I am looking into buying a FW and will tow it with a 06 2500 Megacab CTD 3.73 4x4 auto. Dodge says I can tow 12,500 lbs. There are two FW I am interested in, one is 10,100 lbs UVW and the other is 12,500 UVW. I figured I could not tow the eavier one since when loaded it will propably be around 15k lbs, what's funny is I read a review where they towed it with a 3/4 ton SRW GMC quad cab Duramax. I have every intention of adding air bags no matter what. The larger FW is much nicer, what are people's thoughts on this.

 

Personally I would go ith the lighter fiver that matches up with your truck tow weight. DRW doesn't always give you the ability to tow more weight. It might be more stable though with large trailers.

 

If it was my rig I don't think I would tow 15K with a 2500.

 

The hitch weight of a 5th wheel can be 20% of the trailer's weight. When you add the weigh of the hitch assembly, people and gear in the truck, that will often put a 2500 or SRW 3500 over it's gross vehicle weight rating, and possibly it's rear gross axle weight rating well before you are up to the gross combined weight rating or the advertised tow rating...

When loaded to 15k that 5th wheel could put 3,000 pounds in the back of the truck...

Weigh your truck with people and other stuff you intend to carry,, look at your gross vehicle weight rating and rear axle rating, and look at the hitch weight of your two choices.

The hitch weight listed on the sticker is for an empty trailer w/o any options, and is usually optimistically light...

 

optimistically lite, that was tactfull.
my thor's tag in the cabinet that gives the uvw and other wt info gave the uvw as 7300 lbs.i was carrying a 44 g fueltank/pump which i figured added about 350 lbs. we figured a grand would be safe to add for all our stuff and i'd probably be about 15k gvw. well, i got to be very curious why my 95 ctd sat on it's haunches after hooking up my trailer so i took it to be weighed.
17k gvw w/a trailer axle wt of 7300!!!!. my hitch wt was 1950 which meant my total trailer wt was 9250. we didn't have THAT much stuff. this meant the tag in the 5ver was WAY off. figure it's heavier than it says.
i put a set of air shocks $60.00 + 60 to install. coulda put them on myself if i had to, handles 200 psi an levelled me up nicely and improved the ride. i dumped the tank. it maid my truck gross wt over loaded.
on the + side, i think. i had put 4.10 's in which bumped my gvw rating from 16 to 18 k and it pulls great and can run at lower speeds in 4th.

john, 95 2500, 237k, cc, lb + a few mods

 

I just bought a 36 foot Sandpipper the ship weight is listed at 10,610. Mine is stock except I added Timbrens. I have a 2WD with the 4.10. I like how it pulls the camper. I moved up from a 28 foot travel trailer and the 5th wheel pulls so much better. I am not doing a lot of mountain towing but it takes fairly big hills with no problem. I would consider my setup at the limit I would tow with the truck.

 

Jeff gave you the real dope. Listen to him. When looking at fivers and 3/4 ton trucks, it is not what they can pull - - it is what they can carry. Let's face it, it is the same engine and tranny on the 3/4 and the 1 ton - - so, technically the 3/4 could probably pull more because it is a little lighter. BUT - BUT, it cannot carry as much weight. Once you load that sucker up and add a little water (and it seems the water tank is always forward of the axles) at 8.6 pounds per gallon, fill up the truck, add some tools, dishes, clothes, BBQ grill, put mama and the kids in the truck - - suddenly you have the truck 1000 pounds over listed weight and about 2600 pounds of pin weight with the weights you are talking. Take your total truck weight loaded (weighed on a scale with mama and the kids and full of fuel), subtract that from the GVWR of the truck and you will have allowable pin weight. It will probably be about 1200 pounds. Timbrens, air bags, overload springs, no springs, whatever will not change the number on that GVWR sticker of your truck.

If you are going this way, get as light as possible and load everything in the rear of the fiver and then hang on - - the truck will probably ride horrible with bucking.

I had a 3/4 when I first bought my present rig - - it was not a good experience at all - - my pinweight with NO water on board and nothing inside is 2400 pounds. Fully loaded it is 3300 and is sooooo much better with the 1 ton dually.

Bob

 

A lot of good information here. If you do the math correctly you will be amazed at how many rigs are traveling down the road overloaded. A lot of time the scales are not convienent but it's the only way to know the truth.
A lot people don't want to know.

 

No fear,I've pulled 14k on the back bumper of my truck (Superhitch)
As long as they've not softened up the suspension on the newer trucks too much you should be fine,a good brake controller makes all the difference.
My truck is the same as my mom's 00 2500,except the disk rear brakes and the DRW,the tires are the difference in the rating I belive,as they have to assume that people will overload it.
Fiverbob is of course right about haveing the DRW,makes it feel ALOT more stable.
If you don't mind some wiggle then you'll be fine,otherwise I'd go with the lighter trailer.

 

With my 28 ft 5er I am grossing 19,120. This puts me about 220 lbs over my 9900 lb truck rating as I have the 3500 SRW. My axle weights are all within spec, front 4920 (max 5200), rear 5740 (max 6150), trailer 8280 (max 9710 with 7700 uvw) You may want to look at the smaller/lighter 5er or consider a different model in the lighter weight range. Many, many choices out there.

 

The THIRD option is to Keep Looking for a NICER 10k.

 

Norm, FWIW, I pull 16.5K plus a motorcycle trailer with a stock 03 short bed with 2800lbs pin wieght. I thought I would need airbags like my previous truck, but found I didn't as long as I ran the tire pressures at 80psi. If you have a long box, the bags will help.

 

You may be over stressing your tires at 80 psi. My Michilen (spelling?) tires LT235 85R 16 load range E tire max COLD air pressure rating is 80 psi.