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Old 02-06-2006, 09:52 AM   #1
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Trailer: 83 Boler voyageur 13 ft
Posts: 12
Hello from Ontario Canada . We are in the middle of a heck of a storm up here(been snowing for 3 days). I am just wondering if anyone can help us in regards to a bigfoot 5th wheel we have been looking at. We think it is time to upgrade from the 13ft. and we have our eye on a bigfoot 5th, but we were wondering what the weight is aproximately. It is an 86 19 ft. Any help would be apreciated. Also if anyone knows any problems or soloutions to the hitch problem(We drive a 2002 f150 supercrew) And have been told there are hitch problems due to the 5.5 foot box. Many thanks. Maybe I can think about a new trailer and not about snowblowing all this snow!!! Cheers Kev & Melis
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Old 02-06-2006, 11:24 AM   #2
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Oh Paul, where are you ... I think someone needs some help!!

jrnutpaul - BigFoot 5th Wheel owner
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Old 02-06-2006, 02:10 PM   #3
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Trailer: 2000 Casita 17 ft Spirit Deluxe ('Millenium Eggloo')
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Sounds like you folks have had a couple of tough days!! Hope you didn't lose your power.

Found out a couple of things about Ford's and short boxes and 5th wheels.

Short box issue, this is the same with any pickup with a short box, there may be a need to buy a special 5th wheel unit for the truck that slides backwards as you make a turn, near as I can find out they are about $3500 to $4500. This is so that the corners of the overhang don't punch out the rear corners of the cab as you make a turn.

Second problem specific to Ford is that the box on some models has a taller wall than most so there is quite often a clearance problem with 5th wheels not being tall enough to reach over the box. I think the Bigfoot 5th is shorter than most at the front overhang so I think there will be trouble raising everything high enough to clear the box. Best way is to get 2 measurements from the seller
1/ Road height to bottom of kingpin
2/ Road height to underside of overhang

You might be able to lift the front end a few inches, but because the trailer is only 19-20 ft total it won't be much. You would be able to lift the nose of a longer trailer higher.
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Old 02-06-2006, 02:32 PM   #4
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Trailer: 1994 20 ft Bigfoot 5th Wheel / Toyota Tacoma SR5
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The GVW of my 5er is 2,840 lbs. as weighed last year on the way home from the Northern Oregon meet. It had 20 gallons of water in the rear fresh water tank and the holding tanks were both 1/2 full.

The tongue weight is 540 lbs. I use a simple Reese hitch. Paid $150.00 for it.

I pull with a Toyota Tacoma 6 clyn. The walls of my bed are 16 inches tall and the bed is 5'10" long. With the toy I average 16 miles to the gallon. I used to pull with a Dodge V8 but only got 8MPG.

Any other questions????

Paul
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Old 02-06-2006, 06:36 PM   #5
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Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
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It seems like the Bigfoot is likely more than 6 feet wide, so when turned 90 degrees the side towards the cab would be more than 3 feet ahead of the kingpin, and at some angle before that the corner might be even further forward (depending on the shape of the trailer nose). With a 5'10" box it seems like the hitch would need to be more the halfway back in the box.

Paul, how far back from the cab is the centre of your fixed fifth-wheel hitch set, and is that ahead of or behind the truck's rear axle?

Kev & Melis, how far back from the cab is your F-150's rear axle?

Compare the two, and I think we'll know some more about how the proposed trailer/tug combination will work.
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Old 02-07-2006, 09:46 AM   #6
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Trailer: 83 Boler voyageur 13 ft
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Hey guys, Thanks for all your help. I will try to find out all these numbers by the weekend, I am on the offshift and I am having trouble contacting seller in the day. We are hoping there is an alternative to the $4000 hitch, That would just put the 5th way out of our price range.(Right now we are crossing all our fingers and a few toes). but if it is meant to be, it will be. Many thanks, talk to you all soon. Cheers Kev & Melis
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Old 02-07-2006, 11:06 AM   #7
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While the automatic slider hitches such as the Pull-Rite 12K SuperGlide may be US$3000 or more, the manual sliders are only a few hundred dollars (that's the whole hitch, not just the extra for sliding). The question is - will you remember to slide the manual unit back before every tight turn? I would guess that there are dynamic effects of an automatic mechanism in which the drag of the trailer would tend to pull it away from straight ahead, but I don't have any experience with this specific type of device.

