Ford versus Dodge truck for towing 40 foot 5th wheel

I have a 2014 Ram 3500 dually with the high output Cummins diesel and the heavy duty 6speed Aisan tranny and the factory air bag option. I tow a 40.5 ft Raptor which weighs in at 17k fully loaded. I insured I had the truck to pull my 5er in all conditions with no problem. I am way below any of my weight limits.

fairhaven wrote:
Lots of good info being written about here. Some of you "assume" that I do not know what my GVWR, RAWR, tire max load rating, and actual weights of vehicle and fiver loaded and unloaded. I stated several times that I have had my truck & fiver weighed (several times) at a certified truck scales. On our last 2 week trip to the ocean my actual rear axle weight was 218lbs BELOW the max RAWR. This was with my fiver hooked up. I have not exceeded the GVWR, the RAWR, the FAWR, the fivers GVWR, or for that matter any of the trucks or fivers stated max weight requirements. I believe there is a margin of error built into all of these trucks max weight requirements and as long as you don't exceed them (which I have not) then you should be good to go. Just because someone does not list every actual weight does not mean they have not had the rigs weighed and know what the actual weights are. Bad assumption. Enjoy your tow vehicle (dually or not) and your coach. I know I enjoy mine.

I can tell you with 218# to spare you are very close to the MAX weight allowed on your rear tires.

Looks like your RV is very new. When we purchased our MS and headed out for our first trip our pin weight was well under 4K now it is at least 4,500#.

Try to justify your weights all you want but in no time loading a little here and there you will be over your weak link's ratings, your tires.

But hey it "TOWS JUST FINE"

Big Boy trailers need Big Boy trucks.

All of course JMHO!

EDIT: I can understand not wanting to buy another truck with the ton of money you have invested into what you have. I could have "BEEFED UP" my 98 12Valve Cummins 2500 4X4 with air bags and 19.5" tires and wheels and pulled my 18K+ DRV "JUST FINE" but I knew there would be too much tail for the dog so I went with a dually.

rtazz17 wrote:
This is the way threads go anytime a ford vs dodge or any other manufacturer is compared.Most people are bias at what they have.Only natural.Assumptions are made and everyone is an expert on weight.Funny reading though.

Hadn't really paid any attention to it being Ford versus Dodge comparision, but we seemed to have gotten away from OP....Again, I've addressed weights and weights only...no expert by no means..., but I can do simple math and I do try to purchase a Tow vehicle for the job and I do look at recommended weights put out by the truck manufacturer, be it Ford, GM, Ram, Nissan, Toyota, or whomever. Never really looked at it as "funny reading", but to each his own. I've seen a few "assumptions", but again, if you know GVWR, GCWR, RAWR, FAWR of your TV, loaded and unloaded, and GVW and pin weight of your 5er, then there really isn't much to "assume"...now it's simple math (some addition, some subtracting), and then possibly "assuming" just how much one can go over one or all those ratings without possibly prematurely wearing out something...

This is the way threads go anytime a ford vs dodge or any other manufacturer is compared.Most people are bias at what they have.Only natural.Assumptions are made and everyone is an expert on weight.Funny reading though.

Me Again wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:
You guys that have a pre '13 model 3500 SRW Dodge truck seems to forget Dodge only rates your SRW at 6200-6500 RAWR with a paltry 10100 GVWR vs fairhaven's F350 SRW with a 11500 GVWR and 7000 RAWR. Apples vs oranges in load carrying capacities.

The comment that the SRW rear axle will some how break or other scare comments is hilarious as usual.
The wheel or tires will go long before you break a rear axle on the Ford or Dodge or GM one ton SRW trucks when severally overloaded. So far no one has reported being over weight.

