Pin Weight?

[FLCapt]

Newbie here. I have been searching and reading on this forum and several others about this issue. My head is spinning and I'm confused! I thought I was a fairly intelligent guy! Here goes. I have ordered a 2012 Ram 3500 Crew Cab Longbed truck, SINGLE rear wheels. Base weight of the truck is 7576 lbs. GVWR is 10100 lbs, payload is 2520 lbs. GAWR rear is 6200 lbs. GCWR is 24000 lbs. Max trail is 16250 lbs. I'm looking at Toy Haulers is the 34'-36' range with GVWR's 14k - 14.5k. Let's say I have around 1500 lbs of people, fuel, dogs, hitches, etc in the truck. So I'm weighing in at 9k lbs. The part I'm having a hard time with is the pin weight. I know the whole payload on the truck is not going to be totally on the rear axle- right? If my GVWR is 10100 lbs, and I'm weighing 9k. Does that mean my max pin weight is 1100 lbs? If that is the case, these haulers seem to have about twice that pin weight in their advertising. Am I figuring this correctly? I'm just not sure I have enough truck for this. What is the rear axle rating on this truck? Or where can I find this info? I know when the hauler is loaded, it will take off some of the pin weight, but I doubt it will be a thousand pounds! Do I need to eat my down payment on this truck and get a dually? I really don't want a dually! I've towed many a trailer in my time, but never a 5'r. Help! Thanks.

[TXiceman]

Welcome to iRV2.

10100 - 9000 = 1100# available for pin weight.

The manufacturers rating have a footnote that states that the GAWR, GVWR and GCWR are not to be exceeded. You do not get a choice of which ones to follow or which ones to exceed.

On a 5er, nearly all of the pin weight goes on the rear axle. Very little is on the front axle.

There are some RVers that like to think like the commercial drivers and go as long as they do not exceed the rear axle rating (GAWR). The truck is not registered or operated as a commercial rig. And this is counter to the manufactures ratings.

You will have a loaded pin weight of something around 2800#. So plus the 9000 laden weight, you need a truck rated for 11,800# GVWR. My Dually is rated at 13,300#.

Why would the dealer not let you switch to a dually if you have not taken possession of the truck.

Ken

[hitman007]

Let me share my mistake with you so you do not do the same. Just last month I bought a new 2012 F250 SRW Super Duty with the intent of towing a 5er. After shopping for a month we decided a toy hauler would best fit our needs and guess what... the new F250 was not enough truck for a large toy hauler! So I had to trade the truck in on a new F450 DRW and take a $3,000 hit. It would have been worse but I got the new 450 at a $12k discount which was below employee price. Go tell your dealer you want a dually. They should be happy you are changing to a more expensive truck.

[behmke]

very good advice. I have the Dodge dually 6.7 diesel. I pull my WW 40 ft long down the road pretty good. Next truck I get will be the 4500 just to be on safer side

[JIMNLIN]

[QUOTE I know the whole payload on the truck is not going to be totally on the rear axle- right?][/QUOTE]
Little if any weight goes on the trucks front axle with a 5th wheel trailer.

The 3500 Ram SRW is a wimp for "payload capacity" with those small 6200 RAWR which includes tire and wheels/springs.
The Ford and GM SRWs have 7000-7050 RAWR respectively with up to 11500 GVWR.

If you go the 3500 SRW route you will need to upgrade to 19.5" wheels/ tires and uprate the rear spring pack for carrying pin weights from trailers that size. Many folks do. Your call there.

If your wanting a TH that size and the Ram I would work with the Ram dealer for the 3500 DRW upgrade. It has those big 9350 RAWR for carrying 5k-6k on the rear axles depending on the trucks configuration.