My understanding is with a 3/4 ton with 5er's you will,for the most part, exceed the RAWR before exceeding your towing capacity. I went with the 1ton that way I have less to worry about and the mileage and price were pretty much the same. good luck on your choice....I would rather have excess then be at the limit or close to it. I can make more money but cannot replace my family. Safety....for me..but I am a little paranoid.
It all depends on the goodies on your truck, and actual weighs. My 05 is rated for 13400lbs., but doesn't mean anything to me until I know what the pin weigh is going to be, and my trucks exact weigh before the pin is calculated. Now this is the mfg. weights , but I found DOT goes by the
tire ratings instead, I'd go by the mfgs. for sure. The 2500/3500 both use the same rear 11.5AAM axles, and tires, but the dually uses a wider rear axle by a couple inches, but it still has the same rating by the axle mfg..
sch911 wrote: Having had that exact setup I will say this. The truck (Quad Cab) will weigh in at about 7300 pounds loaded with the hitch, since the GCWR is 20,000, that leaves 12,700 for the fifth wheel. For the pin weight the GVWR of the truck is 9000 pounds which leaves about 1700 pounds for the pin. Stay under both of those numbers and you'll be fine.
The OP has asked for a recommendation on a 5er that can be pulled by a 2500 Dodge CTD. The above quote is the most logical and sensible answer.
Or, you could just buy a MDT.
Brian, Donna, and Ted the dog.
2006 Dodge MegaCab 2500 Laramie 4x2 CTD 48RE 3.73 gears
Firestone AirBags - 16K Reese with Slider
2006 River Canyon 34KSTSO - TrailAir Pin - XPS RIBS 245/75/16
Guilford11 wrote: I am looking to purchase a fifth wheel that can be pulled by a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. Any general guidelines you guys can give me regarding what size fifth wheel I should be looking for? Or any other tips regarding my choice of tow vehicle?
It's a difficult question. The only real way to know what you can tow legally is to load up your truck the way you will travel with it and have it weighed. Subtract that weight from your GVWR to get your payload and look for 5'ers that will have loaded pin weights within your payload.
If you haven't already bought the truck, definitely go for the SRW 3500. Same truck, more payload, less uncertainty.
"Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice" WSC
I gave the info on my 3500 RAM CTD as it weighs around 100 - 150# more than a similarly equipped 2500, so thought this may be of some help.
Note: the weights given are with the back seat removed (-100#), roof rack plus bikes & kayaks (+300#). Also have lineX in the bed, over rails. Rest is as mentioned earlier.
Guilford11 wrote: I am looking to purchase a fifth wheel that can be pulled by a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. Any general guidelines you guys can give me regarding what size fifth wheel I should be looking for? Or any other tips regarding my choice of tow vehicle?
First you need to weigh your truck with you and whatever or whoever else is going.... I believe the mid 2000s had a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 9900 lbs and the last few were at 10100 lbs... Take your truck ready to go and Weigh it... If it weighs in at 7800 lbs and the GVWR is 9900 you have 2100 lbs you can add to the Weight of your truck for the Hitch pin.. I suspect you will have quite a bit less than this example.. If you weigh in at 8000 lbs and you have a GVWR of 10100 lbs you can add 2100 lbs... Next you have a GCVWR or Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating... This is what the ENTIRE Rig can weigh... Truck and Trailer all together with you and everything... Don't exceed this either..Next you have the Tow Rating... most likely between 12000 to 16000 lbs... This is the Tow rating and obviously you Cannot tow 16000 as this will bring you over the GCVWR... Truck of 8000 and 16000 is 24000 and Dodges are usually at 23000 with a 1 ton and a 4:10 rear end...So... this is where you start... Your truck.... Next you go hunting for the 5ver that will fit in these parameters.... One caveat... A Dealer Salesperson will tell you that the Cummins will pull whatever he has on the lot... YES IT WILL.... But you will go over the weight ratings in either GVWR or GCVWRs if your not paying attention....Good Luck in the hunt... its part of the fun...Look at the GVWR on the 5ver and this should be under your numbers... Not the uvwr(unloaded vehicle weight rating),, don't trust the sticker in the RV as they are rarely correct....
The mid 2000's RAM 2500 has a GVWR of 9,000#, the 3500 is 9,900#.
That is what I was referring to in my earlier post when I said the incerase in payload of a 3500 compared to a 2500 is quite significant.
If you are stating with a weight of 7,500# in a 2500 you only have 1,500# payload, however, if you have a weight of 7,650# in a 3500 then your payload is 2,250#. If you are comparing capacity 1,500# to 2,250# you can carry a lot more with the 3500.
payload for a pickup is based on axle/tire capacities. My 2500 Dodge/Cummins 2wd weighs 6800 lbs. The rear has a 6000 RAWR and when empty weighs 2800 lbs which leaves 3200 lbs for its legal payload. Loading by simple using GVWR will be well under any legal weights if that's your thing.
Going to the 3500 SRW with its 6400 RAWR will leave 400 lbs (3600) more than the 2500 for its payload. Now if you want even more payload capacity (5500 lbs) go with the 9350 RAWR of the 3500 DRW.
'03 2500 Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs
'97 Park Avanue 28' with two slides
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