Fifth Wheel Towing Length and Wheelbase?

[Rockerga]

I know I am wearing all of you out but I swear one day I wil pay you all back by being more of a "responder" and active assistant in these forums than my current position as PEST!

With a TT you take the TV wheelbase into consideration for the maximum "safe" towing length of your TT. Is this also true or is there a different calculation for fifth wheels?

As a start: I have a 153" wheelbase 2008 Chevy (2500HD with crew cab) so in the world of travel trailers I should stay around 30.75' of TT at that wheel base. I am looking at a 37' fifth wheel........ I know even with TT you can fudge 3 -4 feet but not SEVEN!

 

[boatto5er]

Wheelbase or length are (IMHO) not the determining factors with a 5th wheel. You need to concentrate on the payload of the truck vs the pin weight of the trailer, and also on the overall combined weight. Others to be considered are the tow vehicle axel weights and tire ratings. It can get confusing.

 

[TXBobcat]

I don't know what your 2500HD max towing of 5th wheel is but on my 2006 F250 6.0 diesel it is 15,500#. The 3670RL I think your looking out at is 16,000#. I was also looking at the 3670 but passed because I think a minimum needed to tow it is a 1 ton. The ones that have a GVWR under 15K should work for a ¾ ton. Check the Trailer Life Towing guide. http://www.trailerlife.com/images/digitaleditions/pdfs/DigitalTLTowGuide0801.pdf

 

[Rockerga]

Wheelbase or length are (IMHO) not the determining factors with a 5th wheel. You need to concentrate on the payload of the truck vs the pin weight of the trailer, and also on the overall combined weight. Others to be considered are the tow vehicle axel weights and tire ratings. It can get confusing.[/quote]


YES IT CAN..... Thanks so much for that info!

 

[Rockerga]

I don't know what your 2500HD max towing of 5th wheel is but on my 2006 F250 6.0 diesel it is 15,500#. The 3670RL I think your looking out at is 16,000#. I was also looking at the 3670 but passed because I think a minimum needed to tow it is a 1 ton. The ones that have a GVWR under 15K should work for a ¾ ton. Check the Trailer Life Towing guide. http://www.trailerlife.com/images/digitaleditions/pdfs/DigitalTLTowGuide0801.pdf

I have a total of 25,900#: 9200# vehicle and 16,700# tow(Fifth wheel). I need to see what my rear weight (pin) maximum is. From what I can see my TT maximum tow weight is 13,500# and my fifth wheel is 16,700#.

The Chevy 2500HD long bed is standard with the crew cab. I need to weigh my "stuff" in my truck.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Ron, my 2500 D/A is rated at 22K. Thats TV, people, fuel, and junk the DW piles it the Horn. With your current TV you should be good at 14-14.5 K on a Horn. 3400RL's, 3410's 3055's all would work. The 3670 is too much for a 3/4 tn. Dont get me wrong, your TV will pull it and stop it. The problem being your over weight according to most state laws. Just some more confusion. Bob

 

[Rockerga]

Ron, my 2500 D/A is rated at 22K. Thats TV, people, fuel, and junk the DW piles it the Horn. With your current TV you should be good at 14-14.5 K on a Horn. 3400RL's, 3410's 3055's all would work. The 3670 is too much for a 3/4 tn. Dont get me wrong, your TV will pull it and stop it. The problem being your over weight according to most state laws. Just some more confusion. Bob

Just about exactly what I was coming up with finally.... Yes, we want to travel the 50 states plus Canada so we need to be in compliance.

We have just modified our potential targets to the:

Eagle Ridge 34QSRL THIS MODEL I COULD LOAD TO THE HILT
Big Horn 3055RL, 3385RL or 3400RL: These models I would have be careful with what we put in there especially since we want a W/D.
more

 

[JohnDar]

GM Towing Info

Ron,
Go to this website for GMC and get some real information on the 2500HD series. The Chevy site is useless for real information and the GMC and Chevy trucks are practically identical.

http://www.gmc.com/sierra/2500HD/specsCapabilities.jsp

 

[Rockerga]

Ron,
Go to this website for GMC and get some real information on the 2500HD series. The Chevy site is useless for real information and the GMC and Chevy trucks are practically identical.

http://www.gmc.com/sierra/2500HD/specsCapabilities.jsp

Excellent! The Chevy site you have to hunt, search and decipher!!!!!

 

[mrcomer]

I have a total of 25,900#: 9200# vehicle and 16,700# tow(Fifth wheel). I need to see what my rear weight (pin) maximum is. From what I can see my TT maximum tow weight is 13,500# and my fifth wheel is 16,700#.

The Chevy 2500HD long bed is standard with the crew cab. I need to weigh my "stuff" in my truck.

Are you sure about the 16,700# tow(Fifth wheel)? My 2003 2500HD is a crew cab short bed 4x4 and can tow a fifth wheel up to 14,700 lbs and max. pin weight of 3,000 lbs.

Well I hope you are right though. It would be awesome to think they have increased the capacities that much over the years.

