Tow Rig question SRW or DRW for 5th RAM
I'm sure this has been debated millions of times, but here is a new spin. At what weight would you consider a DRW to be mandatory whilst towing a fifth wheel ? 10k 11k 12k 13k 14k 15k 16...
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Glendale RV used to make a bunch of fifth wheels that where easy to pull with a 3/4 ton truck, and therefore a 1 ton SRW would work fine with those. They placed the fresh water tanks near the trailer axles, so that helped keep the pin weight down pretty low. A Glendale Titanium could be 36' long and 16,000 GVWR with a 2,200 pound pin weight. But most fifth wheels are heavier pin weights than that manufacture produced.
So by 15,000 I would be looking for dual rear wheels for more capacity. More because the heavy fifth wheel nose can push the back of the truck sideways into the curves on a downgrade.
Yes they are making single rear wheel 3500 and F-350's much stronger than in years past. I can recall the 1980 F-350 and GM 3500 dually having a 10,000 GVWR. While in 2005, the crewcab F-250 SRW had a 10,000 GVWR and the F-350 SRW's had 11,500 pound GVWR.
With a 4,400 pound cargo rating, it seems like the RAM has a high enough cargo rating to tow a very large fifth wheel, without needing to upgrade to DRW.
I wish they would build a F-450 with super single rear tires. You can buy 19.5" rims with a 5,500 pound capacity, leading to a 11,000 pound rear axle weight rating without anything special, and combine that with a 6,000 pound front axle rating, you would have a 16,000GVWR with SRW skinniness.
Good luck,
Fred.
So by 15,000 I would be looking for dual rear wheels for more capacity. More because the heavy fifth wheel nose can push the back of the truck sideways into the curves on a downgrade.
Yes they are making single rear wheel 3500 and F-350's much stronger than in years past. I can recall the 1980 F-350 and GM 3500 dually having a 10,000 GVWR. While in 2005, the crewcab F-250 SRW had a 10,000 GVWR and the F-350 SRW's had 11,500 pound GVWR.
With a 4,400 pound cargo rating, it seems like the RAM has a high enough cargo rating to tow a very large fifth wheel, without needing to upgrade to DRW.
I wish they would build a F-450 with super single rear tires. You can buy 19.5" rims with a 5,500 pound capacity, leading to a 11,000 pound rear axle weight rating without anything special, and combine that with a 6,000 pound front axle rating, you would have a 16,000GVWR with SRW skinniness.
Good luck,
Fred.
