Community Forums

RustyJC · 05-11-2013, 05:52 AM

OK, sorry I stirred up a hornet's nest. I guess we agree - the CAT scale tells the unvarnished truth. Get all your weights and check them against all the tow vehicle's rating limitations.

Rusty

wandering1 · 05-11-2013, 07:51 AM

Real simple. Look at your truck specs. How heavy a fifth wheel is your truck rated to tow? What is the payload capacity your truck is rated for to handle the pin weight and all of the "stuff" you will haul. Don't depend on personal opinions, get the facts.

bgall2 · 05-11-2013, 08:42 AM

Wandering and Rusty. I agree with all everyone has said for the most part, it has been great information. One thing I have learned is don't "assume" based on dealer comments or what other people are hauling down the road. Due to the fact I will use my TV as my everyday driver for at least a year prior to purchasing a 5er I have learned (and have done) a lot of number crunching just as Wandering1, and others, has suggested using different model trucks in differing configurations. I most likely will buy my TV based on my research....load it....take it to the scales....figure what my pin weight can be and go from there.
I will say this, it is very exciting to realize my dream of owning a 5er and a nice TV is quickly approaching. looking forward to getting started.
Bob

3665RE · 05-12-2013, 06:43 AM

Rusty

Now you got it.

I see the DRV emblem on your post. Do you own one? We toured the Excel factory Friday and are interested in getting out of this “low end” trailer.

Bgall2

That is exactly what I did. Purchased the truck I wanted, loaded it with the wife and pets and the stuff we would or thought we needed. Weighed it and then went looking at the fifth wheel RV’s that wife liked.

I did purchase a trailer that I knew I would not be able to load to it’s GVW rating and there isn’t anything wrong with that as long as you keep track of your weight by weighing often. The scales are not expensive and give you a lot of good information.

3665RE

RustyJC · 05-12-2013, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3665RE

Rusty

I see the DRV emblem on your post. Do you own one? We toured the Excel factory Friday and are interested in getting out of this “low end” trailer.

3665RE

Yep, we've owned the Mobile Suites in our signature since August 2004. We love it - to the extent that, despite the fact that it will soon be 9 years old, it's still in excellent condition, and we have no interest in (or need to) trade it for any other 5th wheel RV available today. It's been a good, solid RV.

The picture of our rig below was taken only a few weeks ago (don't ask about the pink flamingoes - we got "pinked" at a Texas Boomer rally.)

Click on the picture to view a full size version.

Rusty

SmokeyWren · 05-12-2013, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyJC

(don't ask about the pink flamingoes - we got "pinked" at a Texas Boomer rally.)

Yep, pink is the calling card for breast cancer awareness. So I'm sure you're now well aware of breast cancer.

RustyJC · 05-12-2013, 10:16 AM

I lost my mother to breast cancer in 1968 when she was only 49, so I'm all too familiar with breast cancer. In this case, the pink flamingo is the Texas Boomer mascot, and some other Boomers decided we needed a flock in front of our RV, so they "flocked" or "pinked" us.

Rusty

myredracer · 05-12-2013, 01:51 PM

We have a TT not a 5th wheel so am not into weight issues of a 5-er. But I can say that we just bought an '09 F250 recently that has 2701 lbs as max. cargo weight on the door jamb sticker. I think the Ford website said 2800 lbs or so. We have a weight penalty for having a supercab, 4WD, long box and V10 but that has to be accounted for in the 2701 lb sticker weight.

However..... I just weighed the truck at a CAT scale and it turns out our max. available payload is 1820 lbs. That's with just me and a full tank of gas plus a canopy (about 200 lbs). I guess there is our hitch shank that was on too, but that can't weight that much. Very surprised to say the least.

I'm not sure why there is such a discrepancy (about 881 lbs less). Is this common? It seems to me that it might not be wise to shop for a TV using the advertised cargo carrying capacity as a factor?? Not sure how you could avoid being shortchanged before buying and weighing in at a scale....

3665RE · 05-12-2013, 05:09 PM

Hi

That’s is the general gist of this entire thread even though we got a little of base because I mention the front axel thing.

It is so easy to put stuff on or in the TV that you don’t consider or remember.

Fuel weighs a lot gasoline is approximately 6 Lbs per gallon. So a 30-gallon tank of fuel would weigh 180 lbs. that 5-gallon can of gas weighs 30 lbs. I think you get the idea.

We go thru our stuff every so often and if we can’t remember using an item then it goes in storage at the house for a while before we dispose of it.

We are working on getting the RV to the point it should be in when we finally get ride of the house.

Because we don’t always carry the heavy item in the basement I weigh several times a year.

Phil P

3665RE · 05-13-2013, 05:20 AM

Hi Rusty

We are going to get one of the top of the line trailers in the near future.

The only draw back to this is the 2009 Silverado will not handle the top of the line trailer because of their weight.

I will have to purchase a new truck.

There is one more problem. I have now spent the time and money to repair the improper construction of the “house” part of this trailer and corrected the engineering deficiencies of the frame of this trailer. The only thing left is the landing gear. I have replaced these 3 times in 4 years. I should have replaced them with the HWH hydraulic landing gear the first time. I have spent as much as I paid for the trailer correcting these problems plus normal maintenance.

3665RE

JohnBoyToo · 06-29-2013, 08:53 AM

I just caught up on the thread and using the ford build site posted way back on page 2. Found that the 'official' wgt of our ccsb says 7615 !
Our cat scale says 8800. :-) :-) :-)

So figure there is 1200 or so lbs of 'extras' on our platinum- now they are nice extras but plan accordingly.
(Or have I gained THAT much weight :-) I did let my belt out one more hole !!!)

elkhornsun · 07-07-2013, 07:59 PM

Over 13,000 lbs total tow weight (fully loaded trailer including water) and you need a gooseneck. A 5th wheel puts 25% of its weight on the rear axle of the truck. SRW tires are generally load rated at no more than 3750 lbs. so the two are the rear can support 7500 lbs. less the weight of the truck which will be about 3,000 lbs. for most heavy duty trucks plus the weight of the king-pin mount Figure roughly 4,000 lbs. in the bed so the maximum 5th wheel weight of 16,000 lbs. after which point you need more tires to support the load and a DRW is required.

I would never want to drive a DRW truck and more than 80% of the pickups pulling 5th-wheel travel trailers on the highways in the western USA are SRW (I keep a running tally on my trips).

I do not know about Ford but with Ram the 2013 1-ton Ram trucks have a better frame and with the GM trucks the only difference between the 3/4 and 1-ton trucks is that the latter have 4% larger rear disc rotors and an extra leaf pack at the rear axle - otherwise they are identical in every way.

Cargo rating with the GM trucks is limited by the tires on the truck and the seating capacity of the cab and not anything else. Tires are easily upgraded. Manufacturers' assume a passenger weight of 150 lbs. and with a crew cab that is an extra 5 x 150 or 750 lbs. which gets subtracted from the cargo or payload rating for the truck.