Ok, so me towing trailers that are less than 1000lb don't count nor does towing a 4000lb trailer with a 5T truck. I guess 30 years of towing all kinds of rigs isn't good enough experience.
The two things I notice with a heavier rig. You can't 'swerve' as fast (doesn't matter how big the TV is) and you accelerate slower. The size of the TV can affect the latter, but, usually not by a lot. I actually can stop faster with some larger trailers because they have larger brakes and there are more wheels on the ground per unit mass.
Yes, it is OK to go close to the GVWR.
And, yes, it is OK to have a truck larger than what you need.
Like I said, if I towed a rig a lot, it would be a larger trailer and I wouldn't fool around with a beefed up pickup, it'd be an HDT.
charlie
2006 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab
2003 Skyline Nomad 24ft Fiver
Me and Wife
Maggie the Old English Sheepdog
My fifth wheel claimed to be 1/2 ton towable. That being said, weight-wise it could be possible, my unit only weighs about #9500. The problem is that about #2000 of it is pin weight. That could be pretty tight for a 1/2 ton truck.
souraider wrote: My fifth wheel claimed to be 1/2 ton towable. That being said, weight-wise it could be possible, my unit only weighs about #9500. The problem is that about #2000 of it is pin weight. That could be pretty tight for a 1/2 ton truck.
"pretty tight" is a nice way of saying it is just not good. I tried putting 2000lb in the bed of my truck once. Just once. Bottomed out the springs, then the front end came off the ground. And, no I did not drive it that way.
I'd just say that someone lied about it being 1/2T towable. There are a lot of salesmen who will look at the GCWR and use that to say if it can be towed or not, ignoring the pin weights. Some folks look at their TT and figure the same size fiver should be OK.
There are those trailers that 'claim' to be 1/2T towable, dealers who say they are fine for your 'little' truck, and then there are those that are really OK. Check weights!! Every truck and every model of every truck is a bit different.
And, remember that the mfg trailer weight is unloaded, so figure on what you will put in it. Same with truck ratings. It can be very enlightening at how fast 100lbs of stuff adds up. A long weekend worth of food is usually over 100lb. Fiver hitch is over 100lb. 40gal of water is about 300lb. Some folks tool boxes can be over 100lb. etc. etc.
There are a number of small 5th wheels out there that will not max your truck out. Here is one that is a good fit. It is by Sun Valley Inc. Their model XF-230SL Has a dry weight of 3802# and A GVWR of 6385# with a dry pin weight of 618#. This one even has a slide. It is a Surveyor by Forest River. It's GVWR is 7500# (700# below your max) and it's dry pin weight is 967#. And this one is 26'2".
Hope you guys can help me out here. Although I have a '90 Ford F250 7.3 L Diesel X-cab, long bed, with less than 74 K miles and less than 30 K on tranny (original owner) (I cooked it way back pulling a trailer) this info here is excellent for me to help to stay within safe ranges while shopping for a 5th wheel. DH wants to do a pusher with toad but I'm opting for keeping my truck for now, and going with 5th wheel. We'll be able afford hitting the road full time almost immediately even before getting the house sold. At any rate I have a couple of questions that do pertain to the discussion somewhat.
The book that came with my truck has some charts for GCWR and such. For GCWR for my truck, i.e. Auto Transmission 4.10 Axel Ratio it has three(3) ratings:
Maximum Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR)
Max GCWR Lb = 10,000 Lbs
Trailer Wt Lbs = 0-2,000 Lbs
Max Front Area Sq Ft = Trailer frontal area not to exceed base vehicle frontal area.
..............
Max GCWR Lb = 13,000 Lbs
Trailer Wt Lbs = 2,000-3,500
Max Front Area Sq Ft = 60
.......................
Max GCWR Lb = 14,000 Lbs
Trailer Wt Lbs =3,500-9,100
Max Front Area Sq Ft = 60
So can someone please explain these numbers to me and why there are three different sets? How do I determine where my truck fits in? Thanks for help.
i had a 04 crew cab 4x4 gmc and towed a 7600lb fith wheel no problems, down side was it had no slide because the slide adds roughly around 1200 extra pounds because of the frame work needed,but since then i have up graded because of wanting more room inside, there are towable 5er's out there but rememeber to find out your tow capcity. Manufactors set tow capcities counting the driver and a full tank of gas added already in the weight formula so find out your towing weght and minus 1 wife 2 kids 1 dog, 2 of the kids friends 2 ice chest (1 for beer) and there you go GOOD LUCK
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