Community Forums

Moving Brush · 09-05-2016, 03:18 PM

Hi, I'm in the early stages of looking for a toy hauler. I'm an artist going to use the garage as my studio. Just looking around at this stage but would want to know the best truck to buy for the rig I don't yet have but am planning to buy. Heard I need a dually but also heard they are difficult to drive etc. all advice I can get will help me a great deal. Totally new to this

MSHappyCampers · 09-05-2016, 04:20 PM

Hi !

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Do some browsing over in the 5th Wheel area of the forum!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

Old-Biscuit · 09-05-2016, 04:31 PM

Toyhauler.......

If GVWR of trailer is 16,000# or lighter than any of the newer 350/3500 SRW trucks (single wheel)

If trailer GVWR is above 16K then go DRW (dually)

Dually is just as easy to drive/maneuver as SRW
Hips are no wider than mirrors
Dually is just more stable for towing heavy (SRW can be very stable provided not trying to tow heavier than trucks weight ratings)

Find/buy Toyhauler of your dreams then get truck that is FULLY capable of handling the weight requirements (payload/cargo carrying capacity, RAWR, Rear tire load ratings etc. ------not some magical mfg. published numbers)

Gordon Dewald · 09-05-2016, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moving Brush

Hi, I'm in the early stages of looking for a toy hauler. I'm an artist going to use the garage as my studio. Just looking around at this stage but would want to know the best truck to buy for the rig I don't yet have but am planning to buy. Heard I need a dually but also heard they are difficult to drive etc. all advice I can get will help me a great deal. Totally new to this

Don't believe all of the stories. Wise to get the largest truck practical to tow the trailer you will purchase. We have a 450 that we towed a 43' 5er with. Used the truck to go to shows, theater, dinner, golf course, etc.

I assume you will be using the trailer for extended periods so find the floor plan you like and then find out how much the GVWR is. You can then calculate the size of the truck. Hedging the size of the truck will enable you to upsize if/when you find you want something larger.

If you can tell us what you are thinking of doing with the unit it would be clearer to provide an answer.

How long will you be out, where will you go, how many will be living in it are helpful.

Timon · 09-05-2016, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moving Brush

Best truck to pull a 5th wheeler toy hauler 40'

Boy 40', that's really a short trip. I think you can pull it that distance with just about anything

Seriously, the above advice covers it so I don't have anything else to add.

drdarrin · 09-05-2016, 09:36 PM

Could someone who actually owns a toy hauler comment on this??

Tow haulers are designed to haul a considerable amount of weight behind the axles and in so doing, they tend to counterbalance the pin weight. Without that weight in the back of the trailer, your pin weight will be higher meaning your truck MAY end up carrying considerably more weight than the 15-20% most non-toy hauler 5ers carry. OP, if my theory is correct, you may need to take that into consideration when planning your trailer and TV purchase.

Gordon Dewald · 09-06-2016, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drdarrin

Could someone who actually owns a toy hauler comment on this??

Tow haulers are designed to haul a considerable amount of weight behind the axles and in so doing, they tend to counterbalance the pin weight. Without that weight in the back of the trailer, your pin weight will be higher meaning your truck MAY end up carrying considerably more weight than the 15-20% most non-toy hauler 5ers carry. OP, if my theory is correct, you may need to take that into consideration when planning your trailer and TV purchase.

Our toyhauler pin weight was about 3500 (brochure listed dry weight as 3220)without toys and 2645 with the trailer loaded to 17856 (GVWR 18,000). We carried approximately 1600 lbs of motorcycles and another 400 lbs of tools, etc in the garage. Our GCVW was 27864.

Timon · 09-06-2016, 11:28 AM

I've decided that likely 80% of those towing 5th wheels are towing outside their rating because they don't do the numbers correctly. They use the manufactures towing charts but fail to include the correct payloads for stuff in the truck such as PEOPLE and DOGS.

I did the numbers for a RAM MegaCab 3500 DRW, 6.7l ASIN transmission and both the 3.73 and 4.10 rear ends.