Personally, I neither own a 5th wheel nor plan to do so any time soon. If I did, I would consider a long pinbox extension (as long as half the width of the box) which would effectively make the trailer into a gooseneck and allow tight turns without cab intereference even with the shortest box. This leads to all sorts of structural and weight balance questions, so it's not a simple decision.

Oh, and one more question for Paul: how wide is the front part of the Bigfoot 5er, and does it extend forward of the pin?
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Old 02-07-2006, 05:17 PM   #8
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Trailer: 74 13 ft Boler and 79 17 ft Boler
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Is the Bigfoot a true 5th wheel or a gooseneck like a Scamp? ...looks like it has a pin in the photo......With the 600 lbs tongue weight it may not be a problem to have the mounting point back of the axle enough to clear the trailer and cab in a jack knife.....that amount of weight about 8-10" back of the axle on a full size 1/2 or 3/4 ton short box probably wouldn`t be noticeable......I have 4 -30"x24" sidewalk pads, (don`t know their weight), in my truck bed over the winter with a 2x6 plank at the cab end so the pads don`t slide back and forth too much....sometimes,( like the last month and a half), I`ll carry along with that about 100 kgs or about 220 lbs,( 5-20 kg bags), of softener salt bags right back at the tailgate for more traction as I have a 2wd without a posi.....the truck still sits fairly level.......Benny ...oh, my axle is about 42" back from the cab!
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Old 02-08-2006, 02:58 PM   #9
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Trailer: 2006 17 ft Casita
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I have a slider hitch for my bigfoot 5er mine is a little larger 20 tf tandom axels the slider is for backing up but i have never used it ,on my f150 short 2000 mod or on my chev 1500hd crew short . Should not be a prob . I payed $795.00 for my huffy ez roller. I saw a used one on ebay a few weeks back for $150 +35 shipping . .
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Old 02-09-2006, 07:52 PM   #10
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Trailer: 1994 20 ft Bigfoot 5th Wheel / Toyota Tacoma SR5
Posts: 229
The trailer is a true 5er and the center of the hitch is 36" from the back of the cab (directly over the axel). The trailer is 8' wide at the front and the middle and the back ( a true big foot wider than a lot of other trailers). And....I have a dent in the truck where the corner of the trailer hit it during a backing up proceedure the very first weekend I had the new truck.

I keep the dent in the truck to remind me that 90 degree back ups are not a smart idea.

I just take a few more cuts.

Paul
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Old 02-10-2006, 06:16 PM   #11
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Just a question- There is a 86 Bigfoot 5th Wheel for sale in our area. When I phoned about it the gentleman on the phone said it was a 19ft tandem axil (wich I thought was odd) but then he said the weight was 4800lbs!!! with a hitch weight of 700lbs !!! does this not seem heavy!!!! or am I off my rocker! Trina
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Old 02-10-2006, 07:39 PM   #12
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Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
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I'm no Bigfoot expert, but I have seen both tandem axle 5th wheel Bigfoot units (like Herschel's) and single axle versions (like the one in the Fiberglass RV Bigfoot Album) - they made both over the years. People often misquote trailer lengths by a foot or two, so I wouldn't pay much attention to 19' versus (for instance) 20'. Trina, which part is odd about a 19' tandem?

I would guess that 4800 lb might be the maximum gross weight or maximum axle load, rather than the empty weight; if there's only one number listed on a plate on the trailer, it's more likely one of the maximums than the empty weight. A pair of 2400 lb axles would not be surprising, and that's what I think was under the 19' conventional (not fifth-wheel) Bigfoot which I found when shopping. (That one is shown in page 2 of the Bigfoot Album.)

Similarly, perhaps the 700 lb hitch weight is the coupler limit, not the typical operating weight. The 2" ball coupler on my Boler 1700 is rated for 700 lb, but the tongue weight is about 300 lb empty and 350 lb loaded the way we have used it.
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Old 02-10-2006, 07:40 PM   #13
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Trailer: 1994 20 ft Bigfoot 5th Wheel / Toyota Tacoma SR5
Posts: 229
If that is the trailer on Buysell.com then the weight you were given is high. It should be slightly heavier than ours, but ours is only a single axle. I wish we had purchased a tandem.

We paid $7,600 Cnd or $6,000 US in Sept of 2004. Ours was in great shape w/AC and a heater strip and an awning (the awning was in bad shape...still is).