I did a little math with fairhaven's and jimnlin's numbers

7000-218=6782 Rear weight plus around 4500 on front axle is 11282 and he is under GVWR of 11500. Chris

Ok, I'm confused...which is normal for me, but IF he is putting 6,782# on his rear axle, ie, only 218# from the "weight rating" of the axle be it buffered or not...Isn't that quite a bit of weight on the rear axle? Isn't that getting really close to going OVER the rear axle weight rating? I don't know, but that just doesn't seem wise to me. I know the axle isn't going to break...I know that GVWR is a useless number, as attested to by almost everyone now a day's, BUT, coming within 218# of going over the RAWR, I would think, would be possibly prematurely wearing out bearings, or some of the suspension components, but I'm a numbers fool, can't help it..and I didn't see anywhere we were given the amount of weight put on the front axle, though, it may be less with so much weight in the back....Even I understand why most don't use GVWR, but using over 95% of ones rear axle weight rating, I would think would cause some alarm, whether OP is over his GVWR or not.

and we've (me/I), have gotten off topic, now addressing fairhaven and OP was emscopter and below is his post (start of this thread)...

"I have a 2009 F250 right now and we just purchased a 2012 40 foot Alpine fifth wheel. I am wondering if we should get a dually truck and if we should go with a Ford or Dodge. I have had real good luck with this Ford except we had to replace the transmission due to putting on a tuner which I was told made the transmission go out faster. My truck has 86,000 miles on it. We are looking at getting a fairly new used one. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

JIMNLIN wrote:
You guys that have a pre '13 model 3500 SRW Dodge truck seems to forget Dodge only rates your SRW at 6200-6500 RAWR with a paltry 10100 GVWR vs fairhaven's F350 SRW with a 11500 GVWR and 7000 RAWR. Apples vs oranges in load carrying capacities.

The comment that the SRW rear axle will some how break or other scare comments is hilarious as usual.
The wheel or tires will go long before you break a rear axle on the Ford or Dodge or GM one ton SRW trucks when severally overloaded. So far no one has reported being over weight.

I did a little math with fairhaven's and jimnlin's numbers

7000-218=6782 Rear weight plus around 4500 on front axle is 11282 and he is under GVWR of 11500. Chris

JIMNLIN wrote:
You guys that have a pre '13 model 3500 SRW Dodge truck seems to forget Dodge only rates your SRW at 6200-6500 RAWR with a paltry 10100 GVWR vs fairhaven's F350 SRW with a 11500 GVWR and 7000 RAWR. Apples vs oranges in load carrying capacities.

The comment that the SRW rear axle will some how break or other scare comments is hilarious as usual.
The wheel or tires will go long before you break a rear axle on the Ford or Dodge or GM one ton SRW trucks when severally overloaded. So far no one has reported being over weight.

Who said anything about an axle breaking? I missed that one. It would REALLY take some very heavy weight to push an axle to a "breaking" level....Guess I missed that one...only thing I noticed OP stated was that he knew all his weights, stated he was UNDER all his trucks weights, BUT, also stated when he last weighed, he was 218# under his trucks RAWR....I questioned if he had GVWR confused with RAWR...if he's under all his weights, then he must be 218# under his trucks GVWR, NOT his trucks rear axle weight rating......

Look at the towing specs for each and pick the one that offers the most benefits. Forget about dually unless you just have extra money to spend on extra tires.

I'll throw some more popcorn into the ring...

why not a chevy dually? Mine is great.

All the mfg'ers have raised their tow ratings, both on the duallys and SRW's. For me, IMO, the cutoff no is about 15000lbs. After that, I think duallys are the way to go.

I like to carry a lot of camping gear in my truck too, including a generator, toolbox, extra water, firewood, etc. So having a dually makes more sense for me.

And I do a double tow many times, and my pulled weight is between 17 and 18000 lbs.

You guys that have a pre '13 model 3500 SRW Dodge truck seems to forget Dodge only rates your SRW at 6200-6500 RAWR with a paltry 10100 GVWR vs fairhaven's F350 SRW with a 11500 GVWR and 7000 RAWR. Apples vs oranges in load carrying capacities.

The comment that the SRW rear axle will some how break or other scare comments is hilarious as usual.
The wheel or tires will go long before you break a rear axle on the Ford or Dodge or GM one ton SRW trucks when severally overloaded. So far no one has reported being over weight.