How much 5th wheel can I haul

Looking for some advice. I have a 2015 4x4 crew cab with 6.4 Hemi, 4:10 gears, and 20" factory wheels. I started out thinking I wanted a 25-29' travel trailer, but have since graduated into 29'-31' 5th wheel. My question is what can I expect to "comfortably" tow with my truck.

I routinely tow my boat and trailer that are around 7500 lb with no problem, but the upper end of the 5th wheels I'm looking at are around 10,000 lb dry, and I'm sure the wind resistance is significant too.

I know the truck is rated at over 14,500 towing, but I know the rated max and real world comfortable max are probably not the same! I used to have a half ton Avalanche that had a 9,000 tow rating but 4,000 lbs would drag it into the ground on a hill.

So what is everyone's experience? I'm not really interested in the stories of extreme max towing, more on where folks are at in comfortable under the limit real world experience!

The # you'll max out first is your payload of 3000#. A 9K dry trailer will just about do it once you put a hitch in the bed and a couple people in the truck.

The 6.4 Hemi with the 4.10 gears is a great hauler. I'm about maxed out on payload with my similar truck except I have 3.73 gears. It pulls pretty well even in the hills. Yours should do even better with the 4.10s. It's amazing how fast the payload adds up!

Search for some of my posts over the last couple months and you'll find a bunch of great threads/info. I just went through this exact thing and ended up going with the 9K dry 5th and I'm super happy with my choice.

As you stated, what the rated tow and what can be towed "well" are two different things. The one thing in your favor are the 4.10's. You'll never regret them. Having a 2014 2500 and 5'er weighing 13k plus, I know you could pull 10k well. Even if you go up in elevation and mountains. Think 25 to 27 foot 5'er will give you plenty of room for family and whatever else. Also lots of different floor plans for about every want and desire. I did install the AirLIft 5000 air bags on my 2500. Not that it needed it for lift but it seems to smooth out the towing shock on the 5'er and truck. Also, even a 2" drop in the rear will send your headlamps into orbit and have everyone flashing at you. With the airlift, the lights are on the road and no flashing form others. As for lighting, just installed the Sylvania Ultra H11's in the low beams. While I haven't driven it yet at night, the brightness on the garage wall and also in pics is definitely an improvement. From yellow to a clean white light.

You'll want to do some "trailer math" to determine what you can tow.

Here's a good calculator you can use. You'll need to weigh your truck on a scale for gross weight, front axle and rear axle for the numbers you'll need to complete the calculation:

Fifth Wheel Weight Calculator

I had a 2015 crew cab shot box 6.4 hemi withe 3.73 gears. The wife had fallen in love with a 36' bunk house fifth wheel. The camper was 11,000 dry and 12000-13000 loaded.

Now do keep in mind my truck was 3.73 gears.

I felt the truck was over come by the added wind resistance the 5th wheel had vs a bumper pull. We traded a 36' bumper pull weighing 9,000 pounds loaded for this fifth wheel and the truck handle that camper very well averaging 9-10 mpg while towing it. I actually seen it slip into overdrive on many occasions with some of our long flat drives...

once we traded to the 5th wheel the whole thing changed... even empty coming home with it from the dealer i could sense there was way more drag... while the camper was empty the truck was able to reach 5th gear but never for very long... mostly ran in in fourth. once loaded and towing it ran 4th gear at the highest and netted me 4-6 mpg on even our flat trips. It lacked the ability to speed up to go around anyone or accelerate really with that load attached.

Before people get all hurt do note that this is at the top end and quite possibly over the top of what the 3.73 gears were rated for so in all fairness not the best of example but it is a REAL world example. My biggest mistake wasn't getting the 6.4 it was getting the 6.4 with 3.73 gears... fell in love with it on the lot and impulse got me...

I do still believe that if anyone is going to be towing a fifth wheel for any major distances more than a couple of hours one way more than a couple of times a year i'd highly recommend the diesel but if not the hemi was a fantastic truck. I just really felt that it lacked the oomph to really accelerate against all the wind resistance the 5th wheel puts on it...

