Length of 5th wheel

[TNTryther]

At what point does a trailer get too long?

Honestly ive never pulled anything bigger than a 25',  7000 lb boat - truck and trailer were about 45'.  Wife and i plan to retire and go full-time by next year.  We have found a mid bunkhouse open range (371MBH) that fits everything we need, but is right at 42' long. Ive heard people cant park them and if they can they cant find a place to.  Thoughts?

[Heavymetal]

We are 67' over all and have not been to one RV park that we did not fit in. There is a lot of talk about the western state parks that have small sites but we mainly hang out in the south. We stay at SP and Military parks ever once and a while a KOA and we have the most problem with the KOA's. If you us a RV app like Allstays it lets you know the max length of RV they can handle most of the time and if in doubt the number is listed along with the web site.

[BlueLghtning]

We are going out there with a 41'7" toy hauler ourselves and with our HDT truck that puts us as 64'6", so we'll find out if this is a challenge or not for us. I think the biggest issue on large 5th wheels is older state parks, I would think more so in the North East. Most of these were built when RV's & trailers were much smaller. Some state parks can accomodate larger rigs or maybe have a few spots for larger rigs, but there will probably be some you won't even get in. 

If you stay at private RV parks, it's probably rare to find one that you don't fit. Plenty of apps to help with this too.  

[ShannonJ]

You'll fit in most RV parks but your public park options will be limited.

Our 5er is only 29.5 feet long but is 13+ feet tall and 8.5 feet wide plus a 42" slide.  I have to research using every available resource to find public parks with sites that will work.  

If commercial RV parks are your thing you should be fine.  For us, the lack of elbow room at commercial parks is a deal breaker.

[jjwicklund]

There's a lot of 40ft+ fivers out there now. We're looking for a new 5er ourselves and would like to keep it under 40ft. Our present trailer is 35ft and we have had no problem finding camp site in our 7 years fulltime and a majority of those parks could accommadate larger rigs.  I use recreation.gov to find sites seldom make reservations but can check out length of sites and often pictures and location of site in campground.

As far as backing in the more you do it the gooder you get.  Just plan to arrive early there won't be as large an audience and if you don't get it right the first time pull out, take a deep breath and have another go at it.

[remoandiris]

My first 5er was 38'+.  2d was 44' and current one is almost 41'.  

Sometimes you will have trouble driving/parking in any type of park.  I remember a COE park where the gate attendant said they get big rig thru there all the time.  Well, a 5er has different pivot points than a Class A and the damn trees were on curves VERY close to the road, so I backed out of the loop and went to another area in the park.

#1, use pull thrus if you can.  Just plain easier.

#2, practice backing in an empty parking lot.  It doesn't take much practice to get good at it.  Put one hand at the bottom of the steering wheel.  You want the rear to go toward the left, move your hand up to the left.  You want the rear to go right?  Move your hand up to the right.  Hardest part of backing into a site is figuring out the correct spot to begin backing so you angle in properly.  But as mentioned above, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

#3, I primarily use RV Park Reviews to find parks.  Reviewers often state whether the parks are big rig friendly.  Unfortunately, some people have different opinions of what "big rig friendly" means.

#4, when all else fails, call ahead to see if the park can handle your length.  It is not JUST the site...it is also the roads inside the park.

[spindrift]

We're thinking about the remote possibility of going to a smaller 5er because of the limited access we find at some of the State parks.  We're at 55' total length.

[TNTryther]

Heard so many mention lack of space @ statte parks - is this true with the nationals too?

[ms60ocb]

33 minutes ago, TNTryther said:

Heard so many mention lack of space @ statte parks - is this true with the nationals too?

Only on weekends. The COE's use to have a portion that was first come first served. Now the parks are are about 96% reserved with the 4% first come first served, the least desirable. So with any reservation system the weekends will show full but call ahead as cancellations are frequent.

Clay

[trailertraveler]

Most discussions seem to focus only on length. The width of the parking pad can also be important. In state and national parks that have landscapes with trees, the more slides an RV has, the more difficult it may become to fit the RV on the pad and open all of the slides. An RV with slides on both sides, especially opposing slides, may likely require more careful positioning or a wider site. On the other hand, a site with a parking pad that is wide enough to park the tow vehicle next to the RV does not have to be as long as the combinations total length, but of course this means that you have to unhook. In my experience a 20-25' wide pad is adequate to fit both the truck and trailer side by side or with the truck angled across the front of the site. I always look for the length and width dimensions and then look at satellite views of the park/campground.

