Let's talk fifth wheels

acefuture

acefuture

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So I've gone through the gamut of sleeping arrangements from sleeping on a flatbed in a sleeping bag, to a 17' toy hauler, to a 26' bumper pull, to a Class C motorhome and flatbed. All have served their purpose. But now I'm on to a fifth wheel. Last season the Class C and flatbed worked fantastic, the ease of use and load times were great, no changing tires and the girls could use the bathroom on the ride out. But it was too small, and when I had to the chance to buy my new-to-me car, I sold it to make the deal happen since the misses and I were already talking about upsizing. 

I bought a 7.3 F350 just recently that is heavily outfitted for towing. I'm not looking to get into an insurance argument over GVWRs in this thread, so spare me please. But now i'm looking at fifth wheels. If it were up to me I would buy a race car trailer with living quarters. 20' garage with a place to sleep would be great. The lady doesn't agree... So I have my eyes set on two trailers: Either a weekend warrior LE3305 or 3505, or a gearbox 335. Both would fit my car (ideally with paddles on for the gearbox at 89" width with paddles, 16' long). The weekend warrior obviously has its wall sag issues, so I would address that by welding in gussets. The gearbox has had a known delam problem. So both have their quirks. But the nice part is I can pick one up for around $15k. 

What say you? Who has used either and what did you like/dislike? Any other models I'm over looking? I have no interest in going to buy a new unit, or spending more just to have to change tires again. 

Edit: In addition, For those who have towed above trailers with shortbeds; what hitch did you use? I'm thinking of going with a rail mount andersen since my rig doesn't have a gooseneck in it at the moment. 

 
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Even in the used market a good 15 year old Toy hauler 5th wheel is going to be in the 22-27K Range.  Now this is with slides and in good condition.   Im still sold on the Monaco Dune Chaser toy haulers.  Solid built with good slide out tracks and motors.  No wall sag issues. Built like a coach.

 
This might be up your alley.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404776046442278/permalink/3423774904542372/?sale_post_id=3423774904542372&mibextid=Nif5oz

On the 7.3 f350, are you talking the older diesel or newer gaser?

I have a 2006 33' Thor vortex.  Had a 2011 f250 shortbed with the BW companion that mounted to their gooseneck turnover ball system. The BW companion was fully adjustable so I could adjust height and back. I ended up back all the way and mid height. 

Recently upgraded trucks that has the puck system.  Had to get a different BW. It didn't have as many adjustments. Only pulled trailer around town but seems to clear just fine. 

I toyed with sliders.. but didn't like setups or complexity that seemd to go with them. I looked also at gooseneck to pintle setups. I didn't like that either. Have a buddy that loves this setup with his 40' WW. 

Jonathan

 
We had an 08 SLC3705 with 2 slides. Our 2001 F350 4x with a stock unchipped 7.3 towed it fine. The wall issues in many of the used WW rigs have been addressed or can be easily(Jim's still the man) As Erk said, they still pull around $30k. Especially for ones that have already been upgraded. Gearbox rigs had their own set of issues with unrepairable wall delamination, plus they were heavier than the WW which is already on the high side. I miss our WW and whish I wouldn't have sold it.

 
I still have my LE3505 Weekend Warrior.  I had it built in 2004 so they added 4' to the back.

I have 21' of true open cargo space.

Fits my sandrail (with paddles) no problem.

I have always towed with a long bed dually, so can't help you on a hitch with a short bed.

I do run the B&W 5th wheel hitch.

If you do get a Warrior, never use a gooseneck to tow it, it will tear apart the front end.  Has happened to 2 of my buddies.

I love my Warrior and has held up well.  

I am the original owner and take good care of it.

I had riggers and cross bracing added about 6 years ago as the wall sag was starting.

The guy that did it said he lifted the walls 1" to get it square again.

Anyway, I also run 16" LT tires.

I had a 2" spacer added when they built it so it will clear 235/75/16's.

I run 225/75/16s just for more breathing room.

