Do I need a dually

[dugganrs]

Hello all. My wife and I just ordered a 41' fifth wheel with a gvwr of 16000 lbs and now I need to go buy a truck. After looking at the towing capacity is the 1 ton dually a must?

[wingnut60]

16000 lbs gross can mean up to 32-3500lbs pin weight. If a selected truck can support that much pin weight, and the tires aren't over capacity, should work.
A 3500/350 at least.
But there are lots of overloaded SRWs towing those size trailers....

[Notanlines]

A 350-3500 is an absolute must. Dually, like Wingnut mentioned, possibly. Give us the delivered pin weight and then we can go from there. Do NOT buy into the baloney stories thrown around by 3/4 ton owners that the truck "will tow anything." That's bogus as a football bat. Get back with us with a brand, year and model of the RV.

[wingnut60]

I have occasionally towed over one or more of the weight limits, but would NEVER add more weight to the truck rear axle than the 2 tires can carry and also have some leftover capacity.

[Mtntrek]

Welcome to the forum!
Congrats on your new trailer!

This topic is often heavily debated with merit(s) in both camps.

A good deal of consideration may weigh (every pun intended) on your intended use of the equipment. Occasional use, heavy use, 100 mi. to a local lake a couple times a yr., full time use. Some folks gotta do allot of burger joint drive through's? Everything in RV's is a compromise.

13>'x 41>' of anything grabs allot of air when being passed by a 80,000 lb. semi @ 60>mph.
Happy trails, keep the sun on your face and the wind on your back.

[CoMaddMax]

Well... I haul a 16K 5er and my father in-law has sold and rebuilt 2500/3500 since the 70's and he say's the engine, frame and transmission are ALL the same between the 2. I have a RAM 2500 with Firestone overloads airbags on the back and over 20K miles with no issues. Never felt unsafe or out of control even when my trailer brakes went out when I was going over 4 mountain passes in CO. The engine brake and tow/haul worked great. It was at the end of my trip and I was headed home. Got the brakes fixed when I was home.(warranty issue)

[Gemstone]

"I have a RAM 2500 with Firestone overloads airbags on the back and over 20K miles with no issues". Those air bags are doing nothing more than leveling your truck....they add nothing to the stability or the weight carrying capacity of the truck.
"my trailer brakes went out when I was going over 4 mountain passes in CO"....and that is the main reason I migrated from a 3500 to a HDT.

Regards
Gemstone

[elliott-maine]

You need to look at the gross rear axle rating before you decide if you need a dually.

[BearKeller]

As previously stated, you CAN tow with a under rated truck and probably get by. The potential serious issue is if involved in a serious accident and the lawyers determine you were towing with a under rated vehicle you are in deep DODO! How many TV lawyer ads do you see on TV! They are relentless to say the least. These vehicles have ratings for a reason, its not just tires its axles, brakes, suspension and there is a significant difference from a 2500 or 3500 RAM SRW and a 3500 RAM DRW. I have a Mobile Suites 37' and there is no SRW truck rated to pull it legally. My son has a 41' with a 16K gross, tows with a 3500 GMC SRW and has to be VERY careful how much stuff he puts in the trailer and the bed of the truck and stay under his legal ratings.

[wingnut60]

Yes, TV is full of lawyer ads--ever seen a factual, documented incident of overweight RVs getting the owner sued/criminally charged?
Or ins co denying coverage due to incident of over ratings?

[joleyred]

I've driven work trucks and RV haulers for many years and I prefer a safety cushion on my vehicles GVWR. I feel better with the load spread over 4 tires on the rear instead of 2 tires. I feel better going down the road well under loaded.

[Rhagfo]

Well many feel ok pulling a 16,000# 5er with a SRW 3500, in my opinion a 3500 SRW is just a 2500 with heaver springs and maybe higher rated tires (optional on the 2500). So not much difference! Do yourself a BIG favor and get the 3500 DRW, no issues with weight. that is my next TV.


Just pulled my DD new to her 30' all aluminum four horse slant with living quarters from Medford, OR to Portland, OR.


I convinced her to get an 2004 DRW Ram 3500 to tow it with after that scale trip.



It being a GN horse trailer the axles are way at the rear, we scaled on the way home and I calculated the pin to be north of 2,600#, this picture is while getting and just after geting new tires before the trip home. Who can guess how far over GVWR my 2001 2500 with just stock Camper Package is no Timbirns or bags!! I was surprised.

[Centexrider]

It never hurts to have more towing capacity than you need, so a one ton dually should be a consideration for current and possible future upgrades, particularly if the numbers even come close to the need. That said, one more consideration is licensing. In Texas, and many states mirror this, a Class A driver license is required when there is "a combination of vehicles with a GCWR of 26,001 pounds or more provided the GVWR of the vehicle(s) towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds". So for example, my 2015 Ram dually has a GCWR of 27,300 pounds. The GVWR of my fifth wheel (dry weight plus capacity) exceeds 16,000 pounds. I'm clearly required under Texas licensing law to have a Class A license. This is not necessarily a CDL! There is another classification called Class A exempt (for RV and farming purposes). However, it does require (in Texas) a short written test and a driving test.

[Dfb]

Originally Posted by dugganrs

Hello all. My wife and I just ordered a 41' fifth wheel with a gvwr of 16000 lbs and now I need to go buy a truck. After looking at the towing capacity is the 1 ton dually a must?

Yes it is.. do yourself a favor... just buy the dually for the 41 foot fiver.. for that rv, on the ram side... 3500 dually, aisin trans, 4:10, auto rear level.... i dont know much about the fords or gms...

[elliott-maine]

I agree. Get a dually. People will say you can tow it with a SWR, and you can, but will you be comfortable?

[terry and jo]

An additional thought is that if you purchased a 350/3500 series with DRW, should you decide that the 41-footer you ordered was to be replaced, possibly with a heavier trailer, you would still be in good shape.


Not mentioned yet is that with the dually, pulling any size of RV, will feel a lot more stable.


Terry

[Dfb]

You Can pull it with a srw. The issue is the truck will be over it’s GVWR.. lots of folks do this. It’s up to you.

[oldretiredafguy]

Originally Posted by Rhagfo

Well many feel ok pulling a 16,000# 5er with a SRW 3500, in my opinion a 3500 SRW is just a 2500 with heaver springs and maybe higher rated tires (optional on the 2500). So not much difference! Do yourself a BIG favor and get the 3500 DRW, no issues with weight. that is my next TV.


Just pulled my DD new to her 30' all aluminum four horse slant with living quarters from Medford, OR to Portland, OR.


I convinced her to get an 2004 DRW Ram 3500 to tow it with after that scale trip.



It being a GN horse trailer the axles are way at the rear, we scaled on the way home and I calculated the pin to be north of 2,600#, this picture is while getting and just after geting new tires before the trip home. Who can guess how far over GVWR my 2001 2500 with just stock Camper Package is no Timbirns or bags!! I was surprised.

Sharp looking truck+trailer. Have you done the 5th gear modification yet?

[Rhagfo]

Originally Posted by oldretiredafguy

Sharp looking truck+trailer. Have you done the 5th gear modification yet?

No have not, nont lug it 5th, but I do tow in 5th all the time. We bought the TV used with 234K on it. we just turned 312K

[ddubya]

I tow with. SRW 3500 but if my fiver was as long as yours I would get a dually to handle the hitch weight.