Towing Heavy 5er with SRW Truck

[travisgsf]

I personally don't as my unit is 11k dry. I see a lot of SRW diesel trucks (newer models which I know handle more than older ones) towing huge 5th wheels or toy haulers.

Any of you have a setup like this? I'm talking 14,000+lbs of dry weight. From what I see the newer 250/2500 trucks pull around 16,000-17,000 at their max.

I was curious to know how these things actually tow with that much weight. Do you feel in control? Tow weight and truck is always a huge topic on every forum. I know almost everyone says go dually but not many people do.

[NC_Hauler]

Yeah, guess a short bed would have worked, but I'd canned the slider hitch and ...well, you know, it's one excuse after the other.....figure I got about a 2' of my truck "subject to the elements":)....but I prefer the long bed....I guess you got your "pro's" and "con's" with just about everything:)

I looked at my last post and some of it confused me:).....the back end of my truck sticks out of my carport about 2' when I pull in..

[transamz9]

NC Hauler wrote:

rtazz17 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

JEBar wrote:
our last former truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually, our current truck is Freightliner Sportchassis .... prior to them we towed with a variety of single rear wheel driver trucks .... at one time I bought into all of the stereotypical reasons why a dually was the only way to go when towing heavy campers, boats and trailers .... hundreds of thousands of miles through all of the lower 48, over the Rockies and prairies have convinced me that should I ever buy another truck for towing it will not be a dually .... it will be a late model, one ton, single rear wheel truck .... with the capabilities of the new generation of trucks, I'm convinced that the days of having to have a dually for the vast majority of campers on the market is history .... folks most certainly should go with whatever style truck best meets their needs

Jim

Don't recollect anyone saying anyone HAD to own a dually...I don't have the obvious experience you have....I only know what I know from towing pop-up's, travel trailers, hilos and 5er's all through the mountains with plain old regular cars, and trucks....no big deal, been doing it for about 40 years now....No where did anyone state that you absolutely needed a dually to tow with....that's a bit ludicrous..

If I found a SRW truck that would do what I needed it to do, that would be what I would own..but I'm one of the "Weight police", you know, one of those stupid fools who actually tries to keep within his trucks GVWR....not the RAWR mind you, but the GVWR...something unheard of now a day's and stupid in most peoples thinking.

I merely stated, that towing a 16,000# 5er though the very curvy, quite steep at times, mountainous roads in WV, TN, VA and NC that I've towed in....just so happens, I towed the same 5er with both...I Merely stated that the towing experience in my infinite stupidity was more stable when cornering on these up and down, steep curvy mountains. If the weight of the 5er doesn't call for a dually, then why buy one....don't recollect many, if any stating such....but hey, you have far more experience than I, and with much, much larger equipment, I'm merely speaking from towing rv's a with a silly pick up truck, or a car or an SUV....

"sterotypical"...man I can't compete with your infinite wisdom, I bow to superiority on the subject...I merely stated if one is towing HEAVY, ie 16,000# or more in the mountains, I think a dually would offer a more stable tow, but I'm not real bright....you have a HDH, I'm not in the same class.....you win, your right because...well, you have far more experience and know much more about all this......'nuff said.


.......gotta ask, why are you towing such a light weight 5er with a HDH? It's far more than a dually...one should be able to tow that with a brand new 2500....just curious.

Wow these threads really bring out the best in people.Lighten up a little bit your gonna have a stroke.

Actually, at almost 64 years of age, I'm not overweight, I know all my "numbers", exercise on day's I don't work my 12 hr shift's (closer to 14hrs, and though a Supervisor, most of my day is spent on the floor of a manufacturing plant), so, Lord willing, I won't have a stroke any time soon, but thanks for your concern, I do want to apologize for having possibly gotten your blood pressure up, (mine is 118/78), with this post...really didn't mean to subject you to such hostility...you can block me and not have to worry about this anymore:)


On prior post, it was stated that 3/4 ton, 1 ton SRW and 1 ton DRW trucks were Heavy Duty trucks. Actually, just because the manufacturer put a "badge" on the truck that said, "Heavy Duty", didn't make it so. they were considered "light duty" trucks, and the 450/4500's and up were the MDT...BUT, as also stated, with several of the 1 ton Dually's having "Medium Duty" transmission's in them now and GVWR's of 14,000# or there about's, and GCWR's out the roof...I guess the 3500 Dually of today, would surpass some of the 450/4500's of just several years ago....

