5th Wheel Toy Hauler Empty Pin Weight Ratings

transferred wrote:

otrfun wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
Loaded the way we travel and nothing in the garage my Voltage pin weight is 3500 pounds, per the CAT scale. Brochure said the pin weight is 3000 pounds. Haven't weighed it with my Harley in the garage but I suspect it might lighten the pin a bit. My truck's payload is 5,000 pounds so I'm not much worried what the pin weight is.

Thanks for the helpful info. We're also looking at a few Voltage toy haulers. Focusing on the small, mid-size, double axle units to try and keep our pin weight at 2500 lbs. or lower. Our TV is a '16 Ram 3500 SRW. We can go higher than 2500 lbs., but would rather not.

Out of curiosity, why? Is it to make room for passengers in the cab and gear in the bed? Or safety concerns? The new 3500s have a 4k+ payload rating. I recently GN pulled a tractor with mine for 800 miles that had me a hair over 4k on pin weight and it pulled very securely. That said, it was only me in the cab so little in the way of additional wight that would put me over. For the record, I'm just curious, not judging at all as everyone should tow to whatever weight they see fit (unless it's grossly overweight).

Fair question.

Many of the 5th wheel, double-axle toy haulers (with 11-12' garages) we're looking at have empty pin weights around 2500-2700 lbs. The general consensus is, which makes complete sense, this number will increase once the rig is loaded. So let's add 500 lbs. Add another 300 lbs. for the OEM 5th wheel mounting plate and hitch assembly, 150 lbs. for a passenger, 150 lbs. for misc. gear. Grand total is now 3600-3800 lbs. Adds up quick!

Payload sticker on our '16 Ram 3500 SRW is 3964 lbs. That leaves us with 164-364 lbs. of remaining payload. For some this may not be a big deal, but for us, way too close for comfort. Not that I'd ever trust a dealer, but as expected they said I have more than enough truck for 2500-2700 lbs, of empty pin weight, and even went so far as to say these units get pulled all the time with 3/4 tons. Well, that may be true, but there's no way you can make the numbers work on a calculator.

Bottom line, for our comfort level, it looks like we need to focus on the smallest, 28-30 ft. 5th wheel toy haulers with pin weights much closer to 2000 lbs. No garages, but looking at it from the positive side, at least they're less expensive--lol!

For those who will suggest we should have purchased a dually, no regrets there. This truck will also be one of our daily drivers---we had to draw a line of usability and practicality somewhere.