Its all about the gearing the 6.4 has plenty of hp and torque to pull that load or more.

avolnek said:

I do still believe that if anyone is going to be towing a fifth wheel for any major distances more than a couple of hours one way more than a couple of times a year i'd highly recommend the diesel but if not the hemi was a fantastic truck. I just really felt that it lacked the oomph to really accelerate against all the wind resistance the 5th wheel puts on it...

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This is true, a lot of people underestimate the wind resistance when discussing what a vehicle can tow. I know too many people who found this out the hard way when they traded their bumper pull RVs in for 5th wheel RVs. They suddenly found themselves needing more truck on top of a new RV payment. I would much rather tow a 14k trailer that has little wind resistance than a 10k trailer with a lot of wind resistance.

69GWC said:

Its all about the gearing the 6.4 has plenty of hp and torque to pull that load or more.

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I completely agree with this but even with 4.10's i dont know that i would have been satisfied.

levels of satisfaction will definitely differ from person to person and i am in no way trying to argue that.

i traded an 06 cummins for my 15' 6.4 hemi. we really only used it for 4-6 months of actual camping season before we got rid of it. Biggest reason we traded was due to some engine issues it was having. I however would have traded off at some point, just later than I did had it not been for the engine issue.

like southtexan mentioned, with campers it really isn't the weight as much as the wind resistance that the truck will have to over come. on simple flat roads my hemi struggled to hold 4th at 62 mph. Same situation through the hills...


The hemi can and will handle the task at hand with out a bit of trouble, but really didn't meet my satisfaction...

This is a little off the subject but do the adjustable air deflectors work at all for pickups with tall trailers? A guy probably wouldn't want it mounted to his truck (up or down) unless he was gonna pull the trailer a lot throughout the year.
It is amazing the difference it makes from pulling a flatbed trailer compared to an enclosed trailer. Just about feels like you have twice the weight when your pulling against the wind.

I believe Ford's tow rating are with the caveat up to 60sqft frontal area. Above that and those ratings are out the door.

What you didn't post, 2500 or 3500? Going to assume you have a 2500.

Mtofell, hit the nail on the head. Your biggest issue will be payload with any decent sized 5'er. Typical pin wt will be 2k+.

I tow my 12k 5'er with 3:73s. Handles the load great. My previous TT was 38' and weighed 11k. With WDH and anti sway, that TT was a handful for my 3500 srw. Wasn't fun in the wind.
Towing my 5'er is so much nicer.

mowin said:

What you didn't post, 2500 or 3500? Going to assume you have a 2500.

Mtofell, hit the nail on the head. Your biggest issue will be payload with any decent sized 5'er. Typical pin wt will be 2k+.

I tow my 12k 5'er with 3:73s. Handles the load great. My previous TT was 38' and weighed 11k. With WDH and anti sway, that TT was a handful for my 3500 srw. Wasn't fun in the wind.
Towing my 5'er is so much nicer.

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Even in crew cab 4x4 configurations the 2500 6.4L has a payload of over 3,200 lbs. Even though the diesel version has the same rear suspension that can easily handle 3,000 lbs and has a higher front end GAWR to handle the extra weight of the diesel, it's payload is much less due to the 10,000 lb GVWR limit of it's class. If you go by the high side of the amount of 20% tongue weight a 5th wheel applies to the truck then that is only 2,600 lbs which still gives you plenty of room for gear. Since a 5th wheel or gooseneck does not have instability or sway issues like a bumper pull trailer will, you can get away with configuring the weight to have less of a percentage of tongue weight down to 15% just like the J2807 is tested with. In that case, a 13,000 lbs trailer would have a tongue weight of only 1,950 lbs which which is more than enough rated payload for a 2500 6.4L with plenty to spare..

2500 Bighorn 4x4 CC SB sticker payload 3109. Loaded and ready to go camping I have used up almost 700lbs with people, acc, and cargo for family of 4.

drittal said:

2500 Bighorn 4x4 CC SB sticker payload 3109. Loaded and ready to go camping I have used up almost 700lbs with people, acc, and cargo for family of 4.

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^^Yep, this.

It's amazing how fast it adds up. My truck weighs about 7850# with me, my wife, 3 kids (5-7 years olds) a few basic things and a B/W slider hitch (270 lbs. !!!) in it. 2150# of pin weight for a 5th wheel comes pretty quick.

mowin said:

What you didn't post, 2500 or 3500? Going to assume you have a 2500.

