Actual weight of 3055. Pull with 2500?

hertzberg

Member
I have a 3055 coming in Feb 2007 and am in the market for a used truck. I've settled on Chevy/GMC Duramax and really do not want a dually because it's... well.... too wide. And my wife won't drive it. I want to spend about 25K for a 2003/4 2500, probably 2WD SB EC. I've been doing some reading and figure this truck will weigh about 6200 lbs, plus 800 for fuel, hitch, 2 passengers, etc brings it to 7000 lbs loaded. The GVWR is 9200, leaving about 2200 allowable pin weight.

This is my first 5er and I'm trying to learn about GVWR. Since I don't have the truck or 5er, I need some data on real weights. Can anyone with a 3055 report their real world pin weight and loaded trailer weight?
 

rock

Member
My first response is that you probably are not looking at enough truck. You probably will easily exceed you GVW. Your hitch will weigh 150 pounds and if you use special pin box it will weigh another 80+ pounds all on your pin or GVW. I have already learned the hard way not to trust anything in the brochure or the sticker inside the RV. Heartland is not immune from the RV weight scam of under estimating the trailer weight. As an easy referance add 10% to all listed weights. Exceptions would be Canadian manufacturers, like Glendale, who legally must weigh every unit.​

Myself, I like to stay within the specifications listed for my truck, most people do not. You have to decide how much overloaded you are comfortable with. If your only going to pull your trailer to the local campground it would be a differant matter, but if you are going to pull a distance I would get more truck. Just for referance the Ford trucks are rated for a higher GVW in the 1 ton catagory than most the others. A few years back Dodge held that honor. It changes from year to year.​

Hope that was of some help.
 

rock

Member
If you look at the data from the Heartland rally you will see most had pin weights in middle to high 2000's. Someone only had a pin weight of 2050,but most were heavier.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
I was pulling a 2006 Grand Canyon with a GMC D/A and had more engine than I needed. Pulling was not a problem, stopping was. I installed a Brake Smart controller which was fantastic. I could lock up the trailer brakes if I needed to but when I got in the mountains in the coal mining area of Pennsylvania, I found out that 8 tons of trailer pushing a 3/4 ton truck did not make for comfortable driving. I solved that problem. I don't have the "hope I make it down" feeling any more. I loved my GMC, don't get me wrong, but, it wasn't enough truck. Check my weights. I'm number 7 in the rally Weigh It sheet.
John
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
I will be pulling the same trailer with a 2500hd . not to say it's right till I weight it loaded. The 3055 has a posted weight of 10450, pin 2060lbs both will be heavier with stuff,options and hitch and passengers. Grand Canyon 12600 dry ,pin 2300 dry , the magic number for a 2500hd is 2500 pin weight on most and I figure I'll be there or close. If I was ordering a new truck I'd get a 3500 srw for a little more margin for pin weight. No matter what you have its not going to stop on a dime. Pulling power same brake shoes bigger on 3500 . axles same, another leaf spring on 3500. WEIGHT POLICE COME IN:)
 

hertzberg

Member
Thanks for the replies so far - I'm learning a lot about this stuff. I have looked at the Rally Weigh-in sheet - I wish it had model numbers to know which data are for model 3055's. I realize I'm on the edge, thus the desire for real numbers to see if I'm going over, and if so how much.

I will certainly consider a Chevy 3500 SRW if I can find one used - but all of these are 4x4's and long-boxes, which adds about 600 lbs to truck weight. So even though the GVWR of the 3500 SRW is 9900 compared to 9200 for 2500, it doesn't help much on bottom-line allowable pin weight.

If anyone at the rally with a 3055 can identify which line is theirs, that will help. I would like to stay within specs plus or minus 100 lbs. I prefer to stay with the 2003-4 model year (25K budget) so that rules out the newer Ford 350's with higher payload. Prefer Duramax engine also.

I can see the flashing lights of the WP in my rear-view mirror....
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
Most people here will not fill out there signature block , so you don't what vehicle to what they are towing , why I don't Know. When reading posts you could get a feel of what they have and judge from that. I still say a 2500HD will work just fine, many heavier trailers being pulled with no problems. I went down a hill in California , I think the Grape Vine they call it like 15 miles straight down or so it seemed. The Allison Trans took care of that, when the motor started over revving it just started dropping down gears no exhaust brake needed. Need bigger brakes, maybe, but you can't stop on a dime anyway. If you look at the rally weight report , how many are weight right? It depends some what on how much your off ,a little or a bunch. IMO:)
 

Wild Wind

Active Member
We have a 3055 Bighorn and a 2002, Chevy 2500HD Duramax/allision, 4WD, crewcab, with a 8' box ( they are hard to find, ride & handle better then a short box, but there is a problem with the lenght and backing a tight RV parks). We have traveled about 5,000mi with this combo, which is great. In about a year or two we will get another Duramax, but a 3500HD (don't want a Dually). The 2500Hd doesnot leave anyroom for extra weight such as: extra gas tank, rinho liner, or generator.
Before the Bighorn, we hauled the same size Sunnybrook with genertor built in (we really miss not having generator). The truck sat about the same and handled good, but not quite as nice as our Bighorn.
I would be very conerned about buying a used Diseal Truck, they are not tipically driven by little old ladys from Passadeana. I always used to buy used. Then I got new trucks, a 94 Chevey Dieseal and a 96 Dodge Dieseal both turned in under the Lemon Law, and started thinking about them being passed on to some poor unsuspecting sole.
With all of the rebates, employee discounts plus a GM Card, you can get a new Chevy, almost as cheap as used. I love my present Chevy and hate to part with it.
 

