DRW or SRW??

[AFMoulton]

Alright so the wife and I are considering full timing , and are looking at large 5 slide 3 axle fifth wheels.

Currently own 1500 QC 4x4. And have a 6800lb travel trailer.

I will have to use the truck as a daily driver till things get paid off, so that's my question for all of you HD guys. I know payload on the DRW is a little better than SRW but all the trailer I'm looking at only have a pin weight of 2800 max.

What would you suggest and why? Thanks!


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[MN-Ram]

I know the dually would tow the trailer better, but they are a bit of a pain to drive in a big city if it also has to be a daily driver.

The SRW should get a little better MPG's as well.

You are looking at a diesel, right? I'm not sure what the payload on the SRW 3500 Cummins are, but the Hemi is 4,010 lbs (for the 2015 at least). So, consider that when you are determining 2+ passengers and all of the additional crap that goes into the back of a crew cab. Also remember the weight of the 5th wheel receiver.

There are people who are much more knowledgeable than I who will surely chime in.

 

[develand]

If you are towing that big of a trailer, get drw. No question. So much more stable and safe. You don't want the tail walking the dog. Towing capacity shouldn't be the only thing you base this decision off of. Safety and stability are very important as well. Having driven semi, I have seen so many overloaded trucks outing campers it is insane and crazy. And honestly downright dangerous.

Do yourself and everyone else on the road a favor and get the drw. It is more expensive and a little more inconvenient when not towing, but parking in the back of the lot, and less drive thrust solves that problem.

Buddy pulls a 43' fifth wheel toy hauler with a 16 f-350 drw and is glad he went that route and he doesn't tow but a hand full of times a summer.

 

[AFMoulton]

I know the dually would tow the trailer better, but they are a bit of a pain to drive in a big city if it also has to be a daily driver.

The SRW should get a little better MPG's as well.

You are looking at a diesel, right? I'm not sure what the payload on the SRW 3500 Cummins are, but the Hemi is 4,010 lbs (for the 2015 at least). So, consider that when you are determining 2+ passengers and all of the additional crap that goes into the back of a crew cab. Also remember the weight of the 5th wheel receiver.

There are people who are much more knowledgeable than I who will surely chime in.

Diesel for sure, and from what I have researched the DRW adds about 1000lbs more payload which is appealing because of all the crap that you speak of! LoL


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[AFMoulton]

If you are towing that big of a trailer, get drw. No question. So much more stable and safe. You don't want the tail walking the dog. Towing capacity shouldn't be the only thing you base this decision off of. Safety and stability are very important as well. Having driven semi, I have seen so many overloaded trucks outing campers it is insane and crazy. And honestly downright dangerous.

Do yourself and everyone else on the road a favor and get the drw. It is more expensive and a little more inconvenient when not towing, but parking in the back of the lot, and less drive thrust solves that problem.

Buddy pulls a 43' fifth wheel toy hauler with a 16 f-350 drw and is glad he went that route and he doesn't tow but a hand full of times a summer.

Thank you. That's the direction I'm leaning for sure.


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[crash68]

Here is the SAE J2807 chart for a 3500 CCLB 4X4 for both SRW & DRW.
If you do decide to go DRW and live somewhere that gets snow, make sure it's 4X4

 

[AFMoulton]

Here is the SAE J2807 chart for a 3500 CCLB 4X4 for both SRW & DRW.
If you do decide to go DRW and live somewhere that gets snow, make sure it's 4X4

Thank you!


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[LDBagger17]

Dually is so much more stabile when towing even with trailers much smaller than what you are talking about drw all the way

 

[HvyDuty]

I think a general rule is if your trailer has 6 tires, so should your tow vehicle.

I would have a dually for that trailer, even if I wasn't full-timing. Full-timing, definitely.

If you can swing it, get the 4x2 cummins 3500 dually with aisin trans and 4.10 gears, mid-level trim or lower if you can tolerate it for max payload. Can't have too much tow vehicle.

 

[AFMoulton]

Looking at Tradesman levels anyways, wife is the fancy one, I just want a truck! Need 4x4 unfortunately but found one here in San Antonio that has the Aisin and 4.10, Ram site says it's good for the following.




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[HvyDuty]

Nice, that one would do the trick.

My wife is the same way lol. I have a Tradesman but fixed it up some with Lone Star features (8.4 Nav, 7.0 Gauge cluster, Lone Star seats etc.). Still have the floor shift 4x4 which I prefer She likes it now haha.

I know Houston has great deals all the time if you're willing to drive a little.

 

[AFMoulton]

Not above driving. As long as the deal meets my needs. LoL


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[SwollenMonkey16]

DRW CTD without a doubt. After a few weeks of daily driving that beast it'll be like driving a 1500. Better to have more capabilities than not enough

 

[BossHogg]

I know a lot of folks are steering you to a dually, when I was researching this topic I had the same influences.

I'm pulling a Montana 3790RD, 40 foot long, about 15,000 pounds tow weight, and around 3,000 pounds of pin weight. I'm pulling it with a SRW 3500 Cummins with the rear air leveling system. Am I close to the truck's maximums, not quite, I have a comfortable buffer zone.

Before my wife and I invested in an RV or tow vehicle, we spent a summer visiting camp grounds, walking around and talking with campers why they bought what they bought. The answers would be the basis for a book titled "The Unknown" but we also talked to a lot of seasoned folks.

