An introductory post of our 5th Wheel trailer will follow a little later — when I have it set up at the house and have taken inside photos. This post introduces our towing vehicle and some of the additions I’ve made making it more convenient for it’s new duties. Some may be thinking we’re selling our home and most of our possessions to rough it with little or no creature comforts — let me assure you that’s not truly the case.
We’d thought of getting a self contained RV (Class A, bus type) but didn’t care for the idea of having to tow a vehicle behind in order to have transportation when parked. Did you know you can’t back up a Class A without unhooking the towed vehicle? Then there’s also the higher cost of maintenance and special service facilities required for a Class A, where-as our 5th Wheel tow vehicle is a standard 1 ton truck which can be serviced for a much more reasonable price at almost any auto dealership. When stopped at a RV Park the truck is detached and used as daily transportation.
We actually selected our 5th Wheel first and then went about the task of sizing and purchasing a truck to tow it. The general consensus recommends doing it in this order to insure a properly sized truck to handle the weight and towing requirements of your selected trailer.
Some say location, location but timing is important as well — for both the 5th Wheel and the truck we were able to find new/unsold 2014 vehicles which were attractively priced because 2015 inventory had arrived and the dealers were wanting to move them off their lots/books. They both still had full warranties so being a year older then the latest and greatest didn’t matter in the least to us.
On the technical side the truck is a 2014 RAM 3500 Lariat, Quad Cab (4 doors), 8 ft truck bed, with a 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel Engine, 6-speed automatic, dually rear wheels with 4(6) wheel drive. It’s a beautiful brute, about 21 feet long, 8 feet wide and it takes a little thinking ahead in order to drive and park. It has lots of standard options, navigation, satellite radio, WIFI hot spot, etc. plus a nice roomy back seat area for Maggie to ride. It also came with a towing preparation package that made it ideal for our needs.
The RV dealer installed a 20K 5th Wheel hitch in bed of the truck using the OEM towing preparation holes which attach directly to the truck frame. There is also a 7 point trailer plug connection located on the inside of the truck bed allowing the truck to control the lights and brakes on the trailer.
The 5th Wheel hitch sits directly over the rear axel of the truck and the trailer’s tow pin fastens securely into the hitch. With a 5th Wheel, 20-25% of the trailer weight rest upon this hitch…in our case that will translate to about 2,500-3,500 lbs — making for a very stable tow but requiring a larger truck to hander the weight.
Not all of the truck bed space is used by the hitch and it was this empty space I wanted to utilize with my modifications/additions.
One of the first things I did was to install a lockable water proof metal low profile toolbox in the front of the truck bed just behind the cab. I was able to fit a 24″ wide x 19″ high x 60″ long box across the truck bed providing lots of dry and safe storage space which can still be opened with the trailer attached.
The truck runs on diesel fuel but we have a portable electric generator which runs on gasoline. I installed a lockable leak proof metal Mil Spec 20L (5 gal) Jerry Can in the back corner of the bed to provide a safe method to carry gasoline. Having this generator will allow us extended time camping off-the-grid should we decide to do so.
The final addition to the truck was made for both security and convenience during those times we are not connected to the 5th Wheel. I added a low-profile rollup tonneau cover that stops rain and prying eyes. When hitched up the cover is rolled up securely at the front of the bed. When unhitched it only takes a minute to roll it back over the bed to be lock into place. This allows use of the very back of the bed much as a trunk of a car — carrying groceries, etc.
So that’s the horse to our wagon — probably more information then you ever wanted to know.
Sounds like you’re going to be “roughin” it, Earl! :) Nice add-ons and very well thought out, as usual. Wow! Wi-Fi hotspot, too. No watching movies and driving, Earl … unless, of course, Bonnie is doing the driving!
