Your opinion? Best truck to haul 25k# fiver?

[jimnkarens]

Looking to buy a 5th wheel that weighs 25000 lbs. gotta buy the truck to haul it first. Looking for recommendations from experience.
Jim in FL


Karen&Jim livin' on "The Bright Side"
98 Bounder 34, Chevy P30, 454, Banks Power

[tuffr2]

Yikes - just curious which 5er are you looking at? SpaceCraft, New Horizon or Forks RV?

There are now pick-up trucks that have a 25,000lb advertised towing ability. Both the newest Ram dually trucks with "all" the towing options or the newest Ford dually trucks have advertised towing up in this range.

I would look at the 2015 F-450/550.

Then also look at M2 Sport Chassis type trucks. Seems at that 25,000lb. mark is where these MDT's start to make sense.

Good luck

[Cypressloser]

This is what you want RV Haulers | RV Haulers a lot more truck for a lot less money. Once you're in that weight range an HDT is the way to go.

[SmokeyWren]

Assuming you don't want to exceed any of the tow vehicle manufacturer's weight ratings, then you need a truck with a minimum GCWR of 35k and a minimum GVWR of 16k.

So forget pickups. Let's look at a class 5 truck. New F-550 with diesel engine, 4.30 axle ratio, and high capacity tow package has a GCWR of 35,000 pounds and a tow rating of 25,500 pounds for the heaviest configuration (4x4 crewcab). So that truck weighs 9,500 pounds, with nothing in it but a slinny driver and a full tank of diesel. That means you can add only 500 pounds of passenger, tools, etc., before you are overloaded. So that heaviest duty of all Class 5 trucks is barely enough truck for that trailer if you are careful about what you load in the truck.

The F-550 is the heaviest-duty of the "light duty" trucks. The next step up is considered a medium duty truck. Ford has the F-650 and F-750, International makes a few medium-duty truck models (4300?, 4700?), Freightliner has their Business Class model class 6 and 7 medium duty trucks, and some of the real truckers insist on a Peterbilt or Kenworth medium-duty truck.

Here's a link to Freightliner:
Reliable Recreational Trucks for Hauling & More - Freightliner Trucks

Ford F-650:
2015 Ford Pro Loader XLT Diesel

Note that these are chassis cab trucks without a bed. Your dealer can arrange to have your choice of bed or tow body installed by a ship-thru upfitter, so it will arrive at the dealer complete and ready to tow. Here's a tow body conversion by Mountain Master:
Ford F650 Mountain Master Conversion

[wa8yxm]

If you do not want to ask "Can my truck tow this"

TRAIL-HAULER.COM

[oldretiredafguy]

The new Dodge Ram 2014 brochure shows the 3500 Dually HO Cummins, with a 4:10 axle ratio, and the Aisin 6 Spd Auto, has a GCWR of 37,500, and can tow a trailer weighing 29,340 (2 WD, Crew Cab, 8' box).

[Franka548]

Although the Dodge and Ford may have the supposed capacity for a 25,000# 5er, to be comfortable hauling, the Freightliner sport chassis would be the best bet.
Frank

[Gordon Dewald]

Check out this thread.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f116/new-...go-182607.html

[glennwest]

I tow our Teton and it is just shy of 21,000# with my 3500 dually. It is rated for this. It does a good job. Brakes are great on the Teton. I feel like an ant. Can't image towing 3,000 additional pounds. Can't really give reason for this. I even took a picture of my truck hooked up to Teton and it looks like an ant compared to it. I see a HDT in near future.

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Franka548

Although the Dodge and Ford may have the supposed capacity for a 25,000# 5er, to be comfortable hauling, the Freightliner sport chassis would be the best bet.
Frank

X2. JMHO: Particularly if you plan on moving this HOUSE on a regular basis.
Less than 5k a year, a P/U may be able to stand up , over that you need a Truck.

[Jack Mayer]

When looking at the "super pickups" - like the F450/550, the DOdge 3500HD and the Dodge 5500 make sure that you take into account the rear GAWR. Most of these have limitations in that area that a heaver trailer can exceed. The Dodge 5500 is probably the most capable of the "super pickups" at the current time, and is the ONLY one I'd look at for your particular requirements.

As others said, consider the HDT - it has many advantages. You might check my website. It has HDT info on it. While an HDT is not for everyone, if you are towing 25K you should at least educate yourself on its use. You might also consider coming to the HDT Rally in Hutchinson, KS. LINK. There you will see and be able to drive various conversions of HDTs, and ALSO look at a number of larger custom coaches: DRV Elite, two 2015 New Horizons, three 2014/2015 Forks Continental Coaches, and a custom Spacecraft. All will be available for viewing.

[RWeigant]

Been there. Remember, it's not how much you can tow, it's how much you can stop. I had a F350 duly and it would not stop my 19,000lb 5th wheel. So I went to a M2 Freightliner. It did the job and very well. So, we went to a Class A because my wife didn't like driving it.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by RWeigant

Been there. Remember, it's not how much you can tow, it's how much you can stop. I had a F350 duly and it would not stop my 19,000lb 5th wheel.

Invalid logic.

The tow vehicle is not supposed to stop the trailer. The trailer brakes are supposed to stop the trailer, and the truck brakes are supposed to stop not more than the GVWR of the tow vehicle. So you need excellent trailer brakes, plus a trailer brake controller that will work well with the trailer brakes.

If you expect the truck brakes to stop both the truck and the trailer, then you ain't doin' it right.

[glennwest]

That's why I stated "Brakes are great on the Teton".