One ton Now what

[djm619]

We are thinking about purchasing a 5th wheel. When I inquired about a type of truck, I was told to get a one ton. I would really appreciate any further information. Below are numbers for the Nitro 35 Dk5

Truck Cargo Capacity 3,511 lbs
Dry Weight 13,299 lbs
Pin Weight 2,810 lbs
Overall Height 12' 10" 3.91 m
Overall Length 43' 8" 13.31 m
Overall Width 102" 259.08 cm

[tuffr2]

You have listed Truck Cargo Capacity of 3,511 lbs. I think you meant to say Trailer Cargo Capacity.

My thought is your 1 ton truck should be a dually.

That trailer is just under 44' long and with 3,011lbs of cargo that puts you pretty close to a 17,000lb 5th wheel toy hauler. That is in dually territory.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

You have listed Truck Cargo Capacity of 3,511 lbs. I think you meant to say Trailer Cargo Capacity.

My thought is your 1 ton truck should be a dually.

That trailer is just under 44' long and with 3,011lbs of cargo that puts you pretty close to a 17,000lb 5th wheel toy hauler. That is in dually territory.

Been there done that, and I completely agree!

[Gary RVRoamer]

Forget the dry weight and that phony pin weight. Use the trailer GVWR (UVW + CCC) as its estimated actual weight and figure the pin weight as 20-25% of that. That comes to 13,299 + 3,511 = 17,000 lbs to tow, with 3400-4250 carried on the 5w hitch pin.


The truck you buy has to have its own payload (truck CCC) equal to the pin weight plus any passengers and gear carried in the truck, plus it needs a rated tow capacity of 17,000 lbs or more. That's a hefty truck, a F350/3500 dually to be sure, and probably a diesel with an extra payload package. You will have to get down to the specific numbers for whatever you truck body style and equipment you want.

[HDGoose]

Originally Posted by djm619

We are thinking about purchasing a 5th wheel. When I inquired about a type of truck, I was told to get a one ton. I would really appreciate any further information. Below are numbers for the Nitro 35 Dk5

Truck Cargo Capacity 3,511 lbs
Dry Weight 13,299 lbs
Pin Weight 2,810 lbs
Overall Height 12' 10" 3.91 m
Overall Length 43' 8" 13.31 m
Overall Width 102" 259.08 cm

I am guessing your 1 ton is a SRW with that payload, if it is a new truck. You need to know the cargo capacity for the trailer, add that to the dry weight to obtain the gross trailer weight. Then plan on 22% of the gross as real pin weight. Guessing a gross of 16k, which means a real pin weight of 3520.

Being over payload is one thing. Being over axle ratings is an issue. What year is your truck? How is it configured?

For example, my 2020 RAM 3500 DRW Tradesman rear axle is rated for 9860, actual rear axle weight is 3860, leaving 5890 for a load. But I only have 680 pounds available on the front 6000 pound axle.

[Dieselguy4]

You will need a DRW 1 ton. The problem you will have is pin weight. I think the highest 1 ton SRW cargo capacity is 4000 lbs. So that 5th wheel will have 3400 lbs plus of pin weight. You will be over rear GAWR quickly. A drw 1 ton will have 5600 lbs of payload capacity and a 9900 lb rear gawr.

[rarebear.nm]

With that 5th I would not even consider less than a 1 ton dually. I would prefer diesel for many reasons, but a gasser would also work if it's a top end gasser engine.

Back end of trucks with 5ths tend to carry lots of other stuff as well. Perhaps a truck box with tools and spares. Depending on stet up and how/where you go you may have extra fuel, water, generator and toys of some sort back there. The weight adds pretty fast. Much better to have more truck than required and some reasonable extra capacity for safety.

Always remember its not as much of question will the truck tow it, but can the truck stop it on a steep downgrade.

[djm619]

Thanks for all of the input. We have not yet purchased the truck.

[tuffr2]

You will like all the new dually trucks. They will have a cargo capacity of over 5,000lbs and a 10,000lb capacity rear axle. They will be quiet and powerful.

I towed with a 2012 dually truck for 6.5 years and it made towing a non-event. Now the trucks are a lot better.

[MADP4301]

We just moved to a 42' 5th wheel (from a 42' DP) and decided to upgrade our existing 3500 SRW to a new dually. We would have been slightly over rear axle weight on the SRW but not by much. There are enough mind-numbing threads on this forum and others about debating SRW v. DRW that you can read if you're entertained by banter.

The DRW comes with an 8' bed. This means never having to worry about tight turns smashing out your back window or dealing with a heavier slider hitch. I've seen it happen once and I don't want to be that guy.

The best thing ever for our switch was adding a 50 gallon aux tank in the bed. Given we have plenty of capacity now over the rear axle adding an extra ~450 lbs. of which maybe 300 lbs. is on the rear axle was no biggie. We can now drive a full day without ever having to find a truck stop with a range of 700+ miles. We hated truck stops in the DP and really like being able to fuel up at local stations.

All that said, my wife does complain about parking the dually at times. I actually like the challenge but we cannot use parking garages or parallel park on many city streets. The short bed truck was better but still was challenging in some spots.

Happy truck shopping!

[Gsykora]

Dually.....

[RVnAggie]

Agreeing with all the other replies; with the trailer you noted as well as anything similar, you need the dually to be safe, comfortable, and legal. ( you'll want to consider avoiding any unnecessary legal liability, or insurance claim refusals should you ever be in an accident.)

I recommend test driving a SRW and the DRW if uncertain about the dually; you'll likely be surprised at how little difference if both are long beds. Take pictures of the "yellow sticker" inside the door on each and note the difference in cargo capacities of the two. These are your critical numbers....no need to worry about towing capacity (i.e how much you can drag,) it's "how much you can carry" that is important. This plus a loaded pin weight estimated at no less than 20% of the gross trailer weight rating will help you match the horse to the wagon.

Personal experience: I pulled the 40' trailer in my signature with an F250 for 3 years, not realizing how overloaded I was. Sure, I put airbags on the truck so it sat level and rode well, but that added nothing to capacity....just looked and felt better. Traded up to the DRW 1 ton after some education and experiencing high cross winds in New Mexico. Aside from the 1 time high winds event, I never felt unstable or at risk with the SRW F250, but only because ignorance was bliss. The difference with the dually is like night and day. Truly turns the trip into relaxing drive moreso than you can imagine. Much more stable, better stopping, and no worries about consequences of blow out on rear axle of the truck.

A few other thoughts....
1. Whatever you decide on truck and trailer combo, leave yourself some headroom on cargo capacity of the truck....trailers are like humans, they gain weight over time.
2. Driving a dually as a daily driver is a smaller adjustment than most think.
3. Those 2 extra tires gives the truck 50% more contact with the road...pretty handy for stopping as well as stability.
4. If you do buy a truck and trailer than have a GCVWR (gross wt rating of truck+gross wt rating of trailer) of 26,000# or more, you will likely need to also get a "bigger" drivers license depending on where you live, but that isn't a big deal...a little studying, written test, and a very basic driving test in your rig. (Not having the correct class of DL could also be a legal liability if you're ever in an accident.)

Happy hunting and safe travels.

[TB673]

Just to let you know, Ford and Dodge 1 ton duallys are available in a 6 1/2 foot beds in addition to 8 foot beds.

[Jshopes81]

Originally Posted by TB673

Just to let you know, Ford and Dodge 1 ton duallys are available in a 6 1/2 foot beds in addition to 8 foot beds.

Ford hasnt made a short bed dually in years and dodge its the only option with a mega cab unless you send it to a conversion company. A short bed is not available in other cab consigurations afaik.