Whats harder to back up , 5th wheel or regular bumper pull trailers ?
 

All of my campers were 5th wheels. They went down the road like a dream, but I always struggled a little bit to stuff them in to tighter spaces backing them up.
Seems I can make a trailer turn in a shorter radius on a bumper pull trailer as opposed to 5th wheels . Or, maybe I am just not as used to them and anticipate how they will turn incorrectly
Its trailer inspection season here, and I just spent 10 minutes trying to back a big 5th wheel horse trailer into my garage , while traffic sat there looking at me like it was my first time .
Whats your experience ?

never towed a 5th wheel but would've thought it's easier as the pivot point is the same as the truck.

Same here, never towed a 5th wheel so I can't compare.

But I do know that a tow dolly with a car on it is very hard for me to back up.
I think it's because it's so close and I can't see the towed car pivoting on the axle.

I was at a local gas station and as I was filling up I watched a F450 pulling a 2 horse trailer with two hoses inside pull in for diesel fuel. A chick that had to be no taller than 5'5" hopped out, pumped her fuel. She was in full "cowboy up" clothes. I went inside to buy beer, and watched as she masterfully backed that rig up, and then pulled out like a total pro. I was in awe.

I don't pull a trailer but a few times per decade. The last time I did I was very happy no one was around to watch. It was embarrassing to me at my lack of ability.

I have pulled up to a 16’x80’ mobile home, and spent years pulling 30 ft of boat and trailer for hours at a time. The single most difficult thing I’ve ever backed was a single axle 4’x8’ utility trailer. If you even look in the wrong direction you’ll jackknife the SOB, and it disappears behind a truck. Thank God I sold that stupid thing.

I've pulled a car trailer for a friend with his truck, bumper pull.

I'd think the part that makes it harder to back a 5th wheel is the fact you don't get the same type of pivot action on the trailer as the bumper pull does. I'd think they both take practice to become proficient at backing up. And yes, small short trailers are the worst kind to deal with.

My brother put front hitches on all his tow vehicles for a reason.

^^^ :D Yes, the dreaded 4x8 utility trailer. They're the worst.

I towed a 40' 5th wheel for several years and all sorts of bumper pull trailers. Towing down the road? No question, the 5th wheel is superior. Backing in, I remember there was a bit of a learning curve with the 5th wheel. It's different, but no better or worse that I recall. Basically, your starting point before you start backing is in a different location.

I was constantly amazed by the over the road truckers who would back these semi trailers between 2 other rigs with a foot on each side and do it perfectly in one try.

Try backing an empty PWC trailer down a steep boat ramp.
I have a buggy whip flag that goes in the center rear of the trailer so as to not loose site of it turning on me.
The electronic back up with a dash knob in the bigger Ford trucks work well only on fairly level ground.
The guys that back dual 40" trailers in MX full of LPG into a storage terminal are skilled drivers.

A long tongue / wheelbase makes all the difference when backing a trailer.

I had a 5th wheel. It was pretty cool how you could move it around if you had skill. I didn't.

Answer: my opinion is a 5th wheel is easier as the truck can move in greater than 90 degrees to the trailer if needed which should give greater mobility.

After a short learning curve both were easy to me.

I think a fifth wheel is easier overall.


But a bumper pulled trailer is easier to back up. It reacts slower to inputs.

Given: both trailers are about equal length.

I used to drive big rigs back in the day and we had a dock that was very tough to back into. You essentially had to back up along the trailers lined up and when you found an opening you had to cut hard and "jack knife" the trailer into the open spot.

I can back up a trailer into a gnat's ass, for me the longer the trailer the easier to back up. The short ones "get away" from you quicker.

Towed our 5th wheel on Monday to the campground and came home today . Short shake down trip . In my opinion the 5th wheel is superior to bumper pull . But everyone is different , skill level can be all over the place . But it's also what you are used to . If you have towed bumper pulls for 20 years a 5th wheel won't feel natural . Same if you towed a 5th wheel for 20 years and went bumper pull .

This is only the 3rd time I have pulled this camper and it's my first 5th wheel . All my towing experience has been with bumper pull . Only oddity for me was getting used to seeing the camper " right there " in the rearview mirror .

Truck drivers are definitely the masters. I’ve seen some amazing YouTube videos. Boat ramps were bad enough.

On the double trailers that semi drivers sometime use...they use a special 'pin' to lock the two together for difficult spots to back in.
One driver I talked to said "It makes backing doubles as easy as a single trailer"

I just pulled it out of the shop and backed it into my lot to make it easier for the client to just zip out after work tonight with backing up herself ( crazy horse people ) . She can probably drive circles around me with a truck and trailer .
I think I get it . 5 th wheel seems to back up nice ,but takes more real estate to correct if you have to change directions . I bet if I had that truck/trailer for a weekend , Id be johnny on the spot . Still took me 4 stabs to back a 30 foot trailer into a spot , that I have backed into hundreds of times over the last 23 years of being here .

When I was going to school at SDSU I had a friend that was in the park service part time. We spent many a weekend just 'observing' the boaters down at the launch ramp at Mission Bay.
Good times for all!

Gooseneck is the easiest (as the trailers are longer and gives you more time to adjust). Bumper pulls suck as it’s a further back pov. Small trailers and tow dollies are the absolute worse.

