Maximum 5th wheel weight for SRW
I'm going to buy a new 5th wheel this spring and I know I must upgrade my truck also. I like the Excel 37IKE but it has a GVW of 18,700 and I hate DRW trucks. Is there any make of SRW that would safe...
Forum Discussion
Chris,
To compare cummins Dodge with yours......not a GOOD comparison. Yeah he may have 3.42 gears, BUT, his trans IIRC is in the mid 3-1 first gear range, you might be at best in the 2.8-2.9 range. So he may very well have an overall low lower than you have in first gear. Not goign to compare torque, other than stock, you would probably be 60% of what he has. Being as I do not know your specs with your bombed motor......you two may be close in the torque range, but still his overall low would be lower, so he is better off than you.
Not sure that one can use the gear ratio as a best tow rig these days as compared to the past. One needs to look at the whole picture.
For me, I try not to tow a trailer that is more than 2x the grawr. So if a SW rig has what I have seen as a 7500 lbs, max trailer is 15K, assuming I have the payload for the hw, people, and other asst and sundry junque one carries in the tow rig. I really do not care what the manufactures tow rating is. Being as I had a rig with a manufactures gcwr lower than its gvwr, that was interesting finding that out after running down the road at upwards of 12-14K with an 8600 gvwr rig with a gcwr of 8500 lbs! that out pulled a 454 with a 16k GCWR When both were at 12K! Not always a biggest engine is the baddest, or lowest axel ratio or equal.........need to look at the WHOLE picture.
marty
To compare cummins Dodge with yours......not a GOOD comparison. Yeah he may have 3.42 gears, BUT, his trans IIRC is in the mid 3-1 first gear range, you might be at best in the 2.8-2.9 range. So he may very well have an overall low lower than you have in first gear. Not goign to compare torque, other than stock, you would probably be 60% of what he has. Being as I do not know your specs with your bombed motor......you two may be close in the torque range, but still his overall low would be lower, so he is better off than you.
Not sure that one can use the gear ratio as a best tow rig these days as compared to the past. One needs to look at the whole picture.
For me, I try not to tow a trailer that is more than 2x the grawr. So if a SW rig has what I have seen as a 7500 lbs, max trailer is 15K, assuming I have the payload for the hw, people, and other asst and sundry junque one carries in the tow rig. I really do not care what the manufactures tow rating is. Being as I had a rig with a manufactures gcwr lower than its gvwr, that was interesting finding that out after running down the road at upwards of 12-14K with an 8600 gvwr rig with a gcwr of 8500 lbs! that out pulled a 454 with a 16k GCWR When both were at 12K! Not always a biggest engine is the baddest, or lowest axel ratio or equal.........need to look at the WHOLE picture.
marty
