Would you tow it?

[Cman2]

Got here as fast as I could but dang that was an expensive purchase! New owner 2022 Ram 3500 Diesel Cummins with Aisen, High output turbo diesel SRW (first deisel) Patriot Blue (love the color). Looking at a new 5th wheel, hitch weight is 2800, and total weight loaded max is 16700. My tow specs are 25,000 tow, and 3900 payload. I know it's close, but Would you tow it? Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.

 

[JoeCo]

Got here as fast as I could but dang that was an expensive purchase! New owner 2022 Ram 3500 Diesel Cummins with Aisen, High output turbo diesel SRW (first deisel) Patriot Blue (love the color). Looking at a new 5th wheel, hitch weight is 2800, and total weight loaded max is 16700. My tow specs are 25,000 tow, and 3900 payload. I know it's close, but Would you tow it? Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.

I'm not sure, but wouldn't that be a better question to ask prior to buying the truck? I guess you haven't bought the 5th wheel yet at least but you are allowed to join the forums and ask away before buying.

Either way, welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll get plenty of input on your scenario.

 

[Cman2]

Thanks for your response. 3500 is the biggest one I could afford, ergo...larger 5th wheels. Truck first then 5th wheel is the the way I see it.

 

[JoeCo]

Thanks for your response. 3500 is the biggest one I could afford, ergo...larger 5th wheels. Truck first then 5th wheel is the the way I see it.

Gotcha, best of luck on your research! Seems like a lot of people don't go through the trouble to make sure they are safely towing.

And it does sound like you bought a lot of truck, certainly wouldn't be looking as good in a 2500 diesel but the 3500 I'm sure is more up to it. Agree on the patriot blue too, my 1500 I ordered last March is that color as well.

 

[Bigdaddy]

Congrats and welcome to RF! I just recently purchase a 2022 ram Laramie 3500 it's a CCLB my payload is 4055lbs and my towing is 20,055lbs, you are going to get a lot of answer here so get ready, as far as that 5th wheel, if you don't load it up to the full 16500lbs you will be okay, and I say that lightly because you will be surprise of the stuff you load up in these rv's.

A SRW people like to say that you can go up to 15,000lbs but after that a dually will come into play, so it's really on what do you feel comfortable with, are you comfortable with that setup. Some people are hard knots that you much have a dually to tow that and some will say that if you don't load it up to full captivity, so get ready for those to come chime in.

My 5th wheel is 37" with a total weight of 13,000lbs, which I haven't been to the scale again yet but I know that I'm good with that weight so I'm not worrying about that. When you get up to 16,500lbs you will be better off on getting a dually it's so much better towing that kind of weight with a dually. The best thing to do if you are committed is once you do get it is to go to the scale and get it weighted you might find out that you are okay.

So what kind of 5th wheel are you buying? You always don't go by the unloaded weight but the gwr of the 5th wheel and 20% of 16,500 is 3,500lbs but it will usually will be more like 3700lbs to 3900lbs if you don't overload it, so continue with you search.

We see it all the time, people towing 5th wheel that should be towing with a dually all the time but they do it, it can tow it but having a dually with that kind of weight is so much stable.

 

[Firebird]

That HO will pull like a mule!! Yes, a dually would be preferable for stability with anything north of 13,000 pounds, but you already have the truck. So just match whatever camper you choose to the truck.

 

[Bigdaddy]

He want to leave himself a little wiggle room.

 

[Irishthreeper]

I suggest you find a 5W with a hitch weight around 2,000 to 2,200. You’ll be surprised how quickly the weight adds up when you load up for a trip. We are full timers so probably have more crap than you will but the scale showed we had about 700 lbs more hitched up than the advertised hitch weight.

 

[Cman2]

Congrats and welcome to RF! I just recently purchase a 2022 ram Laramie 3500 it's a CCLB my payload is 4055lbs and my towing is 20,055lbs, you are going to get a lot of answer here so get ready, as far as that 5th wheel, if you don't load it up to the full 16500lbs you will be okay, and I say that lightly because you will be surprise of the stuff you load up in these rv's.

