Tow 5th wheel with Service body truck?

[Brisk]

Cliffs Notes- Anyone tow a 5th wheel travel trailer with a service body truck?

Novel- As my business grows I am finding myself in need of another work truck. I have a 2004 GMC 2500hd with a Harbor Service/utility bed and rack on it. It is awesome. I love working out of it. I will need to hire another tech in the next couple of months and am trying to plan ahead. I am trying to stay liquid so I am considering giving the new guy my work truck and slapping a utility bed on my personal low mileage 2014 Ram 3500 SRW 8'bed for $5-7k instead of buying another used service truck for ~$15k.

However, I have a 5th wheel toyhauler I pull 10-15 times a year. I don't need a full rack on my truck so a headache rack and removable rear uprights will suffice. The bed on my GMC is a Low Side version that is 19" deep vs ~27ish on the standard beds. I would do something similar on the Ram. In Theory my B&W hitch would pop right through the bed floor. Having a full set of power and hand tools in the truck for all of our camping trips would be icing on the cake.

I have seen the low profile "hauler" beds but I don't think they will have enough storage and bed space for my needs when not towing.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[Dayle1]

My service body is over 14 yrs old, on the second tow vehicle and it is still in great shape. I had it made specifically for towing a fiver. Top of the sides is 50" off the ground. Where a stock bed would be 20+" deep, mine is only 13" due to the reduced height plus taller cross-members under the floor. With the reduced height, there is no compartment over the wheel wells, just some hidden storage areas for misc. items. The compartments in front and behind the wheels are full height.

The biggest issue you face is with the interior width of the utility bed, it is just 50" and an extended pin box will hit the sides during turns. This is the reason mine is lower than a stock utility bed, the pin box swings over the top of the utility bed. Owners of the Ram Box have the same problem, it is a normal height truck bed but also 50" wide. There are really just 2 solutions. With an 8 ft bed, you can use a straight drop pin box rather than an extended pin box. Or you can use a Sidewinder pin box.

Besides the handy storage, there are several other pluses with the utility bed. I stand on the sides while washing the front cap. But the biggest is that the tailgate is never in the way as it drops down to the bumper. There are a few pics in the link in my signature.

[Brisk]

TakingThe5th wrote:
If I were to set up something like that I would sharpen my pencil when looking at the rear axle weight. I understand your thinking on having extra capacity as you go to a larger truck but service trucks can get heavy pretty quick and I wonder if that might sneak up on you.

Absolutely a great point. One of the reasons I bought a 3500 SRW vs a 2500 was the increased Payload capacity (~2000lbs on the 2500 vs 4336 on my sticker.) My trailer has 2500lbs of pin weight loaded (verified at Cat scale) and if we get a different 5th wheel down the road it will be a lighter one. I figure I will be close to the 7000lb RAWR but not close enough to stress about it. I also plan to add Airbags to make it sit level and ride nice when loaded. (I realize they do not increase my rated capacity). Rear tires are rated at 4080lbs ea so I have plenty of capacity there.

[TakingThe5th]

If I were to set up something like that I would sharpen my pencil when looking at the rear axle weight. I understand your thinking on having extra capacity as you go to a larger truck but service trucks can get heavy pretty quick and I wonder if that might sneak up on you.

[Huntindog]

I have seen it done
Measure carefully as there are probably variations in boxes

[sgfrye]

we have a TT not a fiver, but i almost went with a service body when i bought my f250 crew cab last fall. price put it out of range for me but i really like the tool boxes and storage on utility beds for camping and hauling.