Tow Vehical

above 10000 lbs you are in dually territory-I went RAM CUMMINS DRW and it is a towing machine!-good luck with your choice-whsk

donn0128 wrote:
Get a dually in your choice of brands and travel with a piece of mind.

That's just pain silly!

It may not fit in your garage and may not go thru the drive thru and you may have to walk a bit by parking out a ways at the store.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
First thing to do is stop by your local Ford, Dodge and GMC dealerships and pick up a trailer towing guide. It will explain GVWR, GAWR, GCVWR, and towing needs in much more detail. Best thing to do is select a truck suitable for your needs.
Fred.

agree ....

knowing the empty weight of the camper is important because it is a number that the owner has no control over

max weight rating is important in that the difference between it and the empty weight tells much about the strength of the frame/suspension .... it is also important if a person plans to load their camper to that level

dually trucks are fine but they aren't best in all situations .... traction on snowy roads and most other slick surfaces are a good example .... when you aren't towing and they are being used as your daily driver they can be complicate parking and maneuvering .... over time the cost of additional tires and drop in mileage over single rear wheel truck can add up .... on the positive side, a dually does offer a much more stable platform when the rig is subject to side forces (wind/curvy roads)

we've had a great time traveling through all of the lower 48 states and hope to continue traveling extensively for the foreseeable future .... we currently tow with a Freightliner Sportchassis which replaced our former 1 ton dually so I'm not anti dually by any stretch of the imagination ..... times, technology, and the expenses innate to have and continue to evolve .... unless we were to purchase one of the truly huge 40' plus rigs, I can't envision ever owning another dually .... the recommendation made in the quote above is sound

Jim

Are you looking for a new truck or used? Since 2007 the emissions of diesel trucks has really increased their prices, so they are now up to $10,000 more than a gas truck with the same options.

I would rather have a gas truck because I do not go camping that many miles each year and getting 9 MPG while towing is not a big deal. Insurance always costs more per year than the gas for my motorhome. The only two exceptions to that are when I drove back east two years and put more than 6,500 miles on in one year.

The Ford 6.2L is the largest displacement truck now for towing a normal trailer. You can get the single rear wheel F-350, it is normally good for about 3,700 pounds of cargo. Don't think you need to carry 2 tons?

THe fifth wheel hitch is about 100- 150 pounds.
THe pin weight on that hitch with a 15,000 pound trailer can be between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds. You plan on carrying some cargo and passengers in the truck, so lets say you plan on having 500 pounds of passengers and stuff in the truck, 100 pound hitch, and 2,200 pounds of hitch weight. That all adds up to 2800 pounds. Should your trailer water tank be in the front compartment, and say it is 60 gallons (540 pounds) of water, that can add another 300 - 400 pounds of hitch weight to the truck.

If you are looking at used, look carefully at the GVWR. Make sure you are looking at trucks over 10,000 GVWR. SO if you are looking at 1990's trucks, you will require a dually, the single rear wheel trucks topped out at 9,900 pound GVWR until the 2005 F-350 came out and improved that number significantly.

You probably want to avoid the 2003 to 2010 Ford diesels because of the oil cooler and it's special needs. THere are lots of posts on that engine. THe 2011 seems to not have any problems, considering the million or so out there, only a fraction of them have had problems.

The 1990's GMC's had a more powerful engine than transmission. Same with the early Dodge trucks. By 2000, all three big trucks had much more powerful transmissions, and much more powerful diesel engines.

First thing to do is stop by your local Ford, Dodge and GMC dealerships and pick up a trailer towing guide. It will explain GVWR, GAWR, GCVWR, and towing needs in much more detail. Best thing to do is select a truck suitable for your needs. Don't buy a 3/4 ton because the salesman says "It will tow anything". It will not safely tow much, except for the largest bumper pull trailers (they are limited to about 1,200 pounds hitch weight, so a 3/4 ton can handle that much weight).

IF you don't mind dual rear wheels, then any brand will work fine. If you want to stick to the single rear wheels, and not have those extra wide fenders, then consider a Ford, it has the highest GVWR of all the F-350's with single rear wheels.

Fred.

Have to agree with MPI 6.7 ram is awesome. Had a Ford loved it,But exhaust brake on the Ram is perfect for pulling a 5er. Been in heavy traffic, up and down mountains. Really takes alot of stress off not having to work the heck out of the brakes. Plus more power and torque than you'll ever need,but when you need to go you need to go.

You can never have too much truck, I have a Dodge Ram Laramie 6.7 liter Cummins diesel Bully chipped with a 6 speed auto trans, exhaust brake, four door, 16K Reese hitch, 8 foot bed with a Retrax rolling locking tonneau and the stock locking tailgate. I can haul my fiver up and down anything I'll ever need to (this is the most important thing I think)and support and STOP my fiver when needed so as not to be a menace on the road and still get 10-14 MPG! I drive comfortable and confident knowing these things.

Dually Diesel territory 350/3500. Best suited for your needs. Will have a steady tow.
Scott

720Deere wrote:
You can probably get by with a 350/3500 SRW, but a dually is going to be better suited to that load. As far as gas vs. diesel, I'm not sure that any of the 350/3500 SRW gas trucks are rated to tow that heavy and if you go dually, diesel is really a no brainer.

X2

DRW Diesel

You can probably get by with a 350/3500 SRW, but a dually is going to be better suited to that load. As far as gas vs. diesel, I'm not sure that any of the 350/3500 SRW gas trucks are rated to tow that heavy and if you go dually, diesel is really a no brainer.