On the topic of dually or SRW, no one suggested the dually, even those with a dually parked in front of their camper. For the most part, they all complained about the difficulty parking it in a store lot. The biggest single complaint was not able to park at many sight-seeing venues, most known for having limited parking. They bought the dually because that is what they thought they needed. We also came across many who had a good size fifth wheel and a 2500 parked. We saw both over done and under done tow vehicles and a few that recently traded off the dually for an SRW and those that traded always went to a long bed. I wish I would have done that also in hindsight.

I'm on my third year of RV towing and I can tell you, zero issues with an SRW. I've driven in high head winds and cross winds and never felt a stability issue (yet everyone told me I would be unsafe and all over the road). My advice is size your tow vehicle to your RV's pin weight and tow weight. If you have the opportunity, do what I did and talk with folks that you know are towing and get their experiences keeping in mind, not long ago, trucks didn't have the power and payload of today's trucks. Many opinions come from what used to be.

 

[muzupan]

Alright so the wife and I are considering full timing , and are looking at large 5 slide 3 axle fifth wheels.

Currently own 1500 QC 4x4. And have a 6800lb travel trailer.

I will have to use the truck as a daily driver till things get paid off, so that's my question for all of you HD guys. I know payload on the DRW is a little better than SRW but all the trailer I'm looking at only have a pin weight of 2800 max.

What would you suggest and why? Thanks!


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Suggestion: I would look at the GVW of the trailer that you were looking at [that is the most that trailer can weigh fully loaded by law, it will be a yellow sticker on the side of the trailer and maybe inside as well] and then figure at least 20% for pinweight. From the description that you gave with 5 slides on the trailer and 3 axles I think the DRW will be the best set up. When you start RVing full time you would be surprised how much stuff you load in the trailer. As it has been said get more tow vehicle than what you need to be on the safe side and also for peace of mind while you’re towing.

 

[HvyDuty]

I know a lot of folks are steering you to a dually, when I was researching this topic I had the same influences.

I'm pulling a Montana 3790RD, 40 foot long, about 15,000 pounds tow weight, and around 3,000 pounds of pin weight. I'm pulling it with a SRW 3500 Cummins with the rear air leveling system. Am I close to the truck's maximums, not quite, I have a comfortable buffer zone.

Before my wife and I invested in an RV or tow vehicle, we spent a summer visiting camp grounds, walking around and talking with campers why they bought what they bought. The answers would be the basis for a book titled "The Unknown" but we also talked to a lot of seasoned folks.

On the topic of dually or SRW, no one suggested the dually, even those with a dually parked in front of their camper. For the most part, they all complained about the difficulty parking it in a store lot. The biggest single complaint was not able to park at many sight-seeing venues, most known for having limited parking. They bought the dually because that is what they thought they needed. We also came across many who had a good size fifth wheel and a 2500 parked. We saw both over done and under done tow vehicles and a few that recently traded off the dually for an SRW and those that traded always went to a long bed. I wish I would have done that also in hindsight.

I'm on my third year of RV towing and I can tell you, zero issues with an SRW. I've driven in high head winds and cross winds and never felt a stability issue (yet everyone told me I would be unsafe and all over the road). My advice is size your tow vehicle to your RV's pin weight and tow weight. If you have the opportunity, do what I did and talk with folks that you know are towing and get their experiences keeping in mind, not long ago, trucks didn't have the power and payload of today's trucks. Many opinions come from what used to be.

Totally agree with your assessment. Over on the camping forums, a guy was complaining about the 20k GCWR limit on his 2003 F350 dually diesel... My 6.4 2500 gasser has a 20k GCWR and 3200 lbs payload (which was well into 1 ton territory not too long ago).

The OP is considering pulling a triple axle 5th wheel full time. I still recommend a dually for the stability it will give that massive sail of a trailer in windy conditions.

 

[Devin1349]

I have a friend who has a 3500 dually laramie longhorn and he loves how smooth the drive is compared to a srw and from what he said is that he likes the higher trim because "its so comfortable for long trips"

 

[spoon059]

large 5 slide 3 axle fifth wheels.

.....

the trailer I'm looking at only have a pin weight of 2800 max.

What large 5 slide 5ers have a pin weight of only 2800 lbs? 5ers have pin weights of 20-25% of their total weight usually. A 3 axle might be on the lower side of that equation, but even at 20% pin weight, 2800 lbs means the entire LOADED trailer weights only 15k lbs.

I haven't seen every trailer ever made... but I've never seen a 5 slide 5er that weights less than 15K lbs. I wonder if perhaps you are quoting a dry pin weight of 2800 that will rapidly rise with options and clothing/food etc.

What exact model are you looking at? I think you might be low balling your pin weight and could be very surprised when you weigh it. Anytime I've seen a 5 slide or triple axle trailer, it was been towed by a MINIMUM of a dually 1 ton truck.

 

[AFMoulton]

I understand weights will go up, but I am also not trying to overload anything which is why I'm considering 1tons especially with DRW.

This is an example of what we are looking at.




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[R/T_Fire]

I'm sure it has been said but for my preference based on experience of towing very heavy, I will take a DRW any day over a SRW that will be used for towing often.

I plan to one day buy another 5th wheel and tow pig... but it will not be a daily, but still be 4x4 on 35's.... we had a 05 on the farm that I built that ran stock height rear with a level kit from carli and ran 35" tires rated for the weight..... with the experience of that truck I will model another after it just from how well it pulled.. was much more stable than even the stock DRW set up. we also had a spread kit on the rear, but when I do it again I will run a 20" DRW wheel with no spacer.

That's just a little from my experience, which by no means is fact or the "way" to do things.

Oh and that's a nice trailer. Have you thought of also looking into the 4500/5500 class Chassi and just having a custom Tow bed put on it?

Something along these lines http://www.westernhauler.com/dodge.html