 
Grease Monkey said:
Even in the used market a good 15 year old Toy hauler 5th wheel is going to be in the 22-27K Range.  Now this is with slides and in good condition.   Im still sold on the Monaco Dune Chaser toy haulers.  Solid built with good slide out tracks and motors.  No wall sag issues. Built like a coach.
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I've found quite a few that I have my eye on in the $15k range. The LE models with no slides is what I'm after. The less things that can break the better. I'll take a look at Dune Chasers!

basketcase said:
This might be up your alley.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404776046442278/permalink/3423774904542372/?sale_post_id=3423774904542372&mibextid=Nif5oz

On the 7.3 f350, are you talking the older diesel or newer gaser?

I have a 2006 33' Thor vortex.  Had a 2011 f250 shortbed with the BW companion that mounted to their gooseneck turnover ball system. The BW companion was fully adjustable so I could adjust height and back. I ended up back all the way and mid height. 

Recently upgraded trucks that has the puck system.  Had to get a different BW. It didn't have as many adjustments. Only pulled trailer around town but seems to clear just fine. 

I toyed with sliders.. but didn't like setups or complexity that seemd to go with them. I looked also at gooseneck to pintle setups. I didn't like that either. Have a buddy that loves this setup with his 40' WW. 

Jonathan
Click to expand...
It's a 00 diesel, single wheel. Thanks for the info and the link. I'm not too keen on a slider either

Orange_R said:
We had an 08 SLC3705 with 2 slides. Our 2001 F350 4x with a stock unchipped 7.3 towed it fine. The wall issues in many of the used WW rigs have been addressed or can be easily(Jim's still the man) As Erk said, they still pull around $30k. Especially for ones that have already been upgraded. Gearbox rigs had their own set of issues with unrepairable wall delamination, plus they were heavier than the WW which is already on the high side. I miss our WW and whish I wouldn't have sold it.
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Mines chipped with a tow/fuel mileage tune on it currently. The SLCs are a nice rig, but I'm looking for an LE with no slides. In rough shape is fine, because we are planning on making tons of updates to it anyways. What did you load in the WW? At 10k unloaded, with my car at ~3300lbs, and all the other junk, i'll easily be at 15k quick

 
lincster said:
I still have my LE3505 Weekend Warrior.  I had it built in 2004 so they added 4' to the back.

I have 21' of true open cargo space.

Fits my sandrail (with paddles) no problem.

I have always towed with a long bed dually, so can't help you on a hitch with a short bed.

I do run the B&W 5th wheel hitch.

If you do get a Warrior, never use a gooseneck to tow it, it will tear apart the front end.  Has happened to 2 of my buddies.

I love my Warrior and has held up well.  

I am the original owner and take good care of it.

I had riggers and cross bracing added about 6 years ago as the wall sag was starting.

The guy that did it said he lifted the walls 1" to get it square again.

Anyway, I also run 16" LT tires.

I had a 2" spacer added when they built it so it will clear 235/75/16's.

I run 225/75/16s just for more breathing room.
Click to expand...
Awesome thanks for the real world input. The cross bracing is what I would do immediately after buying it. I've done a ton of research as to how to jack it, where to weld the gussets and cross braces, etc. My truck is on a 4" lift with 37s and airbags, so I may need to flip the axles or add spacers as well so upgrading to truck tires would be on my list of to do's. Obviously you are towing with a long bed dually, so not a good comparison, but how does it tow in cross winds? My bumper pull with my half ton was absolutely western to tow in anything over 25mph. Towed it once in gusts over 60 and told myself I would never do it again.

 
Some good experience in this thread. One thing I’d consider regardless of the trailer you purchase is adding the air ride (suspension hitch) to the trailer side of the hookup. The “rebound” when hitting a bump or dip in the road is greatly reduced.

 
I owned them all as well....5th wheel for me makes the most sense for our sport. 

My LE3505 was a great trailer...I did switch out my paddles for skinnies only due to I backed in so I could fit my kids quads but no issue fitting with my paddles. 

I currently own a 2007 CR3905 and love it, I installed a drive over wheel well on the camp side and a winch.....no problem with paddles. 

