ramcneal wrote:
We just picked up our first 5th wheel today. I weighed my truck prior to having the hitch installed and today when I picked up my trailer. These numbers are from a certified CAT scale.
Just truck:
Steer axle: 4260
Drive axle: 2780
Total: 7040
Truck and 5th wheel
Steer axle: 4300
Drive axle: 5260
Trailer axle: 7600
Pin weight: 2480
Total: 17160
I plan getting a loaded weight again once I fill the propane takes and add about 30 gallons of water which is what we normally carry. From the looks of things the grey water tank is located over the trailer axles, not sure were the fresh water tank is located since the belly of the trailer is enclosed. So it'll be interesting to see how much weight is added to the pin. Two 30lb propane tanks should be about 80lbs I believe and 30 gallons of water is 249lbs.
My truck is a Dodge 2006 2500 Cummins, short bed with a GVWR of 9,000, RAWR 6,000 (tire limit, axle rating is 10k), and GCWR of 20,000.
My trailer is a 2008 Keystone Challenger 32RKS. This model has the kitchen in the very back and after loading our stuff I would actually expect my pin weight to be lighter since 90+% of the stuff we loaded went into the kitchen. Admittedly not much.
So, I'm over the GVWR by 560lbs. We've already loaded the trailer with our stuff which took my wife and I about 30 minutes. We both laughed because it seems like 90% of the cabinets are empty. I'm not worried about going over the GVWR for a couple of reasons. (1) A SRW 3500 with otherwise the same configuration has a GVWR of 10,100. Everything is the same except for the rear springs. (2) I added air bags and an exhaust brake. (3) When I towed it home I had to readjust my brake controller to apply less pressure because I could feel the trailer really pulling hard. I like a neutral feel when the trailer is hooked up and it indicates to me that the trailer has more than sufficient braking. (4) Finally, the mechanic said he let a little air out of my air bags when installing the hitch. When I got home and checked the pressure I found out he let all of the air out. My truck didn't even sag with the stock springs. Well, it did go down a little, but the truck ended up looking level instead of slightly high in the back.
So, some here may condemn me for going over the GVWR. To those I can only ask how is my truck any different than a 3500.
There is no difference, minus the rear leaf! Our weights are similar, and I don't expect any problems and I plan to tow through the mountains. It is a Cummins!
