Going from Class A to 5th wheel

[jdart]

Trading my class A 35ft. Diesel for 38ft 5th wheel, Towing it with a 2007 Quad cab
2500 Dodge Big Horn Diesel. Will it handle it OK, 38 ft is a long trailer. Have towed boats before but never a 5th wheel.

[Cummins12V98]

NC Hauler wrote:

mileshuff wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
My 2007 5.9L and 48RE tranny have had no issues from towing heavy.........7 yrs. every week or so. FTng
48RE is a good strong tranny but is a 'weak link' when abused.

Well sure, some have great luck with the worst of vehicles!! Doesn't mean 100% lemon or anything close to it! The 48RE has never been known as a strong well built tranny. To me its mediocre. For those that tow 14K+ trailers with it in steep mountainous hot terrain its known to give problems. But that doesn't mean everyone will have such trouble! Don't get me wrong, I'm a Dodge fan myself! On my 3rd Ram over the years. I just greatly prefer the newer 68RFE or Alison transmissions for durability.

And remember, you now have the option of the medium duty tranny in the Ram with the Aisin transmission...Having owned 4 D/A Chevy's, the Aisin is just as strong, if not more so...both are medium duty tranny's:)

I could be wrong but the Alison in the 4500 Kodiak is different than the 2500/3500.

The Aisin is the same across the RAM line.

[Curlida]

I'm not experienced yet but I spent months doing weight calc. and truck capabilities and fifthwheel size and I settled for Chevy 3500 Diesel and 40' Keysyone Montana, with B and W gooseneck and 20K companion. Chevy has full tow package which I may put airbags on depending on sag when Fifth is loaded. I have the numbers weight wise but I have to look them up again so I don't misinform,
But I can tell you when they hooked up the Fifth the bed did not sag much at all and I drove it two plus hours home and I was impressed. Looked at Dodge,test drove Ford and in my opinion the Chevy was quieter and handled very well.

[NC_Hauler]

mileshuff wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
My 2007 5.9L and 48RE tranny have had no issues from towing heavy.........7 yrs. every week or so. FTng
48RE is a good strong tranny but is a 'weak link' when abused.

Well sure, some have great luck with the worst of vehicles!! Doesn't mean 100% lemon or anything close to it! The 48RE has never been known as a strong well built tranny. To me its mediocre. For those that tow 14K+ trailers with it in steep mountainous hot terrain its known to give problems. But that doesn't mean everyone will have such trouble! Don't get me wrong, I'm a Dodge fan myself! On my 3rd Ram over the years. I just greatly prefer the newer 68RFE or Alison transmissions for durability.

And remember, you now have the option of the medium duty tranny in the Ram with the Aisin transmission...Having owned 4 D/A Chevy's, the Aisin is just as strong, if not more so...both are medium duty tranny's:)

[mileshuff]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
My 2007 5.9L and 48RE tranny have had no issues from towing heavy.........7 yrs. every week or so. FTng
48RE is a good strong tranny but is a 'weak link' when abused.

Well sure, some have great luck with the worst of vehicles!! Doesn't mean 100% lemon or anything close to it! The 48RE has never been known as a strong well built tranny. To me its mediocre. For those that tow 14K+ trailers with it in steep mountainous hot terrain its known to give problems. But that doesn't mean everyone will have such trouble! Don't get me wrong, I'm a Dodge fan myself! On my 3rd Ram over the years. I just greatly prefer the newer 68RFE or Alison transmissions for durability.

[Cummins12V98]

jdart wrote:
Thankseveryone for your help, I guess it is a smaller 5th wheel for me

Hey don't forget there is always the air bags and 19.5's option.

[jdart]

Thankseveryone for your help, I guess it is a smaller 5th wheel for me

[Old-Biscuit]

jdart wrote:
2007 Ram Big Horn diesel 5.9L tires size 265/17 GVWR 9000 GAWR front 5200 and rear 6010 5th Wheel 14,600

With that 5vr:
You will be over trucks GVWR
You will be over RAWR
You will be over Rear Tire Max Load

You need to look at 5vrs with GVWR of 12K or less

[jdart]

2007 Ram Big Horn diesel 5.9L tires size 265/17 GVWR 9000 GAWR front 5200 and rear 6010 5th Wheel 14,600

[C_Schomer]

14600 x 20% = 2920, the estimated max pin weight. You need to add passengers, hitch and other truck cargo to 2920 and hope the sum doesn't go over the trucks payload rating. Hopefully the 2727 number ISN'T the payload! Craig

[Old-Biscuit]

mileshuff wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

mileshuff wrote:
Does your Dodge have the 5.9L or the 6.7L? In mid 2007 the 6.7L came out. Much stronger engine and far more durable transmission but the 5.9L is one of the most bullet proof reliable diesels made.

It's not the engine being the issue...The Cummins, either the 5.9 or 6.7 would handle the 5er's weight...We're asking about GVW of the 5er due to how much pin weight OP would put in the bed of the truck.....suspension, rear axle weight rating would be more of a concern than the Cummins engine...

Very true but as thats been covered I asked this as it also applies. The 5.9L and the 2007's tranny are not in my opinion well suited for a heavier trailer regardless of the trucks GVW.

Not that's funny........

My 2007 5.9L and 48RE tranny have had no issues from towing heavy.........7 yrs. every week or so. FTng
48RE is a good strong tranny but is a 'weak link' when abused.

[mileshuff]

NC Hauler wrote:

mileshuff wrote:
Does your Dodge have the 5.9L or the 6.7L? In mid 2007 the 6.7L came out. Much stronger engine and far more durable transmission but the 5.9L is one of the most bullet proof reliable diesels made.

It's not the engine being the issue...The Cummins, either the 5.9 or 6.7 would handle the 5er's weight...We're asking about GVW of the 5er due to how much pin weight OP would put in the bed of the truck.....suspension, rear axle weight rating would be more of a concern than the Cummins engine...

Very true but as thats been covered I asked this as it also applies. The 5.9L and the 2007's tranny are not in my opinion well suited for a heavier trailer regardless of the trucks GVW.

[Old-Biscuit]

NC Hauler wrote:

Brockinfla wrote:
The only thing I calculate is that this thread is going to nine pages of hysteria before a mod locks it up.

Great value added post...hysteria???:R

At a GVW of 14,600#... believe that 5er will push limits of OPs truck.

Too much 5th wheel for a 2007 2500.

As I posted earlier......my 2007 3500 is at MAX Ratings (RAWR/Rear Tire Load) with my CAT Scaled 13,380# 5vr.

With that year/model of truck the OP should look for a 5vr with a GVWR of 12K or less.

[CANAMKID]

I think that people that think they can do these things should drive
faster take more chances. Oh I'M SORRY I did my research on what
to really what to do.I see to much of this driving down the road every
day. People need to stop and think about what they doing!!!!!

[larry_barnhart]

I was talking to a new owner of a heavy fifthwheel. He had a new 2500 dodge pickup with a canopy. I asked him how he tows with the canopy but the fifth was delivered and was going to not move from the rv park. But then he told me because of this truck he could pull anything. Maybe this thinking is still in the minds of some guys.

chevman