2014 ram 3500 big horn srw

[Mattiep89]

Hello all I am new here just about to join the forest river family. We are getting ready to purchase a 2017 nitro 42ds5. I am just wanting to make sure my truck can handle it. No I’m not planning on loading it with toys. I only own a atv and a timbersled so not a lot of weight. I am mostly using this so the wife and kid can come along for work. Am I asking to much from my truck? All the research I have done says I can do it. It’s a 2014 ram 3500 big horn single rear wheel has the bigger breaks also has exhaust break and the heavy duty aisin transmission. I have hauled a 410 backhoe behind it before through the mountains and it did just fine. Will be using a gooseneck adapter as I have a flatbed on my truck with a ball. Thanks in advance for the advice don’t tear me up to bad��

[Jim34RL]

In my humble opinion yes! But I am not a card carrying member of the Weight Police. They will tell you that you will need a DRW or a class 7/8 truck to haul a toy hauler!

The biggest thing you need to check is the mass (weight) carrying capacity of your tires on this truck! Mine where marginal on my 2008, 2500 Mega Cab 6.7L Cummins for hauling my 34RL Cedar Creek. The tires were changed out to Nitto Dura Grapplers LT285/17R/70 126R tires with Mickey Thompson SideBitter II rims. This combination can support a mass (weight) of 3,415LBS at 70 PSI each.

[Mattiep89]

Well your camper all loaded up is as much as the xlr dry and you seem to be happy with it. The trailer only has a carrying capacity of 2000 pounds so I think. I should be alright.

[stealthWA2313]

You may want to have the moderator move this to the toy hauler section. There will be a lot of members with working insight as to what you're asking.

[donniedu]

TT or fiver?
RVs GVWR?
Trucks loaded ready to travel scaled weight, including rear axle weight?
Trucks GVWR, and RAWR?
Without all this infor being supplied no one and I mean NO one can give you an answer.

[Mattiep89]

Originally Posted by donniedu

TT or fiver?
RVs GVWR?
Trucks loaded ready to travel scaled weight, including rear axle weight?
Trucks GVWR, and RAWR?
Without all this infor being supplied no one and I mean NO one can give you an answer.

It’s a toy hauler 5th wheel xlr nitro 42ds5. Truck as it sits on the scale with full tank of fuel wife kids and dogs is 8700. Rawr is 7000 gvwr is 12300. Ram says trailer+equipment is 16800.

[Iwannacamp]

If I can guess....

12300 - 8700 = 3600 as available cargo

16800 would be max tow weight

By specs you will be at 18k GVW RV and somewhere around 3000 pin

[donniedu]

I seriously doubt that you will have 3600 pounds available on the rear axle. 7000 RAWR minus actual scaled rear axle weight is????.
Im guessing that your scaled rear axle weight is already around 3500 pounds. Another 150 pounds for a hitch unless you have a short bed, then its more like 250 pounds. That ends you at closer to 3000 pounds for pin weight. Can this 16,000 pound fivers pin weight fir this scenario? You still have not given enough information, so I guess what your really after is people to pat you on the butt and say go for it, youll be just fine. Aint going to happen from me.

[Mattiep89]

When weighed my truck it was 3300 on the rear axle. No I am not looking for a pat on the butt. I’m making sure it’s safe to do before I spend 42000 on this 5th wheel. I’m also not using a 5th wheel hitch it will be a gooseneck

[donniedu]

While it looks like you then would have around 3400 pounds available for pin weight, after hitch weight, there is no way in heck I personally would do it. Weight plus length just equals to me a recipe for disaster if you ever were to get into a sticky situation. No matter how you look at it, its just too borderline.

[SlfMdeFam]

It’s sad when people will tell you you need a Freightliner big rig to pull a fifth wheel. A dully to pull a TT. A 2500 to pull a pop up and a 1500 to carry tents in the bed.

Numbers are numbers anyway you look at them. Minus this, add that, divide this, carry the 1 and multiply by 12. It’s all BS.

[donniedu]

It amazes me how many folks think they are smarter than the engineers that design and set up the specifications for vehicles. All the numbers that are on the official plackards on these vehicles are certified to the federal government under penalty of death. Well not really death, but certainally there are some hefty fines for each and every voilation. The sum of the individual components will never equal the sum of the entire package. There are a lot of things taken into consideration to come up with the numbers. Tires, wheels, frame loading, springs, shocks, axles. Seat belts, basically everything. There is no federal law preventing a private citizen to ignore the factory numbers, and I know of only one government agency, (BC Canada) that will make you pull in for weight scaling. Insurance companies probably dont care either. But how much is it worth to you personally to place your families health and safety at risk of exceeding the information given to you by vehicle manufacturers.
It is not rocket science to come up with the safe and sane numbers. Scaled weight loaded ready to travel plus 150 pounds for hitch, subtracted from GVWR equals load carrying capacity. Lacking true numbers, 20% of a fifth wheels GVWR will generally give you a good pin weight number. Does that number fit over or under your payload number? The only other thing the OP needs to worry about is RAWR and actual rear axle weight. This number needs to also be under, otherwise your simply asking for problems.

[SlfMdeFam]

Originally Posted by donniedu

It amazes me how many folks think they are smarter than the engineers that design and set up the specifications for vehicles. All the numbers that are on the official plackards on these vehicles are certified to the federal government under penalty of death. Well not really death, but certainally there are some hefty fines for each and every voilation. The sum of the individual components will never equal the sum of the entire package. There are a lot of things taken into consideration to come up with the numbers. Tires, wheels, frame loading, springs, shocks, axles. Seat belts, basically everything. There is no federal law preventing a private citizen to ignore the factory numbers, and I know of only one government agency, (BC Canada) that will make you pull in for weight scaling. Insurance companies probably dont care either. But how much is it worth to you personally to place your families health and safety at risk of exceeding the information given to you by vehicle manufacturers.
It is not rocket science to come up with the safe and sane numbers. Scaled weight loaded ready to travel plus 150 pounds for hitch, subtracted from GVWR equals load carrying capacity. Lacking true numbers, 20% of a fifth wheels GVWR will generally give you a good pin weight number. Does that number fit over or under your payload number? The only other thing the OP needs to worry about is RAWR and actual rear axle weight. This number needs to also be under, otherwise your simply asking for problems.

You forgot to carry the 1 and divide it by 12. Just saying.

[Chuckinca]

Originally Posted by Mattiep89

It’s a toy hauler 5th wheel xlr nitro 42ds5. Truck as it sits on the scale with full tank of fuel wife kids and dogs is 8700. Rawr is 7000 gvwr is 12300. Ram says trailer+equipment is 16800.

Forest River spec sez dry wt of 2017 nitro 42ds5 is 15404.


That leaves you 1396 to max truck wt. Assuming your truck can handle 8700 plus 16800. (our 2008 will only handle 21,000 and our loaded truck as driven is around 8500 without the trailer tongue wt).


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