Need advice

[Navyguy]

Hi all, I'm new to the towing world and am having a little trouble sorting out all the towing capacities. I'll tell u what I think n go from there.

I'm trying to tow a 42' 5th wheel TH, with a GVWR of 18000 and a pin weight of 3100. I was planning on ordering a 2015 RAM 3500 SRW with the Aisin transmission and self leveling air suspension (although they said that wasn't available yet, I will try n have them add on later). I just want to know if that will tow it safely? I really don't want to have a dully as a daily driver as I'll be living full time for quite a while. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[LandShark]

Check this site: http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide/

Towing specs are all over the place depending on transmission, box size, 4wd?. rear end, etc.

Your safety will depend on getting a truck with the towing capacity and, just as important, how you drive (do you cruise at 55 or 85?). There are way to many variables for any of us to give you the correct answer.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Sorry but if a SRW is in your future that RV really should not be! I can tell you our MS weighs north of 18K and it has a pin weight of 4,500#. You will be overloaded on the rear axle easily. At 18K your pin will be at a minimum of 3,600# and likely more than that.

Also I really would not want to have a 42' box behind me in a panic situation with any SRW truck.

I use my 2011 3500 Dually as a daily driver it's not a big deal.

 

[SnoKing]

Rickson wheels and 19.5" tires would help. You will not add the factory rear air later. Some may want to remove it later and you will not be able to easily do that either. I only know one person that wants to be a beta tester!

Chris

 

[shorthorn]

no way would I ever pull that large a camper on a SRW truck.. Thats just me.. Not even considering actual ratings.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I will be the scapegoat for the SRW group. I have a 2500. 04.5 I sometimes pull a 30' Big Tex Goose-neck trailer with a pretty heavy overload on it. Im not proud of this its just that I have done it and have had no problems. Think about how YOU DRIVE and go from there. Im not saying that I wouldn't want to do it legal but sometimes you have to do what you have to do, Personally I think that these trucks can take more than what the factory says they can. They are worried about Law Suits just like anyone else if they said you can pull the Queen Mary the next guy would want to try the USS Ronald Reagan WITH PLANES AND CREW

Now let the fights begin

 

[Killgore]

Gosh BIG, don't leave out the fact that lawyers look for this kind of an issue should there ever be a liability type lawsuit.
- Ed

 

[GAmes]

Gosh BIG, don't leave out the fact that lawyers look for this kind of an issue should there ever be a liability type lawsuit.

Lawyers will look for a buck no matter what you are towing, what you are towing with, and whether it is your fault or not. I have a friend who was hit head-on by a guy passing an 18 wheeler, on a hill and around a curve. The guy bounced off my friend's suburban under the rear wheels of the rig's trailer and was crushed, killing him, his 7 yr old son and his brother. My friend nearly died and is crippled for life because of that moron. The moron's family sued the truck driver, his company and my friend. The truck companies insurance paid and my friend fought it, nearly to bankruptcy. He told his insurance company that if they paid he would sue them for defamation. As far as he's concerned, paying the jackals was an admission of guilt and he wasn't going to be a part of it. The jackals' lawyers made a fortune.

 

[BIGNASTY]

GAmes

I can relate to that, Had a guy pass me in the emergency lane his wheels hit the dirt he shot in front of my truck went off the road and down the side and flipped door to door so many times I lost count and then started end to end and came to rest in some company's yard along side the freeway. I pulled over even thou he didn't touch me, when the cops show up they asked if I was involved? Nope but if their is a truck within a few hundred yards he's the fault of this is the reason I stopped. Be damned if he didn't say that it was my fault for going to slow, doing the speed limit :-laf

 

[Wertles]

I pulled a 5th wheel that size with a SRW, BUT, I had Rickson 19.5 wheels on it. It did fine. I once towed the 5th wheel 15 miles on stock tires at 40 mph. Never again. That sucked. The new dually with 4.10's is amazing. I'd probably go with the 3.73's if I did it over again just because I do a lot of unloaded or slightly loaded driving and the 3.73's would handle 18k with ease and give me better mpg.

