Towing bumper pull vs. 5th wheel

[vwmaniaman]

WE have a Anderson hitch for our Fleetwood Terry 245 CK?. We towed it home from Michigan and have towed it across Kentucky a couple times. My truck is a Ram 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi and it has components from hitch rails to the frame of the truck. Our Anderson hitch is the earlier model made with steel but it still only weighs in at 40 lbs. I have had no problems with it. We get 11 mpg while towing with the transmission in tow mode. I am not complaining one bit. Ours has leaf springs on the rear of our truck and I added a helper spring to level it up. It is a lot easier to hook up since I can see what is happening with alignment in the rear view mirror. Pay close attention to your tire pressures on the truck and the trailer cause they heat up if not correct and cause trouble.

 

[02SE]

I guess I should make a correction to my earlier post. The B&W companion hitch was rated for 25k, and it was what I used for an earlier 5th wheel that had a GTWR of 24k. We sold that and got a bigger 5th wheel which had a GTWR of over 26k. For that I used a Curt 30k rated hitch.

Our RAM pulled it beautifully, and was always comfortable with it's heated and cooled seats, exhaust brake that worked the best of all the dually trucks IME, and a transmission that never got hotter than 190° F (usually it was in the 170's), even towing up steep grades at altitude, at a GCVW over 36k, with the AC keeping us cool.

 

[dja4260]

Good to hear you like how it towed. Putting a level on the bed rail tells you more about if the truck sits level. Tire to wheel well distance with and without trailer hitched tells you how much squat you have. Your truck looks a bit nose high in the pic? Keep as much bed clearance as you can you'll need it sometimes.

When you get it set up how you want load it up trip ready and go to a CAT scale and see what your numbers are. Full of gas, full propane, water tank how you'd travel etc. It's good to know if you're close on anything and need to be careful where you put things. One weight truck alone and one hitched up will tell you what you need.

Don't know about RAM but GM trucks are always optomistic about MPG on the dash. What was your towing speed?

Happy trails!

Towing speed was 67 mph using cruise control, 80% highway. Good idea to throw a level on the bed rails!