5th wheel towing capacity???

[Nickaru]

I have a 2001 4x4 ETH/DEE with mods (see sig) and I want to move up to a 5th wheel toy hauler from our current 21 ft tow behind. According to Dodge back in 2001, my max trailer weight is 14,300 w/ 4. 10 gears. Some RV dealers are telling me that's not the 5th wheel tow capacity and it would be more. I think it's the smoke up my #$! trick! All the GOOD 5th wheels I'm looking at will be around that weight if not more once it's loaded. The GCWR is 21,500 which I'm sure to exceed and that stinks to think I have to down size my trailer! :{ What is my 5th wheel trailer limit?

 

[tschwab]

Sounds like you will be pushing the limit and possibly be overweight. Will the truck pull it - absolutely, BUT I think you will be over limit which will have very serious consequences in an accident. My motto is to be over trucked, your truck & your insurance company will thank you for it.



Consider the gear your putting in as well, you would be amazed how quickly it all adds up.

 

[klenger]

Check out my web page on RV towing weights at http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/weight/index.html



I would not worry so much about your GCWR as I would the trucks GVWR. If you stay under the GVWR for the truck, the combined weight will take care of itself.

 

[EricBu12]

I am in the same boat as you on the truck... HO, 6 speed, etc. I upgraded my tires and suspension to handle the 5th wheel toyhauler I have now. I got 19. 5" Rims from Rickson and Michellin 245/70R 19. 5" 12 ply "F" rated tires.



Heres my trailer I think you and your wife would be very happy with this one. I sold my TT toyhauler as well and got this... .



It is a 36' Keystone Raptor. They have a 35' as well with only 1 slide. This weighs about 15K fully loaded with 2 quads and 112 gal water and 30 gal gas for the quads. The 5500 gen runs on the gasoline and is very quiet.



Right now I think I am at about 23,000# total combined. 12,500# of that is on the trailer tires which there is 6 of them on 15" tires. (15,500# Rated on the tires)



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This is the garage area, It comes with rubber diamondplate and 1" floor and 3 rails of "E-Track" You use clips for it to attach your straps for securing toys.



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View from the kitchen to the shower/bathroom and bedroom. The bed slides out and there is a closet on the front wall.



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View to the rear, you see the wall and door separating the garage. There is a sleeping loft above the garage but it is part of the living area. There are only like 3 trailers of the toyhaulers that do this.



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Havin' fun in the sun!!



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[EricBu12]

Some More pics



The underside storage area.



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The bedroom



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The kitchen right next to the garage door.



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A neat slideout cover from Carefree of Co. The slideout "Summit"



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This is the slideout cover for the long couch and table slideout... Called "slideout 2" This goes with the slideout as a cover.....



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But if you want window shading, the arms extend down to provide shade without needing another window awning



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These are 14 LED Marker lights I bought at www.ledtrailerlights.com and replaced all the POS factory ones with these



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These are 60 LED Lights I bought in a truck stop and the brackets for them as well. I bought 4 so I could make my turn separate from all 4 brake lights.



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These are Airtabs. see them at www.airtab.com They are vortex generators to breakup the vacuum at the rear of the vehicle and make more stable and a small amount of MPG increase.



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[surfbeetle]

Nice 5ver. What is the length of the garage area? I need 14 feet to put a vw bug in. My wife would love the separate garage from the living area.

 

[EricBu12]

i think the only rig that has a 14' garage would be like a 38-40' rig



here is a PDF of the brochure showing the raptor and all the info.



http://www.delcaminorv.com/Brochures/Keystone/2005-Raptor.pdf



My garage is 12' to the inch and 8' wide.



The 33' version of this trailer has a longer garage of 19' but no wall separating... ...

 

[surfbeetle]

Thanks a bunch, I will check it out.

 

[EricBu12]

heres a KZ RV about 43' long, GVW of 18K, 3 axles of 16" rims...



has a 14' garage



http://www.kz-rv.com/sportster/nvsportster_41px2.php



The cons of this trailer,

heavier, mines a 15K, half the water standard. (an opt. 55 gal avail) half the size of water heater, (mines a 12 gal. ) 2 cubes smaller fridge, (mines a 8cf. ) about the same things I have for only 2' longer garage and oh yes, no loft over the garage..... looks like a toyhauler wannabe. The larger 44' has a 10' garage.



There are others out there, there is even a magazine out now for toyhaulers



www.toyhaulermagazine.com



On edit, I see the brochure of the sportster a pic that does have a loft over the garage but I think this is a new thing and is not on the floorplans available on the site. Still, alot of things smaller with that rig and "floosier"

 

[klenger]

Wow, 18,000 lbs and you don't even get a queen size bed.