Towing a 13,500 dry weight 5er?

Bunch of bull about lowering 80 PSI tires to only 40 PSI as both the tire manufacturers say "never" and TPMS's go crazy when "E" 80 PSI tires drop to 40 PSI and if you say "just turn it off and cut the wires etc" why even have the TPMS? Do you also disconnect your engine temp indicator or oil pressure indicator too? Dropping 80 PSI tires to 40 PSI is asking them to spin on the wheel or roll over breaking the bead seal due to not enough bead sealing pressure Get real! Also causes very fast outside edge tread wear and the sidewalls are pushing down while the tread center gives very little support and simply pushes away from the road, thus lowering effective traction/pressure on the road surface per sq inch of tire/road contact. How dumb! Sure it ca help when running on soft sand because the tire spreads out and the speeds are not highway speeds bu any stretch. Also, the heat build up from the extreme flexing that occurs and squirrely handling when normal driving on roads with having that soft of tire inflation drastically and quickly compromises the tires internal structure as can and often is so dangerous.

What a foolish and dangerous thing to tell someone new to RV'ing like Jane, Shame!!!

Jane,

Very easy to explain in 2 ways:

1. 4 tires with 65-80 PSI will not flex nearly as much or easily as 2 tires with the same PSI on road imperfections and transfer the higher degree of jolting to the truck vehicle's stiffer springs and shocks which do dampen some of it but far from a lot or most. If the springs and shocks were really efficient, you'd not feel hardly any bumps or road imperfections when riding as the lesser spring capacity and smaller dia piston shocks of a lighter capacity vehicle would absorb so much more of the axle/tires transferred quick motion. IE, nice Cadillac type ride! A far more jolting is felt when the vehicle is unloaded than when it's loaded heavy. Simple physics! Rear axle capacity itself can be the same but the suspension required to carry the higher weight is very different. Just in a nutshell!

2. Go test ride each for 20+ miles, a 3500HD SRW and a 3500HD DRW truck empty having max inflation in all rear tires as you'd have hauling heavy and test ride on the same bumpy roads at the same speed and let your body, behind, and mind explain to you the difference.

Regardless of what BS you hear or read, a vehicle sprung for 13,000+ rear capacity having 4 rear tires on the will not ride the same empty as a same type model/brand sprung for a max of 10,000 rear capacity having only 2 rea tires. Why do you think they even put 2 more wheels on a truck as they are not for decoration!

You will not be deflating (like so many claim you can do) all your tires every time you stop for the day or a couple days at a CG for driving your truck around empty and then the next morning re-inflating them again. If so, you'd see so many DRW truck owners inflating their tires in CG's everyday and it just doesn't happen and never has in our 52 years of RV'ing. It's even a pain and takes time (even more with duallies) to do it when you go RV'ing for a weekend or so and then want to drive the truck empty during the week etc. Talk is cheap but seeing it not being done speaks for itself! Observe for yourself!

Also to add, you'll have 6 new tires to buy rather than 4, or 50% more cost each time but having 4 tires on the rear can be of a help if one blows out but then the one tire must carry the load of 2 tires and is compromised/ruined real quick. If it's the inside rear tire that blows or goes flat, remember that the outside tire has to come off too! More fun! Having 4 on the back doesn't do anything/or help with a blow out/flat on the front and those are your steering and control tires. I'd much rather a rear tire blow anytime or go flat than a front tire! No dual tires on the front in true production pickups!

More to it than just ride quality but if a DRW truck is actually REQUIRED to haul the load, that's what you need to have. Both SRW and DRW trucks have positives and negatives depending on your needs, wants, desires, and actual uses.

janegowest wrote:
Travelnutz, would you please explain this statement? Does a DRW have a rougher ride than a SRW?

"The reason we had sold our 3500HD DRW truck was because my wife is disabled and couldn't take the jolting rough ride when the RV was unhooked while going to a store or someplace else when RV'ing. Gotta do what you gotta do!"

Might have risen smoother if when not towing you dropped the rear tire pressure to about 40 psi. :)

My 3500 4x4 RAM DRW with rear air ride with rear tires set to 40psi rides just as good if not better than friends 3500 GM SRW 4x4 SB truck.

Travelnutz, would you please explain this statement? Does a DRW have a rougher ride than a SRW?

