Weight ratings

GoBlue, In some Canadian Provinces the GVWR rating is a real legal number and you can be pulled off the road and ticketed if you get weighed and are over.

This gets posted on rv websites often.
In BC if your weighed for a gross axle or gross vehicle weight it goes like this;

(3) The gross weight of any tandem axles and the gross weight of any group of axles shall be the sum of the gross axle weights of all the axles comprising the tandem axles or the group of axles, as the case may be.

(4) The gross weight of any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be the sum of the individual gross axle weights of all the axles of the vehicle or combination of vehicles.
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BC says a vehicle has to be registered at a GVWR which may be the truck makers GVWR or the sum of the GAWRs according to what CA members have posted. So sure a ticket may be issued for being over a GVWR.

Anywayz......std duty 3/4 ton truck won't have enough RAWR to carry much over 2600-2800 lb fully loaded pin weight.
The op indicated the truck has a 29xx lb payload number. This sounds like a payload from a gas 3/4 ton as mfg payloads are a GVWR based number. I doubt anyone would like towing performance with a smallblock gazzer at 14k-15k lbs at those weights .

A new gen one ton SRW diesel would be my pick for a 15k-16k gvwr trailer.....or a DRW if I just had to have one.

You will get tired of wondering how close you are each time you hook up with a 3/4 ton. I would definitely go with a 1 ton vehicle. DRW or SRW is your choice. I have had both and with a fiver as heavy as mine I went with a dually. Your figures are in that ball park as well. A drw will feel better stability wise but if you are uncomfortable with "hips" and an 8 foot bed a srw will be better for you. Shorter than a 8 foot bed you may need a slider hitch. There is much to consider.

GoBlue, In some Canadian Provinces the GVWR rating is a real legal number and you can be pulled off the road and ticketed if you get weighed and are over.
A 3/4 ton truck will not have enough payload for a LOADED 15,500lb fiver once you have loaded the truck with a hitch, passengers, tools, full fuel and maybe an extra fuel tank.
It's pin weight that will get ya. You could easily be looking at 4000lb loaded. That 2700lb dry hitch weight is meaningless - you won't be camping in an empty trailer!

Listen to the guys above - get AT LEAST a 1-ton; a Dually would give your the best margin of safety - that is a heavy fifth wheel.
I had a 15K fiver to start - I was 400# over GVWR with my 3/4 ton with just me in the truck.
It was going to be a bigger truck or a smaller fiver - I went with the latter.

donn0128 wrote:
That nearly 16,000 pound fiver could have a pin weight approaching 3000 pounds. The 2500 series truck has a load rating of 2951 pounds. Where are you going to put the driver and any passangers? How about the weight of the hitch? If you live inmor travel in BC how are you going to explain ignorance to the police when your forced to the scales?

20% pin gets you 3,200#. Many 5ers are up to 25% as mine is.

The posted hitch weight is with nothing in the trailer. Once you load it with food, water and misc., you will be over before you even get in the drivers seat.

"Like within a few hundred lbs."

If you are within a few hundred pounds, buy the bigger truck. Driving a maximum isn't enjoyable.

I went with a 3/4 ton gas because I don't expect to tow heavy. If you are going diesel then a 1 ton is paramount. A 3/4 ton diesel will have 2100 +/- lbs for payload. A gasser 3/4 ton gets you 3000 +/-. A 1 ton diesel will get you 4000 lbs +/- for payload.
Anything over 12,000 lbs is diesel territory IMO. Mostly payload wise and depending on how and where you'll be towing.

You will have 254lbs left for passengers and gear in the truck. That's cutting it pretty tight.

As for factory installed hitch vs. after market, go factory installed. I know in lighter vehicles, the manufacturer will limit tow capacity on vehicles with after market hitches because the chassis isn't beefed up to support the hitch. If you get it factory installed, then you know the chassis is built to support that hitch and what it's rated to handle.

donn0128 wrote:
That nearly 16,000 pound fiver could have a pin weight approaching 3000 pounds. The 2500 series truck has a load rating of 2951 pounds. Where are you going to put the driver and any passangers? How about the weight of the hitch? If you live inmor travel in BC how are you going to explain ignorance to the police when your forced to the scales?

With a near 16,000# 5er and additional stuff in the TV, you might consider stepping up to a DRW. If you get to a 3,000# pin on the 5er a SRW diesel might have 4,000# of payload depending trim level could be considerably less. I have heard they scale RV’s in BC, that is why DD got a 2004 Ram DRW to tow a 12,000# four horse GN trailer.

In the US, 3/4 ton versus 1 ton is usually six of one versus half dozen of the other, but I've read in other threads that GVWR may be more meaningful in Canada so I'd do a little research on that point before buying anything. You are definitely thinking of a trailer that's well beyond a half ton range in either country.