20#. Not a big deal in my opinion and like I said...no problems so far. Still under my GCVWR by almost 900# so no problems trying to stop, like some people have said. My axle rating is still almost 400# under as well. So I am not pushing any rating except for my GVWR...by a whole 20 lbs.