truck for cedar creek 34rl

[wmbuttion]

The 3500 Rams have a 32 gal. tank. 4 or 5 gal. def tank. Whatever floats your boat on the aux. But not having to weary about fuel is a plus.

[Sterlingsilver]

I'm not trying to kid anybody.
13 is hard to get. Requies level ground, good pavement and not exceeding 60 and no headwind. Speed and grades knocks it to 10 quickly.

[BGKirkham]

Originally Posted by Sterlingsilver

I pull a Cedar Creek 38 CK with a Chevy 2500 Duramax. It's a 2012 and has been in all 48 states. My loaded trailer is around 15,500. The truck is rated to 17000. I typically caution against buying too much truck. The ride, handling, and safety is poor when the tow vehicle is not closely matched to the load. This is not necessarily a case where more is better. I can tow easily in overdrive on level ground. I keep speeds around 60 to 65. Never had a crash. Get 13 MPG and over 400 miles per fillup. Never felt compromised. Enjoy your camping and take it easy.

You're over on your cargo weight capacity. "I've never had a problem" isn't a valid recommendation. It's all about the numbers.

Originally Posted by Sterlingsilver

I typically caution against buying too much truck.

In this case, you really do need more truck.

[Sterlingsilver]

You could be right. The trailer has a hitch weight of 2310. I see payload ratings of the truck at 3500 but whatever, it's pulled for 5 years and 50k miles with no issues and still has the original tires. The rig sits dead level. I run the rear tires to 85 psi when trailering.

[Sterlingsilver]

I notice the use of the word "legal limit". Probably the lawyers picked the specs. I actually met a guy pulling 40k with a 3500. The truck was not his problem. Law enforcement was. So, yes, always stay within the correct numbers. I also have a friend with a Montana and a Ford dully who had so much truck his wife wouldn't ride with him. It killed her back and he gave it all up. It was my introduction to "too much truck".

[kenenn]

Reading a lot of claims re: mileage but wonder how many are vehicle " computer " generated vs a good old spreadsheet with actual gallons and miles per calculated.
I pull a 2004 CC 34 with a 2004 Silverado Diesel generally no more than 60 mph and my mpgs are low average 7.51 and high average 9.70 with the best being 11.86 on two different runs over the past 9 years travelling minimum of 3600 miles per year.
These are all true spread sheet figures kept over that 9 year period.

[Sterlingsilver]

Good data. You will find though that the newer trucks are much more efficient. They also run extremely clean. Not sure about 2004 but the 2012 Alison has 2 overdrive gears. Level ground engine rpm will not exceeding 1500 and that's when the mileage gets optimum.

[plasma800]

So, back to the op's topic... just the right truck? or too much truck?

[sleepy1wk]

I have a F 250 gas Short bed and will be pulling a Cedar creek Custom 39CKTS, dry weight 12,800. We added an extra spring leaf. Do you think we will be okay pulling? Im new to 5th wheel, used to drive a 30 ft class C Lexington. Big difference.

[wbduckman]

I keep trying to tell some folks without success.

When pulling these Big 13 & 14 K Lb 5th Wheels with a Diesel, It normally NOT the TOWING Capacity that you have to be concerned with. All of the Big 3 Diesels will Tow most anything.
It's the MAX CARGO RATING of the Truck that most do not pay attention too.

Second point.
The Post earlier is spot on. The saying of "Never had a problem" in regards to exceeding ANY weight limit is very Unwise and potently Deadly advice. The be honest, it's not even Logical.

Plasma,
Just make sure whatever Truck you decide to buy that it has enough Towing, GCWR, AND Max Cargo Capacity to handle your New 5th Wheel.

[GOTTOYS]

Originally Posted by donniedu

Why? I normally get 10.5 pulling, with a 35 galon fuel tank thats over 360 miles between fill ups. And believe me I want to get out and stretch long before that point. I just dont see dragging an extra 500 pounds around for what? Maybe 5 cents a gallon cheaper.

I have a 62 gallon aux tank. I stop a couple times a day in a rest stop but I no longer have to find a station I can fit in when I'm low on fuel. With over 90 gallons on board I can go a long ways. Never notice the extra weight and I doubt it affects my mileage more than a couple tenths..
I went from a Ram 2500 to a Chev 3500 dually. Rides as good or better. Mileage is the same but the handling is way better. In my opinion if your pulling a larger 5th wheel...a one ton for sure.

