3.42 vs. 3.73 gears.......
Hi Fellow Campers, I'm in the market for a new Diesel truck. My current travel trailer is about 6000 lbs when fully loaded. However, down the road, I hope to graduate to either a longer (and ...
Forum Discussion
Depends a lot on what truck you are looking for.
Most have double overdrives, and effectively will run the diesel engine at a lower RPM than in years past, no matter what rear axle ratio you are using.
So are you looking for a 2500, 3500, single rear wheel, or dually? Or F-250 or F-350?
If you plan on graduating to a fifth wheel in the 30' length, with a 12,000 GVWR, consider it should have 20% of that weight on the hitch pin. So that would be around 2,000 pounds.
If you also have a crewcab, and plan on taking along 500 - 800 pounds of passengers, generator, some firewood, ect. then this can add up to another 200 - 500 pounds. This might require a F-350 with a 3,800 - 4,000 pound cargo rating to tow such a large fifth wheel, though a 2500 or F-250 with a cargo rating around 3,000 pounds is fine for just about any travel trailer, as even the largest are only about 11,000 GVWR, with a 1,200 - 1,400 pound hitch weight, and are not a problem for any of the modern 2500 trucks.
Best thing to pick up now is a towing guide from each of the three big truck manufactures. They discuss GVWR in length, and you can pick up a lot of information from the brochures.
It also has the GCVWR of each truck, with various rear axle ratios.
Fred.
Most have double overdrives, and effectively will run the diesel engine at a lower RPM than in years past, no matter what rear axle ratio you are using.
So are you looking for a 2500, 3500, single rear wheel, or dually? Or F-250 or F-350?
If you plan on graduating to a fifth wheel in the 30' length, with a 12,000 GVWR, consider it should have 20% of that weight on the hitch pin. So that would be around 2,000 pounds.
If you also have a crewcab, and plan on taking along 500 - 800 pounds of passengers, generator, some firewood, ect. then this can add up to another 200 - 500 pounds. This might require a F-350 with a 3,800 - 4,000 pound cargo rating to tow such a large fifth wheel, though a 2500 or F-250 with a cargo rating around 3,000 pounds is fine for just about any travel trailer, as even the largest are only about 11,000 GVWR, with a 1,200 - 1,400 pound hitch weight, and are not a problem for any of the modern 2500 trucks.
Best thing to pick up now is a towing guide from each of the three big truck manufactures. They discuss GVWR in length, and you can pick up a lot of information from the brochures.
It also has the GCVWR of each truck, with various rear axle ratios.
Fred.