Dogs cay you can pull upto 24,820/31,120 pounds (3.73/4.10) but in reality you can only pull about 20,000 pounds.

Here is a link so you can check the numbers. I assume a total of 1,500 of payload and pin loading of 20%.

When you're done looking at mine run the numbers on you're own configuration.

gtsum2 · 09-06-2016, 07:23 PM

39ft th with gvwr of 16500. If garage is just camping stuff, pin weight ready to camp is about 3300. If rzr 1000 in garage it's about 3100. I have a ram 3500 srw and am at max truck gvwr, cgvwr and rear axle ratings when fully loaded.

Anything bigger/heavier I would certainly recommend a dually. I think 16500 trailer weight and 27500 cgvw at heaviest, (ready to camp with rzr and water etc) is about max limits of any 3500 srw

raineman · 09-06-2016, 07:33 PM

Love my dually. As mentioned on many other posts, "you never hear anyone complaining about too much truck". Go big and tow comfy. Love our dually with 4:10 gears and exhaust brake. Makes towing our rig fully loaded, including RZR, 60 gallons of gas and full 110 gallon water tank a breeze. Even going up the steep mountains here out west is a breeze. Love my dually.

As far as being hard to drive, not the case at all. Takes a little getting used to, but you will be surprised how easy they handle, even with a heavy load. You learn to take your corners wide with a dually long bed. No biggie. You won't regret a dually

Llamamontana · 09-07-2016, 10:58 AM

Will a 3500 2wd dually handle pretty much most 40'+ 5th wheels?

drdarrin · 09-07-2016, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llamamontana

Will a 3500 2wd dually handle pretty much most 40'+ 5th wheels?

Yes, depending on how the trailer and truck are loaded. Not all years of 3500's are the same however. You have to do your due diligence.

La Caja · 09-07-2016, 03:38 PM

First, let me say I assume you are talking about buying a new 350 , anything else would be subject to infinite speculation.

Since you indicated a 40' Hauler there is a lot of room for what the GVWR for the trailer could be. Let's assume 20 K.

What your concern should be is the GCWR for the truck and trailer is. Since your total could be 28K plus that pretty much requires that the Truck be a Dually and any of the big 3 3500's can pull up to 30K plus. The highest GCWR truck is the Dodge Dually with the 4:10 rear end with a 37K plus rating.

The real problem in pulling heavy trailers is " The tail wagging the dog syndrome ". If you don't know what I'm talking about you will soon find out if you buy a truck that is too small for what your pulling. Understand that "Pulling is not the problem, any diesel 2500 will pull just about any load , it's about turning and stopping ( in panic mode ) that's important .95% of the time you won't need the bigger truck it's that 5% that will save you from an unhappy outcome.

Timon · 09-07-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by La Caja

First, let me say I assume you are talking about buying a new 350 , anything else would be subject to infinite speculation.

Since you indicated a 40' Hauler there is a lot of room for what the GVWR for the trailer could be. Let's assume 20 K.

What your concern should be is the GCWR for the truck and trailer is. Since your total could be 28K plus that pretty much requires that the Truck be a Dually and any of the big 3 3500's can pull up to 30K plus. The highest GCWR truck is the Dodge Dually with the 4:10 rear end with a 37K plus rating.

The real problem in pulling heavy trailers is " The tail wagging the dog syndrome ". If you don't know what I'm talking about you will soon find out if you buy a truck that is too small for what your pulling. Understand that "Pulling is not the problem, any diesel 2500 will pull just about any load , it's about turning and stopping ( in panic mode ) that's important .95% of the time you won't need the bigger truck it's that 5% that will save you from an unhappy outcome.

That's why I did the numbers for my configuration and posted them above for all to look at. About the only way you can pull the full 30K is with a truck with only the driver and no other load. In a real world environment pulling an RV with your family about the most you'll be able to pull is around 20K with a DRW drive. I don't see how a SRW drive could ever do it. In addition when I ran the numbers it proved your point that you have plenty of pulling power it's payload capacity where you come up short.