Ia 17k lbs and 3 axles too much?

[Don-T]

I have a 2004 ram 3500 CTD 48re dually. I use it for daily transportation and to pull my jeep. I want to get a camper instead of paying hotels, they are not always close. I am not sure if I would be better of with a large slide in camper and the jeep on a trailer or a toy hauler type 5th wheel that I can put the jeep inside. The camper dealer says the jeep in the trailer is not a problem. The trailer can handle a 6000 lbs payload. The total weight would be close to 17,000 lbs. I would prefer the 5th wheel trailer, but I wonder if it is too much for the truck.

 

[RMcCulloch]

Go with the slide-in camper

Your truck has a GCWR of 21K with those gears - and, unless it weighs no more than 4,000 pounds, that big toy hauler will far exceed your legal maximum.



Watch out for the trucks GVWR when you go looking at campers, too, since some of those puppies are really heavy!

 

[Radshooter]

How much does your jeep weigh? Remember the payload capacity includes all your supplies, water, waste tank holdings, food, clothes, tools and parts for the jeep... ... ... ... ... .



Our fiver weighed 15,800 4 years ago. (Haven't weighed it since, but will when we pull out of here. ) We are fulltimers, and I used to pull it with a 2500 SRW V-10 auto. I know I was overloaded, but the truck handled it great. I haven't had a chance to hook up with our new dually yet, but just from the seat of the pants comparison with the V-10, I think I will be greatly pleased!!!

 

[klenger]

Is a 17k lbs and 3 axles too much?

Yes!

 

[Fireman]

Talk to Casey Balvert, he has one with tandem duals that weighs in around 16K.



At 17k you would be about 4k over, but if you could trim a little weight and keep it to 15k or below you wouldn't be in too bad of shape. I'd rather be overloaded pulling a FW than overloaded with a slide in and a tag along. The FW would be a much more stable platform than either of the others, and both together could be very ill handling.



Just my thoughts,

Fireman

 

[Don-T]

The combined wieght for the truck, slide in, trailer, and jeep would be about 19K. The total for the truck, fiver, and the jeep in it would be about 25k if the info the dealer is giving me is correct. I have heard or read somewhere that triples don't handle well behind a pickup. I know the fiver is over the GCWR of the truck but would just a gear change get it closer? I would not have a problem doing that. I can't help but think the fiver would handle better than the slide in and jeep on a trailer. I know any way I go I will probably add a EB for hills and a bigger turbo to get the exhaust temps down with the TST box.

 

[RustyJC]

You can get my mathematical response over on iRV2.com where you posed this question as well. To me, the basic question is, "Do you want to run legal or not?"



If your answer is "yes", then 17,000 lbs GVW of the loaded trailer is too much.



If your answer is "no", then I guess you can try pulling it until something either breaks or doesn't.



(And, yes, we tow a 36' 13,500 lb 5th wheel - within our truck's ratings. )



Rusty

 

[Eric_77]

Many of the toy haulers cannot handle a vehicle inside you need to go with a Cargo trailer conversion with living quarters to be able to handle a jeep. The toy haulers may be able to handle 5000 lbs but is not in isolated cargo area only it is water, sewage, fuel, living quarter supplies weight also pretty much weight spread throughout trailer.



I have been going back and forth myself for last 3 years on what to do. I decided I would go with slide in and then a tag along for being able to camp when I don't want bikes with me or what to take boat or something else.



I finaly deiced on the Big Foot for the insulation over the Lance then the Big Foot dealer near me closed down so I am back thinking agian on whether it makes sense to get one from a dealer 600+ miles away

 

[PatrickCampbell]

I would say go for a custom toy hauler 5er or personally I'd chose GN with living quarters. If I am reading right your other choice is a 5er with a bumper pull trailer behind that, i. e. double trailering? I personally wouldn't want to get into that since laws vary state to state about pulling doubles without a CDL and it makes it very difficult to reverse.



Anything you want to do you can probably do and be happy and the truck will handle it.



The only problem you are going to have is with those 3. 73s and the 48RE.



I spin 2000 RPM at 75 MPH and would love to be spinning 2200-2300 RPM at 75 MPH when I am loaded up. Your tires are a little smaller probably.



Legally, I would not worry about the weight. You need to stay under 26K though, I'm pretty sure, to avoid needing a CDL.



Your truck is rated for whatever. Your rear axle is an 11K axle. The empty truck puts about 3K on the rear axle. A 17K trailer is going to put 5K on the rear axle max. That's 8K on an 11K axle and 12K tires.



You might want an exhaust brake but we all know how that goes with a 48RE. Make sure you get a good brake controller.



Here's me always arguing that it IS safe when everyone else is saying it isn't !



:-{}

 

[Forrest Nearing]

my buddy grosses 30K+ in his '93 all the time hot shotting... make sure your trailer brakes are up to snuff and enjoy the ride!



Forrest

 

[DPelletier]

I decided to go with a slide-in and pull a cargo trailer for our dirt bikes (five of them). Although I have yet to weigh with the new truck, GVW will be approx. 11,000 and GCVW will be approx. 16,000 lbs. One of the big reasons I chose this route was for more versatility and the camper/trailer combo was easier to get into some of the camping spots we frequent.



Some thoughts;

- If you go the camper route, be careful of camper weight. by the time you have the tongue weight of a decent trailer to contend with, you'll want to keep slide-in weight less than 3500 lbs loaded. Mine is 2713 loaded ready-to-go, but without water.