Good luck,
Mark

 

[Rockerga]

Are you sure about the 16,700# tow(Fifth wheel)? My 2003 2500HD is a crew cab short bed 4x4 and can tow a fifth wheel up to 14,700 lbs and max. pin weight of 3,000 lbs.

Well I hope you are right though. It would be awesome to think they have increased the capacities that much over the years.

Good luck,
Mark

So far.... YES. It looks as though this is correct information. I have had to gleen from many different sources and still waiting on a response from my dealer to verify. (I provided my VIN)

 

[JohnDar]

Here's the info from the GMC site on the 2500HD and 3500HD. The Chevy site used to have a poorly defined chart with towing capabilities on it, but you could not get any detail. The current website hasn't got any info on it.

 

[Boca_Shuffles]

Weigh your truck rather than just using the manufacturer's specifications.

THEY LIE!

My 2006 HD2500 Duramax regular bed should have weighted 5,983 lbs according to the GMC site. With a GVWR of 9,200 lbs, I should be able to carry a payload of 3,217 lbs. I figured I was good with a 2,000 lb pin weight.

At the truck scales, my truck weighed 7240 lbs with myself (215 lbs), a full tank of diesel (215 lbs) and 5th wheel hitch (<200 lbs). There must have been 627 lbs of options added to my truck. I think it was the spare tire, the bumper, the seats, and those other optional things.

With my unloaded 5th wheel, my truck was at 9,200 lbs without the DW, the two 50 lb dogs, clothes or food.

After two years of worrying about the legal ramifications of getting in a personal injury accident and being over GVWR, I finally bought a dually.

The thing that annoyed me the most was that I had ,read the manufacturer's spec's and thought I was good to go. I could have just as easily bought a dually, the first time. for about the same price.

That's my $.02.

 

[Rockerga]

Weigh your truck rather than just using the manufacturer's specifications.

THEY LIE!

My 2006 HD2500 Duramax regular bed should have weighted 5,983 lbs according to the GMC site. With a GVWR of 9,200 lbs, I should be able to carry a payload of 3,217 lbs. I figured I was good with a 2,000 lb pin weight.

At the truck scales, my truck weighed 7240 lbs with myself (215 lbs), a full tank of diesel (215 lbs) and 5th wheel hitch (<200 lbs). There must have been 627 lbs of options added to my truck. I think it was the spare tire, the bumper, the seats, and those other optional things.

With my unloaded 5th wheel, my truck was at 9,200 lbs without the DW, the two 50 lb dogs, clothes or food.

After two years of worrying about the legal ramifications of getting in a personal injury accident and being over GVWR, I finally bought a dually.

The thing that annoyed me the most was that I had ,read the manufacturer's spec's and thought I was good to go. I could have just as easily bought a dually, the first time. for about the same price.

That's my $.02.

Thanks also JohnDar as I had found the particular documents you attached after sending my message. These guys keep you confused. Depending on what document you read the "towing capabilities" change! I just need to weigh my truck as you did and go from there! But now I am figuring a max fifth wheel of 13,600# from the most recent document. (I would rather calculate based upon the lesser.)

I am working the DW for a 3500 as I am seeing exactly what you mentioned as the reality. The problem is we just bought a 2008 2500HD in December.

 

[JohnDar]

Thanks also JohnDar as I had found the particular documents you attached after sending my message. These guys keep you confused. Depending on what document you read the "towing capabilities" change! I just need to weigh my truck as you did and go from there! But now I am figuring a max fifth wheel of 13,600# from the most recent document. (I would rather calculate based upon the lesser.)

I am working the DW for a 3500 as I am seeing exactly what you mentioned as the reality. The problem is we just bought a 2008 2500HD in December.

It is a problem trying to figure out just what is the right size TV to get. When we were at the show that we purchased our rig from, they had a poorly focused picture of a pickup truck taped on the side. You could not tell which model or size it truly was, and I could not nail anyone down to specify what size truck was needed. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to decide on which truck to get and used a lot of comments from this forum to make up my mind. I almost went to a 4500, but that would have been too much truck to be driving around with nothing behind it.

Redeeming factor on my 3500HD is that it's getting almost the same mpg as the wife's 2005 6 cyl. Trailblazer and diesel is $0.50 cheaper than gas right now.

 

[Rockerga]

Bad news!!!

When I decide to upgrade to the BG3385RL or even the Eagle Ridge 34QSRL I have to also trade-up to a 3500HD Dually!

The scales don't lie but GM does!!!!

I went to a Pilot service center CAT scales this morning for a weigh-in and.....

Front: 4280
Rear: 2940
Total: 7220# (MAX GVWR OF 9200#)

So I have only 1980 pounds to play with which must include:

The fifth wheel mount: 200#
DW (Lets just say 150# for a round-off and to keep me outta trouble)
W/D added to front closet: 150#

With NOTHING ELSE that puts me at 7870# (Minus 9200) equals a max pin weight of 1330# MAXXING OUT MY GVWR........ NOT GONNA HAPPEN!