Hoo Hah, does that one open a can of worms! There are undoubtedly as many opinions on that as there are trailer people. FWIW I'll throw out some of mine. There is of course the caveat that mine are, as are anyones, personal, reasonably arrived at, and vulnerable to attack by those less reasoned and informed...
Pro: Usually more stable than tag alongs (TA) due to pivot point close to rear axle. Con: Slab sided design and high portion over the hitch usually eliminate stability advantage. TA hitches with same charactaristics are out there, but at a cost premium. (Eg. Hensly and Pull-rite.) Pro: Easier to (learn) to back up. Con: Learning to do anything is a one time deal. Pro: Can turn much tighter than TA. Con: Makes it possible to put excessive side load on tires. Also easier to hit stuff in your blind spot (which is a piece of cake in a TA). Pro: Easier to see while hitching. Con(s): Requires pickup (or similar) as tow vehicle. Eats up bulk of storage in pickup bed. Hitch remains in bed while rig is parked (in most instances) or is much more difficult to remove than TA hitch. Also precludes use of bed cover/cap while under tow. Pro: Usually roomier. Con: Roominess usually by virtue of slide-out sections (sometime as many as five slidouts on one trailer!) with concommitant weight and complexity penalty. Pro: Basement storage. Con: Loss of storage space in prime mover. Short bed pickup ~120 cubic feet of strorage under cab high cap, ~60 cu.ft under flat topper. Long bed about 23% more. Hard to replace that much storage in basement of trailer. Pro: Longer trailers can be manufacured. Con: Bigger is heavier, GCWR of tow vehicle is a fixed number, more trailer = less capacity in truck. In fact if the trailer is heavy enough to require dual wheeled rear axle, then payload of truck goes down by ~400 lbs to make up for dry weight increase. Pro: Can tow another trailer behind. Con: Tow capability has to be built into trailer structure. (If that is a requirement a fifth wheel is probably the only way to go. For me, if I wanted to drive a tandem rig I'd have been a teamster or railroad engineer) As you can see there are points to be made for any trailer, new, old, square, round(ed), fiver, tag along... Bottom line is you makes your choice, lays your money down, and wonders if it would have been better if... I'm sure my unbiased opinion has not shone through in this completely objective analysis. Matt <snip> >okay why do some people pick a >5th wheel over a trailer ....what are the pros and cons of each > > <snip> To unsubscribe from this group, go to http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/AirstreamList/ and unsubscribe. To suspend delivery while traveling, simply change the delivery option to No Mail-Web only. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AirstreamList/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
