New to 5th wheels and new to Montana

[kcgreg]

Hello, my wife and I very recently traded in our travel trailer (toy hauler) and purchased a 2023 HC 351BH. Both of us are retired and travel in the spring thru the fall months. This is a new learning curve for us as this is our first 5th wheel. I'm hitting threads and learning much. Subscribing to quite a few for further reference. I appreciate all the knowledge that is shared on this and other forums. It is a great help.

Cindy and Greg

[MandK]

You’ve come to the right place for everything about your HC ! Welcome, enjoy your new rig!

[Lee-CI]

Welcome aboard the MOC family! You'll find lots of helpful folks here when questions arrive. Have a great camping season ahead.

[mlh]

We are glad you are here. Welcome to MOC enjoy and share with us the knowledge you have.
Lynwood

[twindman]

You're off to a good start with putting your truck/rig in your signature. Helps us when you ask a question.

I pretty much haven't seen a question that someone didn't have first hand experience with.

[twindman]

Oh, by the way. Much to learn pulling these things. My first one took me a year and a half before I stopped running over curbs around corners. When turning left, get in the turn lane if one exists, pull THRU the intersection as far as possible before starting to turn and then turn hard. That way you have all the road to get the rig around the corner. Similar when doing right turn. Right lane and if there are more than one lane to the right, use them all if no traffic!! HA HA Better than running over the curb and/or hitting a post plus the curb.
Go to a big EMPTY parking lot and practice backing up. I wasn't too bad the first few years because I took whatever kind of site available - backin or pull thru. The last 10 years of so I always try for pull thrus, so don't get much back in practice. Search for Z method backing. It may help some. My problem is having enough width in the lane because to back up correctly it always seems to require a lot of space.

[kcgreg]

Thanks. We've got a couple state parks fairly close so we'll be taking a few trips there and also driving around the lesser used back roads to get used to the rig.

[DutchmenSport]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on getting your new High Country. As twindman said (above), if you've not towed a fifth wheel before, there is a new learning curve.

I was a life long travel trailer, utility trailer, car hauler tower. Then I got my first ever fifth wheel at about the age of 63. Needles to say, it took over aa year before I figure it out. But one day I realized I was towing the fifth wheel (on a trip) and wasn't even thinking about a 41 foot beast behind me. I'd made many successful turns and navigated some city driving and realized .... I didn't even realize the trailer was there. It was THEN I realized and had the AH-HA moment!

Oh, granted, there are those occasions when backing up is a real problem. But even with a bumper pull trailer, there were those really tight back-in's that were challenging.

Be patient.... you'll have the Ah-Ha! moment too. It will come!

[kcgreg]

Thank you.

[Foldbak]

Welcome to the MOC. Ask away, a lot to learn!

[432bartman]

Congrats on the new trailer and joining the group. A great site for all your questions.

[rames14]

Greg, welcome to the forum. Beside the forum, rallies are a great way to meet, learn and get the full Montana experience. Safe travels.

[kcgreg]

Originally Posted by rames14

Greg, welcome to the forum. Beside the forum, rallies are a great way to meet, learn and get the full Montana experience. Safe travels.

Thank you. I've just been looking at the rally calendar info.