Dodge might have 4500 & 5500s by 07.5 - you might have those to choose from by the time he retires.
My choice would be the FL-60 if I was retiring today and went full time RVn.

db

 

Me thinks the guy should pare down on what he plans on hauling in his trailer and go with something a little more manageable ... that he can tow with a one ton DODGE !!!

I did the full-time rv thing for a while and I really never saw the need for a humongous trailer ... more of a status symbol in the rv circle than anything else.

Just my .02

PISTOL

 

Rumor has it that Dodge will up its tow ratings for 2006, not because they are beefing-up things but because they are dropping the 7/70 Powertrain Warranty! Ferd is already at that point.

 

My work truck is a 01 f550 loaded to or just above the gvw. It ate an auto every 8-10k with Ford finally building a special high zoot version after the 4th failure. It lasted 30k. Warranty work from ford has been problematic at best with 2 or 3 trips to the warranty center per repair. Other trucks in the fleet of seven have had similar problems along with brake trouble, injector trouble, engine electrical problems, broken springs etc, etc. It's important to remember that these are overloaded trouble trucks owned by the electric utility and are beat to death but I'd do alot more research before buying a ford especially with an auto. They are good trucks which handle and drive well but they spend too much time in the shop for me!!

 

Fred thaty sounds awesome.

Most of us void our warranties anyway so might as well take advantage of it.

The 2500 for 03-05 had a 9000 GVW vs 8800 GVW in 2002. I beleive Ford's is significantly higher...

Also this proves even more so to the GVW ***** that GVW is NOT ALL ABOUT safety, a lot of it is about warranties, what I've been saying all along.

 

Might aswell get a F-550, plus side is you can get it in crew cab and a dana 135 big axle to carry the load and bigger brakes better for handling the load. Maybe buy a ford and drop in a 12 valve cummins into it, good truck geat interior room and the best engine.

 

I'd actually look at a Freightline M2 High HP with four doors.

Cat C7 powered!

 

Dodge trucks are made in Mexico and they make 4500's and 5500's for the Mexican market . They quit selling them here so they wouldn't compete with the Freightliner FL series . If they make a larger Dodge for '07 look for it to have a Mercedes or Detroit Diesel engine .

 

I pull around 18000 lbs.....but my truck is modded. I don t think I would want to do it with a new truck on a regular basis. Seems like just to much to go wrong, if something fails on my truck, its pretty easy to tell what it is, although it has never happened, thats why i love the 12 valve.

 

Hey All;
I have to weigh in on this. I concur with what a couple of others stated, if the trailer is that big, then he needs a medium duty. I pull my two John Deere Antique pullers behind my 01.5' 3500. I am using a rollsrite 25+5 with tandem duals (you can bet your bombs it licensed right too) and combined the whole setup is right at 24,900, truck trailer and load. I don't go cross country with it, but do go to Ohio once in a great while from VA with it. Alot of it is how you drive the whole setup and how you set he whole combination up to begin with. Before anyone pulls out a gun and starts to shoot at me, i am by no means a fan of the auto for towing. some swear by them. I like the positive control of the stick. (My family heavy hauls so when on leave from the Navy I am usually splitting gears)
if you take the proper precautions the trucks will do just fine, you just have to remember, all vehicles have their litations and caution needs to be exercised. Just rambling, but i haul my iron, which the trailer is 6200 lbs, and the two tractors are 12000 lbs combined, so with the whole setup is over 20k, and i do just fine and it will walk the dog, dropping 1 gear on a long grade.
R/
Eric

 

I find the automatic to be an advbantage on long downgrades . Going down a 6% grade pulling five tons I just stay off the throttle and don't have to use the brakes to maintain a speed of 50 - 55 .