Forum Discussion

mrad's avatar
mrad
Explorer II
Jul 16, 2020

For those of you towing with a one ton crew cab 6.5' box

What are the maxlengths you are towing?
We are making the jump from a 37' bumper to bumper TT to a 5th wheel. We towed the TT with a Ford Excursion and traveled all throughout the midwest and CO, AZ, and other western states with no problems.
I'm Finding used long box diesels has been next to impossible unless the have 250,000 miles.

We did come across a clean low mileage one ton crewcab duramax yesterday and have it on hold. door sticker said not to exceed 4,400 lbs of cargo and weight so we will be fine with weight. Just wondering was kind of total lenght you are pulling with these.
Would just hate to mkae the purchase and find out I am short on length. On the other hand, I would would also hate to miss out on this unit.

thanks in advance for your replies.
Tow Vehicles
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jul 17, 2020
    valhalla360 wrote:
    There is a legal upper length limit (varies by state) but unless you double tow, it's unlikely to be an issue as the 5th wheel sits over the truck bed as opposed to a bumper pull that sits fully behind the truck.

    Can you give us more details about the truck...year, single rear wheels vs dual rear wheels. If it really has a 4,400lb payload, it should be OK for up to a 15k trailer which should have a pin weight on the order of 3000-3500lb.


    ITS A SHORT BOX. IT CANT BE A DUALLY!

    And what does max length laws have to do with it???
  • mrad's avatar
    mrad
    Explorer II
    Jul 17, 2020
    2013 duramax SRW. Payload was actually 4,200 lbs. It will be just the wife and I traveling so It's doubtful we will ever approach 600 lbs in the truck itself. The truck has a 33 gallon tank.

    Dry pin weight is 2,700 and 12,000K dry trailer weight. I is a front living so I am guessing most of the contents will be stored close to axle (kitchen) or behind the axle (bedroom) so I am thinking that would take a little pin weight off when loaded. We dont dry dock so rarely if ever would we travel with water.

    Thanks again for all the input.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Jul 17, 2020
    There is a legal upper length limit (varies by state) but unless you double tow, it's unlikely to be an issue as the 5th wheel sits over the truck bed as opposed to a bumper pull that sits fully behind the truck.

    Can you give us more details about the truck...year, single rear wheels vs dual rear wheels. If it really has a 4,400lb payload, it should be OK for up to a 15k trailer which should have a pin weight on the order of 3000-3500lb.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jul 17, 2020
    @ rhfago No one makes a short box dually except for the Mega Cab.
    OP, it’s not a short truck, it’s fine.
  • Walaby's avatar
    Walaby
    Explorer II
    Jul 16, 2020
    I pull a slightly above 14K, 40 ft 5er with my short bed crew cab Ram 3500 CTD.

    No issues with the length whatsover.

    Mike
  • rhagfo's avatar
    rhagfo
    Explorer III
    Jul 16, 2020
    Your used low mileage Dmax sounds like a DRW, until 2020 GM only ran a GVWR of 13,025# on DRW almost 1,000# less than Ford and Ram. Your looking at a good size 5er, with a 2,700# DRY pin you are looking at about 3,200# pin loaded. Leaving about 1,200# for passengers, you over 150#, hitch, and anything added to the truck after it left the factory.
  • mtofell1's avatar
    mtofell1
    Explorer
    Jul 16, 2020
    mrad wrote:
    Thanks Rob.
    I'm am coming out of anesthesia and notices some mistakes in the original post.


    Wow, you may just be the most dedicated RVer here. Most of us would be happy to lie around in a pain killer haze and you're thinking RVs.

    I tow 36' with a 6.5' bed and wouldn't have a problem going longer. It's more about the weight as others have said. I suppose if I got up to one of the REALLY big ones in the 42'+ range the longer wheelbase would be a good idea. But at that point you get into DRW land and I believe those are all longbeds (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    Jul 16, 2020
    We have a 2006 F-350 CC Long Bed Lariet with 6.0. The trailer hitch can only hold a little over 12K LBS., but we tow a 40' Carriage Cameo that weighs close to 19K. We have a 21K hitch and and a 21K King Pin.. no problems. Be ware though, towing that much weight I strongly recommend your truck has a complete tow package. I also keep my tires at the manufacture recommended PSI printed on the tire and NOT the PSI on the truck door.
  • mrad's avatar
    mrad
    Explorer II
    Jul 16, 2020
    Thanks Rob.
    I apologize for the spelling. I'm am coming out of anesthesia and notices some mistakes in the original post.

    The 5th wheel my wife wants is a 37 front living. total length is 41'. unload weight is just over 12,000 and max weight is 15,000. I think I mentioned the dry pin weight is 2,700lbs
  • Second_Chance's avatar
    Second_Chance
    Explorer II
    Jul 16, 2020
    With a fifth wheel, it's not so much the length of the trailer as the gross weight and how much weight the trailer puts on the pin. We pulled a 14,000 lb., 36' fifth wheel with a CC 6'6" bed Sierra with the Duramax/Allison and it pulled and handled very well. Because it was a 3/4-ton truck we were at the upper limits for our payload (the truck had 3,100 lbs. payload per the scales fully loaded). We are full-timers, so when the chance came along to move to a very good DRW truck, we jumped on it. Having the extra payload with the 1-ton DRW also made it possible for us to upgrade to a heavier fifth wheel this year, too.

    Rob

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