I have a Dodge 3500 HO, SRW, 48re on order and am thinking about getting a 32' fifth wheel. The empty weight is 11,900 and I was wondering if the truck would handle it ok. Some of you that pull fifth wheels have a lot of experience and I would appreciate any feedback.

 

that truck should pull it just fine!yours will have a towing capacity of 16,000 pounds.did you get 4:10 or 3:73?we still are running our 93 1 ton dodge with the older automatic and the 160 hp diesel.we have the same trailer that you have,same weight,and had a 70 chevelle big block and a manuer spreader on it,drove from denver to great falls and back with 0 problem.she ran a little slow up hills sometimes,but ran at 65 all the way.oh yeah,it had 180,000 miles on it at the time!havent done the gooseneck in my 03 2500 yet,but i will.

 

Ed, your biggest concern will be the pin weight and if that weight will cause you to exceed the GVWR of the truck. Log onto the Dodge website and check the trailer tow guide by vehicle. Input the info for your vehicle and it will calculate the various weight limits. If you have a bedroom slide in your trailer you may be getting into dually territory. Good luck and congrats on the new truck.<br><br>Casey

 

Thanks for the replies. My truck will have 3.73 differential, and I think the pin weight is around 2100#. I have not bought the fifth wheel yet, I have a 30' bumper pull tt and my 96, five speed pulled it with ease.

 

If you can change your order, get the 4.10 gears. I have owned and driven these trucks with both sets of gear and the 4.10's will pull circles around the 3.73's.

 

[quote author=ed link=board=17;threadid=11898;start=0#112777 date=1047047445]<br>Thanks for the replies. My truck will have 3.73 differential, and I think the pin weight is around 2100#. I have not bought the fifth wheel yet, I have a 30' bumper pull tt and my 96, five speed pulled it with ease. <br>[/quote]<br><br>The published pin weight and the real world pin weight is two different things. Just about everything you load into the fiver will increase the pin weight. My trailer, a 31 foot rear kitchen large single slide was rated in the book at 1,600 pounds. I bought 97 2500 to pull it with thinking I had plenty of payload available. Much to my surprise, the vacation ready trailer had a pin weight of 2,800 pounds. It put the GVW of my truck over by 300 pounds. Since we are looking at a another trailer with a bedroom slide I now have a dually. Better too much truck than not enough. Weight the trailer. You won't regret it.

 

ditto what Luke sez.....4.10's..if you find them too low(which I don't think you will) you can tailor it with your next tire change. They pull way better(especially with automatic), and there is only about 200 prm diff at 100 kmp (62 mph) I got em and luv em.

 

I have a '96 dwd with a 5.9 and 47re trans &amp; 3.5 rear.<br><br>I pull a 36.5 ft 5th. I have had the CGVW at 21,500 and she pulled well through the flats and long hard hills north of Duluth. A little slow, 40 mph, on very long hills with a steep grade. 70MPH+ in overdrive on I75. And, over 2500 miles averaged 14+ MPG. (Cdn Gal) or ~ 11 US Gal.<br><br>You new &quot;baby&quot; will do alright.<br><br>Also, carefully select your brake controller. It is a love/hate relationship with these devices.<br>I finally selected the Jordan Research Corp 2020 ULTIMA. Small, easy to adjust/calibrate, proportional - cable to brake pedal- and works like a dream.

 

Ed,<br><br>Note that the towing capacity of the 3500 HO is about (pending body style, etc) 16000#, but that is with the 4.10 rear end. The 3.73 drops that rating. And, as stated above, there is no question whether the truck will pull your fiver - - it will pull it. The question is whether you will exceed payload.<br><br>I highly recommend the dually for 12000# or more. I find the ride very good, handling with the fiver exceptional (all the difference in the world over my V10 2500 pulling the same trailer - - I know, I was overloaded - - shame on me ), and not that much different in getting around town with the new highly improved front suspension. I obviously had to have the 4.10 pulling close to 16000#, and I am very happy with it. Puts the RPM's right where I want them towing. I run around 60 to 65 towing. That is 2000 to 2125 rpms. Just right. <br><br>And, Mr B is right on about the Jordan controller. That is the best. Had Prodigy on my last truck - - no comparison.<br><br>Bob

 

