Which pickup would you use to pull 25ft 13k FW?

[Acei]

If you had a 5th wheel with GVWR of around 13k, what class pickup truck would you use to pull it?

1/2t truck won't do it, this is a no brainer.

How about 3/4t truck? I think the pin weight will be challenged. I guess the safe choice is a 1t SRW truck? I think a dually is an overkill in this setup.

How about Diesel vs Gas for this FW?

[Acei]

spud1957 wrote:
Acei looks like your are looking at BROCHURE payload numbers. They mean absolutely nothing when it comes to determining actual payload of a specific truck. The 4K numbers you see are for a gas truck without any options. Take a look at some of the payload capacity labels on the dealers lot.

An F350 Crew Cab long box XL diesel SRW, with NO OPTIONS, has a payload roughly 3700lbs. A gas has 4000lbs. Diesels weigh more. Based on your list of weights you will be 260lbs under GVWR with the diesel. I guess it depends on how close to GVWR you want to be. You will be under your 7000lb axle rating.

Your call. If I was full timing with those weights I'd go with the F350 dually for the little bit extra money. When your spending these kind of dollars, $1000 isn't that much and gives you a GVWR of 14,000lbs and a 9650lb rear axle rating. That's gives you over 2000lbs add'l payload.

I'm only talking Ford but it's pretty much the same discussion with the other manufactures.

S

Right now, published payload numbers from Ford is the worst of the 3. On a standard bed SRW version with Diesel, the variation with the highest payload is 4070lb, and I will assume this is the stripped version. I would not be surprised if a well equipped version comes out to 3600lb for F350. But published numbers for Ram 3500 LARAMIE Megacab and Sierra 3500 Denali are above 4000 (both are well equipped). In case of Ram, quite a bit above this. Having said that, I'm going to visit the dealer and check out few yellow stickers to confirm (or blow) this...

$1k is definitely not the deal breaker, it is the size of the truck. We do expect to drive the truck in downtown Toronto area quite a bit during the summer while full timing. I'd rather build a lighter unit than to go with a DRW truck.

[rhagfo]

azjeffh wrote:
Assuming a 20% pin weight, my F250 would be over its GVWR but under its RAWR. But I agree, a one ton SRW would be a better choice.

X2 to a point.

13K GVWR 5er sounds like an Arctic Fox. I tow a 12,360# GVWR 32' 5er with my 2500. Over GVWR, but well under axle and tire ratings.
I would chose a 3500 SRW, unless you have plans on going bigger later, then a DRW.

[avvidclif1]

My 2009 F350 SRW Crew Cab Lariat edition has a payload of 3493 lbs.

The trailer weighs 11,300 with 2400 (actual)on the pin.

My actual weights are under on every category, axle, GVWR, and combined. AND I do have the scale tickets.

I don't see a problem with a a 13k trailer with my rig and the newer ones have more capacity.

[spud1957]

Acei looks like your are looking at BROCHURE payload numbers. They mean absolutely nothing when it comes to determining actual payload of a specific truck. The 4K numbers you see are for a gas truck without any options. Take a look at some of the payload capacity labels on the dealers lot.

An F350 Crew Cab long box XL diesel SRW, with NO OPTIONS, has a payload roughly 3700lbs. A gas has 4000lbs. Diesels weigh more. Based on your list of weights you will be 260lbs under GVWR with the diesel. I guess it depends on how close to GVWR you want to be. You will be under your 7000lb axle rating.

Your call. If I was full timing with those weights I'd go with the F350 dually for the little bit extra money. When your spending these kind of dollars, $1000 isn't that much and gives you a GVWR of 14,000lbs and a 9650lb rear axle rating. That's gives you over 2000lbs add'l payload.

I'm only talking Ford but it's pretty much the same discussion with the other manufactures.

S

[Acei]

I am a Canadian but in towing world, I'm lost in kg as a unit... 🙂

Yes, I am planning to go mountains as well, so a Diesel it is. I pretty much knew this would be the case from the beginning.

