Dave,

You're very welcome.

Yep, when it comes to towing, remember the typical truck and RV salesmen's job is to MOVE UNITS. When we were uneducated newbies, we drove our new 1996 3500 V-10 onto the RV dealer's lot and asked what we could pull. His response - "Anything I've got on the lot. Heck, you could pull the building off the lot with that truck!"

My wife was looking at a 39' Mountain Aire at the Houston RV show last year. She loved the solid mahogany cabinets, ceramic tile floors, etc. I walked out and looked at the data tag - 18000 lbs GVWR! When I went back in, the salesman and Sandy (my wife) hit me - my response was "We can't tow it." The salesman asked what kind of truck I had. I told him - the 2002 in my signature. His response was, "I have a 5th wheel just like this, and I tow it fine with my 1-ton Dodge."

Rusty

 

Rusty; Glad to see you over at this site.

Dave

 

Dave,

Thanks. It's been awhile - look at my registration date. Since all my post counts disappeared, I'm starting over as a "newbie"!

Rusty

 

Howdy,
I would keep in mind that a DRW is deffinantly more stabile but the extra wheels/weight will decrease your CGVWR. I pulled our current 25'TT with a SBEC Chevy before and theDodge DRW is like night and day. I am very happy with the daully if I can find a FVer that meets our weight limitations, see GVWR Issues Just my $.02 Ken

 

The "trailer tow rating" is slightly lower with a 3500 dually, but the GVWR is significantly higher with the DRW. In 5th wheel towing, GVWR can easily be reached (even with a DRW) before GCWR. That's why a DRW can tow a heavier 5ver than a SRW without exceeding the truck's ratings.

Rusty

 

Hers's some more 5VR QC SRW 3500 data for you.

Data is from actual Cat Scales:

Truck weight Empty

Steer Axel 4320
Drive 3220
Gross 7540

Truck Loaded w/5VR Trailer Data Supplied by Manufactor
on sticker in kitchen cabinet
Steer 4300 GVWR 11437
Drive 4620 UVW 8180
Trailer 7480 Potable Water 56 Gals 498
Gross 16400 LP Gas 15 Gals 63
CCC 2696

Here is the data they put in the Brouchure for the Trailer:
TrailBlazer T27FBS
Length 29'11"
Width 8'0"
Height 12'1"
GAWR 10160
GVWR 11437
UVW 7795
CCC 3114
Hitch 1277

According to this data I had 1400lbs hitch weight with the potable water tank full and part of our gear on board.

As others have stated read what the books say and then look at the actual sticker in the 5VR/TT it will be closer to actual weight of the unit with the exception of what ever the dealer adds
I hope this helps