Lets See Your Fivers!

[Gronk]

I’m considering one of the Reflections to tow it with a 3/4 ton. I’d like to stay away from a DRW.

You can always go with a 350/3500 single rear wheel truck!

 

[PBRdude]

You can always go with a 350/3500 single rear wheel truck!

I know that in the rv world bigger is (generally) better when considering trucks. When not rving I would like to have a truck that I can easily drive around town. I am newly retired and am wanting to upgrade from my TT to a 5er that I can travel all over the country with 6 mos/year. I loved the Solitude 310 but all the Solitudes are needing a DRW to haul it. My real question is even if all the numbers ‘work out’, how safe is it towing a 12k GWR 5er with a 3/4 ton truck?

 

[GeoKat]

I know that in the rv world bigger is (generally) better when considering trucks. When not rving I would like to have a truck that I can easily drive around town. I am newly retired and am wanting to upgrade from my TT to a 5er that I can travel all over the country with 6 mos/year. I loved the Solitude 310 but all the Solitudes are needing a DRW to haul it. My real question is even if all the numbers ‘work out’, how safe is it towing a 12k GWR 5er with a 3/4 ton truck?

I'm completely green to the subject but from what I've learned I over trucked my 5th wheel. Just makes me feel safer. My rig is 13k fully loaded. The dual tires can be annoying but I just park farther away and avoid small drive-thrus.

I even discovered when I'm not pulling and put b12 in it I can get 19mpg. Who'd think it.

 

[Snap-on Man]

I’ll agree with the above statement. My F350 drw is solid as rock going down the highway. I wouldn’t go back to singles for no amount of money.

 

[Gronk]

What you need to look at is the Cargo Carrying Capacity of what ever truck you are looking at. Take your and any other passenger's weight, the weight of the hitch, and the weight of anything else you expect to have in the truck then add them together. Subtract that from the Cargo Carrying Capacity. That is what you have left for the pin weight and DO NOT go by the dry weight. figure 25% of the GVW of the trailer for pin weight. For a 12K trailer figure 4,000 pounds for the pin weight.
Speaking from experience, yes a 2500 can tow a 12K trailer, but it really wears YOU out and is hard on the truck. Same trailer with a 3500 dually is actually enjoyable to drive! It doesn't take long to get used to the extra wheels. I use mine as a daily driver just like the rest of us with them.

 

[PBRdude]

What you need to look at is the Cargo Carrying Capacity of what ever truck you are looking at. Take your and any other passenger's weight, the weight of the hitch, and the weight of anything else you expect to have in the truck then add them together. Subtract that from the Cargo Carrying Capacity. That is what you have left for the pin weight and DO NOT go by the dry weight. figure 25% of the GVW of the trailer for pin weight. For a 12K trailer figure 4,000 pounds for the pin weight.
Speaking from experience, yes a 2500 can tow a 12K trailer, but it really wears YOU out and is hard on the truck. Same trailer with a 3500 dually is actually enjoyable to drive! It doesn't take long to get used to the extra wheels. I use mine as a daily driver just like the rest of us with them.

Thanks for the advice. Seems to me all roads lead to dually’s! At least mine do.

 

[NGC 613]

If you don't want the dully then you might want to look at the lighter 5th wheels out there. There are many that can be towed just fine and safely with a 3/4 ton.
The manufactures are getting better at getting the pin weights down some. They claim to have 1/2 ton towable , but they really aren't, yet still the pin weights are down from what they were just 4 years ago on a lot of newer offerings. We looked at the Reflections and a couple we could have towed , but they didn't have any floor plans we liked. Grand Design ( we had one and we had a few issues ) are OK built , but they have no real light weight 5'er of any kind.
It all comes down to what you want for a 5th wheel . 80% of the time it's a bigger heavy 5'er so you'll need that dually 1 ton.
Here is a good article to read on the subject of towing with a 3/4 ton. Load capacity of 3/4 ton trucks - RV Lifestyle Magazine
It is getting a little dated , but still a good read on the matter.

I'll wait on the weight Police to come get me. OOoooh I done did it now. ??

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I will feed the other side of this. If one of the tires on the dually are low It could blow. When it blows it can and has taken the other tire with it. Because of the crown on the road the used or older tire should be on the inside. The stem extenders have failed for many and are not recommended by many tire shops. This means airing the inner dual is harder if you heed this advice. Until the inner tire has warn in it will be the tire carrying most of the load. Eight feet wide makes most parking lots closest slots unaccessable so you will be using the "back 40" parking spaces. The pump for fuel will be used that has the filler nozzle because of the 8ft rig. More tires more road friction, lower fuel efficiency. 4 tires cost more than 2 higher capacity tires. Dually has bragging rights, but I have never seen the brag to make any sense. I spend to much time looking at numbers. Oh yah. the sidewalls of a tire only retain pressure. They don't increase side movement much, and add friction to the MPG numbers(the reason many cross country haulers are moving to single wide tires on their trucks and trailers).

 

[NGC 613]

I will feed the other side of this. If one of the tires on the dually are low It could blow. When it blows it can and has taken the other tire with it. Because of the crown on the road the used or older tire should be on the inside. The stem extenders have failed for many and are not recommended by many tire shops. This means airing the inner dual is harder if you heed this advice. Until the inner tire has warn in it will be the tire carrying most of the load. Eight feet wide makes most parking lots closest slots unaccessable so you will be using the "back 40" parking spaces. The pump for fuel will be used that has the filler nozzle because of the 8ft rig. More tires more road friction, lower fuel efficiency. 4 tires cost more than 2 higher capacity tires. Dually has bragging rights, but I have never seen the brag to make any sense. I spend to much time looking at numbers. Oh yah. the sidewalls of a tire only retain pressure. They don't increase side movement much, and add friction to the MPG numbers(the reason many cross country haulers are moving to single wide tires on their trucks and trailers).

Kevin
Your right about that. I'll add this though.
Trucking companies have moved towards super singles for the main reason of cost. Why pay $150 each for two tires, when you can buy one tire (Super Single) for $180 and have one less wheel and tire to deal with? I'm not a Euo fan , but I do know for fact they have been using super single tires over there for almost 35 years now. 12 years living in Germany and I traveled the auto bans daily for about 5 of those years. I never saw a truck on the side of the road due to a flat in all that time. Of course the TUV inspections being as tough as they are helps too.
OPS back to topic at hand. Show them 5th wheel images folks.

 

[PBRdude]

If you don't want the dully then you might want to look at the lighter 5th wheels out there. There are many that can be towed just fine and safely with a 3/4 ton.
The manufactures are getting better at getting the pin weights down some. They claim to have 1/2 ton towable , but they really aren't, yet still the pin weights are down from what they were just 4 years ago on a lot of newer offerings. We looked at the Reflections and a couple we could have towed , but they didn't have any floor plans we liked. Grand Design ( we had one and we had a few issues ) are OK built , but they have no real light weight 5'er of any kind.
It all comes down to what you want for a 5th wheel . 80% of the time it's a bigger heavy 5'er so you'll need that dually 1 ton.
Here is a good article to read on the subject of towing with a 3/4 ton. Load capacity of 3/4 ton trucks - RV Lifestyle Magazine
It is getting a little dated , but still a good read on the matter.

I'll wait on the weight Police to come get me. OOoooh I done did it now. ??

Thanks for the article. I’ve got a lot to learn. I found it interesting that the author recommended inflating the truck tires to 80psi when towing a 5er(the sticker recommended 65psi cold under normal conditions). Also, the author inferred that the manufacturer listed payload capacity of this truck was a lot lower than actual capacity. Hmmm. Who do you trust?!