- the shorter the camper, the better off you are as far as the hitch situation goes. I had my trailer built with a custom 5' tongue and don't need to use a hitch extension. For anything more than a very modest extension, you will need to upgrade the factory hitch set-up.

- I find that weight distributing bars help with the handling.



No doubt a 5er would handle nice on the highway, but if I were you, I'd avoid a set up that would put me at 25,000 GCVW.



Dave

 

[y-knot]

DON,

I have not seen any "Toy Hauler" that would accommodate a jeep, not saying there might not be any out there, I just haven't heard about them. Very, very few will offer over 10' of "garage" space.

The 6000lb payload also isn't really that much. Subtract your jeeps weight, and add in the water, food and supplies and you don't have much to work with.

Like some other have pointed out, going with a truly custom car hauler with living quarters might be a good option. You can get the amount of garage space you need, order the right axles, and finish the front to your liking. I think the end product would be much better suited for the task, and it would be just as you needed it to be.

Also, I find no truth to the statement about tri-axles being hard to pull behind a pick-up. I have always ordered by trailers with three axles, and have found them to track very well. Good luck in your search.

 

[tgrfan2]

I would go with the fiver for handling. You could do like a guy I saw in Texas . He was pulling a 34' fiver with an 18 foot ski boat behind it with his 3500 CTD! I am 4000# over gross with my 98, but it handles a whole lot better than when I was "legal" with my TT.

 

[GAmes]

Don, I vote with the guys who suggest getting a real car trailer instead of a toy hauler. I have yet to see a toy hauler (and I have pulled quite a few of them from different manufacturers) that can handle the weight of a jeep in the "garage" area. I believe the center of gravity would shift too much to the rear. Wells Cargo makes quality trailers that you can customize. Buying one designed for your needs will give you a lot better service than an off the lot toy hauler. 800-348-7553 is the number in Ogden. I don't know if they have a plant nearer to Tx but you can ask.

 

[MMoroney]

I have a buddy who bought a 26 foot tandem axle gooseneck with a dovetail, put a slide-in camper over the gooseneck, and had room for the jeep on the back. Just under the 14k gross limit of the trailer. I personally would go with a slightly longer setup and a third axle for a 21k gross capability. By the way, my experience with triple axle trailers has been great. Made two 1800 mile trips with my 36 foot triple axle gooseneck flatbed and the baby slept the whole way! Very smooth riding trailer. Just a few thoughts. Mike

 

[MMiller]

I vote like Mike Morey. If you choose just to go camping put the slide in in the truck. If you are going wheeling set the slide in on the front of a real trailer, and the jeep on the back. Then you have a trailer to haul anything with in reason on. More work to a certain degree but more diversity too. This very idea is one I have been toying with for a while. I have a 32' gooseneck with beavertail, and 2 10,000lbs axels. I haul two fullsize trucks on it. Truck and trailer wieghs in about 14,000lbs empty and two 5500+lbs trucks on the trailer. Handles it great with DRIVER input necessary! It ain't gonna handle like a sports car ever, but then we own trucks right? Alot of what you want to do is how comfortable you are, how well you maintain your stuff, and how you drive. Some guys don't need a toyota truck and two wheel trailer, while others run big stuff and are fine.



Triples pull fine, pretty hard on tires when going around corners. I have two axels with 8 tires instead of 3 axels with 6 tires. The choice is a matter of opinion and what you want.



Michael

 

[jimnance]

Originally posted by GAmes

Don, I vote with the guys who suggest getting a real car trailer instead of a toy hauler. I have yet to see a toy hauler (and I have pulled quite a few of them from different manufacturers) that can handle the weight of a jeep in the "garage" area. I believe the center of gravity would shift too much to the rear. Wells Cargo makes quality trailers that you can customize. Buying one designed for your needs will give you a lot better service than an off the lot toy hauler. 800-348-7553 is the number in Ogden. I don't know if they have a plant nearer to Tx but you can ask.

H. R. makes a thirty seven foot toy hauler with 21' of cargo space. Advertised empty weight is 10,600 and GVWR is 17,000 lbs. So at least with that unit you can theoretically haul 6,000 lbs of payload.



You will be overloaded with respect to GCVWR and probably GWVR too. If it were my truck I'd run it, but that is me.

 

[JTravers]

Don,

I just went through all of the options you speak of. I have a 96 2500 4X4 and was pulling my CJ-5 with a 10. 5 ft slide in camper for many years. The issues I had with that set-up were many, but mainly that I had no room. A slide in affords very little storage and the jeep in tow provided even less. This coupled with the hugh effort required to get everything loaded every time I wanted to go out led me to look for a better solution. I have since upgraded to a 38 ft Nomad Rampage fifth wheel toy hauler. The trailer wieghs 10,500 empty and loaded with the Jeep, a couple of dirt bikes and all of our gear ,food and water, it is at 16. 500. As mentioned above, not many of the toy haulers have large enough garage space to support a jeep, but the Rampage has no wall for the garage so there is 18 feet of garage space and the jeep sits centered on the three axles. It tows great. Make sure your brakes are up to snuff and you should be good to go. The only complaint I have about three axles is backing into tight spots... . it takes a little patience.



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1996 Dodge 2500 SLT 4X4, ATS Stage IV transmission and TC, Banks PP, AFE intake system, Banks exhaust brake, EGT Brakes, Gear Vendors Under/overdrive.