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Old 03-01-2015, 02:50 AM   #1
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To switch trucks or not

Hello every one. I am new to this form so please bare with me. I have two questions. First off I am pulling a 42' Cougar 5th wheel with a 2012 Ford F-250. Truck is full four door with 8' bed. Tows like a dream and can hold all of our extra gear, bikes, smoker etc. Right now I have an opportunity to purchase a 2015 Dodge 3500. Both are diesel,4*4 singles. The Dodge only has a 6.5' bed which obviously means a shorter wheel base. So that is my first question. Do you all notice any significant difference in towing, handling etc? Thoughts comments?
Second question, Ford fans please don't hate. This baby is my 4th power stroke and 7 th Ford pick up. How do the Dodges compare?
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:18 AM   #2
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They are both comparable in pulling power. The big problem you are going to have is with the short box. I am not familiar with 5th wheel hitches but my Son has a goose neck setup in his F250 with a short box and he has problems pulling his horse trailer/camper combo. That trailer will start walking that truck because it is too short, and he has trouble backing it up in tight places because of the limited room in the bed. He is on the hunt for a crew car with an 8 foot bed so he has more room to maneuver the outfit. I did read one discussion where a guy had to get a special 5er hitch for his truck since it had the short box. One more thing, the Cummins engine is less expensive to work on compared to the Ford or GM.
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Old 03-01-2015, 06:09 AM   #3
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Too bad that Ram does not have an 8' box. I do know the longer wheel base on the tow vehicle the better.

Both trucks are very nice and will pull great. I probably would not give up the 8' box.
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Old 03-01-2015, 01:57 PM   #4
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If you're towing a 42' trailer with any single rear wheel truck, you're probably very overloaded. SRW's are all limited by their ability to handle bed and kingpin weight on the hitch. I suggest you go to a set of truck trailer scales to see where you stand on your truck. Chances are, you need a dual rear wheel 1 ton truck.
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Old 03-01-2015, 02:17 PM   #5
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I just bought a 2001 gmc Sierra with a 8.1 whipple supercharger and I'm excited to go camping this year
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:13 PM   #6
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If you're towing a 42' trailer with any single rear wheel truck, you're probably very overloaded. SRW's are all limited by their ability to handle bed and kingpin weight on the hitch. I suggest you go to a set of truck trailer scales to see where you stand on your truck. Chances are, you need a dual rear wheel 1 ton truck.

Bamaman, I have been towing the 42'er for two years now. Now where near over weight. The singles do fine. I did not feel the need for a dualie. Thank you for your input.
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:15 PM   #7
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I just bought a 2001 gmc Sierra with a 8.1 whipple supercharger and I'm excited to go camping this year

Have you been camping,before? If not, you will have a great time. If you have and just upgrading tow vehicles enjoy.
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:29 PM   #8
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I just bought a 2001 gmc Sierra with a 8.1 whipple supercharger and I'm excited to go camping this year
I gave up looking for me an 8.1 and gave thoughts to super charging my 6.0.

An 8.1 that's supercharged ought to pass up anything but a gas station....
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:34 PM   #9
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I apologize to every one. I do not know why i have 42' stuck in my head. My Cougar is 37'
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:46 PM   #10
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Bamaman, I have been towing the 42'er for two years now. Now where near over weight. The singles do fine. I did not feel the need for a dualie. Thank you for your input.
Robcab,
Have you scaled the truck and trailer? what year is the trailer and what model? I was unable to find a 42' cougar model in the last few years. Ford says at most your truck is rated for 15,200lbs trailer weight when equipped with the diesel. Bamaman was most likely referring to being overweight on the rear axle with a rig of that size. Knowing what the sticker on the door of the truck says would be helpful as far as GVWR,and both axle ratings.
The 2015 Ram 2500 will give around 2,300 cargo capacity and max trailer weight of around 17,000. A 3500 dually (short bed) takes the ratings up to about 4,000 cargo and 17,000 trailer rating. Once again the limiting factor would most likely be the rear axle weight rating.
I am going to venture a guess that your 42' fiver is going to scale atleast 14,000lbs loaded, at a minimum of 15% for pin weight equals 2,100lbs on the pin. (pin weight is 15-25% of gross trailer weight on average)

even a brand new 2500 ram is going to be overweight in this situation. (we haven't filled it with all the goodies and fuel, or a driver and passengers)

I am not saying that your overweight with your current setup, but without hard scale numbers and the specs of your setup you may not "feel" the need for a dually, but legally you may need one.
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:47 PM   #11
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Bamaman, I have been towing the 42'er for two years now. Now where near over weight. The singles do fine..
You are probably "now where near" over the GCWR and tow rating of your F-250 diesel. But I'm sure you exceed the GVWR of the F-250 by a bunch. Even an F-350 SRW would be overloaded with a 42' 5er.

In other words, your F-250 diesel has enough muscle in the drivetrain to PULL a huge 5er, but not a strong enough suspension to haul the hitch weight of a 42' 5er without exceeding the payload capacity of the F-250.

Your GVWR is 10,000 pounds. How much weight does the CAT scale say is on your two truck axles when on the road with the wet and loaded trailer and a full tank of diesel?

As to your question about 8' bed vs. 6.5' bed, I've towed with both, and I don't notice significant difference in "feel" of towing the trailer. However, if I'm going to tow a 5er with a shorty pickup, I want a SuperGlide automatic slider hitch to tow it with.
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Old 03-01-2015, 05:12 PM   #12
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It appears the OP has determined that he can pull the trailer with the truck and has not provided enough information to determine if he SHOULD pull the trailer with the truck.

The question is whether he SHOULD trade the Ford for a Ram. No help from me on that topic. Both are good trucks and have their good and bad points.
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Old 03-01-2015, 05:15 PM   #13
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Oh and welcome to IRV2, Robcab. Glad to have ya aboard !!
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Old 03-01-2015, 08:53 PM   #14
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He has a Cougar. The trailers are towed around here with 1/2 tons. They are light weight trailers. No way one can load them past 14000 lbs which is OK for the SRW.
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