Like Rick, I think the MDT's are cool, great looking trucks, but my issue is a tad worse than his, he CAN, I think he stated, get his truck in his garage....my dually sticks out of my car port that has is completely enclosed except the front, so my 1 ton dually sticks out about a foot and a half:)...

Should have gotten a short bed.....LOL! JK

[NC_Hauler]

rtazz17 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

JEBar wrote:
our last former truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually, our current truck is Freightliner Sportchassis .... prior to them we towed with a variety of single rear wheel driver trucks .... at one time I bought into all of the stereotypical reasons why a dually was the only way to go when towing heavy campers, boats and trailers .... hundreds of thousands of miles through all of the lower 48, over the Rockies and prairies have convinced me that should I ever buy another truck for towing it will not be a dually .... it will be a late model, one ton, single rear wheel truck .... with the capabilities of the new generation of trucks, I'm convinced that the days of having to have a dually for the vast majority of campers on the market is history .... folks most certainly should go with whatever style truck best meets their needs

Jim

Don't recollect anyone saying anyone HAD to own a dually...I don't have the obvious experience you have....I only know what I know from towing pop-up's, travel trailers, hilos and 5er's all through the mountains with plain old regular cars, and trucks....no big deal, been doing it for about 40 years now....No where did anyone state that you absolutely needed a dually to tow with....that's a bit ludicrous..

If I found a SRW truck that would do what I needed it to do, that would be what I would own..but I'm one of the "Weight police", you know, one of those stupid fools who actually tries to keep within his trucks GVWR....not the RAWR mind you, but the GVWR...something unheard of now a day's and stupid in most peoples thinking.

I merely stated, that towing a 16,000# 5er though the very curvy, quite steep at times, mountainous roads in WV, TN, VA and NC that I've towed in....just so happens, I towed the same 5er with both...I Merely stated that the towing experience in my infinite stupidity was more stable when cornering on these up and down, steep curvy mountains. If the weight of the 5er doesn't call for a dually, then why buy one....don't recollect many, if any stating such....but hey, you have far more experience than I, and with much, much larger equipment, I'm merely speaking from towing rv's a with a silly pick up truck, or a car or an SUV....

"sterotypical"...man I can't compete with your infinite wisdom, I bow to superiority on the subject...I merely stated if one is towing HEAVY, ie 16,000# or more in the mountains, I think a dually would offer a more stable tow, but I'm not real bright....you have a HDH, I'm not in the same class.....you win, your right because...well, you have far more experience and know much more about all this......'nuff said.


.......gotta ask, why are you towing such a light weight 5er with a HDH? It's far more than a dually...one should be able to tow that with a brand new 2500....just curious.

Wow these threads really bring out the best in people.Lighten up a little bit your gonna have a stroke.

Actually, at almost 64 years of age, I'm not overweight, I know all my "numbers", exercise on day's I don't work my 12 hr shift's (closer to 14hrs, and though a Supervisor, most of my day is spent on the floor of a manufacturing plant), so, Lord willing, I won't have a stroke any time soon, but thanks for your concern, I do want to apologize for having possibly gotten your blood pressure up, (mine is 118/78), with this post...really didn't mean to subject you to such hostility...you can block me and not have to worry about this anymore:)


On prior post, it was stated that 3/4 ton, 1 ton SRW and 1 ton DRW trucks were Heavy Duty trucks. Actually, just because the manufacturer put a "badge" on the truck that said, "Heavy Duty", didn't make it so. they were considered "light duty" trucks, and the 450/4500's and up were the MDT...BUT, as also stated, with several of the 1 ton Dually's having "Medium Duty" transmission's in them now and GVWR's of 14,000# or there about's, and GCWR's out the roof...I guess the 3500 Dually of today, would surpass some of the 450/4500's of just several years ago....

