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Old 06-18-2013, 12:32 PM   #29
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I saw the Tundra towing the space shuttle. 1 Million pounds. Just sayin!
Any decent half-ton pickup similary equipped (big engine, 4x4 low range, stump-pulling axle ratio) can do that same trick. But that has zero to do with safely towing an RV trailer on the public highways.

All the pickup manufacturers, including Toyota, advise you to never exceed the GVWR or GCWR of your tow vehicle.
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Old 06-18-2013, 05:37 PM   #30
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But Smokey, it was on the internet and you can't put anything on the internet unless it is true......

Ken
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Old 06-18-2013, 06:07 PM   #31
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But Smokey, it was on the internet and you can't put anything on the internet unless it is true......

Ken

Very true. I am also a French model.
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Old 06-19-2013, 12:52 PM   #32
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Cool

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Very true. I am also a French model.
Bonjoir!
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Old 06-19-2013, 06:23 PM   #33
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A 3/4 ton truck with a gas engine and 4.10 gears or a diesel engine and 3.73 gears are what you will need. The 1-ton dually will work but it is overkill 90% of the time and that is why they are seldom used in the real world. Every trip I take I count the number of 5th wheels pulled by SRW and by DRW trucks. On a trip earlier this month covering 1200 miles through the eastern sierras and across the cental California area I counted 26 SRW and 6 DRW truck pulling 5th wheel travel trailers. Maybe 80% of the people driving SRW trucks don't know what they are doing or maybe the "gotta have a dually" need to come in out of the sun.

An alternative approach is to get a conventional trailer that can be towed by the Tundra. With a conventional trailer there is a lot less air drag and better MPG and you still have the bed of the truck for things you would otherwise have to leave at home like a boat, a couple kayaks, fishing gear, outboard, and other gear you want to have safely and securely in the bed. Where people use ATV's, boats, etc. they invariably have them in the back of the pickup and are pulling a conventional trailer. 5th wheel trailers are for more sedentary folk.
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Old 06-19-2013, 08:05 PM   #34
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DO NOT go by "what most people are doing or using". Learn what the weight rating mean and get actual weights and make an educated decision.

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Old 06-19-2013, 08:10 PM   #35
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Had to be a one time troll but it sure stimulated some "juices". Discussions of pulling large trailers with pickups always produce plenty of "erudite opinions" backed by "facts (??)".
Figured I offer my own "opinion" based on "psychology" involved in those decisions.

Fundamentalist religion, virgins, puberty and F-350s

Those of us who have become the veteran pullers and "graduated" to HDTs are often stymied by the recalcitrant attitudes and refusal to listen to reason, examples, statistics, specs, etc. Suffer no longer I have a "rational explanation".
I am known among my friends to be both an "amateur psychologist" and a comedian. I felt that combining those two skills could be the "ticket", which brings us to items in the title of the thread.

Those who wish to pull big rigs with pickups view that as a "fundamental right" based on lack of forbidding laws, Detroit's encouragement and superior skills honed by years of practice.
My "take" on fundamentalist religion is that it comprises of strong core beliefs, constantly reinforced. That's why it's so difficult to "reprogram" those who have fallen into its grasp or were kidnapped by any cult. The high priests of Detroit through the megaphones of TV reinforce this hour on the hour with glorious pictures of pickups falling out airplanes and stopping 30,000 behemoths, or with trucks racing towards precipice and stopping with inches to spare. No wonder the "believers" are willing to straps their kids to the seats of the F-250s and F-350s and take them onto New Jersey turnpike or the New York Thruway.
Heck, I believe that should the sales drop because of safety concerns, Detroit would promise 40 virgins to those who might arrive at that Big Campground in the Sky in their F-350 or Toyota Tundra.
Since I mentioned virgins it dovetails into subject of innocence and puberty. Pulling with pickups is in my opinion the puberty of RVing. Having myself pulled with three pickups over a period of 20 years I can only explain it as a case of arrested development.
During those 20 years I could vociferously argue about my abilities with a pickup, my great "skills" with a pickup and many other "theories". Not unlike the "discussions" (if you guys can remember that far back) with your fellow virgins of how it would be to be with the member of the opposite sex before one had that chance. Not having "experience" with more "capable partners" robs one of a frame of reference that "it can be disappointing" if there is a lack of skills or abilities.
Having graduated to MDTs and HDTs has elevated my "experience" to a whole new plateau. These vehicles were truly capable "partners" to my RVing enjoyment, capable of doing their part, not requiring special care, or elevated skills.
I had the misfortune of pulling with a very nicely appointed pickup (again) for a year until the HDT was ready.

It felt every day like that "error in judgment" made by some of us picking up a "trophy wife". The looks might be there but not much beyond that. And the stress of that "relationship", forget it!

So to conclude my thesis as an "amateur psychologist" and using marital comparison with which most of us are familiar the situation is as follows: Those who pull with pickups just emerged from RV puberty and are into their first marriage. They feel that they chose "wisely" but the doubts are emerging. The partner is lacking, is financially irresponsible (demanding computer chips, engines, transmissions, brakes, etc.), but you still want to keep her because she's good looking. And here come these nasty HDT guys

acting like marriage counselors and telling you that your only solution is a divorce. After you consider what the divorce is going to cost, you realize that you are "stuck" while they relentlessly showcase their partners and tell you what "fun" they have with them!

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Old 06-20-2013, 05:13 AM   #36
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I have no use of of the equipment above.. I use my F250 365 days of the year. No room to have something I cannot use.

I see many units that aree never used, not me I need a decent truck usefull and good for wear.

For the same reaons dogs are used on sleds instead of elephants.
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Old 06-20-2013, 02:13 PM   #37
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There is no question that pickups are very useful in many functions besides pulling, I had four of them and RVed with them for almost thirty years.




And I did use these frequently for other purposes. You are also right that if only have a sled a husky (not an elephant) is all that is required. Thousands of trailers can be pulled with pickups. What corks me is that Detroit and RV industry (because they can) will lie through their teeth and sell you any monstrosity and tell you that you can pull it with a pickup (safely) and bunch of other "experts" and BS artists will tell you that if you only add that "engine chip", "helper spring", "tranny upgrade", "bigger exhaust", etc., etc. you will be OK.
Not only it's BS, it's BS squared. On the really big rigs (and that's a very small minority of RV rigs sold) you do need an elephant rather than a husky.
If you listen to Ford and read their brochure you could come away with an idea that their F-350, 450, or 550 is perfectly suitable to pull this.

BS, you need an elephant to do this.

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Old 06-21-2013, 07:30 AM   #38
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I think the only 5th wheel you can pull would be a 19' Scamp.
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Old 06-21-2013, 10:53 AM   #39
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I saw the Tundra towing the space shuttle. 1 Million pounds. Just sayin!
But I would be willing to bet you didn't see the tundra STOP it
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Old 06-21-2013, 11:53 AM   #40
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In flying circles pilots will tell that you should have good flying skills and fly adequate and well maintained equipment equipment, because,
"only take-offs are optional, landing is mandatory".
Apparently in RVing circles, "pulling is optional because stopping is mandatory" does not carry the same weight.

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Old 06-21-2013, 12:49 PM   #41
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Well, at least I don't have to worry about following anyone.
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Old 06-21-2013, 01:40 PM   #42
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Air brakes vs. pickup with a fifth brakes.

What else is there to say.

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