The tow dolly I had, if you backed up and cut it too sharp...you ran the danger of the fender on the dolly hitting and gouging the towed car's door.
That is because the towed car sits with it's wheels on a pan. The pan rotates when the road curves...making it very difficult to back up.

Yeah. Fifth wheel/ goosenecks will take out the cab corner and/or back window/door with extreme angles.


Which brings up the point of the use of long beds for 5th wheel/goosenecks.

I agree with the smaller utility trailer comments, and to make it worse I would double pull one behind my travel trailer for years. That was basically impossible to back up and in the rare occasion I needed to back up a bunch I would just unhook the second trailer.

I have only ever towed a bumper pull, now I can back one of those into anything. I pull a 14 foot trailer behind my Super C and its not difficult.

Years ago, I had a trailer with the same dimensions as a U-Haul trailer. I could back that one up all day long.

I bought a Trailex about 1.5 years ago and I’m having a heck of a time trying to back it up still. I just haven’t found the sweet spot to not keep making the turn. I’m going to VIR this weekend, so I’ll get some more practice.

"pitiful'


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Thats funny!!!
Over the winter, my bud asked me to tow his harley to a shop in Pittsburgh for paintwork . He had it in a big enclosed trailer and asked if we could use my dually , because his ram didnt like tugging this behemouth trailer much .
We get up early Saturday morning and haul it down to this biker shop . These dudes are the real deal . I grew up the same hood . These guys were the cool guys in my neighborhood when I was just a little runt, peddling around on my bmx bike .
So, Im trying to back this big trailer into a really tight spot in a city neighborhood . The combo of this dually and the trailer are loooong, and it was taking me a few minutes to get lined up correctly . The one biker dude is standing by my door and helping guide me in .
A small line of trafic has backed up waiting for me to get my schtuff together .
Once I finally get into my space, and traffic can go by , some schlub in the line of traffic, in a wrekced Kia , yells at me " learn how to back that fking thing on your own time aresehole" only he used the real words . I think he thought he was going to yell at me then drive away , but he got stopped again in traffic, and he had to sit there looking dumb while a small group of biker dudes and me all gave him the stink eye.
They guy that was helping me back in, ( big scruffy tatted up long hair biker guy ) pulls up his shirt , shows me his 357, and jokingly ask me " want me to shoot him Fredddy?"
Im pretty sure he was kidding ? i dont mess with bikers a whole lot

My wife's parents had a nice cement driveway, put it in before their street was paved, couple hundred feet, 12 feet wide, trees on both sides. Before she could drive the truck at all, she had to back the 5th wheel out the driveway and into the street. I saw her do stuff with her brother's F-250 and his horse trailer with a little apartment in the front that you would not believe. 5'3" and about a buck twenty, wants a duelie, but WTF do we need a duelie for.

Now THAT's funny!

My brother lost his glasses at VIR after a long weekend of racing but didn't think much of it so he packed up his 48 foot living quarters trailer and hit the road. There was extremely dense fog on Afton mountain that night and he took a wrong turn getting off 64 and ended up on the blue ridge parkway. He had to back down the parkway, at night, in the fog, with no glasses and no spotter all the way back to the exit he took to get back on 64. I think we wrecked his car that weekend at the track too. Its funny now but I imagine there was some sweating and cursing that day!!

I tow a lot.

I have 2 gooseneck trailers, a couple bumper pulls and recently bought another 5th wheel travel trailer.

Unquestionably a gooseneck is the easiest to manipulate, backup, and tow.

For heavy loads, the gooseneck and 5th wheel are the best but you loose the use of most of your box.

The bumper pull is the most convenient.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1744923627.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1744923724.jpg

Our 5th wheel camper is converted to gooseneck . My truck has a flip over hitch ball . Full access to the bed when needed . Win win in my opinion .

To tow the new RV and horse trailer, she’s buying!

This is what I think of every time I back a trailer.

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That advise has helped me for years, push the bottom of the wheel. :)

I'd like to see the overhead turning arcs of a bumper pull compared to a 5th wheel.

Do you have to swing out a little wider to avoid curbing the 5th wheel trailer tires?

Currently have a 3 foot hitch extension and WD hitch on my bumper pull/tag along still easy enough to drive.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1744940086.jpg

In a past life I had a heavy truck drivers licence and a 5th wheel (articulated truck) licence. I actually found it easier to reverse the 5th wheel truck. If you don't think of it as a trailer but rather as a long truck it works better.

Disclaimer: I was a pretty useless truck driver, ya know, taking the sides off loading bays etc. But the money was good.

I've towed with a lot of different different trailers in my time, both traditional and fifth wheel. Always found the 5th wheel to be easier.

My 32ft race boat tri axle trailer, I could back the thing across the US blindfolded.

My little PWC trailer on the other hand, makes for good YouTube boat ramp fail video..

.

It would be a boat, not horses, thankfully. Equestrian life makes a boat look like a cheap date.

We rented a log splitter overnight and she backed it into the garage. Guy across the street literally applauded. He found that, and the fact that she converted Dan, the mean old guy that hated everyone on the street, including dogs who lived next door when we moved in, to a friendly old gentleman.

Took about 6 months. He never had a chance