How much better is a 2500 for towing?

[jrapo]

Consider shifting some content in the RV to the rear of the RV, behind the axle. This should help with tongue weight a bit.

 

[ronheater70]

As is mentioned the 2500 is Night and day difference. I went from a f150 to my first 2500 towing about 7500 pounds and it was immediately a more relaxed drive. I liked the tow so much better we upgraded to a larger RV (9500 pounds), then Upgraded to a medium Fifth wheel (11k pounds). It was too much for the gasser in the mountains so we traded it for a 3500 Diesel.. Which by my wifes logic meant an even larger fifth wheel. 3 trucks and 4 rvs in 5 years.. yea its a learning process..LOL

 

[HEMIMANN]

As is mentioned the 2500 is Night and day difference. I went from a f150 to my first 2500 towing about 7500 pounds and it was immediately a more relaxed drive. I liked the tow so much better we upgraded to a larger RV (9500 pounds), then Upgraded to a medium Fifth wheel (11k pounds). It was too much for the gasser in the mountains so we traded it for a 3500 Diesel.. Which by my wifes logic meant an even larger fifth wheel. 3 trucks and 4 rvs in 5 years.. yea its a learning process..LOL

Yup.

I wouldn't tow over 8k without diesel.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Consider shifting some content in the RV to the rear of the RV, behind the axle. This should help with tongue weight a bit.

Not too much or you'll be fishtailing a trailer.

 

[2003F350]

Consider shifting some content in the RV to the rear of the RV, behind the axle. This should help with tongue weight a bit.

Generally speaking there isn't much 'rearranging' in an RV that can be done. Sure you can try to pack clothes and some gear toward the back, but you also want to make sure things are at least somewhat secure - for example, you don't want your camp chairs just laying on the floor in the back, I've seen them take off and become small missiles that can do some pretty decent damage.

Most other items in an RV are basically fixed: Battery/LPG tank locations, furniture and appliances, etc. etc. are all fixed and can't be moved. So a certain amount of it can't be redistributed.

Generally speaking, you can use published data as a guideline, you can use the 'rough standards' of 10-15% of GVWR for TT and 20% for fifth wheels, and buy an appropriate vehicle to pull it. Then scale it to set up any weight distribution hitching you may need.

 

[jrapo]

Generally speaking there isn't much 'rearranging' in an RV that can be done. Sure you can try to pack clothes and some gear toward the back, but you also want to make sure things are at least somewhat secure - for example, you don't want your camp chairs just laying on the floor in the back, I've seen them take off and become small missiles that can do some pretty decent damage.

Most other items in an RV are basically fixed: Battery/LPG tank locations, furniture and appliances, etc. etc. are all fixed and can't be moved. So a certain amount of it can't be redistributed.

Generally speaking, you can use published data as a guideline, you can use the 'rough standards' of 10-15% of GVWR for TT and 20% for fifth wheels, and buy an appropriate vehicle to pull it. Then scale it to set up any weight distribution hitching you may need.

Not suggesting big weight shifts, but if hitch weight is 100 or 200 pounds over, consider putting luggage, water, supplies in the rear of the RV instead of the truck bed or front of the RV. My towable had a rear bathroom with a door, that's where I put the luggage when towing. It was enough to lighten the hitch 100 or 200 pounds

 

[ronheater70]

Not suggesting big weight shifts, but if hitch weight is 100 or 200 pounds over, consider putting luggage, water, supplies in the rear of the RV instead of the truck bed or front of the RV. My towable had a rear bathroom with a door, that's where I put the luggage when towing. It was enough to lighten the hitch 100 or 200 pounds

Depending on the tank Location I have known people to add a lil water to the freshwater tank, this varies by RV, length etc.. however. But its typically a fairly easy procedure!

 

[runamuck]

before we traded our trailer for a 5th wheel I reduced tongue wt. a little by moving the spare tire from under the tongue to the back bumper and adding a bike rack on the ladder instead of carrying the bikes in the truck bed.

 

[miketx]

Consider shifting some content in the RV to the rear of the RV, behind the axle. This should help with tongue weight a bit.

No space in the back of this particular camper, otherwise I would have done it.