A SRW people like to say that you can go up to 15,000lbs but after that a dually will come into play, so it's really on what do you feel comfortable with, are you comfortable with that setup. Some people are hard knots that you much have a dually to tow that and some will say that if you don't load it up to full captivity, so get ready for those to come chime in.

My 5th wheel is 37" with a total weight of 13,000lbs, which I haven't been to the scale again yet but I know that I'm good with that weight so I'm not worrying about that. When you get up to 16,500lbs you will be better off on getting a dually it's so much better towing that kind of weight with a dually. The best thing to do if you are committed is once you do get it is to go to the scale and get it weighted you might find out that you are okay.

So what kind of 5th wheel are you buying? You always don't go by the unloaded weight but the gwr of the 5th wheel and 20% of 16,500 is 3,500lbs but it will usually will be more like 3700lbs to 3900lbs if you don't overload it, so continue with you search.

We see it all the time, people towing 5th wheel that should be towing with a dually all the time but they do it, it can tow it but having a dually with that kind of weight is so much stable.

Thank you for the feedback. We were thinking of a Jayco Northpoint bunkhouse. After further research and the test of the comments, I would rather go with a lighter bunkhouse and not worry too much if I go over weight after loading it all up.

 

[Cman2]

That HO will pull like a mule!! Yes, a dually would be preferable for stability with anything north of 13,000 pounds, but you already have the truck. So just match whatever camper you choose to the truck.

Thank yeah thinking I'm heading it that direction, 13k or so.

 

[Cman2]

I suggest you find a 5W with a hitch weight around 2,000 to 2,200. You’ll be surprised how quickly the weight adds up when you load up for a trip. We are full timers so probably have more crap than you will but the scale showed we had about 700 lbs more hitched up than the advertised hitch weight.

Your are right it all adds up quickly. We have spent a LOT of time on the road, but have not pulled more than 7k trailer.

 

[KKBB]

I think you would be just fine with that 5th wheel. Just my opinion. I would also think about how often and how far you will be towing. Our 5th wheel we are close to max on our 2500 6.4 hemi, but we also only tow half a dozen times a year and usually it is 50 miles to our favorite camping spot, so not going very far. To me, all of that makes a difference.

 

[OC455]

If your payload is at 3900lbs., I would look at a lighter hitch weight for a 5'ver. There are some real nice bunk house floorplans that are out there that have lighter pin weight. As was stated before, pin weight will go up when the trailer gets loaded taking away from the trucks payload.

 

[Cman2]

If your payload is at 3900lbs., I would look at a lighter hitch weight for a 5'ver. There are some real nice bunk house floorplans that are out there that have lighter pin weight. As was stated before, pin weight will go up when the trailer gets loaded taking away from the trucks payload.

Thank you, already looking some up.

 

[Cman2]

I think you would be just fine with that 5th wheel. Just my opinion. I would also think about how often and how far you will be towing. Our 5th wheel we are close to max on our 2500 6.4 hemi, but we also only tow half a dozen times a year and usually it is 50 miles to our favorite camping spot, so not going very far. To me, all of that makes a difference.

Good point, when we go we go far. Next trip is about 7k miles, so your right that would make a difference.

 

[Bearcatrp]

You have the truck. Match towing capabilities to the trailer. If your married, your wife will want everything plus the kitchen sink loaded like mine. they don't know better. You can get away going over a little bit provided you drive responsibly. BUT, if you get into a wreck, and its determined your over weight pulling, regardless who's fault it is, your at fault for being over weight and not supposed to be on the road in the 1st place. Have fun paying lawyer fees defending that. Stay within the vehicle tow rating. Do the math. Do it right!

 

[Bigdaddy]

Thank you for the feedback. We were thinking of a Jayco Northpoint bunkhouse. After further research and the test of the comments, I would rather go with a lighter bunkhouse and not worry too much if I go over weight after loading it all up.

Good move, let us know what you finally decided to go with.