Cedar Creek Tow Vehicle

[justbob]

We are going to go to a Cedar Creek 5th wheel - 36ckts and need some advice on truck purchase. Have been told that a 3/4 ton diesel will work and are undecided on Ford or Ram. Any advice? Will be our 1st 5th wheel - currently have a class C.

[taken]

Originally Posted by justbob

We are going to go to a Cedar Creek 5th wheel - 36ckts and need some advice on truck purchase. Have been told that a 3/4 ton diesel will work and are undecided on Ford or Ram. Any advice? Will be our 1st 5th wheel - currently have a class C.

Can't go wrong with either. Pick you color, which one looks better to you, find your best deal, and They are all so good now, you just can't miss...

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by justbob

We are going to go to a Cedar Creek 5th wheel - 36ckts and need some advice on truck purchase. Have been told that a 3/4 ton diesel will work and are undecided on Ford or Ram. Any advice? Will be our 1st 5th wheel - currently have a class C.

Ford vs. Ram vs. Chevy - all 3 make great trucks. As said, pick your color and options and roll!

As for 3/4-ton vs. 1-ton- I'm of the opinion that people should be educated on this and not just have some anonymous person on the Internet tell them what to do. Your experience/driving abilities/comfort level may be different than mine. For me, I'm still a "by the books" kind of guy- that means, you need to have a truck with enough payload to be able to carry the weight of the fifth wheel as published on the door jamb.

The 36ckts has a dry pin weight of 2,500 lbs. (per the specs) which will give you a realistic loaded pin weight of over 3,000 pounds (per my calculator).

Adding in your people weight (driver, passenger(s)), pets, tools, truck add-ons, fifth wheel hitch, ect. -- you could/may be overloading a 3/4-ton truck. The question comes- what is your feeling on this? We can't answer that and IMO, no one should blindly say you need a 1-ton or blindly say that a 3/4-ton truck is fine.

[taken]

Originally Posted by ependydad

As for 3/4-ton vs. 1-ton- I'm of the opinion that people should be educated on this and not just have some anonymous person on the Internet tell them what to do. Your experience/driving abilities/comfort level may be different than mine. For me, I'm still a "by the books" kind of guy- that means, you need to have a truck with enough payload to be able to carry the weight of the fifth wheel as published on the door jamb.

I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately being educated takes a bit more than taking a 5 second gander at the sticker on the doorjamb which means precisely nothing... First off, the sticker on the door doesn't take into account the actual weight of the truck when ready to tow. The only real way to get your payload is to get your truck weighed and subtract that number from the trucks GVWR. Then subtract your actual weight from that GVWR and now you have it's actual physical rated payload.

[dustman_stx]

One of the main issues for me if I were in the market for a 250 or 350 is availability. Seems to be 10x as many 250's as 350's, at least in my area. You can order a 350 they way you want, but the factory rebates can change between order time and delivery costing you thousands. But I can likely find a 250 just like I want it nearby.

[whj77372]

I was also thinking that the Cedar Creek may be a little heavy for a 250/2500?
I picked up a booklet at the last RV show in Houston, February 1014, and I remember thinking that they were a little heavy for my 2011 F250. Good Luck

[ependydad]

As stated before, I know little to nothing about trucks. As such, I'm not willing to debate if they're identical or different outside of saying that I'm a bit skeptical given that their base prices are different:

Ram:
2015 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Work-Ready Truck
2015 Ram 3500 - Heavy Duty Pickup Trucks

Ford:
2015 Ford Super Duty | Pricing, Financing, Leasing & Ford Incentive Offers | Ford.com

Chevy:
Build Your Own Truck: 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD | Chevrolet
Build Your Own Truck: 2015 Chevy Silverado 3500HD | Chevrolet

It ranges from a couple of hundred dollars to a thousand plus. That's a lot of money for a sticker.

[bturner]

I have a 36CKTS. I traded in a Ram 2500 diesel for a Ram 3500 DRW diesel. The 2500 was over in pin weight but pulled it fine. I wasn't comfortable and it's a gray area with that configuration. The 3500 is not over any weight limits and handles the 36CKTS beautifully. I'm a happy camper.

[davel1971]

check out single rear wheel 1 tons. Way more payload capacity than a 3/4 ton, not quite a dually. A good "in between" option. I love mine

[Ramblin Recks]

Can't speak to a 2500 but our 3500 DRW handles our 36CKTS perfectly.

[justbob]

Thanks to all for their responses. Based on those and some other research that was suggested, I think we will go with a 3500 SRW setup. Just can't do the dually thing.

[davel1971]

you won't be disappointed. The payload is well within spec to carry it nicely. I love mine. Rides good, yet can carry a mess of weight.

[donniedu]

I think you will be disappointed. Our 34ckts pin tops out at 3500 pounds once we are loaded for a month. CC pin weights are heavy. My guess if you go a SRW you will have problems sooner or later.

[davel1971]

payload of my SRW is almost 4200 lbs, so add in weight of hitch and some stuff in bed, still in spec. Seems like you load fairly heavy, to add 1000lbs to the pin weight.

[donniedu]

Gotta ask? Are you basing that on published weights from the factory or true scaled numbers? I would be really suprised true scaled weights would give you 4000 pounds of payload. Of course you have to also understand even if you do have 4000 payload on the truck does not automatically guarantee you can put that much load on the rear axle, or more rightly on two tires!

[davel1971]

payload capacity isn't a scaled number, it's built into the truck.

[mcnabbwr]

You will have absolutely no problems with the 1 ton SRW, I have been pulling a 16,000 lb unit with no issues.

[taken]

Originally Posted by davel1971

check out single rear wheel 1 tons. Way more payload capacity than a 3/4 ton, not quite a dually. A good "in between" option. I love mine

Yep, SRW one ton's are a complete different truck from the 250. That's the way to go...

OK, one last time.... They are identical.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by donniedu

Gotta ask? Are you basing that on published weights from the factory or true scaled numbers? I would be really suprised true scaled weights would give you 4000 pounds of payload. Of course you have to also understand even if you do have 4000 payload on the truck does not automatically guarantee you can put that much load on the rear axle, or more rightly on two tires!

My chevy 3500 duramax crew cab long bed 4wd has a door sticker payload of 4000 lbs. After fiver hitch, family, dog, etc our scaled payload is down to 3320 lbs. Based on that, I would guess their 4200 lbs could be door sticker depending on truck configuration and options but not likely scaled with passengers.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by taken

Yep, SRW one ton's are a complete different truck from the 250. That's the way to go...

OK, one last time.... They are identical.

I might be willing to go with similar but not identical.