5th wheel hitch to hitch pull

[jackstrr]

Oops posted to wrong forum the first time so will post here. We weant to take our 5th wheel hitch and change it to a regular pull hitch. anyone have any ideas or ways to modify, someone that sells modifications. We have her for sale for $4200 but would really rather keep her, but we want to take the harley too so need the truck bed space.

[cpaharley2008]

I can not see how that can work because your truck bed is short and you will need at least 8' for your bike. You would have to leave your tailgate down to haul the bike.

[jackstrr]

have purchased a new 86 F250 with a 8' box and a reg. pull trailier. so any offers on the trailier and /or truck will be entertained.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by jackstrr

Oops posted to wrong forum the first time so will post here. We weant to take our 5th wheel hitch and change it to a regular pull hitch. anyone have any ideas or ways to modify, someone that sells modifications. We have her for sale for $4200 but would really rather keep her, but we want to take the harley too so need the truck bed space.

here's one that works well...

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by floyd

here's one that works well...

Hi, Floyd

Thanks for posting those pictures- that's a beyond clever modification!
Any idea what the tongue weight comes out to, and how she tows?

Francesca

[Andrew Gibbens]

The tongue weight doesn't change much with different tongue lengths - yes, I know it feels like it should, but it doesn't. If you wanted to halve the tongue weight (I believe the Scamp 5W starts at 20%), you would have to double the length from the axle to the hitch.

So a fifth-wheeler converted to a regular hitch will have about the same tongue weight it started with.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens

The tongue weight doesn't change much with different tongue lengths - yes, I know it feels like it should, but it doesn't. If you wanted to halve the tongue weight (I believe the Scamp 5W starts at 20%), you would have to double the length from the axle to the hitch.

So a fifth-wheeler converted to a regular hitch will have about the same tongue weight it started with.

Hi, Andrew

I'm going to pretend I understand what you're talking about, just like I do when My Husband The Engineer tries to explain things to me...
But...
"double the length from the axle to the hitch" would halve the tongue weight?
This I can't even pretend to understand!

Francesca

P.S.
Where IS the "tongue" on a fifth wheel, anyway?

[Andrew Gibbens]

Sorry, I get so used to discussing trailer balance on the teardrop forum that I forget it's a new subject to others!

The point I was trying to make was that it's not the length of the (exposed) tongue that matters for balance, but the distance from the wheels to the coupler.

If you wanted to halve the tongue weight on an egg (no, I can't think of a good reason why you would want to), you would have to extend the tongue by about 9 feet! So moving things a foot or so makes virtually no difference. That Scamp 5W in the photos will have about the same weight on the coupler that it had on the fifth wheel - 400 pounds, it says on Scamp's web site.

[Donna D.]

Check out this post, it's closer to 500 lbs for a standard model Scamp 5th wheel: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html

Frankly, I think that's light. For those that start adding heavy mattresses into the loft area, the weight goes UP.

My Ford F-150 has a tongue weight on the rear of 500 lbs. I wouldn't tow this setup. YMMV

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Check out this post, it's closer to 500 lbs for a standard model Scamp 5th wheel: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html

Frankly, I think that's light. For those that start adding heavy mattresses into the loft area, the weight goes UP.

My Ford F-150 has a tongue weight on the rear of 500 lbs. I wouldn't tow this setup. YMMV

Yikes!
You said a mouthful, Donna

#28 on that list is 480 lbs...
And #48 (same size Scamp 5th) is a whopping 680 lbs.!

Francesca