kognito

Well-known member
I just got rid of my 2500HD (duramax) it weighed over 7100 pounds without hitch, fuel and people. (it was 4X4) My current 5th wheel advertised 1545 pin weight, but we like to put stuff in the bedroom. DOT in Pennsylviania nailed us on RT78 (guess they had nothing better to do) but at least they did let us go into the trailer and basement to move stuff till we got wieght off the truck

Have you checked out Ford's SRW 350's?? some of them have as much as 11,500 GVWR :eek: That is 100 pounds more than a chevy dually

I saved almost 10K on my new Ford by purchasing a few shares of ford stock. This qualifies you for a once a year purchase of any ford product at "A" plan discount
 

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
I have 3055. I have a gvwr of 9200 lbs. my actual weight is 9650 lbs. Yes I am overweight on the truck. My pin weight is 2676 which includes my hitch and aluminum box with very little inside of it. Actual trailer weight is 12826 lbs. 12826 - 2676= 10150lbs on the trailer tires. Total truck and trailer is 19800 lbs. Under the toal allowed of 22000 lbs.
I guess I should have gone for the 3500 DRW Chevy
 

hertzberg

Member
sailorand, this is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. It tells me that I will likely be 4-500 lbs over with a Chevy 2500 D/A, EC, 4x2 and a Bighorn 3055.

I see that lots of people are towing ok with similar rigs, so with a Prodigy, airbags, etc this might work... so I may decide to go this way, but I will also look into Chevy 3500 SRW or maybe even spend the money to buy a new Ford SRW 350 with higher GVWR (thanks for the Ford stock-buy tip, kognito).

Any other info from others on similar rigs appreciated.
 

nhunter

Well-known member
I just bought a new Ford F-350 and see that they have reaised the GCWR to 23000lbs , up 3000lbs from my 2004 F-350:) . That makes me happy as I am now under by about 3000lbs.
 

nscaler2

Well-known member
Nhunter,
I Don't mean to rain on your parade, I too have a 2006 F350, check your max groose rear axel weight rating. Weigh the truck without the trailer. Get the axel loadings. Weigh the truck with the trailer get the axel loadings on the truck and the trailer. Do the math. I'm affraid that you will find that have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000lbs to play with. You may have 3000lbs GCWR however the rear axel won't let you realize all that additional weight. At least that is what I found when I measured my rig.
 

nscaler2

Well-known member
Weights

Hertsberg,
Here are all the weights from a CATS scale.
Ford says my Max gross weight for the truck alone is 11400.
Max rear axel is 7000
Max front axel is 5600
Actual Truck without trailer:
Front axel - 4620
Rear Axel -- 3250
Total 7870

Actual With trailer
Front axel - 4820
Rear axel -5560-
This makes the truck weigh 10380. This leaves me 1020 head room when you consider the 11400 Ford gross weight rating for the truck alone.
Trailer axel 9140
Total truck and trailer 19520
This makes the trailer weight 11450 (1000 more than Heartland says it weighs:eek: so I figure they are telling some little white lies too) with a pin weight of 2310.
Although some of the numbers would imply that I could handle more than 1020 extra, the Gross max for the truck of 11400 is the limiting factor here so I only have an extra 1020lbs to play with. By the way the trailer was not loaded. No water, not extra stuff. Just like we received it from the factory. Hope this helps :)
 

hertzberg

Member
nscaler2, thanks for the data. Bighorn 3055 pin weight of 2310 empty is 250 more than advertised (2060). And once the wife loads those shoe racks in the bedroom closet...
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
I think the the pin weight would be pretty close to advertised specs. If you add in two full propane tanks,few options and a 150- 200 hitch seems about right. Thanks for weights NSCALER2 a lot of good info there sure can help a bunch of us.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I should have but didn't take time to read all of the replies for this post. I have a 2500 HD with the 8.1 and Allison. We are pulling a 3400RL. The truck handles the trailer very well and we also just had new brakes installed and use a Prodigy so it also stops as well as can be expected. Our 3400 weighed in empty at about 1050 lbs. over the label in the trailer (10750). We have a few extras like dual pane windows and Trail Air hitch pin that might have added 400 or so lbs. but the scale may have been off a bit too. It was a scale at a scrapyard. After loading all of our personal stuff (we're full timers) and with empty holding tanks and full propane we scaled at a truck stop. We're about 200# over GVRW total. On the other hand our individual axle weights were within their ratings. I don't have the scale ticket with me now but we were well under. We are also under our Gross combined weight rating. We totaled out at 20,000#, 2000# under capacity (22000).
Again, the truck handles the weight just fine and at no time did I feel threatened by a lack of stability. We haven't been exposed to every situation either so things could get wierd but we generally are very cautious when pulling our 5ver.
Good Luck
 

wfwilson

Founding Canadian Region Director - Retired
Kognito
How many Ford shares do you have to buy to qualify?
Thanks
WFWilson
2005 Dodge Ram 3500 Quad SRW 4x4
 

auto

Member
I am getting ready to buy a 07 3055. I will be towing about 3 times a year with a 2000 Crew Cab SD F-250 4x4. I will be a little bit over from what I estimate.
 
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