Towing with a 2500

[Gary - K7GLD]

What gets ME, are the number of fellas who KNOWINGLY ignore GVWR and GCWR, and then rationalize or try to convince others there's no problem and all's well!



LEMME tell ya, THERE IS a problem, even if it's currently only one WAITING to happen - the BEST any of us can hope for is that only the one TAKING that irresposible risk is the one who might eventually have to pay for it - and NOT take a helpless family of innocent fellow travellers WITH him!



"The manufacturers build in a safety factor"



"I'm a good and careful driver"



"I maintain my truck in top condition, so overloading is no big deal"



ALL rationalizations that MIGHT come back to haunt you - you don't want to hear "get a bigger truck", or "get a smaller trailer"?



Then don't ASK questions that only HAVE those 2 as proper replies!

 

[Cumminpwr11]

KMeek







LE 5th Wheel Toy Hauler Specifications



Model Type Box Length Overall Length Axle Weight #Axle Hitch Weight

GVWR Payload Fresh Water Grey Water Black Water Cargo Length

LE2905 5th 30' 30’ 11" 4300 2 1100 11,400 6000 120 40 40 14' 7"

All Approximate Weights are Dry with Standard Equipment Allow for Water, Fuel and Options





All specifications are subject to change without prior notification



I guess its 29 feet. optioned with a 36 gallon pump. and it will fit 6 quads easy. just the two in the middle have to hump the front two.



Gary



I feel the same way. I originally start this post to see if I can convert to a 3500 and change it over at the dmv. I am trying to be legal, just don't want to be in debt doing it. Ultimately I am not gonna get that big of a trailer if its not going to be legal.



I was just curious if my 2500 could do the job. SAme frame and all as a 3500.



Can I reregister my truck as a 3500? Anyone?

 

[EricBu12]

Boy o boy! all this talk on weight... .



I have a Desert fox 28' toyhauler. It is much lighter than the WW . The Desert fox I have has the bedroom in the front and I weighed my truck fully loaded.



Truck weighs 8000 me, full 50 gal fuel and tools and such.



Did a truck scale with the trailer. 100 gal water, 35 gal gas in station. . on trailer, Polaris sportsman 500 (800#) 3 people in truck and fuel filled with fuel



front axle, 4300



rear axle, 4900



trailer axle (2, E-rate... 13K GVW) 10,400



Total is 19,400# and my truck is rated for 20,000



Northwood makes the best Toyhauler I think. I added 3 solar panels totaling 300 watts and just today I installed a 2000/4000 watt inverter. The toyhaulers that are very heavy, are ones that have evrything on it and constructed heavy.

 

[cwsoules]

I donot think that my DTT mods have had any input to my transmission problems. I believe that if I had had them installed well before the 30,000 mile point I would be in much better shape now. When I need a rebuild I'll talk to Bill K, and my buy a DTT transmission vice getting the old one rebuilt. I hope the 10,000 mile towing trip we expect to start on will be over before we have transmission problems. My wish is that I can make it to Bremerton, WA before I have a problem. If so I'll leave my wife there and drive up to Canada to have Bill K. rework my transmission.



If we win the lottery, I'll solve the problem with a 2004 3500 SRW Cummins HO with a 6 speed manual transmission and exhaust brake.

 

[jimnance]

Gary, I beg to differ with you. You are absolutely correct that anyone exceeding GVWR is illegal. However, THOUSANDS of 3/4 ton trucks are running down the road and we aren't hearing a think about them in the media. Why? Because they aren't having many accidents.



The Feds would be all over this issue if saftey were being seriously compromised. But the aren't because it isn't.



I've towed a lot, and I can tell you that my '03 Dodge with Exhaust brake handles and stops better with my current rig than any of my other lighter ones.



You have to use some common sense. If it's too much you'll know it. Granted, some of these kids pulling 38" toy boxes at 70 MPH are not using good sense. However, I believe that the majority of overweight rigs (80% of all RV's according to one study) are operating with care and caution and are not the threat that you suggest.



I'm not rationalizing a thing. I just know my rig handles fine. I'm not scared of most of the other overweight RV'ers out there either. We are in good company.

