SWR 5th wheel towing

Our 2015 Silverado HD 2500 (diesel) does great pulling our 36-foot 5th that has a dry weight of 11,700 and dry pin weight of 2100. If we had gone with the 3500 we would have had some pounds to spare in terms of payload, but the 2500 does fine being a few hundred pounds over on payload.

My Ram 3500 does a great job towing the 5er in my sig. 41 foot and weight is 13880 loaded and 3060 pin weight.

Mike

Mine is a long bed 350 SRW but it tows my 35’ high profile 5er great. Very stable even in high cross winds. Good friend (RIP) had a short bed 3500 SRW and was equally satisfied. As long as the weights are good the SRW will serve you well.

A dually is only required if the weights dictate it.

I'm pretty sure the GVWR for the 19 GM 3500 srw is 11,500. The new 2020's, which are supposed to start hitting the dealerships this week, will be 12,250 from what I've seen which should increase the payload capacity. I've looked pretty close at them, on line, and have been impressed with what is being offered. There is a down side: more money and I would not really want an early production model.

Look at the little yellow sticker on door pillar and it will tell you the payload capacity for that particular truck. I really don't like driving a dually either but I could not find a truck in a srw equipped like we wanted that would handle the close to 4K pounds of weight we add to it. We have about 3100 pounds of hitch weight which the factory said was 2685. The rest is us, a fat Boston Terrier, 25 gallons of extra fuel in a transfer tank, the hitch and other odds and ends. It adds up quick once you start putting your stuff in it.

We just stepped up to a 36' 3" fifth wheel on our Ford F-350 SRW Diesel, crew cab, short bed. 10,780 dry, 12,660 loaded ready to camp (full fresh water tank), with 2440 pin weight. I'm comfortable because we installed 6000 lb. axles with disc brakes. But that is it--I would not be comfortable with any more weight even though Ford says we are good for a 14,500 fifth wheel. We are just below the rear axle rating and tire rating--so OK, but no room to spare. SRW is going to save money on tires and initial cost. If looking at longer, heavier, or toy hauler trailers, MHO is one is in dually territory. Toy haulers tend to be nose heavy to allow for the heavy toys in the rear, and really cry out for dually. I was honestly surprised how close we got to our weight limits on axle and tires after we got this trailer. In terms of handling, the SRW crew cab short bed handles this trailer just fine--comfortable in emergency moves, and the disc brakes will stop a freight train after a short delay to build pressure. Our trailer has dimples that allow for tight turns without bumping the cab, so short bed is not a problem, although we have a slider hitch form the prior trailers.

There will always be two sides to this, Dually or SRW. But, you'll be like us and use the truck as a full time vehicle. GET A SRW!

The big question is how big of a 5er are you getting?

Take 25% of the GVWR of the trailer and check the payload (including weight of people and gear in the truck)...If the payload rating of the truck can handle it, you are probably OK (check the other ratings but this is usually the limiting factor)

mine tows great, mine handles the pin weight great, mine stops great..I AM AT MAXIMUM ratings, but not over axle rating or tire ratings, which by the way in my eyes are the 2 important numbers...

2015 F-350 SRW towing a 2020 Redwood 3991 RD at 16K

** edited for spell check !

We towed a 36 foot 4 slide 15,600 5th Wheel first with a 2500 short bed gmc 8.1 gas with a manual slider hitch and it handled it ok , then towed that same 5th Wheel with a Chevy 3500 diesel DRW long bed ext cab and it was a dream to tow ! It always felt like there was more than enough truck and was rock solid towing , Really depends on how often and how far your towing . If your doing a lot of traveling you may feel better with the long bed DRW , from experience there is no better setup but cost can’t always be justified. I have always had a Toyota echo that’s now about 20 years old for a daily driver when I was working so having the bigger truck has never been a problem , currently have gone to a DRW gas setup for our current TC which has also worked out well , you will never hear or read about someone having to much truck!! Good luck and safe travels .