Paul, thanks! Yeah, as one gets older the ideal of “roughin” it takes on a whole new meaning. ~grin~
Yep, that’s roughing it, Brooks. Can’t wait to see the trailer (new home). My biggest fear with a Class A is the “toad.” My parents were snowbirds for several years and switched from a trailer to the 5th wheel, pulling it with a V10. Dad, said it was a breeze to pull compared to the trailer. And, as I would expect you that thought this through and are preparing yourselves quite well. I know those trucks are big but I never realized they were 21 feet long. That shocked me. The departure date is getting close and I’m getting excited. :-)
Yes, a complicated weight transfer and anti-sway hitch is needed to get a decent and safe tow with a travel trailer. Towing our 5’er from the dealer to the temporary storage location was pleasantly easy and this truck hardly seemed to know it was there…still it’s a lot of weight, especially when trying to stop. LOL, yes, 21 feet! Quad cab with a long 8′ bed…I even measured it…bumper to bumper, 21 feet. You end up parking a long ways out and walking more — see, even better for our health! :-)
We’re excited too! Thanks, Monte.
Looks nice! How does the WiFi hotspot work – do you have to subscribe to an internet service through Dodge?
For sure you need to name her (him) – “Beautiful Brute” needs a name!
The Chrysler Group has a system called Uconnect similar to GM’s on-star for connectivity. The Wifi hotspot is a subscription service but if can be activated for as short of a period as a day or monthly without a contract and it creates a 150ft wifi “bubble” around the vehicle. I believe Sprint is providing the network so I don’t know how widespread or good/fast a connection will be. Perhaps for this Sprint is renting towers/network resources from other providers as well. Uconnect has one of the better user interfaces I’ve personally seen…very logical and understandable.
LOL, we’ve played around with several names for the “Beautiful Brute” but haven’t landed anything yet (perhaps Beautiful Brute, BB, will stick.) The current tag starts with EZ so we talked about “Big EZ” (sorry N.O.) but that will change when we register the truck in Florida. Got any good suggestions?
Mark, the truck has wonderful heated seats and a heated steering wheel as well…might be just what you need to retreat to after those early winter lake-side ice photos you’ve been taking. Great images by the way! :-)
That’s quite a tow vehicle, Earl. Can’t wait to see the rest of it, and I’d love to see it in person once you get them mated up.
Hi Tom, thanks. Yeah, the truck’s big, but it has a big job to do. If we can get the weather and all the scheduled things that must happen aligned we’ll have to arrange a get together for you to see it.
It’s all looking better and better, Earl. I too was surprised at the length of the truck. Parallel parking must be fun. With respect to the WIFI, I’m wondering if you can switch the Sprint (if that’s what it is) to another provider. Sprint is notoriously bad in the southwest – lots and lots of “dead” areas. Verizon is the best, I think, for general coverage, but even they have some dead areas. It’s the one area of the country where we get a little nervous. Driving through the desert with “no signal” can make you feel just a little out of touch…….
Paul, parking becomes another whole adventure with this truck…parallel parking is not in its vocabulary, or mine. The most common parking I’ve done has been pulling through two spaces away and beyond were everyone else is parking or finding a corner spot no one needs to get past that I can back into. But then there’s tradeoffs to everything and I can easily live with this. The extra walking will do us good! :-)
For the vehicle WIFI there no changing or selecting service providers. We have Verizon smartphones and will probably use them as wireless hotspots, but the truck is a standby means if needed and it’s available. Uconnect also has an emergency/911 service as well…much like On-Star for General Motors…it will be interesting to see what level of service is available in different areas of the country — I’ll keep notes of it.
Thanks!
Impressive vehicle Earl. It looks like it would be comfortable to drive. Can’t wait to see the pics of your new home.
It is very comfortable to drive and ride in, Cedric. We are planning to bring our new home to our house this coming Tuesday…if I can get it back up our driveway. :-)
Earl, you have one sweet ride!
Thanks, Steve. Yeah, it will be our “do everything” vehicle…from three down to one. Good to hear from you and I hope you’re doing well for this new year!