5th wheel suggestions??

Well guys, i looked up the specs using my vin# last night to try and find out what TT I should be looking at. Ive got the 3.73 rearend with my cummins. Couldn't find what weight TT i can tow. If you TT guys could chime in and let a new guy to this stuff know with maybe some helpful tips I would really appreciate it. We're looking for a TT that will fit in most national park campgrounds that will house the wife and I, 2 kids , and 2 somewhat large dogs.

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There are several good towing weight calculators online where you enter your truck specs (dry weight, axle ratings, gross vehicle weight ratings, etc...) from the body builder guide and then you enter the other item weights such as gear, fuel, passengers + the weight of the trailer and accessories to determine how close you are to the truck's gross combined vehicle weight rating.

I've got a good one based on an Excel spreadsheet and if you'd like to use it, just PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

Thanks Maddog. Sounds good. I'll pm you later this evening after work.

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440hsp...you'll need the info shown in the link lharrell79 posted which was nicely done, BTW.

You could tow pretty much any TT on the market. I have the same people/pets to accommodate and we have a coachmen Catalina 30BHS. I will probably be upgrading to a coachmen Catalina legacy BHTS. Very nice trailers with plenty of room that won't break the bank.


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440hsp said:

Well guys, i looked up the specs using my vin# last night to try and find out what TT I should be looking at. Ive got the 3.73 rearend with my cummins. Couldn't find what weight TT i can tow. If you TT guys could chime in and let a new guy to this stuff know with maybe some helpful tips I would really appreciate it. We're looking for a TT that will fit in most national park campgrounds that will house the wife and I, 2 kids , and 2 somewhat large dogs.

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Are you looking for a travel trailer or 5th wheel? A travel trailer that will fit in most national parks will generally be 30ft or less. If that's the case you can just about take your pick of any manufacturer and floor plan and be safely in your weight ratings. If your looking at a 5th wheel it will still need to be around 30 ft or so but since the pin weight of 5th wheels is generally around 20 to 25 percent of the weight of the 5th wheel payload capacity comes in to play. Don't look at dry weights and look at the MAX weight. If you know it weights more than you can carry/tow DO NOT let a sales person talk you into it! They will try as hard as they can to sell the biggest and most expensive.

@ Swampfox - looking at both. Looking for a TT or 5th wheel with a bunkhouse for the kids to have thier own space because this might be our only home for a while. Thinking about a TT so i can throw a snugtop on also to let my dogs be comfortable on longer trips plus it would be more room for storage.

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Having owned both a travel trailer and a 5th wheel, even though the 5th is 10 ft longer and 4000 lbs heavier it tows much better. So much so that the mpg difference between towing the 2 is less than 2mpg. If it is going to be a primary residence for a while the 5th wheel will offer more room and feel more like a home. Some larger 5ths may have a bath and a half as well as washer dryer hookups which would defiantly be beneficial to full time living. Most 5th wheels will also have either larger or residential refrigerators, also a major benefit to full timing. Also 5th wheels will have double maybe even triple the storage space. Good luck and hope you find one that suits your needs!

Are you certain you have 3.73 gears with your CTD? I'm pretty sure we can only get the 3.42 gears unless you have the Aisin trans, a dually or a chassis cab. Also do you have a 2500 or 3500? The reason I ask is payload. The 2500 CTD's are very low and limit what size 5th wheel you can haul (pin weights).

I have a friend that towed a 13,000 lb dry 36 ft 5'er with his CTD 2500. He blew the rear axle out in less than a year and ended up trading for a dually. The 2500's are limited on their payload because of the heavier diesel engine so be careful there. You'll want to keep your pin weight below 2000 lb to be under GCVWR & payload numbers. If you have a 3500 you are good go with just about any size you like.

I personally have a 30ft 5'er that is only 9250 lbs dry. You can easily add another 1000-1200 lbs of crap to those numbers when you load them for a trip. I originally started towing this with my 6.4Hemi and got about 6.7 - 7.8 MPG. These were all hand calculated numbers. Most of my trips were 2 hrs or 130-140 miles one way into the rolling hills of PA.