[quote author=FiverBob link=board=17;threadid=11898;start=0#113358 date=1047170215]<br>And, Mr B is right on about the Jordan controller. That is the best. Had Prodigy on my last truck - - no comparison.<br><br>Bob<br>[/quote]<br><br>WHAT??? Just plain old Bob? I look forward to your posts to just see where the split personality has led you this week...<br><br>Anyway, onto the real reason for the post:<br><br>Can you do a post of the Jordan vs Prodigy controllers? I've been eyeballing both, and leaning toward the Prodigy (the cable thing on the Jordan makes me nervous). I assume you haven't had any problems with cable bind? I've never seen a Jordan up close and personal, but I was wondering if it would be possible for water or snow to get onto the cable into the unit somehow? And I know you have no experience with this but do you think it would be possible for the unit to freeze up if said water or snow made it onto the cable?<br><br>Rod

 

Rod,

You have a misconception (is that something like an abortion?) about where this cable is located. The Jordan uses a three wire setup rather than four like Prodigy. It plugs in just like a Prodigy, but does not monitor the brake light circuit. The only way you get salt and water into it is if your windshield is broken or you are underwater.

In the back of the controller, there is a twisted wire coming out. A bracket is mounted on the upper part of the brake pedal arm up away from your shoe (even my size 12). If you have the adjustable pedals, the bracket is mounted on the servo cylinder. This wire is then attached to this bracket. When you depress your brake pedal, you are pulling on the wire. The further you depress the brake pedal, the more wire is pulled and the more voltage is applied to the trailer brakes. In other words, the trailer brakes are being applied in the exact proportion to the truck brakes, even sitting still such as on a hill stopped. The result is an extremely smooth feeling of control on the trailer brakes. I have mine adjusted so I can barely feel the trailer brakes start to apply just prior to my truck brakes. There is no initial surge or braking just because you happened to touch your brake pedal enough to activate your brake lights as happens in the Prodigy. They only apply as the pedal is depressed. This yields a better feeling of control of the braking than I felt with Prodigy. You will not have a couple of the inherent problems of the Prodigy such as cresting a hill and having no braking, or using an exhaust brake along with your truck brakes. The Prodigy is trying to &quot;feel&quot; what the truck is doing, not what you are doing. It will not get you in trouble as I have been on slick roads with that initial hit of 25% braking as soon as the brake light circuit is activated. Not fun checking out the graphics on the side of your fiver out your side window when you are supposed to be going straight.

Another neat feature of the Jordan is it monitors the braking current, not the voltage. You can apply voltage all day to an open circuit and not have brakes. How many times have we been braking with three, or two brakes instead of four. By knowing what your trailer should draw in current when all brakes are functioning properly, you can observe their braking condition during every day driving. My trailer draws 11.2 amps at full braking. I can check this at any time.

Attached a pic of my installation. Simple, straight into the controller, no binding, out of the way, easy to reach, easy to monitor.

VeryHappyWithJordanButNotEnoughTimeToUseItMoreBob
(there, how was that one? )

 

Ahhhh, a fellow Bigfoot has answered my questions. I was afraid of hopping into truck with my size 12 feedlot boots on and snagging that doggone wire (the boots are more like size 14 on the outside). Guess I'll grab one while there is a group buy going on. Too bad about that monster of a red button though.<br><br>I would have preferred praple.<br><br>Rod

 

[quote author=Push Rod link=board=17;threadid=11898;start=0#113869 date=1047303672]<br><br>I would have preferred praple.<br><br>Rod<br>[/quote]<br><br>Gripe - - gripe. Cover it with blue sheepskin. <br><br>BaaaaaaBob

 

[quote author=FiverBob link=board=17;threadid=11898;start=0#114051 date=1047328064]<br>Gripe - - gripe. Cover it with blue sheepskin. <br>[/quote]<br><br>Yeesh, Bob, you of all people should know that you can't put hairy covering over electrical switches. You think diesel in the cab smells bad, you should smell burning sheep.<br><br>Its not pretty. The Wildcat Blue Sheep Power Distribution Centre was an insurance nightmare...<br><br>Ghad, nightshift is killing me...<br><br>Rod

 

[quote author=ed link=board=17;threadid=11898;start=0#112618 date=1047004524]<br>I have a Dodge 3500 HO, SRW, 48re on order and am thinking about getting a 32' fifth wheel. The empty weight is 11,900 and I was wondering if the truck would handle it ok. Some of you that pull fifth wheels have a lot of experience and I would appreciate any feedback.<br>[/quote] Don't go by DC ( CURB WEIGHT FIGURES ) that are in the dealer books, when trying to figure your ( GVWR ) for 2003 3500, they are all messed up with thier numbers. Believe me I went through hell trying to get the right numbers. Two different DODGE dealers were trying to tell me OUT OF THEIR BOOK a ( SRW ) AND ( DUALLY ) WEIGH THE SAME 6878 LBS.