5th Wheel shopping questions, Towing concerns

[mt92]

We currently have a 2010 KZ MXT300 toy hauler and we are looking to upgrade for some more room. We are looking mainly at 5th wheel toy haulers.
My main concern is not to buy too much camper for my trucks capability. I do not want something right on the edge of what my truck can do, I would like to be able to tow without any major concerns like we are currently.
My truck specs below.

2018 Chevrolet 2500HD
Duramax 6.6
6' 6" bed
4X4
Crew cab

[Camp CA]

Buy the trailer you really want and decide if your truck is suitable for towing that weight, and if not, replace it with one better matched for your towing requirements.

In my case, my first fifth wheel trailer GVWR was 14,000 lbs and I towed with a F250 diesel SRW for 15 years. Happier towing with an F350 diesel DRW but then the wife decided to purchase a heavier fifth wheel trailer.

[Dieselguy4]

I would weight your truck and see what available load capacity you have. I believe your truck ( my friend had a 18 2500 4x4 ccsb) only has 2000 lbs of load capacity. That is very low for a fifth wheel. I was in the same boat. I have a 06 Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500. My Payload capacity is 2585 lbs. I bought a fifth wheel that on paper was 11850 lbs with 1900 lb pin weight. Well once I weigh it my pin was 2500 lbs. That maxed out my truck. It pull ok but after getting pushed around in cross winds and getting pushed through a intersection during a emergency stop I bought a 17 F350 DRW. No comparison. Instead of maxing my truck out I am a 55% max GCWR and my payload capacity is 5585. I'm not saying you need a dually but don't max your truck out or overload it

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by mt92

We currently have a 2010 KZ MXT300 toy hauler and we are looking to upgrade for some more room. We are looking mainly at 5th wheel toy haulers.
My main concern is not to buy too much camper for my trucks capability. I do not want something right on the edge of what my truck can do, I would like to be able to tow without any major concerns like we are currently.
My truck specs below.

2018 Chevrolet 2500HD
Duramax 6.6
6' 6" bed
4X4
Crew cab

How much of a load can your truck carry? The specs you are providing is great, but you need to know the cargo carrying capacity of your truck.
Load the truck with passengers, fuel, what you carry in the bed. Go and weigh the truck.
Find your CCC of the truck.

But one thing, with the single wheel 2500, you may want to stay with the dual axel toy hauler. Just a rule of thumb is a triaxle, is dually area. You can expect a pin weight of 20-25%, our pin weight is about 23% for our big toy hauler.

[mt92]

That was our plan. We have been looking at dual wheel 5th wheels.

[tuffr2]

That is the old designed 2500. It is not the new tougher truck. Yes be careful not to get too much trailer.

[JoeJunior]

I have a mid weight 11,000 lb. (dry weight) fifth wheel towing with a 3/4 ton diesel, and I'm max'd out.

The full size fifth wheel trailers jump to about 14,000 lbs., and that's more than I can handle. A single rear wheel 1 ton technically could handle some of them, but they really need a dually.

Most of the toy haulers are even heavier in weight, and they really warrant a 1 ton dually diesel truck.

[oscarvan]

You want to trust a forum for these matters?

Find the manual for your truck.
Find the load sticker(s) for your truck.

Determine:

GVWR
GCVWR
Max axle weight/CCC
Tire weight ratings.

You can guesstimate on various model's weights, but before you sign anything find the yellow sticker on the SPECIFIC camper you are interested in. (Brochure numbers are NOT reliable. Usually accessories like extra AC's/Awnings etc come out of the advertised CCC.)

Again, determine GVWR and (conservatively) estimate tongue weight.

Then do the math and many people that do the numbers like to stay well below 100%. 80% is a number that gets thrown around.

Educate yourself and take ownership of the decisions you make. YOU are accountable, not the forum experts.

NOTE: Toy haulers have high tongue weights when empty, to allow for a load in the garage. Mine is well north of 4000# on a (roughly) 18K fiver.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by mt92

We currently have a 2010 KZ MXT300 toy hauler and we are looking to upgrade for some more room. We are looking mainly at 5th wheel toy haulers.
My main concern is not to buy too much camper for my trucks capability. I do not want something right on the edge of what my truck can do, I would like to be able to tow without any major concerns like we are currently.
My truck specs below.

2018 Chevrolet 2500HD
Duramax 6.6
6' 6" bed
4X4
Crew cab

5th wheel......14,800# Max trailer GVWR per Chevy
https://media.chevrolet.com/media/us...2018.tab1.html

BUT I think you have a 6200# RAWR so I wouldn't go over 13,000# GVWR on trailer
*I have 6200# RAWR and tow 13,873# 5th wheel with 3080# Wet Pin weight which puts my truck right at the RAWR of 6200#


Weigh your truck you/all passengers, camp ready
Find out how much weight is being carried by truck axles
F & R .........
Subtract current weight on rear from RAWR (6200)
That is how much additional weight that can be carried by Trucks Rear axle

Wet Pin.....roughly 22% of 5th wheel GVWR

Like I stated......13,000# 5th wheel GVWR will max out your truck axle

[oscarvan]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Wet Pin.....roughly 22% of 5th wheel GVWR

A bit more for a toy hauler sans Harleys in the back.

[xc-mark]

all of the advice above is true and not exaggerated. with 10000 lb rated 3/4 ton truck your very light in the payload area (you have more then enough power) your rear axle will be over max weight and making the truck look over weight right around 12,000lb GVW toy hauler. When you run the numbers keep in mind toy haulers are know for being pin heavy when they are not hauling anything in the cargo bay of the trailer. You need to look at your rear axle rating then what your truck is carring now on the rear tires and subtracting the current weight from your door sticker rear axle rating. then look at the GVW of the trailer and multiply the weight (GVW) by 23% . this gives you a good estimate of your real pin weight when your loaded and ready to travel. Most toy hauler need a 1 ton and even then, you would feel the difference in using a duel rear wheel truck to pull a trailer that is marginal with a 1 ton.

make sure you add the hitch weight to your numbers , average weight of a sliding hitch is over 200 lbs. I had a Demco auto slide that worked well .

[OleSalty]

I have a friend in the same spot.. 3/4 ton Dodge RAM Diesel.. wants a toy hauler.

I'll tell you the same thing I told him:
If you want a toy hauler, you NEED a dually. And it's not just a matter of weight. It's length, height, and weigh SHIFT in your load (if it occurs). Most decent sized toy haulers are at the 44' length mark, and normally right at, or over, 13' tall. That's tall and long for any truck. Going with the dually, diesel, long bed is your best option for towing numbers and stability.

Yes, I'm sure that's NOT what you wanted to hear. Wasn't his ideal answer either. He asked me because I'm a gasser snob (loathe diesels).. and was floored when I gave him that answer. I may not be a diesel fan, please, lets NOT get into that argument again, but if I was going something that long and tall, bet your bottom dollar I'd be in a F450 Dually. I wouldn't even look at anything smaller.

[mt92]

Thanks to all that replied!. That confirmed my fears, I only found one or two models that we liked and would be within what the truck should do. For now we will keep our bumper pull.

Thanks again.