I also think WW setups are the best for our sport. They all have issues, luckily Jim @ VIP is the go to for WW and a sponsor on GD.Com. 

My buddy had a Gearbox pull behind that worked well for him, bathroom sucked but not my rig. It had the delam issues as well. 

 
Had a 2007 LE3505 for several years. Pulled it with an '04 Duramax 2500 SRW. Only add on was air bags. I used a slider hitch (don't remember exact brand, maybe Pullrite?) and never once had to slide it back. Was able to maneuver cul de sacs and dead ends just fine. I would choose to back out of something before figuring out how to slide it back. It was a little peace of mind knowing I had it though. I pulled that trailer all over the western portion of the United States. I didn't have a sand rail but put several quads and a Kawasaki Teryx in it. Mine was probably a little narrower as it had the dinette instead of the captains chairs you can move out of the way. Overall good trailer. I wasn't a huge fan of the layout. Having the sink outside of the toilet/shower area. Practically in the "master" bedroom. But did like the kitchen, fridge set up. Overall good trailer. I didn't have it long enough to experience wall sag but knew it was coming eventually.

 
acefuture said:
Awesome thanks for the real world input. The cross bracing is what I would do immediately after buying it. I've done a ton of research as to how to jack it, where to weld the gussets and cross braces, etc. My truck is on a 4" lift with 37s and airbags, so I may need to flip the axles or add spacers as well so upgrading to truck tires would be on my list of to do's. Obviously you are towing with a long bed dually, so not a good comparison, but how does it tow in cross winds? My bumper pull with my half ton was absolutely western to tow in anything over 25mph. Towed it once in gusts over 60 and told myself I would never do it again.
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Fair point about my dually, but I have never had any sway or movement at all.

Even coming back from Glamis in 40mph winds.

I set the cruise at 75 and just roll.

 
I took a bunch of screenshots from the old weekend warrior site before it crashed...here's some info if it helps on the two models you're looking at from weekend warrior.

image.png

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We just got a 5th wheel this year.  2003 Rampage, 33'.  Just under $10,000 and there's lots out there for just a bit more.  Especially if you don't need shiny new things in it.

My truck is a '22 Duramax short bed with puck system.  Picked up a cheap Curt hitch that ended up being way too short/shallow to fit the trailer.  Bit the bullet and got the BW slider.  

I've got nothing to compare with towing except a 14' open trailer and pulling wood chippers.  Took it out a month or so ago.  Down banner grade to Glamis.  Easy tow, smoother than I thought it would be.  Hit some really rough pavement just before the 86, east of Ocotillo Wells.  Definitely felt the hitch pin jack around.  I'll slow way down for that if I can remember it.

 
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Have a WWLE3505 pulling with 06 cummins megacab SRW. Came from a WW bumper pull and would never go back. 5th wheel pulls straight as an arrow and also on 16’s.  You should be fine with shortbed. I’m also running a B&W and no complaints.  My trailer axles are flipped and flat decked one side so I don’t have to change tires or strap the front end. Also put a winch in the steps and solar. Great rig so far and have camped all over from glamis to snow and lugged it down many forest roads. 

 
Thanks guys for the input. Very helpful. Definitely has me leaning towards an LE3505

 
Just sold a le3505, towed it with a ccsb 06 duramax with B&W companion hitch. Towed great compared to a bumper pull, stable in wind, no complaints. Never did fix the wall sag. X2 on the winch in the step. 16’9” to first cabinet and just squeezed the scu in with paddles on. Fit a quad with sandrail in there pretty easily. Young kids made the setup unmanageable though, switching to a DP and enclosed for a while. 

 
I have the le3305, it had the frame repair done to it and has been a great trailer, we go to Idaho/Oregon every year as well as dune trips and up north. F250 short bed with the Reese goose box air ride.

 
Also had the LE3505 and kinda wish I still had it. Towed with a short bed 4 door Duramax with no issues. I used the Pullrite Superglide auto sliding hitch and it was great also. 

 
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