Originally posted by Gary - KJ6Q

What gets ME, are the number of fellas who KNOWINGLY ignore GVWR and GCWR, and then rationalize or try to convince others there's no problem and all's well!



LEMME tell ya, THERE IS a problem, even if it's currently only one WAITING to happen - the BEST any of us can hope for is that only the one TAKING that irresposible risk is the one who might eventually have to pay for it - and NOT take a helpless family of innocent fellow travellers WITH him!



"The manufacturers build in a safety factor"



"I'm a good and careful driver"



"I maintain my truck in top condition, so overloading is no big deal"



ALL rationalizations that MIGHT come back to haunt you - you don't want to hear "get a bigger truck", or "get a smaller trailer"?



Then don't ASK questions that only HAVE those 2 as proper replies!

 

[berg]

I guess none of you good olboy's have ever been out here is west ne. and seen what our farm boys pull with there diesels!! i have never seen a rig an camper anywhere close to them!Don't worry be happy

 

[SMorneau]

Originally posted by Gary - KJ6Q

What gets ME, are the number of fellas who KNOWINGLY ignore GVWR and GCWR, and then rationalize or try to convince others there's no problem and all's well!



LEMME tell ya, THERE IS a problem, even if it's currently only one WAITING to happen - the BEST any of us can hope for is that only the one TAKING that irresposible risk is the one who might eventually have to pay for it - and NOT take a helpless family of innocent fellow travellers WITH him!



"The manufacturers build in a safety factor"



"I'm a good and careful driver"



"I maintain my truck in top condition, so overloading is no big deal"



ALL rationalizations that MIGHT come back to haunt you - you don't want to hear "get a bigger truck", or "get a smaller trailer"?



Then don't ASK questions that only HAVE those 2 as proper replies!

While I agree with Gary I think the it's the speed that makes things really unsafe. Its what makes the tires fail and its what makes things hard to control when things go wrong. As far as the weight ratings, I have heard of I have heard of 2500s being certified by the DOT for loads well beyond what are being talked about here. What exactly that means I don't know. I see many overloaded trucks that concern me and it's because they are all being driven too fast or too recklously. I am sure there are many people out there who would complain about Garys modifications and not meeting emissions which is some ways are about as arbitrary as the weight ratings from DC.

 

[GFrance]

I've been following this thread & havn't seen anything mentioned about what the difference is between brakes on my 2001. 5 2500 & a 3500 drw. Both have 4 wheel disc brakes.

I'm with Jimnance that according to mf specks were over the RECOMENDED towing capacity. But is the 2500 any less safe than the 3500? I personally don't think so if driven responsabley.

I'm not overloading my tire rating& I run an exhaust brake.

In 30 years of driving truck I have seen my share of overloaded pickups going down the road. Saw a mini van flipped on it's side with a 16ft camp trailer pushing it down the hill.



I have 8 axels & 28 wheels grossing 105,500lbs with 11,600 gals of gas going down the road & if I don't drive responsabley I'm putting everyone within 100yrds at risk. :--)



With that said know your limits & your trucks limits & drive accordingly & be safe out there.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Originally posted by RustyJC

Self-rationalization is a wonderful thing, it appears.....



Rusty

I dont think it is self rationalization.



If the brakes, etc. are the same as a 2500 HD than a 3500 dually then just get load range G tires. make sure your brakes are up to speed (PUN intended!) and sway bars and springs as well...



you can get up to load range G with 16" tires to my knowledge... and up to load range E with 17" tires...



If these tire companies had the need, they would put out some REAL 17" tires and then i wouldn't have had to go and spend 2000 bucks on ricksons 19. 5's rated at 5000# per tire.

 

[DPelletier]

You can't get anything higher than a load range E in 16"



Dave

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Originally posted by DPelletier

You can't get anything higher than a load range E in 16"



Dave

I know for a fact that you can get load range G 16" tires rated to at least 3750 per tire... I just have no clue where to get them



I did a google search and the only thing i could find them on were trailers.



Haulin_in_dixie on DTR ran them at one point.

 

[DPelletier]

I thought G's were rated at way more than 3750 per tire. My Hankook RF-04's on my '01. 5 were E's rated at 3415 lbs each.