Mtofell, hit the nail on the head. Your biggest issue will be payload with any decent sized 5'er. Typical pin wt will be 2k+.

I tow my 12k 5'er with 3:73s. Handles the load great. My previous TT was 38' and weighed 11k. With WDH and anti sway, that TT was a handful for my 3500 srw. Wasn't fun in the wind.
Towing my 5'er is so much nicer.

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this is a prime example of why i mentioned that each person is going to have a different level of satisfaction.

I hated how my hemi pulled my 5th wheel of similar size and actually was very happy and very satisfied with how it pulled the bumper pull we had prior (only 36').


As far as pay load goes, I have to admit I am one of the guys who doesn't really adhere to what the GVWR is of my truck. While I keep it in mind, more important to me is the what the tires and axles are actually rated for. The 2500 and 3500 are the exact same truck minus the spring package in the rear.

I do not recommend anyone overload their own vehicle but i am saying air bags or timbrens can help within reason... just my opinion...

Thanks for all the great feedback! Lots of food for thought. BTW, my truck is a 2500, and I'm not sure of the exact payload figure, but I'm assuming 3000 lb or a little more. With the 4:10 gears it's rated at 15,500 tow capacity, but I know what would happen if I actually put anywhere near that much weight behind it!

I'm going back and forth between the idea of a 28'- 30', 10,000 lb'ish 5th wheel, and a 30'-32' bumper tow in the range of 7,000 - 8,000 dry weight. I have my eye on a 32' Cougar tow behind that comes with a Hensley Hitch that's supposed to do an amazing job of controlling sway under all conditions.

Right now I'm kinda leaning towards the tow behind simply because I know the Hemi will tow it with ease.

Blazin383 said:

Thanks for all the great feedback! Lots of food for thought. BTW, my truck is a 2500, and I'm not sure of the exact payload figure, but I'm assuming 3000 lb or a little more. With the 4:10 gears it's rated at 15,500 tow capacity, but I know what would happen if I actually put anywhere near that much weight behind it!

I'm going back and forth between the idea of a 28'- 30', 10,000 lb'ish 5th wheel, and a 30'-32' bumper tow in the range of 7,000 - 8,000 dry weight. I have my eye on a 32' Cougar tow behind that comes with a Hensley Hitch that's supposed to do an amazing job of controlling sway under all conditions.

Right now I'm kinda leaning towards the tow behind simply because I know the Hemi will tow it with ease.

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I think either would be a great option and would work with your truck and the weights you are posting.

I think the hemi would prefer the bumper pull behind but i feel you would be able to tow the 5er as well with no issues in the length and weight you are talking.

On my 36' bumper pull i installed the Pro Pride (sister to the the hensley) and man i loved that hitch! hooking up was easier than with the ball, especially with these new cameras on the trucks. The camper behaved soo beautifully it was crazy!

The only reason we went from bumper to 5er was for towing the boat behind the camper. (we had pulled a jet ski behind the bumper pull but wasn't real fond of it.). I really miss our bumper pull though, we had a higher end bumper and traded for about the same value into the 5er and have a more middle of the road as far as quality goes.

PS cougar is an awesome camper as well, we had eyed the heck out of them before going with saber.

Blazin383 said:

I'm going back and forth between the idea of a 28'- 30', 10,000 lb'ish 5th wheel, and a 30'-32' bumper tow in the range of 7,000 - 8,000 dry weight.

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Watch out..... this decision will cause you to spend ridiculous amount of time on internet forums and lose sleep I decided to sell my TT last fall so I emptied it out and had it listed for sale by around Thanksgiving. Between then and when I actually bought my 5th wheel I probably changed my mind at least 10 times.

It's a REALLY tough call since both a TT and 5th wheel have advantages/disadvantages. The best advice I can give you is to do a lot of research, talk to a lot of people (like you're doing here), and go look at a lot of units. RV shows are great if you can catch one in your area. Even if you have no plans to buy new it's a great place to see a lot of RVs with relatively pressure to buy.

avolnek said:

As far as pay load goes, I have to admit I am one of the guys who doesn't really adhere to what the GVWR is of my truck. While I keep it in mind, more important to me is the what the tires and axles are actually rated for. The 2500 and 3500 are the exact same truck minus the spring package in the rear.