 

[Powder Extreme]

GAmes

I can relate to that, Had a guy pass me in the emergency lane his wheels hit the dirt he shot in front of my truck went off the road and down the side and flipped door to door so many times I lost count and then started end to end and came to rest in some company's yard along side the freeway. I pulled over even thou he didn't touch me, when the cops show up they asked if I was involved? Nope but if their is a truck within a few hundred yards he's the fault of this is the reason I stopped. Be damned if he didn't say that it was my fault for going to slow, doing the speed limit :-laf

I had a trucker laid up at my Truckstop a few years back, some idiot rear ended him on the interstate while he was climbing a grade. He was given a ticket for driving to slow and creating a hazard.

Remember about 15 years ago when Komifornia wanted all trucks to lower the bumpers on their trailers because too many people were getting killed when they rear ended the semi and went under the bumper which basically took the roof and whatever was under it right off the car. Of course California was to blame for that for two reasons. 1. They made us suck the trailer axles up under the trailer to meet their stupid laws. 2. With the split speed limits for trucks and cars being so far apart, the cars who probably shouldn't be driving anyway couldn't judge how quickly they were closing on the semi. Pretty simple solution, slow the cars down and or speed the trucks up.

Nope. It's all the trucks fault! Always has been and always will be. However it's usually us truck drivers who are first on the scene of an accident and have the brains to do something about it. Another brief anecdote; my co driver and I came upon an accident where a guy decided to make a u-turn on an 8 lane interstate. Needless to say he was t-boned by a lady doing about 70. When we got there the pickup was on fire with about 15 people standing around looking at it. Just as we went past it I could see there was still a man inside the pickup that was on fire. I tripped the air brakes on the tractor and yanked the Johnson bar and we bailed out of the truck with the tires sliding. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and we raced to the pickup. I sprayed around the drivers area while my buddy reached in and pulled the man out. A minute or two later the truck was so engulfed in flames you couldn't get within 50 feet of it. I have no doubt we saved that man's life while everybody else just stood there watching it burn. And then I got yelled at for not completely pulling my truck off of the highway. (The trailer duals were maybe a foot over the line into the driving lane)

 

[Killgore]

I'm sitting here trying to think of something appropriate to say other than I wouldn't expect less from you. I hope that crowd of onlookers thanked you properly, and the fellow in the car recovered from the accident.

On the other-hand, sometimes I have been embarrassed by the actions of my brothers who wear the uniform and carry the badge, for without thinking and running the mouth, they sometimes do more harm than good. It always seems to bring up the question of why there seems to be more horse's rears than horse's heads in the world.

A former driver and a retired cop - Ed.

 

[Powder Extreme]

Killgore, as a former driver and retired cop, you've probably seen more wrecks and such than you care to remember.
I need to add that certainly not all law enforcement act that way, just the same old story, a few jerks give the rest of the bunch a bad name.

I never talked to the fellow in the pickup again. We left right after the highway patrol arrived since I was creating a hazard with my truck. I know the lady who hit him was hurt pretty bad just from looking at her, the guy in the truck didn't seem to be much more than banged up and some minor burns of course. But I'm certainly no EMT so I could be completely wrong.

 

[Dieselnerd]

No one has mentioned that the SRW only comes with a 3:42 rear axle. Towing that heavy with a 3:42 might be possible but it won't be fun.

 

[RustyJC]

Our current RV (see signature) has a 19K GVWR with a pin weight approaching 4K lbs. I wouldn't dream of towing it with a SRW truck.

Rusty

 

[RVTRKN]

SRW will be over the DOD allowed weight on the rear axle, if you look up OEM Rear axle RAWR your not even close.

 

[RVTRKN]

Also that is a dry weight on the PIN number. That's why it doesn't compute. 19000 GAWR is not dry weight, so if you do load to max ratings your way over on the pin and it won't be the advertised pin weight because that's the dry weight number.