Pulling 5th wheel with 3/4 ton

[JFreeman]

Looking at buying 5th wheel, weight is 10,679 empty and hitch weight is 2,840. Are any of you guys pulling these kind of loads with 3/4 ton trucks. I have on 03 6 speed lwb.

 

[TowPro]

I pulled my terry 305G with my 2500, It ran in the low 10 K's, but I think the hitch weight was more then 1000 lbs less then your talking. Are you sure about the 2840 lbs? that almost 30%, sounds high.

Originally posted by JFreeman

Looking at buying 5th wheel, weight is 10,679 empty and hitch weight is 2,840. Are any of you guys pulling these kind of loads with 3/4 ton trucks. I have on 03 6 speed lwb.

 

[RichMorris]

I have a Cameo 32 ft 5er the weighs 10,990 empty. On my '01 2500 6 speed I pulled in the mountains of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado for a total towing milage of >10K. No problems at all. With an Edge EZ and exhaust brake climbing and control on down hill runs were no problem. The combined rig weighed 21. 6 with three of us traveling. I did trade the truck for an '03 HO 3500 drw with the 48RE. ( My wife wanted to go back to an automatic. ) This truck tows well but with lower fuel milage. 15. 5 to 16 empty vs 17. 5-18. 5 on the '01. Towing I now get about 8. 5 to 9 vs 9. 85 to 10. 5 on the '01. The main reason I traded up was for the heaver tow rating. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions I may be able to help with. Rich

 

[CumminsPuller]

My dad pulls a 34' or 36' Alpinelite that tips the scales at 14k or 15k. He hasn't had a problem. His truck is an 99', auto, 2500, CTD, 4x4, with 275's installed. Lives in Northeastern Oregon and made several trips with it, including a trip down here to Louisiana at the beginning of the year.



Jason

 

[klenger]

You will be over your GVWR by quite a bit. See link in my sig on RV towing weights. Actual pin weight will most likely be several hundren lbs over the published weight.



Is your truck a 4WD? If so, you loose about 300 lbs of payload becasue of that.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Get some airbags and she'll handle it just fine.

 

[Sarge]

What Ken said about being over your payload is right on, if it is actually that high. That number sounds like a max loaded weight though. The situation is that you may be over your GVW, but you will be well within your GCWR. I am a couple of hundred pounds over my payload weight, but about #1000 under my GCVW. Check your numbers, that number is kinda high for a pin weight. Either way, if you pull it with the 3/4, which it will, get an exhaust brake first! Making it go is not the problem, making it stop is!! I have a similar set up, and the e-brake makes pulling a breeze. Sarge

 

[Casey Balvert]

I agree with Ken. The trailer you are looking at is too heavy for your truck. With a payload of roughly 2600 pounds, after you put the wife, dog and hitch into it you will be under 2000 pounds of payload left for the pin. Not even close to the empty trailer pin weight you quoted. That is a typical problem with the 2500s pulling fivers in that they exceed the truck's GVWR long before they reach the GCWR. Will you break something? Probably not. Still it is a gamble and a legal liability if a catasrophic failure occurs. If it was mine, I would look for a lighter trailer.



And Sarge's advice on the exhaust brake is pretty solid.



FWIW. Casey

 

[KBalzuweit]

I haul trailers everyday and I run a dually. I will say that there are a bunch of guys that haul daily and use 3/4 tons. I use to use a 3/4 ton to pull a 40 ft gooseneck with 2 cars on it. Never a problem. I would still have a 3/4 if I only hauled fifth wheels, but the dually is so much nice pulling the reg travel trailers.



Karl

 

[jbone]

I guess the older we get the more we worry about all that stuff--I pulled about the same trailer you are talking about with my 98 2500, but as you can see, I traded up on truck and boy does it feel better--came down one steep Interstate with about 90 degree sweep at bottom and that convinced me--didn't loose it but boy was it goosey--never had that feeling again with the 3500... ... ... ... my 2 cents... ... ... ... . R, J. B.

 

[RustyJC]

We tow a 13,500 lb 36' 5th wheel that puts 10,800 lbs on the trailer axles and 2,700 lbs on the pin. We ordered our truck specifically to pull this 5ver within its ratings. According to certified truck scales, we hit the road at 10,380 lbs GVW (10,500 lbs GVWR) and 21,180 lbs GCW (21,500 lbs GCWR).



You will be well over your GVWR with a 3/4 ton truck if your pin weight is anywhere near what you state. If that doesn't matter to you, that's your choice and you have to live with the consequences. We chose not to.



Rusty

 

[y-knot]

I know there are alot out there that haul a fifth wheel around with that much weight or more, and I know the truck can do it. I wish you well, but I personaly would not haul that much with a 2500. I would not like having that much load, and weight on the back 2 tires. You have no options if a tire goes flat, and very limited control it an emergency were to arise. I use to haul around smaller trailers with a much smaller truck, but when I purchased a large trailer, it was ovious I need a much larger truck. I to could "do it" with the smaller one, just I could not do it safely. Just my . 02, now I can sleep tonight.

 

[Dean Upson]

I also think that is too much trailer for a 2500.



Dean

 

[JFreeman]

Well i wont have to worry anymore because i just bought a 3500 dually.

 

[Dean Upson]

You gonna love it



Dean

 

[JFreeman]

 

[klenger]

Tell us more.

 

[JFreeman]

2004 3500 dually QC HO 2x2 SLT flame red with automatic and 3. 73 rear. This is my fourth dodge diesel, but the first with an automatic. I hope these trannys can hold up to power of the cummins.

 

[Moterhead]

JFreeman, looking at your sig, isn't a your dually actually a 4X6? You do have at least four wheel drive, but all four are on the back so it's not really a 2X2??? Is a dually with "four wheel drive" really a 6X6?



Congrats on the new truck. I still waiting patiently for mine. Ordered 9/25, projected delivery date 12/1 but that seems to change every day. I get to peek at the DC Vehicle Status data base. It's been sitting in VeraCruz on a railcar since 10/21!