Yellow sticker weight is 9950# and I've got a max of 12,500# for my truck. Payload is 3000# which seems like I'd run out there at about the same time the setup as a whole is too much. What I'm looking for are experiences of people who have loaded these 5th wheels. I'm thinking 600# of people in the truck being conservative and planning on the kids growing. 5th wheel hitch another couple hundred. So, that leaves me 1700# worth of stuff in the trailer. Full tank of fresh water takes 500# so that leaves me with 1200# of food, clothes, pots/pans, tv, etc, etc. Seems like I'm in the ballpark at least. Of course, it does add up quickly I know. I'm trying to decide if I'm pushing it too much. Of course, I know the tires don't all explode the instant I go 10# over weight. Since everyone's family size and whatnot varies I guess I'm really wondering how much bedding, tvs, pots/pans and general camping stuff gets packed in. 1200# seems like an awful lot.

BT,DT. Pulled the trigger on a 36 foot fiver that had a 13,750 GVWR. Scaled ready to travel, 13,500 pounds. Pin north of 3000 pounds. Originally had a 2500 D/A ext cab 4X4. Scaled truck was 7500 pounds. So at the end of the day my scaled weight on the truck 10,500 pounds and it had a GVWR of 9200 pounds. Air bags, new tires and after struggling for three years I gave up and bought myself a dually. What ended it for me was pulling out of Warm Springs one hot day at 25MPH, heater on full and the windows all open. The next week we got rid of my problem.

Read my post: Attention weight police and you will find out about my experience with my F250. My yellow sticker is 9931# with 1963 cargo Gvwr 12535#. After going to a CAT scale I found out I am 900# over the GVWR for my F 250 which is I am told a f 350 badged as a 250. I would say get a 1 ton truck

mtofell1 wrote:Yellow sticker weight is 9950# and I've got a max of 12,500# for my truck. Payload is 3000# which seems like I'd run out there at about the same time the setup as a whole is too much. What I'm looking for are experiences of people who have loaded these 5th wheels. I'm thinking 600# of people in the truck being conservative and planning on the kids growing. 5th wheel hitch another couple hundred. So, that leaves me 1700# worth of stuff in the trailer. Full tank of fresh water takes 500# so that leaves me with 1200# of food, clothes, pots/pans, tv, etc, etc. Seems like I'm in the ballpark at least. Of course, it does add up quickly I know. I'm trying to decide if I'm pushing it too much. Of course, I know the tires don't all explode the instant I go 10# over weight. Since everyone's family size and whatnot varies I guess I'm really wondering how much bedding, tvs, pots/pans and general camping stuff gets packed in. 1200# seems like an awful lot.I'm assuming that "3000 lb payload" is for the truck....correct? So with all the stuff you're talking about, you're forgetting the pin weight of the trailer which will be about 20% of the trailer's total weight (what ever that may be when fully loaded and ready to travel).So if you have 600 lbs of people, the hitch with another 200 lbs, and probably another couple hundred worth of stuff in the truck (tools, equipment, wood, etc) that only leaves 2000 lbs for the pin weight.Is that 9900 lbs the "dry weight" of the trailer? If yes, another 1200 lbs of stuff in the trailer, you will be over 11,000 lbs and 20% of that is 2200 lbs. So, looks to me that you are going to be 200 lbs over your trucks payload capacity.Of course, that assumes all the info you provided is close to being accurate and also if my assumptions are valid.FWIW, typically the mfg'ers tow capacity is not really a figure to consider. You will max out your truck's payload capacity,or RAWR, and/or the GVWR way before you reach that magical tow capacity figure.Ron

In my case -- shopped for a new Ram in 2010 and salesperson at Dave Smith asked if I would be interested in a 3500 instead of 2500 cuz it was cheaper. Base price of 2500 megacab srw 4x4 was $39,300 and cummins was $7500 option. 3500 megacab 4x4 was $47,100 and cummins was standard equipment. SRW was a $983 deduct cuz dually was standard equipment. The only thing I did not get was tire press monitor system was unavailable on 3500 and standard on the 2500. I have the TST 507 tpms which shows press and temp on the TV and the 4 trailer tires which I feel is better than just monitoring the TV tires with OEM.

My set up in signature below is perfect for my 12,200 lb fiver. My opinion is once gvwr of fiver is over 11k, I recommend a 1 ton SRW at minimum. I am well within all specs on the truck and the towing experience is perfect.

Is 2500# a realistic gap w/37' 5th wheel? | Good Sam Community

RustyJC
Explorer
Nov 10, 2015
davonelson wrote:
Don't buy a dually unless you like fighting it in town when not under two and want to forego the wife driving it.

Wow!! Talk about painting with a broad brush! :E Perhaps that's the case with you, but it's certainly not with everyone.

We've towed 5th wheels with duallies since 1996. Not only does my wife drive them around town after we've reached our destination, she also drives while towing the 5th wheel.

Rusty
laknox
Nomad
Nov 10, 2015
mtofell1 wrote:
Yellow sticker weight is 9950# and I've got a max of 12,500# for my truck. Payload is 3000# which seems like I'd run out there at about the same time the setup as a whole is too much. What I'm looking for are experiences of people who have loaded these 5th wheels.

I'm thinking 600# of people in the truck being conservative and planning on the kids growing. 5th wheel hitch another couple hundred. So, that leaves me 1700# worth of stuff in the trailer. Full tank of fresh water takes 500# so that leaves me with 1200# of food, clothes, pots/pans, tv, etc, etc. Seems like I'm in the ballpark at least. Of course, it does add up quickly I know. I'm trying to decide if I'm pushing it too much. Of course, I know the tires don't all explode the instant I go 10# over weight.

Since everyone's family size and whatnot varies I guess I'm really wondering how much bedding, tvs, pots/pans and general camping stuff gets packed in. 1200# seems like an awful lot.

The more you can carry in the trailer, the more you can balance the load to take some pin off the truck. There are some nice, lighter weight, FWs out there in the 30-35' range, if you look. You =don't= have to travel with full water, if you plan right. On our annual boondocker with the family, I tow about 130 miles with minimum water, then stop at the last place to fill up before our exit to fill. Leaves me only the last 25 miles to tow with water. This includes the spare water jugs (2 x 7gal cubes), which are right inside the door, behind the axles. Depending on what you want to carry, you do need to watch the CCC of the FW, as some of the "half tons" are pretty anemic in that aspect. I grew up having to pack light, as we did a lot of flying in small planes, and Dad was religious about how we packed. Of course, this meant that what Mom wanted/needed got to go, and our stuff got left behind. :-)

Lyle

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Is 2500# a realistic gap w/37' 5th wheel?

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