You have a point, spud. Here's what I think will happen:

- 2600lb pin weight from 13k gross weight FW
- 250lb people
- 400lb for 50g aux/transfer tank full of Diesel
- 194lb for SuperSlide 16k version

These total out to 3444lb.

The following are the dry weight derived by taking the shortest unit from each manufacturer:

- Excel: 9.2k
- DRV: 10k
- Lifestyle: 9.2k
- New Horizon: 10.7k
- Arctic Fox: 8.2k
- Keystone Montana: 8.1k

Based on this, I think 13k gross weight estimation is ok, perhaps a tad conservative. New Horizon will place the axles where its needed, so 20% pin weight will be doable.

From what I can tell, all 3 HD truck manufacturer offers payload rating of over 4k on their well-equipped 2015 SRW models, some significantly higher by few hundred lbs. At the end, I may choose the model with the highest payload since all 3 trucks look very good to me.

Given this, I'm still not convinced that I need that extra 1k payload by going DRW. Looks like I have about 600lb of spare payload remaining for some contingency. There's clearly a disadvantage of owning a DRW, so I don't want to go there unless my payload is too much to handle. I just looked up GAWR of Sierra 3500 and it offers 7000lb, so does Ram 3500. Sounds like these are enough for me, but I'm no expert here.

I said in my first post, this is all just a theory with all numbers taken from paper with zero practical experience. 🙂

If I do choose to go this route, I'll make sure to post the building process/experience here. Still debating between B+/mobile station vs 35ft Newmar/Grand Cherokee vs 1T pickup/New Horizon 25ft (assuming they approve my plan).

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Acei wrote:
If you had a 5th wheel with GVWR of around 13k, what class pickup truck would you use to pull it?

1/2t truck won't do it, this is a no brainer.

How about 3/4t truck? I think the pin weight will be challenged. I guess the safe choice is a 1t SRW truck? I think a dually is an overkill in this setup.

How about Diesel vs Gas for this FW?

I *do* tow what you stated. (actually a 34' 5th)

1T, SRW ("no thanks" to/for duallys) QC, 2x4 Dodge CTD.
4:10 rear end.

Gas vs diesel?
Gas would not be ideal, but would be doable.

~

[spud1957]

Lets assume the OP ends up with a 2600lb pin weight. Not sure those recommending a SRW read that they would like to add an aux fuel tank. At 100 US gallons, that's over 700lbs. Hitch is 200lbs. Driver and occupants are 250. He is now at 3750lbs. Not too many diesel SRW 1 tons with that much payload. If his estimated pin weight is off by a couple hundred pounds he is now at the 4000lb mark.

The extra $1000 for the DRW would be worth it too me.

S

[bobx2]

With this being a custom build, it doesn't sound like a bigger, heavier trailer is in your future. Don't believe I would bother with a dually. Extra expense for something you don't need. I would agree with the 1 ton crowd. It sounds like you want to do some traveling in the mountains, so a diesel would be the better choice by far.

[portliz]

The OP is Canadian eh!!!! Note Kilograms NOT pounds.

[MNRon]

Acei - from your second post it sounds like you're building a nice 5er, and you've given this some thought.

We have a recent 1T SRW diesel pulling a 34ft, 14000lb trailer and love how it performs. Make sure you don't go over payload, but Ford/Ram/Chevy all upped capacities in last few years so as long as the truck is new or close to it you should be fine.

For the rig you're planning, I think you'd be happier with a diesel.

One other thought that other's can jump in on, is I really like the 25ft length but wouldn't be afraid to add a foot or two if it gets an arrangement you like better.

