thinking of a new trailer

[miknem1]

hey everybody, so i am about to do what everybody said i would do. i bought a rockwood mini 2104s in april a week later i bought a new truck to tow that trailer with plans of upgrading the trailer in a year or so. well here it is four months later and im ready to upgrade. i bought a 2013 dodge ram 1500 with the max trailer pack (10,500lb tow rate) quad cab six foot bed. the trailer i am looking at is the rockwood signature 8260ws fifth wheel (6795lb dry) or the windjammer 2809w (6084lb dry). i am not sure i should go that heavy with a trailer but i like the idea of the fifth wheel and the floor plan of the windjammer. i dont know anybody that tows a fifth with a half ton..... any thoughts?

thanks everybody

[TURBS]

Most important thing to look at imo.

What is the cargo carrying capacity of your truck.

What is the hitch weight on either camper?


Turbs

[BarryD0706]

Forget the "tow rating". You have to look at payload rating and GAWR. Your pin weight could be as high 25% of 5er GVWR, but lets use 20%. That means you have a pin weight of 1360 pounds. If you can put 1360 + the weight off all the "stuff" you carry in the truck (including DW) and that still adsd up to less than your truck payload capacity then you're good to go.

[lswartz]

You need something bigger because..........?

[TURBS]

Cargo carrying capacity can be found on your pickup door or door jamb on the sticker with your tire loading info.


Pin weight can be found on the trailer specs page.

[Spence]

Dumb newb question. "DW"????

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Spence

Dumb newb question. "DW"????

Dear wife = dw

[miknem1]

gvwr on the door is 6700lb pay load is 1600lb pin weight on the fifth is 1500lb hitch weight on the jammer is 700lb. i did put air bag overloads on the truck. stupid question but why would they advertise a half ton rated fifth wheel if the smallest one will max out the half ton truck do they think people dont do research or that people wont care. i dont want to be that guy pulling the grape vine at 25 mph

[TURBS]

Did u get the ccc from your truck tire loading sticker.
Such as
This one is 2448 lbs

[miknem1]

Tires are crap i would need better ones

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by miknem1

Tires are crap i would need better ones

So what is the cargo carrying capacity listed on that sticker?

[wyo700]

Originally Posted by miknem1

gvwr on the door is 6700lb pay load is 1600lb pin weight on the fifth is 1500lb hitch weight on the jammer is 700lb. i did put air bag overloads on the truck. stupid question but why would they advertise a half ton rated fifth wheel if the smallest one will max out the half ton truck do they think people dont do research or that people wont care. i dont want to be that guy pulling the grape vine at 25 mph

They advertise that a fifth wheel is half ton towable because ya it may be 6000 empty and your truck has 10500 towing but like everyone has said it's your gvwr that matters. You will never ever reach your max tow in pounds and be under yours trucks gvwr it's almost impossible. One thing I have kinda figured out is take 80% of what is advertised as max tow and that is more realistic.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by miknem1

gvwr on the door is 6700lb pay load is 1600lb pin weight on the fifth is 1500lb hitch weight on the jammer is 700lb. i did put air bag overloads on the truck. stupid question but why would they advertise a half ton rated fifth wheel if the smallest one will max out the half ton truck do they think people dont do research or that people wont care. i dont want to be that guy pulling the grape vine at 25 mph

It's called marketing...that's why all sales talk is inflated & can't be taken as gospel until you do your homework on the numbers...math don't lie!

[BarryD0706]

I didn't notice that the 1360# I used was from dry weight That's way too low then. Also the 1500# you have is a dry pin weight. You need to use 15-25% of the 5er GVWR (includes the max cargo it can have in it). Don't forget to add in close to 100 pounds for the 5th-wheel hitch. That truck would be way undersized for the 5er.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by miknem1

gvwr on the door is 6700lb pay load is 1600lb pin weight on the fifth is 1500lb hitch weight on the jammer is 700lb. i did put air bag overloads on the truck. stupid question but why would they advertise a half ton rated fifth wheel if the smallest one will max out the half ton truck do they think people dont do research or that people wont care. i dont want to be that guy pulling the grape vine at 25 mph

I will say, the new F-150 EgoBoost with max payload and max towing packages are boasting some impressive payload numbers. It's a lot of coin for a 150, but it has the numbers to support a lot more fifth wheel than most 1/2-ton trucks.

Doesn't help you, I know.

[ependydad]

The same as what Turbo and Barry said, just in article form:

http://learntorv.blogspot.com/p/what-can-i-tow.html

[miknem1]

Cargo on the door sticker says 1540lb but the truck has a car type tire on it right now. I ran over a pinecone and got a flat so im already looking at heavier tires

[TURBS]

Keep in mind you can't upgrade the tires from p metric passenger style tires to lt truck type tires without upgrading the the wheels as well.

[TURBS]

The pin weight is 1500 lbs and you've all but used up your ccc before you even load anything in the camper or truck.
Not feasable sorry.
Lt tires or not.

[miknem1]

ok well thanks guys thats what i was looking for some real world answers. i will just roll with the truck and trailer i have and wait tell i can get a bigger truck. i really like the fifth wheels but i wanted to do my research before jumping into something that just didnt sound right in my head no matter how many times the salesman said "no you will be fine". thanks again everybody