New Bighorn with new truck

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
You need air lift and it will give you a smoother ride over the highway potholes and such perfect bridge transitions. Get the Air Lift with remote with the joust bumpers/bump stops built in. It will give you a slight nose up, but I have have had it this way for over five years with no problem. Do to the front fifth wheel slope, it did not add to my over all fifth wheel height.
 

orion7144

Well-known member
Well I finally had a chance to weigh the truck and rv. Completely surprised at how heavy the Bighorn is. No wounder I sagged so much. I have installed airbags but have not tested them yet on a trip. That starts today with a trip to Florida. truck.jpg
combined.jpg
 

orion7144

Well-known member
full tank of 48 gallons of diesel, generator, AHU hitch, full DEF, 3 people=450lbs, air bags and compressor, various tools, and 10 extra gallons of diesel. Oh yea and some beer. Towed 330 miles today to Sweetwater TN. Much better with the bags. Not on the overload springs anymore. Tomorrow we head to south of Atlanta (probably Macon)

What do you have in the bed of the truck, lead? My Chev only weighs abt 3500 unloaded.[/QUOT
 

NP_Chief

Well-known member
Tomorrow we head to south of Atlanta (probably Macon)

About 20-30 minutes South of Macon is a town called Byron... Got a couple clean campgrounds, a good BBQ joint, and a wine tasting room (right behind BBQ joint). Where are y'all headed to?
 

orion7144

Well-known member
We are at the KOA off 75 at exit 97. Leaving in the morning for ST. Augustine. Staying at Stagecoach RV park. My main AC is not cooling well so I am a bit concerned. When I put the slides out here 1 of my toppers broke. The metal piece that connects the cylinder to the bracket snapped. I have it tie wrapped right now hopping it makes it to FL. Had to fix a cross threaded fitting on the toilet that had a small leak. Ahhh the life of RV'ing
 

avvidclif

Well-known member
You mean 3500 on the rear axle right? If the total is only 3500 your missing something (or everything).

The only time I weighed this truck was on a scale at a brick plant and it doesn't break it down. Truck weighed 8500lbs and the front is supposed to have 5k on it. That leaves 3500. One day I will get around to weighing the whole setup but it's not a priority since I know the RV weights (15.1k Gross and 3600 on the hitch) and they are well within the dually's ratings. Unlike the SRW I had that was marginal.
 

yport

Well-known member
You might take a look at Timbren for your truck...probably around $400.

Made a huge difference on our truck.
The pin weight for our camper is 3,850.

I used Timbrens on my last F250 and loved them. Never had to think about airing up and down or springing a leak! It's like having a 350 ride when you need it and a 250 ride when you don't.
 

Dmetcalf

Well-known member
I also needed to add bags to mine. My pin weight has to be pushing 4000 lbs. Factory pin weight without anything in it is 3700 then because we are full time in it and the washer/dryer combo unit is up front I think 4000 is a good guess. With the bags inflated to 50-55 psi. it rides level.
 

FL-JOE

Well-known member
Well I finally had a chance to weigh the truck and rv. Completely surprised at how heavy the Bighorn is. No wounder I sagged so much. I have installed airbags but have not tested them yet on a trip. That starts today with a trip to Florida. View attachment 61863
View attachment 61864
The first thing I looked at when I was truck shopping last year was payload capacity for the bed of my truck. My F350 DRW with the heavy tow package (4.10) is rated at over 6,800 pounds. Comparing a similar equipped F450 my payload would have been much less believe it or not. Even though I haven't ran across the scale yet I'm guess I have well over 4,000 tongue when loaded. My F350 DRW doesn't squat at all.
 

david-steph2018

Well-known member
Our 2017 Ram 3500, Big Horn, does not have air bags. When hooked up it squats a little. With this it is about a 3" squat. The Ram rides great without the airbags when loaded.
We were weighed at the National Rally in 2019, total weight, for the Road Warrior, was 20,950 at that time. The total weight for the Road Warrior and Ram was 31,275.
I have been across CAT scales a couple of times since, and the total is better much still the same. I have added a 5th wheel toolbox at the tailgate and that added 150lbs to the total.
 
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