[Dan50]

Originally Posted by Sterlingsilver

You could be right. The trailer has a hitch weight of 2310. I see payload ratings of the truck at 3500 but whatever, it's pulled for 5 years and 50k miles with no issues and still has the original tires. The rig sits dead level. I run the rear tires to 85 psi when trailering.

That 2310 pin weight is DRY pin weight. Once you load up the trailer to camp it will be closer to 2800-3000 lbs range. That's not counting whatever passengers and cargo that are in the truck that count towards cargo capacity. You are overloaded sir.

[Sterlingsilver]

At 3500 lbs payload that looks good to me.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by plasma800

I'm getting near pulling the trigger on a:

15,16,17,18 dodge ram 3500 with an Aisin transmission, crew cab, long wheel base.

Before I do, I wanted some opinions on this truck, and/or this truck matched to a cedar creek 34rl.

This won't be my first RV, but it would be my first fiver... so I have not much knowledge of the hitch, connecting and disconnecting routines...

but I do want to make sure the truck won't cause me any major problems mated to a Cedar Creek 34rl

That year of truck will have no weight issue at all in pulling this trailer and will pull the trailer.
The 68RFE is a good transmission but the AISIN is that much better. It has been stated that with proper maintance, you just cant break the AISIN transmission.

NOW the weight police will tell you that you need a CLASS 7/8 truck to pull any 5th wheel trailer. WHY? I do not know.

What I do know is that "DOT" only cares about tire capacity and the proper tags for a truck.

I am pulling a 2016, 34RL Cedar Creek with 2008 Ram Mega Cab, 2500, 6.7L Cummins with the 68RFE auto, 4X4 and 3:73 gears. In fact it is even a short bed truck, but the wheel base is longer than a regular cab long bed truck, wheel base. The wheel base is what is important for ride comfort.

I have changed out the tires and rims on my truck to Nitto Dura Grappler LT285/70R/17 126R tires and Mickey Thompson Side Bitter II Rims. These tires have a maximum weight capacity of 3750 LBS @80PSI.

The axles, frames, springs (less a helper spring), brakes and powertrain are all the same on that year of vehicle with the only difference, is the selling class to allow for a class 3 vehicle sale. In fact this applies to all 2004.5 and up to 2013 vehicles for Dodge/Ram.

[FrankG]

The 3500 Ram in the Laredo trim or higher would be a great choice to pull your new Cedar Creek. I would opt for the 8ft. bed with the factory provided hitch. I would not opt for the Aisin with the HO Cummins and DRW unless I were to do considerable towing in the western states.

[corn flakes]

I'm towing a 38EL Champagne with a Ram 3500 mega cab short box DRW Aisin transmission 3.73 axle, total weight of front 5240 lbs rear tires 7440 lbs trailer axel's 13080 lbs for a total of 25760 lbs so I estimate the pin weight about 4000 lbs. If I had SRW'S I would be well over weight of the tires. Love the truck lots of power. Today I run the truck at 1750 rpm or 67 mph in 6th gear, takes a long steep hill for the trany to shift into 5th gear which is smooth as butter on the shift down. Just returning home from a two month holiday to Newfoundland with 6900 miles logged.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by FrankG

The 3500 Ram in the Laredo trim or higher would be a great choice to pull your new Cedar Creek. I would opt for the 8ft. bed with the factory provided hitch. I would not opt for the Aisin with the HO Cummins and DRW unless I were to do considerable towing in the western states.

Now when you say factory provided hitch, are you talking about the hitch prep.. or an actual hitch...

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by plasma800

Now when you say factory provided hitch, are you talking about the hitch prep.. or an actual hitch...

The new Ram trucks are now offering both the hitch puck system, and also a new 5TH wheel hitch. Check out the Ram truck building site where it is an option.

[ba964]

Sleepy1,you are going to have weight issues.

[FrankG]

There are volumes of information on this forum as well as others as to 5th wheel hitches.

In my previous post I suggested the factory supplied hitch. It is about $1500.00 retail. With it You are ready to drive off the lot and hook-up.

Other options are the puck system and you locate and purchase a hitch to your liking. It will cost you about the same as above.

Now, if you buy a truck with a naked bed, you will have to install a rail system to attach the hitch to, and have an electrical outlet installed. Again, about the same cost as option 1.

For the do-it-yourselfer, www.etrailer.com is a good starting place, there are others. If you start a thread about what hitch to use you will have 100 replies in 24hrs.