 

[miketx]

Depending on the tank Location I have known people to add a lil water to the freshwater tank, this varies by RV, length etc.. however. But its typically a fairly easy procedure!

Tank is in front of the axles. And I have a bike rack on the back (camper came with a frame welded hitch)

 

[ppine]

... if everything is grocery shopping ...

You are a comedian.

 

[miketx]

What do you folks feel about 4.10 gears? With a Hemi 6.4 3500 SRW? Would the mpg take a big hit? Just curious....found a 3500 SRW with 4.10 gears.

 

[Dean2]

You will see less than 200 rpm difference at highway speeds vs the 3.73s. At any given speed the 3.73s will be turning at 91% of 4.10s. Would not stop me from buying, and if you are doing a lot of towing it is a good choice. So 2000 rpm with 4.10s would be 1820 with 3.73s

 

[miketx]

You will see less than 200 rpm difference at highway speeds vs the 3.73s. At any given speed the 3.73s will be turning at 91% of 4.10s. Would not stop me from buying, and if you are doing a lot of towing it is a good choice. So 2000 rpm with 4.10s would be 1820 with 3.73s

Yeah, that's what I figured. I've got 3.92s in the Rebel, so not a big difference. I'm at 2k+ rpms towing most of the time.

 

[tron67j]

I had the identical scenario you have. I went 2500 and never looked back. Perfect.

@Tulecreeper gives you sound advice. Ask if you have specific quesitons. I have 6.4L Hemi, but old 66RFE transmission. Stock came with 3.73 gears. I might have gone with 4.10's if they'd had them but they were not common.

Same set up for my truck. Never a problem whether towing a travel trailer, a dump trailer with 3-4 tons of rock out back, or carrying over a ton of topsoil in the bed.

 

[HEMIMANN]

In today-land I'm glad I don't need full ton capability and diesel. The science fair that is the diesel exhaust emissions aftertreatment system is just unbelievable.

 

[Dean2]

In today-land I'm glad I don't need full ton capability and diesel. The science fair that is the diesel exhaust emissions aftertreatment system is just unbelievable.

Really do have to agree. I am sure I would not buy a modern diesel pickup unless I had absolutely no workable gas option. If I needed diesel pulling power i would be inclined to buy a pre DEF Peterbuilt with a big CAT OR Cummins.

 

[nickheaps819]

6900 sounds like a gvwr not a base weight empty. If that's true, then you only have about 750 lbs available for any payload. So definitely double check your weight you measured against the gvwr listed on the sticker.

Concerning the Betterweigh. It is a neat idea. I have a Haul Guage, which is the same thing with a different badge on it.

What I found with mine when I compared what it measure vs reality of a cat scale was this...The truck weight alone came close, within about 2% of measured. The truck and trailer together was not as accurate and came in around 6% off. Unfortunately, the errors were in different directions, so when you subtracted the truck weight from the total, the trailer weight was off about 15%, so not real close to reality. The trailer tongue weight feature wasn't even close. It read way under the actual tongue weight. This was probably due to the fact that I have a set of Timbrens on the truck. What I did to fix this was calibrate it using my trailer (since I weighed everything I knew the actual tongue weight). Now it's right on the money, and I can accurately measure tongue weight when I rebalance things around in the trailer.

So definitely take your truck and trailer down to a cat scale. It may be an eye opener.

Thanks. That’s why I did take my truck in. The total weight of the truck alone is 9580lbs. The BetterWeigh came in around 9250. I figured that the BetterWeigh would be a best guess. When I get the trailer again I’ll be weighing both again for an accurate weight for both. The truck right now is based on what I normally travel with when camping so it’s going to be a good base weight to use for future travels.

 

[Jas34]

Thanks. That’s why I did take my truck in. The total weight of the truck alone is 9580lbs. The BetterWeigh came in around 9250. I figured that the BetterWeigh would be a best guess. When I get the trailer again I’ll be weighing both again for an accurate weight for both. The truck right now is based on what I normally travel with when camping so it’s going to be a good base weight to use for future travels.

9580 for a 1500? In your last post you said it weighed around 6200. I'm now officially confused.

 

[nlambert182]

Something doesn't look right, for sure. My 2500 isn't 9,580 lbs. My 3500 dually wasn't quite that heavy either.