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So, tomorrow is finally the day.  We're picking up our new 5th wheel.  Have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about this one.  Hitched into the back of our truck, I believe it will only be about 3 feet longer than our bumper pull however...it's so much taller and I'm concerned about the pivot point being different.  So... finger crossed and I will be praying TONS.  I have 3 local trips planned, before I pack up the kiddos and head to Washington State in June.  Hopefully I'm feeling a bit more confident before them.

I know to go slow.  I know to take wide turn and look for low branches/overpasses.  Any other tips... throw them my way!

I'll post pictures, soon ^_^

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Pics.  Still have a little bit more personalizing to do but... we're getting there  Couch is made into a bed, for our son.  During the day (if it's bad weather) there is room for hi

Picked her up on Saturday...I spent the night at a campground without Tom or the kids, cleaning, stocking and doing some painting (which fiend said they were opening up their rig at a local CG?  Thank

Congrats and great move on upgrading the tires

Woot!  Woot!  I bet you feel like a kid at Christmas  lol  

i bet you'll find it easier and more comfortable owning a 5er than your bumper pull.   

I definetely would rather pull the 32' stock trailer (goose neck) than my 16' number pull flat bed trailer.    I feel like it more secure to the truck and I have more control, especially backing. 

Advice?  You'll do great.  Maybe take it to an empty parking lot and practice driving and backing it. 

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11 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

Woot!  Woot!  I bet you feel like a kid at Christmas  lol  

i bet you'll find it easier and more comfortable owning a 5er than your bumper pull.   

I definetely would rather pull the 32' stock trailer (goose neck) than my 16' number pull flat bed trailer.    I feel like it more secure to the truck and I have more control, especially backing. 

Advice?  You'll do great.  Maybe take it to an empty parking lot and practice driving and backing it. 

Thanks!  We are excited!   We do have a large empty parking lot no too far from us, so that is a though.  I've heard that a lot (about the pulling), so I think we'll be good there... on straight road at least, haha ^_^ 

I'm guessing the rest is just like our other campers, it will take getting used to.  I had gotten pretty good at backing up our TT; I'm praying I'm a quick learner on the 5th wheel. We've already gotten permission from our neighbor (her driveway is flat where ours has a step hill) to practice backing in/out... so that should be helpful.  When planning my drive out to WA, I knew that I might have the 5th wheel so I reserved all pull-through sites.  Haha :lol:    Tom will fly out and drive home with us, so I wasn't as concerned with those reservations.

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Pulling does feel 'more secure' over the travel trailer.  However, I still look like a fool backing my 5er up.  I completely suck at it (A lot of it is I'm afraid I'm getting too close to my window).  However, I hook up and pull/back up a bumper pull trailer several times a week.  I can almost do that with my eyes closed.

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Just take your time and relax, don't rush things, it might seem to track different then your used to now but that's where the take your time thing comes in. Go slow and watch, by going slow it will give you time to adjust, good luck and enjoy!!!!!

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Picked her up on Saturday...I spent the night at a campground without Tom or the kids, cleaning, stocking and doing some painting (which fiend said they were opening up their rig at a local CG?  Thank you for that idea!).  Still have a little more to do as I didn't get into the site, and start working, until 6ish.   Tom pulled it there, I pulled it home.  The truck did not squat at all when hitched up.  Hitching/unhitching, much easier than our Propride.  I can feel the difference (in weight) when I accelerate to get on the freeway, towing down the road doesn't feel too much different but having the right RIGHT THERE (in your mirrors) is freaking.  Turning, I went ridiculously slow and I think that will just take time to feel comfortable with.  Increased the trailer brake on the truck as I think it was set too light (set up for the TT).  That made a difference. Trying to figure out the self leveling feature...I'm not sure that it works that well, may have to have the dealership look at the after our trip out west.  Had new tires installed (from a 10 ply to a 14 ply) before we picked her up on Saturday.  Even though the brand the manufacturer put on there, had some pretty decent reviews, I just felt better with a heavier tire with our cross-country trip scheduled.  We're taking her out camping this weekend; the kids are soooo excited.  I'll try to post pictures, soon!

 

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WooHoo!  Congrats on the new rig!  Before long you won't even remember how that TT felt behind that truck, as you will be a 5th wheel pro.  I can't tell you how impressed I am (like that really means much) with your desire and courage to get out there and tackle new things and adventures! 

Pictures, we want pictures!

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Sounds awesome!

For pulling and turning, I was told that you watch the trailer wheels on the inside. Once they pass whatever obstruction there is- you can then safely turn as sharp as you need to. It was really helpful for me to learn when I could turn. It becomes natural after a while.

Otherwise, for practice in a parking lot, I never wanted to spend the money on a 100 traffic cones or even soccer field markers. Someone said to take a few gallons of water and red solo cups. Fill them a little to give them ballast and they won't blow over/away. If you run over a few, no harm, no foul.

Just know that backing in- the pivot point is in the middle of your truck bed. That point has to move side to side before the camper's rear will move side to side. Give yourself a couple of extra feet that you'll have to back up before the camper responds. I tend to pull up to where I think I need to be, and then another 6' or so.

Small corrections are your friend. My big mistake for a LONG time (and I'm still guilty) is that I'll way turn the wheel in either direction. I laughed one day thinking that my truck looked like windshield wipers in front of the camper - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Small corrections win.

Glad things seem to be going well with the new camper! Congrats!

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26 minutes ago, ependydad...Doug said:

Sounds awesome!

