Hi all. First of all, thanks for your patience with the new guy and all his questions. We've decided on the Attitude 30AKSG or Ragen FA3005; both of them are about the same when it comes to overall weight with the Attitude (even with the slide bedroom) coming in at a few hundred lbs. less pin weight. Is there anything you all would suggest as far as loading the trailer, pin weights, weight distribution within the trailer, etc. to make a pleasurable towing experience? We're not new to RVing but definately new to 5th wheels and the particular dynamics they bring. We do have the factory overload springs but I have yet to actually touch them with the pads - about the heaviest I've hauled is just over a half cord of wet oak. Want to make sure we're within limits and safe.
The truck is in my sig; 8800 GVWR, 6700 with me and a full tank of gas and a few things in the bed, 12000lbs tow 'rating', 20k combined.
Again, thanks very much for your advice and opinions,
Mike
'99 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4, 5.9 Cummins with a few power goodies.
311hp/661tq, 22.3 best mpg. so far empty.
With a 5th wheel, you can put whatever you want where ever you want. You have enough pin weight to not get sway or anything.
With a tow behind, you gotta have enough pin weight to make the WD system work.
I would get a WD system with built in sway control, not one of those little friction bars. Equalizer brand or Reese Dual Cam.
As far as weights go, you have 2100lbs available for pin weight before you go over the GVWR of your truck.
If you are concerned about towing over the ratings of your truck, then a wide body 5th wheel toy hauler is not an option. About all of the 5th wheel toy haulers out there will have more than 2000lbs of pin weight, except maybe the super lite series.
If you don't mind going over the GVWR of the truck, then your truck will have no issues with towing either trailer.
For example, my 39' Weekend Warrior 5th wheel has almost 2700lbs of pin weight and that is a completely empty trailer on the way home from the dealer.
Once I put in full water, my rail and gear, I am at 3400lbs of pin weight.
Hope this helps.
2006 F350 PSD CC 4X4 Dually w/Tow Boss package to pull 2006 LE3905
Thanks very much. In stead of airbags would these be a good option http://www.towshop.com/stable_loads.htm ? They're the Torklift stable load thingies. Seems to make a load of sense to me to actually use the overload springs in conjunction with the main spring pack. What do you think?
NapaZJ wrote: Thanks very much. In stead of airbags would these be a good option http://www.towshop.com/stable_loads.htm ? They're the Torklift stable load thingies. Seems to make a load of sense to me to actually use the overload springs in conjunction with the main spring pack. What do you think?
Mike
I put THESE on my truck. I have factory overloads but the Timbrens hold the truck just off of them when hooked up. The ride is much better and I never have to add or remove air. I had air bags on a motorhome and those were a pain., that's not to say they wouldn't work great on a truck but I just wanted to try another route. So far I like!
PS I had them installed in less than a half hour..
I agree with JBurn and SAS about air bags. we've got Firestones - installed them ourselves - and they work great; we just use them to level everything once loaded.
One other thing to ask about the two rigs you're looking at is the location and capacities of the fresh water, gray water and black tanks. By filling/emptying those tanks (especially the fresh) you can change your balance point and pin weight (think of a playground teeter-totter). I'm not familiar with either rig, but if they have on-board gas for toys or a generator you'll want to know where that tank is too (and the capacity).
Good questions - let us know what you decide!
2005 F-350 SRW LB Black Harley Davdsn, 6.0 Pstroke w/auto, Excite liner, ARE "Z" cap w/Yakima rails & slide/tilt window, PIAA 1500 bu lights. B&W TO Ball hitch, Firestone bags
Wife: Stef the quilter
Dog: Chase, the Golden Retriever
3 sons, 8 grandkids
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