"The reason we had sold our 3500HD DRW truck was because my wife is disabled and couldn't take the jolting rough ride when the RV was unhooked while going to a store or someplace else when RV'ing. Gotta do what you gotta do!"

handsom51

Have you weighed your trucks rear axle FULLY loaded? How does that compare to the two rear tires max weight capacity combined? With a HEAVY hitch, tool box, gen, 12 gallon fuel tank and ?????? Me thinks you may be overloaded on your rear tires.

We don't have a truck yet. Waiting to match up a truck with the camper.

handsome51,

We had pulled our 3 axle 18,000 GVWR 36' Carriage Chaise model several times having 2 slide outs and average loaded with our 2004.5 Chevy 2500HD Duramax CC LB 4X4 truck also and it drove and handled fine but we don't ever pull over 60 MPH while pulling any of our RV's or when our 11'4" lance is on the poopdeck. Long retired and what's the rush anyway! Our truck had enhancements done right after the ordered new truck came in. Michelin 265 10 ply "E" tires on it instead of the OEM 245's, Rancho 9000X adjustable shocks, Air-Lift 5000 lb cap airbags a 100 PSI because we bought it only to use for our 5th wheels or TT's and truck campers for RV'ing. The truck also had the 100 gal aux diesel tank in the bed full of diesel too when pulling the 36' Carriage as it's only on the truck when the Lance is not on. I have a 2 ton hoist in my large tall pole building which makes it so quick to take it out or put it in (only 4 bolts from the top). When out it sits on a wheeled base and pushed to the side. My wife calls it my "Toy barn" and we wouldn't be without it!

Would I recommend someone else pulling the very heavy Carriage around with a 2500 truck? Nope, as it their decision and how seasoned in pulling big heavy things and how their Ford or GM HD truck is truly setup. All of this enhancement is still meaningless if they are inexperienced or drive fast while pulling big and heavy. GM, for example, only makes one HD truck chassis and it's exactly the same for the 2500HD thru the 3500HD DRW models. A GM 2500 very quickly and easily becomes an OEM 3500 or even more capable with the airbags and Rancho's. Revise the truck by adding training wheels and switching for the same axle with the dual wheel mounting plates and "Walla" same physical capacity as an OEM 3500 HD DRW. Doesn't change the VIN designation or the truck badging etc though. Any fool can still operate/load/drive an OEM 3500 DRW truck and pile it up when pulling or not pulling just like they can with a reconfigured and enhanced 2500HD. It's the idiot or the intelligence behind the steering wheel makes the decisions!

Yes, our 36' Carriage would have been better off being pulled by a 3500HD DRW truck and that's a given because of the 2 added rear training wheels. The reason we had sold our 3500HD DRW truck was because my wife is disabled and couldn't take the jolting rough ride when the RV was unhooked while going to a store or someplace else when RV'ing. Gotta do what you gotta do!

Don't have to worry about pulling the 36' because a tree fell on top of it while we were gone and totaled it a few years ago. Didn't replace it as we had our other Carriage Carrilite 5th wheel, our big Allegro MH, and our big Lance truck camper also at the time and we aren't spring chickens anymore! Just very happy RV'ing old fart travelnutz!

I would say it depends on if you have a truck now or not. I have a 2001 F250 super duty extended cab with a long bed.I bought new. When I say long bed, I mean a 8 foot bed.It has the 7.3 diesel. My 5th wheel is a 2006 Carriage that lacks 1 inch to be 36 feet long. Weighing on a truck scale fully loaded for a trip. That includes full of water.It weighs a fraction over 14,700 lbs. Of that, 3100 lbs is hitch weight. The only difference between my 3/4 ton and a 1 ton single wheel truck is the suspension . I have Hellwig helper springs on the rear and my truck will haul more in the bed before it squats then a factory single wheel 1 ton. This does not change the official truck rating on the door. In the bed I have a 25K air safe hitch that you have to have a fork lift to put in, if you put it in already assembled. Behind the cab I have a genbox generator. Which is in a diamond plated toolbox with a 12 gallon fuel tank. In front of the tailgate is a 37 gallon diamond platted fuel tank. When I am hitched up , you can look at the side of my truck and it is still a fraction above level. It pulls my 5th wheel just fine. I had the truck before I bought the 5th wheel. I had a cab over on it before I retired. Even though the rating on the truck has not changed on paper. If I had gotten rid of this truck and spent money and bought a 1 ton SRW. It would not have done better then the set up I have now with handling my RV. So everything depends on if you have a truck now.

I'd sure like to know what kind of rig that salesman has. :h