Paul
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Old 02-10-2006, 07:51 PM   #14
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Trailer: 83 Boler voyageur 13 ft
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Hey guys! No luck on the 5th. We had the money and everything in place and we were going to have it towed home till we figured out the hitch delema but when we went to look at it it was awsome on the inside with the same floorplan as the one in the photo gallery on this site(exactly wat we were looking for)but the outside needed some work(no big deal Im pretty handy).The catcher though was the weight. It must have been the same one you were calling about treenie because it had dual axels and the paperwork from bigfoot said that the weight was 4974lbs. great trailer for parking somewhere, but we are not ready to give up our mobilityat this time and I think this is too heavy to tow around. If anybody is looking for a great fixer upper and is not too woried about the weight though this is a good deal at $4500 or best offer. I guess I will just keep my eyes peeled for a lightweight 5th or a boler 17 or a 18ft trillium. Again guys I cant thank you enough for all the help and if you come across anything please let me know. Thanks again Kev & Melis
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Old 02-10-2006, 08:43 PM   #15
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Kev & Melis, maybe you shouldn't give up on this quite yet if it's just the weight issue. Paul's logic seems sound to me: the tandem 5er may not be much more than 2900 lb loaded, and my Boler 17' is around 3000 lb loaded, so maybe there isn't much to be saved with a Boler 1700 or Trillium 5500. Have you actually seen the Bigfoot paperwork, to understand which weight is being quoted? "Bigfeet" only seem to get bigger with each generation, and even the heavier variation of the current 21' trailer (a 25B21FB, no 5th wheel model in production) is 3815 lb empty in the Bigfoot specs; at the same time, even their lightest unit (17.5 ft) has a 4300 lb gross vehicle weight rating.

If you scan and post the paperwork from Bigfoot, I can point out what I mean or concede that my guess is wrong - either is fine with me!

And now the obvious question: Herschel! What does your trailer weigh?
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Old 03-16-2007, 04:06 PM   #16
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Name: Chris & Maureen
Trailer: Bigfoot
Washington
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I saw this old thread and it is helpful, but I'm hoping that Paul (or any other Bigfoot 5th wheel experts out there) can clarify something for us. We are in the market for a new tow vehicle and are thinking about a Toyota Tacoma or maybe a Nissan Frontier. We have enjoyed our 17' Bigfoot but would like to be able to upgrade to a 5th wheel at some point.

So Paul, is your Tacoma a long-bed pickup? It seems to be working out great for your fifth wheel. Would it be best to rule out a short-bed? Keep in mind that I doubt very much that my hubby would want to pay $3000 or more for a Superglide type of hitch. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Maureen
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Old 03-17-2007, 05:30 PM   #17
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Trailer: 2003 Casita 17 ft Spirit Deluxe and 1989 Bigfoot 5th Wheel
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Good news

I pull my 87 bigfoot 5th whl with my F-250 4x4 crew cab shortbed.

I do have a slider hitch that i bought new for under $700

The only time i have to use the slide is for jack knife turns which i try to keep to a minimum.

I dont think that you would have any trouble using your f150

Harv in Colo
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Old 03-17-2007, 07:26 PM   #18
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Name: Chris & Maureen
Trailer: Bigfoot
Washington
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Thank you, Harvey! Actually we don't have a pickup yet. I just tacked on to the original posting of someone who did, but we are currently in the market for a pickup. So it appears that a 5 1/2 foot bed short bed will probably work. That is good news. It's also good to hear that the slider hitch wasn't too expensive.

If anybody else out there is pulling a Bigfoot 5th wheel with a Toyota Tacoma or a Nissan Frontier, we welcome any advice you have. We've been truck shopping and the long bed 4X4s with the options we want are hard to find (or really expensive). It might be a good idea to get the short bed anyway, if we can manage it. Thanks again.

Maureen
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Old 03-19-2007, 06:49 PM   #19
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Trailer: 1994 20 ft Bigfoot 5th Wheel / Toyota Tacoma SR5
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Maureen,

Sorry I did not reply sooner.

As it turns out, I sold my 85 5er which weighed 2900#s and purchased Herchell's 94 5er which weighs in at 4800#s...That tandem axel must be really heavy.

We still pull the new 1994 Bigfoot 5th wheel with our Toyota Tacoma short bed (6') pickup. It is a 6 cln. engine....If I had it to do over I would buy the Tundra.

We bought Herchell's slider hitch also, it's a $500.00 value at Camping World. I use it when backing up as it is simple to set up.

Paul
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