[A/S] Fiver vs Tagalong (was Gathering info)

[Matt Worner <wornmatt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hoo Hah, does that one open a can of worms!  There are undoubtedly as 
many opinions on that as there are trailer people.  FWIW I'll throw out 
some of mine.  There is of course the caveat that mine are, as are 
anyones, personal, reasonably arrived at, and vulnerable to attack by 
those less reasoned and informed...

Pro:  Usually more stable than tag alongs (TA) due to pivot point close 
to rear axle.  Con:  Slab sided design and high portion over the hitch 
usually eliminate stability advantage.  TA hitches with same 
charactaristics are out there, but at a cost premium.  (Eg. Hensly and 
Pull-rite.)

Pro:  Easier to (learn) to back up.   Con:  Learning to do anything is a 
one time deal.

Pro: Can turn much tighter than TA.  Con:  Makes it possible to put  
excessive side load on tires.  Also easier to hit stuff in your blind 
spot (which is a piece of cake in a TA).

Pro:  Easier to see while hitching.  Con(s):  Requires pickup (or 
similar) as tow vehicle.  Eats up bulk of storage in pickup bed.  Hitch 
remains in bed while rig is parked (in most instances) or is much more 
difficult to remove than TA hitch.  Also precludes use of bed cover/cap 
while under tow.

Pro:  Usually roomier.  Con:  Roominess usually by virtue of slide-out 
sections (sometime as many as five slidouts on one trailer!) with 
concommitant weight and complexity penalty.

Pro:  Basement storage.  Con:  Loss of storage space in prime mover.  
Short bed pickup ~120 cubic feet of strorage under cab high cap, ~60 
cu.ft under flat topper.  Long bed about 23% more. Hard to replace that 
much storage in basement of trailer.

Pro:  Longer trailers can be manufacured.  Con:  Bigger is heavier,  
GCWR of tow vehicle is a fixed number, more trailer = less capacity in 
truck.  In fact if the trailer is heavy enough to require dual wheeled 
rear axle, then payload of truck goes down by ~400 lbs to make up for 
dry weight increase.

Pro:  Can tow another trailer behind.  Con:  Tow capability has to be 
built into trailer structure. (If that is a requirement a fifth wheel is 
probably the only way to go.  For me, if I wanted to drive a tandem rig 
I'd have been a teamster or railroad engineer)

As you can see there are points to be made for any trailer, new, old, 
square, round(ed), fiver, tag along...  Bottom line is you makes your 
choice, lays your money down, and wonders if it would have been better if...

I'm sure my unbiased opinion has not shone through in this completely 
objective analysis.

Matt