Forum Discussion

stetwood's avatar
stetwood
Explorer
Feb 12, 2014

How many tow their 5ver with a regular cab?

I have done a search and while there is a lot of mention about weights and the fact that a regular cab can tow and haul more, there appears very few mentions of a regular cab whether 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton or larger being use tow for longer periods of time and distance than to the nearby lake or campground. I recognize those with pets and children will more likely use an extended or crew cab, but what about those without either. Last fall we saw a single person using a regular cab with a 30+ double slide, but the regular cab is rare.

I am curious as to the size of the 5ver being towed and if the individual has had experience with extended and crew cabs in towing, especially in the ride,mpg, and handling including backing. It seems my cc 4x4 long bed requires 90 acres to make a turn.

Thanks in advance
  • Click on my rig in sig line. I have been towing a 12k+ 29 foot 5th wheel for almost 10 years. Added custom tranny, exhaust brake and turned up power a bit. Chris
  • Our 1st 5er was new 26' '84 model pulled with a '82 std cab long bed chevy. This rig even towed doubles with a 18' 3400 lb bass boat for several years.

    Made a living towing GN flatdeck trailers up to 28k-32k combined using mostly std cab but a couple crew cabs and extended cabs with mostly one ton DRW trucks. Crew cabs are a payload (profits) killer when you haul for a living so we shied away from them.

    IMO mpg between a same brand/year model/etc regular cab and a crew cab when towing is nil.

    Backing is a different story. The shorter wheel base same brand trucks turn shorter and less steering input while backing. Some brands have a smaller turning radius than other brands. Even same brand but a different year model or a 4x4 vs 2wd. Gotta' compare apples to apples for any differences.

    We had nothing but std cab trucks many years before the extended cab or crew cab trucks became popular.
  • We full timed for a little over 2 years, in a 32 foot triple slide fifth wheel.
    My tow vehicle was a 1994 Dodge CTD 3500 dually long bed regular cab. our GCW was 21,180 lbs.
    It worked just fine for us.
    My current "toy truck" is a quad cab, just in case we take grandkids with us. I still don't need or want and won't buy a crew cab truck.
  • Only ever had one regular cab. Nothing but extended cabs for me now. Even if you don't have pets (which we do) the space in back is invaluable.
  • my first truck was a F-150 regular cab. hated not being able to put golf clubs, etc. inside under lock and key. (yes I had a cap which you can't have with a 5er) my next two were extended cabs. no more regular cabs for me.
    bumpy
  • Couple factors:
    1 - How much passenger space do you need.
    2 - Truck manufactures make more money on larger cabs and other upgrades so they push them to up their profit margin.
    3 - Resale. Extended cab probably sell better than a single cab.

    I've owned 2 regular cabs and now my crew cab. Love the room in my crew cab and now I need it for the grandbaby as you can't put "kid seats" in the front seat area. They have to be in the back seat area. Plus it keep the groceries dry.
  • We've had 2 trucks to date on our 18 year full time adventure. Both trucks pulled the same 38' triple axle Carriage 5th wheel with 3 slides without incident.
    It is just the 2 of us with no pets and we have to family to take with us. Our "1st" truck was a 1996 Dodge single cab Ram 3500 dually. That took us everywhere we wanted to go for 17 years. I understand there are those out there who believe our 5th wheel was too heavy for our truck but she did an excellent job of pulling & stopping us for all of those years & it worked for us. We traded her in, with a mileage of 341,720 miles, for a 2014 Ram 3500 single cab dually 8'bed. Being a single cab 3500 dually, this truck is rated for 30,000 towing. The GCWR, gross combined weight rating, is 37,600 pounds. Hope to get anywhere even close to that performance with our new truck as we have no plans to get off the road. Hope this helps. Hugs, Di

    stetwood wrote:
    I have done a search and while there is a lot of mention about weights and the fact that a regular cab can tow and haul more, there appears very few mentions of a regular cab whether 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton or larger being use tow for longer periods of time and distance than to the nearby lake or campground. I recognize those with pets and children will more likely use an extended or crew cab, but what about those without either. Last fall we saw a single person using a regular cab with a 30+ double slide, but the regular cab is rare.

    I am curious as to the size of the 5ver being towed and if the individual has had experience with extended and crew cabs in towing, especially in the ride,mpg, and handling including backing. It seems my cc 4x4 long bed requires 90 acres to make a turn.

    Thanks in advance