For pulling and turning, I was told that you watch the trailer wheels on the inside. Once they pass whatever obstruction there is- you can then safely turn as sharp as you need to. It was really helpful for me to learn when I could turn. It becomes natural after a while.

Otherwise, for practice in a parking lot, I never wanted to spend the money on a 100 traffic cones or even soccer field markers. Someone said to take a few gallons of water and red solo cups. Fill them a little to give them ballast and they won't blow over/away. If you run over a few, no harm, no foul.

Just know that backing in- the pivot point is in the middle of your truck bed. That point has to move side to side before the camper's rear will move side to side. Give yourself a couple of extra feet that you'll have to back up before the camper responds. I tend to pull up to where I think I need to be, and then another 6' or so.

Small corrections are your friend. My big mistake for a LONG time (and I'm still guilty) is that I'll way turn the wheel in either direction. I laughed one day thinking that my truck looked like windshield wipers in front of the camper - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Small corrections win.

Glad things seem to be going well with the new camper! Congrats!

That's a great idea.  Or empty cardboard boxes.  Liquor stores usually have a lot on hand they love to get rid of, they aren't too large either so a bunch would fit in the truck bed.

 

If your eyes are like mine, you'll need the larger targets the boxes make!  :lol:

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23 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Congratulations!  Looking forward to your pictures!

Thank you! ^_^

 

18 hours ago, Duane said:

WooHoo!  Congrats on the new rig!  Before long you won't even remember how that TT felt behind that truck, as you will be a 5th wheel pro.  I can't tell you how impressed I am (like that really means much) with your desire and courage to get out there and tackle new things and adventures! 

Pictures, we want pictures!

Thanks!!  I'll post pictures in another week or so... still personalizing it ^_^

 

18 hours ago, ependydad...Doug said:

Sounds awesome!

For pulling and turning, I was told that you watch the trailer wheels on the inside. Once they pass whatever obstruction there is- you can then safely turn as sharp as you need to. It was really helpful for me to learn when I could turn. It becomes natural after a while.

Otherwise, for practice in a parking lot, I never wanted to spend the money on a 100 traffic cones or even soccer field markers. Someone said to take a few gallons of water and red solo cups. Fill them a little to give them ballast and they won't blow over/away. If you run over a few, no harm, no foul.

Just know that backing in- the pivot point is in the middle of your truck bed. That point has to move side to side before the camper's rear will move side to side. Give yourself a couple of extra feet that you'll have to back up before the camper responds. I tend to pull up to where I think I need to be, and then another 6' or so.

Small corrections are your friend. My big mistake for a LONG time (and I'm still guilty) is that I'll way turn the wheel in either direction. I laughed one day thinking that my truck looked like windshield wipers in front of the camper - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Small corrections win.

Glad things seem to be going well with the new camper! Congrats!

Great tips Doug, thank you!

 

18 hours ago, Travisma said:

That's a great idea.  Or empty cardboard boxes.  Liquor stores usually have a lot on hand they love to get rid of, they aren't too large either so a bunch would fit in the truck bed.

 

If your eyes are like mine, you'll need the larger targets the boxes make!  :lol:

Haha...yes, we too may need the boxes :P

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23 hours ago, ependydad...Doug said:

Small corrections are your friend. My big mistake for a LONG time (and I'm still guilty) is that I'll way turn the wheel in either direction. I laughed one day thinking that my truck looked like windshield wipers in front of the camper - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Small corrections win.

This is the best advice of all, regardless of the type of camper.  Take your time and make small corrections.  It took a couple of years, but I finally got that ingrained in my brain! 

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23 hours ago, Dogdiver said:

http://www.loveyourrv.com/back-fifth-wheel-trailer/

Great article.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha...yes, thank you.  I love him and watch his YouTube videos often ☺ We watched this one, a few weeks back. It was helpful.

Thanks again!

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On 4/29/2017 at 4:57 PM, Dogdiver said:

http://www.loveyourrv.com/back-fifth-wheel-trailer/

Great article.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

See that spotter in the pics and the hand never moves out of that one position.  That's exactly how my wife does spotting for me!  *I hope she doesn't read this.... *even though it's true....

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13 hours ago, bhall said:

See that spotter in the pics and the hand never moves out of that one position.  That's exactly how my wife does spotting for me!  *I hope she doesn't read this.... *even though it's true....

And if your the spotter don't stand in one place the whole time.   My son stands right we're I need to be   I have told him multiple times that I can see him when we first start. But as I turn the trailer I lose him if you don't move out from behind the trailer.   MOVE!  Lol. 

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1 hour ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

And if your the spotter don't stand in one place the whole time.   My son stands right we're I need to be   I have told him multiple times that I can see him when we first start. But as I turn the trailer I lose him if you don't move out from behind the trailer.   MOVE!  Lol. 

Same issue I had with my wife at first. I told her if she couldn't see me in the mirror I couldn't see her. Now we're working on automatic movement to the blindside as a number of our favorite campsites have compound curves.

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Pics.  Still have a little bit more personalizing to do but... we're getting there ^_^

IMG_4767_zpsi2tlj0yn.jpg

IMG_4766_zps2fbmhofs.jpg

IMG_4769_zpsdwoqxsm1.jpg

Couch is made into a bed, for our son.  During the day (if it's bad weather) there is room for him to play and there is a second tv in there, which the kids found fun for a morning video :) IMG_4770_zpsjzm5fffw.jpg

Our daughter sleep up in the bunk... she loves it!IMG_4772_zpsenqeqa68.jpg

IMG_4776_zpso9ukw5iq.jpg

IMG_4773_zpsdtmtkj1d.jpg

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