Chicago RV show- 1/2 tons can tow 8500lb 5th wheels.

[RoyBell]

I visit this show yearly. I hate that it's hard to find anything, but enjoy looking at the campers nonetheless.

Lot of 5th wheels there this year, seemed quite a bit more than previous years. Walked by the General RV section and all their 5th wheels had pictures of half ton trucks with "your truck can tow this" wording, followed by the dry weights of the campers. 7500, 8000, 8500lbs :E

I can only imagine what the pin weight of a 31' 5th wheel ready to camp is. Scary advertising out there.

[RoyBell]

rhagfo wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
I agree with Roy. Stay real world when discussing weight.

Would be nice if Roy did also most 5ers are closer to 20 of total weight.
So .20 X 9,500=1,900#.

I'd be curious to see how many people actually weighed their pin weights vs taking the manufacturers claim. One thing to keep in mind is that the front storage bunk pretty much puts all the weight on the pin and very little on the axles due to the placement. It's easy to throw 400 lbs of "stuff" in the front storage which will eat that 5 percent up pretty quickly. Then you fill up your propane tanks and anything else at the front of the rig and I would say 25 percent is a much safer number to follow.

[dodge_guy]

Becareful Roy. I brought this up a few weeks ago and was told I was crazy for thinking the same thing. Funny how so many people go both ways on the weight ratings!

Here was my post RV Weights

[bid_time]

So what's different this year than last year? Or was there some point to this post that I missed?

[rhagfo]

Lwiddis wrote:
I agree with Roy. Stay real world when discussing weight.

Would be nice if Roy did also most 5ers are closer to 20% of total weight.
So .20 X 9,500=1,900#.

[Lwiddis]

I agree with Roy. Stay real world when discussing weight.

[CKNSLS]

RoyBell wrote:
8500lb camper DRY is a 2125 pin weight (25 percent). That Dry camper probably really weighs around 9500 ready to camp- 2375 lbs.

Even if you have a 7000lb camper in real world, that pin will still be right around 1700 lbs. Add 2 passengers, a bottle of water, and your hitch of choice and you are now exceeding that "2000 lb" Payload capacity.

Not to mention GVW, Axle ratings, and the Passenger tires they put on half ton trucks.

The GVW's have increased as well. You can switch out tires-BTW.

[RoyBell]

8500lb camper DRY is a 2125 pin weight (25 percent). That Dry camper probably really weighs around 9500 ready to camp- 2375 lbs.

Even if you have a 7000lb camper in real world, that pin will still be right around 1700 lbs. Add 2 passengers, a bottle of water, and your hitch of choice and you are now exceeding that "2000 lb" Payload capacity.

Not to mention GVW, Axle ratings, and the Passenger tires they put on half ton trucks.

[rhagfo]

CKNSLS wrote:
The payloads on some of the half-tons now are at 2,000 (plus) pounds. So yes-they could tow a fifth wheel at 8,000 pounds guys.


It's a new world.......

^^^^^ This, and I would rather see an F150 carrying a 31' 5er then towing it.
I think you can find some pretty long light weight 5ers if you look, way safer than a long TT behind an F150.

[CKNSLS]

The payloads on some of the half-tons now are at 2,000 (plus) pounds. So yes-they could tow a fifth wheel at 8,000 pounds guys.


It's a new world.......

[Ron3rd]

RoyBell wrote:
I visit this show yearly. I hate that it's hard to find anything, but enjoy looking at the campers nonetheless.

Lot of 5th wheels there this year, seemed quite a bit more than previous years. Walked by the General RV section and all their 5th wheels had pictures of half ton trucks with "your truck can tow this" wording, followed by the dry weights of the campers. 7500, 8000, 8500lbs :E

I can only imagine what the pin weight of a 31' 5th wheel ready to camp is. Scary advertising out there.

It's been going on for years; My old Tundra was rated to tow 10,000 lbs, so that must mean it can tow a 10,000 lb fiver, right? Wrong! It was a Crew Max with the lowest payload rating of 1325 lbs so I would be way over the payload rating and even the gross rear axle rating. For some reason, the RV dealers are allowed to get away with this.