40 ft fifth wheel and 3/4 T dodge?

[SummitRoofs]

Can anyone give me some advice on towing a 40 ft fifth wheel with my Dodge 3/4 ton? I am looking at buying a 40 ft fifth wheel trailer with a 17,000 lb gross weight and a 3,000 lb max receiver weight. My truck has the 8,800 lb package with additional overload springs. My motor has been uprated and I am not worried about power.



How will my chassis handle it? Any advice or thoughts on if my truck is adequate will be appreciated



thanks

Summit Roofs

 

[JBlock]

How much of the 17,000 are you going to use, Are you a stick shift and 1st, 2nd or third generation.

 

[Scrappy]

you will be 5000+ over gross weight and 1500-2000 over on the truck's weight ratings. your suspension warranty if still good might get voided if your dealer is so inclined. that weight is almost too much for a dually. if your tires can support the wieght the rest of the truck should be all right since every thing else is pretty much the same as the dually

 

[SummitRoofs]

my truck is a 97 cummins 5 spd. i have load range E 3415 lb michelins. the truck is well out of warranty.



the weight of 17,000 lb gross weight and 3,000 lbs fifth wheel weight are the maximum that the trailer will weigh when hooked up.



i know it will be alot, but will it be manageable?



thank you

 

[JohnnyH]

Well, legally you will be overweight. If you are going to do it anyway, I would suggest a load F or G tire, in the 19. 5" size. A blow out on a SRW vehicle at that weight could be interesting.

 

[klenger]

While I am not a weight nazi, I am of the feeling that towing that combination would be borderline reckless. See http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/weight/index.html for my web page on RV towing weights.

 

[LesStallings]

I am cautiously comfortable with my 15,000 pound triple axle gooseneck when it is loaded fully. I make sure it is correctly loaded, rides level, tires at the 65 pound max on the trailer. Brakes are fresh and adjusted frequently, with the Prodigy well sorted out.



Same for the dually - everything checked and rechecked at every fuel stop.



Personally, I would not consider running two thousand more pounds and another 6 feet of trailer. Also, my gooseneck is built low to the ground, not like 5vrs that need to go through camp grounds, etc.



Nope, I would not do it with my truck, neverless yours.

 

[KBalzuweit]

Thats just to much for your truck. You NEED a dually. The rear tires are and suspension is going to be way overloaded. Heck even a dually will be overloaded.

 

[tschwab]

I wouldn't do it. You will be overladed and illegal. If your in an accident and they determine your overloaded, which they will, its over. Think of the liability, not only financial, but the damage you could cause to the person(s) you hit and the probable jail time. Food for thought.



Buy the right rig for the job.

 

[SummitRoofs]

thank you for the responses.



it's great to figure these things out before a person gets themselves into trouble.



The trailer i was thinking of buying goes thru a auction tomorrow. i guess i will pass on it.



Summit Roofs

 

[Sarge]

Don't feel too bad, I am in a park in Lake Tahoe NV at the moment. We took a walk around earlier and saw a 40' Quad slide, triple axle being pulled by a 2500 QC with an auto. Scary stuff to be in front of that guy going down a 6% grade... ... ...

 

[Ramtough]

My understanding is that insurance companies are getting better at matching towed vehicles and the tow vehicles on insurance policies. If your insurer saw something like this, you could be pre-emptively canceled unless you have a medium duty commercial tow rig insured on the same policy.

 

[ewcmr2]

Towing the same 36' gooseneck with my 2500 at 65mph is about as stable as towing it at 90mph with my 3500. Not that I've ever gone that fast with a big trailer

 

[B.G. Smith]

Can anyone give me some advice on towing a 40 ft fifth wheel with my Dodge 3/4 ton? I am looking at buying a 40 ft fifth wheel trailer with a 17,000 lb gross weight and a 3,000 lb max receiver weight. My truck has the 8,800 lb package with additional overload springs. My motor has been uprated and I am not worried about power.



How will my chassis handle it? Any advice or thoughts on if my truck is adequate will be appreciated



thanks

Summit Roofs

Opinions are like elbows, everyone has at least one. Here's mine, A 40 foot trailer is not a "travel" trailer and a 40' fifth wheel is way too much for a single rear wheel truck. I pull a 31' fifth wheel and that's plenty for me, no trouble going but the stopping or going down steep grade is another story. If the trailer were just used for short trips to the lake etc. you can handle it but cross country is another question? bg

 

[GerryDrake]

Take a look at the thread just started today about the triple axle 5'er that crossed through the median, struck 3 oncoming vehicles killing at least two people in an oncoming car. It happened about 80 or so miles north of Seattle on I-5 today. A tragic example of what may have involved overloading. Can't tell what kind of truck it is from the pictures, but is isn't a dually.

 

[EricBu12]

Striking several cars and a couple of pickups will disable any rig of any size even a big rig... .



Why it crossed the line is the question... . sleep? Distraction? yapping kids? who knows... . If, it was caused by say a curve and he had bad loading and it swerved, then yes it would be the truck loading fault... it Would also be a factor that if it was heavy, it might have been going too fast and that started it... .



I drive truck for a living (cab-over with triples... 105' and 105K #) and I have even seen a pickup with a boat (not big) flip over from wind alone, several TT,s and such. Alot of these Rigs, I'd say 95% of them are going way too fast ... . over 80 mph... even ones that are not overloaded... . Speed is a bad factor..... So, whatever caused that crash, I'd say speed, most likely played a part... .

 

[Turbo Thom]

The answer is NOPE... ... . Not even with a dually. Don't do it.

 

[Ron Bissett]

Sure you can pull it with your truck .........not mine.

The reason most fine looking well kept and dream rigs ,sit on the lots or with for sale sigh on them ,is that not many folks have enough truck to pull them and they know it from past experience and would not take it on them self to buy one . Look be for you leap. Thee thousand pin weight wow. Ron Bissett in metro Louisville KY Oo. Oo.

 

[tschwab]

Striking several cars and a couple of pickups will disable any rig of any size even a big rig... .



Why it crossed the line is the question... . sleep? Distraction? yapping kids? who knows... . If, it was caused by say a curve and he had bad loading and it swerved, then yes it would be the truck loading fault... it Would also be a factor that if it was heavy, it might have been going too fast and that started it... .



I drive truck for a living (cab-over with triples... 105' and 105K #) and I have even seen a pickup with a boat (not big) flip over from wind alone, several TT,s and such. Alot of these Rigs, I'd say 95% of them are going way too fast ... . over 80 mph... even ones that are not overloaded... . Speed is a bad factor..... So, whatever caused that crash, I'd say speed, most likely played a part... .

Some punk *** kid cut off the truck and 5vr causing them to swerve across the median into the oncoming car where three people were killed. I think they caught the punk today, as he caused the accident and sped off. I hope they put him away for life. I hate those punk *** drivers that swerve in and out, cut you off and tailgate. Cops and state patrol just seem to ignore them, atleast in seattle/tacoma area, it is getting really bad.

 

[Mad Bomber]

Here's the link https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1230137#post1230137