2500HD duramax. What can it handle?

[Dmax55]

I have a 2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax EFI Live tuning, air intake, EGR delete. Wanting to buy a fifth wheel but unsure if my truck will handle it. Have a 35 ft bumper hitch currently. Looking at a Heartland Elkridge 38ft. 12900 lbs empty 2950 hitch weight. Will my truck handle it ok? My wife has a 15 Ford F-250 with 6.2 gas. Will that handle it? We are new to the fifth wheel thought process. Please help me out. Thanks.

[donn0128]

Cummins12V98 wrote:


Bag it and add 19.5's and it will "Tow just fine" 😉

Towing is and never has been the issue. Load carrying capacity is!
The OP simply does not have enough load carrying capacity. Add on a of any sort cannot change the basic facts.

[Cummins12V98]

Dmax55 wrote:
I have a 2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax EFI Live tuning, air intake, EGR delete. Wanting to buy a fifth wheel but unsure if my truck will handle it. Have a 35 ft bumper hitch currently. Looking at a Heartland Elkridge 38ft. 12900 lbs empty 2950 hitch weight. Will my truck handle it ok? My wife has a 15 Ford F-250 with 6.2 gas. Will that handle it? We are new to the fifth wheel thought process. Please help me out. Thanks.

Bag it and add 19.5's and it will "Tow just fine" 😉

[B_O__Plenty]

Empty weight on a trailer is a meaningless number..You need to look at what it weighs fully loaded..

B.O.

[Bowti]

Seeing you have already invested good money into a diesel, I would be looking at a lighter 5R. There are many lighter units out there, and because of the number of slides that are now available on todays unites, larger longer unites are not as important as they might of once been.
Opposing slides can make a smaller unit feel much larger than it actually is. The exception of this is if you have a large family with you, then it just makes sense for a larger heavier unit.

[AniJet]

Second Chance wrote:
.......... One of the biggest safety concerns is the load capacity of the tires on the truck - that's a NEVER EXCEED number..........Rob

That's my limit and is why I have a dually. Load rating is molded onto the side of every tire. Check it out.

[rhagfo]

X5
Too much 5er for a 2500 or even a 3500SRW, looking at 15950# GVWR on the 5er. It is not the fact that you would be exceeding the 10,000# GVWR as many of us 2500 owners do, it is exceeding the rear axle and TIRE rating that would make that rig a very bad choice.

[JIMNLIN]

250/2500 trucks are limited to their respective 6000-6500 rawr. Front axle changes little to non so its not a great concern.

Gas or diesel all have about the same axle loads when empty so your looking at approx 3000 lbs for a payload.

Your 12900 lb empty trailer may weigh in the 15k range when road ready...and your 2950 lb dry pin weight may be 3500 lbs also when road ready. You also need to look at the trailers gvwr which will be closer to the trailers actual road ready weight than a dry weight. Both are important.

If your going to use your 250/2500 trucks you will have to upgrade their rear suspension/tires and wheels.

The F250 small block gas truck is a poor choice for a trailer that may have a 15k-16k gvwr.

Your best bet is to look at smaller weight trailers in the 11k-13k range. A 13k gvwr trailer may have a 2600 lb hitch load.

You own the trucks so get them to a scale and get their front and rear axle weights. Then your ready to battle the numbers instead of guessing.

[Second_Chance]

donn0128 wrote:
Too much trailer for the truck. You can PULL way more than you can LOAD.
Remember, approx 20% of a fivers LOADED weight is going to land directly over the rear axle of your truck. 12,9 empty (which is really meaningless) translates to approx 2600 pounds hitch weight. Now, no one will ever pull a "dry" trailer, so that number is toast. Depending on your truck configuration and passanger loading you will scale ready to travel around 7500 pounds. With a 9200 GVWR that leaves you with approx 1700 pounds of available payload. See the problem here?

X2 - but with a few modifications. First, the Duramax will pull a house off its foundation... but the can't put the weight of the house on the rear axle of the truck. Most fifth wheels loaded for extended travel end up with 23 - 25% of the trailer's GVWR on the pin. As mentioned, loading the truck with fuel, hitch, passnegers and "stuff" and then heading to the nearest certified scales to get the separate axle weights is the only way to determine your true payload capacity. One of the biggest safety concerns is the load capacity of the tires on the truck - that's a NEVER EXCEED number. I'm pretty sure that the trailer you're describing is way too much for the truck.

Rob

[downtheroad]

Too much pin weight when you are trip ready and loaded.
...and adding air bags won't increase you payload.

[donn0128]

Too much trailer for the truck. You can PULL way more than you can LOAD.
Remember, approx 20% of a fivers LOADED weight is going to land directly over the rear axle of your truck. 12,9 empty (which is really meaningless) translates to approx 2600 pounds hitch weight. Now, no one will ever pull a "dry" trailer, so that number is toast. Depending on your truck configuration and passanger loading you will scale ready to travel around 7500 pounds. With a 9200 GVWR that leaves you with approx 1700 pounds of available payload. See the problem here?