Did not know they made them this big

[HeavyGunner]

Had no clue that you could buy a 63' fifth wheel camper to pull with a 1 ton pick up!  It's cool, it's huge but it's been a pet peeve of mine (people without a cdl pulling big loads, driving trucks with air brakes in the name of rv-ing)

https://billings.craigslist.org/rvs/6004209835.html

[fxfymn]

[carlotpilot]

room enough for 1 wife 2 girlfriends  11 kids 7 dogs and a budgie             ridiculous

[BillyT]

Hvy Gunner,I agree about the unqualified drivers in the large RVs, also in the large rental trucks! We can thank the rec. Vehicle and rental truck lobbies for that! How many of those people in a 60 ft rv could pass the simplest tests for a class B CDL! When the CDL came out there was a mad scramble to get rid of straight trucks over 26000 gvw so the companies that used straight trucks wouldn't have to hire qualified drivers(hence pay decent wages!) Remember how the cdl was gonna get ALL those unqualified drivers off the road?😁

[BillyT]

Carlotpilot, I was in a truck stop one time and this young  dude was in a condo cab Freightliner across from me and he got out of the truck and opened the passenger door and out came a pregnant wife,a toddler about two, a dog,and a goat! ....obviously a country boy!😁

[mowerman]

You know personally I would like to own a tent trailer for a camping and getting away something that's easy to pull and doesn't take up much room some of these big rigs are pretty cool and nice to look at but I don't think I would be interested in hauling all that big stuff around on vacation it would be too much like working but God love them if that's what they want I usually don't have much trouble with campers understand your fellows feel they should be qualified to drive them and I am right on the same page I just never seem to have any problems with these people they usually know what they're doing at least the ones I come acrossed..bob

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[Underdog]

"Balanced so well can be towed with a 1-ton" you bet... No mention of the gross weight. I'll say that trailer is every bit of 20,000 lbs.

[HeavyGunner]

46 minutes ago, mowerman said:

 I just never seem to have any problems with these people they usually know what they're doing at least the ones I come acrossed..bob

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Come up to Montana during tourist season and you'll see plenty of bone heads and blue hairs doing all kinds of stupid stuff. When I used to haul cows to Nebraska I used to have to take a highway that paralleled the freeway because I had over 5 axles and was was very impressed with their laws. The signage was 70mph for trucks and 50 mph for pickups pulling fifth wheels. Always amazed me that you can pull a 30+ foot camper with a  boat behind it at 70mph and a semi with far more braking power to handle the weight safely is 60 mph. It also chaps my butt that farmers and their employees do not have to get cdl's to drive a class A truck and trailer as long as they are only hauling their own stuff. 

[mowerman]

Yeah I'm surprised they still go for that farmer deal as much as liberals hate everything in this country that still goes as well as Cialis is commercials I have to deal with every night at dinner time I guess it depends on where you're running on my Lane I don't really see you that many of them but yes I do agree they should have training to pull all that big equipment . ..bob

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[tjc transport]

here in Joisey the enacted a new rule for getting a CDL. you have to parallel park the rig. ..and they only give you 15 foot more than your overall length to do it in. 3 tries to do it. if not, you fail. 

another new rule enacted at the same time is the driver has to be able to open the hood by themselves without any assistance. 

 

it is interesting trying to watch some of these 90 lb women trying to flip the hood on a Kenworth or Petercar. 

in 18 months i have only seen one able to do it, because she knew to lift from the back side of the fender instead of trying to raise the hood from the front. 

it only takes around 50 lbs pressure from the side instead of 140 lbs or so from the front. 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

A lot of the "farm" exemptions are being abused by huge corporate "farms" and those loopholes will ultimately be tightened. Down in Florida I've seen stripped down straight trucks with the cabs removed and no license plates, ROPS, or even a seat belt passed off as "orchard tractors". The corporate "farms" there are so huge that I often saw them running down the highway at 60 MPH for 10 miles or more between fields.

[fxfymn]

As an RV'er who tows a pretty small, by fifth wheel standards, trailer with a one ton truck I'm often dumb struck by what I see other RV'ers doing. Towing a 10,000 pound fiver with a half ton truck is one of my pet peeves. At many RV dealerships the salesman will tell you it's OK to pull a 40' fifth wheel with a Toyota if that's what it takes to make the sale.

The trailer industry must have some powerful lobbyists. Cars and trucks are required to have tire pressure monitoring systems, trailers do not. Cars have to pass safety tests for braking and handling, trailers do not. Builders can slap brakes designed for a 5K axle on an 8K axle and no one cares. I know I bought one and the brakes were shot after about 2K miles of mostly highway driving.

