Jeep behind fifth wheel

kmanxj5050

kmanxj5050

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Reed City Michigan
I know it is legal in MI as long as you have the rec double endorsement and are under 65'.

Me and the wife are debating on buying a fifth wheel or small motorhome next spring. I am thinking a fifth wheel for a few reasons. Less maintenance, cheaper insurance, cheaper.

Now I see guys hauling Rangers and boats all the time behind 5er's, but never a jeep. Has anybody done this and have pointers, or things they wish they would have done differently? Obviously a good hitch on the camper would need to be built.
 
kmanxj5050 said:
What makes you say that?
Click to expand...

For the reason I gave...too much weight behind the fifth wheel.

Another biggie is you will have a hard time finding a fifth wheel trailer built with enough frame strength to hold up to the stress of that much tongue weight. If you get into a custom trailer that could hold the weight, you might as well buy the motor home.
 
Besides frame strength what does the weight matter? It would definitely need a stabilizer hitch, But if the truck can handle it and it doesn't sway, it shouldn't be to bad.
 
kmanxj5050 said:
Besides frame strength what does the weight matter? It would definitely need a stabilizer hitch, But if the truck can handle it and it doesn't sway, it shouldn't be to bad.
Click to expand...

Its about weight distribution. I don't know exactly what the numbers are but you want substantially more weight in the front trailer than the back. It would seem like a big fifth wheel trailer would weigh a lot more than a jeep on a flat bed but not as much as you think.

The biggest problem...and the reasons trailers like to sway is tongue weight. When you put a ton of weight on the back of the lead trailer, it takes the weight off the front of the lead trailer. Again...unless you bought a custom trailer with the axles set further back you are going to run into problems.
 
I am thinking about a 24 to 28 foot fifth. The axles are set pretty far back. Not sure which route I want to go, I am just trying to think out loud, It's not like i can test it out before I buy everything.
 
My toy hauler weighs 11,000 loaded, and it is heavy.
A normal fiver weighs around 7 or 8,000. A jeep on a trailer will weigh almost that. Like the good Dr. said, you need the weight in the front trailer otherwise the rear trailer will try to pass you.
 
2 guys from work have attempted to do this behind their fifth wheels, neither one of them have been successful.

I think you would be disappointed and a lot of money spent to find out that it does not work
 
Fore Wheeler said:
2 guys from work have attempted to do this behind their fifth wheels, neither one of them have been successful.

I think you would be disappointed and a lot of money spent to find out that it does not work
Click to expand...


What were their issues?

After getting paid for the past couple hours to think about this I am leaning towards a Class C motorhome.
 
Most Class Cs will need serious frame reinforcement to tow a Jeep on a trailer. Still a much better option than Jeep behind 5th though.
 
They are, but the chassis hangs out past the rear axle so far that the leverage bends the frame without reinforcement.
 
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