Expedition fifth wheeler

[kerry]

Anyone ever seen an expedition fifth wheeler? I posted a thread in Fireside the other day about the Nairn buses. The Nairn brothers went to fifth wheel buses for their Damascus to Baghad run after they found fixed frame buses too rigid for the desert. It got me thinking about whether anyone has followed this rationale for their own camper. Here's a link to a picture of a Nairn bus:

http://www.transportcafe.co.uk/image..._transport.jpg

[hinoranger]

I've thought that it would be interesting to build an Mitsu FG as a 5th wheel hauler; lots of comfort while underway but the possibility of fairly serious off-road capability without the trailer.

You'd still want the trailer to be fairly severe duty with extra ground clearance and I doubt those exist off-the shelf.

[adventureduo]

For open desert or dunes maybe.. but half the places i go.. we already have trouble fitting and we're only 23 feet long. The only way would be to base camp it and then head out like what hinoranger says with a built tow rig.

[kerry]

I wasn't thinking of the typical long fifth wheeler, but something shorter and compact, definitely stronger built than most fifth wheelers. Doug Hackney's frame problems contributed to my thinking. Shorten up an FG chassis, and the fifth wheel would substitute for a pivot frame while providing the option of a disconnect. Just a little thinking outside the box.

[ntsqd]

Give your co-dog something to do, make the trailer axle steerable.


Years ago I contemplated a 5th wheel trailer just for towing my dune buggy as I'm not real found of tag trailers.

That is a very cool picture!

[Sport-Trac 01]

I think that a fifth-wheel would make a good base camp for expeditons, but I think that one would be too big to actually take down a trail (Trail, not a log road or similar). That and you wouldn't have much articualtion between the truck and the trailer as you would with a bumper towed trailer. Sweet pic, though.

[Joaquin Suave]

I believe that lack of articulation in the pitch & yah makes 5th wheel trailers a bad choice for off-road travel.

Here is a good rule of thumb for off-road vehicle design....

If the US military dosen't do it...Then there is a good reason why it shouldn't be done.

[Sport-Trac 01]

Well, the military didn't use any fifth-wheel set-ups, but they did semi trailers on 6x6 5-ton tractors. I've seen some good camper builds out of them. But as everyone's said, they'd never make it down a trail. They'd make some cool base camps though.

Four Wheeler Magazine had an article about a guy that took a military low-boy and made a trailer for hauling his rock buggy and put a camper body on it.

Check out this thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ad.php?t=24454

[1speed]

I believe that lack of articulation in the pitch & yah makes 5th wheel trailers a bad choice for off-road travel.

Here is a good rule of thumb for off-road vehicle design....

If the US military dosen't do it...Then there is a good reason why it shouldn't be done.

Here's a fifth wheel military trailer. http://www.silvereaglemfg.com/trailers/ftt.asp It was mentioned in another thread here. I called a dealer about one, $30,000!

[12husky]

You can gain back the articulation by using a gooseneck hitch instead of a fifth wheel. Most farm trailers are done this way for that very reason. This won't quite give you 'lock and roll' capability, but it will be much better than a fifth wheel.

~Matt