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Old 11-19-2022, 06:45 AM   #15
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So you need to do a few things
1. Empty your camper and weight it. You have 180 lbs left before you hit gvwr. Alliance gives a 12243 lbs dry weight and 2530 pin weight. I know that those numbers are low but you need a base weight so you know how much stuff you can or want to carry. You should have 2500 lbs or so of cargo capacity. My 41 ft fifth wheel weights 12400 lbs empty and 13500 lbs loaded for a 2.5 week trip. My pin weight is 2500 lbs empty and 2785 lbs loaded.
2. You need a dually with that much pin weight. A SRW will be maxed out as soon as you load the camper. Don't look at what it will to you need to focus on cargo capacity and rear gvwr. My 17 F350 dually is rated to pull 31300 lbs but I only have 5532 lbs of cargo capacity. I would need 6260 lbs of cargo capacity to max out my towing capacity. Cargo capacity on a F450 is lower then a F350. Again look at the specs but go to a dealership and look at the door sticker to get the real numbers. Look at the trim level and truck configuration you want. I wanted a F450 but with the lower cargo capacity the F350 higher cargo capacity it is better suited for towing fifth wheels. My F350 has a gvwr of 14000 lbs, 5600 lbs front gawr, 9900 lbs rear gawr. It weights 8730 lbs empty with my fifth wheel hitch in it.
3. The F350 dually has a 48 gallon fuel tank so no extra tank needed.
4. Get the 4.10 gears on a dually. The 10R140 has a .632 10th gear. You want to keep your rpms around 2000 rpms. That is were these diesels are in the torque curve on a dyno. It will keep EGTs down and keep the trans from shifting allot.
I can relate to not enough truck. I bought my Sierra 375RKS. Specs were 11875 lbs with 1900 lbs pin weight empty. First weight was 12400 lbs with 2500 lbs pin weight. Loaded it was 13400 lbs. My Ram 3500 Mega Cab SRW had a cargo capacity of 2600 lbs. I was 400 lbs under rear gawr and 100 lbs over gvwr. I was 100 lbs under gcwr. It pulled ok until I was pushed around in cross winds and pushed through a intersection in a emergency stop. My 17 F350 dually is at 55% gvwr and is a very comfortable tow. Get the right truck but do the research before you buy a truck😊
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Old 11-19-2022, 06:51 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCamper2 View Post
@mistercee - thanks for the filling out the towing calculator with my weights! That was awesome.

How is the 3600 pin weight being calculated? I'm not sure how this number is derived.

My dry weights for this camper are:
- dry: 12,243
- hitch: 2530
- payload: 2757
- GVWR: 15,000
Here is the explanation on the tool's calculations from the website....the last line explains the deviation in the pin weight from what the tool displays vs. what you would get doing it on paper:

The tool does the calculations for you. But, here’s how you do it:

> pin weight = Hitched up truck weight – unhitched truck weight

> total trailer weight = trailer axles weight + pin weight

> pin weight percentage = pin weight / total trailer weight

The tool gets a little cute with the pin weight and ignores any unloading of the front axle but the idea is generally the same.
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Old 11-19-2022, 07:00 AM   #17
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Agree with post #4 about short bed vs long bed and payloads.
Same truck/weight specs in a short bed will have maybe 90-125 lb more usable in the bed payload than the same long bed truck. Long bed weigh more on the truck rear axle 'cause its a bit heavier..

Ford offers the F350 srw with up to 12400 gvwr.....but with the same 7230 rawr which will be carrying most if not all the trailer hitch load.

This is the problem when going by a gvwr number when figuring how much load we can carry in the bed/hitch weight/truck campers/load of cattle feed/load of firewood/etc.
Granted your F350 srw can be had with a 12400 gvwr but about the most a 7230 rawr can safely carry ins in the 3700-3800 lb range from the factory.

With all your upgrading with adding more weight you need the F350 drw with those big 9900-10300 rawr numbers.
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Old 11-19-2022, 12:31 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by tuffr2 View Post
My F-450 was only happy when towing with 4:30 gears and 6 speed.

The 10 speed has to be a game changer.
I was hoping (or dreaming) that the new 10 spd would make up for the 4.30 ratio with a tall overdrive. 4.30 only on the F450. I assume they configure it that way for max towing. Would be nice to have an option.
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Old 11-19-2022, 01:13 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCamper2 View Post
@mistercee - thanks for the filling out the towing calculator with my weights! That was awesome.

