Sorry...another tow vehicle capacity thread
Lets just get this out of the way up front. I am a newbie to camping that made an uninformed purchase of too much 5th wheel for the truck I have. I already own the camper and the truck so no going b...
Forum Discussion
Phydeauxman wrote:
Thanks for all of the great replies. The truck came with the 20" wheels on it. The tires are Michelin LT275/65R20 with a max load (single) of 3750 lbs. The door jamb sticker says the GAWR for the rear is 6100lbs. with those tires.
As far as weighing the truck/trailer together...where can I do that at? I got the truck weight when I took a load of brush to the dump.
This is a underrated HD pickup, not a LD one.
Don't exceed the rating of the tires and make sure you are registered for the weight. You have the components to safely load the read axle to 7000lbs. Ford 20" rims are rated at 3,525lbs, so that is your first real world limit.
Have fun camping.
Wildwilly101 wrote:
I tried the same thing with my 08 Ram 2500 long bed. Installed firestone ride rites, Helwig stabilizer, upgraded tires to 3,750lb rated, and hitched up the new 5er (upgraded from a 28ft bumper pull) 2,700lb pin weight, yes I was over the weight limits. Towed it from PA to FL and back. When I got home I immediately traded in the truck for a Ram 3500 Dually. The truck simply wasn’t adequate to handle the weight. Yes, it sat level and looked fine, but the suspension was too soft to handle the load without see-sawing. I drove 65 the whole way, hit a well hidden dip in the road that threw us into the left lane, began see-sawing and rocking side to side. Thank God there was no one in the left lane. I’ve been towing bumper pulls for close to 30 years, I should have known better.
You actually had a better setup suspension, and potentially stiffer, on the 2500 than a stock 3500... Sounds like the trailer wasn't properly loaded or your shocks were shot. But I would take a 2500 suspension with bags and a hellwig sway bar any day over a stock DRW suspension.
There just isn't that much different between a 2500 suspension and a 3500 DRW suspension, especially with only 2700lbs of pin weight.
My 05 3500 DRW has the same suspension your 08 2500 did, plus upper overloads that are never used due to the airbags. I can load up to 7000-7500lbs on the rear axle and tow at 70 with 1 finger on the wheel in a 30mph crosswind. That's more weight than your 5er and its tall with 2 ATV's above the bed rails. 20K GCW.
Simply put you had something else going on.
