Can our truck tow a 5th Wheel/Very concerned wife!

[BritGirl]

I am sure this question has been asked before but we are looking for our first 5th Wheel and we want to know if our truck can tow it. Currently we tow a travel trailer dry weight 6350, loaded weight around 9000. Getting a new truck is not an option, we currently do not have a diesel (no judging please!) We have used the on line calculator on http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-fw.shtml and it appears that according to this information we can tow this 5th weel. However, I am still very concerned and wanted real life feedback.

Here are the specs of the towing vehicle
2011 2500 HD GMC Sierra SLT with Towing Package, 6.0L V8.
GVWR 9500 lbs
GCWR 20500 lbs
Maximum loaded trailer weight rating 13900 lbs
Maximum king pin weight rating 3000 lbs
RGAWR 6200 lbs
GVW 6377 lbs

Fifth wheel trailer
GVW 8400 lbs
King pin weight 1600 lbs

We don't usually fill our RV with anything other than water and food as my wife drives a different vehicle and tows a trailer but we worked out how many gallons of water it held and then figured out that we thought the loaded weight would be (being generous) 11,000 lbs. This is 2000 lbs over what we currently tow.

Thank you for any help and feedback. Have a great day

[spud1957]

Might want to clarify the 5th wheel numbers. You said the GVWR of the trailer 8400lbs. But say you will load it to 11,000lbs. You must must mean the dry weight of the 5th wheel is 8400. I can't image how much stuff you could add to increase it to 11,000lbs. That's 2600lbs of stuff!!!

I would say a more conservative number would be 10,000lbs loaded with a pin weight of around 2200-2500lbs. These numbers should be no problem for your truck. You need to look at the tire/load capacity label on your door post to confirm the amount of weight your truck can "carry". Try and stay within that but do stay within your max tire capacity.

S

[johnrbd]

What is your trucks scaled weight with passenger(s) and cargo ready to travel?

What is the GVWR of the trailer you're looking at?