Finally pulled the trigger on a 5er

The problem here is that the folks at the dealer were not honest with you. Like a lot of people they see diesel and assume you can tow anything.

My 1st 5th wheel the dealer did the exact same thing to me. I towed it one time and told my wife we either get a new truck or sell the 5th wheel. The truck did tow it BUT I was white knuckled the entire time. The brakes were marginal but the real problem was the hills. I needed to get a run at them or the truck would really slow down

I think you will love towing a 5th wheel as long as you get a unit that better matches with your current or new truck.

Good luck!

Dave

At full RV weight rating 20%pin will be 3,200#+ and 25% 4,000#+. Sure the truck can pull it but can it HANDLE it??? Your rear tires capacity is a bit of a problem. Add bags and some newer 3500 tires and wheels from Craigs list you will be much better off!

Personally I would simply step up to a DRW.

As a previous owner of a 12 2500 CC LB CTD I know where you're coming from. I think my tow rating was 12,400 or 12,500 IIRC with 3.73. Payload was 2176. RAWR of 6200. Not enough truck IMO.
I did put Timbrens on mine and upgraded the tires to 275/65/18. That gave me about 6840 lbs or so for RAWR. The empty rear axle weight was in the 2800 range. That gave me 4,000 lbs for pin. I only had 1800-1900 lbs for pin so I had a big cushion.
Only difference between a 12 2500 SRW and 3500 SRW is the rear spring pack. But even with the 3.73 gears in a 3500 you only have 13.500 or so for tow rating.
Short of trading in for a 3500 DRW or squeaking by with a 3500 SRW then adding bags or Timbrens, and changing out your gears for 4.10 would be about all you can do.

A dually would probably be a better choice for that camper but you can probably make it work in the short term. You might need to think about getting higher rated tires and maybe airbags or Timbrens. The RAWR on that vintage SRW Ram was only 6000-6200 (even on the 3500), but I think the axle is the same 11.5" AAM that's on the newer trucks.

Trumpeterb wrote:
All good comments everyone! I was particularly taken by the “make sure you have enough truck” comment. The dealer and service tech assured me I can pull it—but after reading that comment I did some research. I don’t know that I can! I have a 2012 Ram 2500 crew cab short bed with the 6.7 Cummins diesel. I looked up the towing and payload capacities via vin number—the trailer dry is within 200ish pounds of the towing limit, and is essentially at the limit for payload. Yikes!!! I may need to pull out of this deal after all. Don’t want an unsafe towing situation.

I will tell you I was towing the TH in my sig with a 2015 Ram 2500 CCLB and it did OK. Pin weight was 3K LBS, putting me only 100lbs below my RAWR. I had no handling issues what so ever. I only went to my new 3500 because 1, we tow every weekend from Fla to NY. and 2, we may go bigger and much heavier.
However, with all that said. I believe your camper may be well over my pin weight, maybe north of 3500lbs, especially with the twin front slides on that model. Short bed will give up some overall handling to the long bed, can't say how much. You'll definitely be over the axle rating, which on your truck may only be 6000lbs.

I think you're in 3500 territory unfortunately.

All good comments everyone! I was particularly taken by the “make sure you have enough truck” comment. The dealer and service tech assured me I can pull it—but after reading that comment I did some research. I don’t know that I can! I have a 2012 Ram 2500 crew cab short bed with the 6.7 Cummins diesel. I looked up the towing and payload capacities via vin number—the trailer dry is within 200ish pounds of the towing limit, and is essentially at the limit for payload. Yikes!!! I may need to pull out of this deal after all. Don’t want an unsafe towing situation.

Make sure you always back up the truck straight with the trailer when coupling up. If you couple with the truck at an angle to the trailer you risk hitting the corner of your tailgate into the front of your trailer.

I find towing my fiver a much better experience than towing my previous trailer. No WDH and greasy bars to deal with. Backing up is much easier and no sway when trucks go by.

Congratulations on your new toy.

Pics forthcoming. Picking it up next Wednesday!

No pics it did not happen!