I need help re towing vehicle requirements

[Hochjim]

I just bought a Titanium Pearl 3338 5th wheel.(10869 Dry Weight) PIN 1980)
I am wondering if a 2006 Dodge 3500 8ft Bed 1Ton Dual Wheel 4WD Cummins Turbo Diesel Truck will pull it safely.

Truck curb weight is 7467 lbs

Thanks very Much

Jim H

[RustyJC]

What's the 5th wheel's GVWR? Dry brochure weights don't mean much unless you are going to pull an unoptioned trailer around with nothing in it, including propane. Using the 5th wheel's GVWR to size the tow vehicle gives more margin.

Is the curb weight you quoted the weight with driver, passengers, cargo, hitch, accessories, full fuel tank(s), etc.? The reason I ask is the laden curb weight of my truck fully loaded as we hit the road is 7,680 lbs, and my truck is an extended cab 2WD.

Rusty

[RVDude]

Once you have the weight mentioned above, compare that to your truck's owner's manual and what it says about towing capacities for your specifically optioned (suspension, transmission, axles, and gearing) truck towing capacity? There are MANY factors that affect towing capacity but what your manual says about your specific truck and its options is the only rule.

Here's a handy and detailed calculator which might be useful to you.
RV and Tow Vehicle Weights

[allendp]

Jim I see this is your 1st post so welcome to IRV2 the greatest RVin site on the web. Your trailer sounds about the same as my Everest weight wise and I have pulled mine with a 2003 Ram 3500 SRW short bed for 5 years with no known problems through all types of terrain. Rusty is right though - the only way to know for sure is to weigh it fully loaded as you plan to pull it.

[CD]

Hochjim
I don't know how a 01 & 06 compare but what you discribed & ours is about the same. Ours weighs in @ 8k or more when traveling.

[Jeff_in_The_Dalles]

Welcome to the forum.

As noted above, it would be nice to have actual weights, or the max weight (GVWR) of the 5th wheel, but I would say off the cuff that your truck will tow it just fine.

Do be sure to go with a quality brake controller. A jake brake or other exhaust brake is also nice to have.

[gearman]

You dont mention much about the truck. How is the truck optioned? What rear end gears? Oil coolers, engine and trans?

The owners manual rarely has weight ratings, look at the tag on the door jam. What are the vehicle gross weight rating (GVWR) and the combined vehicle weight rating (GCVWR).

Do the tires max weight rating, all added up, exceed the GVWR? Are you running stock or aftermarket rims/wheels, what is there weight rating. What trans do you have? do you have an exhaust brake? Have you replaced the shocks, you mention that you have an '06 truck, stock shocks are good for approx 1 year/ 12k miles, for towing you will want good shocks for proper handling. I recomend bilstiens, many like the rancho 9000 as well.

Being that it a 1 ton DRW, and you have a medium size trailer, it will do fine. But food for thought.

[RustyJC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearman The owners manual rarely has weight ratings, look at the tag on the door jam. What are the vehicle gross weight rating (GVWR) and the combined vehicle weight rating (GCVWR).

On a Dodge, GVWR and GAWRs are found on the driver's door sticker. GCWR (Gross Combination Weight Rating) is found on the Mulroney sticker (new vehicle window sticker) and in the owner's manual for the various powertrain combinations.

Rusty

[wa8yxm]

My suggestion is something like this.. Ask the sales type what it takes

AND GET AT LEAST ONE SIZE BIGGER, cause those sales types are always over optimistic about what a tow vehicle can tow

Or just get a Peterbuilt and don't worry about it (Or equal)

[TXiceman]

Good point on the sales type. 99% of the people selling RV's or trucks have a clue about towing. The truck sales people think of towing as the bass boa with a cooler full of beer to the lake for the day...nothinf about a huge-heavy-box.

Your 1 ton dually should handle that trailer fine. Rusty and I are both mechanical engineers and have a tendency to analysis the numbers. It would be a goo idea to weigh your truck and check the numbers to be sure and to know how much you can tow.

Let me know how the Titanium tows. I looked at them, but I would not buy one from our area dealers,

[Jeff_in_The_Dalles]

A dealer sold a buddy of mine a huge double slide out camper, that has to weigh well over 3500 lbs, for his 3/4 ton truck... He added airbags and the highest capacity tires he could find, and eventually converted the truck to dually.

He traded it in recently, and told me the sales guy told him they won't sell his model of camper until the customer shows them a dually. He said really, you guys sold it to me...

Absolutely don't believe dealers, of RV's or trucks.

[TXiceman]

I was in technical sales for about 30 years and was never surprised at some of the outright lies that some of my so called professional cohorts told customers. Some of these "professionals" were very devote church-going-Christians...evidently they needed to review the 10 Commandants since they were missing on more than one of them. Personally I liked to sleep well at night and look the people in the eye when I see them. Plus you never have to remember which lie you told them last.

Some of the lies told are from out right ignorance and others are just deceit. Basically forget everything a dealer tells you and learn for yourself how to interpret the numbers.

Ken

[AEmedic]

Check this thread: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/20577181.cfm

Very informative and amusing.

[Ray,IN]

Welcome Jim! I towed a 10,000#(GVW) 5er with a 96 Dodge CTD 3/4T truck for 9 years without a single issue. Your 1T CTD will handle your 5er just fine. Now I pull a 15,500# GVW 5er with a 02 Chevy Duramax K3500, very easily I might add. A good calculator for properly and safely matching a truck and trailer is: http://www.klenger.net/misc/HH_towing-weights.xls