Towing Cyclone 4100 King

[Boudreaux]

I’m picking up my Cyclone 4100 King Friday. 2 of my buddies told me I will not have any problem pulling it. I have a 2011 Ram 2500 4x4 diesel. A guy I work with pulls his 40’ Raptor with his 2007 Chevy 2500 with no problem. I will be pulling in Louisiana and may do the Disney World thing I’m sure. Did I over load my truc for my first camper?

[2500_Grunt]

Some dealers here in AZ (Orangewood RV) will make you sign a disclosure stating that they informed the customer that he/she is towing with an underrated T.V.

[fj12ryder]

If he is under his legal licensed weight to tow, then who is going to tell him he cannot buy that unit? I agree that the 5th wheel is waaay too big for his 3/4 ton truck, but I don't agree that the dealer is legally liable if the guy tries to tow that unit if his truck is licensed for the weight. Once the dealer has apprised him of the inadvisability of pulling that unit with his truck then the dealer has, IMO, no legal recourse to deny the sale. Seems to me that denying the sale in those circumstances leaves the dealer open to breach of contract.

I've seen quite a few posts on here, and other forums, of people pulling 16,000 lb., and heavier, 5th wheels with 3/4 ton trucks.

[Y-Guy]

fj12ryder wrote:
I could see that if he were buying a truck and trailer combo, but he just bought a trailer. What he pulls it with is his business, not the duty of the dealer.

It quickly becomes their concern when you pull into hook up. If they knowingly sell you something that is overloading your vehicle it can put them at risk. This is no difference to a bar that sells alcohol to somebody that is drunk. Each time I purchased a trailer my dealer looked up the basic specs of my tow vehicle to see if I was inline.

[Bedlam]

If for some reason you do end up buying this TH and try to tow it with your 3/4t, I suggest you at least make some improvements to it. I also do not advocate towing this, but hope you will at least see where I go with this advice.

Research which rear axle is used in your Dodge. You may find it is a 9000 lb model suspended on 6100 lb springs. If you have upper overload springs, you can run taller bump stops to the overloads in addition to an extra leaf spring to help support that pin weight without going to air bags. The rims and tires will probably be over their weight rating - Going to Load Range G or better 19.5" wheels will give you the capacity you need. Once you go to larger/heavier wheels, plan on upgrading the shocks to handle the additional unsuspended weight. Depending on where you source these items and whether you pay someone to install them expect to spend an additional $3000-4000 to make a bad situation slightly better.

[crazybanshee]

Hey Mav when is your 4100 King going to be in? Trips are coming soon.
Doug

[fj12ryder]

MadMav wrote:
On the deposit debate. If you push the issue of them selling you a trailer WAY over the trucks factory capacities(by lying to you) they have to refund your money. Any lawyer could see to that.

Mav

I could see that if he were buying a truck and trailer combo, but he just bought a trailer. What he pulls it with is his business, not the duty of the dealer. For all they know he is going to use the size of the 5th wheel to convince his wife he needs a new truck. 🙂

[MadMav]

On the deposit debate. If you push the issue of them selling you a trailer WAY over the trucks factory capacities(by lying to you) they have to refund your money. Any lawyer could see to that.

Mav

[davesparks2001]

We have a 40' TH and just replaced our F350 CC 4x4 dually with a 2000 Freightliner Short Chassis. The dually pulled the camper ok but we put air bags on it as soon as we got the big rig and even with 90 psi in the bags you always new it was back there. You always have to wonder what's going to happen if the trailer brakes fail also.

[rayford118]

^ the insurance company not paying is just a myth. But still agree that you shouldnt overload your truck that much.

[porkchop1221]

You may lose your deposit if you completely decide that you do NOT want the RV anymore, or can apply the deposit on another model that would suit your TV better. We have a 1 ton and pull the smaller Cyclone no problem, but as PPs have said, it's not safe and if you got into an accident your insurance company may not cover it b/c it wasn't rated for your RV and other legal ramifications. Good luck!

[invstr55]

Same argument continues, will never be resolved. Those with duallys and md or hd trucks will argue with fact that itis safer to tow within the manufacturers recommended weight limits, those without will argue without supporting engineering facts that you can haul any RV with any truck because someone was foolish enough to do it and lucky enough to get away with it.
I wish continued safe travels to both and will only add that once someone tows with a safe combination and sees how much easier it is to control they will find it very hard to go back. In agreement that someone did it so I can also, people ride bulls........ People catch rattle snakes.......people have swallowed swords and eaten glass.. Not activities I want to try but go for it if you must.

Happy Trails

Dan

[tinner12002]

You could always upgrade to a dually!

[tinner12002]

lincster wrote:
You will be over all of the tow ratings of your truck.
Will the truck do it? Sure.
Will it do it safely? Maybe.
Just cause your buddies do it, does it make it right? Nope.

X2

[azdryheat]

hmknightnc wrote:
Well only you can really decide but you need to go get some information before you can decide. Load your truck up with fuel, passengers, and gear you will taking with you in the truck. Go to a CAT scale and get front and rear axle weight. Now look on your driver door sticker for the Rear Axle Weight Rating. Subtract the real wieght from the wieght rating. That is the maximum FW pin wieght you can legally have on the truck (Axle wieght ratings are US Federal Law. Manufacturers GVWR and Payload are not)

Now go look up the GVWR of the TH. Divide that wieght by 5 (pin wieght is typically 20% of GVWR). If that number is less than calculated above your legal but still might exceed GVWR of the truck

My guess is a 3/4 is not legally capable of carrying that TH but can only determine that by doing the math above. My guess is also that TH actually requires a dually to carry it.

Please explain your use of the word "legally" and who says the TH "requires" a dually? Unless you're a commercial operator, nobody gives a rat's behind how heavy you are. However, I do agree with where you're coming from - the OP shouldn't overload his truck but it ain't against no laws.

[tgreening]

I have a 3950 Cyclone HD. I pull it with a 2008 F450. If I recall the advertised pin weight was about 3100-ish pounds. I have a pin weight, ready to roll with reasonable "stuff" loaded, of 4,300 scale verified pounds. I'm guessing your truck is going to be over its factory rating by at LEAST 2000 lbs.

Will your truck pull it? Sure, but getting the load rolling is the easy part. Will your axle actually handle it? Not sure but probably so. My rear axle is rated by Ford at 9,500 lbs. It's rated by it's manufacturer at 14,500 lbs. Why the difference? If I had to guess probably a couple reasons. Conservative rating by Ford for warranty/liability issues, the axle might handle it but maybe the brakes won't, frame capacity etc.

Some guys tend to take each component as an individual entity and forget that it's part of a whole package and things are rated so that the whole package can live a nice long life, not just pieces of it.


A guy pulled into a campground where I was staying pulling the exact same model camper I have, pulling it with a 3/4 ton truck. He had no clue his campers over all weight and no clue as to his pin weight. When I clued him in his reaction was no wonder his truck laid right down to the bump stops when he picked up his new toy.

I'm not the weight police. It's your skin and up to you how you risk it, and your equipment. Matters not to me. "I" did my homework and bought a truck I knew would handle what I wanted to buy, and I wouldn't have to have these kinds of worries.

Good luck and I hope things work out for you, whatever you decide to do.