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
Old-Biscuit wrote:hmknightnc wrote:
As others have said you are limited by tire capacity with a SRW 1 Ton truck. It highly depends on the truck and gear you have in the truck but as a general rule with a 1 Ton SRW you should stay below 14k# GVWR of a FW, for a 3/4 Ton you are looking at no more than 12k# GVWR FW. The trailer you are looking at is squarely in Dually country
There's the MFGs published specs and numbers and then there's the real world........
The above quote is in the Real World.
I get a chuckle when folks post MFGs. published numbers without posting ALL the little caveats/footnotes that are noted in the tiny print.
By the time the truck is optioned out and one actually goes across a set of scales loaded up camp ready they can't believe the numbers.....where did all that payload capacity go? what happened to that magical tow rating? my tires can't handle that kind of weight?
the truck weighs more than the sticker? Bah.bah.bah......
I wish MFGs would not publish any numbers and just state.........you need to weigh your truck in order to know what it can carry and/or haul!
Agree 100% with you on what manufacturers publish as to how much one can tow with their trucks, it's joke...one really needs to do the math and look at all the specs.
I think an 18,700# 5er is too heavy for a 3500 SRW truck, if OP doesn't want a dually, they may want to look at getting a lighter 5er.
Ram dually in my sig has RAWR of 9750, GVWR of 14,000# and with 4:10, a GCWR of over 36,000# (though I would NEVER think of that), and the RAWR could be higher by going to higher weight rated tires. But, my 5er weighs in at only 16,050, with a 3300# pin weight, having weighed my combo at this time, I'm well under the trucks GVWR.
As also stated, it would depend on heavy one loads their 5er, but, how does one "speculate" on how much "stuff" they'll load into their 5er? Sometimes when you have more cargo carrying capacity, one tends to pack more into the unit because, "they can"...
I'd tend to err to side of safety and either go with a lighter 5er or look at any of the Big 3's 3500 Dually's.....
