Suggest a truck size for fifth wheel
 

I am going to buy a 40 foot fifth wheel and need some help picking a truck with a diesel engine with a LWB.
The 5er has a dry weight of 14,000 lbs, GVWR of 16,200 lbs, and a hitch weight of 2860 lbs.
Do I need a 2500 or 3500?
Do I need a dually or will a SRW work?

Also, a friend told me there was some better and some worse diesel engines.
I plan to buy a used Ram, probably around 2008 or so.
Any help on these questions?

with a pin weight in excess of one ton (dry weight), it's probably a bad idea to use a 3/4 ton truck.

I prefer a dually for hauling bigger stuff because it spreads the load a little and helps with trailer sway (IMO).. Lots of people will argue that a dually sucks in wet grass, snow, blah blah. Unloaded, it can be an issue. But, I can take one wheel off each side and go single. Let's see them add one!

A single rear wheel 4x4 crew cab long box 3500 truck older than a 2013 can't legally carry 2850lbs. My 2011 crew cab 4x4 short box with fuel, passengers, tool box and 5ver hitch weighs about 8000lb my GVWR is 10100lbs. If you have to have a single rear wheel get a 2013 and up 3500.

3500 dually, airbags/timbrens/exhaust brake/pre DEF 5.9/6.7 should do it.

You have a huge aftermarket source for any goodies to make it even heavier duty and more reliable if needed/wanted.

+1



-Kris

3500 DRW hands-down. We weigh around 15k going down the road with a 34' fiver and I wouldn't tow mine with anything less. Very stable, even with crosswinds. You can never have too much truck when towing...

Bob

pre DEF 5.9/6.7 should do it.

Since you mentioned DEF, I have started to look into this and it looks like a can of worms. If I get a Ram 3500 LWB, DRW truck, what year and what engine should I look at if I want a non-DEF truck?

Are you sure you are ready to make this decision. When someone decides to tow up to 16000 lbs of house they have done a lot research and have some experience towing close to that. You post indicates You have already made the decision on the 5th wheel but not what you need to tow it. Why a 2008?

I have a toyhauler in pretty much that size and weight range. Trailers listed empty weight generally does not include any options, like AC, 2 propane tanks, and so on.

Also don't forget the weight of the hitch, firewood, tools, people and anything else you might have in the truck.

I used to have a 30' 5th wheel and SRW 3500, but got this dually when I got to looking at 5th wheels in this size.

5th wheels put 20-30% of their weight on the hitch, and the rear axle weight limit is usually the limiting factor of what a pickup can handle.

Slightly over gvrw I can see people cheating on, but my current trailer would have exceeded not only the rear axle weight rating but also the tire weight rating. Not a good idea.

On the plus side, the SRW truck handled the 30' 5er fine, but I got to tow it with the dually before I found the 40' 5er, and even in that size range the dually is just more relaxing to drive in heavy winds or twisty uneven roads.

Get a dually. Only drawbacks are you have to take care in drive throughs, and $$$ when it gets to be time for tires.

Thanks Jeff. Rather then re-posting another "what size truck do I need" I read this post. Answered all my questions and I am going to change my search and look for a dually 3500 5.9L instead of the SRW. Thank you again, I am new to Dodge Diesels but not to towing. This was great information.

Question: Did you install the jake on your truck? How much did it cost?

I did install a Jake on an 03. At the time I think the jake was cheaper from Cummins than from Dodge.

The 06 I have now I bough used (didn't want the extra emission stuff on the 07's) and it already had the Jake in it.

Really nice to have. I don't know what a dealer would charge to install, but it isn't hugely difficult if you have decent mechanical skillls.