I do not recommend anyone overload their own vehicle but i am saying air bags or timbrens can help within reason... just my opinion...

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I've done the same, In cali you now have to obtain a Non-commercial class a license for a trailer over 14k... there are alot of loop holes and such that I think some RV's may be exempted but cant remember them all. Anyway, here in cali DOT is cracking down on trucks pulling out of their weight class that are non-commercial vehicles. Just the other day we had a F350 pulling a backhoe wreck and kill someone, and the drive will be brought up on charges for not being licensed to tow that weight. and I'm pretty sure is insurance will leave him high and dry.

My point is there is more to factor in than just your trucks limits. also got to look at the insurance side to make sure you don't loose your ass these days if something were to happen.

Now with all that said... here is what I could find for towing abilities fro every specific configuration of the Ram
Ram Trucks - Towing Guide - Capacity Chart

R/T_Fire said:

I've done the same, In cali you now have to obtain a Non-commercial class a license for a trailer over 14k... there are alot of loop holes and such that I think some RV's may be exempted but cant remember them all. Anyway, here in cali DOT is cracking down on trucks pulling out of their weight class that are non-commercial vehicles. Just the other day we had a F350 pulling a backhoe wreck and kill someone, and the drive will be brought up on charges for not being licensed to tow that weight. and I'm pretty sure is insurance will leave him high and dry.

My point is there is more to factor in than just your trucks limits. also got to look at the insurance side to make sure you don't loose your ass these days if something were to happen.

Now with all that said... here is what I could find for towing abilities fro every specific configuration of the Ram
Ram Trucks - Towing Guide - Capacity Chart

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He is not talking about pulling more weight than what his truck is rated for. In fact, he is well bellow the 17,000 lbs + his truck is rated to tow and so am I. Hell, we are even well below our rear GAWR limits. What he is talking about is the payload limitations set on 2500 trucks due to the US DOT/EPA class they are in.

The class that 2500 trucks are in , class 2B, has a max GVWR of 10,000 lbs. This means not matter what the individual parts of the truck is rated for, the manufacturer cannot give it a GVWR over 10,000 lbs unless they moved it up a class. You could have a truck that should be rated at 11,200 lbs GVWR going by it's individual parts ratings, but that would not matter since 10,000 lbs is the limit for the class. Since a truck's payload is determined by the weight of the truck minus its GVWR, then having a GVWR that is artificially lowered due to class regulations will make it have a lower payload even though the truck can actually handle more.

Take my Ram 2500 diesel for example compared to the same 3500. My 2500 has the same front suspension, front brakes, and front axle so you know those items can handle the payload of a 3500. It has the same frame and transmission so you know those two things can handle the payload of the 3500. The rear axle and brakes are the same as well with the only thing being different is the rear suspension. With that difference comes a different rear Gross Axle Weight Rating(GAWR) which my 2500 has a rear GAWR of 6,500 lbs and the 3500 has a rear GAWR of 7,000 lbs. Keep in mind that GAWR is the weight rating of the entire "axle system" which includes the axle, tires, brakes, and suspension. So the only difference between my truck and a 3500 is 500 lb rear GAWR less yet my 2500 has a payload of almost 1,700 lbs less. Yes, I know it doesn't make sense, but then again outdated bureaucratic policies made decades ago like the truck class weight limits never never do.

If you actually did only subtract the 500 lbs difference from the 3500 SRW 4x4 GVWR of 11,700 lbs then that will leave you with a GVWR of 11,200 lbs which would give my truck a starting payload of just over 3,550 lbs before options. However, since these trucks are capped to a GVWR of 10,000 lbs due to the decades old class weight limits, then it has an artificial starting payload of 2,300 lbs for a diesel 2500.

Also, the payload limit in the door is just manufacturers limits and holds no weight with many states DOT. They cannot legally give you a ticket for going over it. What most stated go by is GVWR the truck is registered for and GAWR. You can legally register your truck with a higher GVWR in Texas as well as many other states if not all. The GAWR limits are usually defined depending on if you have a SRW or DRW and these are usually only for commercial vehicles.