Like Rick, I think the MDT's are cool, great looking trucks, but my issue is a tad worse than his, he CAN, I think he stated, get his truck in his garage....my dually sticks out of my car port that has is completely enclosed except the front, so my 1 ton dually sticks out about a foot and a half:)...

[rtazz17]

NC Hauler wrote:

JEBar wrote:
our last former truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually, our current truck is Freightliner Sportchassis .... prior to them we towed with a variety of single rear wheel driver trucks .... at one time I bought into all of the stereotypical reasons why a dually was the only way to go when towing heavy campers, boats and trailers .... hundreds of thousands of miles through all of the lower 48, over the Rockies and prairies have convinced me that should I ever buy another truck for towing it will not be a dually .... it will be a late model, one ton, single rear wheel truck .... with the capabilities of the new generation of trucks, I'm convinced that the days of having to have a dually for the vast majority of campers on the market is history .... folks most certainly should go with whatever style truck best meets their needs

Jim

Don't recollect anyone saying anyone HAD to own a dually...I don't have the obvious experience you have....I only know what I know from towing pop-up's, travel trailers, hilos and 5er's all through the mountains with plain old regular cars, and trucks....no big deal, been doing it for about 40 years now....No where did anyone state that you absolutely needed a dually to tow with....that's a bit ludicrous..

If I found a SRW truck that would do what I needed it to do, that would be what I would own..but I'm one of the "Weight police", you know, one of those stupid fools who actually tries to keep within his trucks GVWR....not the RAWR mind you, but the GVWR...something unheard of now a day's and stupid in most peoples thinking.

I merely stated, that towing a 16,000# 5er though the very curvy, quite steep at times, mountainous roads in WV, TN, VA and NC that I've towed in....just so happens, I towed the same 5er with both...I Merely stated that the towing experience in my infinite stupidity was more stable when cornering on these up and down, steep curvy mountains. If the weight of the 5er doesn't call for a dually, then why buy one....don't recollect many, if any stating such....but hey, you have far more experience than I, and with much, much larger equipment, I'm merely speaking from towing rv's a with a silly pick up truck, or a car or an SUV....

"sterotypical"...man I can't compete with your infinite wisdom, I bow to superiority on the subject...I merely stated if one is towing HEAVY, ie 16,000# or more in the mountains, I think a dually would offer a more stable tow, but I'm not real bright....you have a HDH, I'm not in the same class.....you win, your right because...well, you have far more experience and know much more about all this......'nuff said.


.......gotta ask, why are you towing such a light weight 5er with a HDH? It's far more than a dually...one should be able to tow that with a brand new 2500....just curious.

[transamz9]

jevanb wrote:

transamz9 wrote:


I have an older controller that is a time delay unit. I don't have to run it by hand, I just do it because I like the control of it that way. I run with it on max and you know that controllers like mine are impossible to drive in stop and go traffic through towns on max. The time delay is either set too fast or too slow for the ever changing driving conditions. In my line of work I have installed about all the different styles of brake controllers on our trucks and this is what works best for me.

I thru my prodigy out the window and went back to the time delay if feels better, has more stopping power and I just like it more, the p3 and p2 were adjusted correctly but felt like the truck did all the stopping not share the load

😉

[jevanb]

transamz9 wrote:


I have an older controller that is a time delay unit. I don't have to run it by hand, I just do it because I like the control of it that way. I run with it on max and you know that controllers like mine are impossible to drive in stop and go traffic through towns on max. The time delay is either set too fast or too slow for the ever changing driving conditions. In my line of work I have installed about all the different styles of brake controllers on our trucks and this is what works best for me.

I thru my prodigy out the window and went back to the time delay if feels better, has more stopping power and I just like it more, the p3 and p2 were adjusted correctly but felt like the truck did all the stopping not share the load

[45Ricochet]

I'd love a M60 for the ride and turning radius, but the power and transmission of the new Ram has surpassed the Medium Duty trucks. Not positive but I believe the GCWR is now higher for the Ram than a M60.
There is also a garage issue for me with the M60 as I keep my TV garaged when not in use. That bug catcher is TALL.
Like I said, I'd love one and almost got a used one a couple of years ago. Just couldn't let it set for 6 months of snow covering it and the loss of a vehicle in winter driving conditions. No 4WD is pretty much a no go around here in winter and while visiting the Oregon dunes.
We all have different needs. Again no rip on MDT as they are sweet.