Before the 5'er I towed a 32 ft 6000 lb pull behind TT with an 850 lb tongue weight and only got 1 mpg better. I can tell you that I preferred towing the 5'er. The 5'er was much more stable and much easier to hookup. The Ram class 5 hitches allow up to 1200 lb of tongue weight. Higher tongue weight TT's equate to a less easy tow experience because of the push/pull at the rear of the truck and need for weight distribution. The pin weight of a 5th wheel will vary (20-25%) of trailer weight. There are a ton of pull behind TT's under 9,000 lbs to chose from as well as smaller 5th Wheels.

I just traded up to a 3500 CTD and towed the same 5'er mentioned above 450 miles from MD to TN averaging 11 mpg. The 3500 CTD was an absolute pleasure to tow with and is a stark contrast to towing with the 2500 6.4Hemi.

Make sure to do your research on TT & 5th wheel brands and check out some of the manufacturer specific forums for common issues. All brands of trailers have issues...some more than others and some minor, some major.

Good stuff, RoadDog66. That's what this calculator will allow him to do as long as he can get the specs on the trailer.

5th vs. TT - many pros/cons to each. The dog thing in the back of the truck is a pretty big one. But do be sure you can put your gate down with the TT attached if you go that route. I've read several threads of unhappy folks.

I'm currently in a 5th but miss some things about the TT.... but love some things about the 5th. Weight wise you can haul way more TT with a given truck. The impact (payload) on the truck is roughly double on a 5th than the same weight TT.

Many things to consider.... gather lots of information and opinions, but then decide what is best for you. Every message forum is full of a bunch of cranky old ******** that swear you MUST buy their same truck and trailer, otherwise you're a total loser. Take us with a grain of salt

mtofell said:

Every message forum is full of a bunch of cranky old ******** that swear you MUST buy their same truck and trailer, otherwise you're a total loser. Take us with a grain of salt

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Oh my goodness, itsn't that the truth! It is almost entertaining if it wasn't so damn ignorant.

My favorites;

"You gotta have a dually to tow a fiver more than 30 feet long"

"You have to have a dually with 4:10 axles or you won't make it up the grade"

This one is precious;
"You will need the dual alternator setup to power the trailer or your batteries will die out".

440hsp said:

Well guys, i looked up the specs using my vin# last night to try and find out what TT I should be looking at. Ive got the 3.73 rearend with my cummins.

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Download the eBrochure for the HD RAMs from their website. The brochure has tables that cover tow and payloads.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/en/download-brochure/?disable_ssl_redirect=true&vehicle=&year=2017&

Some assumptions, if you have a late model RAM, 2013 or later with 3:73s and a Cummins then you have a dually. If you have an automatic transmission your tow weight is north of 19,000 pounds. You can pretty much tow about anything an RV dealer has on their lot, fiver or TTs.

Your bigger problem is getting your big hipped truck parked in a national campground.

Wow! You guys are awesome with all this information. I have a 2014 Ram 2500 CC SRW CTD 4x4. When i looked up the vin# on dodge forum it said that my truck had 3.73's which sounded odd. I thought myself that it came with 3.42's unless ordered otherwise.

I definitely don't want to blow oyt my rear end for sure as i will definitely be driving some steep grades. We really want to see a lot of things around the Rocky Mountains and the West Coast. There is still a lot of research that I'm going to have to do I'm sure but you guys are definitely a big help. Thank gentlemen and keep the information coming. You guys are top notch in my book.

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@Iharrell79 thank you for that chart. Much appreciated.

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Payload is gonna be your enemy with a 2500 Cummins. If your set on a 5th wheel look at the so called "half ton towable" and consider and Anderson hitch. The Andersen hitch will save you about 250lbs of payload vs a traditional style hitch. I use an Andersen and personally think it's great. You should still be fine with just about and travel trailer!

Thanks Swampfox. Been looking for a few hours this morning because we're going to go look at some dealers. Trying to get a double rear bunk, maybe a half bath in the rear, keep it under 35ft, and keep weights at a decent level is hard. Lol

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We bought a Grand Design Reflection 30BH. It's 9250 dry with pin around 2K (dry says 1710...never believe any listed dry weights). I know your Cummins will pull it just fine and your 6500lb rear axle should also be fine although you'll be over payload. Check out their website a they have added some new bunk house models. They are well built, but pricier than others.

Thanks Roaddog66

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Just looked at montana's, some different keystone models and really like the Keystone Sprinter 326FWBHS

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