Tractors hauling 5th wheel live in trailers

start by lopping an axle off, installing "ping" tanks and probally new seats...

class 8 trucks will beat a 5th wheel to death, they are not nearly as heavy as the trucks suspension is designed for, hence the ping tanks (softer ride on the neck), an minus an axle cuz you really dont need it

look into the fl70, pete 330 and kw t300.....thier are some really nice ones out just for pulling trailers

just about any reputiable truck shop should be able to convert a regular class 8 truck though

 

This '99 FL70 with 110,000 miles was on eBay and failed to sell . It had a Buy It Now price of $32,000 . Bids only went to $22,000 . There's plenty of these rigs out there . They'll give a lot better ride and get better mpg than a class 7 or 8 tractor . They're ready to go with no modification .

 

I myself would go with more of a medium duty truck, something like an international 4700's can easily be found under 15,000. they can even be had in a crew cab if you need space for the family, and a dt466 has been around for a long time and is supposed to be a darn good engine. and alot have 5 or 6 speed tranny's. some older trucks have 2 speed rearends, although keep in mind that alot of those are lower geared than what you would want for flying down the interstate. some of the newer ones can be had with air suspension.

 

I repeated the above, because it can't be repeated too often. I knew an old guy, (this was back before I was an old guy myself,) that went the route. He bought a day cab Pete with springs instead of air bags. Just beat the crap out of a brand new high dollar fifth wheel.

His statement to me was, "well, the salesman said". . .

Uh-huh, and we all know that salespeople are really not interested in making that sale, unless it is in the best interest of the customer. Riiiiiiiight.