[Me_Again]

JEBar wrote:


actually 3/4 and 1 ton trucks are referred to as HD trucks and our Freightliner Sportchassis is referred to as a Medium Duty truck .... go figure ??? .... the reason we moved from our 3500 to the Sportchassis had nothing to do with power .... the Chevy performed well towing our current camper with a golf cart on a trailer behind the 5er from coast to coast and border to border .... the reason was ride .... the air suspension and air ride seats in the Sportchassis absorb the pounding our bodies used to absorb from bouncing down the road .... interestingly enough, in the area of turning radius of our Sportchassis is much less than the 3500 dually .... the only times I know of where a dually is superior to a single rear wheel is in payload and as you have noted, some degree of stability .... in your bio you show Asheville, my birthplace and home for 25 years is 50 miles west of you in Sylva so I do have a good idea about the roads to which your refer .... the current generation of 1 ton trucks provide me with all of the payload capacity I need and degree of stability I'm comfortable with .... that said, its irrelevant to anyone else .... each person needs to go with the tow vehicle they are the most comfortable with

Jim

Jim, not to hijack, but could you give a run down on your GC towing experience behind the 5th wheel. Any issues in any states, overall length? Thanks Chris

[rhagfo]

JEBar wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

JEBar wrote:
our last former truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually, our current truck is Freightliner Sportchassis .... prior to them we towed with a variety of single rear wheel driver trucks .... at one time I bought into all of the stereotypical reasons why a dually was the only way to go when towing heavy campers, boats and trailers .... hundreds of thousands of miles through all of the lower 48, over the Rockies and prairies have convinced me that should I ever buy another truck for towing it will not be a dually .... it will be a late model, one ton, single rear wheel truck .... with the capabilities of the new generation of trucks, I'm convinced that the days of having to have a dually for the vast majority of campers on the market is history .... folks most certainly should go with whatever style truck best meets their needs

Jim

.......gotta ask, why are you towing such a light weight 5er with a HDH? It's far more than a dually...one should be able to tow that with a brand new 2500....just curious.

actually 3/4 and 1 ton trucks are referred to as HD trucks and our Freightliner Sportchassis is referred to as a Medium Duty truck .... go figure ??? .... the reason we moved from our 3500 to the Sportchassis had nothing to do with power .... the Chevy performed well towing our current camper with a golf cart on a trailer behind the 5er from coast to coast and border to border .... the reason was ride .... the air suspension and air ride seats in the Sportchassis absorb the pounding our bodies used to absorb from bouncing down the road .... interestingly enough, in the area of turning radius of our Sportchassis is much less than the 3500 dually .... the only times I know of where a dually is superior to a single rear wheel is in payload and as you have noted, some degree of stability .... in your bio you show Asheville, my birthplace and home for 25 years is 50 miles west of you in Sylva so I do have a good idea about the roads to which your refer .... the current generation of 1 ton trucks provide me with all of the payload capacity I need and degree of stability I'm comfortable with .... that said, its irrelevant to anyone else .... each person needs to go with the tow vehicle they are the most comfortable with

Jim

They are referred to as HD Pickups! In the big picture they are light duty trucks or at least were! Now days the 350/350 and for sure 4500/450 are getting into MDT.