How is the 3600 pin weight being calculated? I'm not sure how this number is derived.

My dry weights for this camper are:
- dry: 12,243
- hitch: 2530
- payload: 2757
- GVWR: 15,000
.
Hitch----2530 That is DRY pin weight based on the Dry weight of 12,243
*20% ratio

15,000 GVWR at 20% is 3000# minimum WET pin weight

But look at your ACTUAL Scale weight numbers
Drive - 3800 (truck)
Drive - 7400 (truck/trailer)
3600# WET Pin (difffernece between the 2 rear axle weights)


3600 wet pin plus axle 11,220 is 14820 total trailer weight

Your truck rear axle and maybe tires are overloaded
You are 180# shy of trailer being overloaded
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Old 11-20-2022, 07:38 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by AKjohn62 View Post
I was hoping (or dreaming) that the new 10 spd would make up for the 4.30 ratio with a tall overdrive. 4.30 only on the F450. I assume they configure it that way for max towing. Would be nice to have an option.
Well it sorta does; the 10 spd makes gear selection less important than it used to be on both ends; the lower first 5 gears make low gears less important and the 3 OD gears make high gears less important. That said, I think they should offer 3.73's or similar for those wanting an F450 but towing less than max or towing heavy infrequently.
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Old 11-22-2022, 03:47 PM   #21
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Well since you just bought the truck hook up and drive it a hundred lbs over axle is nothing to worry about . I drive a 3500 SRW trailer is about 200 over . I have been hauling this setup for 13 years at least 50,000 miles 0 problems . Waste of money running out and getting a dually . Besides they suck in snow and ride rough empty . Your truck is good to go !
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Old 11-22-2022, 04:11 PM   #22
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Waste of money running out and getting a dually . Besides they suck in snow and ride rough empty .
Common urban myth; I own 10 trucks including 2 DRW's and daily drove a 3500DRW 4x4 for 20 years including up to the ski hill every weekend in the winter. With the right tires, it was awesome in the snow; I've lost track of how many vehicles I pulled out of the ditch over the years. When empty; air down.

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Old 11-22-2022, 04:30 PM   #23
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Well since you just bought the truck hook up and drive it a hundred lbs over axle is nothing to worry about . I drive a 3500 SRW trailer is about 200 over . I have been hauling this setup for 13 years at least 50,000 miles 0 problems . Waste of money running out and getting a dually . Besides they suck in snow and ride rough empty . Your truck is good to go !
This is just bad advice!
Not only would the OP be pushing the limits of his truck and tires, could be in line for a lawsuit if involved in a crash!
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Old 11-22-2022, 04:30 PM   #24
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Common urban myth; I own 10 trucks including 2 DRW's and daily drove a 3500DRW 4x4 for 20 years including up to the ski hill every weekend in the winter. With the right tires, it was awesome in the snow; I've lost track of how many vehicles I pulled out of the ditch over the years. When empty; air down.



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Snow tires do make a difference as well as 4 by 4 .
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Old 11-22-2022, 07:57 PM   #25
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Not to start an argument but I always understood that thin tires do better in snow. But a dually can go in the snow as I have seen a lot of small businesses pushing snow with them. Also I have seen a lot of SRW trucks pushing snow.
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Old 11-23-2022, 12:15 AM   #26
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Bought the wrong truck

Depends on the psi. To get that with a dually, you have to figure both tire surface areas.

You want to see something really go, hang a set of 3 railers.
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Old 11-23-2022, 12:22 AM   #27
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This is just bad advice!

Not only would the OP be pushing the limits of his truck and tires, could be in line for a lawsuit if involved in a crash!


Ya i hate dodging all the shredded casings on the road, and trying to miss all the broken axles, bearing pieces, housing chunks, pieces of wheels, and broken studs.

Not to mention sections of frame
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Old 11-23-2022, 07:01 AM   #28
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it woukd probably be alot cheaper to add a small cargo tray to the rear of the camper for some stuff. the wood, firepit, propane, and some other stuff you mentioned are all right on your pin. get an adapter to run your propane off your onboard instead of a seperate tank, throw the wood on a cargo tray or just get it locally, if you had to you could drop the w/d combo. i see lots of weight savings to be had that would be easier than a new truck, especially right now.
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