Help, my head is spinning

Towed a 32.5' Avion Platinum with my 98 2500 RAM with no bags and the truck sat level the load was 20,500 combined. Truck handles the load very well but I always told my self a larger RV will get a large TV.

Now look at me! 32,540# combined!

If truck ratings mean anything to you ......then you will be over trucks GVWR (8800#) and very close on your RAWR (6084#) with almost all 5th wheel toy haulers.

You can tow a bigger travel trailer/tow hauler than 5th wheel

If you find one more fact for your vehicle, you can figure out any fifth wheel for towing using two math formulas.

But you MUST know what the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) for that truck is.

Oh, and you also MUST weigh your truck, to see how much payload you have remaining before hitting that GVWR of 8,800 pounds.

On fifth wheels, how much your truck can CARRY is always the limiting factor. This is the pin weight of the fifth wheel, plus say add 150 pounds for the hitch you install, plus weight of two 150 pound passengers.

Anyway, the math formulas:

Once you've weighed your truck, then you can PULL this heavy a fifth wheel:

GCVWR - actual vehicle weight = max weight fifth wheel you can pull.

And carry this pin weight:

GVWR - actual vehicle weight = max pin weight fifth wheel (also included hitch, passengers in vehicle here so there's 300 pounds for two people and hitch)

So for giggles, let us assume here your truck weighs 6890 pounds and has a GCVWR of 20,000 pounds

20,000 - 6890 = 13,110 pounds max fifth wheel weight.

8800 - 6890 = 1,910 pounds max hitch weight. Take off 300 pounds for passengers and hitch, and you're down to 1,610 pound hitch weight.

NOTE: the above numbers are figments of my imagination, just shown to illustrate how the formulas work. Your actual correct numbers may vary greatly from this.

Get those numbers, and plug them into the formulas. Then you WILL know what your vehicle can handle.

Thanks for the replies, very helpful!

I saw a pretty good size 5th wheel being towed by a new 1500 GMC last weekend, I could almost hear the rear wheel bearings screaming in agony when I passed by. At least you have a full floater.

mr61impala wrote:
I saw a pretty good size 5th wheel being towed by a new 1500 GMC last weekend, I could almost hear the rear wheel bearings screaming in agony when I passed by. At least you have a full floater.

One of 2 things:

1. RV was advertised as 1/2 ton towable.
OR
2. Salesman told him he could tow anything. It's a pick up.

We tow a 32' 5er with our 2001, 9,820# dry and 12,360# GVWR. We tow it at about 11,000#+. We are a bit lighter than Cummins at a total of 19,500#. We come in at 10,000# GVW on the TV, but still have 500#+ of rear axle capacity to spare, with the listed 6,084#. We do have the Camper Package with stronger than stoc springs and 265/75 -16E at 3,415#, no bags!
I do run a small 50 hp chip.
GCVWR is a power/gear ratio rating so not a legal rating.
It is YOUR choice to tow over any rating and this is not a recomdation.

The late '90s/early'00s 2500 Dodge/Cummins 4x4 std tranny of that era were using the Dana 80 rear axle. Auto tranny trucks generally had the Dana 70. So forget about any rear axle overload issues with this truck.
These 2nd gen trucks have very stout rear suspension complete with a aux overload spring pack so they will carry 6084 lb on the rear axle with no problems. Many add air bags to rear axle to increase payload capabilities or eliminate any sag.
Those old 2nd gen trucks were light on the rear axle with generally 2700-2800 lbs dry weight which leaves around 3200-3300 lb for a payload. Trailers add little to no weight on the trucks front axle so its not a big player carrying a load.

The '99 Dodge/Cummins weak link was the 47RE tranny unless it was uprated with aftermarket towing goodies. How much can the truck tow. Keep in mind the truck is 17 years old so it won't have the high tow rating of the new gen trucks.
Some of the 2500 Dodge 4x4 trucks in '99 had up to 13600 lb tow rating depending on gear ratios and auto vs manual.