Well, If you're right it won't help me anymore (have 17's now), but I'm sure there are alot of overweight 2500 pilots that would kill for a set of 16" G's in a light truck tire. There was nothing out there that I could find so it was 19. 5"s or a dually. Went with the dually,



Dave

 

[PatrickCampbell]

I would have gone dually too if I had known I would be towing heavy from the time I bought my truck. I thought it was going to be a toy and now I'm driving for a living. Ah regrets...

 

[HEYBOSS]

Re: GCWR

Originally posted by tgrfan2

These discussions of limits on GCWR really get me. According to some on this post my truck is only "safe" at 16K, but if I had a 4. 10 or a manual it would be safe at 18K? The same thing with my friend's 2003 HO 48RE 3500 SRW. If he had a 6 speed he would be "safe" to gross 23K? I guess I am missing something when a transmission or gear ratio makes a truck safe at a higher GCWR. No doubt a 6 speed will probably tow better on hills and a 4. 10 will make an automatic tow stronger in OD, but how does that relate to safety?

I'm with you. I'm still puzzled at this one. How can the same truck with same suspension, brakes etc not be as safe as the 6pd? Mine is 01 3500 drw and is rated I believe 1000lbs less than the 6spd! May be someone can explain!

 

[Prairie Dog]

It may be a matter of engine cooling. The auto adds a lot of heat to your cooling sytem, the manual doesn't.

 

[tgrfan2]

over gross

As for G rated tires, you need to check your rims and the needed air pressure to carry max load. If you don't want to exceed one stated limit you would not want to exceed the limits of your rims either. The fellows like mberry always bring up stopping as if any truck is designed to stop max GCWR by itself. You need good trailer brakes. There is a big discussion of all of this on another RV forum and primarily it is weight police pushing their agenda. I talked to a hauler from Alabama this week that delivered steel to us in SC. He was "a little" over his licensed load of 26K gross on a F350 CC DRW PSD auto. He said he had been fined in NC at 28800#, but they let him continue after paying the fine. I asked him if the Transport Police ever checked his door sticker and he said no. He said all they look at is his paperwork to make sure he is licensed for 26K!

 

[BigMike]

What amazes me is that Dodge markets their 2500's with "Camper Packages". They are basically saying "Go ahead and exceed your GVWR". Has anyone ever heard of a camper that weights less than 1500 #'s loaded? You can hardly put a decent camper in a 3500 and stay under your GVWR. To me, the whole weight issue with these trucks is a joke. Use common sense, like the majority of us do, and enjoy the awesome capability of our trucks.

 

[Wiredawg]

Been there, done that...

All:



About three years ago, I made the claim that my 00 2500 was as strong and capable as a 3500. I don't think anyone ever made the arguement any strong than me.



RustyJC and a few others may remember those posts. Look and see what I have now: a 2002 3500. I'm still over GCVWR, but I'm not exceeding anything else. On the 2500, the only weight rating I wasn't eceeding was on the front axle. I exceeded the rear tire ratings, the GVWR and the GCVWR.



I made a stark discovery as I was stripping my 2500 to trade in for my 3500. The airbags that I touted that gave me such great stability and extra load capacity had a potential serious problem. I found the lower rear mounting bolts had sheared on both sides of the upper airbag brackets. The were held in place from the binding of the mounting plates.



Sure the truck handled great pulling my 16K lb 5th wheel with 3200 lb pin weight, but I figure one time I would be in a curve, hit a bump or chug hole and lose the hole mounting plate. The sudden shift could cause the equivelant of a train wreck.



I don't worry with my 3500: It doesn't need suspension assistance and and 4 tires on the rear give me lots of confidence.



It was TDR members like RustyJC and Larry Willard who helped convince me my 2500 was not equal to a 3500. So, I got the 3500 and been happer ever since



Wiredawg

 

[Cumminpwr11]

Can I legally convert my truck to a 3500??



If so How.





Chris

 

[sewman]

Yes & no ,you can make your 2500 a dually but it'll still be titled as a 2500 but you'll have the same load rating as a 3500.

And there's 2-ways to do it. #1get a 3500 axle & back wheels,then you should also put the spacer on the front so your new wheels will fit the front as the back.

#2 get a kit from J. C. Whitney I seem them in the last catalog

it's a spacer & they also have febders too!

Good Luck

Bob