5er Loading

Yes, adding weight behind the wheels will lower the pin weight...but obviously adds to your total towing weight.

Don't load it that way, you don't want to pull too much weight off the pin. You're safe going up to your RAWR on that truck and will be fine. Going off of GVWR numbers, 90pct of 3/4 ton trucks with 5'ers are overloaded.

I don't think you are going to be over weight, but the scales will tell the story. You don't want to take away too much pin weight by adjusting the load. You want to keep 20 percent of total wt on the pin.

You likely wouldn't need the heavy slider hitch, but should still work.

You should be able to put near 2800 lbs over your rear axle, and still be within RAWR/tire max.

Jerry

Adding weight behind the wheels will lower the pin weight, but not as much as you would imagine. When I pulled a trailer behind my 5th wheel, I added about 600 lbs. to the rear and removed about 140 lbs. from the pin. And that weight was way off the back. You probably won't be adding any weight that far back, so the proportion will be even lower.

But it also depends on your wheelbase, distance of axles from the pin, spread between the axles, etc.

jshupe wrote:
Don't load it that way, you don't want to pull too much weight off the pin. You're safe going up to your RAWR on that truck and will be fine. Going off of GVWR numbers, 90pct of 3/4 ton trucks with 5'ers are overloaded.

^^This.

camp-n-family wrote:

jshupe wrote:
Don't load it that way, you don't want to pull too much weight off the pin. You're safe going up to your RAWR on that truck and will be fine. Going off of GVWR numbers, 90pct of 3/4 ton trucks with 5'ers are overloaded.

^^This.

X3
To light of pin % will lead to chucking and too much weight aft could cause sway even with a 5er.

Do not rely on published (brochure) weights to determine payload, pin, or vehicle weights. The only reliable way to determine how much payload you have is to take your truck to the scales as it will be loaded for towing, and subtract that number from the GVWR that the manufacturer provides. I think you will find that you do not have 3300 lb of pin load payload available.
With regard to reducing pin load by placing weight in the back of the trailer, when I added a 650 lb quad, a 275 lb. motorcycle, and a couple of hundred pounds of gear, tools, and dog food, I reduced my dry pin weight by only about 150 lbs. The biggest effect on pin weight is what you carry in the basement, almost all of that weight is directly on the pin.

GVWR on that 5th wheel is 10,645#
Fully loaded to gross wet pin would be roughly 2300#

You are NOT going to be over on that trucks RAWR or Rear Tire Max Load Rating

Load up, hook up and go camping~

camp-n-family wrote:

jshupe wrote:
Going off of GVWR numbers, 90pct of 3/4 ton trucks with 5'ers are overloaded.

^^This.

X4^^^

My question is, does adding weight to the back of the trailer take some weight off the truck bed (to keep me in my payload), or does everything add weight to the hitch, no matter where you distribute it to?

Some, yes......but not as much as some would think. Some folks have mistakenly said the trailer is like a teeter totter which it isn't as there is no single pivot point.

Loading out my tandem and triaxle flat deck/stock trailers has shown very little hitch weight change by moving heavy stuff/freight behind the trailers axles. Single axle trailer are different.
What I do notice is adding heavy weight behind a trailers axles makes the trailer tail heavy depending on how heavy the load is....pin to trailers axles.....number of axles...... overhang length aft of the trailers axles/etc.
The tail heavy trailer has a tendency to pull the back of the trailer out on sharp turns or a curvy highway and can be a hand full in strong side winds.

GM gives your truck a 6200 rawr for carrying loads in the bed. Use it.
The 3500 SRW is the same truck as yours except it has a higher rated 18"/20" tires and wheels and higher rated rear spring pack for a 7050 rawr.