Beginner’s Guide to Driving With a Fifth Wheel

Fifth wheels aren’t the easiest RVs to learn to drive. Because of their massive size, it can take quite a bit of practice for new drivers to get the hang of even simple maneuvers—such as stopping, turning, or accelerating with their rigs. Before you hit the nearest highway in your new fifth wheel, we recommend reading our helpful beginner’s tips below to ensure you’ve got the basics down. 

Practice Stopping

Fifth wheels are heavy campers, and it may take some time to adjust to starting and stopping your vehicle with all that extra weight. To ensure you don’t end up rear-ending someone or accidentally running through an intersection, we suggest hitching up your fifth wheel and driving around your neighborhood to practice stopping and accelerating. While you’re still getting the hang of things, make sure to stay out of areas with heavy traffic to avoid getting into an accident

Take Wide Turns

Fifth wheels don’t corner well, and you can very easily damage your hitch, your RV, and your towing vehicle with one wrong turn. To avoid this, you’ll need to take extremely wide turns when your fifth wheel is hitched to your vehicle, while still being careful not to cross into other lanes or bump into other vehicles. To learn how to successfully turn in your fifth wheel, we recommend first practicing in a large empty parking lot. Once you’ve got the general movement down, you’re free to move into more residential or low-traffic areas to practice maneuvering around real turns and obstacles. 

Still haven’t found the perfect fifth wheel to take out your upcoming family vacation? Then consider visiting us here at Chesapeake RV Solutions in Chesapeake, VA. We proudly serve the nearby cities of Virginia Beach and Suffolk, VA, and offer a massive selection of fifth wheels for you to choose from, as well as helpful financing services and trade-in options.