5th Wheels Throw on Weight Like Fast Food Addicts

We recently reviewed some of the current pickup truck offerings on the market. A Motor Trend story touted the heavy duty aspects of the 2007 Chevrolet Silvarado three-quarter and one-ton pickups. Of these trucks, Trend had this to say: "Made for work, the HDs can carry between 2294 and 5307 pounds, with a max trailering capacity of 16,000 pounds (for a fifth wheel). Heavy-Duty, indeed."

This got the juices running. After pumping over $40,000 into a tow vehicle, then spending a "fur piece more," for a good, heavy duty fifth wheel hitch, you ought to be able to hitch up and go, right? Not if the RV manufacturers keep up this fast-food-chain trend of "super sizing" their fifth wheels. Witness if you will, Newmar's baptism last year into the "toy hauler" fifth-wheel market. Rolling out their 2008 X-Aire SURV (sport utility recreational vehicle) the company got plenty of fanfare.

"What distinguishes the X-Aire is that it’s not just a trailer with a garage and temporary living quarters," said John Sammut, vice president of sales and marketing. "It provides space with a dual duty in that the living area is suitable for full-time use." We might add, what also distinguishes the X-Aire is its monstrous scale weight. The XAFW 38CKTH model lists a gross vehicle weight rating of a whopping 19,000 pounds--a full ton and a half more than Chevy allows for towing.

So maybe you could just not load it up fully and hope to "skate by"? With a dry weight of over 14,000 pounds, there ain't much room left on the scale for bringing along that Quad or a few motorcycles in the back before you're over the limit. Fellow RVers, how many toy haulers have your seen shooting down the interstate at supersonic speeds, obviously way overloading their tow vehicle? Would you want one of those zooming up behind you in a traffic jam? If the reaction time doesn't kill you, maybe the over-the-limit weight on the brake system will.

The industry will tell you, "Always use the appropriately rated tow vehicle for any towing application." The reality is, there are plenty of those who will ignore the need for a mid-sized truck and continue to think they can pull their bloated loads behind pickups with impunity. The trouble is, somewhere soon, the ones who will pay for that mentality will be innocent motorists.

Photo credits: Chevrolet: Motor Trend Magazine; X-Aire: Newmar Corporation