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Old 06-22-2020, 01:59 PM   #1
Charlie 3931fb
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Let play a game......

Hey All,

We are enjoying our weekend here in the middle of Tennessee. Was having a cup of coffee outside and people were coming by and visiting with us. Showed the Montana to a really nice couple that want to upgrade to a 5th wheel. Then I got hit with these question's.,

When was the very first 5th wheel trailer built and sold to the public?

When did they make a trailer (any) with slide out's?

So with the brain trust that we have here on this forum I figured someone would have the answer. I am trying to think back of all of the camping trip's I was on with my family I don't really remember seeing a 5th wheel at a campground. My dad had 3 trailer's when I was growing up and they were all travel trailer's..
 
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Old 06-22-2020, 04:03 PM   #2
Ram Montana High Country
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie 3931fb View Post
Hey All,

We are enjoying our weekend here in the middle of Tennessee. Was having a cup of coffee outside and people were coming by and visiting with us. Showed the Montana to a really nice couple that want to upgrade to a 5th wheel. Then I got hit with these question's.,

When was the very first 5th wheel trailer built and sold to the public?

When did they make a trailer (any) with slide out's?

So with the brain trust that we have here on this forum I figured someone would have the answer. I am trying to think back of all of the camping trip's I was on with my family I don't really remember seeing a 5th wheel at a campground. My dad had 3 trailer's when I was growing up and they were all travel trailer's..
Different topic - you said Mid TN (heading or east/West/parked) - we'll be in Jonesboro 2 nts, Harriman 1 ntg, Yuma 2 nts. Needless to say we're heading west
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Old 06-22-2020, 04:29 PM   #3
Mikendebbie
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This article has a good history lesson...

https://rvshare.com/blog/rv-history/

...and an interesting quote I saw on another article when I googled "history of fifth wheels"...

We have to remember that the fifth wheel is the hitch on the vehicle, not the trailer attached to it.

I have a bunch of old Trailer Life magazines from the 70s and I think fifth wheel RVs as we know them today started appearing in the early to mid-70s. My Dad took us on our first summer trip with a bumper tow camper late June 1967, and we went on a 3 week trip every summer for the next 5 years. I rode shotgun in the front seat while my poor mother had to sit between my younger sisters in the backseat. I was very aware of trailer brands and makes since we had a Holiday Traveler. I counted Avions, Airstreams,Mobile Scouts and Holidays. I don't remember seeing any fifth wheel trailers back then - but my focus tended to be on the pool at the campground and the girls therein.

Also in my old 70s Trailer Life magazines are advertisements for RVs with "tilt-outs" - not slide-outs. They looked very cumbersome in the advertisement - which was trying to show it in the best spotlight. I seem to remember that slideouts did not become common until the early 90's. I can remember lusting in my heart for those "huge" 33' long Alpenlites with a living room slide and how nice they were on the lot! Even Holiday Ramblers of the 80s did not have slideouts.
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Old 06-22-2020, 05:13 PM   #4
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My first 5th wheel was a 1973 27’ Key, so they go back at least that far. I bet much further.
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Old 06-22-2020, 05:21 PM   #5
BB_TX
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5th wheel??? How about 1917. Here is an old one.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pin...6107374944036/
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