[JEBar]

NC Hauler wrote:

JEBar wrote:
our last former truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually, our current truck is Freightliner Sportchassis .... prior to them we towed with a variety of single rear wheel driver trucks .... at one time I bought into all of the stereotypical reasons why a dually was the only way to go when towing heavy campers, boats and trailers .... hundreds of thousands of miles through all of the lower 48, over the Rockies and prairies have convinced me that should I ever buy another truck for towing it will not be a dually .... it will be a late model, one ton, single rear wheel truck .... with the capabilities of the new generation of trucks, I'm convinced that the days of having to have a dually for the vast majority of campers on the market is history .... folks most certainly should go with whatever style truck best meets their needs

Jim

.......gotta ask, why are you towing such a light weight 5er with a HDH? It's far more than a dually...one should be able to tow that with a brand new 2500....just curious.

actually 3/4 and 1 ton trucks are referred to as HD trucks and our Freightliner Sportchassis is referred to as a Medium Duty truck .... go figure ??? .... the reason we moved from our 3500 to the Sportchassis had nothing to do with power .... the Chevy performed well towing our current camper with a golf cart on a trailer behind the 5er from coast to coast and border to border .... the reason was ride .... the air suspension and air ride seats in the Sportchassis absorb the pounding our bodies used to absorb from bouncing down the road .... interestingly enough, in the area of turning radius of our Sportchassis is much less than the 3500 dually .... the only times I know of where a dually is superior to a single rear wheel is in payload and as you have noted, some degree of stability .... in your bio you show Asheville, my birthplace and home for 25 years is 50 miles west of you in Sylva so I do have a good idea about the roads to which your refer .... the current generation of 1 ton trucks provide me with all of the payload capacity I need and degree of stability I'm comfortable with .... that said, its irrelevant to anyone else .... each person needs to go with the tow vehicle they are the most comfortable with

Jim

[NC_Hauler]

Agree 100% with you Lantley.....The new Ram 2014 has a GCWR higher than my 2010 Ram 3500 dually...and GVWR has gone to 10,000#....(800# more GVWR than the last 2500 I owned), and the 3500SRW truck HAS come a long way, all of them have....I had about 23,500# GCWR with 12,200# GVWR with 2010 Ram dually, then with 2012 Ram , GVWR went up to 12,300#, GCWR went to 25,000#...but now the 2013 has gone to a GVWR of 14,000 and a GCWR of almost 37,000#:E..all those with 4:10 gearing.

but you are correct....I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt, though I didn't believe it because he seemed a bit upset and I thought it might be away to appease him to some extent.....guess I'll get chewed out for something else then:)

[Lantley]

dballentine wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

Doggone, I gave the guy who jumped me this morning the benefit of the doubt about turning radius, but he was wrong.....thanks guys

Like they say, never let the facts get in the way... 😄

Truth is another classic example of guys going off of heresy an innuendo vs. actual experience.

How many times do we read of guys who don't own a DRW speak as though they are DRW experts.
Or guys have never owned a diesel claiming to be diesel experts.

We can apply this pseudo expert knowledge to lots of RV topics, but in the end there is no real substitute for actual first hand ownership experience.

Interestingly SRW trucks have been greatly improved and are way more capable than ever. Late model 1/2,3/4,and 1 ton trucks all have beefed up ratings. However there is still a significant difference between the ability/payload of a SRW and a DRW.
I do believe the bar has shifted. SRW's are now as capable as DRW trucks of just a few years ago.
Current DRW truck ratings are now crossing into what was previously only MDT territory.
While we all enjoy the discussion the towing parameters are not rocket science.We can buy into the manufacturer ratings or we can apply our own skewed logic.
We can blur the lines between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton or fudge numbers between DRW and SRW.

In the end a truck that is operated within ALL of its ratings will perform better than a truck that is exceeding its ratings.

[NC_Hauler]

dballentine wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

Doggone, I gave the guy who jumped me this morning the benefit of the doubt about turning radius, but he was wrong.....thanks guys

Like they say, never let the facts get in the way... 😄

Tru dat:)

[dballentine]

NC Hauler wrote:

Doggone, I gave the guy who jumped me this morning the benefit of the doubt about turning radius, but he was wrong.....thanks guys

Like they say, never let the facts get in the way... 😄

[NC_Hauler]

Me Again wrote:
Jim, looking at the RAM truck site, I see the crew cab 8' box is listed at 49.2 feet for both the 2500 and 3500, could not find a place to add wheel type. Chris

Doggone, I gave the guy who jumped me this morning the benefit of the doubt about turning radius, but he was wrong.....thanks guys