Cyclone 4018???

[BarneyFife]

I would be scared to put that much weight on the tail end of the Lippert frame. I may be wrong but that seems to be pushing the limit back there.

I imagine once you get to those CCCs, you're moving into something like the Forest River Work & Play toy haulers or a full blown race trailer.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

And then the truck needed to haul a rig that heavy. I know the newer 3500 dually's seem to have the towing capacity but what about the weight on the pin?
I'll also bet someone will ask, "will my 2500HD pull this much"?

 

[DW_Gray]

Firstly, the Cyclone uses Lippert’s 12” I-beam that is capable far more than 18,000 pounds. The limiting factor is the other components attached to frame, such as the axle systems, the wheels and tires, the pin box, etc. BTW: The original Trial Air pin box before Lippert bought it was rated at 22,000 pounds.

Secondly, I’ll use my 4012 weights as an example. The GVWR is 20,400 pounds.

Before smart car in garage (8/6/10)

GVW: 17,800
Kingpin: 3,600 (Truck’s rear GAWR: 9,350)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Axle: 4,975 (GAWR: 6,000)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Axle: 4,375
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Axle: 4,850

Note: The above springs and axles proved to be inadequate and Lippert upgraded the axle system to GAWR of 7,000 pounds. So far that has proven to be a good thing.

The 4012’s garage is rated 2,500 pounds. With my smart car weighing in at 1,825 pounds and including all my other equipment in the garage, I'm confident that my garage weight is between 2,300 and 2,500 pounds.

After smart car in garage (6/14/11)

GVW: 19,750
Kingpin: 3,725
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Axle: 4,950 (GAWR: 7,000)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Axle: 5,375
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Axle: 5,700

Lastly, you be the judge.

 

[BarneyFife]

You may be right. But does Towmax have a G rated tire?

 

[DW_Gray]

You may be right. But does Towmax have a G rated tire?

Although one may be more comfortable with G rated tires, I don't think that is necessary. My heaviest wheel load is 3,100 pounds. That is still 320 pounds under the limit of my E rated tires. Even if I maxed out the GVWR, I doubt it will overload the E rated tires. I also maintain 80 psi in all the tires and periodically measure tread depth for unusual wear. I recently had to have one of my new axles aligned because the tread depth on one tire indicated a problem.

 

[Mongoose9400]

And then the truck needed to haul a rig that heavy. I know the newer 3500 dually's seem to have the towing capacity but what about the weight on the pin?
I'll also bet someone will ask, "will my 2500HD pull this much"?

My parents 2012 F450 FX4 Crew Cab Long bed does 24,xxx with 5th wheel towing. Bed payload capacity of 5,xxx. I'm sure a F450 could haul a trailer with a GVWR of 24,000 lbs.

 

[cavlino]

Yeah. I'd like to see 5000-6000 lb cargo capacity with that size garage. Put 3 8,000 lb axels for a rating of 24,000 lbs

Same here, 3 8k axles at least as an option for those of us that could use it.

 

[cavlino]

By the way this model now shows up officially on the Heartland site So who wants to buy my 2012 Cyclone 4014? Its blocked in by Snow right now but it will be available in the spring time.

 

[scottyb]

And then the truck needed to haul a rig that heavy. I know the newer 3500 dually's seem to have the towing capacity but what about the weight on the pin?
I'll also bet someone will ask, "will my 2500HD pull this much"?

The 2013 RAM has a 30K tow rating.

 

[BarneyFife]

For me personally, pin weight is more important than the weight of the unit.

 

[oscar]

And when you are looking at pin weight you not only look at the max rear axle weight, but also the max payload. (TV tire limitation. )

 

[BarneyFife]

And when you are looking at pin weight you not only look at the max rear axle weight, but also the max payload. (TV tire limitation. )

Exactly my point. I learned this the expensive way. Our Cyclone was our first fifth wheel. Had numerous TTs but never a fifth wheel. Bought our 370C with an '09 F350 SRW to bring it home. It pulled it very well and all seemed well. Then after reading more on rv.net, I started to wonder about my rear axle weight on the F350. Turned out I was almost 1000 lbs. overweight on the truck. No matter what I tried to figure out, there was only one answer. Three weeks after buying our Cyclone, we bought our F450. So nowadays, I ALWAYS check pin weight for the truck being used.

 

[rgwilliams69]

The 2013 RAM has a 30K tow rating.

Yeah, if you can somehow get the curb weight of the truck down to 6500 pounds without fuel, passengers, hitch, etc. The GCWR max is 37,500 so loaded and ready to go you can't be over 7,500 if you are towing 30,000. I've been laughing about these numbers ever since RAM came out with them - and I think many others are laughing with me as well. Geez...

By the time you get up that high I think you are in F450 or probably larger territory - maybe one of the special make FL-70s or the like. Now that's a truck!!

 

[DW_Gray]

@BarneyFife,

Looking back, if you had known about it, do you think the Before You Buy RV app could have helped you?

 

[scottyb]

By the time you get up that high I think you are in F450 or probably larger territory - maybe one of the special make FL-70s or the like. Now that's a truck!!

The F550 we purchased for the company last summer on has a 25,900 towing capacity. Just to put this in perspective. It would defeat my purpose to have to go to a tractor to pull my rig. The reason I wanted a 5th wheel in the 1st place is so I would have my truck to drive around when I get some place. I'm not driving a tractor out to dinner.

 

[rgwilliams69]

Completely understand, I feel the same way. Although if left up to my wife (who really likes the big, big trucks) she would probably use the Freight-liner to go to the grocery store AND out to dinner. LOL I'm wondering though if RAM keeps upping their numbers that the other two will follow? With the 18k Cyclone behind my F350 it almost feels like nothing is back there at all, which suggests to me that my capacities probably have room to grow and a bigger margin above the 22,800 max rating. I imagine that this truck will be up to pulling almost whatever I might encounter for the next many years while I have it, at least I'm hoping. Only thing I wish I had done more research on between the F350 and F450 though was the turning radius - this beast sure needs a big circle to make it...

 

[BarneyFife]

@BarneyFife,

Looking back, if you had known about it, do you think the Before You Buy RV app could have helped you?

If I had seen that beforehand, I probably wouldn't even be a member here talking about Cyclones.