The other thing that makes many of these rigs unsafe is the continued use of magnet activated shoe brakes on the trailers. These are notoriously unreliable and quickly fade and go out of adjustment, yet the builders keep using them. They should be outlawed and builders should be required to use electric over hydraulic disc brakes. Poor brakes along with suspension system designs that haven't been used on cars or trucks in 50 years combined with inadequate tires is a recipe for trouble that almost every RV out there has.

[blackdog2]

Lobbyist- tow trucks-horse trailers -rental fleets my son was 14 at Wendy's saw a couple with a u-haul drove in couldn't back out he help them they were there 1-hour I walk away and shook my head scary !!!

[70mackMB]

21 minutes ago, fxfymn said:

 Towing a 10,000 pound fiver with a half ton truck is one of my pet peeves. At many RV dealerships the salesman will tell you it's OK to pull a 40' fifth wheel with a Toyota if that's what it takes to make the sale.

 

You sir are 100% correct! I'm glad someone else is looking at this like l do. Rick and l always say when we see one of these oversize RVs...."OH look and NO special license required!"   Hippy

[RowdyRebel]

"Can deliver!" 

 

Yeah, go right ahead. You going to get all the proper oversize permits to move that thing? 53' is the maximum legal trailer length out here, and with that much tail swing, you'd better never take it to Michigan, either. That would suck having to get permits AND have to stick to your designated routes and abide by local curfews every time you wanted to go anywhere on vacation. I'd guess that's part of why something that new (5 years old) is being sold at that much of a discount...limited to where you can go with it.

[HeavyGunner]

23 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

A lot of the "farm" exemptions are being abused by huge corporate "farms" and those loopholes will ultimately be tightened. Down in Florida I've seen stripped down straight trucks with the cabs removed and no license plates, ROPS, or even a seat belt passed off as "orchard tractors". The corporate "farms" there are so huge that I often saw them running down the highway at 60 MPH for 10 miles or more between fields.

No, every farmer abuses that exemption. 

[tjc transport]

3 hours ago, blackdog2 said:

Lobbyist- tow trucks-horse trailers -rental fleets my son was 14 at Wendy's saw a couple with a u-haul drove in couldn't back out he help them they were there 1-hour I walk away and shook my head scary !!!

not just the rental outfits. 

i am totally amazed at asphalt plants where most towns get their "drivers" from after watching said "drivers" trying to back under the plant. 

it is bad enough with just the truck, but put a "hot box" behind the truck and it can take them 15 minutes to back up 20 feet and put it under the drop shoot. 

[HeavyGunner]

1 hour ago, tjc transport said:

not just the rental outfits. 

i am totally amazed at asphalt plants where most towns get their "drivers" from after watching said "drivers" trying to back under the plant. 

it is bad enough with just the truck, but put a "hot box" behind the truck and it can take them 15 minutes to back up 20 feet and put it under the drop shoot. 

Probably takes them twice as long if it's a stick. I'm unashamedly biased against automatics in trucks because the main reason for it is to put more inexperienced driver behind the seat because it's just like driving your Camry. 

[Hobert62]

7 hours ago, HeavyGunner said:

Probably takes them twice as long if it's a stick. I'm unashamedly biased against automatics in trucks because the main reason for it is to put more inexperienced driver behind the seat because it's just like driving your Camry. 

Agree 100%.        But... After being in my automatic freightliner for 100,000 miles now i had to use a 10spd the other night.    I do 11 stops in 200 miles and it didn't take long to miss my auto.  

[Hobert62]

bought this the other year it's setup for 6,990 pounds of axle weight  and 1100 pounds of tounge weight.   The problem is it only has 3,500# axles, so it's running at maximum weight on the wheels all the time.  If we where ever to actually travel with it the first thing i'd do is put 5 or 6,000# axles under it.  instead of carring several sets of spare bearings.  They do all they can to save a penny.  

[fxfymn]

Quote

 If we where ever to actually travel with it the first thing i'd do is put 5 or 6,000# axles under it.  instead of carring several sets of spare bearings.  They do all they can to save a penny.  

The mantra of the RV industry seems to be "build them as cheaply as we can, doll up the interiors to make the sale, and then walk away". My 32' fifth wheel came with 15" tires on 7K axles. After the usual tire issues I upgraded to 16" 8 ply LT tires along with electric over hydraulic disc brakes and a lot of peace of mind. 

If you want to make some changes Eastern Marine is having a two day sale. Their prices and service are usually excellent.

And don't bet against the farm lobby either. The big boys play off of the family farm image and pretty much get their way. In VA no building permits or inspections are required if it is on a farm. What we ended up with are horse arenas seating a 1000 people that do not come close to complying with the means of egress requirements.

[Hobert62]

10 minutes ago, fxfymn said:

 

If you want to make some changes Eastern Marine is having a two day sale. Their prices and service are usually excellent.

I agree.     I've purchased from them in the past.     I think stuff ships from Delaware if I remember right only 1-2 day standard shipping to my house.