Good luck

[laknox]

Acei, given your 2nd post, spelling out what you want to do, diesel dually is the only way to go. You won't have to worry about rear axle weight limits and you'll be much more stable on the road. You =might= squeak by with a gasser, but if you plan on doing more than minimal towing in hilly or mountainous terrain, you'll be glad you got a diesel. Given that you're looking at building a custom FW, talk to the builders about how they can help control pin weight, given your list of "wants". Maybe setting the axles further forward, or moving slides further to the rear, could be options. You absolutely want the battery box right square over the axles, that's for sure. The =only= time you'll travel at, or near, the dry weight is bringing it home from the factory, so a too-light pin wt. isn't really a consideration. Design it for your proposed loaded configuration and work from there. The alternative would be to pick up a used MDT or even HDT. These can often be had for much less than a new 1t pickup. Volvo seems to be the truck of choice amongst the HDT crowd and I've seen nice ones with 500k miles for < $50k. Personally, I like the Freightliner Sport Chassis trucks, but would never have one as I'm just not ever planning on going big enough to need more than a 1t. Once you finalize your design, please start a thread here, with pics, so we can see how it comes out.

Lyle

[Winged_One]

Acei wrote:
If you had a 5th wheel with GVWR of around 13k, what class pickup truck would you use to pull it?

1/2t truck won't do it, this is a no brainer.

How about 3/4t truck? I think the pin weight will be challenged. I guess the safe choice is a 1t SRW truck? I think a dually is an overkill in this setup.

How about Diesel vs Gas for this FW?

A SRW 350, as long as you don't over load the truck with people and things, should be adequate (check ratings on the door to be sure).

If the gas is adequate for the weight, go that way, if not, diesel.

[spud1957]

Sounds like an interesting project. If you are full timing then a diesel would be my choice. And since you are considering an auxiliary fuel tank, that extra weight in the bed would make me consider a dually for sure. A 100 gal us tank will weigh over 700lbs full.

[Acei]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Seems that the most frequent question raised here is the validity of the gross weight of this 25ft. Yes, this is an estimation based on the shortest FW models built by New Horizon and DRV. If I choose to go this path, this FW will be completely custom built with full-timing in mind. The goal here is to build a smallest possible FW that can be used for full-timing for us while still remain as friendly to smaller National Park camping sites as possible. We are both very small, so we don't need much space. (I measure 5'5", DW 5'1". Our combined weight is only around 250lb).

New Horizon's 30ft (bumper to hitch) has a dry weight of 12.5k, gross much higher, and this is only a 2 slider model. In my possible scenario, I plan to build a 3 slider 25ft model jam packed inside, including 6+ batteries and 1000+w of solar panels. It will also carry a generator although I hope I don't use that much. As much interior storage as I can fit and it will have a combo washer/dryer unit. It will also feature a 60-inch TV and a residential fridge. I've already built a sample floor plan and will be talking it to New Horizon about the feasibility of building it during the Florida RV show. I also talked to another custom builder, and they say it is possible. But I like the reputation of New Horizon.

As for the possibility of upgrading to a new FW in the future, that won't happen, at least not to a bigger unit. I definitely don't want to buy a truck right now with the mind set of eventually upgrading the FW. If I do upgrade, it will be a similar size but with a improved feature. I'm hoping that a SRW 1t truck will handle this type of FW comfortably, and I can also carry an aux fuel tank in the bed for some additional range/flexibility. Since this will be fully customized, I can achieve the 20% hitch weight when properly loaded, so it will not be head-heavy like DRV units.

Obviously, my budget is not unlimited but my research started from a Newmar/Tiffin Diesel pusher with tag axle, so relatively speaking, this scenario is much cheaper.

We've been to 5 RV shows now, looked at every single type of RVs in there. We were even almost convinced that we could do full-timing in a 25ft B+ unit built by Leisure Travel, so seriously, we don't need a 43ft MH or a 40ft FW for our full-timing needs...

I have a pretty good handle on the capability of each types of trucks ON PAPER but I've never towed and from what I read on this forum, what's on paper doesn't always appear to translate to smooth experience in reality so I'm looking to get more feedback from those who are experienced in towing...