truck + 5th wheel RV + glider trailer ??

Hello all,

I'm wondering if anyone had ever tried using a fifth wheel RV to pull
a glider trailer.

This would make an ideal setup for going to glider contests if the
trailing dynamics were workable. I did a cursory look on the web
yesterday and found a 30 ft fifth wheel that did come equipped with a
trailer hitch.

It also would seem to be a fairly economic plan in that you can buy a
lot more house for your money with a 5th wheel compared to a
motorhome. When you get there, the house is disconnected leaving a
4X4 truck to pull you out of farm fields and run around town.

I'd suspect that a shorter RV with wheels near the aft hitch would
give the best chance of working well.

Steve,

I believe you would exceed length restrictions. California's limits are
defined in the following link:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/tr.../legalsize.htm

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/


"Steve Koerner" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I'm wondering if anyone had ever tried using a fifth wheel RV to pull
a glider trailer.

This would make an ideal setup for going to glider contests if the
trailing dynamics were workable. I did a cursory look on the web
yesterday and found a 30 ft fifth wheel that did come equipped with a
trailer hitch.

It also would seem to be a fairly economic plan in that you can buy a
lot more house for your money with a 5th wheel compared to a
motorhome. When you get there, the house is disconnected leaving a
4X4 truck to pull you out of farm fields and run around town.

I'd suspect that a shorter RV with wheels near the aft hitch would
give the best chance of working well.

On Mar 26, 8:00 am, "Wayne Paul" wrote:
Steve,

I believe you would exceed length restrictions. California's limits are
defined in the following link:http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/tr...guide/legalsiz...

Waynehttp://www.soaridaho.com/

"Steve Koerner" wrote in message

oups.com...



Hello all,

I'm wondering if anyone had ever tried using a fifth wheel RV to pull
a glider trailer.

This would make an ideal setup for going to glider contests if the
trailing dynamics were workable. I did a cursory look on the web
yesterday and found a 30 ft fifth wheel that did come equipped with a
trailer hitch.

It also would seem to be a fairly economic plan in that you can buy a
lot more house for your money with a 5th wheel compared to a
motorhome. When you get there, the house is disconnected leaving a
4X4 truck to pull you out of farm fields and run around town.

I'd suspect that a shorter RV with wheels near the aft hitch would
give the best chance of working well.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Utah allows up to 65 ft without a permit and my truck, 5th wheel, and
16 ft ATV trailer combination is within this limit but a glider
trailer is a lot longer than 16 ft. Also, not all states allow
multiple trailers to be towed.

Steve,

The crew and I looked at doing this before we bought our motorhome two
years ago. You can't do it, because you have a trailer pulling a
trailer, and you can't get a trailer hitch put on a 5th wheel.

2NO

Thanks for the input on the 65 ft limit. I'm thinking that still may
be workable though. The glider trailer is 29 ft and distance from the
nose of my truck to the center of the bed is 15 ft. That would leave
21 ft for RV measured from the center of the fifth wheel aft -- a
smallish RV trailer but not too bad.

The biggest question in my mind is how would this menagerie tow at
highway speed?

On Mar 26, 2:16 pm, "Steve Koerner" wrote:
Thanks for the input on the 65 ft limit. I'm thinking that still may
be workable though. The glider trailer is 29 ft and distance from the
nose of my truck to the center of the bed is 15 ft. That would leave
21 ft for RV measured from the center of the fifth wheel aft -- a
smallish RV trailer but not too bad.

The biggest question in my mind is how would this menagerie tow at
highway speed?

I have seen a photo of someone doing what the OP suggested. I believe
the pictures are in the photos section of the 1-26 associations
website.

Steve
Also along with the length law, you must have active brakes on all
trailing
units if more than one trailer. Not just surge brakes but something
like
electric brakes. I think the limit in western states for doubles is
30' per
unit. The longer the power unit's wheel base the better and lighter
trailer
to rear. I'd go with at least 3/4 ton or more.
Russ


Steve Koerner wrote:
Thanks for the input on the 65 ft limit. I'm thinking that still may
be workable though. The glider trailer is 29 ft and distance from the
nose of my truck to the center of the bed is 15 ft. That would leave
21 ft for RV measured from the center of the fifth wheel aft -- a
smallish RV trailer but not too bad.

The biggest question in my mind is how would this menagerie tow at
highway speed?

Just forgo the double trailer issue. Buy a camping
trailer to pull behind you tow vehicle and fly a Sparrow
Hawk. Transport the Sparrow Hawk in a roof rack...

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

At 18:42 26 March 2007, wrote:
On Mar 26, 2:16 pm, 'Steve Koerner' wrote:
Thanks for the input on the 65 ft limit. I'm thinking
that still may
be workable though. The glider trailer is 29 ft and
distance from the
nose of my truck to the center of the bed is 15 ft.
That would leave
21 ft for RV measured from the center of the fifth
wheel aft -- a
smallish RV trailer but not too bad.

The biggest question in my mind is how would this
menagerie tow at
highway speed?

I have seen a photo of someone doing what the OP suggested.
I believe
the pictures are in the photos section of the 1-26
associations
website.

No such pic is presently in the 1-26 association gallery. Lots of
nice 1-26 pictures though.

Russ,

Thank you for that input. Is this rule regarding brakes a national
standard of some sort or is this a rule that pertains to operation in
some partcular states? I wouldn't want to have to mess with my nice
surge brakes on the glider trailer unless I really have to.