[jerryneal]

We've never had a problem with our 40 foot 5th wheel and long wheel base F-350. We do our research before we travel. Private, State and Federal campgrounds usually list site lengths. If the listing is "ify" I'll check TravelAdvisor, Good Sam's or other campground listing sites for comments. If the comments state the campground isn't big rig friendly, we'll keep looking. 

[JCZ]

We have a 41'4" 5ht wheel with an F-350 crew cab longbed dually.  I recently bought a book "Big Rigs Best Bets RV Park Guide"  17th Edition.  491 pages by Ken & Ellie Hamill with Patrick & Heather O'Neill.

It says "All Parks Personally Visited by the Authors".

It includes "Forty-Nine States, Alaska Highway Section and Eight Canadian Provinces"  also includes 720 Selected Fuel Stops, 340 Restaurant Tips and Physical Address for GPS.

I bought the book from Workampers but I'm sure it's available on the net.   I've thumbed through it and it looks like they've put some time and energy in to it.  They actually list specific spaces in each of the parks for 60' to 75'.  It's broken up by state and then alphabetical order by city.  Very easy to look for the area you're headed to next.

[oldbutspry]

Nevermind, I am illiterate today. 

[oldbutspry]

On ‎7‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 9:18 PM, JCZ said:

We have a 41'4" 5ht wheel with an F-350 crew cab longbed dually.  I recently bought a book "Big Rigs Best Bets RV Park Guide"  17th Edition.  491 pages by Ken & Ellie Hamill with Patrick & Heather O'Neill.

It says "All Parks Personally Visited by the Authors".

It includes "Forty-Nine States, Alaska Highway Section and Eight Canadian Provinces"  also includes 720 Selected Fuel Stops, 340 Restaurant Tips and Physical Address for GPS.

I bought the book from Workampers but I'm sure it's available on the net.   I've thumbed through it and it looks like they've put some time and energy in to it.  They actually list specific spaces in each of the parks for 60' to 75'.  It's broken up by state and then alphabetical order by city.  Very easy to look for the area you're headed to next.

 

That book sounds pretty good so ordered it this morning! 

 

 

[ALLOY]

We tow 35' 5th with a F350 SRW CC SB at +/- 54' OA and like to spend 2 or 3 weeks a year at remote forestry sites.

We haven't be stopped getting into sites but it is a squeeze.  We've been debating a DRW long box...better towing vs. maybe not getting into 2 of the sites we like.

[cruisin66]

We have a 40ft 5th wheel, wide body triple slide and a long wheelbase dually which is 59-60 ft OA and have traveled a lot over the last 7 years. In that time we have only had 2 instances where we couldn't get our rig in, a state park in TN and an older COE park in OK. I wish all state parks had a site like the Missouri parks do, they show a picture on the site, length and width of pad, plus they tell if there is side obstacles.

 

 

[JPL]

TNTryther We are now towing a 43' Mesa Ridge 5er w/a Volvo. We are 67' when towing. Haven't had any issues IRT CG's. We went to the Key's last Sept Oct  and were gone from Va 6 weeks. No problems. We called ahead to be sure. The state parks we stayed in Fla were no problem. The main thing would be to call. Some of the books listed in this thread will definitely help. Be safe and keep the wheels rolling.   Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

[dan412]

I bought the big rig book after looking at it looks like it covers mostly big motorhomes some parks are class A only. If a 45ft motorhome and toad will fit so should most of our rigs.

[JCZ]

Certainly not a cure all for all situations and it appears that a couple of the locations are right at 40' so that wouldn't work for us.  But it certainly narrows the search down for us running over the 40' length of 5er and/or long wheelbase tow vehicle.

Many of us have the additional challenges of all the slide outs....especially those with the wide body, wide slides.  My 5er has five slide outs and that's with two sets of opposing slides......a small house.

[remoandiris]

22 hours ago, dan412 said:

I bought the big rig book after looking at it looks like it covers mostly big motorhomes some parks are class A only. If a 45ft motorhome and toad will fit so should most of our rigs.

Just keep in mind the the pivot points of a MH and toad vs a truck pulling a 5er are different.  Parking on a site is only 1 issue big rigs have to contend with.  Park roads, especially loop roads, are another.  Not every park keep their trees trimmed, especially on curves.

[Mastercraft]

We are 73' and have never failed to get into a spot we attempted.   A lot of times, the cameras come out hoping for a YouTube moment but, so far, I have disappointed the cameras.

Best thing is to do pre-arrival research to verify your path is doable.

Also, I walk the route to the spot once we get there making flight plans in my head for my landing.